Cosette's room was a homely one that well represented her personality. Sewing tools are placed on the desk, and handmade cushions are lined up in the corners of the room. Perhaps it was used for sewing, colorful pieces of cloth were stored in a hemp basket. A lot of incomprehensible funtions, which are novel to say the least and have a bad taste to say the least, are hung on hangers and stand out in one corner of the room.
Cosette recommended us to sit on the rug and handed out cushions one by one. She left the room and brought in as many teas as barley tea, and she sat down.
Cosette, I, Ariana are sitting with their knees on their knees, and Pokaji is standing near the window without sitting. Apparently I'll listen there.
"Well, thank you for joining us."
"Cosette, that kind of unfamiliar preface is fine."
"Oh, that's right ~"
"I just need to talk at my own pace."
"Yeah. Thank you Elie-chan."
Cosette, in a good way, turned her usual laid-back face into her painful look and shut up. She remembers what happened in the past, and she probably doesn't know where to start.
I understand her feelings for her.
Humans instinctively drive the painful past deep into her head. If you do not do so, you will not be able to think normally and your daily life will be hindered. Refraining the worst scene, her brain becomes numb, and the numbness goes around her arms and legs, making her breathing shallow. I regret many times, wondering why I am here and why I couldn't do anything at that time, and keep asking myself endlessly unsolved questions.
Such memories and painful past gradually fade over time.
A person cannot live if he / she remembers the memory he / she wants to forget forever.
Humans are strong.
However, I will not completely forget it. I just put a thin skin on my heart and pretend to be no problem. At the moment of everyday life, the thin skin is torn, and the dark hole in the memory is terrified, and the scars that have been scooped out many times spread again and fall into the swamp of self-responsibility.
He grabs her hand in a hurry and wraps it as gently as possible.
Ariana hugged Cosette's arm from the other side, snuggling up.
"I'm sorry ... Ellie-chan, Ariana-chan ..."
"It's okay"
"All right…"
Cosette opened his mouth as if the idea was finally settled after a while.
His complexion isn't bad, but his usual cheerful appearance is perfect.
"Jean has seven younger brothers, Festy. No ... he was."
I see ... I can see the story vaguely with just one word.
She silently nods powerfully, creating an atmosphere that makes her easy to talk to. Cosette takes a big breath and connects her words.
"Five years ago, Oasis Jera was attacked by a large bandit, as Elie heard from Lewis. Their purpose was children, not money or things. What are the criteria? I don't know, but I was kidnapping a specific child to aim for a predetermined target. That target also included a festival. "
Intermittently, Cosette talked about his nightmare five years ago.
Five years ago, at 2:00 pm, a large-scale kidnapping by bandits occurred on the night of the new moon. Thirty-five children aged six to ten, regardless of gender, were kidnapped. The kidnapping was carried out quietly, and most of the houses noticed that the children were gone after being kidnapped, and it was found that it was the work of the bandits, and a powerful merchant in the town was attacked. This is because the adventurer party and the bandits who happened to be staying at the time became a battle.
There are four adventurer parties, all of whom are C ranks.
Speaking of C rank, it is a level that is recognized as a strong person, and it is the strength that lower and higher level magic can be cast instantly. In addition, wisdom as an adventurer and knowledge to walk in undeveloped land are required, and if you can not get rid of some strong monsters, you can not go up to C rank. If you are familiar with them, Jean Jean and Kuchi Beer will be ranked C.
According to the story, four C-rank adventurers were incapacitated in just five minutes. There are only three bandits. Moreover, two of them are about 10 years old.
Basically, children cannot use magic in this world.
It is said that using magic with an immature body will overload and damage the limbs, and there have been many cases in the past where people actually forcibly die using magic. That's why the admission requirements for the Grafner Magic School are from 12 years old.
A leading merchant who felt the situation was abnormal immediately called on the Jera Guard, and the entire town was on emergency alert. On that day, the town was in a big panic from top to bottom. I don't know when my child will be kidnapped.
Taking advantage of the turmoil, another bandit caused a robbery, and the situation became more serious.
In the meantime, the children continued to be kidnapped by the bandits, and the devil's hand extended to the west shopping street "Barjan's Tool Shop".
"That day, I woke up with Mr. Giran and a soldier from the West Gate calling attention to the shopping street. My dad went to Sundi to buy alcohol, so I was alone at home ... I was worried. I went to Jean's house right away, and I saw an adult and two children wearing black hoods going into the store .... I was scared ... my legs moved. It wasn't. The trio was aware of me, but they glared into the house with cold eyes. That eye was scary. I didn't know what I was thinking ... "
After that, there was a fighting sound in the room, and it seems that Jean-Jean's younger brother Festy was taken away. At that time, Festy was ten years old and Jean Jean was seventeen years old. Jean-Jean came downstairs with blood bleeding from his shoulders, and when he went outside, he seemed to lose consciousness.
Until then, Cosette was absent-minded outside the store, and it seems that Jean-Jean was finally able to raise a voice calling for help when he collapsed.
"If I was calling someone for help at that time ... I'm sure ..."
Exhaling his self-questioning, which he would have been doing for five years, Cosette squeezes the edge of his skirt and distorts his mouth. It seems that the tears in his eyes are on the verge of criticality, perhaps because he is never crying.
"That's why I'm not qualified to be Jean's lover ..."
"That's not the case."
"Yeah, Elie-chan ... I can't do it. I like Jean ... I like it so much ..."
If you were doing this at that time, if you were acting like that at that time, no one could be saved by doing it. Perhaps even if he called for help, Jean-Jean's younger brother Festy wouldn't have helped. There must have been no help when the soldiers of the West Gate and the general public of the shopping district rushed to the abnormal bandits.
