The calm before the storm. That's the perfect description for the Adventurer Guild who have received news of victory after victory today. But, when the news of Bloody Weapon being exterminated is revealed, no one can keep their calm anymore.
That piece of news is the start of it all, soon…more and more bad news comes toward Adventurer Guild, making the Adventurer Guild who is basking in victory earlier fall straight down to the hell of despair.
[Freedom! Reply to me if you can hear me!]
Losing contact with the A-ranked Adventurer Team Freedom.
[Protec…tor here…two of the child…we want to save…exp— urgh…he—lp.]
[Candle light here! Three of the children my teammate brought explode in the middle of the way!! Reinforcement! Please send some reinforcement to help!]
The sudden children explosion which spread epidemic throughout the whole town.
"Supervisor! We got the report of strange things happening in the vicinity of Commoner, Market, and Noble District! "
People falling down and start groaning in pain, unable to do anything, not even an ounce of strength can be used because of the epidemic.
"No one can enter the infected area longer than five minutes! There…there's no way to save them!"
The inability to help those who need their help.
"What happened to this town! What will happen to us!?"
"My family is inside that place! Let me enter!!"
"Why didn't all of you go to help!? You guys are the guard, do something to help for once!!!!"
Panicked citizens
Everything happens so fast. The storm has finally hit them where it hurts. No one can enter the infected zone...not even after priest cast some protection on those who try to enter the infected zone which is spreading as she ponders the way to save the citizens...Nothing at all..
"I'll go."
Sister Villia says that word with resolve, breaking the thought of Supervisor Flor who start to think of the best solution to handle this issue. Still, Supervisor Flor didn't take long to shook her head when she heard her words.
'I'll go' it's a simple word of going somewhere, but to where, only an idiot wouldn't be able to understand it. She considers Sister Villia fighting prowess, her importance in this place, whether she can be of use in the battlefield or not, and other things which ultimately let her decide that it's not wise to send her to that place and refute her words.
But, before she can say anything…
"Let the other healer heal them. These children…I have removed the most important element that is used to detonate them; you don't have to worry about it. As for my fighting prowess, don't think of me as a simple nun who only knows how to heal. I'm thankful for your help in this matter, but it's the time that I do my own share of work."
Sister Villia refutes everything she wants to tell her in an instant. This kind of feeling feels kind of similar…it's similar to the child she come to adore 2 years ago…the child she wants to possess no matter what…
"En..mi?"
Now that she thinks about it…both Sister Villia and Enmi have similar height. A mask closes Enmi mouth so she wouldn't know what her face looks like, but if Sister Villia closes her mouth like Enmi, other than her hair and eye color, everything about her is similar to Enmi. Even so, their aura is different from each other, making her sure that the girl in front of her isn't Enmi. Although aura can easily be concealed, don't forget that she's one of the Guild Leader of Adventure Guild! With her skill alone, she can easily see through a disguise, even so, she's kind of uncertain about this.
Enmi aura can be said bloodthirsty, which kind of telling her not to get close or she will die. Of course, it's only the aura, not the user thought as it's crafted on the battlefield, even so, Villia aura is opposite of that, which is kind and warm, making people unconsciously want to get close to her.
Still, she has this doubt before, but... if she guesses it right …
"Ah…you have found out…as expected of Supervisor Flor."
"Wha…?"
Supervisor Flor thought that she would confess after hearing the words 'you have found out' but the moment she heard her calling her 'Supervisor Flor' she figured that what she does might be a confession, but not the kind which she expected to hear.
"As you have though, I'm Enmi Lainiesta twin sister, Villia Lainiesta. There's three of us where one of us has dropped our surname, other noble family has adopted one of us and take over their surname, while I have joined the monastery and turn into a nun, keeping my surname as a namesake."
'Twin sister!? and the three of them to boot!? Are they triplets or something!?'
"Once again, it's nice to meet you, and I'm thankful of what you have done to help my dear sister on the matter 2 years ago and this morning too. Still, this is no time for that as human life is important. Goddess Lumina has asked of me to save everyone, and I shall do so to the best of my ability. Thank you."
Bidding her farewell, Sister Villia leaves the Adventurer Guild, leaving the bewildered Supervisor Flor who can only blankly look as she disappeared from her sight.
"Did I get it wrong?"
***
"Haaa…goody two shoe nun act is truly tiring to maintain…"
Villia let out a sigh as soon as she leaves the Adventurer Guild. Disguising is truly hard to do, mainly because she didn't have any skill to change her face but only her hair color, eyes color and aura.
She knew that she would get caught sooner or later, still to think that she's found out because of her habit to look at what people around her think of so she can refute it perfectly…
Enmi only reveal part of her eyes and hair under cover of her hood and mask, not to mention the darkness around her make people didn't dare to look straight at her. Lailah covered her mouth with fan and only occasionally show her face, but the brightness of her aura usually make people unable to remember her face. While her real persona, Villia is the only face who people can easily look at.
