Otome Survival

“Mina!!”

“…Ah, Sera-san!”

When Sera found Mina in the darkness, she slumped down in relief.

Sera had questioned Castro at the mansion, but he had only told her that he had left the child as a guard in the forest on the border of his domain.

Castro was from a slum, and the weight of his past sins had made him dislike those from the area.

She had no idea what had happened to him in the past, but she suspected that it was because of this that Castro despised and would not forgive those who betrayed their friends.

She was able to trust him in part because of this, but she never expected him to be so twisted that he would even attack a young child….

She had no idea he was so deranged that he could even hit a small child.

Moreover, the place where the house was located was a forest where goblins would wander.

Castro’s face turned pale when he learned that Mina, who was so unfamiliar with the world, was planning to bring food to the children in such a place, and that two people would be killed if she made a mistake.

So, to secure the two in a hurry, Sera and Castro, the two dark knights, hurriedly set out to search for them.

“Calm down, Mina, what happened?”

“Well, that’s the thing… I kept hearing multiple screams of demons coming from the forest, and I… I was so scared that I ran away, but I didn’t want to leave the child… and…”

Sera and Castro exchanged glances as they listened to the confession, wondering if the goblins were really out there.

“Okay, Castro, send her back and then come back with Viro. I will look for the child.”

“…Yes, ma’am.”

Leaving Mina in Castro’s care, Sera dashed off into the darkness, holding the slender knife she had hidden in her cuff in both hands.

The child Viro had brought with him might be able to take down a goblin or two. However, a young child who was conceited about himself would often get beaten back by a number of enemies they could not win against.

If the numbers were too great to win, she could just run away. But…what would happen if there was no way to escape? 

Mina heard the voices of several demons. If so, they had to be very close, and if they were screeching, they could have been in the midst of a battle. Who was fighting with whom? It was most likely the child that Viro had brought with him.

Why did Mina, who was so close, escape? And why didn’t the child escape? 

(No way…)

Castro said the child was a slum person based on her appearance. It would be difficult for a child who appeared to have lived in a slum…or even Sera or her son, who had been trained from an early age as a member of a dark clan, to take on an opponent they couldn’t beat in order to save someone else’s life.

If so, that child may no longer be alive.

In the worst-case scenario, Sera was daunted by the thought of showing the child’s corpse to Viro, who brought the child to her.

Sera, who had been racing noiselessly, changed direction when she smelled blood in the forest.

The trail of blood was soon found. But there was only the corpse of one goblin, no other demons, of which there were said to be more than one, and no sign of the child.

Sera followed the blood trail using her 4th level [Detection] skill. Then, she spotted something in the darkness beyond the forest–

(…something is out there.)

The sharp, killing intent emanating from beyond the darkness made her stop in her tracks.

This was not the kind of killing intent that a goblin would be able to produce. Was there a demon of at least rank 2…if not, rank 3?

Sera was a little ill-equipped to deal with a rank 3 or higher demon, but even so, she undauntedly readied her knife and stepped toward it.

“…this.”

There were three goblins lying on the ground, destroyed. And the corpse of a demon, clearly a hobgoblin, had countless wounds all over his body, as if to tell the tale of his fierce battle.

And…in front of the goblins and the hobgoblin corpse, a bloodied child with an ice-cold killing intent stood like a wounded beast with a knife at the ready.