“What have you done?” he demanded once more. Doris froze, much like a child terrorized by aggression, her voice trembling.

“I… I…”

A sudden shout interrupted her words. He shifted his gaze to the origin of the voice, finding Sasha, shoulders squared, marching towards them.

“Do you plan to hurt the villagers?”

Sasha’s words shattered the tranquil atmosphere that had prevailed until that moment. Yuichiro could see the villagers watching him with dread in their eyes, as though witnessing something horrific. Still clutching Doris’s wrist, Yuichiro responded tersely.

“This woman, she probably added something to the food.”

“Added what?”

“Do not let the others drink the soup.”

The moment he spat out these words, a shrill scream resonated, piercing through the air. The horrific, unsettling shriek echoed from Doris’s mouth, sounding akin to the grating sound of scrubbing a stainless steel sink with metal.

“Hyaaa, Nooooooo!”

As the high-pitched scream filled the air, everyone felt the urge to cover their ears. Simultaneously with the scream, a low groan caught their attention. Turning to the source of the sound, a member of the self-defense force, who had been savoring the soup moments ago, was now keeling over. The well-built man, drenched in sweat, writhed in pain, clutching his abdomen.

When he redirected his gaze, his eyes met with another scene. Temeraire was staring back at him, his face filled with surprise. Suddenly, Aoi pulled his face towards hers. It didn’t take long to realize their lips had met in a kiss, creating a scene reminiscent of a cheap shoujo manga’s prince and princess. Swiftly, Temeraire pushed Aoi back, his hands firm on her shoulders. Aoi responded with a wide smile, looking at a flustered Temeraire.

To Yuichiro, the scene unfolded in slow motion, although it lasted only a few seconds. However, his moment of stunned silence was cut short by another series of groans. Seeing several more self-defense force members collapsing, Yuichiro’s voice rose before he could process his thoughts.

“Don’t touch the food, everyone! Anyone who can move, get into defensive positions now!”

He then turned to Sasha, whose eyes were wide with shock, and calmly spoke, “Start evacuating the villagers now, if you don’t want everyone to be wiped out.”

The moment his words finished, a realization dawned on Sasha. She quickly turned to the self-defense force members and started shouting: “Evacuate the villagers! Don’t scatter around!”

Before the echoes of Sasha’s words died down, several more members of the self-defense force collapsed. Sasha’s face contorted with frustration as she hastily issued orders to the remaining able-bodied personnel.

Yuichiro shifted his gaze from the scene and leveled a glare at Doris, who was still screaming.

“Who did you sell this village to?”

At his words, Doris’s screams came to a sudden halt. She sank to her knees, sitting on the ground, staring into the void with an empty look. Yuichiro tightened his grip on Doris’s arm. “Was it to the bandits? Or was it Aoi? Or perhaps the King of Goldar?”

“All of the above.”

“Everyone,” came the reply, not from Doris but from Temeraire who had hurried over. His voice was urgent as he continued, “Aoi told me. She said that thieves were about to attack, and if I sided with her, she would save only me. It seems that the King of Goldar planned to wipe out the entire village if he failed to acquire the king’s proof.”

“If the royal family cannot be utilized, it’s better to obliterate them. Aoi is quick to make such decisions.

So, Nika had decided not to pass on the king’s proof and crush this village instead. That’s why he could smile at the village children so easily.

‘Before Sasha launched the attack, the small cloaked figure I saw outside the village must have been Doris. Was she passing information about the village to the bandits, or was she getting poison for the soup? Either way, I was too engrossed in the peace to notice,’ he thought.

In self-disgust, Yuichiro clicked his tongue. He cast a glance towards the square. Near the raging bonfire, Aoi was nowhere to be seen. “Aoi is…”

As he began to mutter, the memory of Aoi and Temeraire’s kiss flashed in his mind, making him stumble over his words.

Temeraire blinked, puzzled at Yuichiro who had frozen with his lips half-open.

Yuichiro swallowed hard and redirected his gaze to Doris. “How many bandits are there?” he asked. But Doris didn’t meet his gaze and stared at the sky instead.

“From where will they attack?”

“I’m hungry…”

A worn-out, childlike voice suddenly cut through the air. Doris looked up at Yuichiro with dull, clouded eyes. Though she was looking at him, it was as if she saw nothing.

“He died because we were so hungry…”

The empty tone in her voice made goosebumps prickle on Yuichiro’s upper arm.

“Who died?” he asked.

Doris’s head tilted to the side sharply. Her lips were the only thing that moved as she responded, “My baby. My baby starved to death…”

‘Had Doris given birth to a child? She had disclosed that people were succumbing to starvation daily in the village of her birth when we first arrived here. Did her child suffer the same fate?’ 

“Was it the death of your child that made you resolve to kill the villagers?” 

Yuichiro’s question elicited a deep nod from Doris. “It’s better if they’re dead. Starvation awaits them regardless. If they cease to exist, they’ll find more peace…” Her words trailed off into incoherence, and a shattered smile twisted onto her face. It was the grin of a soul irrevocably damaged.

Yuichiro contorted his face in disgust just as the ground shook violently. The sound, akin to a massive heartbeat, reverberated, making the earth quiver. Following the sound, a powerful battle cry echoed from a distance. The assault on the village by the bandits had begun.

“They’re here,” he murmured to himself, letting go of Doris’s arm and drawing the knife from his belt. 

Doris, who had been yanked up by a local militiaman, said with a deranged giggle, “I detest this world.”

He recognized that statement. It mirrored the words Yuichiro had thought after the loss of his wife and child. The acute sense of déjà vu blurred his vision.

He shifted his gaze to Doris. At that moment, he saw a tear trickling down from Doris’s relaxed, smiling eyes, causing him to feel choked.

Within moments, a sharp scream echoed from the distance. Perhaps it was from villagers who had failed to escape in time. As the screams of dreadful death reached them, Sasha started to bolt, but Yuichiro quickly grabbed her arm.

“Let me go!” 

“It’s too late to go there now. We can’t help anymore.” 

“But we can’t just stand idle and watch!” 

“If we send our people now, we risk the lives of those who we could otherwise save.”

He implied the necessity to prioritize the salvageable over the lost. Sasha looked at Yuichiro with a face on the brink of tears, an expression reminiscent of a child grappling with their own powerlessness.

Locking eyes with her, Yuichiro continued in a hushed tone, “Round up the militia members who are not helping with the villagers’ evacuation. We need to distract the bandits to buy time for the villagers’s escape.” 

His declaration was met with confusion from Sasha. “What… what are you planning?” 

“Planning what?” 

“Why do you want to help us?”