"Well done, Irigol."
"…"
As expected, I was in top form today.
The bullet I fired went straight into the enemy's forehead just as I had aimed.
"You hit one too, didn't you?"
"It was just by chance."
He fired a warning shot at a residential house to buy me time to retrieve the gun.
It was right at the edge of his range so he wasn't expecting to hit. By a stroke of luck, he was able to take out the enemy who was on guard inside the house.
This made managing the line of fire much easier.
"Hmm, this is a good position. Let's hide behind this trash can."
"Will the enemy really come down this road?"
We managed to take down three people in one go.
As expected, they couldn't ignore us anymore. Just as I had predicted, the enemy started advancing through this sewer.
"They're coming. Sedol, shhh."
"Aye."
So far, things have gone as planned.
All that's left to do is ambush the enemy coming towards us and kill them.
…Or at least that's what I thought.
"I can't believe they passed us by."
"They didn't even look behind the trash cans."
The enemy didn't even notice us hiding behind the trash can.
As we were holding our breaths, we saw three men run loudly by us.
It's like they don't have the concept of careful clearing.
"This works out better for us; it'll be easier to sneak in."
"Indeed."
It'd be best if we could avoid being noticed altogether.
Sneaking in becomes significantly easier.
"Let's run through this alley quickly. Right now, we can get to your house before the enemy spots us."
"Alright."
After passing by the enemy, we ran straight to Irigol's house.
Fortunately, we made it to Irigol's house without being spotted.
***
"We'll go in from the back."
"Understood."
Irigol's house is an old mansion.
Sedol and I entered the house through the back window following his lead.
"How is Kano's condition?"
"Oh, Irigol… Kano hasn't been breathing for a while now…"
"What?!"
Entering the house, I saw a woman lying on the floor clutching her chest.
Her lips were pale blue, and she was barely moving.
"Irigol, give your sister artificial respiration. Irigol's mother, do you have any clean, boil water?"
"No, we don't… I'll start boiling some now."
"Please do."
After giving instructions to someone who seemed to be Irigol's mother, I pulled back the fallen woman's clothes and cut the wound open with an army knife.
There was no time to lose, so I decided to check her condition while performing surgery.
"…"
"What's wrong, healer?"
"This is very serious. Prepare for the worst."
As soon as I stabbed her chest, a huge amount of jelly-like coagulated blood spurted out along with fresh blood.
The bullet had grazed her heart, tearing the inner membrane.
A large amount of blood had accumulated in the pericardium.
"Do whatever you can to save her, please…"
"I'll do my best."
In the previous world, an operation to open the heart's inner membrane would be a major surgery. However, with [Heal], I can approach it more aggressively.
Fortunately, the heart itself was unharmed. The bullet only grazed it.
"…"
The bullet had penetrated her back, but it was possible to heal by scraping out the blood and using [Heal].
Small wounds from gunshots can be healed with [Heal] as long as there is no internal organ rupture.
Even though her heart had stopped, it started beating again with a massage.
"…Her heart has healed."
"Is she going to make it!?"
"No."
However, this was the limit of what I could do.
Indeed, I was able to get her heart beating again.
"My sister is not waking up."
"Yes, she will never wake up again."
But it's unlikely that this woman will ever regain consciousness.
"She is brain-dead."
"What does that mean?"
Blood is sticky like glue, and it easily clots if the blood flow is blocked. When it clots inside the blood vessels, it forms substances called blood clots.
Blood clots block various blood vessels, causing the organs beyond to become necrotic.
For example, as with this woman, a hardened blood clot traveled to her brain, causing it to become necrotic.
"Her reflexes are not responding… She will never speak or walk again."
"───!!"
Irigol grabbed me by the collar and punched me when I calmly conveyed this.
Sedol cried loudly in shock, the old woman wailed in grief, and the house is filled with pandemonium.
I was the only one who remained calm.
"Are you satisfied now that you've hit me?"
"…"
I deliberately chose to provoke Irigol here.
I thought it would be better for him to vent his anger on me to recover more quickly.
"Since joining you, I did my best to save your sister."
"…I know that!"
"Then, please regain your composure quickly. You still have your mother to protect."
I am aware that I am making an unreasonable demand.
No one can recover immediately after losing a family member.
