Aman could do nothing about Lucas's rampage. Of course, subduing Lucas, who was in a human body, was an incredibly easy task, but his anger was too great to stop him.

'I also wanted to see how far he could go.'

The man before them was literally torn to shreds and died. Even as he took his last breath, Lucas was cruel.

Worried that the man might die early from the blood gushing from the arm he had first blown off, he had even cast healing magic on that arm.

The man died after experiencing the maximum pain a human could feel until the very end.

"It's no fun anymore now that I've cut his tongue. It feels like I'm tormenting a helpless animal."

With those last words, Lucas ended the man's life. The aura emanating from his small body was definitely not that of a child.

Furthermore, the actions he showed felt like a natural repetition of something he had done many times before.

It was definitely not the action of a child killing a person for the first time. It felt similar to a child tearing off the legs or wings of a flying insect without any sense of guilt.

But even in that situation where he couldn't control his anger, Lucas first cast sleep magic to put the children to sleep. It was so they wouldn't see the cruel scene that was about to unfold.

A dry laugh escaped at his quiet consideration.

'To mince a person like that... is this the amusement of the God of Punishment?'

Seeing him mince a person in such an extraordinary way, the God of Punishment was the first thing that came to Aman's mind.

"Filthy bastard."

As Lucas, who had neatly finished by setting the man's corpse on fire, turned to look at him, Aman flinched without realizing it.

"A-are you done?"

"..."

He had clearly forgotten about Aman's existence. It was certain from his trembling pupils and the twitching of his lips.

"Did you forget I was here..."

"N-no."

Lucas's eyes, as he hastily finished his words, wavered aimlessly as if his inner thoughts had been exposed.

"Don't worry. I kept checking for any presence nearby. It seems this was the only one here."

Aman, who lightly pointed to the man who was now turning to ash with the tip of his chin, gave a crooked smile.

"Is that so. I apologize for showing you an unpleasant sight."

Lucas, who swept his hair back once, bowed his head slightly.

There was only one reason why Lucas was showing such a polite attitude to Aman now.

'Please just don't act up and threaten me.'

His anger hadn't completely subsided yet, and there was no need to stir up trouble before finishing everything.

"Not at all. Thanks to you, I learned how to kill a human in the most painful way possible."

Aman, winking one eye, laughed good-naturedly.

"Hah... all these children..."

"Well, we have to find their homes first. They're lost children, aren't they?"

Lucas, who understood Aman's intention, nodded once and turned to leave the underground prison.

"Just teleport and go. Why be so formal."

"..."

"I'll take care of things here."

Outside the academy, Aman always used honorifics, even if he was being cheeky. They both knew well that they had a rough idea of each other's identities, and after seeing him mince a person like this today, it was also ridiculous to keep hiding his identity.

"Understood. Then I'll leave the rest to you."

Aman, who watched the spot where Lucas had disappeared via teleport for a moment, stretched widely.

"Phew! What a tiring dragon life! When am I going to find all these kids' homes..."

While investigating the crest's identity alone, he had luckily stumbled upon one of their hideouts. When Aman, who had found this place, came to check it out first, he was also aware of the existence of the underground prison.

Even if it wasn't for Lucas, Aman would have taken care of this place himself.

But it was already too late. His plan was to come together, take a quick look, and then go after them to find the actual members.

But Lucas had ignored his warning and made such a mess...

"No, why! He's the one who caused the trouble, and I'm the one cleaning it up!"

As he thought about it, his irritation flared up, and he stomped his feet and roughly messed up his hair.

***

Lucas, who had returned to the academy, was surprised to see the person waiting for him.

"Son!"

'This is not good. The smell of blood right now...'

He regretted not teleporting directly to his room, but it was already too late.

"M-mother. Right now, for a moment... I should first go to my room and..."

Lucas's plan to quickly head to his room by sticking close to the hallway wall did not go as planned.

"You're going to leave without even a hug? It'll only take a moment..."

Even in front of Blaine's sullen expression, Lucas tried to run away quickly.

"Ugh!"

But Blaine, who snatched up Lucas who was about to dash off on his small feet, held him tight and wouldn't let go.

"Huh? What is this smell?"

"Th-this... it's... it's... potion! Something exploded in the lab..."

"Ah, so that's why you were trying to change your clothes quickly! It's okay. Mom just stopped by to say goodbye."

"Goodbye..."

"Yes. I'm going back."

Blaine, who gently released Lucas from her embrace, smiled softly.

"I'm relieved that you seem to be doing well. You have good professors too... I've decided not to worry anymore. Still, you have to come home this vacation, okay?"

"Yes. Don't worry. I'll definitely go home."

"Don't stay out late, and also..."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you have nothing to worry about."

As Lucas, who held Blaine's hand tightly, smiled brightly, she too finally let go of her worries a little.

"Lucas!"

"Rookie!"

Lucas, who turned around at the voices calling him, smiled brightly.

"Mother. These are my friends. This is Paula Pelleve. And this is Skire O'Neil."

This time, he introduced them first himself. Since changing his mind, he had decided to try and make these little kids his friends.

"O'Neil..."

Blaine's expression darkened as she mulled over Skire's surname.

"Hello, ma'am!"

"Hello. I am the second son of the O'Neil ducal family, Skire O'Neil."

Skire, who bowed his knee slightly in accordance with noble etiquette, smiled brightly.

"Thank you for being our Lucas's friend, Miss Paula, Mr. Skire."

But at Skire's bright greeting, Blaine soon relaxed her expression and smiled brightly.

"Then I'll see you this vacation, my son!"

Blaine, who handed him a small bundle containing allowance after saying her goodbyes, left.

"Ugh, what is this smell on you?!"

"A very foul smell is coming from you. Why don't you wash up?"

