I, Who Came From the Abyss, Will Save Humanity Again Today Chapter 157

Chapter 157: Current Situation

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"Clang clang—"

"What are you doing..."

"Ahhh—! Sword of Kanri..."

"Pfft."

The commotion outside the mansion died down quickly.

Those Iron Guards were mostly ordinary people, having only received so basic training at best. Their skills were generally diocre, and they were on a completely different level compared to the Sword of Kanri, who had mastered Order Power and had extensive combat experience. I didn't even need to look to know, what was happening right now in the courtyard outside was a straight-up massacre. You couldn't even call it a fight.

But sothing like this... left a small knot in my chest.

Those Iron Guards hadn't really done anything wrong. To just kill them so casually like that... I've always hated the so-called "nobility" for exactly this kind of thing, one careless word from them, and the "people below" die for absolutely nothing.

Back in the Valen Empire, those city guards who ca after , and now these Iron Guards, it was always the sa story. Maybe in the eyes of those "seated high above," their deaths ant sothing, like what Victoria called "sending a ssage." But in reality, the dead had families, wives and children, friends and loved ones, what would they think?

But that's just how things are. There's no clear right or wrong here.

From Victoria's point of view, if she didn't kill those people, her enemies would gradually absorb a certain idea into their heads: "There's no cost to hurting Victoria." After that they'd only push further and further, doing worse and worse things, until one day it reached a point of no return, and maybe ten tis, a hundred tis more people would end up dead compared to today.

What would happen if a nation's ruler was seen as weak and easy to push around...?

I can't even imagine.

Of course, things might escalate even further after today. But with choices, you can never know if they were right or wrong until after you've made them. Victoria is a woman whose intelligence is genuinely unsettling, I'm certain she wouldn't let herself get backed into a corner with no way out.

So when she said she was going to kill all those Iron Guards, I said nothing, and I did nothing.

I knew she wasn't wrong.

And I've more or less gotten used to things like this.

These are the rules of the ga in this world. It's not my place to interfere.

Still, I'll quietly set my own line, sowhere deep inside.

The Queen Dowager downstairs had already left. I watched her walk out looking completely hollow, face drained of color, glaring daggers at Victoria right up until she stepped out the door, while Victoria never once looked back at her.

I trotted up the stairs and silently ca to stand beside Victoria.

The rain fell in a fine drizzle, tapping against the windows and roof tiles with soft thudding sounds that were even clearer from the second floor.

Outside the window, the lawn had been stained a deep crimson, the blood mixing with the rainwater and slowly spreading in all directions.

Victoria's face was cold as ice. She tapped her fingers lightly against the railing, her gaze seemingly fixed on the ornate chandelier above, or perhaps sowhere even further away, lost in thought.

I stood quietly beside her, tilted my head and thought for a mont, then asked: "Is this... okay now?"

A long silence followed.

"This is fine," she said.

I nodded and said nothing more.

After a short while, Lecter ca in through the front door downstairs.

There wasn't much blood on him, but he'd been outside long enough to get completely soaked by the heavy rain, water dripping steadily from the hem of his clothes and the cuffs of his trousers. Lecter paused at the doorway, casually patting and shaking himself off, then wiped his face with his hand and walked briskly toward the second floor.

"Let's go, we'll talk over there." Victoria spoke up beside .

I followed her into a study on the second floor. It had a round wooden carved table used for etings, with an old-fashioned oil lamp placed at the center. Along the edges of the table were rows of raw wood display shelves, deep and warm in tone, clearly worth a fortune, probably the most expensive things in the room. They held so books and boxes, though mostly books, scattered sowhat haphazardly, and if you looked closely they were all dusty — clearly the owner here didn't much care for them.

Could it be that Victoria doesn't like reading?

Doesn't read, drinks too much, always has that cold look on her face, and doesn't even eat sweets... People who don't eat sweets don't know how to enjoy life. She's really going to have a hard ti finding soone to marry soday.

With that completely idle thought in my head, I pulled out a chair and sat down, watching as Victoria settled into the seat across from . As for Lecter... he didn't sit. He stood to the side.

"Tell the results from this morning." Victoria spoke up in a cool tone before I had even properly settled into my seat.

She didn't ask about what happened outside, because she already knew the outco. She also didn't give Lecter any instructions about cleaning things up, because she knew Lecter would know what to do, this was a woman who wouldn't spare even half a sentence she didn't have to.

I had expected her to still be caught up in the intense emotional storm from monts ago, but she wasn't. She was so composed that I almost doubted everything I'd just seen and heard had been a dream, that Victoria's mother had never co at all, and that nothing had happened here.

"The Fire of Sin on Alix Alley has been fully extinguished, and the damaged area wasn't large. However, many residents have lost their hos, and the repair work needs to get underway as soon as possible... 3 civilians are dead, which, all things considered, is a blessing." Lecter said.

Then his gaze turned toward : "And it's a good thing it was Miss Sylvia, if it had been instead... I looked at the scene of the battle. Facing flas of that magnitude, I wouldn't have had the capacity to look after anyone else. All I could have done was fight to protect myself."

I tilted my head and thought for about 2 seconds before I realized he was complinting .

So I gave him a small smile.

But inside I felt a little embarrassed, because I really hadn't been able to look after anyone either, my head had been in too much pain at the ti... The fact that there weren't more casualties was just luck. As for the 3 who died... that would be those 3 thugs, I suppose.

"The residents must have been terrified, quite a few of them said they saw a demon..."

My heart lurched suddenly, and for a mont I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"No surprise there, those heretics... even doing sothing like self-destructing, and with that kind of destructive power... what a bunch of lunatics. Calling them demons isn't even an exaggeration. On top of that, what they worship is also—"

"Lecter. Get to the point." Victoria tapped the table with mild irritation.

I quietly let out the breath I'd been holding.

The hand gripping my skirt hem, my palm had gone sweaty.

Thank goodness. No one noticed... there's no way anyone would ever believe it... don't be scared... no one would ever think of that.

Lecter's expression stiffened slightly: "...Yes. Next is Cataloma. Everything there is as usual, except a boy has gone missing, his na is Abel. The orphanage staff and our people are both searching, but there's been no sign of him up until now."

The tension in gradually eased, and I perked up my ears to listen carefully to his report.

Abel still hasn't been found... He had already told about this when he was outside a mont ago. Vice-Captain Tanis was still leading people in the search, there was no point in worrying about it now.

"According to the information I received, the last person who saw Abel was apparently the gatekeeper of Cataloma. The ti was yesterday evening, Abel went out alone, telling the gatekeeper he needed to go cut so venison for his sick little sister. His sister has always been frail, and Abel would go out every so often to get food that the orphanage couldn't provide. The gatekeeper didn't think much of it and let him through imdiately. He never ca back after that."

I furrowed my brow.

Abel's little sister... she should be one of the three little girls from that run-down street in the Erald Capital back then, right? I rember him ntioning it.