The Knights of the Holy Hall have received news that is anonymous.
　It was that a blasphemous study was being conducted in an orphanage near the Holy City.
　Even after receiving the news, the Cathedral Knights did not move immediately.
　It's because they were ordered not to care if it was some kind of prank anyway.

　However, soon after that, many orphans were taken care of at the Great Holy Gate surrounding the Holy City.
　The children testified that they had fled from that orphanage.
　Most of the children were not aware of the situation, but two children explained the situation inside the orphanage.

　According to them, illegal experiments were taking place in the basement of the orphanage.
　Many children had been sacrificed there, and they had escaped from there themselves.

　After receiving this information, the Cathedral Knights finally moved in.
　The captain of the Second Squadron, Marcus Pietro Sandalphon, and a few other knights investigated the orphanage.

　They found dozens of dead bodies in the basement of the orphanage.
　The total number of victims is also believed to be in the hundreds, based on the traces.
　An investigation into their identities was urgently needed.

　Other illegal drugs, which are being cracked down on in the country of origin, were also found.
　Some of the lab equipment was burned and it is not known what they were working on.
　George and Lily have already disappeared, and the search for them is currently underway by the Cathedral Knights.
　The connection to the missing cases that occurred in the Holy City is also under investigation.

　The title of "Holy Father" given to them has changed drastically.
　They are now wanted as blasphemers who committed mass murder.

　The children who were taken into custody were to be protected by the Order of the Cathedral until they could be found to take them back. ----

　-- is how this one ended up.

　After disposing of George and the others, we took the children and headed to the Holy City.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world, and I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world.
　This allowed them to protect the children as soon as their misdeeds were exposed.
The Saint's Knights stink, but by taking care of them, the Church State itself will be moved to take action.
　If the state is going to protect them, they shouldn't be able to do so much.

　The child named Michelle and Sheena, who were badly damaged, were admitted to the hospital in the Holy City.
　As expected, giving them potions was not enough to heal their bodies.
　There was a lot of mental exhaustion as well.

　Also, I erased all the information on the "Heroic Amatsu" from the laboratory.
　I've also carefully crushed and burned the data Olga and the others collected from me.
　It's unlikely that any more of my homunculus will be created.

　It's been a few days since then.
　The joking title of Holy Parents has disappeared, and rumors of them are circulating all over the Holy City.

　The two of them are pagans who believe in the "Fallen Light God" Hadeer and sacrifice children.
　They were actually demons, and they were the spokesmen for bringing down the heavily guarded Holy City.
　They were experimenting to revive the heroic Amatsu: ...... and so on.

　It varies from something as if it's off the mark to something that's rather true.
　Well, it doesn't matter to those guys who are dead.
　I didn't like the title of Holy Father, so it's not a bad thing that it's gone.

　There's one more problem with that.
　It's that there are people going around making the inconvenient parts of the rumor disappear.
　This disgusting one is not over yet.

◆

　It had been a few days since then.
　Michelle was in a daze.

　Her memories of that time in the basement are a little hazy.
　She remembered that two men and a woman had come to her aid.
　But I lost consciousness soon afterwards, and when I woke up, I had been carried back to the Holy City.

　I was relieved when I heard that Sheena and the other children were safe.
　It was hard to answer the questions of the cathedral knight who came to the hospital room, though.
　The wounds had mostly healed and Michelle was ready to leave the hospital tomorrow.

'............'

　I had heard about that orphanage from the Saint's Knight.
　Apparently, George and Lily had disappeared from the orphanage.
　They asked me if I had any idea where they were going, but I told them that Michelle didn't know.

　They haven't found Olga or their son, Dartis, either.
　All together, they are missing.
　Somehow, Michelle had a feeling that they were no longer alive.
　Because that's what it would mean if they were safely here.

　It was more than that.
　The one thing that kept lingering in Michelle's mind was Amatsu.

'............'

　There was a rattling sound and the door opened.
　Michelle huffed as she turned her gaze to see if anyone was here again.

'...... I'm sorry to bother you,'
Brother. ......

　Because it looked like Amatsu for a moment as he walked in.
　Immediately, Michelle realizes that it was a mistake of vision.
　It's that dark-haired boy who came in.

I'm sorry to have given you the wrong idea. I'm sorry.
'No. ....... Eto .......
Can I talk to you for a second?
Yes. ......

　Michelle then spoke with a dark-haired boy.
　He said his name was Amatsuki Iori.

(I knew it looked like him.)

　Amatsu and Iori.
　Even though they are different in height and hair color, they are somehow similar.
　The same goes for their faces, but they're also similar in some way.
　The Iori is more tense than the Amatsu, though.

'I'm going to tell you ...... what happened, in case you're wondering.

　Then Iori's mouth told him what happened after that.
　They said that they worked together to defeat Olga and free themselves.
　He was slurring his words, but it seems that George and the others are already gone from this world, just as Michelle had expected.

'What happened to your brother ......?'

　After listening to everything, Michelle asked Iori that.
　He meditated, and with an indescribable expression on his face, he pulled something out of the pouch.
　It was a small, torn piece of cloth.

'...... it is,'
This was all I could bring. His body was ...... well, because it disappeared so quickly.

　As he said this toothlessly, Iori handed him a cloth.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this.
　This is what Amatsu was wearing, she said.

'...... big brother, Mr. ......'
............

