Apostle of the Goddess of War

Ch.198 Apostle of the Goddess of War

'Ah. This is….'

Sion looked around, his gaze unsteady. The ceiling was low enough that he had to bow his head slightly.

No—calling it a ceiling was being generous. It was more accurate to describe it as a place where building remnants had been roughly stacked together to block only the rain and wind. Even so, traces of water leaking through were visible here and there.

This alone was terrible enough, but there was a separate layer of terrible beneath it.

'How many children are there?'

Just the ones visible numbered over ten. Most were young children. Even Rudy was young, but the rest looked no older than ten. They were truly just children.

Sion muttered, his expression hollow.

"What is all this…."

"Now you see."

Rudy grumbled. She had roughly explained the situation on the way over.

There were nearly twenty siblings to take care of, and to feed them all, they had no choice but to steal. No one would give them proper work, so there was no other way.

They were all orphans who had lost their guardians and their homes during the World War.

The smell was familiar—a wretched smell that clung to children who had lost all hope. Their eyes were empty, and no vitality could be felt from bodies worn down by hunger.

"I had the kids who managed to eat a little go out and work. Then they got caught and beaten, so I went to take revenge. If I don't even do that much, I can't protect them."

"And yet you stopped at just roughing up the tavern guys a little."

"No—that man tricked and used us. He promised jobs at first, then just used us without paying a single coin!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

Sion closed his mouth.

Many thoughts came at once. He felt contempt for the man who had deceived children like this, but beyond that, his thoughts were numbed by the shock of what lay before his eyes.

Rudy treated Sion as a guest, in her own way, with a calm face.

"As you can see, there's nothing to offer a guest here. And besides, you followed me here on your own, didn't you? So don't go talking about etiquette or manners."

"You're worrying about that right now?"

"What? Uh…."

Sion let out a long sigh.

He had suspected it, but as expected—the kid had a good heart. Her sense of responsibility was also remarkable; it could even be said to surpass Sion's own at that age. Because Sion, at her age, couldn't have imagined looking after nearly twenty other children.

Sion ruffled Rudy's head, then sat down where he stood. The children watched him with eyes mixed between curiosity and wariness.

"Where is the child who got beaten today?"

"Still outside."

"Why?"

"Said she'd go find food."

"You let her go just like that?"

Rudy's expression twisted slightly.

"She's stubborn—what was I supposed to do?"

"You should have held her back, even by force."

"I can't win against her."

"……"

Sion was at a loss for words. Just how bad was Rudy at fighting, to be weaker than a child younger than herself?

Still, the courage to challenge a full-grown adult was something worth acknowledging. Given that she seemed to have no concept of fear, it didn't seem like she was destined for a long life.

"Then at least let her take revenge with backup. Or go together. Why challenge alone when you can't fight? That's just foolish."

Instantly, Rudy's eyes flew wide open.

Sion was caught off guard for a moment.

'She's terrible at fighting, but those eyes—nearly a lion's.'

There was fighting spirit there. Rudy had a lion's heart that most people simply didn't possess. Depending on how you looked at it, that was a talent even harder to come by than natural ability with a sword.

"I'm not foolish."

"Then what would you call it?"

Rudy gritted her teeth and answered.

"This is a situation I have to face alone."

"And why is that?"

Sion had a vague sense of the reason already. But hearing it directly from the person herself was something else entirely.

Without realizing it, he had begun placing expectations on Rudy—and genuine curiosity had taken root. She was an interesting person. Interest had found him before he'd even gone looking for it.

"……Because I'm the one in charge. I have to protect the children. That's the role I have to carry."

"Even without the strength to back it up?"

"If strength alone made someone a leader or a king, then it would be a broken world—one that couldn't last long. You have to know how to take responsibility to be a real leader."

Sion curved one corner of his mouth. It was a better answer than he had expected.

"Refreshing."

"Sure. And yet everyone calls me 'all talk.'"

"Who says that?"

"My siblings."

"Ah."

Just then, the siblings returned.

Five in total, three of them girls. All were clearly younger than Rudy, but every pair of eyes had a sharp, guarded look set deep in them.

Now that he thought about it—the child who had been beaten today was also a girl.

None of them were ordinary.

Not the village people, and certainly not this girl who had gone back out to find food after everything she had already been through that day. That girl glanced at Sion and spoke flatly.

"Rudy. Who's the strange man you dragged back this time? He doesn't look young enough for us to be taking care of him."

"Don't worry. He's someone who'll be leaving soon. I felt bad for him, so I brought him along briefly."

"Hmm. Don't give him any food."

"Obviously."

"Haha."

Sion felt a strange freshness—it had been a while since he'd been treated this bluntly by anyone.

'From Emperor to "pitied strange man."'

Even so, they were genuinely brave kids. A tough vitality could be felt from them even at a glance. The content of their conversation was miserable to hear, but the people having it were holding steady in the middle of it all.

'They're so young, though….'

Looking at these children, he was struck by the realization that Ruina, Set, and Kaili had been, without question, ordinary children for their age.

These ones in front of him were not ordinary at all.

"Jena. Come here and let me see where you're hurt."

"It's fine. Just got slapped on the cheek a few times."

"That's exactly why. Come here."

Sion observed their lives in silence. There were so many things he wanted to say that he didn't know where to begin, so he kept his mouth shut.

