But still, since she couldn’t know what was going on between them, and she could talk about Nia’s information in front of the members, Lucia was ruthless.

She entrusted the lost girl to a member and picked up the child to check his condition.

Breathing normal. No fever, and apart from a small scratch on the knee, he seemed to have fainted from shock.

Finally, Lucia’s stern face relaxed.

She let out a small sigh, saying,

“If you return to duty, there will be a reward.”

“Thank you! Leader Lucia!”

The jubilant voices of the members, upon hearing the leader’s words, resonated through the sky.

But even in the midst of this, Berl and Hiss with worried faces approached her.

“Leader, you need treatment right away.”

“….Blood.”

“It’s fine. Hiss, Berl. Report the situation first. What happened?”

At the end of several narrow mazes, they reached a small open space.

Already, the children had run away, and only the sight of someone dead with a knife stuck in his forehead was visible.

“Yes, leader. From what I just heard, it seems this person who appears to be the head of the pickpockets was trying to traffic a little child, but he’s already dead, so more information will be available when the guards arrive.”

Berl’s sharp glare made the remaining three members sweat.

Now they are living with the leader and acting wellbehaved, but in fact, these were the biggest troublemakers.

Hiss was a boy Lucia had taken in, but Vernon and Gilliana were actually dark figures who had been highranking officials in a dark guild.

Because of this, the members who followed them had no hesitation in killing people.

Now they were regular soldiers thanks to Lucia, but their nature was not hidden, and it was easy for them to cause casualties if things went slightly wrong, which was the most fatal thing for Lucia, who hated paperwork the most.

Thanks to that, her face was shadowed by the nightmare of writing a report for the first time in a long while.

And seeing that expression, the members, fearing they’d be running laps all day instead of receiving a reward, were watching her like frightened children.

“……You’ve done well. It’s enough that the child is safe.”

But praise unexpectedly came from the leader’s mouth.

They all doubted their ears, but today’s leader was different from before.

She had never caused harm to her own body for calling someone, nor had she ever given a word of praise for anything.
Indeed, this is why they say you must become a parent to become a person. The knights of the Black Order exchanged glances with the same thought.

Behind their warm nods, a chill settled in Lucia’s eyes as she looked at the dead man.

Perhaps the man should have been grateful.

Had she seen him in that state, it would have been beyond coverup with something like an official report, for he would have experienced just how cruel the leader of these troublemakers was before he died. It was undeniable.

Lucia and the children arrived at the lodging after sending off the knights.

Laying the unconscious children on the living room sofa, Nia blinked as if just regaining consciousness.

“……Ugh.”

Nia clung to Lucia in front of her as soon as she woke up, as if she had just woken up from a nightmare.

“He, heuuaaah!”

Nia, crying in Lucia’s arms, clung desperately, as if she couldn’t let go.

Though taken aback by Nia’s behavior, she calmly patted the surprised child’s back.

“……You seem frightened.”

Nia, who had hidden her face at Lucia’s gentle tone, raised her head.

The child’s face seemed to contain all kinds of emotions.

“……Ni, Nia did something wrong……! He, heu. Si, sister, you came running! Suddenly, Mom picked me up. Heuaaaah!”

Even with desperately furrowed brows, tear and snot streaked cheeks, her neatly braided hair in disarray.

She laughed at the sight of the child earnestly explaining in such an ugly beggarly appearance.

Perhaps she thought this ridiculous figure wasn’t much different from her own appearance, with one arm ripped blouse stained with blood and showered with sweat.

All this happened because the child had suddenly disappeared, but strangely enough, she wasn’t angry at all.

She only felt relieved, strangely enough.

When the child’s sobbing breath subsided for a while, Lucia detached the child and looked her in the eyes.

“Nia, wherever you want to go, let’s go together next time.”

Lucia said, wiping away the tear marks on the child’s face with her hand.

Nia, in response to her warm touch, teared up again, her eyes widening as if she had discovered something.

“……Mo, Mom. Th, there’s blood……!”

“Ah.”

Nia started to gasp for breath.

“It’s because of Nia. Nia got… caught… caught, Nia…”

The shocked child recalled the events in the warehouse.

The blessing of the whip that came unreservedly if her divine power didn’t come out.

The blood that comes when the bruise bursts and the skin tears.

On a lucky day when divine power was manifested, it healed cleanly, but if not, the wound quickly festered and fevered.

Yet Nia hated using divine power.

To Nia, divine power was a blank sheet of paper.

That blank sheet always existed to fill tomorrow’s wounds.

Lucia, who had been watching the confused Nia, stroked the child’s head.

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. I did it myself.”

“……Mom did……?”

The child looked incredulous.

Lucia looked at the child and smiled, trying to reassure her.

However, the child was not satisfied with that and mumbled again.

“……Why did you do that? It hurts so much. So from now on, no, no.”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt. I did it to protect you.”

The child stood dumbfounded at Lucia’s words, and then asked quietly.

“……Protect Nia…?”

To protect.

Not that Nia was hurt because of her, but that Mom hurt herself to protect Nia.

Although it started the same, the two meanings were completely different and touched Nia’s heart.

The small child’s mind could not yet understand everything.

She just closed her eyes.

And she began to pray earnestly to heal the wound in front of her.

‘It hurts. Please save me.’

Not praying to endure tomorrow’s pain as she did then, but to endure tonight.
‘Please allow Nia to protect Mom too.’

Then, a light larger than ever before emanated from the child’s hand.

The fluffy white circular orb shimmered with a golden hue and quickly seeped into Lucia’s arm.

It was the first time the child, who had only used or emitted power on herself, had used her strength on someone else.

According to what was heard, it is said that a high level of training is needed to use divine power on someone else.

That’s why Lucia, who never thought the child would heal her, was astonished and frozen by the mysterious warmth.

But was it overdone since it was the first time?

The child seemed exhausted, and fell asleep once again in Lucia’s arms.

“……I knew this would happen.”

At the scratching sound, Lucia, who had been blankly staring at her arm, turned her head.

Mia, who had been lying on the sofa, had gotten up at some point, and was glaring at her like a cat with its fur bristled.