53

Kwakjik

In the dark underground prison, the sound of something breaking echoed.

Hamel, listening quietly with his eyes closed, slowly spoke.

“Is it done?”

“N-no. It’s just…”

In response to Hamel’s question, the boy beyond the wall answered in a choked voice.

It won’t be easy.

If he had thought it would be easy, he wouldn’t have hesitated to explain.

But if he gave up and ate the fruit, the boy would turn into a monster.

There was only one way for the boy to survive.

“You must continue.”

“I… I can’t do it.”

The boy, who had hesitated at Hamel’s firm words, finally blurted out his reply.

His voice trembled badly.

From the boy’s voice came fear and… a certain guilt.

When Hamel said nothing, a calm silence filled the underground space.

How long had passed like that?

Suddenly, the boy asked hesitantly.

“…Will this really work?”

The tremor remained in his voice.

He was conflicted.

Hamel remained silent.

At times like this, even baseless words that give conviction are needed.

Right now, boosting his confidence was more important than anything.

But Hamel did not do that.

That was not Hamel’s way.

“I don’t know. It might be a meaningless act.”

“Then why…”

As the boy muttered dejectedly, Hamel continued speaking.

“But this is certain.”

“…?”

“If we fail, you and I will die.”

The boy fell silent at Hamel’s words.

But Hamel did not stop speaking.

In a calm tone, as if stating the obvious, he continued.

“Then your sibling will be in danger.”

Beyond the wall came the sound of the boy gasping sharply.

Hamel spoke firmly.

“Now is not the time to decide whether you can or cannot do it.”

“…”

“You must. Absolutely.”

Hamel spoke calmly, as he always did.

The boy had no answer for a long while at that seemingly cold reply.

For a moment, perhaps he made up his mind.

The boy ground his teeth and answered.

“I’ll try.”

His voice was as hard as cold iron.

Hamel nodded lightly at that reply.

“Good.”

Kwakjik

In the darkness, the sound of wood breaking rang out again.

Then a crackling sound of wood being scraped could be heard.

At first it sounded like sawing, then suddenly a gagging noise followed.

But the sounds did not stop.

After a long stretch of noise, a deathlike silence fell.

“Is it done?”

“…”

The boy gave no answer to Hamel’s question.

But Hamel could tell.

That the boy had already finished preparing.

“Thank you for your effort.”

Hamel murmured words of comfort to the boy.

Yes, it must not have been easy.

No, it was probably maddeningly painful.

Hamel closed his eyes and offered a prayer.

Right now he had told the boy to cut off his mother’s arm.

He had repeated his persuasion many times so the boy’s resolve would not waver.

‘Ehurshikashi, please watch over them.’

He did not pray for himself.

In this moment he felt he did not deserve it.

Hamel gritted his teeth and glared into the darkness.

The preparations were complete.

In the dark, they waited for time to pass.

Quiet and composed like a beast stalking its prey.

---

Before long, time passed and the alarm sounded.

Footsteps clack, clack

The sound of the cellar door opening was heard.

The time had come.

Hamel fell silent and listened.

With a soft scrape of clothing against the floor, footsteps were heard.

Slow footsteps came first, followed by hurried ones.

‘Two people.’

Good.

It seemed to be going according to plan.

Hamel breathed easier at the lack of variables.

The approaching footsteps stopped at the iron bars beside them.

Two figures could be seen outside the iron bars.

An old bent woman and a little girl with her hair in two braids.

Then the old woman’s voice, tinged with laughter, echoed down below.

“Child. You haven’t forgotten the promise, have you?”

“…Yes.”

The boy beyond the wall answered in a low voice.

“Is that so?”

The old woman abruptly stopped laughing and asked sternly.

“Then why are you still talking to me? Should I take it to mean I may eat your sibling?”

At the old woman’s words, the girl behind her flinched back.

That girl was probably the boy’s sibling.

Her face was pale as if terrified.

Hamel watched the situation anxiously.

Then the boy answered urgently.

“No. I ate all the food you gave. Please spare my sibling as promised.”

“You ate it all? When was that?”

The old woman asked again, sounding puzzled.

The boy tried to recall and answered.

