When Patrick awoke, surrounded by dismembered bodies, he couldn't take it anymore.
He had never once forgotten the incident where he had strangled the children, but he never again encountered such a situation until now.
He lived a regular life for these 11 years.
Right now, he worked a job as a courier, transporting packages and messages from place to place in and out of the town of Porta where he resided. He was on a trip to deliver a package in a nearby town when he was attacked.
Yet right now, he found himself in an unbelievable situation.
It was unrecoverable.
He had blood all over himself, and even if they were thugs trying to rob him, he was now a murderer.
"It.... it was me who did this.....", Patrick stated while staring at his hands in despair.
Patrick backed up slowly, stumbling as he stared at the bodies in horror.
He stared into the fearful eyes of the men as they were slaughtered mercilessly.
At seeing those faces, he couldn't bear it.
He ran.
He ran out of the village.
He ran through the fields of the Empire.
He ran and ran until he made it all the way back to his hometown, where he locked himself in his room.
Patrick lived alone so he would be away from others for now, but how could he have expected something like this to happen?
He wanted to believe that the events from his childhood were nothing more than a bad dream.
A nightmare.
He had convinced himself that this was the case. Or at least, he pretended like he had.
Yet, he always knew deep down within himself.
That was no dream.
Those things happened.
Those children were injured.
And now, those men had been murdered.
"Hey? Patrick, do you know what time it is???"
"Shut up!! I don't want anything to do with you!"
"Don't be like that. Go on. Tell me. What time is it right now?"
"I don't know!!! Just stop this!!!"
"It's time for an assembly."
"What?"
"Watch. Soon enough, you will be called for an assembly. And later, you will have another chance. Don't fall into despair!!! This is only the beginning!"
"What do you mean, only the beginning!! Get out of my mind!!!"
"It's too late. Time has run short. I will see you next time."
The voice faded into the abyss, and Patrick was left to himself to think.
What was he to do?
He was a murderer.
'I.... I killed those men...'
His hands were shaking.
He knew what he had done.
'I need to atone.... I need to be punished for this crime.... that's right, I need to turn myself in! So I can atone for this!'
Patrick stood up, and got ready.
'I'll turn myself in. I may be a murderer, but I can stop this! Whatever this.... thing inside me is planning, I can stop it if I turn myself in! I don't care what happens to me, so long as it doesn't get it's way!'
Patrick left his home, and prepared to turn himself in.
Perhaps before as a child, he was too immature to really understand. Or perhaps his mind was filled with jealousy and hatred at the time. But right now, his mind was crystal clear.
Even if those men were criminals, he had slaughtered people in cold blood.
He needed to prevent that from happening again.
Next time, it may be someone he loved, or an innocent bystander.
He could not control himself, so he would put himself in a place where he could be controlled by others.
A prison.
Perhaps even an executioner block.
Patrick exited his home, and walked through the streets to go and turn himself in.
'I should avoid contact with people. I don't know what triggers this thing, but one thing is for sure- it may have been a group of thugs trying to rob me this time, so technically, what I did might be classified as self defense. But even so....'
Patrick felt his heart tighten, knowing that he had taken the lives of others.
Even if they were criminals.
Even if they were trying to rob him.
They were still people.
People, who would never see a chance to repent of their wrongdoings now.
People who might have turned from the path of evil, but have no opportunity to do so anymore.
This is what Patrick stole from them.
The possibility of change for the better. Their futures.
Still, he was grateful that he had not killed innocent people.
Take the incident at 5 years old, for example.
It's true, the other children made fun of him and laughed.
But what if he had killed them?
Surely, they didn't deserve a fate so gruesome, no matter how insensitive they were. They were only children after all, and children do what they can to stay on top.
In the world of children, there is an established hierarchy. This is because humans are social creatures. Even from young ages, they like to establish a set system that defines who is better than who.
This is the reason why society exists in social castes. This is the reason why there are leaders, who rule above others.
Yet, sometimes this is done well, and sometimes it is done incorrectly.
Sometimes the person at the top is merely a power hungry fool, wishing to exert their dominance and superiority over others.
Other times, the person on top is a wise leader who deserves to be in such a position, and is able to foresee things far greater than the average civilian would be able to do.
The rise and fall of society is dependent on the leader, and their ability to control their people.
If they can successfully get their people to do as they please, while keeping them pleased, then they have succeeded as a leader.
If they do not fulfill the desires of their people, then the people will not be willing to fulfill the desires of their leader. It is a mutual exchange. A balancing act.
Even in a Dictatorship, if the dictator is hated by all there are threats of revolt. While this can be suppressed through military strength, this is unreliable. Constant unrest will always lead to the demise of a country, even if the leader stays in power through crushing their enemies.
A leader cannot succeed without being supported by those he leads.
