It was a gruesome scene enough to make me nauseous. Just standing there made my body tremble. My breathing was fast.

I suddenly turned and looked back at the path I had walked up. When I had come up, I could step on the stones one by one and slowly make my way, but going down was a different matter.

Looking down from here, the bottom was far too distant. I couldn’t even muster the courage to step down on the stones.

Just standing there felt like being driven to the edge of a cliff.

But the sky that was touching was piercingly blue.

There’s no escape. The children who were sold here were trapped and died without escaping this hell.

This place was a fortress.

No one knew if someone died, no worries about being caught, a fortress.

“……You’ll die if you fall from there.”

I was trembling with bonechilling fear as I looked down, when a pitiful voice reached me.

I turned my head toward the voice, and a child who had been biting his finger was looking at me with an anxious face.

He was one of the surviving children.

“Once…… a sister trying to escape…… I heard she died falling with a missed step…….”

The small child wasn’t properly dressed. He was just wrapped in a cloth with a hole so big that it couldn’t block the freezing wind.

In the small child’s arms was an even younger child. The younger child wasn’t in good condition.

I met the tearful eyes of the child in his arms. In the eyes as innocent as they were beautiful, there was resentment, fear, and a dreadful loneliness towards people.

“……Just kill me.”

The young child in his arms pleaded faintly with his mouth. I was petrified at the cries of the children writhing in pain.

There was no reason for these children to suffer.

“How long…….”

With trembling fists, I yelled at the knights who were busy with the debris recovery and survivor search, leaving the surviving children.

“When are you going to keep showing these children such scenes!!”

“Gasp.”

“Will you take these children after showing them the sight of dead children being recovered?!! Get them out of here! Take them out of here now!!”

Out of this hell where you had to die to leave, as quickly as possible.

My shriek spread, and the knights turned their heads.

I know. They too must have wanted to save at least one more child. They didn’t know it was such a big deal, so the deployed personnel were few.

In the ashes, in the collapsing building, in this abyss of despair.

Wouldn’t there be a surviving child, a child waiting for rescue without moving? They were all hoping for that miracle, carefully searching and searching through the debris.

“Where is the person in charge of the 3rd Knight Order?”

“He’s lying in ambush at the crossroads to catch the returning remnants.”

So they rushed ahead, and the system collapsed. As I was about to step forward, biting my lip, the solid mountain behind me moved.

“……From now on, I will take command of the scene.”

In the confusion, Clint stepped forward reassuringly. He quickly divided the remaining personnel and newly joined knights into groups.

And he ordered them to escort the children, providing blankets and light food. The remaining knights were to focus all their efforts on debris recovery and survivor search.

With more knights, the search sped up.

While Clint was leading, Levanfell, who should have been at the forefront, said nothing.

“Your Majesty.”

Jerim was assisting Levanfell by his side, keeping the others from being disturbed. But his face was contorted with pain.

Levanfell might have a trauma from this. He was a survivor of the Ferdiak experiment, so he must have experienced this pain.

Whether the vivid memories of that time had come back, there was an indescribable fear and despair in the pain.

“Jerim. I will be by His Majesty’s side, so go and check the other situation.”

“Your Highness.”

“When did the Count of Adresa start selling the children?”

“…….”

“If it’s been a long time, it won’t be small in scale. Followers alone would have been unsustainable.”

Jerim’s eyes hardened coldly.
“The possibility of Generba being there is high. Jaerim, you must verify that possibility yourself.”

“……I will do so, Your Majesty.”

“Check if there are those who have sold children besides Count Adresa. Also find out where the surviving children came from.”

“Yes.”

“When the 3rd Knight Division returns after catching the remnants…….”

“Do not worry. Interrogation is my specialty.”

Jaerim firmly struck his chest with his fist. I nodded and signaled him to step back.

“Levanfell.”

Levanfell’s hand, which had weakly fallen down, was trembling slightly. I grabbed Levanfell’s hand so that no one could notice the tremor.

The fingertips were so cold that it was hard to believe he was alive.

“Levanfell.”

I cannot even dare to imagine the pain he has endured. How he became a Ferdiaq experimenter, what horrific hell he tasted and survived.

It is unknown.

“Levanfell.”

I gently brushed Levanfell’s cheek with my other hand. His head naturally turned toward me along my touch.

“Do not worry. I’m here with you.”