“About an hour. Maybe two hours ago… It wasn’t long.”

“Took you a long time to steel yourself. You talk big about protecting your sibling, but it’s all talk.”

Clicking her tongue, the old woman reached toward the bars and continued.

“Stick your arm out here.”

“…Why?”

“If I tell you to, you should do it, stop whining. Would you be alright if your sibling turned into a tree?”

“H-here it is.”

After the sound of something being dragged, something suddenly popped out beyond the bars.

It was certainly an arm covered in bark.

But it wasn’t the boy’s.

In an instant, shock and guilt crossed the face of the girl standing behind the old woman.

She had recognized what it was.

She probably would have stopped it if she could.

She might even have begged to be made into a tree instead.

But it was already too late to turn back.

The arrow of fate had already left the bow and was flying swiftly.

Thud

The old woman grabbed the arm the boy had offered.

She groped and ran her hand along its surface.

“…”

A short silence passed.

The girl behind the old woman squeezed her eyes shut, and the boy said nothing.

Hamel simply gritted his teeth and watched the situation.

Then, at that moment.

“…Seems he really did eat it. He’ll change before midnight tonight.”

The old woman muttered to herself.

It worked.

Hamel couldn’t help clenching his fist.

The old woman had been deceived.

She seemed unable to imagine that the mother’s arm had been severed; she turned away without suspicion.

As she headed out, the old woman suddenly seemed to remember something and asked the girl.

“Child. Is there anyone awake in the next cell?”

“…I’ll check.”

The girl seemed to relax, her voice and steps trembling.

It wasn’t a bad thing.

For the deception to work, it was better if the girl looked shocked.

The approaching girl met Hamel’s eyes.

Hamel slowly shook his head without making a sound.

The girl hesitated, then clenched her fist and answered.

“No one else is awake yet.”

“Is that so? Well, we did burn a lot of sleeping grass.”

The old woman scratched her cheek for a moment and asked again.

“Then, is there anyone who has turned into a plant?”

When Hamel nodded, the girl told the truth.

“Three have sprouts growing from their heads, and one has not yet.”

“Is that so? They didn’t touch the table… Did they take something from the garden? Heh heh.”

The old woman let out a laugh as if amused.

She tapped her staff and said.

“Prepare the food. And wake the one who hasn’t changed and feed them. You can manage that much by yourself, right?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, and take this key. Now let’s bring your mother out and set her on the surface.”

Hamel flinched at the old woman’s words.

If things went wrong, the old woman’s suspicion might expose the lie.

He tensed only briefly.

That worry did not last long.

Thanks to the girl’s quick responses.

“…Alright, I’ll carry it out on the yoke.”

“What a dutiful daughter.”

The old woman clicked her tongue, amused.

After a moment, the side cell door opened and the girl carried something out on a yoke.

“Let’s go.”

The old woman led the way and the girl silently followed behind.

Clank

The cellar door closed and a quiet stillness returned.

The girl would come down again soon.

Everything was going according to plan.

“Phew.”

Hamel exhaled the breath he had been holding and inhaled slowly.

The damp air of the cellar felt almost sweet.

“Priest!”

As if waiting, the boy called to Hamel in a tangled voice.

“It really worked. Everything… was as you said, priest.”

The boy’s voice mixed the thrill of survival, relief, and guilt into a mess.

There wasn’t much Hamel could say to a boy who had just escaped the brink of death.

He only soothed the boy with a calm voice.

“You’ve suffered enough.”

“H-how did this happen? Why didn’t you notice? Surely not…”

“Yes. As you may have noticed, that old woman has poor eyesight.”

‘This looks like… it’s the order’s emblem. Let them in for now.’

‘What is this. There’s still something wriggling. A religion fellow? Or some knightly brat?’

He had had a rough idea since first entering the mansion.

The old woman often squinted when looking at things, and when Hamel had fallen she couldn’t even tell who the fallen person was.

Especially when checking the order’s emblem, she reached out and touched it to verify.

It was a kind of habit.

A tendency to grope with her hands for things she couldn’t see well.

Hamel saw the possibility for the plan there.

“Perhaps due to her poor eyesight, her suspicion and vigilance were strong. She didn’t seem likely to open the bars to check herself.”

