chapter 4
4 – Helping those who help themselves (4)
Please be patient.
Only until the administration wizards arrive.
No, at least until the child is brought out.
Einer muttered to himself and slowly crawled forward.
I tried hard not to touch the structure, but it wasn’t easy.
For the tall, muscular Einer, the hole he was crawling through was too cramped.
But he had to.
The captain of the Port Security Force, whose reputation is dying, cannot stand idly by even when he sees citizens in crisis.
And if we waited for support to come, the pillar would probably break and the child would die.
Kiki-Kki-Ik-
A strange sound came from the pillars supporting the roof above Einer.
Hearing that sound, Einer’s back began to sweat from the tension.
As he went in a little further, he realized that the width of his hole had rapidly narrowed and his shoulders could no longer fit.
The pillars at the top are making strange noises as if they will break at any moment.
Every second is urgent, so it would be better to let the child come out from the inside.
“Since the old man is on his way, would you like to step forward a little bit?”
Einer spoke softly into the narrow hole.
“I’m scared…”
“It’s okay. You can come out. Mom is waiting outside, so let’s go out with you.”
Soon there was a rustling sound as if the child was moving.
“Can you get out on all fours like a puppy? Keep it low so you don’t bump your head. Good. You’re doing great.”
Kiki-Kkik-
Hey, you asked, reaching his hand into the invisible hole.
“Are you coming out?”
“Yes…”
“Be careful. The man is reaching out his hand.”
Amidst the pitch-black darkness and the whimpering of children, Einor thought that time was passing terribly slowly.
What are the agency wizards doing?
Once we get out of here safely, I’ll make a formal proposal to the captain and ask that we get some Orcs as well.
With the strength of an orc, he could have held up the roof.
Although they are stupid, there is no other race like the Orcs in their efforts.
At that time, Einer’s outstretched hand touched the child’s soft and small hand.
You opened her mouth as you held her child’s hand.
“You’re all here. Well done. Hold your hand and keep coming out.”
As the child came out little by little from the narrow hole, Einor stepped back little by little.
“Okay. Very good. Let’s go out with you now.”
When the child came out completely, Ainor started crawling upside down pushing the floor in earnest.
Kiki-Kki-Ik-
Please hold on, please.
Fortunately, the pillars held out safely while Einer and Ai reached the exit.
The moment when Einer sighed and lifted his stomach off the floor, with more space.
Wow! And the thickest pillar was smashed!
Ayou pulled her child under her stomach, gritted her teeth, and braced herself for the collapsing roof.
However, the collapsing roof did not break his bones.
Only a little dust fell on his head.
What the hell is this… ?
“Quaaah!” “Aagh! It’s a monster!!”
Then people screamed outside.
Just as you protected the child with all fours, you slowly turned his head behind him.
I saw someone with a massive physique standing with the roof collapsing against the bright, sunny sky of Daham.
Who are you? Maybe Marco?
But he wasn’t Marco, Einer’s crew member.
「Come out quickly… !”
You suddenly came to your senses at the grotesque voice that sounded like scratching iron, and took your child in your arms.
As he crawled out with his child in one arm, he looked up at the man who had saved him and the child.
“Huh…!?”
That wasn’t a person.
That wasn’t even a monster.
The obsidian-like scales that glisten black in the midday sun.
Lizard or Lizardman-like limbs and thick tail.
It was a demon with vertically split yellow eyes.
A demon who opened his body.
Ainer encountered countless times on the battlefield and cut down countless times.
But why are the demons here… ?
At that time, Einer realized that the horns that should have been on the demon’s head were nowhere to be seen.
Could that woman be a slave?!
「Ugh! Heavy!”
When the demon shouted as his arms trembled, Eina hurriedly took the child and jumped to the ground at once.
As soon as he set his feet on the ground, the second floor of the building completely collapsed with a tremendous roar.
I looked behind her as I let the child run to her mother.
The demon who jumped down following Einer was looking around, not knowing what to do.
At that time, I saw security guards running from the other side with the sound of a whistle.
Behind him, there was even a wizard who seemed to run out of breath as he fluttered his robe.
No matter how open the body is, even a demon cannot deal with a wizard.
“Run away!”
I shouted lowly at the demon who was looking at me stupidly.
Then the demon soon wrapped its tail around and leaped to a great height and disappeared behind the wreckage of the collapsed building.
“Senior Einer! Are you okay?!”
The security guards rushed to Einer, who was covered in dust, and brushed off his clothes with strong hands.
“Stop it. It hurts.”
The wizard who arrived late put a hand on his side and bent over him, taking a deep breath.
“Hi, I’m going to die… Ah, my side hurts…”
“What is this? Why did you bring an apprentice who can’t even open a portal?”
At your words, Malia, the apprentice wizard of the administration, widened her eyes.
“What, Heo Eok, what? This? Heh, now, uh…”
But Malia couldn’t speak any more and she sat down.
“All the other wizards were out on the harbor side, so I couldn’t help it.”
At one of the crew’s answers, Einer asked while looking back in the direction he assumed toward the port.
“In the harbor? What happened?”
“I stopped by briefly to say that the Brechnert Fleet was supplying it, but there must have been some commotion.”
