"You're saying we can't go because Zatab is blocking the way?"

"Yeah. They're completely riled up, talking about the Bigabol Chief's secret weapon and the black snake... Either way, it looks like we'll definitely have to fight Zatab if we want to head to Bigabol's territory."

"Berserker is confident he can fight."

"You might be able to fight, but our Magic Tower shouldn't! We finally managed to get permission to gather materials from the Great Forest, and if we fight, the path will get blocked off again!"

"Then what should we do?"

"What else? We have to negotiate. Though there's a high chance they won't accept it..."

"Then meeting up with the two of them..."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hero. I think we'll have to postpone it for a few days."

"Ah..."

We arrived at Bigabol's territory.

【How, how could you...】

Return without a hitch, receive a grand welcome, and then meet the Mountain Lord? I had braced myself, but it was just as I thought.

【How could you do this!】

【Hah, shut up! I clearly warned you time and time again, Atart. You were the one who didn't listen!】

【Taposhaka! Sammar!!】

Just as expected, a rebellion had broken out, and they were in the middle of taking over the village.

"Are you... uh, alright? Your expression doesn't look so good."

For reference, the suppression itself wasn't very difficult. The faction following Atart was still present, and not all the residents had joined the civil war.

It wasn't like they had some incredible powerhouse on their side, either. Since it was an ideological conflict, I felt uncomfortable and fought without drawing my weapon, yet they were still pushed back easily.

【Waaaaah.】

【You're too loud, shut your mouth!】

But the real incident erupted at the very end.

When the rebellion was on the verge of failing, the rebel bastards kidnapped five- or six-year-old toddlers from the civilians and flat-out took them hostage.

Naturally, my eyes rolled back in anger, as I had been taking extreme care to ensure there were no casualties—especially civilian casualties.

Of course. Why would I forgive bastards who grew up safely under their parents' loving protection, only to forget their own childhoods and take kids hostage? These crazy bastards. Sons of bitches.

"I ask of you."

Maintaining tradition or whatever—the moment they laid a hand on the children, every argument and cause they stood for lost all its power.

I firmly engraved that point into my mind as I grabbed the hilt of my sword. In front of me were the rebels, staging a hostage crisis while occupying the inner castle in their final act of defiance.

"May I kill those worms."

The rebel leader was holding a child hostage in his arms, while the remaining children were forced to kneel on one side of the castle wall alongside one of the rebel ringleaders. The fact that they were securely tied up with rope was a given.

"... You."

The Archmage called out to me with a serious tone, but I ignored her.

Instead, I kept my eyes fixed on the one holding the child.

Since he had six arms, I couldn't cut off all six without harming the child, and because he was holding the child so that their crown touched his chin, cutting his neck was also difficult.

On top of that, even if I attacked him, the safety of the other children was a problem. I had to think of the next move in advance.

"You may kill them. It would be nice if you left the heads intact, but I would be grateful even if you didn't."

Just as I had exercised the utmost caution and finally found an answer, Atart gave me his definitive approval. That was enough.

"Tell them."

"...?"

"To close their eyes."

A pitch-black light was carved in the air, piercing the opponent's brow.

CRASH!

At the same time, my body also kicked off the ground and instantly shot up into the air.

SHATTER.

The moment what seemed like a transparent wall shattered, my body, having smashed through and stepped on the inner castle's wooden wall to climb up, stood before the corpse falling backwards.

【Hngg.】

The child fell perfectly into my arms. Suddenly, losing my chest protector felt like a stroke of good luck for this moment alone.

【Wh-What—】

As for what happened next, well. I turned my body towards the other children while simultaneously swinging my sword. Whether Atart had conveyed my message or not, the vast majority of the children had their eyes closed.

It was a relief.

SLASH!

Flesh was sharply sliced apart, sending out fountains of blood.

【H-Heuk.】

In that brief moment, my chest became damp with snot and tears.

That was for the better. Rubbing their face against my chest meant their line of sight was blocked, and a blocked line of sight meant they couldn't see their surroundings.

SHIFT.

I adjusted my hold on the child, making sure their eyes didn't peek over my shoulder, and checked for survivors.

Was it because I swung my sword taking into account that the children were smaller than adults and kneeling, making their heads lower?

The only ones caught up in the sword strikes were those subhuman bastards. The children were completely unharmed, having only been splattered with a bit of blood.

My plan to rescue them without any physical injuries at the bare minimum had succeeded.

"Keep your eyes closed."

I know you can't understand me, but please catch the nuance, kids.

Giving that futile warning with such intent, I set the child from my chest down with the rest of the hostages.

Then, I scanned the remaining rebels who were stuttering in disbelief at what had just happened.

Now that the hostage children's safety was secured, all that was left was to suppress them.

【The children have been rescued! Charge inside!】

【It would be better to move the children over here first, Chief. That will allow him to move freely.】

【Is that so? That would be better!】

Once I opened the floodgates, the momentarily stalled suppression got back on track.

The barrier—which had been hastily recast after I broke it earlier—and the barred doors were smashed by the Archmage's magic, and the warriors came rushing in.

