“It’s him. It’s Selv the guardian!”

“It’s really him! It’s really him!”

The moment he entered the church, he was greeted with several shouts from the children. They swarmed upon him like hungry hyenas, leaving him to entertain them while looking left and right, at lost, for an answer from anybody.

Ney, who he had hoped the most, made an displeased face and refused to even meet his gaze. The one who offered him an answer was the oldest child around, a girl with a cute ribbon on her hair. He believed her name was Mary.

“I’m sorry for their behaviors. They just got too excited after learning about your deeds from the history lesson.”

“I don’t mind it. It’s not the first time this happened, after all,” he said while complying with the children’s request. Inside, he was letting out a tired sigh.

He hadn’t heard specifically what kind of thing they learned, but he had an idea, painfully so.

There was a time where he was asked to become the primary source when they were revising the history book. For one, he believed in the importance history had on building a sense of unity among citizen and knowing where you stand in the world. That was why he agreed on supplying the information.

He completely forgot about the thing until later on, when he stumbled upon it when teaching the young Edmund about history. The glorified, his focused, contents which were barely accurate sent an irresistible wave of cringe down to his very core.

He fell to the floor, holding his shoulders to suppress the standing hairs, twitching like a dying insect while letting out one long sigh. Once he overcame the cringe, he wasted no time and deliver his complain to the related individuals and stopped the production line.

To his shame, however, the damage had been done. Although the initial source was cut, the second and third kept appearing because the content had stuck to people’s mind. So, he took the avoiding stance.

But, aah. The cringe was coming back to him like a vengeful ghost. He felt it from the uncomfortable sensation within his body.

Back to the present situation, he still had no idea how this related to Nely’s mood.

“I’m surprised Nely agreed to it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see. The children were pestering on her to bring you here for a while now. But, she never agrees to it until today. She was so stubborn for some reason,” She said, giving Nely who was watching them a look. Upon meeting her gaze, Nely blatantly broke it, looking the other way.

“This’s just between us, but I think she’s jealous,” she whispered to his ear.

“I see.”

He finally got the picture of it.

To her, they were her first friends. Seeing how those treasured friends of her kept asking for him, she most likely experienced something like they were taken by him. That was why she didn’t want to bring him.

Selv perfectly read through a growing girl’s heart and thought it was adorable of her.

Don’t worry. I won’t take your friends. He sent her a reassuring gaze with such thoughts.

Unfortunate for him, his thoughts didn’t reach her because she got annoyed first by his warm smile, which she took as a mocking. It was hard to treat a growing girl.

Selv got tired of entertaining the children who bombarded him with questions and decided to take a seat, resting, waiting for the priest to make his appearance. But, time passed with no sign of him.

“Where’s he? It’s should be about time for him to usually come checking around.”

“Ah, you have business with Father?” Asked Mary.

“That’s right. I have something to talk with him.”

“Father should be cleaning the unused guest room right now. Do you want me to bring him?”

“That’s fine. Just tell me his location.”

After receiving the location, he took off, leaving the sharp glare Nely gave him from interrupting her talk with Mary.

The place was just within the church, unlike the separate building where the children live. He went accordingly to Mary’s instruction and reached in front of a dusty room. There was no plate to indicate it, but from the sounds coming from inside, it seemed this was the right place.

A well-mannered man he was, he knocked on the door before entering the room.

“Come in.”

He went inside and immediately greeted with flying dust, causing him to coughed a few times.

“Forgive me for the mess. As it appeared to you, this room had accumulated age quite splendidly if I say so myself.”

There he was, standing in the middle of dirt and dusts, wearing an apron above his priest clothes, a mask covering nose and mouth, and a dustbin at hand. Rather than a priest, his current was like a cleaning housewife, which suited him quite so.

“What can I do to help you today? You certainly did not come to assist me, no?” He said, resuming his cleaning task.

“That’s right. But before that, do you have extra clothing and something to wipe?”

Seeing how tasking it was, Selv offered his help. Surely, he thought it would be selfish of him to ask and leave him without doing anything.

“I appreciate your help. There are some near you, so use it as you please.”

“You’re awfully prepared. Are you perhaps expecting my visit?”

Selv asked, suspicious of the too convenient coincidence. It might be just a coincidence, but it might not. He had known him for quite a time, but there was something in him that he couldn’t dismiss as strange. Considering the thing about Nely, there was a chance he was also involved. Or that was his thoughts.

“Surely, not. I had prepared those for when my lambs offering to help.”

It was the result of his overthinking things.

“Is that so. Then, why not ask them for help from the start?”

Pierre laughed at his suggestion.

