114 – Then the devil came in through the front door (8)
There were two priests asleep. There are approximately fifty children. No one else is visible.
Children pray by constantly tilting their bodies back and forth while in the state of being in an infant state. Although he wanted to immediately grab his hand and lead him out of the mine, Cain tried to think calmly.
The way out is dangerous, but taking it out carelessly is dangerous and irresponsible. I don’t know if there is another entrance, but no matter how hard I look, there is no other way.
If you can hear the whistling sound between the rocks, there may be a small ventilation hole, but it is a road where the wind can move but no one can travel.
Moreover, the children have become so weak that breathing is a miracle.
Cain made a decision. Children should be taken out only after everything is safe. Not before then. Just focus on what you can do right now.
Even if it is impossible to forcefully take out fifty children, it is possible to take out at least one piece of human trash.
Cain gave her signal. Lily strangled one of her priests and knocked him unconscious. The other man opened his eyes to her. Cain pointed his sword at her and threatened in a low voice.
“If you make noise, you will die.”
She strangled her man as if twisting the neck of a goose. She lifted the dagger and slashed between her forehead and bangs. As if they were trying to skin her face. Her blood poured out like a curtain and covered her man’s face. The man she was strangling trembled without even being able to scream.
“Speak quietly. Just answer my questions. “Who are those kids?”
“No, they are the children of serfs. “If parents don’t listen, bring their children.”
“Why do we make people pray?”
“If you don’t do that, you’ll just cry, cry, and whine. “It’s easier if you ask me to pray.”
Cain waited for her to continue. But she said the man didn’t say anything more. Cain urged.
“… Is that all? Are you tired of taking care of your kids? Which… “No other reason?”
“Oh, none, really! We didn’t make them work or play with them like playthings. I just made them sleep, eat, and pray! Ideal…Yeah. “It’s an ideal life.”
The children’s haggard appearance flashes before my eyes.
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“… “How much did you give me to eat?”
“A loaf of bread.” Her man swallowed her spit. “This Sunday, one for each of the five people… Well, that’s enough! “They’re not working, they’re kids!”
Because it is cumbersome to manage. That was it. That’s all. The reason she ruined her child’s life and caused pain to her child’s family until the moment she died was simply because they were too lazy to manage it.
Grabbing her neck, Cain punched her man in the face. Her nose is broken and she is bruised. He cuts off a piece of her robe, wraps a rock in her floor, and forces it into her mouth. Her jaw joint made a clicking sound, but she didn’t care. If it were this size, you wouldn’t be able to swallow it or spit it out. That’s enough.
But it’s not over yet. She forced her man to sit down, grabbed her hair, and cut it off with her dagger. She removed her robe from top to bottom and tied it around her body. Her face and head were covered, with only her legs exposed.
When she put it on her shoulder, the priest, who had been fine until a moment ago, turned into a dead person. So much so that if anyone saw it, they would think the body was being taken out. Meanwhile, Lily and Maria tied up the other priest and gagged him. When I pushed it through the cave’s hollow crevices, it was hidden in darkness and I couldn’t see it.
The children are still in a state of fascination, rocking their bodies back and forth and praying. Cain and his party walked carefully along the edge of the underground cave so that the children would not notice.
I arrived safely at the landing. But Cain boomed from above! Thud! I heard the sound of an iron gong ringing. It is the sound of someone wearing iron boots walking down stone steps. He seemed to be a member of the earl’s guard.
Cain lowered her stance, and Lily covered her drawn sword with her legs. Maria drew her wrist sword.
“It’s like drawing a damn lot…” “
Complaints that can be heard relatively clearly. As luck would have it, it seemed like a lot had been drawn to walk down the landing.
Soon, a man with a grim face came down the circular stairs. Cain and his party, who were hiding in the dark, seemed not to have been found. She held up a large halberd. Her man hits the floor with her halberd! Thud! She took a look.
“Wake up, you bastards! The Count has arrived. “Holy sh*t, why is it so dark?”
Fifty children stopped praying all at once.
“What are you looking at! Just pray, so the baby girl won’t come after you, crying! Berengar, Benantio! What are you doing! “Did you search?”
The man still couldn’t find Cain and the others. It passed in front of her, muttering, and striking the ground again with her halberd.
Cain waited calmly. She doesn’t know if it’s Berengar or Venantio that’s stuck on the cave wall, but she’s hidden so deep that it’s hard to find her unless she gets really close. As long as something doesn’t happen unexpectedly, she will return to the man.
“f*ck, where did you end up with a maid again? I don’t know. f*ck. The Count will do it whether he kills him or not… “The man spat at her and turned around. She placed her foot on the last step of the stairs. Cain, who had been holding her breath, was about to let go of her mind.
“When are you coming?”
One child stood up. She was so thin and couldn’t eat that all her hair was pulled out. She doesn’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl. Yet her voice is still clear.
“My mom and dad, when are you coming?”
Her man snorted and placed her halberd on the floor. Cracking her neck, she stepped in front of the child. Cain noticed that her man was smiling as he passed right in front of her.
