"Sire, we have strip searched the entire north and east city streets
The city gates are sealed, but no sign of the <Holy Priest> !"
"Damn it, he's merely a support class! He can't possibly escape from this mighty [Flame Dwn City]...
Second and third squads on my command! I need you to the south city streets and seal the gates double time!
The rest of you, with me to the west city streets!"
The male officer, clad in red armour and a face marked by ruggedness of age, shouted anxiously.
Then he paused, speaking with a hint of intrigue:
"By the king's order, twenty gold coins of reward for the <Holy Priest> alive!
And five gold coins for his corpse! Regardless, the king demands his captivity, DEAD or ALIVE! You hear me?!"
"Sire, what ... what happens if we failed to bring him back in?" a soldier in white armour cautiously inquired.
"Heh, in that case..."
The officer squinted, deliberately glancing at a few new recruits in the front of the line.
"As a disciplinary punishment, every squad is to offer their youngest of two soldiers and have them sent to Minister Gis's private palace...
Tsk, you all know his... proclivities and fondness of...
Well, let's say the heart-wrenching pleas for mercy from that place every night bodes a fate worth than death... Heh heh."
"Un... Understood, Sire!"
The soldiers responded in invigoration amid the lust for gold and fear for torture.
"The <Holy Priest>? Did I hear that right?"
"Is it true, a <Holy Priest> in our capital city?"
"Shh, keep it down, don't eavesdrop...you will get caught!"
Passersby on the street whispering and exchanging murmurs, while the melodious strumming of music in the roadside tavern abruptly ceased. The patrons, in disbelief, gazed out the window at the soldiers, and a hushed silence fell over the scene.
In a decrepit alleyway of the south city streets, a figure cautiously peered out, eyes fixated on the bustling thoroughfare leading straight to the heavily guarded city gate, daring not to breathe a sound.
I turned back leaning against the crisp-cold wall, glancing up at the orange-hued sunset, then looked down to brush off the tattered prison clothes I wore, sighing to the point of grieving:
"City gate's swarmed with Empire guards, damn it! Is there really no escape..."
I then summoned up the status panel, searching earnestly for clues that might break free from this predicament:
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Mamoru Zhang - Lv 1, Male, 19 years old, Human
Health Points (HP) - 2000
Magic Points (MP) - 1000
Status (ST) - Normal
Equipment - Empire Prisoner Garb
Primary Vocation - Holy Priest (Mythic)
Holy Magic:
- Heal (Minor MP consumption): Recovers from internal and external injuries
- Revive (Minor MP consumption): Cures diseases
- Purify (Minor MP consumption): Recovers from status ailments
- Grace (Minor MP consumption): ??? (Acquired at Lv 50)
Secondary Vocation - ??? (Acquired at Lv 10)]
Hidden Skills - Valkyrie's Blessing Lv Max
- Unrestricted identification of all personal and object information
- Double experience gain
- Increased favourability with demi-humans, decreased with humans
- Cast magic without chanting
Entitlements:
- Reincarnated One (Capable of reading and speaking the Isekai texts and languages)
- Virgin (Unbroken virginity, uninitiated in carnal pleasures, defenceless against adult female pheromones)
- Saviour of Demi-humans (Permanent binding with demi-human servants; boosts demi-human vocational attributes)
- Dimensional Traveller (All magical damage nullified - except Dark Magic; unlimited item storage space)
- Fortunate One (Significantly increased initial HP and MP)
- Heart of Stealth (My information cannot be identified - except by Mythic vocations)
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Ugh, as if being a broke reincarnate is not bad enough, that Valkyrie-named goddess duped me with this <most overpowered vocation> blessing and sent me on a mission to save this strange world. What a load of crap, this vocation of mine <Holy Priest> - isn't it just a glorified healer by the look of it?
... And what's with this ridiculous Entitlement of <Increased favourability with demi-humans, decreased with humans> ? Clearly making a fool out of me! Thanks to that, I got locked me up in the dungeon for three days and nights simply because I cracked a few sarcastic jokes in the presence of the king.
Thinking about miseries I had to put up with just gets me infuriated, but then I quickly regained my composure.
At the moment, I need a way to escape the hell out of this [Flame Dawn City] before sunset and shake off the Empire's pursuit under the cover of nightfall.
"Look at that, the filthy demi-human runt! She reeks!"
"Beat her up, beat her to death, haha!"
A sudden commotion at the end of the alley caught my attention, as I turned anxiously to see a group of well-dressed human boys encircling a small, curled-up demi-human kid, beating and kicking her relentlessly.
