RGDNF 04

Chapter 4

The sky was cloudy.

The sun was definitely up, so why did everything look so gloomy?

“Excuse me.”

Dantellion lowered his gaze and placed a hand on the old doorknob.

Creeeeak.

The musty smell of dust reached him first.

An abandoned house?

There was something strange about this place… as though time itself had stopped.

Clink, clink.

Every time he moved, the cold sound of metal rang out. He slowly surveyed the interior.

After a moment,

his footsteps abruptly stopped.

“……”

He was standing before a pile of old blankets, bulging slightly in the middle.

A silver-gray thread—or was it hair?—was sticking out from the edge.

At that moment, a tiny crack appeared in the cold, expressionless face of the holy knight.

Without realizing it, he reached out and lifted the blanket.

Then he let out a short breath.

What he pulled out helplessly with his hand was…

a rag doll with awkwardly stitched limbs.

Crookedly drawn eyes, nose, and mouth. And stuck to its chest was a tiny thumbs-up sticker…

Why?

Why had he thought there would be a dead child beneath that white cloth?

A child.

That was practically the existence he had the least connection with.

A familiar headache began to throb.

With a low sigh, Dantellion straightened his back. His neatly arranged, long silver hair flowed over his broad shoulders.

“Sir Dante!”

His adjutant came running over.

“As you instructed, we’ve dispatched all the holy knights to District Z. We’ll be transferring the residents to the temple shelter shortly!”

“Good work.”

“Yes, sir. But…”

Adjutant Marc glanced cautiously at Dantellion before asking,

“Why on earth are you here, Commander…?”

“……”

“We could’ve handled something like poor relief ourselves, you know…”

Dantellion was silent for a moment before answering in his refined voice.

“Of course this is something I must handle personally.”

That was what he said.

But the truth was,

he didn’t know either.

Why exactly was he here?

The moment he heard his adjutant report that they were going to “District Z,” his body had moved on its own.

And was that all?

By the time he came to his senses, he was already standing in front of this cottage.

…This is irritating.

It was the first time he had ever been unable to control himself to this extent.

After all, the only things that had ever moved him were the temple’s doctrines and his duties.

As a holy knight, he was exceptionally skilled at discarding unnecessary things.

Emotions. Desires. Relationships. Affection.

And yet, why today?

Was there something I was looking for?

But… what?

An object?

…A person?

“……”

At that moment, the core near his heart began to throb violently.

A piercing pain struck his right arm and left eye.

Clenching his jaw to endure the pain, he slowly exhaled.

My holy power…

Why had it become so corrupted?

He had no memory of when his holy power had become corrupted. He could only speculate that perhaps the monster extermination campaign in the West had simply gone on for too long.

But unlike other holy knights, even purification medicine had little effect on him.

So whenever the pain came like a seizure, all he could do was endure it.

Is God… testing me?

He had been born and raised to serve the Goddess.

He had never once gone against that calling.

If You have given me a trial, I shall gladly accept it.

The moment he grasped the pendant he used for prayer, the disturbance disappeared.

His emotionless, dry expression immediately returned.

“Commander!”

At that moment, Marc, who had been checking a carrier pigeon’s message, urgently called out to him.

“This just came in from Unit Two. They found illegal drugs and traces of strange magic in the village chief’s house!”

Dantellion’s gaze turned cold.

“And… there’s a report that a cart may have left through the northern gate—”

Just as expected.

He had felt strangely bothered by this place from the beginning.

So God really did lead me here.

There were signs of a crime.

His straight, well-groomed hand tightened around his sword.

“Pursue them.”

His face once again became that of a stern and ascetic apostle as he spoke.

“Effective immediately, seal every entrance and exit of District Z and secure the village chief first. And…”

Dantellion added one more thing without even realizing it.

“Question the villagers as well. Investigate whether anyone among the residents has gone missing.”

“Yes, sir!”

He didn’t know why those words had slipped out.

But he had a strange intuition.

If someone had escaped from this place, he had a feeling that person absolutely could not be allowed to get away…

Dantellion abruptly turned and left the cottage.

His heart was beating unusually hard.

As he instinctively reached for his prayer pendant, he realized that he was still holding the rag doll.

“…Hm.”

His hollow gaze lingered on the doll.

Under normal circumstances, it was something he wouldn’t have even spared a glance.

Yet for some reason, he found it difficult to let go.

I suppose I should find its owner.

He slipped the doll into his cloak pocket and walked away.

And at that exact moment—

…Plop!

The thumbs-up sticker attached to the doll stuck itself onto Dantellion’s body, then was gently absorbed into him.

It happened so quickly that he failed to notice.

All he thought was…

that breathing somehow felt easier.

Dantellion’s empty gaze stared straight ahead.

Unfortunately, his sky was still gray.

“Uncha!”

Crash! Rumble-rumble-rumble…

The cart rolled down into the ravine and shattered into pieces.

“Wait… You’re saying I have to throw away my whole cart too? I could’ve gotten five gold for that thing if I sold it!”

Uncle Paul made a miserable face as he stared at his corpse cart.

