"I'll try not to hit you too hard, so forgive me su~"
"There's nothing to be done about it. It's work, after all."
♦ ♦ ♦
Lower Fire Month (9th Month) , 5th Day, 03:57
"Calm down! Please, calm down!"
Climb tried not to raise his voice too high as he called out to the people. However, the warehouse had been packed with a lot of agitated people, so his current volume was completely insufficient to get them to quiet down.
"My child—"
"My wife was taken—"
"Mama, Papa—"
Male, female, young and old voices all blended together, washing over Climb like a wave. He could no longer make out what they were saying any more.
Climb had found the three hundred people here at great risk to himself, and they were the only residents he had managed to find. The people locked in this small warehouse had no idea what was going on outside, and all they could do was whine about how their family members had been taken elsewhere.
It was a very natural response to the current circumstances, but it was also a very dangerous one.
Even though they had not encountered any demons on their way here, that did not mean that there were no demons present. In fact, they had already seen the silhouettes of the demons several times in the alleys they passed through on their way here. If they heard the cries coming from this warehouse, then the arrival of the demons would only be a matter of time.
"You are the only ones we've found so far—"
"Where's my wife? Go find her!"
"That—"
Perhaps if he raised his voice he might be able to shout them down. Climb, as a warrior, was far stronger than any mere city guard. If he roared at the man, he could easily seize the hearts of everyone present. But Climb did not do this.
Climb was the ambassador of the princess. He was here because Renner had seen fit to put her trust in him. If he used methods that terrorized the citizens and made them dislike him, that might easily spill over to Renner as well. With that in mind, Climb found it impossible to work himself up to using harsh methods on them.
"Hey, answer us—"
"My kid's still young—"
"Papa! Mama!"
"Shut up, all of you!"
It felt like the air in the warehouse had suddenly blown all the voices away. Brain's uncontrollable shout — the anger of a first-rate warrior — had devoured the hearts of all the weaklings present.
"The lot of you are chattering like chickens just because he kept quiet. We're in the territory of these guys, and there's no way to guarantee your safety. If you don't move quietly, the demons will come and they'll kill every last one of you. If you understand, shut your mouths."
Brain surveyed the now-silent warehouse, then looked straight at Climb. The citizens who were closing in wilted under his volcanic gaze and backed away.
"Now then, Climb. Time for you to make a decision."
Climb was largely sure what decision he had to make. However, he had no confidence that it would be a wise one.
"It's hard to say, then? Never mind, I'll do it. First things first, you lot had best get it into your heads, the next time someone speaks when I do, I'll kill him on the spot. I can't even be sure you lot are all humans."
Brain exposed a little of his katana, and the reflected light seemed almost blinding.
"I'm sure you lot are wondering what I'm on about, but take a look at the person next to you. Are you sure all the people here are humans?"
The captives looked at each other in shock.
"Listen up. We saw a lot of demons on the way here. Some with wings, some with tails. Some even looked like people without skin. There were a lot of those. The ones roaming outside might be those guys... you should have seen them on the way in, right?
Everyone Brain turned his attention to nodded, their faces pale.
"Then, who can guarantee that there aren't any demons among you? No skinless demons wearing someone else's skin?
They weren't allowed to speak, but there was still a disturbance. They looked at each other with suspicious eyes, and then began adjusting their positions. The warehouse was small, but not small enough that everyone had to squeeze. There was enough space for everyone to avoid contact with everyone else.
"Relax. If any demons make it here, we'll kill them. As long as you understand where we're coming from, it'll be alright." As the mood seemed to relax, Brain capitalized on it and continued, "But, if the demons from outside come in like an avalanche, then I can't make that guarantee. Don't you think, if a demon infiltrated in here, wouldn't he want to loudly shout that there were intruders? Do you see what I mean by killing anyone who made noise? Oh sure, some of you will think, "but I'm human, why are you killing me?" but the rest of us won't know that. So for the sake of protecting everyone here, anyone who makes a noise that draws the demons will die."
Once again, he bathed everyone in the killing intent brimming from his eyes.
"Looks like you get it. First up, we've searched a few warehouses before this one. However, not only did we not find anyone, all these warehouses were empty. Taking the area surrounded by the firewall into consideration, even if this is a warehouse district there should be more than ten thousand people here. Since there's only three hundred here, that means there ought to be at least thirty three warehouses like this, right?"
Brain took a deep breath.
"So that's the problem. Why haven't we found anyone else besides you? Maybe it's just bad luck. After all, we were avoiding the areas where the demons were on alert. But... do you think anyone could accept that? Most likely they were transported from the warehouse district to somewhere else. Don't panic! We have no idea where they've been taken. But anywhere the demons take them can't be good."
Those who understood raised their heads, and there was also the sound of sobbing.
"And you lot were slated to be taken away by the demons. That means for now, you've avoided a nasty fate. But remember, we're still in the middle of the demons' territory. If you're not careful and don't move quickly and quietly, you'll be killed while fleeing. Hey, you, you look like you have a question. I'll allow you to speak."
The man who had the katana pointed at him asked his question in a frightened, small voice.