Chapter 64 – Cultists (5)
“Help! Children, children have been kidnapped!!”
Along with the knock on the door, it was the voice of a middle-aged woman. She shouted as if in great urgency. At that voice, the adventurers began to wake up one by one.
“What’s the matter?”
“The resident lady came to visit.”
I didn’t open the door right away and turned on the ‘Wolf’s Pact’. The area of hearing expanded, and the noise outside was clearly heard.
– What is it, how did this happen ?!
-I do not know. When some black guy shows up…
The village was noisy because of the missing children. Looking at the noise even in a place quite far from the house we are staying in, it seems that the woman’s words are not lying.
As I was overhearing the commotion outside, Sister Nella opened the door.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, Sister… Please, please help me…”
The middle-aged woman took Sister Nella’s hand with her trembling hand. She spoke through tears.
“My kids are gone. Please help me…”
“Sister, please calm down first and tell us what happened. That way we can help.”
Sister Nella tried to calm the woman down. But she continued to panic. We were able to hear an explanation of the situation from the village chief who came running late.
“So, are you saying that the men in black robes kidnapped the children?”
“Yes that’s right. They gave me an empty house because they complained that there was no place to stay, and this kind of misfortune…”
The village chief’s face darkened. I approached the village chief and the woman.
“All right. First of all, let’s discuss it among ourselves. Please leave for a moment.”
“Yes. I look forward to.”
“Adventurer, Sister! Please, my children…”
A middle-aged woman came out and tried to grab the crotch of her nun’s pants. Her chief grabbed her and dragged her out of her house.
I let the two out and closed the door. I turned to the nuns and adventurers.
“What are you going to do?”
The adventurers couldn’t answer easily. As they looked at each other, a ferocious nun stood up and said,
“Of course you should go get it!”
She picked up her own weapon, her mace. It looks like it’s about to run away. Her adventurers stopped her.
“Sister calm down. The discussion isn’t over yet, is it?”
The nun frowned.
“Do we need to discuss? They say children are dangerous!”
Her adventurer, who had stood in her way against her reckless momentum, raised her hand and retreated. A few adventurers sighed. I said to the ferocious nun.
“Just calm down. Didn’t we just say we wouldn’t help? It’s just a discussion. If Sister keeps doing this, it will only delay the time to save the children.”
The nun’s eyebrows twitched at the mention of the delay in saving the children. She squeezed her mace, then sighed and let go of her strength.
“All right. Let’s discuss it.”
She backed off I said looking at the adventurers and nuns.
“First of all, I don’t think those people are lying.”
The iron grade questioned.
“How do you know?”
“It was noisy outside, so I opened the window and looked around. All the villagers were busy moving. Of course, that can also be called acting… But do you really need to go that far?”
They may covet our equipment and money. Now that might be clearly trying to trick us. But there was no reason to lie about the disappearance of the children when they were after our money.
The adventurers did not question whether they had similar thoughts or not. The ferocious nun stood up vigorously.
“Then…”
“The story isn’t over yet. Rather, it is important from now on.”
I looked around the adventurers. They knew what I was going to say.
“It is good to go rescue the children. The problem is, you don’t know how dangerous it can be. We don’t know who the kidnappers are.”
“Cultist.”
The blue-haired nun muttered to herself. The eyes of her adventurers focused on her.
“If you kidnapped children in black robes, you must be a cultist.”
“Do you have any reason to say so?”
The nun replied with a nod of her head.
“Recently, the activities of cultists have increased exponentially. Of course, the damage caused by them has also increased. Among the victims, the most common case was the kidnapping of young children and offering them as sacrifices. Perhaps it will be similar in this case.”
As the nun finished her words, her adventurers murmured.
“Cultist? Those crazy people?”
“But aren’t cultists good enough? I was just a little bit crazy, just like a normal person.”
“Cultists and cultists are different. It is said that a place with a large scale is comparable to most temples. If you go wrong, we’ll look for you.”
Opinions were divided even among the adventurers. Sister Nella interrupted.
“It wouldn’t be a huge organization to secretly kidnap children in a small town like this. At most, no more than ten people.”
She turned on ‘The Wolf’s Pact’. She tried to hear footsteps some distance from the village. But no human footsteps could be heard. It seems that they have already fled to a place a little far from here.
The discussions between the adventurers and the nuns continued even while I was making the ‘Wolf’s Pact’.
The nuns were still in the position that they had to go rescue the children, and the adventurers were divided in half. As a result, I energized myself to go get it little by little.
Said the same grade.
“Okay, I get it. Then let’s go get it. There’s nothing better than delaying it.”
At that, the nuns’ complexions brightened. However, horses in this class are not over yet.
“Instead, this work is separate from the escort mission, so you have to pay more.”
“Yes?”
Sister Nella asked in surprise. She spoke as if she was in the same grade as it was.
“Our mission is to escort the nuns. That didn’t include rescuing kidnapped children. Isn’t it natural to pay more for more work?”
“Ha, but this helps poor children…”
“All right. If the children are safely rescued, I will give you more commission money.”
The blue-haired nun interrupted Sister Nella.
“How much can I give you?”
The iron grade raised its hand.
“I can give you one more silver.”
The same grade was raised.
“Two silver is enough.”
After that, she told each of them how much they wanted. Sister Nella looked at me a little nervously. I turned her head away from her gaze.
No matter what, you have to get what you get.
“Tongue, brother…”
Her sullen voice was heard, but she ignored it.
