Aman, having returned to the imperial capital, quietly sought out the home of one of the missing children.

The light seeping from under the main gate late at night was proof that they were still eagerly waiting for their child.

Aman, who slipped a neatly folded note under it, turned away bitterly.

'This is all I can do.'

The note described where the children were.

'There's going to be an uproar...'

Amusement as a human was always enjoyable.

But whenever a situation like this occurred, the urge to erase the existence of humans would sometimes arise.

Even a mere beast does not touch the young. Just as even a hungry tiger does not prey on a lone fawn.

But humans would mercilessly sacrifice anyone if there was something they wanted.

Even if it was a powerless young child.

He had tried using tracking magic at the place where the children had met their fate.

But a rather skilled individual had erased the traces, making it difficult to find them completely.

He had tried to follow the faint traces that remained, but even that did not yield much of a result.

It was a situation with circumstantial evidence but no physical proof.

At any other time, a situation like this would have been very enjoyable.

But not now.

'A race that knows no moderation. Fine, run and hide. I will find you wherever you are.'

***

"Aaaaaaaah!!!"

A woman's piercing scream echoed through the air.

"Alonda!!! Alonda!!!"

The wail of a parent facing the cold corpse of their child was like that of a beast.

"Aaaaaaaah... Uwaaaaaah... No... No!!"

The mother, unable to accept reality, wrapped her child's cold body with her own and rubbed every part of it.

"Wake up... Alonda!! Wake up... Mom's here... It's mom..."

"Please... Alonda... Alonda!!! Open your eyes!! Your eyes... Sobbb..."

Even though only the parents of one child out of the sixteen corpses were present, their sorrow enveloped the entire forest.

***

"Mom! I'm heading out then!"

"Okay, play safe and come home early, alright?"

"Yeah! I'll just watch the parade and come right back."

"Okay. You kept the allowance I gave you earlier safe in your pocket, right?"

At her mother's question, the child patted her pocket and smiled bashfully.

"Who are you going to watch with today?"

"Um... today Simon, Alfonso, Rona, and also..."

The mother, watching the child count on her small, wiggling fingers, smiled as if she could die from the cuteness and nodded.

"Okay, I get it. Have fun and come home."

The child, who waved her hand brightly, went out the door.

Until this moment, she never dreamed. That this would be the last she saw of her child.

***

-Knock knock knock

"Yes. Who is it?"

"Hello. I'm Alonda's mom."

The door soon opened, and a woman with a worried face stood there.

"Oh my, Alonda's mother. What brings you here..."

"I'm sorry for the late hour. Has Alfonso come home by any chance?"

"No. Not yet... He went out with the kids today to watch the parade."

"Yes... our Alonda hasn't come home yet either... I was worried, so I came to check."

"Hohoho. Don't worry too much. Simon, who went with them, is already thirteen, so he'll take good care of them and send them back soon."

Slightly reassured by the woman who waved her hands as if to say not to worry, she smiled faintly.

"I suppose so, right? Am I being too obvious a mother of a daughter? Hoho."

"Not at all. I understand completely. If I had a daughter like Alonda, I would have done the same, of course. It's only seven o'clock, so why don't you come in and have a cup of tea?"

"Oh my, should I? This house is closer to the plaza, so if I stay here, I might be able to see Alonda pass by."

She readily accepted the gentle invitation and went into the house with her.

But even when it became eight o'clock, and then nine o'clock, the children did not return.

They didn't take action until the parents, feeling the gravity of the situation, all gathered in one house.

It was because they had complacently thought that their children, who roamed the neighborhood every day, were probably just having fun at the festival today.

They ran all over the forest, calling their children's names again and again.

But the only sounds that returned were those of owls and flying insects.

A day passed like that.

All the parents blamed themselves. They blamed their own shortcomings and recited all the things they couldn't do for their children, crying until they fainted, and crying again.

Then, when no more tears came out and only a croaking sound came from their throats, they clung to their last hope and ran to the imperial palace.

No matter how much they pleaded with the guards, their last hope, a search operation was not carried out.

They simply dismissed it as children who had gone out to play and run away from home together.

One of the fathers who had lost a child was a guard, but he too was a low-ranking member and had no power.

Another day, which felt like a hundred years, passed like that.

Only on the third day did the guards begin their search.

That too yielded no results. And so, the parents began to lose hope that they could find their children.

***

"The immigrants, you say?"

"Yes, that's what they're saying."

"But why on earth would the immigrants do such a thing?"

"Isn't it because life has gotten hard for them?"

"Anyway... we shouldn't have accepted those refugees in the first place! Tsk!"

The news of the sixteen missing children had already spread widely throughout the city. No one knew who had spread it, but the blame was being shifted to the immigrants.

Five years had already passed since the impoverished people of the neighboring Esna Kingdom and Mora Inwang Kingdom began to migrate to the Arant Kingdom due to the long civil war.

At first, the opposition from the imperial citizens, including those around the capital, was fierce.

They were dissatisfied with letting people from other countries of unknown origin into their country and giving them jobs, and they were also dissatisfied with taking them in and giving them food and settlement funds.

But they were refugees who had fled to survive.

They hid in the forest, boiling tree bark to eat and enduring each day. If there was work, they would do any kind of hard labor without hesitation and do their best.

As time passed, the imperial citizens also learned to live with the immigrants.

But there were always problems that time could not solve. There were definitely people among the migrated immigrants who caused trouble, and it was difficult to be forgiven for the same mistake just because they were immigrants.

Such small complaints gathered and public opinion was boiling.

"No, but still... it's not like the immigrants have only been coming to the festival for a year or two... we all buy the goods they bring cheaply and use them well."

