Chapter 749

Episode 749 Great Operation to Move the Elf Village (6)

Ray, visiting the Merchant Army in the midst of preparing for the move in the Kingdom of Celia, found only a harp.

“So let’s see Harpman’s face for a second!”

“Don’t you say no! Sober is not such a leisurely person!”

I don’t know where Hafman was looking at, but he was so idle that he was always counting gold coins in his office.

Ray held out his hand and said.

“Because this is Taesangdanju’s hand!”

“Yeah man! Do you dare to scorn the upper ranks for not even mentioning the name of Danju? Get out of here!”

A man who appeared to be a new sentry pushed through the window and barred the door.

It was impossible to use force against it, so Ray had to step back from the top.

“Aagh! Halfman!”

I called desperately, but still no answer.

* * *

Ray sat down in a nearby plaza and sighed.

“It gets complicated.”

there are no people on the street

Even the half-man corps had almost no manpower except for the new sentry and the receptionist inside the corps, so it was difficult to meet even those who knew their faces.

There is a mana crystal ball as a way to contact them, but now that they have left it in the Celia royal family, it can be said that it is a total crisis.

While I was lamenting my situation while looking up at the night sky, I saw a small child running away from me in the distance.

Hurrying steps as if being chased by someone.

He is holding something precious in his arms.

Curious, Ray spoke up.

“Hey kid.”

“…”

There was no answer.

The boy only glanced at her once, but was still busy walking.

“Kids these days have a dark personality.”

If a child who thought he was at most 10 years old would run, he would go there.

Ray brushed his butt off and got up and followed behind.

There was a shabby shabby house there.

The roof is made of twigs and straw, and there are traces of wood patching in places.

The boy ran into the house without even a fire.

“may!”

When his name is called, a thin little boy sticks his head out from the bed with the floor not even properly laid.

“brother.”

“You don’t have to worry anymore! Because my brother brought the medicine!”

“Where did this… come from?”

The boy, who was silent for a moment at the girl’s question, said.

“It was given to me by good-hearted men.”

“Um… I’m glad.”

He smiled brightly, but he had a few teeth missing, so that appearance stuck in his impression for some reason.

The boy who smiled at his sister put down the things he had kept in his arms.

A few mushrooms and several things that looked like tree roots.

There was an old canteen next to it, and it must have stopped at the well to draw water.

Ray, who was looking at it, frowned.

‘poisonous mushroom? I’ve heard there’s a similar edible mushroom, but that’s a bit odd.’

Feeling that he shouldn’t just watch, Ray knocked on the door.

Knock –

The boy who was about to give medicine to his brother came closer to the door at the sound of knocking.

“who are you?”

“It’s stomach disease. Could you open the door for a minute?”

“Stomach sickness? We haven’t done anything wrong.”

“do not worry. I didn’t come here to ask for your sins.”

The boy opened the door, perhaps reassured by that statement.

He looked at the face covered in rice water with half fear and half wonder, and then made an ‘ah’ sound.

“Ah, that person!”

“okay. I tried to talk to him, but he ignored me and came to me.”

“What’s going on? I didn’t expect you to be a guard…”

Maybe he was being punished for ignoring his words.

To reassure the boy who must be thinking that, Ray smiled slightly.

“It’s not a big deal, it’s from an investigation.”

Leigh, looking around, looked around the house.

Cobwebs hang from the ceiling, and a few crumbly slices of bread are scattered randomly on the table.

I didn’t know there would be such a poor environment around the capital, so a natural saliva flowed out.

“Mmm.”

Apparently, there are no parents either.

Ray looked at the things the boy had brought.

I didn’t notice it when I saw it vaguely from a distance, but it’s certain when I see it up close.

this is a poisonous mushroom

If you eat it, you will surely suffer or die if you are unlucky.

I don’t know what kind of dog he was, but it was clear that he was playing a prank on a child.

Ray collected the mushrooms and roots the boy had brought with him.

“This is a poisonous mushroom. You can’t eat it.”

“yes?”

“It would be fine in the winter, but in a season like this, the roots are also poisonous, so I won’t be able to eat this either.”

The poison is too strong to be called medicinal.

The boy cried and grabbed his sleeve.

“Oh no… please don’t take it away!”

“I’m not taking it, I can’t eat this.”