"I was just about to. I got covered in something unpleasant."

From him, who was watching his mother's retreating back, the scent of a human was now beginning to emerge.

***

The people gathered in the plaza were all talking about the same topic.

The missing children. What happened to those children, and who those children were, stories of other people's homes.

"Did you see that?"

"What?"

"The thing posted on the bulletin board in front of the imperial palace."

"What was posted?"

The imperial palace, which had handed over all the children's bodies to their parents, issued a statement announcing their position.

The content was a clichéd story about the emperor's grief over this incident, his understanding of the parents' feelings, and his promise to find the culprit.

"Tsk, what's the point of doing that after the kids are all dead?"

"Still, it's something, isn't it? The parents need to catch the culprit to throw their stones of anger at, don't they?"

"I hope they catch them soon."

All the children were dead. The parents of the dead children were mired in despair and wanted to direct this resentment at anyone right now.

Loud arguments always came and went from their homes, and the embers of misfortune spread all too quickly.

The imperial citizens let out sighs of pity and wished for the culprit to be caught as soon as possible.

"Oh, the guards are going."

All the people gathered in the plaza looked at one place.

The number of guards selected for the search party was truly enormous. As it was an order directly from the emperor, their expressions also showed a considerable amount of tension.

Among them was also a parent of one of the missing children this time.

'Dad... will definitely catch them. The ones who did that to our daughter...!'

The man's eyes trembled as he gripped the scabbard at his waist once.

***

"Oh my! Our daughter. Who do you take after to be so pretty?"

The man's face, holding the child on his lap, was full of smiles.

"Um... mom!"

"Huh? You don't take after dad?"

"Nope! Dad has a lot of beard and short hair! I have long hair and no beard!"

The man, who had paused for a moment at his daughter's clever answer, soon laughed out loud.

"Hahaha! That's right! Then who does our daughter take after to be so smart?"

"Um... mom."

"Huh? You don't take after dad for this either?"

"Nope! Mom said so. She said dad's head is full of muscles too. She said he's a dummy!"

"What?! Lisa's mom! What did you say to the kid!?"

The man's mouth, calling his wife to scold her, was still smiling.

The strength to endure silently even while living as a low-ranking guard, no matter how much he was chewed out at work.

His rabbit-like wife and his daughter. The name 'family' became the strength to clench his two fists and endure even the toughest of days.

Guard Urode had the strength to overcome any difficulty because he had them.

"Wow, Lisa. What's this?"

A small rabbit doll in his daughter's hand. The shape was quite clumsy, but it was enough to recognize it as a rabbit.

"Mom made it for me! Dad, look here, this is my name. So even if someone takes it, we can find our Toto. They'll find it by looking at my name!"

"Wow~ our Lisa is so lucky! Give this to dad!"

"Nooo!"

The man, chasing after the child who quickly ran away lest her rabbit doll be taken, mimicking a clumsy monster.

Laughter never ceased in their home.

Until his daughter disappeared.

"What were you doing when the child disappeared!"

"Sob... she said she was going to the festival..."

"No! Where is there a crazy woman who sends a nine-year-old child to the festival alone!!!"

A loud shout burst from the man's mouth as he messed up his hair as if he was going crazy.

"She said she was going with the neighborhood kids... she said she'd come back early... and this isn't the first time... sob... I-I must have been crazy..."

"Aaaaaah!!!"

"What about you! You're a guard, so why can't you find the child!!"

At the man's loud shout, she too shot up from her seat and shouted. The words that burst out in frustration became the spark for another big fight.

The shadow of misfortune fell upon their home.

***

A village near the Escar Mountain Range, quite a distance from the imperial capital.

This nameless village was a village where refugees from the Esna Kingdom had migrated to live.

People called this place the Esna slash-and-burn village, or the place where the Esna people lived, but no one paid much attention to it.

"Search every nook and cranny!!!"

"No, why on earth are you doing this!!!"

Now, the guards had invaded that place and were turning their homes into a mess.

Under the emperor's order, the guards, who were first to search the places where the immigrants lived, were rummaging through every house to find traces of harm done to the children.

The villagers were terrified, and here and there, crying children and mothers soothing them could be seen.

The elderly sat on the ground and trembled, and the men who came out to face the guards were met with nothing but ruthless violence.

"Aaargh!"

A man who was beaten with a guard's scabbard was lying flat on the ground, rolling around.

'...If I just find out who did that to my daughter!!'

Guard Urode, who had lost his daughter, was also at this scene.

There were also those who tried to stop him, lest he make a wrong judgment while submerged in grief, but he wanted to see with his own eyes. Who it was that did that to his daughter.

"Mom... I'm scared... who are those men?"

"It's okay, it'll be okay. Don't worry."

The man's eyes stopped at one place. A child crying in its mother's arms. A familiar doll held in the child's arms.

"...Toto?"

It was definitely the rabbit doll his wife had made, which his daughter always held tightly in her arms.

-Snatch!

"Ugh! Give it back! Give it back!"

The man's eyes, who had run up in a single bound and snatched the doll, shook greatly. The initials written on the back of the rabbit doll, which he turned over just in case.

"Lisa...! Aaaaaah! Lisa!!!"

The moment suspicion turned into certainty. The man wailed.

The guards who came running at the sound urged him on.

"Wh-what's wrong? Urode! Get a hold of yourself!!"

The man, wailing with the rabbit doll in his arms.

"It's... it's my daughter's doll... uwaaaaah..."

"?!"

"Found it!! It's them!! The missing child's doll has been found!!!"

And so, they found a place to direct the arrows of blame and resentment.

Starting with his cry, the sound of metal being drawn was heard from all over, and the sorrow and anger for the missing children were exchanged for the lives of the innocent.

(End of Chapter)