Love Letter From The Future

2. The Lord is with you (17)

Mr. Guilford, the director of Guilford Orphanage, was an old man with white hair.

It was a grandfather with a shaggy silver-grey beard, but he was as strong as his body. The curved muscles boasted a healthy beauty that did not match the age of old people.

When asked why, Mr. Gilford gave this answer with a hearty laugh.

“Hahaha, even so, he was once a mercenary who hunted monsters! It was quite a name.”

“… … It is as you say.”

It was sunset. The sun was scorching the ridge with its last vestiges of the day. In the shabby director’s office of an old orphanage, I was having an interview with Mr. Guilford with a teacup in front of me.

Of course, the saintess was also there. Perhaps he was conscious of the gazes of others, the kind smile that he always showed was lingering on his lips.

Even without that, she was a woman of celestial beauty. She even had such a beautiful smile, so the name ‘saint’ was not a waste. Wasn’t I also blindly fooled by that smile?

The saintess was a woman with a benevolent and warm personality. Now that I think about it, it wasn’t even funny.

Rather, the saintess was closer to the dark side. His disposition itself was on the good side, but since everything was calculated, there was nothing to lose.

Even now, isn’t he showing an attitude as if he had investigated Mr. Gilford in advance?

It was a dispatch mission that lasted only about two weeks, but it was highly likely that he had already grasped detailed information related to the orphanage. Because she was such a thorough woman.

She continued to speak more or less.

“Director Gilford ended his long career as a mercenary and built this orphanage with his remaining assets. There are more than 200 orphans in care now.”

“Hahaha, I don’t know what to do since the saintess painted this old man’s face with gold. It was impossible with my own strength, and this is also thanks to the support of the Holy Kingdom.”

The saintess shook her head without erasing her smile at Mr. Guilford’s modesty. The way she treated Mr. Guilford was very warm.

“If you didn’t have the courage to give the rest of your life and all your possessions for the weak, how much would you be able to save even one orphan? I hope that many people will imitate Mr. Guilford’s heart.”

Then, the saintess glanced at me with that pale pink gaze. It seemed that he meant to imitate me.

Despite having a temper, the saintess was still scratching at me subtly. My impression was slightly frowned upon. I missed the feeling of the day I held the ax handle.

How many seconds?

Assuming there is no Yuren and a surprise attack is possible, I thought that it would be possible to subdue them within one minute. It was very difficult for even the most skilled fighter to stand up to the blade.

Especially if you are not ready for anything.

Of course, it was just an illusion. I wasn’t the owner of a mean personality enough to wield a hatchet just to scratch my temper. I wonder if the saintess did something obvious wrong.

Yeah, obviously wrong.

Otherwise I wouldn’t have had to pull out the blade.

And since the possibility of a saintess who is good at politics and calculations crossing the line is virtually zero, it was virtually impossible to improve her relationship in a short period of time.

The past of not being able to properly master conversational skills was painful. When my sister told me to learn it, I should have studied it diligently.

At that time, I thought that all problems would be solved with just one sword. Because I was young.

Still, there were many problems in the world that could not be solved with narration alone. Whether I believed in my childhood, there were many problems that could be solved with a single sword.

I wanted to discuss the matter today. There was no time to engage in a war of nerves with the saintess.

“So, Mr. Gilford, I would like to confirm the contents of the request.”

At my question, Mr. Gilford exclaimed, “Ah.” He was scratching his head as if embarrassed, but soon lowered his voice with a serious face.

“Actually… This orphanage is haunted by demons once a month.”

Once a month, I leaned against the backrest with my arms crossed.

Is there a monster that visits you with such a regular frequency? The vast majority of Witchbeasts have no intelligence, and move only with murderous intent and hostility.

Of course, if it was a named-level monster, intelligence existed. But even so, the brutality and viciousness remained the same, and there was no reason to endure the slaughter in the orphanage.

To put it bluntly, he would have tried to put an end to it the moment he attacked. If that’s the case, today’s quest would have been a mission to track down and subdue the monster that was responsible for the massacre at the orphanage, rather than reconnaissance and subjugation.