“please! I’ll do whatever you ask me to do! Please don’t take these away…!”

Talk and rub your hands together.

Looking at his actions, it wasn’t like he had been robbed once or twice.

Ray suddenly looked at the boy.

face flushed red.

The bandaged hand looks like it is clenched into a fist.

Somehow I didn’t have a good feeling.

Ray, whose heart sank at the weak smell of blood, soon grabbed the boy’s wrist.

“You… this hand…”

“Ah, it’s nothing…! Just give it back! I’ll make money no matter what… Please…”

“…”

I was speechless for a moment.

Although covered with a bandage, all the fingers on his left hand are missing.

Judging from the blood still oozing out of it, it seemed that it hadn’t been long since it had been cut.

Ray’s expression hardened.

How strong is a child to protect himself?

Seeing a young child who couldn’t even find medicinal herbs running with the poison in his heart, there must be only one answer.

“Who did it?”

The boy hesitated at his question.

It is natural for an ordinary child to be terrified when the guardsmen press on.

But now Ray had no choice but to do so.

“say.”

“…May I speak to you outside?”

When the boy, who was watching his sister’s eyes, spoke with difficulty, Ray just nodded.

When I came out, the crisp night air stirred the tip of my nose.

Still a bit cold.

The boy looked at Ray to see if it was not cold, wearing thin clothes that were just padded with fabric.

“…you can never go anywhere and talk about this.”

“okay. I get it.”

Was it a little relieved by his firm answer?

The boy opened his mouth.

“I met a thief a few months ago. He was a man who would sometimes give his little sister medicines to use and give her animal skins or things that were out of use, but at some point he said he needed to return it.”

It’s common.

It was not uncommon for thieves to seduce neighborhood children and sell them into bandits, robbers, or slaves.

As Ray listened intently, words flowed out of the boy’s mouth that he didn’t even want to think about.

“At first you took the ear.”

The boy pulled back his shoulder-length hair.

There, instead of what could be called an ear, there was a sloppy hole that didn’t even have a proper shape.

“And today he took his finger. Those drugs are what I got in return for. So… can you give them back?”

The boy looked at himself.

Ray didn’t even hear the last words.

I took my ears and fingers.

Perhaps for the thieves, it was simply entertainment.

I only found out after walking around town today.

Right now, in the Kingdom of Celia, neither the knights nor the guards, nor even the clerk of a mere street tavern were keeping their seats.

Even the royal family is in a situation where they are struggling with financial difficulties, but what will be the bottom?

The result is the present misery.

Children, driven by poverty, seek out thieves and bandits in search of a place to rely on, and as a result they are consumed with their entertainment.

To be honest, the situation was embarrassingly poor to call it a kingdom.

Ray couldn’t even open his mouth.

I just went into the house and hugged the boy’s sister.

“Follow me.”

“Upper Guard!”

“I don’t mean to harm you. There is a priest among my acquaintances, so I might be able to cure it.”

At those words, the boy’s face turned into the brightest thing he had ever seen.

Do I really not know that I could die first in a situation where my ears are gouged out and my fingers are cut off?

While trying to suppress the anger that was rising to the top of my head.

walked like that

* * *

Shrine of the Celia Royal Road branch.

Three people came there.

A well-dressed young man came out and asked.

“What are you doing here tonight?”

At the priest’s question, Ray quietly held out his hand.

A courtesy holy tablet that I thought I would never use again.

He took out the object he used to prove that he was God’s agent in the Holy Land again.

The priest stared blankly at it for a moment, then hurriedly knelt down.

“Nathan, a priest dispatched from the Celia branch, meets the agent of the great Goddess Gaia!”

His body was trembling with excitement.

“I want to entrust these two.”

“All right!”

“And send a formal request for assistance to the Holy Land. I will eradicate all the diseases spreading in Celia. This is what is done in the name of the goddess.”

The words of a saint sometimes have greater authority than the statutes of the Holy Land or the pronouncements of the Pope.

Such was the case with the mention of God’s name, as now.

work done in the name of God.

Hearing those words that would have a huge impact, Priest Nathan was now almost on the ground.

“The will of the goddess is the same as mine! I swear to Goddess Gaia, who governs fertility and earth, and I will convey that will to the Holy Land!”

The state of the kingdom of Silia, which had been heading toward catastrophe, was being changed by the hand of one person.