【Taposhaka... Sammar...】

Atart was among them. He came up onto the castle wall to take custody of the children but fell silent for a moment. At the end of his gaze lay the corpse of the man with a hole in his brow and the corpse of a woman positioned a short distance away.

That look, mixed with fondness and anger, came to an end as he finally lowered his eyelids. I didn't know what kind of relationship they had, but I could tell it wasn't an ordinary one.

"I will take over from here."

Well, whatever their relationship was, it wasn't my business.

I entrusted the children to Atart and the Archmage, who had stuck close to ensure her safety while casting, and then left the spot.

THUD.

Landing at the bottom of the wall, my body kicked up a slight dust cloud as I pressed forward.

【... He's taking most of them down alive. Is he being considerate so we can execute them later?】

【I doubt that's exactly the reason...】

I beat down the rebels who resisted to the bitter end and sprinted straight into the building where the Priestesses were said to be. There were still rebel warriors standing, but I left them to the Bigabol warriors.

I knew very well that I shouldn't give the Priestesses any time to cast.

【The maze is almost complete! Once this is done, they won't be able to enter!】

Running headlong through the building, I kicked open the door of the room where the voices were coming from.

CRASH!

【Alright, complete—?!】

【Wh-What the!】

【He got in this fast?】

【This filthy outsider...!!】

What exactly were they trying to do? Seeing their flushed faces contort like that, they were probably swearing at me. Since I didn't know the meaning, though, it dealt zero emotional damage.

【Q-Quickly, take the children as hostages—】

Rather, simply because their shouting was annoying, I mercilessly beat the crap out of them.

Violence might be a stopgap measure, but it could never be the true answer, nor did I believe violence could change a person—but I couldn't help it.

Not satisfied with the ones they had already taken hostage, these bastards were trying to take the backup children they had kept inside as hostages too. Birds of a feather flock together; they were exactly the same as the scumbags outside.

"I hope you realize how precious the humanity you abandoned truly was."

You absolute sons of bitches. Consider yourselves lucky the kids are here. I held back because I was in front of the kids.

"For when you do, you will have no choice but to bite your tongues and die from the shame."

Absolute human scum, piece of shit bastards...

【Th-The person with no arms...】

【A monster came to catch us...】

【Waaah. Mommmyyy.】

I took a deep breath, listening to the ringing in my ears amid the heavy silence.

Perhaps because my expression had become seriously foul, the children looked at me and burst into terrified wails.

My soaring anger was crushed by embarrassment and faded away.

"... Do not cry."

Leaving the human scum with broken limbs on the floor, I approached the bawling children first.

Was I that scary? It hurt a little that they twisted their bodies away whenever I tried to touch them, but... even I would be terrified if a grown man who just beat the crap out of adults—and a huge guy dressed entirely in black at that—approached me.

Separate from the fact that the people I beat up were kidnappers, there was an inherent intimidation factor from the visual information alone. Plus, these kids didn't seem old enough to judge the situation by considering the context.

【Heuk. Waaaaah.】

【Waaaaaahh!!】

【Daddyyyyyy!!】

Still, I couldn't help feeling like my ears were going to bleed. Stopping midway through tearing off the woven vine ropes, I decided to take special measures.

"Look at this."

【Heuk, sniff.】

【... Pretty.】

To the adventurers I cursed out for giving me dead stock—I apologize. You guys had incredible foresight.

I rummaged through the bundle of gifts from Tatara and pulled out things that were utterly useless and worthless, yet pretty and shiny.

An octagonal ornament reminiscent of Korean mother-of-pearl, a knot decoration made of five-colored threads, a small bell, a partially painted wooden doll, a bracelet made of strung-up low-grade crystals, and so on.

How fascinating must these things, which looked quite lovely even to my adult eyes, appear to these children? Their attention was instantly captured.

RIP.

Now is the time. While the children were hiccuping, I ruthlessly tore apart the woven vine ropes.

Annoyingly, they had tied each child individually and then tied them together as a group one more time, leaving me with a lot of work. The fact that they tied them tight enough to leave rope marks on the kids' skin was a given.

You sons of bitches, just wait until I head out.

【B-Behind you.】

Hmm? Seeing a recently freed child shift their gaze behind me, I let out a deep sigh.

SMACK!

【Keok!】

I had already noticed them early on because of the sound of their limping even without the child's warning, but... man, how gross. With this kind of persistence, why didn't you just play Ace Attorney with the Chief instead of starting a rebellion?

I tripped the person who came at me and planted my fist right into their face. I didn't infuse it with mana, so they probably won't die.

Though their nose twisted as if the bridge had been shattered, and a stream of blood poured out.

"It is fine."

More importantly, why are the warriors under Atart taking so long to get here? Are they seriously sub-contracting this out to me and taking a break?

After untying all the children who were now playing with various trinkets, I decided to take them outside for now. Even though I had suppressed everyone, I couldn't just leave them among criminals.

"Let us go."

Even if our spoken languages were different, they caught the hint. I scooped up the youngest child, who was fiddling with the knot decoration, in my left arm, and walked outside with the rest clinging to my head and legs.

