The carriages began to move again at dawn; all in a single queue. The vehicle driven by Amelia was second to last. The distance between each carriage was approximately one hundred meters — Kawaii's was first.

“What is that?” 

Kurone looked quickly at the spot Amelia had pointed out.

In contrast to the green grass of the small mountain, a red-orange hue was rapidly spreading throughout the scene.

“Fire!” shouted Orcus.

“A wildfire? Why the hell is there a fire in this part of the world?” protested the young man, seeing that it would only be a matter of minutes before the fire approached.

They could move quickly away from the place before the flames reached them, but...

“Can I shoot?” suggested Rory, as she noticed a crowd of people running away from the fire.

“Of course you can't!”

“Then let's get out of here, there's no ride for all these people.”

Rory's act of asking before she shot the crowd was admirable, but Kurone would leave his congratulations for later and focus only on the desperate people approaching.

“Is there a village around here, Orcus?”

“Hmmm… There is something around here, yes, but I wouldn't call it a village…”

The boy frowned at the man's answer. A village that was not a village? Anyway, it didn't matter! “Amelia!”

“You don't have to say any more!” Realizing the young man's intention, Amelia turned from the dirt road to the grass road.

“Hey, are we heading for the fire?”

“I don't even need to answer you, right?” Kurone glared at the indifferent loli. The telepathy worked perfectly, but the little girl insisted on asking obvious questions and making obvious points to provoke the boy. It was Rory Nakano being Rory Nakano.

Anyway, after passing through a panicked crowd and climbing a little further up the steep mountain, they reached the source of the flames: a small village, where cries of despair reverberated through the smoke-filled air. “So it really is a village!”

“Please… please…” A sobbing voice stole the group's attention.

It was a woman with golden hair, a dirty face and simple clothes. The perfect representation of the word ‘peasant’. Blood dripped slowly from the woman's shoulder and her beautiful face bore first-degree burn marks.

“My dau-daughter is still in the village! Somebody help her!” the peasant woman shouted, but people had only one thing in mind: to run away as fast as possible. Who would risk their lives for an unknown child? It would be madness! The desperate cry of the mother was ignored by all, except for one young man…

“There goes that idiot again,” Rory cursed, as she saw her companion jumping out of the carriage and running towards the desperate woman.

How many times had Kurone heard that clichéd phrase? ‘Help my daughter.’ He still carried the guilt of not having saved the little girl from Grain village, but he could not lower his head just for a defeat. 

The real goal of the ‘Lolicon Slayer’ was to save children. No wonder he always ended up involved in problems related to children; Cecily was probably pulling some strings.

“Madam, how is your daughter?” shouted the young man to the woman with watery eyes.

“S-she has black hair and is wearing a simple d-dress,” the mother forced her voice.

“Nothing specific. Surely the stupid dog won't find it.”

“Ahhh! When did you get here?”

Rory just glared at the surprised boy and continued:

“But I know you're so stupid you won't listen to me, so at least try not to burn to death. Remember that you have an obligation to support me with mana.”

“You could have left out that last part!”

“Just go.”

Taking one last look at the desperate peasant woman and the little white-haired girl beside her, Kurone clenched his fists and ran towards the village.

How many people lived there? There was an endless crowd fleeing the fire. The young man was forced to squeeze in among them — going on the opposite side of the mob had never been so difficult!

Despite the absurd amount of residents, the village was not that big. It would be a third of Grain's size. It would be easier for the boy to find a black-haired child crying for her mother there.

“Get out of the way!”

“Let me through!”

“Excuse me!”

“Watch where you're going!”

But the mob was not cooperating. ‘Damn! I should have asked what the girl's name was… Huh?’

The fire had spread over seventy percent of the village. People were desperately trying to escape, pushing whoever was in front of them. It would be Impossible to escape without squeezing through the mob, however….

There was something on the ground. It was thirty meters away from the boy. For some reason, no one wanted to step on that strangely shaped object. 

Kurone could only compare that scene to a bunch of salarymen changing roads because there was a piece of poo on the ground. ‘Let's change paths, as much as we might be late, we can't get our shoes dirty!’

“Is it… a child?” From the position he was in, in front of the object, Kurone was no longer struck by the rushing shoulders of the villagers.