Strangely, that wasn’t the only thing.

“And when the Witchbeast appears, the orphanage’s inmates disappear one by one.”

“Are you sure there is only one?”

“yes.”

My brow narrowed slightly. The same was true of the saintess, whose expression did not change at all.

All in all, there is only one person, and that only appears once a month.

That meant that every month one orphan was being kidnapped by the Witchbeast. The interval was also constant, and the number of orphans who disappeared was also constant. It was a strange thing for anyone to see.

Which demonic beast would carry out such a thoroughly calculated slaughter?

But after hearing that, I finally understood why this request had been neglected for so long. In fact, it was because of that that the saintess and I met together.

Since the request had been left unattended for a long time, the Holy Kingdom decided to send the saintess to the orphanage in the name of volunteering as well as dispatching personnel.

But in the meantime, I suddenly accepted this request. In the end, the saintess and I arrived at this place at the same time without even knowing that there was another request recipient.

I could understand the circumstances of Seongguk.

The continent is vast, and therefore the administrative and military power was limited.

Even in the city, they didn’t care about the disappearance of one or two orphans, and even if one orphan disappeared every month from an orphanage in such a remote place, the army couldn’t move.

However, he would not be able to hire a mercenary in the yard suffering from financial difficulties, and even though Mr. Gilford was a skilled mercenary, he had not yet solved the beast crisis.

In other words, it meant that more power than that could be solved.

The balance calculation did not match. There was no one in the world who would accept such a request.

Only one, except for me.

Mr. Guilford seemed to appreciate that. He was willing to give even the tea leaves he cherished and treasured in difficult circumstances.

It was cheap at least, but the heart was important. I sipped the warm tea with a grateful heart.

“… … Have you ever read about the characteristics of the Witchbeast?”

It was the saintess’ question. At that cautious question, Mr. Gilford scratched the back of his head as if in trouble.

“I heard that it is a demonic beast with long arms. He jumps in out of nowhere and snatches the child in an instant. It’s so fleeting that it’s hard to even witness.”

Last time it was a wolf, now it’s a monkey.

It was boring. Even the monkey was an animal that freely crossed the tree. Basically, his intelligence was on the high side, so I didn’t want to imagine how tricky he would become.

What if there was a monster at the level of being named among the dogs?

“You are intelligent. Is there a boss?”

“Yes, maybe. I’ve also seen monkey-type monsters in the surrounding forest a few times. They didn’t go inside the orphanage, so I left it alone, but it seemed like the leader was the one who attacked the orphanage.”

Then he raised both hands. It seems to testify to its enormous size.

“I heard that 2m is taller than that. If the orphanage is only raided once a month to avoid being subjugated on purpose… … .”

“Your intelligence is abnormally high.”

It was the saintess’ conclusion. As a sign of this, the atmosphere immediately became heavy.

It was obvious, but the more intelligent the opponent, the more difficult the subjugation was. If it was enough to suppress the monster’s nature, it was reasonable to say that it possessed at least human intelligence.

My head was already pounding. Pressing down on my temples, I said to Mr. Guilford.

“First… Then, as soon as my companion arrives, I will search the forest. Do you remember when the last raid was?”

“I remember about three weeks ago. Judging by the precedent, I think it will probably come again within a week or two… … .”

Then time was running out. It also meant having to stand guard at night.

Me, Elsie-senpai, and Delphine-senpai weren’t enough. It was to the point where I felt grateful that the saintess and Yuren had come.

I had no idea it would be such a difficult quest. Perhaps the same was true of the saintess, as we left the director’s office, her steps were heavy.

At the last moment, Mr. Gilford lowered his head.

“I am sorry. A request that is too difficult for busy people… … .”

At the same time, the way he looked at the two of us seemed genuinely sorry. The saintess and I waved our hands and shook our heads without asking anyone first.

“No, it is the duty of nobles to protect the weak.”

“It is the same. Heaven watches over all, Emmanuel.”