Even so, the gentle and serious cosette couldn't stand it. He couldn't forgive himself for not taking the best action he could have done in an emergency.
"Why is it said to be the work of the bandits? The abnormal group acted individually and kidnapped the children. I don't think it's just a bandit."
I asked the cosette questions, including the meaning of breaking the silence.
"It's because some of the captured people claimed to be thieves, but it seems that all the adults and children who caught them had some kind of powerful black magic, so I couldn't hear anything more. And those who have already been caught are in the hands of someone ... "
Was it killed?
It's become a noisy story.
A band of thieves with children around the age of ten.
What is the reason for kidnapping a child?
Where did you take it away?
"Okay, Cosette. By the way, the bandits aren't named Pescatore Bandits, right?"
"Yeah, it's not. There seems to be no particular name. It seems that he just confessed to the bandits."
"What do you think about Pokaji?"
The old man who had been looking out the window slowly looked back.
"Hmm. Did the children in the bandits use magic?"
"seems so…"
I can't believe the cosette, but nodded with a face like that.
"I read about 100 years ago that if you administer narcotics to a child, you can prevent damage such as limb rupture due to immaturity even if you use magic. I don't think it's there ... Apparently that's the case. "
"I see. That means it's likely that the child was kidnapped, at least in a place where they can make or trade such narcotics."
"Thinking that way, it's likely that the children who have been kidnapped are also being given narcotics."
"Human experimentation?"
"Hmm, maybe, maybe not. It's speculation, but it could be guided by the fact that the child can use magic and has the ability to beat a C-rank adventurer. Will be less. "
It's exactly what Pokaji says.
It is speculated that the procedure for kidnapping the targeted child was to select the children who could tolerate the administration of narcotics in advance and kidnap them all at once. I don't know how.
Remodel the kidnapped child with a narcotics, train him to become a strong wizard, and send it somewhere. It's a story that seems unlikely. No, I feel that history-loving Tanaka was vocal about the fact that during World War II there was an organization that trained children to become military warriors.
Ah shit. If this is the case, I should have listened to him more properly.
"As far as I can tell, there may be some wizards who can use powerful black magic among those who are abducting children. Among the children, there is a strong black magic of the mental system, that's right, intermediate class If you continue to cast the magic of "hypnotic hypnosis" and "threatening threat", you will become a puppet of the user. "
Ariana responded sharply to see if some of the words of Pokaji felt like the same black wizard, and opened her eyes when she couldn't believe Cosette.
"I don't think it's possible, but it would be awkward if there was a wizard who could use it up to the advanced level of black magic. There was a more powerful forbidden magic called" Great the Rye, a thinker who forcibly modifies ". It will be tampered with from the ground up. Unless the user dies or removes the magic, ideological rule will continue. "
"What's that? Isn't it a foul play?"
"The chanting spell is hidden, and it's an advanced black magic. I don't think there is a user, but the possibility is not zero. I've only seen it in the literature."
"Can't you use Pokaji?"
"I can't use it. I don't want to use it."
"Elie ..."
Ariana, who had been silent with a thoughtful face until now, screamed with no expression.
"If that story is true ... I think the children of the Greifner Orphanage were probably taken to the dangerous bandits ..."
"why?"
"There is no reason to bother to kidnap a child from Grafner to Sundi ... but if it's a child with high magical power or a child who seems to have qualities ..."
"It's true that Tsuji is a good match."
"Graifner is a kingdom of war, but not all people are educated in a well-equipped environment. Some children become orphans despite having strong wizard qualities ..."
"Did you gather talented children in the orphanage?"
"maybe…"
If you ask so, the mysterious kidnapping of the orphanage in Greifner will be connected as a line. It's funny when you think about it. If you just want to kidnap your children, you just have to go to a town with less security in the suburbs.
Why did you bother to attack the orphanage in the middle of the capital, Greifner, and kidnap the children? How did you get out of the tightly guarded Greifner with dozens of children?
The former can manage talented children collectively, and since it is an orphanage, there is little unnecessary snooping. Many children become orphans in the capital. No, I don't want to think, It is possible that he is intentionally making an orphanage.
The latter must have had the cooperation of influential people. Otherwise, it will not be damaged and you will not be able to leave Grafner.
"In that case, the Ricky family who managed the orphanage is suspicious."
"Suspicious or almost black ... The Ricky family is connected to the Gable family ..."
"Ariana's enemy, Gable, who sent a letter to Lord Toctor."
"so"
The story was connected in an unexpected place.
The Ricky family has a connection with the Gable family and accommodates talented children in an orphanage. The child is attacked by bandits, transported to Sundi's magical remodeling facility, and receives some compensation. Is it such a scenario?
Isn't the child pitiful?
I can't forgive this ...
The reason why my heart was hot from a while ago is probably because Ellie is angry. Her heart beats fast.
Anyway, the story doesn't go on to find the hiding place of the dangerous bandits. Of course, find it, crush it, and get the child back.
"Elie ... do you want to do it?"
"Look for that dangerous facility. The story of Cosette was an unexpected hint."
"Hmm, if you have that much information, you can save yourself some time searching. Which one, I should take off my skin. Before that, the Ricky and Gables of Grafner, who you were talking about, Let's talk about that. "
Tell Pokaji and Cosette about the kidnapping of Grafner's orphanage and speculate that it was the same reason as the kidnapping five years ago. In addition, he showed the letter that Pocha, the lord of the free border Toktor, had. I also taught him the name Gabriel Gable, which is written there.
Cosette was surprised to hear that we were looking for bandits, but he spoke with a rare, serious look, whether he wanted to believe in the hope of Jean-Jean's younger brother Festi alive. He nodded too loudly and dropped the skull headgear several times, and said hard to say.
"Can you tell Jean ... this story, because Jean has been looking for Festy ..."