　Gripping the cloth, Michelle shuddered.
　Her vision blurred and her nose began to tingle hot.
　Still in front of Iori, Michelle struggled to hold back her tears.

　A short time later, Iori sat up.

'...... Well, I'd better get going then.'
...... Iori. Thank you so much for helping me.

　Iori shook his head at Michelle, who thanked him.

'It wasn't me who saved you guys,'
............
He was the one who taught me about you. If it hadn't been for him, I might not have been able to help you guys.

　So it was Amatsu who helped Michelle and the others,
　Iori said.

'...... Oh, your brother is.'

　--It wasn't like he died in vain.

　Iori turns to leave the room, saying he'd like to keep himself a secret if possible.
　The sight of his back reminded Michelle of something.
　That she had met a group of people when she was about to leave the forest.

　When he told her about it, Iori stopped moving with a snap.

'...... Did that group have a name or something to say about it?'

　Going through the memories, Michelle remembers something.
　Just before she passed out, one of the men spoke the words that one of the men had spoken.

'-- I think it was ...... called Mr. Marx,'


You're not going to be able to do that.

...... brother.

　The next day.
　Michelle had come to that forest.
　The orphanage is off-limits by the cathedral knights, but you can enter near the entrance.

　Michel buried the cloth given to him by Iori in the ground.
　A wooden plaque with his name on it is inserted and a grave is made.

　The victims of the orphanage, whose bodies remain, will have their graves made as soon as the investigation is complete.
　The graves of Yuma and the others are already done, and they just stopped by before coming here.

　But there is no grave for Amatsu.
　Because as a homunculus, he has no bodies left.
　And there are only a few people who know that he helped them.
　None of the children, including Sheena, knew that Amatsu had fought so hard for them.

　I didn't like that.

'...... so I made your brother's grave. It's not gorgeous, but forgive me for this.

　Turning to the grave he had made, Michelle says.

'As you can see, I don't have a single injury anymore. I was released from the hospital yesterday. Sheena's going to take a little longer, but she'll be fine. She doesn't remember much about ...... the orphanage.

　I hope I can just forget about it ......, Michelle muttered.

'The other kids are totally fine. They're not injured or sick at all. It's just that they're getting pissed off at the people in the Saint's Hall of Fame knights for jumping up and down.

　They were playing a prank on a knight named Leo who came to check on them and was very angry.
　He doesn't seem to understand George and the others either.

'It's ......, so I've got to get my shit together.

　I'm the biggest person in that one.

All of ....... It's all because of your brother. Everyone is screaming without knowing what's going on, Sheena is able to be in the hospital, and I'm here because of ....... It's all because of your brother's help.

　A rustling wind blows and the trees around us sway.
　No one replies to Michelle's words.

...... Thank you, brother.

　For the past few days, everything was fuzzy.
　It wasn't clear and I didn't feel it.

I really wanted to thank you ...... in person. To your brother, thank you ....... It's because of your brother that we were all saved thanks to .......

　And yet, I found myself with tears running down my cheeks.
　I was able to endure it when Iori was there.
　I couldn't hold back the tears as they poured out of me.

"I wanted to talk to ...... more with you .......

　Then Michelle let out a sob.
　The only thing he thought about was Amatsu.
　That her brother, who saved her, was a real hero.

''Ahh...... uhhhh!''

　The tears that ran down Michelle's cheeks fell from her cheeks.
　Pot by pot, they seeped into the soil of the grave.

◆

Are you done with ......?

　With my back to the girl who is crying alone at the graveside, I walk to the exit of the forest.
　Elfie follows from behind.

...... Yeah. I don't see that guy moving.

　Besides, I didn't want to do any more peeking.
　...... myself, because I'm disgusted with myself.
　I don't want to taint her feelings.

You know I love it when you do that, don't you?
...... Shut up. Let's go.
Don't be embarrassed.

　He walks without letting down his guard of his surroundings.
　Not now, but there is the occasional sense of being watched.
　Perhaps it's Liuzas and the others.
　No attacks, but we can't let our guard down for a moment.
　They're a nasty bunch.

"But it was a nasty one.
...... Right.

　The bodies found were in the dozens.
　Looking at the trail, nearly ten times that many people would have been killed.
　They would have been regularly incinerated or otherwise disposed of.

Most of the bodies were children, but there were ...... a few, with adults mixed in.
'...... By the way, there was a missing person case in the Holy City, wasn't there?
Yeah. I'm pretty sure they were killed in that basement.

　The question is, why were the adults being killed?

''There were a good number of children in the orphanage. If we're going to replenish our magic, we should only use them. It would be hard to get rid of children with no relatives, and it would be hard to get rid of them even if you got rid of them.
''Why did you go to the trouble of disposing of them, kidnapping people to get rid of them ......?

　I have some guesses, but I haven't been able to back them up.
　Well, that's something we'll have to investigate in the future.
　This is not the end of the story, you know.

Do we know who we're going to hit next?
Yeah, I do.

　In the hospital room, I remember what Michelle said to me.

'-- I think it was ...... Mr. Marx,' he said.

　I have no doubt that he's biting on this one.
　So let's expose him and get my revenge.
　I need to know how to get revenge, too.

............

　It occurred to me.
　You know, about the homunculus.

"...... I was a homunculus back then.

　I don't know if he's gonna--

Did you say something?
...... No.

　He shook his head and walked on.
　We've already parted ways.
　I'm going my way.



Let's get our revenge, shall we?