Chương 69: Of Orphans and Kidnappers

The light entering the temple chamber reflected off a series of mirror-like magical objects, making it seem like moonlight even though it was still early in the morning. Beneath that faint glow, five figures remained silent for several seconds, until Selene finally broke the silence.

"Well? What do you think?" Nerez looked once more at the two children with their heads bowed, then at Selene's smiling face.

"What do I think? Besides child exploitation, a nuisance, and something completely unnecessary?" Without losing her smile, Selene stepped away from her place behind the children and began to wander around the room with her hands clasped behind her back.

"I knew you would say something like that," she remarked, glancing sideways at Nerez.

"But then we have a problem..."

"A problem?"

"Since these children caused mischief in one of my temples, they cannot stay here. And it is not as if I can take mortals to the moon on a whim..."

"I don't see how that is my problem. You are clearly the one dragging them around, so simply return them to wherever you took them from." To Nerez, Selene's smile seemed to grow even more pronounced.

"That is not possible either. After all, what they did has already been discovered. If the guards of Etresa find them, only the death penalty awaits."

"Doesn't that depend on you? If you are in contact with your priestesses, it should be easy enough to pardon them..."

"Ah! But look at the time!" Selene exclaimed, bringing her hands together.

"I really must be going!"

"Going?! What are you talking about?!"

"All right, children, you know what to do. Nerez, it was a pleasure speaking with you. Until our next encounter, bye-bye." As she spoke, Selene waved goodbye and walked toward one of the reflected shafts of light falling into the chamber.

"Wai-!" It was already too late. Selene had vanished the instant she came into contact with the light. Only Nerez, Cerys, and the two children remained in the temple chamber.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"So what do we do?" the redhead asked, unable to stand the silence any longer.

"Do we eat them?" Nerez took a couple of steps away from her. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Please, god of death!" Corenio suddenly exclaimed, swallowing his fear.

"We want to become stronger! We don't want to live on the streets anymore!" Beside him, Munia gave a weak nod. Nerez looked at the little ones for a few moments, then at Cerys, then back at the children, and continued going back and forth like that for a while. Finally, he turned around and walked away.

Nerez and Cerys were once again walking through the streets of Duskhaven. The only difference was that, this time, two ragged children were following behind them with their heads bowed. If they had drawn attention before, now they drew three times as much.

"Do you want me to get rid of them?" Cerys asked again.

"But it is true that consuming those two's energy would be the same as swallowing air... Mm, I could send them to the Underworld with a single slash. Then they would be someone else's problem." No matter how many years go by, that fire spirit mindset of hers does not seem like it will ever change... Maybe it is something similar to how I remember Earth better than the worlds that came after.

Nerez let out a sigh and looked toward the two little ones still following behind them, trying to keep up despite their bare feet.

"At least take care of the souls you yourself send to the Underworld... In fact, it would not be a bad idea for you to go back for now."

"This is where you're going to the tavern to have fun all by yourself! That's why you're sending me away!"

"I have things to do, but going to the tavern was definitely not one of them... though it is not a bad idea for later."

"See!"

"Cerys, don't make me repeat myself. Three children are already too many. Let me focus on the other two."

"I don't know what you mean by that... but fine... I'll go back to the Underworld for now... But you owe me a trip to the tavern!"

"I don't know why I would owe you a trip to the tavern..." But Cerys was no longer listening. With her hands behind her head, she had already headed toward a shadowed spot where she could melt into the darkness and disappear. The children watched Cerys walk away, but they kept following Nerez all the same. That's right, follow me all you want. After all, I'm heading toward the building that looked like an orphanage when we first passed through here.

"Aaaa!"

"Leave her alone!" Nerez stopped dead at the commotion behind him. He knew his plans were about to be ruined somehow. So, before turning around, he let out another long sigh.

"You two will fetch a pretty decent price!" A burly man had Munia slung over his shoulder, and she would not stop crying.

"I told you to leave her alone!" Corenio shouted.

"We are under Selene's protection! You are going to regret this!" The burly man let out a long laugh.

"Under the moon goddess's protection? Are you some kind of priests or something? To me, you just look like two little vagrants!" The first thing I find while walking through the city after hundreds of years is a cliché... I would complain to Miri about Duskhaven's security, but judging by his clothes, the fool is probably a foreigner who still doesn't know the laws of the empire... Corenio, who barely came up to the man's leg, raised his fists, ready to defend his sister despite trembling with fear.

"Very well, if that is what you want," the burly man said, throwing Munia to the ground.

"I'll teach you a lesson first. They're easier to haul off unconscious, after all. Less of a scene." With that, the man raised his own fist, ready to bring it down on Corenio. But the little boy was faster. With a single leap, he drove his fist into his opponent's stomach, and to the surprise of the entire crowd that had gathered, the man was lifted off the ground and sent flying several meters away.

"Agh! Gah...!" The man crashed to the ground and clutched his ribs, unable to breathe. Corenio was more surprised than anyone, but even so, he did not miss the chance and lunged at his enemy, ready to finish him off. Before he could do so, however, he was pulled away from the burly man still gasping on the ground.

"You are still too young to kill someone, no matter how much he deserves it." Nerez had lifted him by the scruff of his neck, and Munia was in his other arm as well.

"It seems Selene has some explaining to do about what you did in her temple. I can't leave you in just any orphanage like this... Mm?" That was when Nerez noticed Corenio and Munia were both sweating profusely in his arms. Despite his seclusion in the Underworld, he had still spent well over a millennium as the god of death, so he could tell a mortal's condition at a glance.

"This is... They are about to die."