"Tsk! Cheap things are shoddy! I'm telling you, the handle of the teapot I bought at the last festival already snapped right off!"

"That's right! I also bought a comb brought by a citizen of the Morai Kingdom last time, and several teeth have already fallen out!"

"Is that the problem right now? Are the goods sold by imperial citizens so expensive and of such good quality?! That's not it, I'm saying why would the immigrants do such a thing!"

As the blame was shifted to the immigrants, even a mere teapot and a hair comb were becoming objects of criticism.

"Hey, you! Where are you from? Anyone would think you're from Esna!"

"What?! You?! Look here! The problem isn't where I'm from, but doesn't it just not make sense logically! They're not a band of thieves, does it make sense to take children and kill them because life is hard!"

The anger of the imperial citizens flared up like an autumn ember spreading on the wind.

A single small ember burned the entire forest, and the imperial palace's response fanned the flames.

"His Majesty the Emperor has already ordered a large-scale investigation targeting the immigrants! Since it's the word of the higher-ups, doesn't it make sense?"

"No! Do the higher-ups know everything? My goodness! An innocent person is about to get caught!"

"You! I'll remember those words. A bunch of kids have died, and an innocent person is the problem?! Shouldn't we catch the culprit quickly!"

The blurred point of contention caused a commotion, and that commotion spread like a contagion throughout the empire.

'Ha, immigrants. They're putting on a show. Right.'

Aman, who was watching the scene, clicked his tongue.

The tracking magic he had used when he discovered the children's bodies the other day had not yielded much of a result.

But the same crest was engraved on the necks of all the children.

Aman investigated what that crest meant.

Those who followed black magic. Among them, the dirtiest group that would not hesitate to do any evil deed for their own gain.

Lakmer. It was their crest.

***

"So you're saying those crests are the crest of Lakmer?"

"That's right."

"Do you know where they are?"

"I do."

Lucas's brow furrowed at Aman's nonchalant reply.

"You're frowning again. Now, let's go."

Aman, who shook his head, gently held out a hand.

"Ah! And... you can't go wild when we get there. We're just going to sneak in, peek, and come back."

"..."

Lucas, who gave a slight nod instead of an answer, grabbed his hand, and in an instant, space and time distorted.

The place they arrived at was in front of an ordinary family home.

There was a small vegetable garden in the back, and a nameplate indicating whose house it was hung rather cutely on the main gate.

Thanks to the invisibility magic Aman had cast, the two of them were not visible, but Lucas was very flustered.

"Are you sure you set the coordinates right?"

"This is the right place."

As he followed where Aman led, a small warehouse attached to the side of the house came into view.

-Click.

The warehouse door was firmly locked, but Aman looked around once and easily opened the door.

As the door opened, a thick smell of blood wafted out.

But it was somehow a little different from the smell of blood he was used to.

"Ugh..."

As Lucas let out a small retch at the smell, Aman took out a small bottle from his pocket and handed it to him.

"Drink it. It will help."

When he opened the bottle cap and took a slight sniff, a faint herb scent wafted out. It seemed to be a medicine that had a calming effect on the stomach.

As he drank the medicine in one gulp, his stomach felt comfortable as if by magic. In addition, he felt his mind clearing up a bit.

"Now, let's go in."

How far had they descended the stairs, where not a single speck of light entered after closing the door? The smell of blood grew thicker, to the point where his nose was getting used to it.

-Clang... Clink... Clink...

The sound of a metal door shaking and the cold sound of chains dragging on the floor echoed in their ears.

'...Shit. What the hell is this situation?'

Lucas's expression gradually darkened as he held his breath and headed inside.

It was an underground prison. People were locked up like dogs in a kennel.

And they were young children.

The children's eyes were unfocused from how much they had starved, and chains were bound to all of their legs, lest they try to escape with those thin arms and legs.

-Clink... Clink...

The children, like animals that had been locked in a small space for a long time, would either circle one spot or bang their heads against the iron bars.

'One, two, three... Huh!?'

Aman's eyes, which were calmly counting the children in his head, began to shake violently.

"Even if I chew you up... it won't be enough... you sons of bitches..."

At the voice that suddenly came from the empty air, the guard in the prison shot up from his seat and looked around.

"Wh-who's there!!! Show yourself!!"

At the guard's shouting voice, the children began to look up at the empty air one by one and cry out.

"H-help me... please... please give me some food..."

"Water... water..."

"Uwaah... home... home... send me... send me..."

Not a single child's voice came out properly, from how long they had been shouting.

"You son of a bitch."

The guard's expression, who was looking for the source of the voice, twisted viciously.

"Ha! A brat who hasn't even dried the blood on his head. What? Did you come to save your friend? You little piece of shit!"

The guard scoffed at the sudden appearance of the child's figure.

"Blood on my head? Right. I'll dry up all your blood today. You young punk!!!"

To him, who had lived for half a millennium, the guard in front of him was just that. A young punk not even the size of a sprout.

"Sleep."

Simultaneously with Lucas's command, all the children in the prison collapsed.

"Ha! Where did this brat learn such a pathetic trick... Uwaaaaaah!!!"

The guard, who couldn't finish his sentence due to the sudden pain, looked down at his arm.

No, he looked down at where his arm had been.

"I blew off too much. I should have pulled out your fingernails one by one... I was too rash."

At the eerie voice coming from the young child, the guard trembled, clutching his arm from which blood was gushing out.

"Now, which part should I blow off this time. Huh?"

Lucas, who had lost his grip on reason, was running rampant.

(End of Chapter)