“Surely you jest. I’m, too, a citizen of this town. I won’t ask for something unless necessary. Furthermore, I don’t hope them to dirty themselves. Who knows what could go wrong if something bad enters their bodies through the dust.”

Selv realized his misunderstand from the sincerity in his words. He should have known that, even though he might dodge a topic and ask strange if it concerns the children, he never spoke of falsehood. He might not be the most credible person around, but he was honest in his own way.

That was why he earned a thick trust from children who grew up by his side. It stayed the same when they departed from this place.

“I see. Sorry for doubting you. I guess your love for children is the real deal,” Selv said, offering a bow.

“No, no. It’s the adults’ job to take care of the dirty things while the children stay undefiled. Aren’t you in the same opinion?”

“I guess, so. I don’t know about your wording, but it’s true we’re better on doing this than the children.”

Selv put on his equipment tight, joining Pierre on his task. He drew water from the nearby well into a bucket and went to clean. Pierre took care of the high, hard to reach places while he did the dirt dropped to the ground.

They were going on a fast pace, cleaning one thing after another. Their movements were fluent without any hesitation. As expected from people who were living since ages ago, they had mastered the way of cleaning. The spot that once accumulated dust, dirt, insect’s shell, and possibly many others, was reborn with a sparkling surface, showing no apparent signs of its previous state.

“Is it not about time to hear your objective today?”

Once they were pretty much done, Pierre opened up a conversation. Selv stopped his hand and asked.

“Tell me what you know about your hometown.”

“That’s rather sudden, and quite late, don’t you agree? Some time had passed since I took roots here, and only now you pique interest.”

“I’ve something going on right now, which might make me go there myself. So, I would appreciate it if you were to tell me.”

“It’s for the lass, isn’t it.”

Selv didn’t answer back his sudden statement.

“What makes you think so?”

“A simple deduction, The Guardian.”

It was certainly not hard to deduce his situation. The incidents from last month had already spread to everyone. They were aware of the presence put under his care recently and also played a role in returning Selv. Despite being called the independent town, this place was small enough to know about your neighbors like in the sticks.

But, he was unable to pin out the source of conviction in his words. In the end, a deduction was but predicting from the information we have at hand. Delusions , put in another way. That was why there shouldn't’ be any confidence.

Selv gave an eyeful of him, trying to find out how much he knew of his situation. He wasn’t able to read him.

“My reason aside, what’s your answer?” He asked, returning the topic back on track.

“Of course, you have my support to help that child.”

HIs reply was quick, without any hesitation, despite this might be an act of selling his comrades. Pierre seemed not to mind it if it were to help children, which was convenient for Selv.

“I doubt there’s anything useful since I haven't returned there since I came here. But, I will answer to my ability.”

“That’s still fine since my sources are books and documents. Tell me.”

To his request, Pierre finally stopped his hand, looked his way, and said,

“I understand. Then, let me start with the only rule of my hometown. Strength is the only rule.”

Pierre started telling about his hometown.

The land of demon. A place where everything was decided with strength. Barren land where the pleasant smell of spring flowers never came. Even if it did decide to visit, the smell of rotten corpses and the vicious plants that grew on it would be blocked and erased their smell completely.

Those plants, just like many the people there, did not grow tasteful or healthy fruits. Why of course. They intentionally underwent evolution to ensure that no being would delighly take them to their mouth, increasing their chances of growing bigger and longer.

Despite the rotten bedding they decided to take root upon and the unlikeable fruits they bore, people and creatures, both alike, still preyed upon it. They had no choice. How could they?

The land was scarce as it could be. Not eating mean they would be the one to become the next bedding or food.

They have to eat so they become stronger. They need to be strong to live. They live to see another day. And, to see another day they need to eat.

Was there a meaning doing that? Wouldn’t it better to die and end all the hardship?

There might not be any meaning at all. And, such thoughts were unrelated to them. They were too busy figuring out how to see the next day than doing philosophy.

Their sole saving was that such a thing did not apply to every inch of the hard to live place they were on. There were places with a better condition to live, although few in number. Plants would have a lower growth speed, but in exchange, the fruits the bore were juicy and healthy to some extent.

It was by no way better than any land where humans live. But, it was enough for them. Enough to spill even more blood.

The oasis gathered many who hoped for a better life, yet the number was limited. A muddy competition took place which, In the end, only the strong to claim those places. Among those, only one was claimed by the demon race. The rest became inhabited by creatures with strength so otherworldly even by demon standard. Everyone who challenged them did not live to tell the tale.

Change of power took places many times until one demon realized it was meaningless to just claim the spot. They also need to guard it. That was the trigger that resulted in the one and only town in the land of demon.