It’s always those unanswered pirates.
“It doesn’t take a day or two for them to get into trouble, so all the wizards went there?”
“Ah, the one that came in this time is rather large. I heard that it was a fleet led by an admiral, but I don’t know the name.”
Brechnert is a den of war-mad thugs.
It’s my hometown, but if I had been able to choose a kingdom when I was born, it’s a garbage country I wouldn’t even look at.
How vicious it is is that the country encourages piracy, and general merchant ships or regular navies plunder other ships and return a portion of the proceeds to the royal castle.
I’ve heard that even on the high seas around Daham, the Brechnert fleet is messing around and acting like a bully.
But one more thing is that the military power is so strong that the neighboring countries cringe without making a sound. In a word, it is a country like a scoundrel who uses strength in the neighborhood.
Since it’s a royal castle where only the worst of them gather, how long will I be able to survive there?
There is a reason why he left after beating everything from being a war hero to being the head of the royal bodyguard.
Some would call it crazy, but I don’t think so.
If you don’t like the situation you’re in, you have to boldly walk out.
You carve your own destiny, and Heaven helps those who help themselves.
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe. We’ll clean up here.”
The crew soon went to the collapsed building and began investigating the accident with the store owner and witnesses.
By the way….
Hey, you stood a little further away and stared at the direction where his demons disappeared.
What did she do? She suddenly came back and helped me.
Once they find out you haven’t left the city yet, the guys from the Paling Trade Corps will be looking for you with their eyes on.
I keep worrying about those eyes from before.
Resembling her mother’s eyes….
The sound of a bell from the bell tower in the port was heard through the noise of citizens shouting excitedly, saying that a monster has appeared.
Come to think of it, I decided to meet the kids at a restaurant.
“Then I go first.”
“Go in, senior.”
No matter what happens, you shouldn’t skip meals.
* * * * *
“Captain!”
“Huh?”
Einer raised his head at the high-pitched voice of security guard Kira.
“Why?”
“What are you doing?”
When she looked down, Ainer’s fork was half-embedded in her wooden round table.
“What is this? Why is it stuck?”
“I think the shock of the accident was too great?”
This is Daham’s popular restaurant 「Embrace of the Sea」.
Right now, Einer and her crew are sitting around a round table on the outdoor terrace and eating the representative menu of this place, 「Shrimp with special mayonnaise dip sauce and cold vegetable salad with various ingredients」.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Marco, sitting on a chair that looked exceptionally small compared to his huge body, asked in a gruff voice.
“Isn’t it okay? It’s okay.”
“I heard that demons appeared. It was probably the demon slave we were looking for.”
“I don’t know. If you open up your body, he’ll look like him.”
You pulled a fork from her round table and dipped one of the shrimp in the sauce and put it in her mouth.
When you take a big bite, the juice inside bursts out, and the gentle smell of the sea unique to the southern ocean spreads out.
In addition, lettuce, romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and other fresh vegetables sprinkled with olive oil and lemon juice are a fantastic combination.
If I was a normal Ener, I would have eaten it crazy, but I wasn’t in the mood to do that today.
It’s because I kept thinking of her dead mother when I saw her terrified eyes.
Toby tilted his head when he saw the leader quickly let go of the fork.
“Do you not eat?”
“Eat all of you.”
“Ithing!”
Toby, the youngest, just liked it and quickly pulled the plate placed in front of Einer towards him.
“Your complexion doesn’t look good. Why don’t you report it to the captain and leave early?”
At the suggestion of Ryan, a senior member of the crew, who was watching the scene, you shook his head.
“That dwarf man will be happy to let you go. That’s fine. I’m really fine. Hey! Toby! Give it to me! I’ll eat it again!”
“Is there a case of taking it away from you, Captain?!”
* * * * *
Einer was able to go home after work late at night.
Because of the fact that demons who opened their bodies appeared in the middle of the market in broad daylight, and the demons were presumed to be runaway slaves of the Paling Trade Corps, and the meeting on countermeasures against them was prolonged.
I’m tired, I’m tired. But I can’t help it.
The Paling Trade Corps is pouring a lot of money into the end for smooth trade and also operates a branch office.
You have to pretend to be looking for at least a week to be able to maintain an amicable relationship in the future.
Anyway, I don’t know if the demon escaped well.
It was her fault for not being faithful to her duties as her security guard, but Einer has no regrets for not catching her.
No matter how much demons are enemies of the continent, the war is already over.
The demons who participated in the war were annihilated, and most of the demons who survived were non-combatants.
So, I heard that there are some kingdoms in the northern part of the continent that accept surviving demons as members of society.
And most of all, Einer saw the demon’s eyes when he was revealed to him.
Those terrified eyes, similar to those of the mother at the slave market.
To forget that, you sighed and shook your head.
But he can’t shake it off like that.
Einer walked for a long time while being blown by the gentle wind of the Southern Ocean.
Arriving in front of the house, Einer looked up at the house on this floor, where the lights were turned off for a moment.
Then he quietly opened his mouth.
“Are you sure you want to follow me into the house?”
“Sorry…”
The demon woman hiding behind her behind the wall showed her face.
Einer’s crew