3.6.

"B-Beautiful.."

"Auu.."

One of the kids dressed in a suit tried to touch the blue flame butterfly, to his bewilderment, it didn't burn him.

"It's cold?"

"Yeah. It's not good to touch them though, so just look at it from a distance okay?" Sequencee said.

"Mister is a super powerful mage!"

"I-Is there other magic you can show us?"

'Are these kids brave or just plain naive..?'

Sequencee, along with a pair of siblings, were currently hidden at one of the dark recesses of the sewer system underneath the city. The acrid scent of the air; the ominous darkness. The current flowing through the lower canals crashed against one another, causing an incessant rhythm of sloshing sounds.

It wasn't like they had to traverse through the water as the underground sewer had elevated walkways for the sake of maintenance.

As for why he was here, that was simply because he took on a raid quest to investigate a probable spot where cultists may be performing dark rituals.

The team he joined consisted of two leading holy knights and a party of four mercenaries (excluding the solo acting Sequencee) who wanted a quick bite. It was a time-sensitive quest, and when Sequencee read the conditions, he thought it would be a good chance to eat some souls.

Who knew he'd be in charge of babysitting these kidnapped kids– who'd have likely become sacrifices if not for the church's intervention.

'I should've expected this bullshit in the first place.'

Sequencee sighed.

The quest stated that bonuses would be dished out for each cultist killed should any appear. And because Sequencee was considered a sort of 'outsider', the main party pushed the job of taking care of the kids to him as they investigated further themselves.

For the sake of receiving higher merits, they chose to dump Sequencee to do the less rewarding chore. Though, Sequencee felt like the two holy knights were really overlooking the possibility of him disappearing alone with the two kids.. or perhaps the knights never really thought of these two kids as worthy lives.

That said, Sequencee still managed to gobble up six lives worth of souls, around 5.2 soul points from the first encounter during which they found the kids.

"Mister, why are we still here?" the boy asked.

"Mister, we were supposed to follow the cardinal," the girl said.

'I have no idea if these kids have been brainwashed by some system gift or that they had grown up in this sort of environment since their birth.'

Both of them looked like they were seven or younger. Sequencee thought the likelihood of the former being through was much higher as this pair sibling weren't illiterate even though they were tied up when the party found them.

"What did you do before the cardinal told you to follow him?"

"No. No. Cardinal is a lady!" The boy corrected.

"Un. The cardinal is very pretty. I want to be like her some day," the girl said as if she were in a field of flowers.

'They seem to have some good impressions of this cardinal. Still though..'

Sequencee looked at their scarred small hands. A sigil had been carved into their very flesh using a knife. If they weren't just about to become sacrificed, Sequencee didn't know what this was.

"My bad. So what did you do before cardinal told you to follow her?"

"We were.. I don't know. Big sis, what were we doing?"

"We were playing in a big home.. right?" the girl titled her head and looked at her brother.

"What is your full name?"

"Yui."

"Dunken."

'Okay.. so they're not nobles.'

Sequencee's spatial magic rippled. In an instant he conjured a fusion magic and physical barrier around the two children and wrapped them in a layer of wind.

"My, my. Why is it always that my plans always come to unravel in the hands of the church?"

A serene voice echoed amidst the crashing waves of water. From the darkness, a woman stepped into the faint blue light and smiled slightly. She was wearing a tight fitting red robe which showed her licentious figure, a black veil over her head which masked her face.

""Cardinal!""

The kids tried to run to her– but bumped into Sequencee's barrier and rubbed their sore forehead.

The cardinal stopped just before the invisible trigger trap Sequencee had conjured a few meters in front of him.

"I don't mean any harm," the woman shrugged. "It seems you were left out from the slaughter party, no?"

'As if.'

"Yeah. Too bad right? Even though I came to kill people," Sequencee said frankly.

"Right? Isn't that too bad? How about this? I'll let you have the lives of ten of my subordinates, you give my children to me."

"Mister, let us go. Cardinal will be very mad," the girl said in a concerned voice.

"Cardinal, help us!" the boy called out, banging on the invisible barrier.

"I don't think I could. Sorry."

"Strict to your values I see– "

"Don't judge people by the cover, okay? If I was strict with myself, I wouldn't be here."

"Oh? And why is that?" the woman prepared a small silver item in her hands.

