Chapter 43

"――A human?"

Upon receiving the report from Ceres, Helian involuntarily asked for confirmation.

"Yes. Beyond the valley, at the foot of the cliff in the plain, there's only one person... and it seems to be a child."

Helian frowned at the information that a child was alone in the wilderness. Normally, it would take three days to reach this place, but Helian and his companions had managed to arrive in just one day by using magic to shortcut through the cliffs and valleys. However, they still had half a day's journey by carriage to reach the border city from their current location. It was clearly unnatural for a child to be alone in the middle of such a wilderness.

"Can you describe the child's features?"

"I can't see the face clearly... but, judging by the build, it's probably a girl in her mid-teens. Her clothing... looks quite fine. Other distinctive features include—"

Ceres began to describe the child's appearance. Among the details, there was one that Helian could not afford to miss. He asked Ceres, trying to hide his shock.

"―Are you sure?"

"Yes. What should we do?"

"Protect her. It's a troublesome situation, but we can't leave her behind."

"Understood. Then... ah!"

"What is it?"

"...It seems she's being chased by someone. I couldn't see them due to the complex terrain, but there are multiple figures closing in on the child."

"Leve, carry me to a high ground! Galdy, stay by the carriage and wait for further orders!"

Leve, upon receiving the order, said, "Excuse me," and then, as before, lifted Helian's body. After a moment's pause, a heavy pressure enveloped Helian's body, as if he had been launched. Leve, who had even stronger leg muscles in his fully human form, easily leaped with Helian in his arms and landed on a nearby high ground.

Supporting his dizzy head from the sudden acceleration, Helian surveyed the wilderness from the open high ground. However, he couldn't see the figures Ceres had mentioned at first glance. Frowning, he unlocked a new <Virtual Window>.

"Tactical Virtual Window: Unlock. Selection: Map"

The <Map> he called up displayed the life forms detected by Ceres. As she had reported, several yellow dots were surrounding a blue dot. Blue represented a neutral unit leaning towards allies, while yellow represented a virtual enemy or a neutral unit leaning towards enemies.

The movement of the dots resembled a hunt. The blue dot—the girl to be rescued—was cornered and completely surrounded.

"From what I can see... their equipment is mismatched, so they don't seem to be a regular army. The way they're chasing the child with weapons drawn, they definitely don't look like guards... they might be bandits or thieves," Ceres reported.

Helian recalled what the adventurer who visited Lastwood had said about "mercenaries turned bandits."

In this region, which could be called a lawless area just beyond the city limits, bandits were treated as targets for extermination, just like monsters. After the disaster that attacked the border city—a large-scale raid by a group of monsters—the bandits had become more active, and the Adventurer's Guild had issued a renewed recommendation for their extermination.

Helian wanted to lament his misfortune at encountering such a group, but the immediate problem needed to be addressed first.

"Ceres, can you target the enemies with your sniping spell?"

"Yes, I can. Please give me a moment."

Ceres deployed a transparent magic circle as a platform. She used a gravity manipulation spell to step onto the magic circle and place both feet on it. Then, after pushing her long hair aside to expose her elf's distinctive pointed ears, Ceres made a gesture as if drawing a bow without a weapon. A white glow appeared in her hands, forming the shape of a drawn bow. This was the elf race's unique skill, "Bow of Radiance."

"I'm ready. Should I start sniping? Is it okay to kill them?"

Ceres asked casually. For her, it was just a matter of confirmation. However, Helian's body tensed at the word.

(…Kill?)

Ceres had specifically asked for confirmation because before they set out, Helian had instructed her to avoid killing as much as possible.

During the previous exploration, Leve and the others had been ready to kill their opponents without hesitation. In the case of Wenli in Lastwood, if Helian had been a moment slower in stopping them, they would have definitely killed her. If that had happened, it's doubtful that Helian could have built the good relationship with Lastwood that they have now. Considering these events, Helian had imposed a restriction on his subordinates to avoid killing.

However, Helian was beginning to regret giving that instruction impulsively.

"…Is it possible to hold back and not kill them?"

"I can hold back, but... with so many enemies, it's questionable whether we can protect the child. My long-range sniping isn't suited for rapid fire, and I can't guarantee how many precise shots I can make in a row..."

There were over twenty enemies. If his subordinates specialized in long-range precision sniping, it might have been possible to incapacitate all of them at once while holding back. However, Ceres was trained for wide-area extermination. This situation, with the target in the middle of the enemy group, was not suitable for her.

It was already a difficult task to make her do something she wasn't good at, and adding the condition of not killing was too much to ask. If the priority was to protect the girl, it was necessary to decisively eliminate the enemies. However,

(…Do I have to be the one to say it?)

