22. Beyond good and evil (2)
Earlier, Ian had asked Galatea about that.
“I don’t think they scattered at that time… I mean the handfuls. Where are you and what are you doing?”
“they are… .”
Galatea lowered her gloomy eyes and smiled bitterly.
“If I’m thinking of hunting them, I’d like to inform you that it’s a serious misunderstanding.”
“Oh, that’s not it. just… I have several thoughts. Anyway, there are many cases.”
“First, there are people who just try to live in hiding anywhere by themselves. Not only humans, but even the same beastmen got tired of it. Even though I was a traitor, there was a lot of conflict among the beastmen in it. They tend to hate beastmen more than humans.”
“Secondly, the survivors live together. It’s better to be with a group than alone.”
“And the third… .”
Galatea sighed lightly and concluded.
“I do organized activities… .”
“group?”
Ian had some guesses, but he didn’t show it.
“They joined forces to take revenge on the people who persecuted them. Calling themselves by the name ‘Lesantiment’… In terms of humans, you could call it a criminal group.”
“is it… .”
le santimant.
Ian knew the name.
Even in the second round, it was a group of demons that disturbed human society.
‘The identity of that organization was the victims of the fostering plan… .’
In the past, I simply thought they were the hands and feet of the demon king.
Because I didn’t know this much detail about Mine.
However, they were just the survivors of the Mine Soldier Training Plan gathered for revenge.
In the second playthrough, the demons disturbed society quite early, but in the third playthrough, they did not.
This is because as the empire became stronger, public power expanded, and a special occupational group called warriors was created.
‘Isn’t it gone… .’
I thought it disappeared because this episode was quiet, but it wasn’t like that.
It would be harder to rampage than in the second round, but it was clear that it was a group to keep an eye on.
Ressentiment.
Ian imprinted that name in his mind again.
***
“Hmm… .”
A man clad in darkness was leaning against a tree.
he wasn’t alone
There were many people of the same color around them.
Although they wore black hoods to hide their appearance, they were prominent figures with features that could never be hidden.
The horn protruding from the hood, the retro-jointed leg structure exposed under the robe, the beast’s fangs glowing softly in the moonlight, and so on.
Its characteristics also varied.
The man’s characteristics were simple.
From head to waist, the upper body was a bear and only the lower body was legs.
The arms were long and jointed like those of a human, but the hands were thick bear paws.
Something fluttered through the trees and came down beside him.
“Leader!”
It was a woman with wings on both arms and a single feather on her head.
“It’s just like the footprints I saw! There’s a group of humans that arrived first!”
“… Is that so too?”
They came to the dungeon hidden in the cliff, and stopped for a while after discovering the footprints of Ian and his party who had arrived earlier.
“You seem to be a hero, but what are you going to do?”
“What can I do? They kill all humans.”
Even those who had been silent waiting for news rose up.
The woman added, tidying up her wing feathers.
“right. And what is this? Galatea was there?”
“Galatea… ?”
At that name, a group of shadows turned towards her.
“That traitor bitch is among humans… ?”
“yes. Are you sure.”
The man with the paws of a bear, the captain of Le Saintimans.
‘Ramnus’ said with a growl.
“… Right after solving the dungeon, there will be a gap in the power. Take that time and deal with it all at once. The hero and the hidden laboratory.”
***
“The inside is perfectly preserved.”
Kati, who had explored the dungeon first, reported it.
It was certain because I even listened to it in real time through the Ring of Subordination.
The interior of the dungeon, as well as the type and placement of monsters, matched my memory.
“… okay. You said you can feel it outside and inside, right?”
Kati and Galatea nodded at the same time.
“Then it is only here.”
I knocked on the bumpy wall right next to the entrance.
– Plump.
As if the inside was empty, a sound rang out.
As soon as I entered this dungeon, I felt a strange sense of incongruity, and the identity of that sense of incongruity was this wall.
“Isn’t there anything like this inside?”
“Yes.”
Kati, who looked closely, did not find such a suspicious device even inside.
That means something is hidden inside this secret door.
Since Galatea and Kati testified, it is probably a prisoner.
‘There’s a group of beastmen living in hiding here, and the people who left are coming back. If it’s something like that, I don’t really want to bump into it.’
First of all, he is also a relative of Kati and Galatea.
I came to have the party solve this dungeon, not to have them fight the beasts.
‘But to just enter, it’s crazy to put a risk factor behind your back. Most of all, it could be Lessantiment who lives in hiding.’