After leaving the director’s office, only silence lingered between me and the saintess.

I couldn’t quite figure it out. The monster that attacks the orphanage has a mysterious habit.

My eyes glanced back at the saintess. Then, the saintess, who had been looking at me beforehand, hurriedly averted her eyes as if caught off guard.

She also seemed unconcerned. I sneakily asked her.

“Do you know anything?”

“No, not at all… … .”

The saintess immediately sighed and answered. It meant that even the outline of her, who held a lot of information as the highest ranking position in the Holy Kingdom, could not be captured.

Then there was only one answer. I have no choice but to find out by bumping into my body.

With a voice mixed with a sigh, I proposed to the saintess.

“Then tomorrow, as soon as my companions arrive, we should go to the forest. I’d have to figure out something before I could come up with a countermeasure… … .”

“What about tonight? If we attack tonight, we could lose a precious life.”

As a bonus, the opportunity to apprehend the head witch on the spot is also gone.

The saintess didn’t say anything out of her mouth, but the calculations underlying her remarks were supposed to be so. The matter was already complicated. It was a moment of deep regret.

I’ll ignore the letters and everything and choose whatever I want.

But if I did that and heard that someone had died, I would have spent another sleepless night feeling guilty. I couldn’t help it, but it was more frustrating than that.

Even if you receive a letter, there must be more talented people than me, so why bother me?

Am I not lacking in power and strength? It was unfortunate, but it was already spilled water.

I carefully drew out a plan.

“I can’t help it. Tonight, first of all, me, the saintess, and Yuren took turns… … .”

“Sister, Ian!”

It was then that a loud noise came in.

As we were talking, the eyes of the saintess and I simultaneously turned to the epicenter. There, an androgynous man with jade hair was waving.

It was Yuren. And on his shoulder was already a child who seemed to be a protected child.

And that wasn’t all. The loud noise was the chatter of dozens of children following Yuren. He said he would scout around the orphanage, so he didn’t know if he had become close with the children before he knew it.

Yuren had a smile on his face. When the saintess and I looked at him in bewilderment, he smiled and said,

“Help me, I need to prepare dinner now… … .”

“… … Dinner ready?”

A crack appeared in the saintess’ calm face at the sudden words. Even so, Yuren’s expression was as if he was asking something obvious.

“Yes, dinner ready. When I heard about it, there were too few workers.”

“… … What about the other volunteers?”

“I heard that everyone fled after the monsters started attacking?”

Damn it, the saintess and I immediately covered our faces with our hands without anyone saying anything first.

It was a board that had to not only hunt monsters, but also look after the children.

**

The next day, Delphine arrived in front of Guilford Orphanage.

The brown-maned horse he rode in expressed his regret by crying and crying. Delphine calmed him by stroking his neck without saying anything.

At first glance, it seemed relaxed, but Delphine’s feelings were not at ease.

Her eyes swept across the Guilford Orphanage. It was an old building with cracks visible in places.

A sigh escaped from Delphine’s mouth.

I never knew what I was going to do in this old orphanage. To be honest, Delphine didn’t want to come to a place that didn’t help her grades.

But when Ian pushed her again, Delphine couldn’t say she couldn’t bear to go.

It still felt like my heart was beating. The golden eyes I saw that night.

The man soaked in blood naturally raised the ax as if it were his original form. And the unmistakable resounding scream. Blood. and moan.

All belonged to Delphine. The humiliation and horror of having your arms and legs torn to pieces and being treated like firewood rather than a human being.

I couldn’t imagine. Delphine’s bloody eyes began to shake as she recalled the memory of that day. He lowered his gaze and bit his fingernails.

The man I saw that night was a monster. Although it was Delphine who had defeated countless monsters and villains, Ian was more terrifying than any enemy she had ever seen.

That fact mercilessly hacked into Delphine’s self-esteem.

When I closed my eyes, I remembered the image of her on her knees, with her head on the ground, begging for mercy. Even more terrifying was the fact that whenever Delphine recalled the scene, she felt a sense of relief rather than shame.