I had put my sword into my inventory so the kids could hang on more easily, leaving me a bit poorly armed, but it was fine.

Mister here can beat up kidnappers with his bare hands just fine.

"How did you get in there...?"

And then, I ran into the group rushing inside.

As if at a loss for words upon seeing me lead a flock of chicks out, the Archmage looked at me with a subtle gaze.

Leading hostages outside shouldn't be breaking character. Like I said earlier, I couldn't just leave hostages—especially kids—in the same room as their kidnappers and walk out alone.

So I thought this much would be fine... No? Did I do something wrong?

My mind raced fiercely as I analyzed the Archmage's reaction.

"... I knew you were generous towards children, but, hm. Hand them over to the warriors for now. It doesn't seem like a good idea for the children to stay here."

I was worried about getting stabbed in the back later, but those words were welcome. I was going to hand them over even if she hadn't said anything.

After all, continuing to carry them around when there were people to hand them off to definitely would be breaking character.

【Y-You! Take the children outside!】

【Alright, let's go.】

【Thank you, armless warrior.】

【Byeee, Mr. Warrior.】

【More importantly, what are you guys holding?】

【That warrior gave it to us.】

The Bigabol warriors hurriedly took the children and headed out. In the process, they also took the child in my arms...

【Please hand them over to me.】

【Euing.】

YANK.

Hey kiddo, I appreciate you not ripping my hair out, but my clothes and eyepatch are a bit much.

The child's grip was so strong that the button securing the eyepatch in the back popped off, tearing the eyepatch right off. My hand shot up to quickly cover my right eye.

【Noooo. I don't wanna go. Hnng.】

【Aaaack!】

【Piin!!】

Forcibly pulled away from me, the child sobbed profusely and wildly waved the hand gripping my eyepatch. It didn't look like they were going to easily let go of the clothing they were clutching either.

【You shouldn't do that. A good warrior doesn't cry over partings.】

【Here, take a look at this.】

However, thanks to someone making a belated entrance from behind and the Archmage's desperate display of magic tricks, the child's gaze was momentarily distracted.

The warriors used that opening to pry the child away, snatch the eyepatch back, and hand it to me.

【WAAAAAAHH!!】

The baby is crying. Aww.

"【Their crying is quite loud. Hurry and take them outside. And my sincere apologies to you. The child made a mist— Ah.】 I apologize on behalf of the child's rudeness. They have not been properly educated."

"... There is no need."

Educated my foot. All kids that age are like that.

After quickly putting my returned eyepatch back on, I reached into my inventory. There should be one toy I didn't take out earlier.

"The Priestesses set up a maze barrier, yet you easily broke in. Inviting you was indeed an excellent decision. As expected of the Black Snake's warrior."

Ah, so that's why they were late. I was wondering what was taking them so long.

I just shrugged it off and kept rummaging through my inventory. Because I unpacked the bundle earlier, my inventory was stuffed with all sorts of things, making it hard to find what I wanted.

My eyes narrowed in focus.

"... If the children's behavior offended you, I will give them a stern warning—"

What are you saying, you crazy man. Warning them over a perfectly natural reaction? You should be coddling them and trying to cover up their bad memories. Have you lost your mind?

"I said there is no need."

Crinkling my expression, I blew right past Atart.

"Just keep your promise."

My strides caught up to the warrior retreating with the crying child.

【Hngg, heuk.】

TOSS.

【Keung.】

My briefly raised hand dropped something into the arms of the child, whose crying was stopping as they tired themselves out. A ball of colored thread the size of a baseball rolled into the child's hands.

【Woah!】

【Huh?】

With this, my dead stock has been cut in half. Hell yeah.

The Archmage watched the back of the man who nonchalantly gave the child a gift before walking away.

It might not have been anything special, but the child had stopped crying and was beaming brightly. Just like everyone else who had received the Demon Knight's help.

【... He is more lenient than he appears.】

【Right?】

Was that why? She didn't know whether to call it completely unexpected or incredibly true to his nature.

The way he was consistently hostile towards others, yet grew so gentle toward those who were easiest to look down upon—such as the injured and dying, those who had lost much and worried about their survival, and children who still needed help because they were young—was truly...

【His rough behavior and speech invite misunderstandings, but he is a man who truly only walks the righteous path.】

It was hard enough for a powerhouse like him to be so weak to the weak in the first place.

【He is a man rarely seen in this day and age.】

Indeed, the Demon Knight was a good person. He was a truly precious individual... far too valuable to be hanging a bomb on his own heart just to kill himself.

【Of course, I do wish he would fix his habit of neglecting himself just to walk the righteous path.】

Thus, the Demon Knight deserved to live a better life.

He deserved to enjoy a life where he didn't have to carry a suicide bomb, where he didn't have to push himself to death—a life accompanied by rest and happiness.

He had earned that right. Even if he didn't think so himself.

【Hmm.】

The Archmage watched the young man's retreating figure with a pleased expression.

【My word... What a splendid man he is.】

Because of that, she failed to notice it.

【How truly righteous.】

Atart smiled chillingly.