But waiting for them was foolish.
Time will continue to flow while you don’t know when it will come.
The conclusion was simple.
“Kati. Guard the entrance with Galatea. Mercy and Malion will also stay here.”
As long as the first hero party isn’t coming, Kati alone is enough.
In case of emergency, you can send telepathy to the Ring of Subordination.
“Yes.”
Galatea and Malion also nodded.
Originally, the two of them were going to leave a simple camp outside and have them wait there, but they said there was a prisoner nearby, so they had no choice but to bring it.
“Don’t worry about me!”
Mercy exclaimed boldly.
“Vivian, Helena, Lucia. The three of you enter with me.”
“yes!”
“Yes!”
“I know.”
“Kati will be looking after you, so there is no need to be overly nervous. All you have to do is focus on fighting monsters.”
The three nodded again.
“I’ll beg you. Katy.”
“Be careful.”
“Go with caution! Watch out for the fruits too!”
Receiving greetings from Kati and Mercy.
After confirming that Galatea and Malion had sent them off, they went inside.
I took the lead and explained.
“This dungeon is a simple straight passageway, and it is open to the final cavity. So all you have to do is go straight.”
“The monster guarding the dungeon is an ogre warrior. Each individual has a large physique and good strength, but they are slow and react somewhat sluggishly.”
That’s why they dug a secret road here so that the beasts could live.
“Originally, each person divides their roles and lives as a group, but this is not the case in this dungeon. Each individual acts separately, so you can break them individually.”
“yes!”
“The one waiting in the cavity at the end of the dungeon must be the Red Ogre.”
At those words, tension settled between the party.
Lucia seemed to know about the Red Ogre as well.
It’s basically an enemy that comes out of an A-rank dungeon.
But nothing to worry about.
The ones that appear as basic monsters in A-class dungeons appear as bosses here, but it’s in a much more degraded state than the small puppets in A-class dungeons.
It was a growing Red Ogre, maybe it was.
“As I said, I brought you here because I believed you could do it. So, there is no need to panic already.”
“Okay… !”
“There is one thing I am particularly looking forward to. It’s up to you to play your part.”
The sorceress, Vivian, is long-distance.
Helena, a priest capable of close combat, will back and forth between Vivian and the enemy to assist.
The fast-moving Lucia would circle around the enemy, taking turns with Helena to get their attention.
The opponent is only one ogre warrior, so there won’t be a picture of Vivian being threatened.
If so, the most ideal composition would be Helena and Lucia attracting attention and Vivian finishing with a big attack.
However, it didn’t tell me that.
For this ideal, they must work together to find out.
There is a big difference between someone injecting something and realizing it through trial and error on your own.
Of course, I will give you some advice along the way.
Even with cooperation, dealing with multiple entities and dealing with one powerful entity are inevitably different.
What we will learn today is the latter case.
“ruler. Now I will watch from behind.”
Lucia, Helena, and Vivian passed me in that order.
“There are no traps here, so don’t worry.”
I followed them.
***
Kati and Galatea were standing against the wall guarding the entrance.
Next to each were Mercy and Malion.
It was an awkward situation to say something, but fortunately Mercy was there.
“Hehe. This little guy is really cute.”
Mercy looked at the baby sleeping in Galatea’s arms and said,
Galatea and Malion laughed at the same time.
“thank you.”
“Have you decided on a name?”
“I’ve thought about it several times, but I haven’t decided yet.”
“Hmm. Yes, because names are important. You might as well build it carefully.”
Mercy naturally induced a conversation in that way.
“Mum. Could you transform yourself too?”
“A transformation?”
“Here, this guy can transform into a very cute cat. right?”
“yes.”
Galatea laughed and shook her head.
“I can’t. Not all prisoners can do it.”
“Hoo. I see? Is there some reason? It’s amazing… .”
For some reason, Malion seemed to feel sorry for him.
Glancing at her husband, Galatea tapped his shin with her tiptoe.
“… Ah, great.”
Led by Mercy, this and that was talked about.
It was Mercy and Galatea who mainly talked, and Kati and Malion occasionally chatted.
Then, when the baby talked or fidgeted in his sleep, everyone would smile and watch over the baby.
Katie didn’t laugh, but she was just as pleased as they were.
Of course, I was happy because of other thoughts.
‘A baby born between a human and a beast… .’
I remembered the last time Ian’s lips had been pounced on, and they were nestled together on the bed.
Since that day, Kati has not done anything special.
It was because I had to live like before, but it was also true that I was somewhat regretful.
