"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.
"What if we stay here?"
"Then you'll be taken away. And it'll be by those guys whom you know very well are demons, to wherever kind of hell these demons come from."
"I—"
Brain glared at him, and the woman who had raised her voice cut it out immediately.
"I allow you to speak."
"…My child is only three years old. If I stay here, and go to the same place as him…"
"Really now. I have no interest in helping anyone who doesn't want to run. But this guy is different. Just so you know, if your son's been taken to another warehouse, there's the chance he'll be rescued by another team. If you want to ignore that and stay, then I won't stop you. A kid without his mom can live by himself, but I haven't seen anyone take care of their kid to this extent."
Brain spoke coldly to the disheartened civilians.
"Then I'll say it one more time. If you stay here, you'll be taken away by the demons. If you accept this and want to stay, I won't stop you. After all, when you leave this warehouse, there's a chance you might get killed in a demonic attack while fleeing."
Climb had to interrupt here. Since Brain had said this much, it was necessary.
"But, we will defend anyone who wants to flee."
"I don't like troublesome things, but I'm doing it because of this knight of Renner's. So I'll protect you lot. We'll move out in a few minutes. Staying or leaving is your choice. If you want to discuss your freedom softly, that's your choice as well. Do as you like."
There was no discussion. This was because they were uneasy that their neighbors might be demons but because many of them were hoping that their relatives would be rescued by another team and they would be reunited.
There shouldn't be another team. We checked so many warehouses, and only a couple weren't empty.
Brain decided not to think too much on the matter, instead gripping his sword and glaring fiercely at the captives, making sure that none of them made too much noise. Climb walked over to Brain, and spoke softly.
"Thank you, Brain-san. You did what I couldn't do for myself."
"Don't worry about it, all that crap was stuff that someone like you, who serves Renner, couldn't say. But for a mercenary like me, it shouldn't cause any problems in the future. Just think of me as a whip."
"Even so, I'm still grateful."
"It'll get troublesome if we get stuck in an endless loop. I get it, I'll accept your thanks. Hm? That fellow's back."
The thief entered Brain's field of vision. He should have been keeping watch on the outside and remaining on standby. Since he wasn't coming back in a hurry, that meant it wasn't a dangerous situation.
"What happened?"
"Ah, no, Unglaus-san. The demons don't look like they're coming over yet. But like you said, it's only a matter of time."
"That it is. Who knows, this might be their final objective. Did you take a look around outside? What was that earthquake just now?"
"I have no idea. Maybe the ground caved in and demons came crawling out of the earth?"
"Don't say that sort of thing, that’s the worst-case scenario…"
"Sorry, sorry, Climb-kun."
"Then, let's get ready to move."
Just as Brain was about to order the citizens around, there was a sound of something landing outside the warehouse.
The warehouse quietened immediately. The thief stuck close to the doors to carefully check out the outside. His hand began moving in signs. They formed the shapes that the three of them had decided meant "demon". Following that, he signalled, "a strong one".
Climb and Brain exchanged looks. Then they quietly moved to where the thief was.
They saw a demon outside. It was completely different from the ones they had encountered before. It gave off the feeling of tremendous power.