Chapter 86 – The end that is not the end

Read at noblemtl.com

No matter what war, the end comes, no matter how long the night is, morning comes, and no matter what disaster, the end will come.

402 missing children

220 surviving children

101 children confirmed dead

81 missing children (estimated, there may be missing children without any connection)

I saw parents crying and hugging their children. There was no one to greet him, so he saw children heading to the orphanage led by the knights.

I could see the parents who collapsed when they heard the news that their child was missing. How worried are you? How resentful he must be for the knights who couldn’t protect the children, and for being at home while the children disappeared. There’s no way for me to know Even though I had friends who thought that this was something like family… My parents and siblings were all words that were far from me.

And there were those who held on to the corpses of dead children and cried out. He was beating the knights with his hands full of calluses and scars, asking the knights nearby to ask him what he had done after taking the tax, asking him to save his child. His children had to be buried on the ground where they would weep and strike, so he couldn’t bear to step on the ground and stamp his feet.

“Save my son! You bastard who pays taxes and keeps the peace! What is this! Save my son!”

“Where is the culprit! They say where he is! I can tell you that much!”

“If you made my baby die, you should die too! If you made my daughter die, you should die too!”

“Oh, my daughter… If I knew it would be like this, I’d buy her her favorite pretty clothes… Oh, my daughter… How can I feel sorry for my daughter… How can I feel sorry for her dad…”

Friend, when you died, did your parents grieve like that in the afterlife? Or, if all the children there had parents, could their deaths have been washed away with tears like that? I do not know. Because there is nothing as meaningless as the assumption of if. I just hope that the tears of those who don’t exist will wash away the death.

“Please step back. After confirming the body at the imperial family, the country will take action. After that, compensation and an announcement about the situation will be made.”

“What compensation? I don’t need money or anything, so save my son!”

The angry woman’s hand hit the knight’s chest.

The knights were standing upright and accepting the anger of those who lost their children. Because they have undergone rigorous training, the hands of the powerless commoners will not hurt. But even so, he would be cursed at like that, and he would feel bad if he was slapped on the cheek.

But they were also in pain. But I didn’t feel bad. Guilt that so many children died because they failed to fulfill their responsibilities squeezed their hearts. And since they also had families, they took their anger for granted.

But they couldn’t do anything. As Ricardo said, the knights couldn’t save people. All they can do now is to silently accept people’s anger.

“Retreat. The body will be confirmed by the imperial family, and the country will take action. Regarding the situation…”

“It’s embarrassing to do this. Go home and make a detailed follow-up report…”

They mechanically conveyed the information received from the upper level. Even knowing that those words couldn’t calm their sadness and anger. Knowing that fact, I was silently accepting their anger and resentment. I couldn’t say anything other than what I was told, but at least everyone knew that everyone present was in a bad mood. I just couldn’t accept it.

Who are the poorest people today? Parents who hear that their children are missing? Or the parents who heard that their children had died and found their bodies covered in bruises? They are also very unhappy and pitiful, but…

“I’ll be gone for a while.”

“Ah, Mr. Werner, the corpses here are the corpses of those children who have no connection…”

“No, get out of the way.”

The most pitiful today are the children whose death no one cries for. Poor children with no parents or siblings to cry for them. Poor children who were not even reported missing.

When I removed the cover from the body, I saw the face of the little boy who had tried to steal my wallet. A face full of bruises, a skinny body that still looks young. And small scars that look like they’ve been worn for quite some time.

I held the knife he had in his right hand.

“I’m sorry Mister. I couldn’t kill everyone… I promised to kill everyone…”

Only then will you be kicked out of that industry. The moment I reported the failure of the mission to the client, my flesh always trembled. But now my arms were shaking, not my flesh. The child in front of me is like that child.

I held a wallet full of silver coins in the child’s left hand.

“Don’t steal a wallet that contains fairy tales. In my next life, I will be born with these silver coins and live reading fairy tales.”

I held the child’s hand. Because a death that no one cries for is sad… At least I should cry for those children too.

“Werner, are you okay?”

Camellia, who was forcing herself to pull herself together, asked me a question. I wiped something hot down my cheek and answered.

“Sister, lend me some money.”

“What?”

“Sister, it’s going to cost a fortune to bury all these children in a proper graveyard. My account is still closed, so it will take some time to reopen it.”

“… I’ll pay for half of it.”

Camellia quietly put her palms together and prayed for the rest of the children.

“By the way, sister, are you okay?”

“I’m fine now. I was only briefly surprised… I’m fine now…”

“Who is that person so surprised?”

“That person is mine…”

Before Camellia could say anything, it tickled my ears as I woke up outside.

“Get out of the way, whooh whooh.”

It was a frivolous and inelegant voice, a fucking voice that made me lose my appetite just by hearing it.

I went outside and saw a neatly dressed man with a mustache. That man was in Werner’s memory. It was the bastard who hit Werner with an orphan drip and got his clothes burned and hung on the castle wall. He must have been a relative of the empress.

He went up to Ricardo and put his hands together and said:

“Aigoo Sir Ricardo, this is a lot of work.”

“I don’t remember calling you instead of Lloyd.”

“Ah~ I’m in charge of this facility, so I have to come out.”

Was that bastard in charge of this sewerage facility?

“It would be strange if you, who were in charge of managing the sewage facility in this situation, did not know something. We will dispatch an investigator later, so please cooperate…”

“Ah, you must have worked hard, but even with the lower ones and alcohol…”

“I do not accept bribes. And all who follow me are full knights. Please refrain from the insulting title of inferior.”

Ricardo’s hard side as a can, as Melchior had said, was being revealed. Lloyd scratched his head as if he was embarrassed by the stiff and businesslike attitude.

“Ahahahaha… But I’m glad this. The situation ended amicably.”

“Did you just say ‘successfully’ instead of Lloyd? Are you saying you know how many people have died?”

“I heard that he died a little bit.”

“A little?”

When I heard that, I reached out to him. It was not an act of thought, but an act of emotion and instinct.

“Fangs of steel, pierce him…”

Before I could finish the chant, Camellia covered my mouth.

“I fully understand how you feel, but calm down. If you kill him now, things will get out of control.”

I heard and saw that it was. If I, who had just sat in the imperial mage’s seat, killed the empress’s relative, there would be no doubt that there would be a lot of noise. But even so, I didn’t want to leave that bastard alone.

There was a hint of anger in Ricardo’s voice.

“Nearly 200 children are dead or missing. Would you still use the words ‘a little’ and ‘much’?”

“Well, it’s fortunate that there were no noble ladies or young siks among the victims, isn’t it?

“Did you say you were happy?”

“Aren’t most of them thugs and pickpockets when they grew up anyway? Let’s say we filtered wastewater from the sewers, don’t you know? “

Ricardo’s voice was only a little angry, even though the son of a son of Lloyd’s or something spewed out a cocky word. He was still dealing with him in a businesslike and rigid manner.

“Sister, let go of this. Kill that bastard today.

“Be patient.”

Ricardo clenched his fists and continued the conversation.

“There’s no doubt that you, who manages the sewage system, didn’t know about this. And recently, there have been reports that you’ve bought several villas that don’t fit your finances. I didn’t have any physical evidence yet, so I was going to postpone the punishment…”

“hahahaha Sir Ricardo, calm down and tell me…”

“It’s a horse, it’s a nabal, and you bite your molars, you fucking bastard.”

The dull sound of a blow hitting the face resounded.

Camellia spoke to me in a calm voice.

“That’s why I told you to be patient because you don’t have to step out.”

Read at noblemtl.com

No matter how you look at that, the corn must have gone out?