However, acting without remaining calm will only result in more unnecessary damage.
"I also have someone I want to protect."
"…"
"Please calm down before you lose your family, your home, everything. You are lucky that you still have people to protect."
Without treating the bruise on my face, I firmly said this to Irigol.
"…I want to kill those bastards who did this to my sister."
"By yourself?"
"I know it's impossible, but I want revenge. I want to strangle a few of them with this gun."
Irigol, with tears of frustration in his eyes, muttered in a trembling voice.
"The reason I turned down the job as an officer and returned to my hometown was because I wanted to see my sister get married!!"
"…"
"Damn it, they made a fool of us! What revolution, what grand ambition?!"
…I understand that feeling very well.
The hatred I harbored for the murderers of the Gomuji couple, who treated me like family, still smolders within me.
After getting Sedol to a safe place… I'll probably break down and cry.
But…
"Is that… more important than your mother's life?"
"No…"
"We still have things we need to do."
For his sister's sake, Irigol strangled the bandit who came to their house to death.
Because he killed him without using a gun, the bandits outside didn't notice.
However, they will soon come to investigate if their comrades don't return.
In other words, we must leave this house as soon as possible.
"Mother, the four of us will escape from the village now. Kano…"
"Oh, oh… Kano…"
"Let's lay her down on the bed."
While Irigol laid his sister on the bed, I scouted around the back door.
…Our disappearance from the sewer has been noticed. They've become increasingly vigilant.
I could see bandits running around frantically searching for us.
Some houses were set on fire, possibly to flush us out.
"…What's the situation outside, Aust?"
"It's going to be tough to escape now. They've become more alert."
"Then what should we do?"
"If we stay holed up here, we're finished once they find out we're hiding in this house. We'll have to wait for the right timing and force our way through."
"You want us to force our way through? It's too dangerous with my mother's physical condition."
Perhaps because we had caused quite a stir on the way to the house, the bandit's eyes were bloodshot as they searched for us.
They were starting to search houses, and they would soon come to this house as well.
"I'll figure out the timing. We'll try to escape from the village if they lower their guard."
"That's reckless. It's too dangerous. It's better to hide in this house and wait out their search."
"They are already setting houses on fire. It's like they don't care about appearances anymore."
"…"
Seeing the burning houses made my heart beat faster.
The bandits probably started burning houses because we were hiding with guns.
…We have involved the other villagers.
"If you refuse to accompany me, I will carry Sedol on my back and leave alone."
"Damn it…"
"I don't think it's a good idea to continue barricading ourselves here."
Having caused more damage to the village, we absolutely must survive no matter what.
Right now, instead of feeling down, I must look ahead.
"But with my mother's legs, there's no way she could escape."
"…Then why not just kill them?"
The gun I had stolen from earlier has four bullets remaining.
With this much, we can fight adequately.
"If we kill a few of them, they'll be scared and won't come after us. Their goal is not to subjugate us, but to loot us."
"Sedol, please be quiet again."
"Okay…"
"Also, please keep your eyes closed."
The four of us left the Irigol's house a few minutes later.
I waited for a moment when no one was looking and jumped out the back window.
"There they are!!"
"Hmm… they found us?"
"As expected, we stand out."
I thought we had slipped out through the back door, but we were quickly spotted by the enemy.
The back door of this house was also being watched from a blind spot.
"They're armed! Fire, fire─"
"…[Shield]!"
From where the enemy's voices came, a group of about five bandits aimed their guns at us.
Deploying the [Shield], we managed to avoid the first shot and immediately fired back.
"The third one from the right has military training, be cautious."
"Got it."
The bandits appear to be a mixture of soldiers and amateurs.
Some were reloading their guns on the spot after firing, while others quickly hid behind cover and disappeared.
The amateurs who didn't hide were hit by our return fire and fell right there.
"Mother, run!"
"Y-Yes…!"
Iligol continued to face the bandits while protecting his mother, and I continued to face off against the bandits while carrying Sedol.
Our goal is simply to escape outside the village. To buy time for Irigol's mother and Sedol on my back, we had to engage in gunfire frequently.
"Irigol, I'll go ahead! Please protect your mother."
"Huh? Wh-Where are you going?"
However, our escape route will eventually be cut off if we continue like this.
…Rather, it already has been.