Demi-humans... In this world, they are treated as inferior beings by humans simply because they are born incapable of magic and mana. Male demi-humans are usually sent to mines for laborious work or conscripted as cannon fodder in armies. Females, on the other hand, are often traded as sex slaves among the wealthy, and some are even tortured to death.
As to why demi-humans never raise up and fight, I would not know. After all, it's only my fourth day of reincarnation.
"Bash the filthy thing with stones, haha! Stone her to death!"
The human boys grew increasingly excited, viciously hurling stones at the poor demi-kid.
The demi-kid, with tears brimming in her eyes, curled up her frail body, covering her mouth with trembling hands, and not daring to make the slightest resistance.
Should I...help her... But I'm a fugitive on the run and exposing myself right now is a one-way ticket back to that dungeon.
"Ha ha, yank her ears, tear them apart!" a vicious-looking human boy jeered.
"AHHHH! MOMMY! MOMMY! HELP ME! IT HURTS!"
The demi-kid, unable to bear the excruciating pain cried out in agony, accompanying tears streaming down her muddy face.
I furrowed as a tumult of emotions rising within. After all, in my previous life, I too was a target of constant bullying. After moving to Japan with my parents, my awkward accent as an "outsider" and my introverted personality gradually led to isolation in the class.
It didn't take long until I began to find needles in my shoes and my backpack going missing, and eventually being cornered and beat up in the bathroom by the boys in my class. And soon after school bullying became a part of my daily life.
And what drove me to despair was the indifference of my homeroom teacher, who not only ignored my suffering but also gaslighting me to endure and blend in with the class. Considering my parents' busy work lives, I ultimately chose to remain silent, living every day like a walking dead.
"Pfft-*cough, cough, cough*" the demi-kid cried with blood spilling from her mouth.
"Hahaha, she's about to die! Go to hell, little runt, go to hell!"
Her blood clearly thrilled the boys even more, as they started clapping and dancing in a frenzy.
"Mamoru, thank you for not seeing grandma as a burden... Grandma is leaving now... It's a shame that I won't be able to see you grow up...
Remember, endurance is NOT weakness... True strength comes from living up to your beliefs.... whether for good or evil..."
I was the only one by grandmother's deathbed when she passed away. The words of wisdom and gratitude in her final moments had always caressed my heart with the warmth of love ...
Heh, I really can't help myself, can I? Even someone as weak and submissive as myself has beliefs to stand up for...
"Bullying a kid, don't you feel ashamed, you scums?"
I grabbed a long piece of wooden plank lying nearby and strode towards the jubilant boys.
"Huh? A kid? This is a demi-human, a lowlife!...
And who the hell are you dressed like a beggar? Get lost!"
A boy in purple clothes waving his hand dismissively.
"Me? I'm nobody, but I am going to fuck you up!"
Seeing the demi-kid covered in a mess of wound brings back memories of humiliation and indignation of the previous life, surging like a tidal wave crushing through my veins.
I could no longer contain the flaming rage in my heart and, with a sudden swing of the plank, I knocked the boy in purple to the ground.
"AHHHHHHH! B...BLOOD! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! WHAT...WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!"
The boy screamed frantically while his cronies stood frozen, trembling, unable to believe that a beggar had just left a noble human in a bloody heap.
"Do any of you scums want a taste of this as well?"
I threatened as I lowered my head, waving the plank in my hands.
"Ah, you...you...you will see, we are gonna...gonna come back!"
The others finally regained their senses and scattered in all directions, fleeing the scene.
"AHHH IT HURTS LIKE HELL! YOU BARSTARD!!!
I will tell my father about this and have people sent for your life!
My father is Count Tarfa, brother of the Minister Gis! You ignorant fuck!"
"Shut up, you idiot! Keep yelling and I'll... kill... you!"
My voice wavered, surprised to find this scum of boy is attached to the royal family of the empire!
"Scared now, huh... Haha... Wait... Black hair and eyes... you... you're the wanted <Holy Priest>!"
The boy said, somewhat surprised.
Damn it, he made me. After all, black hair and eyes are extremely rare in this world.
"Haha! I'll have you captured and sent to my uncle's villa for torture!
As for that lowlife... I'm going to torment her body until she's dried of tears, and then have her shredded to feed the fish! Hahaha!"
The looks on that boy contorted grotesquely, his eyes fixated on the weakened demi-kid in a deranged manner, and the fabric around his groin disturbingly bulged.
