Lost Ruin of Drazuba (2)

"Sandy, have you seen those intruders anywhere?"

A tall man with brown hair asked as he turned his head to his wife, taking off his mask for a second to wipe the sweat out of his forehead.

"No, I haven't."

Sandy shook her head as she sighed in exhaustion.

"Connor, shouldn't we head back soon? We are really far away from the area. What if a monster finds us and attacks us?"

Sandy shivered at the thought.

However, not because she was scared of getting attacked by monsters, but at the thought of their kids having to grow up without their parents.

She was willing to do everything for the world, that the leader promised her, but she didn't want to leave her kids alone.

"Don't worry." Connor said as he flexed his biceps, putting his other hand on it. "I got this. After all, your husband is as strong as a Tier 5 mage!"

Sandy chuckled at the endearing display of power of her husband.

"Yes. And don't forget that I'm also a tier 4 mage!"

She put both of her hands on her lips as she proudly stretched out her chest.

"And don't forget that our kids also asked us for sacrifices!"

Connor chuckled softly at the thought of his two beautiful children.

"It's their first time seeing the process of sacrificing the prisoners. Don't you think that they'll be proud when they hear that their parents caught them?"

Sandy just chuckled at her husband's cute plans to surprise their kids.

"I love you so much, Connor."

"I love you too! Together, we can achieve everything!"

A burst of heartful laughter escaped from his lips, warming Sandy's heart.

She closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side as she just enjoyed the voice of her husband.

SLIT!

Connor's laughter suddenly stopped as she heard something swinging through the air, slicing through something.

thump

Sandy opened her eyes slowly as she felt a warm liquid on her skin and the smell of iron entering her nose.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the severed head of her husband lying on the ground.

Sandy was too shocked to say anything as she mechanically raised her head, looking in front of her.

In front of her eyes, a man with a ponytail was standing there, holding something in his hand, in front of the corpse of her husband.

She couldn't see what the man was holding in his hand, as the only thing that even hinted on him holding something was the blood that dropped down from the blade.

The blood made it visible, revealing the shape of his sword.

Sandy wanted to shout in anger and attack him but froze up as he turned his head.

Pure fear filled her body as she looked into the empty grey eyes of that man, that looked at her with complete indifference.

'...a monster...'

Immediately, her body reacted on its own as she turned around and started running.

"HELP!"

Sandy had tears in her eyes as she tried to escape, still shocked about the death of her husband. However, she couldn't just die. She had to take care of her kids.

For her and her husband's sake.

Then, the surrounding space around Sandy distorted as she used all her mana to blink away.

"I've already casted a soundproof barrier around this area, so no one will come to your help."

Right after she blinked away, the hand of a woman stopped her, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back.

Sandy fell to the ground, locking eyes with the woman.

Her brown eyes met that woman's violet ones.

"P..please..." Sandy sobbed, clapping both of her hands together and pleading for her life as she bowed down to the woman, asking for forgiveness. "...I have k..ids...pl..ease."

"I wonder..."

The woman glared down at her with a disgusted expression, looking at her as if she was nothing more than a piece of trash that got stuck under her shoe.

"...How many of your sacrifices said the same thing."

And with a single hand movement, multiple spears if violet water rained down, impaling Sandy's body, and killing her instantly.

***

***

I wiped the blood away from the mask that I just picked up from the man as I saw that Acedia returned with a gloomy expression.

"Have you already burned her corpse?"

Acedia nodded without saying anything.

I immediately knew what was wrong, as it wasn't my first time seeing that expression...

...that expression of guilt.

"Is it your first time killing someone?"

Acedia shook her head slowly, almost weakly, as she responded.

"No, it's just...they had kids..."

I glanced at her for a split second, silently, before I decided to speak.

"Haven't you heard the dad? The kids were excited about sacrifices-"

Acedia grimaced as she looked away, avoiding my eye contact.

"I didn't expect it to be that hard."

I nodded.

"There was no other way. When someone enters a cult, they are already done for. There's no way to help a person that thinks they are on the right, after all."

"Yes."

I carefully walked towards her, and I softly patted her head.

"It's okay to feel such a way."

I shook my head while giving her a gentle smile.

"No, actually, it's a wonderful thing. That just shows you that you are still a person. A person with consciousness and the ability to feel guilt."

I smiled weakly.

"You should feel worried about when you stop caring."

Even though I still had a smile on my face, I could feel that it didn't quite reach my eyes.

"When you're getting used to it. That's the point where you should start worrying."