Realizing this, I increased my running speed while carrying Sedol on my back, leaving Irigol and the others behind.
"You… are you planning to abandon us?!"
"[Shield]"
I had a bad feeling about this corner of the crossroads ahead of us.
Sure enough, the enemy was lying in wait there.
"Enemies here, Irigol."
"Damn…"
Since I had already deployed the [Shield], the enemies panicked and hastily aimed their guns at me.
Now, timing it just right…
"Damn, they've uncovered our ambush. Fire!!"
"Here we go!"
I kicked the [Shield] I had set up and took a step back.
Using the [Shield] as a foothold allows for sudden changes of direction. It's a very useful ability.
This allowed me to successfully dodge the barrage of fire from the enemy that had been lying in wait.
"We'll run through while they reload, Irigol!"
"R-Right."
We would all died if I hadn't noticed this ambush.
I'm really feeling good today.
"What's with that kid?!"
"Damn it, shoot faster!"
"No good, she's gone!"
We dashed through the crossroads before they finished reloading for a second shot.
Thus, we managed to shake off the bandits who had set up the ambush.
"There's no sign of the enemy anymore. There are only those chasing us from behind."
"Got it, then let's run."
The ambush just now seemed to be their last line of defense.
"Damn, did we let them escape?"
"Don't come back, keep watch! If they've escaped outside the village, let it be. Don't pursue them."
There was no sign of pursuit from the bandits after running outside the village.
"Are you two alright?"
"We're fine."
We continued running for about a kilometer after escaping outside the village, and then finally stopped running after we confirmed that no one was pursuing us.
The old woman was eventually carried by Iligol, breathing heavily on his shoulder.
"huff… huff…"
"I'm sorry, Sedol. It's okay to cry now."
"Uwaaaaah… Aaaaaah!!"
I am finally able to put Sedol down on the ground and hug him.
At just four years old, he probably still doesn't fully understand that his parents are dead.
Even though he's been through such a terrifying experience, he has been holding back his cries the whole time.
"Tou-chan…!! I'm scared…!!"
"I'm sorry."
All I can do is hug him in recognition of his tremendous effort.
I can no longer fulfill the promise of letting him see his father and mother again.
Despite relying on Gumoji for so long, this is a sorry state of affairs.
"I'm sorry, Sedol…"
However, at least I kept my promise.
Gumoji's final wish to protect his son.
I have no idea what to do from now on, or where to flee to…
But at least Sedol is alive and well here.
"Hey, Aust. Be quiet for a second."
"Irigol… This child is very scared right now…"
"That's not it."
Eventually, I too began to lose control of my emotions.
Holding Sedol, who was crying loudly, I felt like crying too.
"Argh!!"
"Huh?"
Right then…
Irigol, who had been on alert, suddenly screamed and collapsed.
"…Eh?"
"Oh, Irigol, Irigol!!"
Irigol clutched his chest, coughing up blood, glaring at something.
His gaze was fixed on countless figures wielding guns.
"…"
Ah, how careless. I thought we had already shaken off the enemy since there was no pursuit from behind.
The moment Sedol started crying, I lost control of my emotions and started crying along with him.
This is still a dangerous area, only one kilometer away from where the enemy was.
"Don't move. Don't speak out of turn. You are not allowed to act without my orders."
Looking around, the enemies surrounding me didn't look like a mob.
A massive, well-coordinated group of armed men glared at us expressionlessly.
"…That's right. First, raise your hands and put down your weapons to show you have no intention of resisting."
We found ourselves with guns pointed at us from all sides before I knew it.
Such negligence. Such incompetence. Even though I was supposed to be the scout, I didn't realize until we were surrounded.
"…"
They could turn us into silent lumps of flesh at any time if they wanted to.
While protecting Sedol, who had burst into tears, I dropped the gun and raised my hands as instructed.
"Now then. Who are you guys?"
After we disarmed ourselves, a figure who looked to be the enemy commander slowly appeared.
The commander had silver shining hair and was clad in a rugged Sabbatian military uniform.
"What were you doing here?"
Her eyes were dark and icy, and she had a small bruise on her forehead.
The moment I saw that girl…
"Answer quickly, do you want to be shot?"
I felt an intuitive, indescribable sense of fear and hatred.
I could tell she's someone I never should have met.