His vision finally distinguished the silhouette. The strange object, in fact, was a little girl with black hair crying. ‘Could it be…’

Could this be the daughter of the desperate woman? The hair was black and she was wearing tattered clothes, could that fit as ‘simple clothes’? However, when the girl lifted her face covered with tears and dirt, she showed a black blindfold on her face, covering both eyes and much of her forehead.

What was all this nonsense? Why wasn't anyone helping her?!

It was fine if they couldn't see her, but for some reason, everyone saw her and passed by. Why did they ignore a child in need of help?

Kurone stopped in front of the girl and held out his hand.

“Hey!…”

“…!”

At first, the young man thought the girl was blind and was wearing that blindfold, but her actions proved otherwise.

When she saw the outstretched hand approaching, she let out a groan and moved further away from the young man, causing astonishment in the villagers trying to flee.

Kurone tried to move one step closer, however, the little girl moved two steps away. ‘What am I going to do?’

If he continued, the little girl would end up walking into a burning house right behind. She was probably afraid. Kurone couldn't get too close, but he couldn't leave her there either.

“A-all right! I won't hurt you. Look, your mother is waiting for you outside, she's desperate!” The young man pointed to the almost imperceptible exit of the village, taken by the crowd.

Only three seconds that the little girl looked away were enough. Without wasting any time, Kurone propelled himself to the ground and reduced the distance between his body and the girl's. He grabbed the girl by the waist and pulled her to the ground.

He grabbed the girl by the waist and jumped to the nearest building, free of the flames.

Going over the houses was the fastest way out.

“…! …! …!” Although she was desperately struggling, all the noise made by the little girl was like the noises of a small animal.

“Calm down! I'm trying to help you!”

In a few jumps, Kurone managed to quickly leave the burning village. It was like a kidnapper escaping with a child from the nursery. Come to think of it, had the Lolicon Slayer job turned him into a pervert? Kissing a little girl with tan skin, living with an arrogant loli, and becoming the underage princess's fiancé. They were all questionable actions!

“Afff! You are heavier than you look.” The young man joked with the still frightened girl in his arms.

“…!”

“Kurone! Over here!” Amelia, beside Orcus, waved energetically to the young man.

“Your mother is over there, it's just a little way to go.”

“…!”

His attempts to reassure the little girl were in vain. Why did she keep crying, even though she knew she would meet her mother soon? Was she that scared?

“I'm back!”

“But he really is a pervert,” commented Rory when she saw the young man carrying the girl by the waist.

“Arfff! Not even to help me!”

“Hmpf. Why would I risk my life for strangers?”

“What a horrible thing to say!”

“And who is this little girl?” asked Amelia interrupting their usual interaction.

“She is…”

“No, she isn't,” Rory interrupted. “One of the residents of this shitty village brought the little girl and handed her over to her mother, see.” The arrogant loli pointed to the peasant woman hugging her daughter.

“So… I kidnapped the wrong child… No! That sounded terrible!” 

“You can ask that woman if she knows the little girl's parents,” suggested Amelia.

“You're right… Hey, Madam!”

Listening to the coachwoman's advice, the young man approached the peasant woman.

“Hmm? How can I help… Ahh! Get this freak out of here!” The woman pulled her daughter and tried desperately to get away.

“Hey… c-calm down…”

“Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! She's going to kill us! Put it down!”

The panicked shouts drew the gazes of the other people fleeing the village. They all showed an expression of fear, just like that peasant woman. ‘What the fuck is this? What has this little girl done?’ Kurone gritted his teeth and squeezed the girl's waist even tighter in his arms.

The mob gradually increased and one could hear comments like: ‘Look, it's that freak.’, ‘Oh no! She's made another victim!’, ‘Poor young man.’, and so on. With every word of those people, the little girl in Kurone's arms was squirming, as if she was being stabbed.

“What are they talking about?!” raged Amelia. “This child doesn't deserve this!”

“Stay away from that monster, girl!” warned a toothless lady.

“Have you no shame? How can a child be dangerous?” Indignant, the coachwoman approached the young man and touched the little girl's black hair. 

The coachwoman's next act only proved that everyone was right. Seconds after touching the little girl's head, Amelia fell to the ground unconscious.

“A-Amelia!!!” shouted Kurone in despair.

Was that the reason everyone feared the little girl with a blindfold on her face?