In this seemingly ordinary little village, ominous ash was falling like rain. The sturdy rope that bound the black-haired woman was perhaps the same kind of leash that held a hellhound. As the rope loosened, the ground cracked with the energy she emitted, and the people caught in the entanglement of their bodies and legs shouted sharp screams into the air. It had been a hell that unfolded since right after they put all the children in the orphanage and closed the door, ignoring all kinds of interference. The woman mercilessly squeezed the hair of those people, who looked a mess, as if she was pulling weeds, and connected their limbs to the unyielding rope that refused to untie. Even though their appearance was chaotic, ironically, the demon-like woman did not take their lives until the end. She deliberately waited and confirmed that they were all culprits, but anyway, when the smoke from this tree shot up like a signal, knights from the nearby public office would rush over. So, leaving the ledger open as it was, it was meaningless to directly kill those who would be executed. All they had to do now was wait for several carriages to take the children away. However, in reality, there was something more urgent than that: protecting Lucia’s reason. It was the duty of the Imperial Knights, and a mission for the future of his daughter.

“I’ve come to find the enemy commander. Where is the girl with the truly crimson hair?”

Lucia asked, facing the headmistress whose situation had reversed.

She tried to run away until the end with her feet stuck in the cracks of the split ground, and her ankle was broken, making a mess of her state.

“P-please spare me! I heard for the first time that there is a young lady here! Even if there is one, all the children with such, already those expensive, no, those hair, have already been adopted! It’s the most popular, just a little while ago……”

Putting her emotions into a kick to knock down the woman who was babbling incoherently, even the people connected to her fell apart.

Even just looking at that chaotic response, it didn’t seem like there was something hidden about the situation they could see through to their insides.

And the answer was stupid.

If so, then the fact that she had just snatched away the ledger again meant that they really didn’t need these people anymore.

Captain Hammer, who noticed that, shouted hastily.

“P-please spare us! You saw it just now, right?! We have children to feed! What about those poor kids!”

Seeing her taking care of the children, he tried to persuade her like holding a lifeline.

However, Lucia recalled the children wrapped in old rags, cleaning up the filth of the village and covering someone with filth.

The familiar rags were the exact same ones as the old rags Nia had been so attached to.

Now, she understood the reason for the child’s compulsive behavior, and her heart was so deeply saddened that it felt like it was about to tear.

“Are the children who threw stones at the orphanage children of yours?”

In Lucia’s chillingly low voice, everyone cowered low.
However, the women in the village who appeared to be the child’s mothers gathered their courage urgently.

“Oh, oh, they’re just kids. They, they’re just playing, right?”

“Yes! In fact, we’re all close. We all cherish each other…”

Are all mothers like this?

Even in the face of imminent execution, there was a desperate attempt to justify for the sake of the child.

And perhaps this woman’s words could be true by a hundredfold.

However, Lucia became the mother of the child receiving such a cruel ridicule.

She, more than anyone else, knew that all those children had become kids who found it difficult to receive even a single warmth, thinking they were dirty like Nia.

And the guilt of not recognizing such a child from the beginning.

The child who cried out in hatred like that probably had another clear reason that couldn’t be understood in this way.

“…Sigh.”

Could Lucia recognize the sigh of lamentation?

Now the women in the village began to shout with one voice.

“Please, can’t you just overlook it, even if you just look at the children? You are a black monster, no, a person from the empire! It doesn’t matter. Please show mercy!”

But they were mistaken.

Lucia’s sigh wasn’t a sigh of compassion.

“…It might be better to be thankful for not showing the sight of parents being murdered in front of the children.”

Becoming a mother didn’t create any sympathy for her, who had ruled the battlefield.

And those who could forgive them were the children who had suffered.

Of course, she had no intention of confronting them.

Leaving them, who were screaming in an unbearable manner, Lucia, who had already started walking towards the sound of the carriage in the distance.

However, her footsteps stopped soon after the shout of Captain Hammer resounded.

“Even if I die, I’ll tell you everything! Actually, you’re the ringleader. Anyway, you have a notorious reputation, and so many residents have confirmed your appearance, so if you raise your voice, it can only be difficult!”