The Pacifists
The soldiers of the citizens of light quickly removed the body of the pacifist man who had ambushed us.
Hagan, who had been killed in the attack, was also taken away.
They said that they would deliver Hagan's body to his remaining brothers.
Ah.
So he did have relatives that were still alive.
And in spite of that, he had rushed to his death… No, that time he had been saved by Arisu’s magic.
But ultimately, even Arisu's actions had been in vain.
I felt hopeless.
As I shook my head in dismay, Mia started to tug at my sleeve.
"A lot of people will die from here on you know."
"I won't obsess over it. But thank you."
I forced myself to smile for her.
Mia nodded back solemnly.
She didn't make any jokes like she usually did… I think that she too was putting on a brave face.
I patted her on the head.
As hard as I could.
Mia glared up at me with a "Ughhh…"
"Kazucchi, this is where you're supposed to hold her tightly."
"Unfortunately, I'm a little shy."
I shook my head and looked towards Lucia.
Lucia nodded with a "Let's go then."
She was right. We couldn't stay here and wallow in our emotions.
Hagan's wish was to kill as many monsters as possible.
In order to fulfill that wish, we had to go and pay Rin a visit.
Just as before, we were in the hollow of a tree.
We all sat directly facing Rin.
"First of all, you must forgive our blunder in allowing you to be ambushed by the pacifist."
There was no energy in her voice as she apologized.
Apparently, she had been given a nasty shock at having this terrorist attack occur in this stronghold.
The security measures during our escort here had seemed extra severe.
All the soldiers were on edge now.
It was no wonder after such an attack.
"These pacifists, who are they? In the first place, is it really possible to negotiate with the monsters?"
I questioned.
But the thing that I wanted to ask the most was…
"That man who attacked us, he used mana or something to conjure numerous spears and control them. What was that?"
"I heard the report. Likely it was… A special parasitic monster. The details will have to wait for after the autopsy."
A monster that combined with a human?
"So that was a monster's special ability?"
"The man who attacked you was one of a number of brilliant soldiers who protected this land. But he did not have any special powers."
So they knew who he was.
Even so, a parasitic monster combining with a human… It was horrifying.
But seeing Rin's reaction made it seem that this was not a particularly unconventional method for the pacifists.
In any case, what had happened was basically a betrayal of one of their bodyguards.
It was no wonder that Rin looked so downcast.
"Do you mean that the man was being controlled by the parasitic monster?"
"Yes, that is a possibility. He was not one who was ever sent out to fight in the frontlines. Most likely, someone had come in contact with him and planted that evil seed."
Someone had snuck up close to him and exposed the parasite to him.
Though we were still not sure at this point if his ambush had been against his own will, or if it was something that he had wanted to do…
Regardless of which it was, it meant that the citizens of light had troublemakers within.
Furthermore, this disaster had happened very close to where Rin was.
This was not an issue that could be hand waved.
This was a very serious problem.
She had an appropriately grave expression.
"Currently, we have arrested the man's wife and daughter for questioning. I can only hope that we learn something from the them…"
"Torture?"