People wouldn't be able to compare the two of them instantly, but people who have met them occasionally will be able to relate the two of them. Even so, to think that she's found out because of her habit and not appearance…she can't help but feel sighing again
Villia who still feels like sighing earlier didn't take too long to change as her expression has turned into the personification of wrath when she thinks about the issue at hands.
"Still, to think that someone kills the all the children I vow to save…unforgiveable…"
"Unforgivable..!"
She has vowed to help these children because they're kind of like her new follower half-siblings, but to think that someone explodes these children under her watch!
"Jack is it…"
Jack, it's the name of the last surviving Plague God followers. The name is so common in this world that she looks down on him, making Villia who can't clearly gauge her enemies by scanning the whole town thinks that he's like the other, just a small fry.
Even so, this one mistake has let it turn into a tragedy that is happening now.
Knowing her mistake is also a way to grow. Villia has known that her Status Viewer isn't omnipotent, even so, because of her promise with Galvrance and her fear that the Plague God follower using a desperate method to explodes all of these children she vowed to save, Villia finally decide to gamble it all.
The result?
It's a disaster…
It's because she didn't collect intelligent about the enemies first that this kind of things is happening! If she diligently scouts the enemies, such a mistake wouldn't happen in her plan!
She's tired. All the events that happen today have made her tired.
Her body might still be healthy, but inside, her mental state has deteriorated after multiple times of using up her mana and scanning the whole city! No matter how many times she recovered it by drinking mana potion, tired is tired!
Still, she knows that she still has many jobs to do tonight…this may truly turn into a sleepless night for her…
The more tired she is, the angrier she becomes toward that Jack fellow.
Scanning the city multiple times has drained most of her mind, even so, she done it once again to gain information about the current state of her enemy.
Finish scanning, she browses through the new information she gained on her mind, and start to frown once again.
The enemy…it seems like what he does aren't fighting, instead, he's playing with his enemies life. It's similar to what happens to Bloody Weapon. Each scans she does always result in additional severed hands, finger, feet, and the rest which is enough to let her know how brutal the one she's going to deal with is.
His victim right now is Freedom. But unlike Bloody Weapon leader who lost consciousness halfway after the torture, it seems that Freedom leader is much more competent as he's still awake and knows what's going on around him.
She also saw one adventurer she particularly noted is dashing straight toward the enemies, unafraid of what will become to his body.
"That Old man! Didn't he know that he will die if he stays in that field together with his enemies!? Although that field wouldn't kill someone, staying with those who can harm him will most likely spell his death! Tch…I need to increase my speed!"
***
Tharen runs and run. There's only one thing he can do, and that is running toward his destination. He needs to save his son, the last news he received about his son almost make him feel heart attack which makes him didn't know anything other than run toward his son.
Although it's said that he's running, this speed is only 45% of his original speed. He know that it's because of the epidemic which has spread through the city, even so, he didn't feel afraid as he keeps running toward his son.
"Wait up!"
Faint voices can be heard far behind him. Still, he didn't have time to leisurely turn around as he can only run toward his destination.
"Wait up I said!"
The faint voices become more evident as he runs forward, and before long, the voices reach next to his ear, making him stop in the middle of the road, looking at the figures who appeared to block his road.
"Are you going to stop me, Sister? Are you friends or enemies?"
Tharen readied his battle stances after seeing Sister Villia blocking his path. He can't waste his time here…the more he wastes his times, the more danger his son will face, he needs to go fast, to save his son!
"I'm neither your friends nor enemies 「Pure Smog.」「Healing Orb.」「Calm Mind」"
Villia immediately chants magic which makes Tharen become wary, but before he can defend, three spells has come to him in a quick interval, making Tharen recover some strength and calm him down.
These three spells are only able to recover some of his strength. Further healing is needed if he wants to improve to his peak as fast as possible, even so, this epidemic isn't really that deadly as it's incomplete. The best it can do is incapacitated people for 3 days and after that people will heal up even without her lending a hand.
"While I'm not your friend nor foe, I can't ignore someone who wants to go straight to his grave, no matter how old he is." Villia calmly while letting out some sarcasm yet Tharen only chuckle a little before he replied. "You're not an ordinary nun…"
After calmed down, he figured out that he has truly done something stupid. Not only he can't save his son, but he might also even die together with him. Even so, he wouldn't regret these choices. He wouldn't stop his step now even if he knows the end journey is his own death…he needs to help his son! Even if it cost his own life!
'Do I need to defeat her, so she will let me go to save him?'
"I know what you're thinking and what you're gonna say…I'm not going to stop you. I'll follow and support you to the best of my ability. If I think that you're not fit to battle, I'll be the one who battles the enemies, while you can evacuate together with Freedom. I hope my terms are agreeable to you."
Hearing her words nearly make Tharen laugh. He an S-rank adventurer going as far as letting a little girl who is a quarter of his age go to battle and waste her life? Only to save the life of his son and his daughter to be?
No! He will not accept it!
If there's someone who needs to make a sacrifice today…
It's going to be he — Tharen who will make the sacrifice!
"Don't underestimate me, Sister. If you do, I'll show you why they call me Tharen, The Demonic Old Man!"