The strongest one at that time gathered people weaker than him who vowed loyalty, built a town with them, and hardening his defense with them while he stood at the top. It was a strong reign which continued for a long time.

As a result, things like art, philosophy, and religion started to develop. However, it did not spread to people outside until a few hundreds of years later. One of the most notable things of what they would later call the golden age was the birth of religion.

It taught people not to hate or seek revenge on others who killed your parent or brother. Everyone was desperate to live so we shouldn’t hate them for it.

It was made with the consideration of what the cycle of revenge will do to the already bad land of demon. Wasting life which was hard to increase was undesirable. Moreover, cannibalism was a thing at that time. Deciding not to eat the one you killed because of hatred was just unacceptable.

Thanks to it, the living condition of the demon race considerably got better.

On the other hand, however, jealousy and dissatisfaction began to build up among people outside the town. They could not accept how some live comfortable within the town’s wall while they desperate to see another day. Unfortunately, they were helpless because they were weak.

Strength did the talk here. Without that, even if they went in a group, what awaits them was being sent back or killed. They had no choice but to endure their current lifestyle.

At the end of the day, the golden age was put down by one man who held dissatisfaction with the current reign. What he wished was a change in how demons operate, killing each other just to stay alive, not helping when others when the threat came. That was why he stood at the frontline, gained strength and lost something, gathered people and lost someone, and finally closed the curtain of the golden age.

His reign began. To stop and unite all the demons, he targeted the bountiful land across the land, where humans live. It was the start of demon invasion which Selv knew.

“The rest was something you should know better than me. Starting with the west, we took occupation and shifted to the north. Things went well until an unfortunate event happened which ended the first invasion.”

Pierre concluded his long talk.

Selv took his time processing the information he heard for the first time. But, the last event was something hit too close to home. That was why, rather than about the otherworldly creatures, current state, he asked about a thing that bugged him.

“What caused the invasion to stop?”

“It’s but an unfortunate event, just as I told you. One with the name of dollification.”

Selv felt something gushing out from his body. The always consistent ticking within him increased its pace.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

Was it moving clockwise or anticlockwise?

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

What was this sense that rushed him to move somewhere else? His chest was in pain. Oh, he noticed. He forgot to breathe.

He took a deep breath, exhaled, repeat.

Still, something inside him did not stop. It went out of control, went mad, crazed!

It rang with an unpleasant sound, signing something to him.

“So, it’s not just us.”

He barely managed to say that with a quivering voice.

“That’s right. The tragedy strikes all without discrimination. Man, woman, young, old, demon, human, friends, enemies. It turns everyone into lifeless dolls.”

What Pierre said was not a metaphor but plain truth. People did turn into cold plastic dolls with glass eyes. It was an unknown disease that damaged and changed the world to what it was now.

Selv managed to escape this disease for an unknown reason, but he lost many things far more precious than his life. The suffocating pain from his chest was proof. He thought many times, wishing the disease to catch him. That moment was a suitable time for him to die. He should have died with his comrades while the time aligned with his.

Now, it was too late. Far too late to even hope for it. Because of that, he changed his perspective, looking at things from the bright side.

“Pierre, did those creatures you mentioned survived the tragedy?”

“I believe not. Just like how monsters went extinct from this land, they too were inflicted by the same tragedy.”

“That’s the good news I want to hear. One thing off my shoulder, now.”

Selv sighed in relief. He was about to ask another question when someone came in.

“Father, we came for help!”

“Isn’t my dear children. Yes, I’m thankful for your assistance. Wear that apron and mask before you help.”

Selv had thought he stopped cleaning to have a talk with him. But, from the looks of it, he had done it to leave some for the children who came to help. After all, they would feel down if they came for nothing.

Pierre came closer after making sure the children were fine to be left alone.

“Forgive me. It seems the time is up.”

“No. The information are plenty. I should be the one to apologize for taking your time. Anyway, thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Hold it,” Pierre said, holding Selv from leaving. “If you have interest in the current state of my hometown, I suggest you visit the park.”

Selv tilted his head.

“Is there someone here who knows about it more than you?”

“Why, yes. Did you not wonder why I’m cleaning this guest room?”

His words caused Selv to open his eyes wide. He couldn’t believe he missed out something as simple as that.

“Wait, you can’t mean-”

“It is. Find someone with the name of Erstho. He holds the answer you’re looking for.”

Selv thanked him went out, leaving Nely who was still playing with May, after briefly telling her he was going for a walk.

Pierre didn’t tell him other than his name and a word of warning, do not get on his bad side.

Well, how hard it could be? The individual couldn’t be a dangerous person if he was granted permission to enter here.

Selv headed toward the park while imagining what sort of person the other party was.