To protect the girl, it was necessary to kill the enemies. But without Helian's permission, Ceres couldn't kill them. If Helian didn't say "kill," the girl would die. It was a simple and clear equation.

(Do I have to order someone to kill?)

The moment he realized it, his knees almost gave out. He thought, "What am I thinking now?" He had dirtied his hands during the rebellion and in Noblewood. Although he hadn't directly killed anyone, the piles of bodies that resulted from his desires were undeniable. His hands were already stained with blood. It was a cowardly and shameful act to hesitate at this point.

But, he was still afraid. He was deeply afraid of ordering the killing of a human. Despite the racial prejudice, he felt as if he would cross a line by giving such an order.

"…!"

He was being forced to make a choice. But he couldn't make up his mind. Meanwhile, the situation was progressing without regard for his indecision.

On the <Map>, a yellow dot overlapped with the blue dot. The girl, who had been surrounded, had been captured. There was no time to waste. Ceres had already drawn her bow of light. All she needed was Helian's command to shoot. If Helian said "kill the enemies," the girl could be saved.

But, no matter how long he waited, his mouth wouldn't form the words "kill them and save the girl." Helian's cowardly subconscious was holding back the order to Ceres.

"…Lord Helian. The man who pinned the girl has torn her clothes. The situation is becoming unpleasant."

Through clenched teeth, Helian heard Leve's calm voice, enhanced by his visual abilities. His face changed, and he reflexively called up the <Record> in the <Basic Virtual Window>. The girl's scream, heard by Ceres's pointed ears, was output through <Information Sharing> in the <Record>.

"Someone, anyone, help me! Please, help meeeeee—!!"

A desperate cry. A plea for help from the bottom of her heart. The voice didn't reach anyone, but Helian knew. He knew her earnest wish to be saved. The image of the unknown girl overlapped with that of the half-elf sisters.

—Therefore, Helian shouted.

"Target identified as bandits, shooting authorized! Save that girl, Ceres!!"

At the same moment, a beam of light shot through the air. The light, transformed into an arrow, pierced the skull of the man who had covered the girl.

Immediately, the <Map> changed. The yellow dot that had overlapped with the girl's dot disappeared. This meant that the enemy who had covered the girl had stopped his life activities due to Ceres's attack.

Helian had ordered it. Ceres had shot it. A person had died.

"—Communication Virtual Window: Unlock! Mode Selection: Voice Chat! Target Input: Direct Selection!"

The blank in his thoughts lasted only a moment. Ignoring the emotions rising from the depths of his stomach, he launched the <Communication Virtual Window>.

He directly manipulated the blue dot on the map to specify the connection target. As with the experiment with Lilifa, the connection process was completed normally. Five seconds had passed since the sniping, but the blue dot on the map was not moving. Helian shouted in frustration.

"—What are you doing!? Get up quickly!"

He zoomed in on the map information. On the <Map> in the <Tactical Virtual Window> set for small-scale combat, he confirmed the battle situation. But the blue dot didn't move. The girl's position didn't change. She hadn't moved a single step.

Seeing this, a surge of anger rose in him. He shouted in a voice like a scream, trying to cover the bitterness rising from his stomach with anger.

"Get up! Do you want to die!?"

He had killed people to save her. If he had decided to save her, he would save her no matter what. He couldn't let her die here. If she died here, he wouldn't know why he had dirtied his hands. He wouldn't forgive her if she died here...

"If you don't want to die, get up! Run towards the sun—!"

There was movement. The girl started moving towards Helian and his companions. Another dot appeared in her direction, already changing from yellow to red, indicating a clear enemy. Using the <Command> to order Ceres to eliminate the target.

Ceres, who was already prepared, immediately released an arrow from her drawn bow. The second arrow, racing across the wilderness, hit the enemy blocking the girl's path. The number of red dots on the <Map> decreased. There was no time to be shaken. The enemy group started moving to chase the fleeing girl. With a click of his tongue, he gave the next order.

"Tch... Leve, go ahead! Prioritize the girl's rescue—"

"No, Lord Helian. I believe it's possible to save her with Ceres's sniping alone. I want to continue guarding you—"

Leve, who was usually obedient, offered this opinion. Anger, like a tantrum, rose in him. Why now of all times? Helian raised his voice.

"—It doesn't matter! It's an order! Go quickly!"

Leve, realizing that he couldn't make Helian reconsider, nodded and kicked off the ground, dashing forward. He leaped into the air, like a bullet, and landed on the ground.

Helian, watching Leve's back, temporarily deactivated the <Communication Virtual Window> connected to the girl. He then used a verbal command to unlock a new <Map> with a different scale setting, displaying two types of <Maps> simultaneously to monitor the battle situation.

