The air, hushed by Alice.
The only one with any sense of satisfaction was Alice herself, head held high.
“Heh. They tremble before Lord Ouga’s authority.”
Absolutely not.
If they’re afraid, it’s of something else entirely.
What they’re feeling is the fear of a sudden madman.
“Lord Ouga.”
Alice turned a gaze full of expectation toward me.
…What? You want me to follow up on this?
You demon.
”…Heh heh heh.”
Every gaze in the area was locked onto me.
Think, Ouga Veret.
Remember your goal.
The plan: pose as a good person, get close to the orphanage, and secure the orphans as labor.
I came here to put them in my debt.
But a man whose roots are stained black with evil can’t play a perfectly good person.
If my acting goes half-cocked, the lie will show.
So — there’s only one option!
“Yes. I am the [Savior] who saves all the evils of this world.”
Be the dangerous man drunk on his own act of being justice’s champion.
“I forgive your past, and in my name, I shall save you.”
I crossed myself over my chest. Then, with the cult-leader monologue suddenly underway—
“This is the end point of your evil.”
H-how was it…?
I glanced behind me.
“The [Savior] who saves all…”
It was bad…!
Ah, the woman is recoiling too…
Isn’t this weird? I’m on the saving side, aren’t I?
Ngh…! I was going to handle this smoothly and resolve it coolly, but…!
If first impressions go like this, my whole plan—
“How wonderful…!”
——Wait, no! She’s a freak on this side too!
I turned in spite of myself. She was hugging her own shoulders, trembling in ecstatic delight.
“Whatever sin one might commit, however far one might fall — he offers his hand…! Ah, what a beautiful love!”
“Right? When Lord Ouga passes judgment, even people who lived without ever being judged are given a chance at reform.”
“Yes… a gentle soul. Truly the kind of noble worthy of you serving him.”
Birds of a feather.
When I think about it: a person who could befriend Alice, the absolute-evil-slaying woman, was never going to be normal.
“Tch, what is this, kids’ games?”
“Yeah, yeah. So scary, so scary.”
“You shouldn’t pick fights with adults, you know~?”
A blatantly mocking attitude.
They sneered at me, smirking.
Endure. Endure…
I am the [Savior] now… A man of deep mercy…
For the goal, I can endure any insult.
“Hmph. Well then, in that case—”
The man I’d kicked first drew a knife.
He licked the blade with his tongue and pointed the tip at me.
“Save us too, [Savior]-sama!”
“I’ll fucking kill you!”
I burst forward.
“Save me too! Please save me, [Savior]-sama!”
I’ll deal with that one later too!
“It’ll hurt if it hits, brat!”
“If it hits, that is!”
The knife thrust straight.
He must have expected me to freeze in fear — but unfortunately I’m already used to combat.
Before entering the academy, in training with Alice — even though the edges were dulled — she’d pushed me with real swords.
Without magic, I had to handle hand-to-hand. That training was non-negotiable for me.
Thanks to that, my fear of edged weapons is essentially zero.
“What—!?”
He thrust honestly straight, so I parried his arm inward and rolled it.
The knife missed its line entirely, and he’d left his body wide open.
“Reflect on what you’ve done.”
“Gah—!?”
A left body shot into his side, then a right straight to his now-lowered face to cut his consciousness.
I brushed the falling body aside. The others had pulled out their own weapons.
“Pinch him!”
With one down, their earlier carelessness vanished. They moved in coordination.
“Die!”
“I’ll cut you to ribbons!”
Weapons swung at my head and gut.
But too soft. If they were going to attack, they should aim for the legs, not the stomach.
“The lower space here is a safe zone.”
I dropped low to dodge.
I put my hands on the ground, flipped my body upside down, and kicked through their faces.
“Agh—!?”
“Gwoah—!?”
Two left.
“D-damn it! No one told us about guys like these! Hey — we’re getting out of here!”
“GAAAAAAH!?”
“Eek!?”
The retreating words cut off in a death scream.
The man who’d tried to flee was caught from in front by Alice — and she had him in an iron claw.
A loud, clearly-shouldn’t-be-happening crunch could be heard.
“…ah… aah…”
The man she’d grabbed foamed at the mouth and rolled his eyes white.
She tossed him onto the pile of the ones I’d taken down.
”…Will you run too?”
A small smile lifted Alice’s lips at the corner.
…That woman absolutely suits the role of villain more than ally of justice, I swear.
Maybe in that sense it’s fate that she became my retainer.
“May the judgment (salvation) of the [Savior] be upon you…”
And there she was, kneeling in front of the fallen men, beginning a prayer — the dangerous woman.
“What — what the hell are you all!?”
“That’s my line!”
“Gahaaa!?”
I punched the right cheek with feeling.
He’d lost the ability to make rational choices in his panic — he couldn’t dodge, and went down lifeless.
These guys are clearly low-level grunts.
Whether they’ll lead me to a bigger fish or not, I’ll need to make them talk — better tie them up.
“Alice.”
“Understood.”
Alice tore strips from the men’s clothing and used them to bind their hands and feet.
…I only just noticed Mashiro is unconscious on her back…
…Ah, must have been when I sprinted to break in.
In a way, maybe it’s better that she didn’t see this.
Having someone gently check on you in front of carnage hits the hardest emotionally, I think.
“Lord Veret. A magnificent [Salvjudgment].”
“Stop making up weird portmanteaus.”
I’m not even that kind of character…!
Alice unilaterally invented some ideal version of me.
I just couldn’t bear the awkward silence and rolled with it… how did it come to this…
But the orange-haired woman, undeterred, began her introduction.
“My name is Mio. I never expected a noble to truly come… Just as Alice had said — you are a person full of love, aren’t you.”
She squeezed my hand, interlacing her fingers with mine.
“We can offer no great hospitality, but our orphanage welcomes you, Lord Veret.”
…I came here to harvest labor — but I get the feeling I just stepped one foot into a much more troublesome swamp.
A premonition came with this moment of first meeting.