Mad bitch, he was broken just as he was supposed to be, losing only once.

And what seemed to drive her even more crazy was the reality that she would have to spend the next two weeks with the person who had ruined her so terribly.

I can’t even make eye contact properly. The day he picked up a hatchet, Delphine’s knees might break on their own.

I’d rather get down on my knees and bang my head on the ground. Then there was even a guarantee that forgiveness would be granted. It would be reassuring.

To fix his mind, how terrifyingly prepared would he have to wait?

That wasn’t the only thing that made Delphine depressed.

“Heh, I finally arrived.”

Pretending to be calm, the girl jumped off the saddle. I was short anyway, so I couldn’t speak. It was a very cheeky way of talking about the subject that had been forced on Delphine’s back.

A girl with a doll-like appearance, characterized by brown hair, blue sapphire eyes, and a large cone-shaped hat.

It was Elsie Rainella. He was also at odds with Delphine.

“… … Should I just say thank you?”

“why me? He’s a colleague I’m going to be with for the next two weeks, but shouldn’t he be kind enough to ask me to take good care of him?”

It was a cheap year, but the way of thinking itself was different.

Delphine and Elsie glared at each other for a while, then turned their heads away with a snort.

I didn’t even want to talk. Delphine thought so and tried to move, but hesitated.

A voice came from the orphanage.

Most of them were children’s sounds. But the vibrations that are clearly felt in that gap.

Delphine’s eyes were stained with fear. It was the voice of the man who broke her. Now, what the hell did I call her to look like?

It was after it had already been destroyed. Delphine swears to heaven that she had no intention of rebelling against Ian. He could bet on the family’s honor that he would never take out a knife in front of him.

But it was already too late. Forcibly calming her stiff arm muscles, Delphine opened the orphanage door with trembling eyes.

There was a squeak, the annoying noise characteristic of an old door. Beyond, stood the man who had wielded a bloodied axe that night.

“Hey, hey! you stopped running! Belle, don’t bully the girls! I will, really… what?”

Among dozens of shabby-dressed children, with a mop in hand.

It was a very different look from what Delphine remembered. While her white-haired woman was frozen, the man began to smile.

“Senior Delphine, senior Elsie! You just arrived! Could you bring me the broom over there?”

broom? Delphine’s eyes turned to the side. There was an old broom leaning against the gate.

Did I just call you to run errands?

Delphine was the heir to the Yurdina family. Nobles had the role of nobles, and commoners had the role of commoners.

At least chores like cleaning weren’t for the nobility. Even more so if it was a great aristocrat like Delphine.

In case you didn’t know Maybe he wanted to destroy Delphine’s last handful of pride.

Delphine couldn’t hold back her tears and tried to raise her voice.

Of course, as soon as I met the man’s golden eyes, I immediately lowered my head and could only squeeze a small complaint.

“why me… … ! Why, why, should I… … .”

Delphine felt ashamed and resentful of herself for not being able to dare to resist the man. I felt like crying. That moment when I was chewing my lips like that.

Tuk, passed her and someone grabbed a broom. And a petite girl who jumps up and heads for the man.

Delphine, unable to comprehend the situation for a moment, turned her pupil towards the girl in a daze.

It was Elsie. Without hesitation, she picked up the broom and headed for Ian like a loyal dog. It was an act without hesitation.

Delphine, who witnessed the scene, could not bear to open her mouth.

Elsie Rainella, isn’t she also a member of the great nobility? It was hard to believe that such a proud woman could run small errands without any internal conflict.

“Now, here!”

“Thank you, senior Elsie.”

The man even stroked Elsie’s hair. It was an insult, but on the contrary, Elsie was leaning her body against the man with a faint smile on her face.

Delphine’s bloody eyes, unable to say anything in her misery, and Elsie’s blue sapphire eyes met in the air.

A grin, and Elsie’s mouth drew an arc.

It was an obvious mockery. In addition to that, even the proud eyes as if they had won the competition.

Delphine felt like going crazy.