* * *
In the end, the adventurers were promised an extra day’s wages. We went to the village chief and asked what happened.
“Ah… Thank you so much for your help.”
“No. Of course it’s something you have to do. I’m sorry, but can you tell me how it happened?”
“Yes, of course.”
The village chief began to explain how the children had been kidnapped.
According to him, seven men in black robes came after we rented the house. It was a bit suspicious, but he wanted a quiet place to stay, so he rented an empty house like us.
The problem is then that In a short time, the village children began to disappear. No matter how much I looked for the children, I couldn’t find them. So, just in case, I visited the men in black robes, but they were not home.
“Hey…! I shouldn’t have let you in when I thought it was suspicious… Sisters, please save my children. Those children are the future of our village.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to get you. Rather, where the kidnappers are supposed to be heading…”
I turned around while listening to the conversation between the village chief and the nun. I walked over to a middle-aged woman who was crying around me.
“Hey.”
“Huh… Yes?”
“Excuse me, can I take a quick look at your child’s items? I thought it would be easier to find.”
“Yes? Yes…”
At my words, the woman was puzzled. But soon she went into the house and came out with one of her little clothes. She seems to be the clothes the child used to wear. She turned on the ‘Wolf’s Pact’ and sniffed her.
“Hey, are you there?”
The woman looked at me a little embarrassed. Either way, I sniffed it a few more times and returned the clothes.
I wandered around looking for a smell that was identical to the smell on my clothes. It didn’t take long. He approached the nun who was having a conversation with the village chief and said,
“Sister. We seem to have tracked down the kidnappers.”
Sister Nella looked at me in surprise.
“Yes? Is that true?!”
“Yes, come with me.”
I followed the scent with the nuns and adventurers. We left the village and rode the mountain. Adventurers began to complain little by little.
Most of them complained like, ‘Is this guy on the right path?’. But when it started to get a little worse, Sister Nella cautiously asked me.
“I… Brother, I have no doubts… Is it right to go this way?”
“Yes, this one is right.”
“May I ask how you found out?”
“It’s my bottom line, so it’s a bit harsh to say. Just trust me Would I lie in a situation like this?”
“No, it’s not that I don’t believe it…”
Sister Nella panicked and started talking gibberish. She ignored her and followed her scent. The smell gradually grew stronger, and the place we arrived at was a small cabin in the middle of the mountain.
“Looks like it’s over there.”
Relief crossed the nuns’ faces. Sister Nella made her fuss.
“Brother, you are amazing! How could it be so easy…”
“What are you going to do now?”
“Wouldn’t there be no choice but to go in?”
“I told you how to get in.”
“Ah…”
We had a brief meeting about how to get into the cabin.
As a result, four adventurers watched the outside of the cabin, and the rest decided to rush inside. Sister Ceris and Sister Nella, myself and I were the starting group.
The first to enter were the faction of the blue-haired nuns and her escorts. They were followed by a faction of ferocious impressionists.
“Let us go in now.”
Me and Sister Nella and Sister Ceris were the last to enter. However, the situation inside the cabin was strange. The nuns and adventurers who entered first were confused as they looked inside the empty cabin.
‘The smell is definitely strong.’
As I was looking around, a ferocious nun walked towards me. She grabbed me by the collar.
“What is this?! I came after you and found only an empty cabin, let alone children!”
She contorted her face and let her anger out. I followed the smell regardless.
‘I’m sure I’m serious here. It’s much thicker than outside.’
“Can’t you hear me right now!”
“Sister Yuri! What are you doing! Let it go and talk.”
“Sister Nella, you must be quiet. Even at the moment we are doing this, children will be trembling in fear. Maybe you’ve already been through some rough times. We lost our time to save our children because of this man!”
“That is far-fetched! First…”
The ferocious nun and the sister nella quarreled. I continued to follow the direction of the smell. And I could understand…
‘The lower part is darker.’
I tried to tell the nun to let go of the collar to check the bottom. Seris approached me before I could open my mouth. She grabbed the wrist of the nun who was holding me by the collar and gave me strength.
“Ah!”
The nun’s hand fell from my collar. Her gripped arm trembled slightly. She glared at Seris.
“I-don’t let go of this… Aaaaa!!”
The nun knelt down on her knees. Cerys looked down at her nun, she said.
“Who are you to grab Yooseong by the collar?”
Seris’ voice was cold. The ferocious nun tried to free her arm from her grip with her hand against her, but she couldn’t. Rather, when Seris gave her more power, she shuddered and couldn’t move.
“Is your brother okay?”
Kara came over and brushed my collar.
“Yes I’m fine. Seris, stop it too.”
“…Yes.”
Seris let go of her nun’s hand. The ferocious nun let out a moan as she grabbed the part of her body that had held her.
“Yu, Sister Yuri, are you okay?”
Sister Nella, not knowing what to do with her, examined the fierce nun’s wrist. The eyes of the adventurers around us gathered on us. I ignored them and walked towards the stronger smell.
Sat down on the floor.
‘It’s a wooden floor…’
The smell is definitely the strongest here. It contains not only the smell of children, but also other disgusting odors. I looked at the floor. There was a slightly unnatural gap.
‘There’s no such thing as a handle.’
Are you opening it in a different way? I held the dagger in reverse and took a shot at the floor. A dagger lodged in the wooden floor. As I lifted it up, the trapdoor came up with the dagger.
“Looks like it’s here.”
The eyes of the adventurers and nuns widened.