Sequencee mimicked her previous gesture and shrugged.

"You're a funny one aren't you?" she smiled. A sweet smile that only lasted a moment before her figure melted into the shadows.

Crack.

Sequencee took a step forward and turned around calmly.

"Yes, I'm quite funny," Sequencee said.

Utilizing [Illusion Magic: Universal Haze] to its utmost, Sequencee had developed a clandestine style of fighting involving the use of many invisible traps.

The event whereby he had to face the S-rank Leviathan didn't allow him to showcase the fruit of his practice. The principle of choosing the few wouldn't have made sense back then as he had designed his original spells to incapacitate people or monsters of a certain size. It just happened that this cardinal was just the right practice dummy for the occasion.

"..."

The cardinal's entire body was engulfed in ice, only her head was left exposed. Though Sequencee was rather close to her, he could barely make out the silhouette of her face past the black veil. The rest remains obscure.

"I suppose we now wait," Sequencee took a few steps back.

"Truly, I hadn't expected that you would best me so easily. You must be quite the capable mage."

Sequencee simply shrugged.

"NOoo!! What did you do to the cardinal!"

"How dare you mister!!"

"It's not cold in there right? I made sure to adjust the temperature."

"It's really cold. Can't you release me?" the cardinal joked.

"Right. We'll wait.. meanwhile, why not tell me about yourself?"

"My, what a pervert. To think you'd mercilessly cut down a man but save a woman. Don't you think it's quite sexist?"

"I just want a greater reward, that's all. You're the cardinal, so obviously it would be better to capture you than to kill you. Hey, maybe death might be better than being crucified."

"Do I take that as an invitation to chew on my molar then?"

"I can't decide that. It's not like the loser here is me."

"What a gentleman. How old are you? You seem to be my type," a slight smile curled underneath the veil.

"Sorry. I already have someone in my heart."

Sequencee made sure to keep some distance between them. He still hadn't grasped her system gifts. One wrong move here and the tables could simply turn– this was what made fighting humans so complicated.

"Who may that be?"

"You're digging into private affairs," Sequencee sent small light flares into the darkness as a precaution. There didn't seem to be anyone around.

"Could I ask for your name?"

"No way. You'll probably curse me or something."

"Then what would it take for you to release me?"

Sequencee shrugged.

"Mister.." the small girl pleaded.

"Cardinal, help me!" the boy didn't stop resisting.

'Seriously, what are these kids?'

"Weren't you just about to use them as a sacrifice?" Sequencee's voice echoed.

"Sacrifice? These two? What an onerous way of putting it. They voluntarily took up the role for my sake you know?"

"And so what exactly is it that you wish to gain from their sacrifice?"

"That doesn't concern you, does it now?"

"Nevermind then."

Sequencee turned to the cardinal and studied her figure once again. He noticed how she was holding something in her hands frozen in ice.

'There's no point trying to interrogate her for anything. Don't bite off more than what I can chew.'

Noticing Sequencee's pensive state, her lips curled.

"Do you believe in the Goddess?" she asked.

"No idea," Sequencee shot the question down in an instant.

"How about the hero? Do you believe that the hero will truly save the world?"

To this question, Sequencee had to think about it a little more.

"Maybe."

"How boring of an answer."

"There's no guarantee in anything."

The sound of clanging metal and brisk footsteps echoed about. The two holy knights along with the party of four arrived at this rendezvous point after subjugating the remaining cultists.

"Who is.." the female holy knight queried.

"Noo! Mister, quickly release us!" the girl shouted.

"Help us cardinal!" the boy shouted.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that in front of people. You two really do never listen do they," the cardinal sighed.

"So you're the cardinal?" the male holy knight drew his sword.

"Sir Procto. She can be questioned," the female holy knight held him back.

After some thought, he asked, "Young mage, is it possible for you to move the entire block of ice up to the surface?"

"It should be possible."

"Then may I request that."

"Good work," the female knight complimented.

Sequencee merely nodded.

The two kids began crying.

While the mercenaries watched over the two children, the holy knights took the front and back of Sequencee as they proceeded deeper into the sewers. The stench of bitter water and iron, Sequencee felt like he had just missed out on a lot.

"Are you not afraid I might bite my molar?"

The cardinal remained calm despite how she was being taken away like a pig to the butcher.

"I don't really care if you poison yourself," Sequencee said out loud.