He scratched the back of his head and muttered something, but I honestly couldn’t hear him very well.

I was pretending to be fine, but my heart was still going thump-thump-thump!

I almost got caught…!

A little while ago.

“Is anyone there?”

When Daddy came to the cottage,

I used every ounce of strength I had to erase the markings on the floor, then escaped through a little doggy door behind the house.

“W-Why on earth did Daddy come here?!”

I ran down the alley like crazy, rubbing the back of my neck.

“It’s really not here…”

There was originally a tiny symbol here.

The direct-line symbol of House Klein—a mark that was faint when I was a baby but gradually became clearer as I grew.

In my previous life, the elderly woman who took care of me in the slums discovered this symbol and sent a letter to Daddy before she died.

But right now, Daddy and I had no connection whatsoever.

So naturally, the symbol had disappeared too.

I don’t understand what’s going on…

Anyway, after that,

I ran at full speed until I reached the man in front of me—

Uncle Paul.

In other words, the undertaker of this district.

“Mister! Please let me leave this place too!”

“Ack! You scared me!”

Uncle Paul was responsible for disposing of corpses, so he had relatively free access in and out of District Z.

More importantly, according to my memories from my previous life, Uncle Paul was supposed to leave District Z for the North today!

“You brought this, right?”

I thrust the Northern relocation flyer at him.

“It gives you a house! And land!”

“Uh, yeah, that’s true, but…”

And that was how I managed to escape District Z by hiding in Uncle Paul’s corpse cart.

And just a little while ago, we even disposed of the cart to erase the traces of our escape.

We also made sure to throw both Uncle Paul’s belongings and mine into the ravine, one by one.

That way, even if someone tracked us here, it would look like we’d fallen off and died, right?

“Do we really have to pretend to be dead to this extent?”

“You said you didn’t want the holy knights who came to your village to catch your trail!”

“Well… yeah. I did run away from forced labor at the Imperial Palace once. If they catch me, I’ll go straight to prison.”

“Exactly!”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, saying that there was no such thing as being too careful.

Phewww. That really was like a storm…

My arms and legs were trembling as though all the strength had been drained from my body.

Still, there was one thing I could be thankful for.

“…You have to stick right next to Daddy, okayyy!”

Right before escaping the cottage, I had managed to leave behind the holy power sticker.

I had no idea where that quick thinking came from, but thank goodness.

Of course, because of that…

[(Empty) Your Sticker Book is Empty (Empty)]

“Eek…”

I had become a genuinely penniless little beggar child with 0 money and 0 holy power…

But it was okay!

As long as Daddy can get better, I don’t mind being a little beggar!

“Whew… Kid! Hurry up or I’m leaving you behind!”

“N-Nooo!”

I hopped onto Uncle Paul’s back.

He carefully headed into the forest, making sure not to leave footprints.

I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck.

“Jeez… Does this fluffy little thing even know what kind of guy I am before following me around…?”

Uncle Paul grumbled.

Does this little girl know what kind of person you are?

Of course I did.

My savior!

I had once asked Daddy about it in my previous life.

“B-But how did you know that I was… your daughter?”

It was back when the fact that I even had a father still felt strange to me.

Daddy didn’t seem bothered at all by the way I kept fidgeting.

Holding me tightly in his arms, he said,

“I received a letter. A group of children who escaped from District Z brought me a letter written by a woman named Annie before she died.”

“Whaaaat?”

“They said an undertaker named Paul secretly helped them escape by hiding them in his corpse cart. Do you know anything about that?”

District Z was an isolated slum.

A place where the youngest and weakest died first as a matter of course.

When you lived in a place like that, some people became villains who stole other people’s bread.

But others became people who offered kindness for no reason at all.

And thanks to Uncle Paul’s kindness,

I was able to meet Daddy.

I wonder how Uncle Paul from my previous life fared after going to the North.

Was he happy?

I didn’t know.

But…

This time, I’m definitely going to repay his kindness!

I clung to Uncle Paul’s back like a backpack and gently rubbed my cheek against him.

“Hoho, that tickles. You little rascal.”

Then I quietly turned my head to look behind me.

“……”

I could see the tiny District Z below the hill.

I thought I could faintly hear the rough pounding of hooves…

but it was already the sound of somewhere far, far away.

Daddy’s voice still lingered in my ears.

But I shouldn’t think about it anymore.

I don’t miss Daddy.

I’d seen him too much in my previous life.

I really, really, really didn’t want to see him anymore.

So…

this is just a goodbye.

Bye, Daddy.

I secretly waved my hand.

This time, Hani had become independent early.

Forget everything and live happily from now on!!

And so, I left the capital.

Then, about three weeks later.

After a long journey filled with countless twists and turns—

“Wooooooow!”

“It’s the Noooooorth! Yeeeee-haw!”

The two grimy little fugitives had finally arrived in the North!

[You have completed the errand! (Requester: God of Travel)]

[“Yee-haw! Go to the North and shout it out!”]

[Reward: 10 Pure, Pollution-Free Holy Power Stickers]

[Would you like to receive your reward?]