The girl named Jena was clearly the practical backbone of this place—and yet she made sure to keep Rudy as the visible leader. A girl who knew how to draw the right lines.

Neither Rudy nor Jena was ordinary.

"You're really worried about me looking like this? Come on, Rudy."

"Because this is nothing new for me."

"Ugh!"

Slap!

Rudy got smacked on the back.

"Ack!"

Rudy yelped like a small child—this from the same person who hadn't let out a single groan while being beaten half to death earlier.

Sion smiled, a little bitterly. Even the tip of his nose stung faintly.

'What made these kids this strong?'

The past surfaced in his mind. A younger version of himself appeared without being called.

Sion, who at that age had been a child whose inside was rotted and crumbling even while appearing strong on the outside.

'These kids won't be any different.'

Pretending to be strong for the sake of the younger ones, gritting their teeth and holding the line. They looked like trees whose roots were trembling, barely holding on.

They needed to be transplanted to new ground quickly—watered and given rich soil before they could wither.

Leaving them here as they were would be a waste. Precious timber, going to ruin.

Sion was just about to make his proposal.

Slap!

Jena struck Rudy on the back again—then suddenly remembered something.

"Wait. Where's Pale?"

"Pale? Wasn't he with you?"

"No. He went out to look for you."

"What are you talking about? I didn't run into anyone today!"

Jena spun around and called out urgently.

"Pale! Pale!"

"……!"

"Has anyone seen Pale? Anyone?"

The children didn't speak. They only shook their heads. The ones who had gone out together and come back hadn't seen him either.

"Damn it! Pale!"

Jena bolted outside. Rudy ran with her.

Sion followed them out of the shelter. Outside, storm clouds were gathering. The feeling in his chest was not a good one.

Pale! Pale!

Jena and Rudy searched everywhere, calling out for the boy named Pale. But naturally, he wouldn't simply appear out of thin air looking perfectly fine.

The smaller children went down into the village together to search. Somehow, Sion ended up being left to watch over the ones who remained—Jena had asked him to.

"Really…."

Sion scratched his head, looking at the children left in his care. One of them was already whining about being hungry.

At that age, children needed to eat—and often. It seemed they hadn't had a proper meal in days.

He couldn't leave to go buy food, because he had been asked to stay. And if he took his eyes off these children for even a moment, they would find trouble without a doubt.

About an hour passed like that.

The children who had gone down to the village returned one by one. None of them brought news of Pale. Jena was the same.

The last to return was Rudy, panting hard, her face caked with dried blood.

"Huk! Huk! I—found something!"

"What? Where is he?!"

"I don't know where exactly!"

Jena's expression hardened with frustration.

"What are you saying?"

Rudy shook her head and let out a ragged breath.

"Someone took him. I don't know who—doesn't seem like anyone from the village. Witnesses said they were armed, damn it!"

"Do you know where he was taken?"

"Yeah. Outside the village!"

"Then let's go!"

Jena was about to lead the children out when Rudy stepped in front of them.

"You all stay here. I'll bring him back."

"What?"

"Guard the younger ones. It's time to start cooking."

"Rudy! This is too much for one person. If we all go together—"

"No. I'll go alone. Pale going missing is my responsibility."

"……"

Jena's throat tightened slightly. The weight of the situation was different now.

This was a situation where blood could genuinely be spilled.

"You'll get hurt. Really badly hurt."

"Better me than more of them getting hurt here."

Rudy smiled brightly. Blood-stained teeth stood out grimly against that smile.

The other children tried to stop her. But Rudy's stubbornness was not something easily broken.

'Now I understand why she's the leader.'

Sion let out a quiet laugh.

He had seen enough by now.

As an Emperor. As an Apostle.

It was time to extend a hand of salvation.

"I'll go."

"……?"

Sion stepped forward.

Jena looked at him with a guarded expression.

"And you are—who, exactly, mister?"

"Me?"

"Yes. Don't go sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong. You'll end up in a bad way."

"Hmm."

Sion considered his words carefully for these blunt, sharp-edged kids.

But in the end, as expected, there was only one answer that fit.

"The strongest man in the world."

"……What are you on about?"

"It's the truth."

In terms of power, in terms of authority—Sion stood at the very peak of this world.

Whether these children believed that, of course, was an entirely separate matter.

Naturally.

"See, Rudy? Told you he was strange."

Not a single child believed him, just as Rudy hadn't before them.

Jena looked at Sion for a long moment, then sighed and grabbed Rudy by the shoulder.

"Not this time. We go together."

"No, really—"

"Read the room, Rudy. There's a time to be stubborn and a time not to be."

"……"

Sion felt a flash of embarrassment at being treated like a piece of furniture in the middle of all this.

'This is quite something. And I can't exactly announce that I'm the Emperor.'

Not that these kids would believe it even if he did. They likely didn't know the current Emperor's name or even the name of the Empire.

"Alright then."

Rudy nodded after a moment of thought.

"We save him together. But if it gets dangerous, everyone runs immediately. Understood?"

"Got it."

"Good. Then let's go."

"Let's move—we have to hurry!"

And just like that, Sion was left out of the exchange again.

Even though they were just children, not a single one had thought to lean on an adult or ask for help.

Setting aside how baffling that was, his chest ached at the thought of just how much they had been forced to grow up on their own.

The children were already running far ahead.

'Goddess. I'm truly exhausted.'

Sion let out a long sigh and began chasing after them.