But would that suspicious old woman blindly trust the girl’s words?

Of course not.

There weren’t many ways to verify.

Only to have the boy offer a body part beyond the bars to be felt.

But even the boy could only extend an arm out through the bars.

That’s why Hamel made the boy cut off his mother’s arm.

The boy had no reply after hearing Hamel’s words.

From the next room came only quiet sobbing.

Only now did the tension release.

At the same time, an overwhelming guilt rushed in.

Hamel silently listened to the boy’s sobs and prayed.

That the child might be freed from guilt, even a little.

After a moment, with the sound of the cellar door opening, someone walked down.

“Brother!”

The boy’s younger sister rushed over and clung to the bars.

“What happened? No, you’re alive… Thank goodness. If even brother had changed, I would have…”

The girl said, sniffling with tears.

The boy, as if he had never cried, spoke to his sister with an air of composure—or at least the appearance of it.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine. Let’s be sure to return alive.”

“Yes. It’s a promise.”

The siblings, hands clasped through the bars, finally spoke to Hamel after a while.

“Who is that person…?”

“He’s a priest of the order. Just now… thanks to him we can manage to live.”

“…I see. Mother… she wasn’t in pain, was she? No, I’m sorry, brother.”

“It’s okay. She would have understood. …Probably.”

The girl stood up and approached Hamel.

“Hello.”

“Yes, greetings.”

Hamel returned the greeting with as bright an expression as he could manage.

She looked to be about ten years old.

Seeing her terrified face, he felt the need to reassure her.

Hamel offered the girl a faint smile.

The problem was that his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

“…D-did I do something wrong…?”

“…No.”

Hamel slowly shook his head.

Instead of reacting, Hamel behaved as he normally would toward the girl’s tension.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“…From me?”

The girl asked in a dazed voice.

Hamel nodded.

“It won’t be easy. But… I need your help.”

The girl hesitated briefly, glanced at her brother, and clenched her fist.

“…I-I’ll try!”

“Very well.”

Hamel, still cuffed, extended his fingers beyond the bars.

Then he looked at the girl and spoke.

“Please collect about a cup of my blood.”

“…Eh?”

The girl made a dumbfounded sound, but Hamel continued.

“And then sprinkle it on the stove and lure the witch.”

“…Uh.”

The girl stood stunned for a long moment.

She could hardly understand his intention.

But there was no time to explain it step by step to her.

Crunch

Hamel bit his wrist and calmly spat out a chunk of flesh.

“…W-what are you doing…!”

“Hold the cup. Quickly.”

“Y-yes, yes!”

The girl hastily threw down the food she was carrying and caught the blood.

The wound was large, so blood flowed quickly.

“W-wait. I need something to tie it with…”

Just as the girl looked for something to staunch the wound.

“Ehuurshika, grant me the fire of order.”

A small flame flickered at Hamel’s wrist and the wound began to close.

The recovery was slower than usual.

‘As expected…’

Because his body and mana were ruined by the poison, the Azure Flame was weak.

However, Hamel’s innate ability, Azure Flame, can increase in power when mediated by blood.

Meaning:

‘If we sprinkle blood first, it will generate enough firepower to burn that demon.’

Hamel glared coldly at the cellar door.

There wasn’t much time left.

One more step forward and Hamel’s dagger could pierce the old woman.

For that, the girl’s role was vitally important.

It had been a long time since he felt such overwhelming helplessness.

Had he been carried away by titles like Saint or the lord?

Exorcism work was always this desperate and grueling.

It was a fact he’d reminded himself of countless times as a child, but he had somehow forgotten.

Hamel steadied himself and looked at the girl.

“Can you do it?”

If the girl couldn’t, he’d have to make another plan.

When Hamel gently looked at her, the girl hesitated for a moment.

And after a moment,

She gripped the cup of blood tightly and hurled it onto the stove.

“I’ll try. No—I will do it!”

Hamel stared for a moment, then offered a faint smile.

To be so brave in such a horrific situation.

Both siblings seemed to be born that way.

‘I can’t afford to lose either of them’

Hamel prepared for the battle that would soon come.