“Do you miss Mom and Dad? Huh?”
The child nodded her head. The man grinned and placed her gauntleted hand on her child’s head.
“Pray hard. You are here because you did something wrong. Do you know what you did wrong? No. No. No need to tell you everything. “You know, don’t you?”
“I know.”
“Then just pray.”
“… How much more do I have to do?”
The child did not back down. Something else appeared on her man’s face. Petulance.
“Do it until it comes.”
“I’m hungry and cold. When will you come… “
“Oh, f*ck…” “The man said, and she sighed. Her mind seemed to be trying to grab her child, but when she couldn’t, she got down on her knees and made eye contact with him instead.
“Hey. Kid. I know that? You are. I have committed such a big sin. So, even if I die, I can’t escape from here.”
“Lies… “The child trembled in her arms. Ran towards her man. It is unclear whether he is trying to hug her or strangle her.
“Lies, lies, lies!”
“Ahh!”
The man grabbed her hand. She said the child scratched her hand. Because no one cared for them, the children’s fingernails and toenails grew close to those of wild animals.
“This…” The bastard… “
There was a clanking sound. The child spun around in place.
“Hey, what did I say? You said you committed a sin. You can never escape from here. Forever! All of you bastards. Same goes for all of you! “What are you looking at, you motherless bastards!”
“Liar!” “No!” “My parents are alive.”
The man grinned. “Probably not?”
All the children were silent. The man said, feeling the pleasure of her sadism.
“I killed them all. And now you will too. The Count says so… Because you are so weak. “It would be quicker for you to die and meet me as an angel than to repent and wash away your sins!”
The man lunged at the children.
Just right!
The inside of the cave became brighter. Her man’s entire body lit up with holy fire. Because of the sudden brightness, children covered their eyes, screamed, and fell to the floor.
Maria threw down her dagger. Her man’s body penetrated her loose leather armor and lodged itself in her stomach. But her man couldn’t make her scream. The moment her mouth opened, her second throw of the knife cut her tongue and lodged itself in her throat.
Cain and Lily dragged the man who was about to stumble into the darkness.
“There, down there! “What are you doing so late?”
The sound of footsteps increased. There were many. Cain raised his sword. Lily grabbed her halberd, which her man had placed on her floor.
“Sorry.”
Cain apologized sincerely. Lily laughed.
“I did the right thing. “You couldn’t turn away.”
“That’s right.”
“You just have to stop it. “If it’s just the two of us, we can do it.”
Lily adjusted her halberd.
“Because I will not die until white blood flows.”
Cain is inside the stairs. Lily took a seat on her outskirts. She has more space there, so it will be easier to stab her with her halberd.
The sound of coming down the stairs became louder. Cain looked at her Mary.
“Maria.”
“… “Go out and do it.”
“Huh?”
“Go out and leave your will.”
‘Why? If we’re lucky, we might be able to kill all those hundreds and get out.’ But Cain didn’t say that. Instead she did this she said.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then?”
“Please look after the kids.” Cain pointed to her children. “You were scared. And… “It won’t be a good thing for the kids to see.”
If she were her usual Maria, she would have said something. But she wasn’t now. Fifty frightened children are looking up at the adults who suddenly emerge from the darkness.
Just right.
So Maria snapped her fingers. A sacred fire rose above the children’s heads. It’s so small and cute that you can touch it with your hand.
“It’s okay to touch it. “It’s not hot.”
The hesitant children stretched out their hands. I touched the fire here and there, amazed that it wasn’t hot.
“… “Are you an angel?”
A slightly taller child pointed at Maria. Maria tried to shake her head, but she just smiled.
When Maria smiled and shook her head, her child asked back cautiously.
“Prayer… How much more do I have to do?”
“You don’t have to do any more.” Maria laughed. “You are now free from sin. All… “He forgave everything.”
The child didn’t seem to understand.
“But they said we were here by mistake. Mom and dad too… “
“No. Those people are liars. You were right. These people are liars. That’s why I came here. To take you to mom and dad. “To take you out there.”
Maria laughed. The child still didn’t seem to understand.
“But why are you crying?”
“I’m so happy.” Maria still just laughed. “I’m so happy I found you.”
“Do angels cry too?”
“Sometimes the world cries.”
“Why?”
“When you hurt, the world cries with you.”
A commotion. The sound of metal clashing against metal.
Mary knew that the time had come. So she shined even brighter. So that children can only look at the light.
‘Please protect these children. Help me to look and remember only the light, only the light. Please allow these children to be a little younger and more delicate. Please have mercy so that I do not get swept away by the darkness I am not prepared for, and that if I must face it, I can face it only when I am ready.’
Children flocked in. They gathered around and hugged Maria.
“Don’t cry.”
Maria thought she was strange. She’s just smiling, why do these kids call me dirty?
I should hug these children, but why do they hug me?
For the children…What can I do?
“Us.” Maria smiled brightly with tears in her eyes. “Would you like to sing a song together?”