'Ah, I've gone off on a tangent. What was I even thinking about?', Patrick thought. 'Ah, right. I need to avoid people. I don't know how this thing is triggered, but in both occasions, there were people who irritated me and stressed me out. Next time, I might not be so lucky. It might be a set of good people that I kill for literally no reason. I have to prevent that from all costs. I have to seal away this monster, even if it means sealing away my life.'
Patrick resolved himself.
He would give his own life to kill off the monster within him.
This was his only option.
However, just as he was thinking this, he saw a large crowd of gathered people.
'Ah! That voice.... it said something about an assembly! So it was right? How did it know that there was an assembly going on, if it is a part of me? Can it see my own future somehow, or is there some other reason? Agh! I shouldn't even be thinking about that. Right now, I need to focus on avoiding all these people.'
Patrick went into a side road, trying to stay as far away from the crowd as possible as he made his way through the streets.
However, as he walked by, he heard the speech given by Mrs. Fera.
He saw her injured hand. He heard about the monster which had attacked the orphanage and kidnapped the orphans.
Patrick felt his chest tighten on hearing this.
'The orphans..... they've been kidnapped by a monster??'
He didn't know what to do.
He was about to turn himself in, yet after hearing this, he wondered.
A thought entered his mind, and continuously picked at him.
'The people of this village are going to attack this monster.....'
'This monster is a threat that needs to be removed, just like me.....'
'Could this be fate? Perhaps.... perhaps this is my purpose.'
Patrick came to the conclusion that since he was nothing more than a murderer who needed to be contained, that perhaps he should spend his last moments fighting to kill this monster.
Even if he died in combat, that would actually be a good thing. He could give his life to help save these children, and remove this threat from the village. It would be killing two birds with one stone.
If the psychopath took over and killed the monster, then that would be that. He would have done one final good deed before he turned himself in.
There was only one concern of his.
What if he were to attack the children?
It was a risk, and this was the only reason why Patrick hesitated.
'Should I go? Should I just turn myself in now? I don't want to become a murderer of innocent children.... but.... I feel that this is a chance for even a maniac like me to be of use! I can do something good for the village, and act as a sacrificial pawn! I can be the one who is thrown aside if the situation gets hairy!'
Patrick decided.
He would go.
Perhaps someone like him would be an invaluable asset to such a raid.
Patrick went home from there, and grabbed a set of gear. He only had a fireplace skewer for a weapon, and no set of armor to speak of, but this was fine.
'That maniac didn't need a weapon to kill all five of those men anyways. I would prefer that he doesn't show his face.... but if he does, then that should be fine. Either way, if I die then I will consider it atoning for the killing of those men,'
Patrick showed up to the raid, listened to the little speech that Mrs. Fera gave, and then proceeded to the abandoned mineshaft with the group.
He looked all around them.
Many burly men with fancy armor and weapons were here. There were also commoners with simple weapons sets and barely any armor.
When they arrived to the mineshaft, the strange mercenary who wore bandages on her face took the lead. Patrick of course had no complaints.
However, it was not until they were split off into groups that anything happened.
They walked through the dark halls of the mineshaft, to find the cloth maze at the end of it.
It was then that the bandaged mercenary split everyone into groups.
Patrick was assigned to group 3.
He walked down the alleyway with his four other teammates, worried.
'I hope that I don't go nuts here.'
----
Patrick was paired up with four young men.
They all seemed to be between 15 and 20, however.... how could he say it.... he didn't exactly like the atmosphere they gave off.
They all seemed to be a group of friends who knew each other before the matter, and so they all had flocked together when the groups were being decided.
Most of them wielded some small weapons such as swords or axes, and some light armor- leather or chainmail.
The one who looked the youngest was a smug kid with glasses. He didn't look nerdy, but rather like a popular boy who always had everything handed to him.
There were a couple kids who looked to be about 17 or 18, and they were jocks. They had bulging muscles and large builds, and seemed to be throbbing for a fight.
The other one seemed to be a young man. He was thin and tall with sharp eyes.
"You know, I could really care less about these orphans.", the kid with glasses said while walking leisurely.
"You got that right. I'm just here to see if this thing is all it's cut out to be.", one of the jocks stated while brandishing his axe.
"Haha. You all are so crude, always trying to fight everyone. Not that I don't understand. I wanna see that thing as well. Do you think we'll get some kind of reward if we kill it?", the tall man asked.
"I don't know about that, but maybe. This isn't a mercenary request, so it's not like there was any posted reward, but I'm sure people will be flooding to us if they find out we killed it. Heh heh....", the other jock replied.
"What about the kids? Should we try to save them?", the tall man asked.
"Too much effort. If we kill the monster, leave the brats behind. They can find their way out on their own.", the glasses kid responded.
"So cruel! Haha!"