"Heh, you're right, I WAS scared, but now that you've recognized me, I can not have you leave...alive"
My anger subsiding into a chilling calm as I gazed at his smug. My heart turned steeled up, and almost instinctively, swinging the blood-stained plank in my hand.
"Keep bluffing... huh?"
The boy looked up, only to be met with the plank smashing him flat onto the ground.
"Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump-"
The dull thuds of wood striking flesh echoed through the alley. My hands swung the plank relentlessly down on the boy in silence, completely lost in the numb euphoria of violent outburst. Blood splattered everywhere, painting the walls a dark red, merging with the afterglow of the setting sun.
In a daze, I crossed sight with the demi-kid lying on the ground. Reflected in her terrified pupils was a ferocious figure of hate, unrestrained and indulging in a feast of revenge and violence, as if a wild horse broken free from its moral shackles.
"True strength comes from living up to one's beliefs, whether for good or evil..."
My grandmother's last words suddenly pulled me back from the brink of madness, gradually restoring my sanity. The wooden plank in my hand slowly slipped to the ground.
Trembling with clenched teeth, I walked to the kid in shivers. Seeing me approach, she curled up in fear, tightly closing her eyes, as if awaiting the fate of death as the boy in the blood pool.
"Heal!" I extended my hand over, gently caressing the tips of the child's ears, as her wounds began to miraculously heal.
"Ah... it doesn't hurt anymore" the demi-kid slowly opened her eyes, staring at me in amazement.
"There, there... I swear I will never hurt you... I will...protect you kid!"
Struggling to contain the aftershock from my first kill and the exhaustion from days of fleeing, I did my best to comfort this feeble, helpless life before me.
"Hmm, you look like a human, but doesn't quite feel like one..."
The demi-kid gazed at me in curiosity, and her fear for me seemed to have swept clean.
I see... it must be the effect of <Increased favourability with demi-humans, decreased with humans> in play... But recalling the Entitlement <Saviour of Demi-humans>, I suddenly came to an epiphany about that inexplicable mission to save the world.
"What's your name, little one? And where is your family?"
"Uh-huh! My name is Lilifa. I slipped in today for medicine, you see, its for my mother.
Shh, don't tell mom, okay? I came in secret, for otherwise she would be angry"
she said, gesturing a shushing sign, adorably.
Then, tears began to well up in the eyes of the demi-human child named Lilifa.
"*Sob, sob* but Mommy... I don't know why... has been sick for so long...
Our shaman in the camp said she needs a human prescription ... but... but... *sob, sob*"
Lilifa continued to sob, rubbing her reddened eyes, tears starting to break out.
"Lilifa is such a good girl, there, there, it's ok, it's ok"
I offered my words of comforts as I look over her ragged clothes and the bareness around her neck, when suddenly something clicked in my mind.
"Wait... wait a minute. Lilifa, you said... you 'slipped in' to get medicine for your mom. But... how did you get into the city?"
"Through the sewers, hehe, the shaman told me about it. It's a secret~"
Lilifa replied with a mischievous smile.
"Where is that sewer? Does anyone else know about it?"
I, who had been feeling utterly hopeless, now placed all my hopes on this innocent demi-kid before me.
"No one knows! The shaman said it was a trade route erected by humans and fishmen two hundred years ago, but it has been abandoned for a long time."
I had heard this history from that Minister Gis. A hundred years ago, humans waged wars on various demi-human tribes, and the fishmen were particularly decimated. It was said that their entire race was nearly exterminated.
"Can Lilifa take me to that sewer? I'll protect you and help you out of the city~"
The newfound prospect of escape filled me with excitement.
"Um... then can you come along to the camp with me... and use that magic of yours to cure my mom, just like how you did for me back then~"
Lilifa asked somewhat hesitantly.
"Deal Lilifa! That's a piece of cake!"
I assured her, patting my chest. After all, I am a Mythic class of healer.
"Wow! Thank you! Hooray~ Mommy will wake up again!"
Lilifa cheered joyously, putting out a smile as if a blooming flower.
Suddenly, a commotion and shouting came from not far away.
"That beggar and demi-human scum are in that alley!"
"Are you sure? The beggar with black hair and eyes?"
"Yes! And Krug is there too! That beggar beat up Krug!"
"Lord Krug? Count Tarfa's son? Tsk... shit.
Men, search that alley, and hurry the hell up!"
Great, those little scums are now back with empire soldiers.
I scooped Lilifa into my arms and sprinted towards the end of the alley as fast as I could, then disappeared into the streams of crowd in a haste.
