***

I entered the dark room Jacob was in, only to see Evelyn spasming on the floor and sprouting some nonsensical bullshit.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Rushing toward her, I forcibly held her down so that she couldn't accidently hurt herself in her spasm. I looked around her body and saw the skin around her knuckles turning black.

'Poison?'

And an extremely potent type at that. Maybe not as dangerous as Wyvern poison, but it would definitely fatal if left untreated.

I briefly glanced at the corpse right beside Evelyn; it was of the man whom I first saw when I first arrived here. Between his knuckles were claws that were as sharp and shiny as metal, the light flowing in from the hole in the wall exposed the purple tinge on those claws.

Almost immediately, I realized that he probably poisoned Evelyn with those claws of his. I reached into [Alternate storage] and took out a high-grade Recovery potion.

"This costs a Platinum! You'd better pay it back later."

I smeared it on the poisoned part of her skin and waited. The black part of her skin stopped spreading for a split second, but resumed soon after, albeit with a somewhat slower speed.

I furrowed my brows as I saw this. A high-grade Recovery potion did next to nothing to save Evelyn. As I was panicking to find a solution, I suddenly remembered something.

'That's right! I have an antidote!'

But the problem was that it was an one-time-use artifact that I "borrowed" from the auction house. I wanted to save it for a truly dangerous situation. But... isn't a heroine dying a dangerous situation?

As such, I gritted my teeth and swallowed my hesitation and greed. Taking out the green-colored vial from [Alternate storage], I poured it onto Evelyn's blackened skin.

The antidote took effect almost immediately as Evelyn's skin turned to normal. She stopped spasming and slowly opened her eyes. Looking around her confusedly, she muttered, "Is this heaven?"

'Heaven my ass! If anything, you'd go to hell when you die.' I scowled as I threw the vial to the ground, breaking it.

Evelyn jolted up in surprise and turned to look at me immediately. "Oh, if this guy's here, then this must be hell."

"You're alive," I scowled, starting to regret having saved her, "Nevermind about that. Can you move?"

Evelyn looked down at her legs and squeezed them. "Yes."

"Great, then follow me."

I turned around and stood at the doorway with my arms crossed, waiting for Evelyn to approach. Although her almost dying was definitely not in my plans, it wasn't a huge setback. If anything, it would make this next segment all the more impacting toward her. All I needed to d—

"Thank you..."

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sentence that sent chills down my spine. Turning around, I shakily asked, "W-What?"

"I mean what I said. And... sorry..."

"For?"

"For hating humans just because they... are."

'Hold on, what?!'

I could understand if me saving her would make her grateful toward me, but for her to apologize for hating humans? What the fuck happened while I was away?

'No, whatever the case is, I have to look like I expected this from the beginning.'

"I'm glad you understand."

Evelyn nodded. "Yes. Though, I'd prefer it if the process of my coming to an understanding didn't involve me almost dying."

"Well, you wouldn't believe me otherwise."

"Yes."

"..."

"..."

'Okay, this is hopeless.'

From what she told me, it seemed like that the guy lying dead on the ground there was responsible for her sudden change in attitude. However, I couldn't think of the way in which he achieved that.

'This bastard did the thing that even Arthur couldn't do. You have the making of a protagonist, don't you?'

Too bad the would-be protagonist was killed by a heroine.

It was then that I heard the sound of metal bending. Turning to the side, I saw Evelyn breaking off the metal cage Jacob was in.

'She'll be fine... probably. Guess this means my plan is no longer needed...'

"Keep doing that and free the children. Well, the ones that are alive anyway."

Evelyn nodded and continued doing what she was doing.

I then walked out of the room and into the bright hallway. As soon as I turned the corner, I could see half a dozen adults tied up and gagged with their back against the wall. I wasn't surprised, as I was the one who did this to them. Since Evelyn was already 'cured,' I didn't have any reason to keep them alive any longer.

'What a waste, and here I was excited about breaking her mind down when I make her face the truth the other races can be absolutely fucking horrible too.'

Sighing and taking out a sword, I crouched down to one of them—the Elf lady that looked like the boss of this place, and removed her gag. As soon as I did so, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "please spare me!"

"Shut up. You're too loud."

The Elf spoke up again, this time with a much lower volume. "Please! I have children waiting for me at home! They can't survive without their mother!"

I glared at her coldly, trying to keep my anger in. Not that I cared about the children or anything, it was just that I hated hypocrites.

'I'm a hypocrite too, but who cares?'

Keeping your hypocrisy to yourself is one thing, but to openly display it like this... yeah, I don't think she's going to live through this.

Raising my sword up and holding it against her neck, I spoke with a low voice.

"Don't worry. I'm sure whatever slaver ring that captures them after you die will take good care of them. Hmmm... at least they'll treat them as well as you treated the children here."

...

After that, I walked into the room again. The metal cage was broken, and Evelyn was slowly walking out of it with Jacob holding her hand. Upon seeing me, she widened her eyes in horror.

"What happened to you?!"

"What do you mean?"

"Your clothes!"

I casted my gaze downward at my white shirt that was now stained with dark red. Turning my head back toward Evelyn again, I shrugged.

"Not my blood."

Making my way toward her, I commanded. "Go up."

"What about the children?" She pointed toward the cage.

"It's no use. They're just shells of their former selves."

"But we can still save them!"

"Yes, we can. But do you really want cannibals like them roaming the street. Not to mention, what would happen to us if people saw we leading a bunch of starved kids down the streets?"

"I-If we explain the situation to the guards, they'll understand!"

"Evelyn..." I sighed, "don't tell the guards anything. They're in on this."

"W-What?!"

"In fact, I'm pretty sure the governor is involved too."

"T-The governor?"

'Seriously, do I need to repeat myself every time?'

"Yes, the gov—"

"No! Theodore! Primel's in danger!"

A slither of panic slipped inside my mind. Luckily, I managed to calm down before any kind of bad expression showed themselves on my face.

"What?"

"She went to the governor's mansion!"

Hearing that sentence, I couldn't keep my cool anymore.

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"

Though startled by my sudden shout, Evelyn continued with a frown. "I tried to tell you, but you pulled me to this place without giving me the chance to..."

Dammit! I hated it when she was right! This was my fault. Clenching my fists tight, I punched a nearby wall to relieve my anger. Exhaling and calming down, I ordered Evelyn.

"Go upstairs and rescue the other children. I don't care what you'll do after that, just make sure that no one sees the children leaving with you."

And with that, I jumped up the ceiling beam and exited the building.

...

Through the dimly-lit streets of Kerudark, I made a mad dash toward the noble's ring. I was going so fast that I didn't even have time to react when I crashed into a boy carrying a stack of paper.

"Ow!" The boy winced in pain as he massaged the bump on his forehead. "Watch where you're going!"

But I didn't answer him. Instead, my hands were shakily picking up one of the paper that he was carrying. With a trembling voice, I asked, "h-hey kid, where did you get this?"

Just like any kids would, he puffed his chest in pride. "Hmph! I'm working part-time for the guards! They asked me to stick these posters everywhere. Now that you know who I'm working for, apologize to me!" Then, he rubbed his hands together greedily. "And maybe give me a few Silvers too. I'll let you off easy if you did so."

But I ignored him and threw the poster away. Then, I changed my destination for the governor's mansion toward the old church.

All the while, I poster couldn't help but resurface in my mind.