"Life is cruel. If you don't realize that from a young age, then you'll never get anywhere. Isn't that right, new guy?"
Patrick glared at the glasses kid.
'You asshole....'
"Hey, what's with those eyes you're giving me? You're acting as if I'm some sort of bad guy here. Don't tell me we have a goody two shoes over here who's trying to save the precious children and become the hero of the town?"
The glasses kid poked the chest of Patrick as he said this.
"Give up your stupid dreams, kid. You know, it's your type that pisses me off the most. The people who go around saying that they are going to save people and help others, as if they're better than other people! Haha! You know what? You aren't better than us."
Patrick merely glared angrily as he looked back and forth between the men.
The jocks seemed to be mocking him, and the thin man was standing back with a thin smile.
"Or what? Do you wanna prove you're better than us? Why don't you fight us all together, Mr. Hero? Isn't that what you would do, since you're so much better? You'll fight against impossible odds to hold up your little morals?"
A couple veins in Patrick's forehead bursted at this.
"Boys. Grab him."
The two jocks ran up, grabbing Patrick by each side, and holding him up like a punching bag. Patrick dropped his skewer to the ground, struggling and trying to break free.
The glasses kid walked up to Patrick.
"Alright then, kid. Why don't you take this little beating, and not fight back? We'll see if you still want to play hero then."
The kid reeled back, and laid a powerful punch on Patrick's jaw.
"That look hasn't changed. You're still looking at me like you're better than me. I'll change that tone soon enough."
Patrick was doing all he could to hold back and not say anything out of anger.
'I don't know what conditions will trigger that maniac, but all I know is that I have to keep calm and hold out until we reach the end of this tunnel.'
The glasses kid then continuously laid a number of punches on Patrick's gut and face, until he threw up.
Eventually, he laid a big one that rattled his brain, reeling Patrick unconscious.
"Ah. Look's like I went a little too far with him. Well, that's fine. Just leave him here. If he gets attacked while he's unconscious, then that's his own fault for going against me like that."
The jocks dropped the body to the ground, laughing.
"Haha! You sure showed him!"
"Damn right! Now let's show this monster!"
The group of four began to walk forward, leaving Patrick on the ground.
It was then that they heard a voice, accompanied by slow steps down the walkway.
It was a mature and noble voice, sounding like a female, yet it had a certain scratchiness to it.
"Uwah.... Coran told me to test you all, to see if you were even worth saving, but this? I mean, I don't even have to do anything here. I already know the answer. Coran will be slightly disappointed in me that I didn't find anyone worth saving, and that kinda saddens me, but that's fine. He's a very understanding and caring husband, and he won't blame me for it. Ah.... I can't wait to get back so that he can call me his wife again, and so that we can sit by the fireside with our new children...."
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The sounds of an insectoid walking could be heard far across the corridor, however the darkness completely shrouded the area, so the four struggled to see what was approaching.
"A woman? What is a woman doing here?"
"Who cares. She sounds like a bitch, so lets get her too."
"Oi. Coran is the only one who can call me a bitch. If it was him, I would be fine with that. No complaints. But you scum? Hahaha. No. That's not how it works."
The sounds of buzzing could be heard from down the corridor.
However, it was then that the four heard another voice from behind them.
It was a raspy voice, filled with insanity and bloodlust.
"Hey... boyyyys.... do you all..... do you all know what time it is???????"
"Oh? It looks like the other one is awake? I wonder if this one will be worth saving! Maybe I will be able to present some results to Coran after all!", the female voice exclaimed.
"It's time for you all to die!!!! HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!!! Scum!!!!!"
The kid with the glasses then shouted out.
"Guys!! Protect me!!!"
One jock took each side, surrounding the man. The thin man took the side of the insane voice.
"It's really hard to see here! It's gonna be kinda difficult to fight like this!"
"I don't care! You all are supposed to be fighters, so figure it out!!"
"Alright!"
"Oh? You all are going to fight each other?? Interesting. I suppose I'll sit back and watch. I was once a queen, you know. I used to sit back and watch things like this all the time for entertainment. But now, I've given that title up to become the slave of one far greater than I.... ah, how I wish I could be with him right now.... but anyways. Go ahead. Do what you want. Don't worry about me, for now."
"How could we trust you?", the jock facing the direction of the female voice shouted. "I won't let my guard down and allow you to attack us from behind so easily!"
"Oh? You think I would pull something like that on trash like you? That's funny. Cute even. But, feel free to do what you want. If you don't want to focus your entire strength on that man behind you, then by all means- don't. I was just trying to be generous."
Alicia leaned back on the wall, watching the fight. She could see in the dark after all, much better than these humans could.
"Hahahah!!!!! You all messed with the wrong person!!!!", Patrick screamed. "You sure seem to think you're hot stuff, kid! I think it's time to change your view of the world!"