"Ceres! Maintain your sniping position until Leve arrives! I will designate the targets!"

He classified the enemy closest to the girl as the primary target and the two enemies following closely behind as secondary targets. Enough time had passed since the second shot. He waited for the third shot. Ceres maintained a state where she could shoot immediately upon receiving a signal.

However, just before Helian gave the shooting command, Leve descended like a comet towards the leading enemy. He arrived earlier than expected. A red dot disappeared. Helian immediately discarded the <Command> he was about to send.

There were twenty-three red dots remaining on the <Map>. The situation was overwhelmingly unfavorable in terms of numbers, but the difference in combat ability was clear. The dot representing Leve moved swiftly across the battlefield, reducing the number of red dots each time it overlapped with one.

—Twenty seconds after Leve's arrival.

All the red dots disappeared from the <Map> floating in the center of Helian's vision. The only dots left in the battle area were the blue dot representing the allies and the blue dot representing the girl to be rescued.

Just that.

All the other lives that had been there were completely eradicated.

"Phew. It's over, Your Majesty. I was a bit nervous about the precision shooting, but I'm glad it hit."

Ceres, who had put away her "Bow of Radiance," said with a relieved tone. She then slowly descended and landed beside Helian.

"...Ah."

With an ambiguous response, Helian called up the <Character Information> of the enemies. While their identities and overall profiles were unknown, he had obtained basic combat-related information by defeating them in battle. He checked the innate ability section in the ability list, but none of the enemies had innate abilities.

In a sense, it was natural. Innate abilities were extremely rare. Even in the ranks of a major nation's army, there were subordinates without innate abilities, and the probability of having abilities triggered by death, such as self-resurrection, was one in several hundred thousand. It was unlikely that they would have such abilities. The case of the rebels was an exception.

The bandits were dead. They were all definitely dead and would never come back to life.

"Your Majesty? Is something wrong?"

"...Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Seeing his bowed figure, Ceres asked inquisitively. Helian tried to maintain a calm demeanor to hide his agitation, but the unpleasant feeling in his chest wouldn't go away.

"——"

Helian was the King of the Ten Thousand Demons. In the multi-racial nation of Alkymira, which embraced a vast number of races, racial discrimination was taboo. Whether they were enemies or harmful beasts, they should be exterminated equally, regardless of their race. In that sense, his actions were correct as a king.

However, he was probably not fit to be a king. Because it felt so disgusting. The discomfort was incomparably worse than motion sickness. Unpleasant emotions were still crawling around in his head. He felt like he would start screaming if he let his guard down.

What a pitiful sight.

His current expression was something he couldn't show to his subordinates.

It was too undignified.

The idea of a man like this calling himself a king was laughable.

He was far from the ideal king.

—But, even so, he had decided to persevere.

"...Ceres, turn your back until I say it's okay. This is an order."

"Huh? Ah, yes, understood."

Although she didn't understand the intention, it was an order from her lord. Ceres obediently turned around and faced away from Helian.

Helian then clenched his right fist tightly. Even as his nails dug into his palm and blood seeped out, he clenched his fist even tighter. He stared at the hard fist he had created for a while, then struck his own cheek with all his might.

A dull thud.

Sparks exploded in his vision, and he stumbled. A dull pain in his cheekbone. The taste of iron on his tongue. It seemed he had cut his mouth badly. He swallowed the blood, making a gurgling sound.

...Ah, he knew without being told.

This was a pointless act of self-punishment. The cheapness of trying to switch his consciousness with such a weak act made him want to vomit. But it was necessary at this moment.

He felt like crying at his own pitiful state, but he had shed all his tears on that day.

So, he couldn't cry here and now.

He gritted his teeth, puffed out his chest, and looked forward.

"It's fine now. And from here on, you should also be in your fully human form. Shape-shifting into a demon form is generally prohibited, except in emergencies. Understand?"

After using a potion to erase the evidence of the blow, he told his subordinate behind him.

Ceres, who had turned around again, had a puzzled look on her face, but she nodded as if regaining her composure when Helian gave the order firmly.

When Ceres completed her transformation into her fully human form, she looked slightly younger than in her demon form. Her elf's distinctive pointed ears had become human-like, and she was a bit shorter. Her skin color remained the same, and her well-proportioned figure was almost unchanged, but she was undoubtedly in a completely human form.

Helian gave a short command to Ceres, who had completed her transformation.

"—We will head to Leve and the others now. Can I count on you, Ceres?"

"Understood."

A sphere of light enveloped Helian and Ceres.

It was a gravity reduction barrier spell cast without incantation.

They then glided down to the ground, crossing the valley.

On the plain below, Leve and the girl were waiting.

*The next chapter will be posted on [March 16 (Friday)].*