Something caught in her brain, which had been calmly continuing the delusion.
‘… A prisoner?’
Outside, I felt a large group of beastmen approaching.
This illusion wall is unique in that it cannot see in from the outside, but the outside can be seen from the inside.
“what’s the matter?”
Galatea asked.
Kati didn’t answer, staring wide at the entire forest that could be seen through the walls.
Feeling that it was not serious, everyone in the party stiffened.
“what… . ah.”
Galatea too belatedly sensed the beastman’s aura.
She carefully handed the baby to Malion.
A heavy silence fell.
cut through that stillness
– Fit!
A white line was drawn in the dark forest.
It flew in with a sharp sound, and its target was Galatea.
However.
-fault!
Katie caught it without even looking at it.
There was no time for Galatea to react.
Kati caught it and quickly threw it in the same trajectory as it flew.
– Fit!
“aaah!”
In the distance, the bushes swayed and screams spread.
Kati remembered the feel of the object she had just held in her hand.
‘Throwing dagger. It was a pretty skillful move.’
Subsequently, black new models appeared all over the forest.
All at once, they approached the entrance of the dungeon that Kati was guarding.
The big one in the front stopped, and the others stopped too.
said the large shadow.
“Galatea. You traitor bastard… . You were alive and well.”
“This voice… . Rhamnus?”
“okay.”
The man took off his hood.
Bear’s face.
Then, a man with three lines of scratches on one eye revealed his face.
The exposed hand was shaped like a bear’s paw.
“I am very glad to see you. I wish I could have such luck Today will be the day to kill both humans and traitors at the same time.”
“… … .”
Galatea had nothing to say.
Because they were justified in hating them.
However, it was unfair that the target included Kati and her colleagues.
At one time, I even thought of giving my life to my comrades.
But, now that I have a baby, it’s different.
She laughed at herself for being selfish.
“They are called Lessantiments… It is a group of prisoners who were experimented on in the past.”
Galatea gave a short explanation to Kati and Mercy, then added as if muttering.
“But why did you come all the way here? .”
“you.”
Ramnus pointed at Kati and said.
“Do you know what year it is?”
“yes.”
Carty nodded her head very calmly.
“Are you still together… ?”
“yes.”
“okay. Then you must die too.”
It’s scary to say that.
Somewhere, a gust of wind hit.
It was all too late when Galatea realized something was coming.
There were sharp claws in front of his eyes.
Right before taking a picture of your face.
The owner of those claws was a beastman in the form of a cheetah after becoming human.
She intuited death with wide-open eyes.
Time passed slowly.
The cheetah’s sharp eyes, excited at the thought of killing himself.
And Ramnus’ indifferent gaze glaring at it.
All of that was clearly visible.
‘ah… .’
next moment.
– Knock!
When Galatea blinked, there was nothing in front of her.
“It’s dark… !”
Before I knew it, the cheetah man was lying on the floor.
On top of that, Kati was kneeling on Cheetah’s chest and choking her with her hands.
“Khehe… !”
Kati raised her head, carefully controlling her strength so that the cheetah would not die.
Ramnus looked at the mysterious Kati.
Because of the eyes covered by the eyepatch, it was difficult to read his emotions.
He muttered in disbelief.
“I got it… ?”
Kati looked back and forth between Ramnus and Cheetah, then tilted her head slightly.
“Is this the fastest?”
“What… ?”
“Did you send the fastest one as the first batter for a surprise attack?”
“… … .”
Ramnus did not answer.
As Kati said, there was no one as fast as that cheetah in the group.
But it would be foolish to expose it as it is.
“If that’s the case.”
-puck!
Kati stunned Cheetah by punching it in the jaw, then stood up and said.
“You guys can’t beat me.”
“cheeky… .”
“To me, it seemed too slow.”
She was very calm and told the truth.
It was absolutely not bluff.
Even with the blindfold on, Kati caught the cheetah’s movements with ease.
A series of processes of grabbing the wrist of a cheetah that is aiming at Galatea and pulling it, grabbing the neck with the other hand and knocking it down, and subduing it by pressing the chest with the knee.
All of that was easy, no need to be nervous.
“Just back off.”
They don’t even have a one-sided relationship, but they are the same people.
I didn’t want to kill
“Unless you came here to die.”
However. if they don’t back down
If you’re thinking of sabotaging Ian, you won’t hesitate.
“Go when you’re saved.”
It was a very arrogant mercy.
However, Kati had the strength to be arrogant.