Chapter 101 Where The Pathfinders Lose Their Way

The moment I see that a fight will likely to occur between Eliseus and Megan, I take Eliseus' hand and drag her outside. She immediately returns to normal when we are outside, and that leaves me confused.

I look at her silently for a couple of seconds, and she looks at me back like nothing has just occurred a few moments prior.

"What was that?"

"I was aroused."

"... What the heck?" I say, bewildered.

"You accidentally aroused me. Demons are quite possessive when they are aroused—I considered you as my possession, so that's why it happened."

Blinking my eyes in surprise, I sniff the shirt I am wearing that I bought from this village's store. "I don't smell any pheromone on my shirt—not that I know how pheromone smells."

"First of all, only the opposite gender can smell Demons' pheromones—they work to all of the existing races. Second of all, your pheromone wasn't the cause of why I was aroused."

"So...?"

"... Should I explain why I there is this tingling sensation in my va—"

"Alright, stop it." I put my hand up. "You creep me out by saying it with that straight face of yours."

Shrugging lightly as if she hasn't just almost said something fairly alarming, Eliseus turns her gaze away from me. She is now staring to the front—looking at nothing, I believe—and I can see a faint blush on her cheek.

It is weird seeing a blush on such a straight face, but if is charming nonetheless. Of course, it is still not enough to provoke something special to develop in me.

"Now that I think about it... Where is Vibiane?" Eliseus wonders.

"She is visiting the orphanage of this village."

"Ah, I see." Eliseus nods her head lightly. "I forgot this village is big enough to have an orphanage. Let us visit her."

"Sure." As we start walking, I ask, "Is it something she always does—visiting orphanage whenever she sees one?"

"You can say that. Vibiane has a special charm to human children; added by the fact that she doesn't have many friends, she visits human orphanage often."

"Are the kids of the Cursed Creation too scared by her?"

"Although she doesn't possess any of the Spirit Divinity, the aura of Spirit she has is repulsive. It is hard to expect our children to approach her, while even many of the adults tend to stay away from her."

"Contrary to what our kids think of her, the human kids favour her greatly, huh?" I muse. "I know how that feels—exiled by everyone else."

Although the village is bigger than the last village we have visited, it is not big enough to make exploring it tedious. We haven't even walked for a minute—maybe it's also because we walk faster than regular people—but we have arrived at the orphanage.

There, we can see Vibiane reading a book to the children around her. There is a little girl around the age of five sitting on her lap, and I can't help recalling the face of the kid Vibiane and I have left behind.

I didn't get it previously, but now I get why she still visits the orphanage despite having Eliseus and me as her friends. I know what she is feeling—I am feeling it too, but unlike her, I ignore it.

Getting slowly eaten away by guilt is not pleasant. Rather than doing something to somehow lessen the guilt, I choose to erase it completely by making reasons to justify what I have done.

It is a cowardly and disgraceful way indeed, but that's what being a Demon means. I have stopped expecting myself to act like a decent human being.

"Oh, Layland, Eliseus!" Vibiane slightly widens her eyes when she spots us. She looks just the same, but with a white skin and braided hair. "I didn't expect you two to visit an orphanage."

"We are actually here to see you," Eliseus responds as she walks closer. "We have nothing to do, so we want to get some amusement by watching your bordering idiotic behaviour."

"... Why do you sound like Layland? He is the only person who can say such a cruel thing about me."

"Everybody says cruel things about us behind our back in every second," I retort as I also approach Vibiane. "I am not the only one who says cruel things about you."

"You are doing it right in front of me though!" Vibiane looks at me in astonishment and sadness.

Smirking under my mask, unlike Eliseus, who kneels down right beside Vibiane to pat the kids, I stop when I am a foot away from them. The experiences I have got from encountering kids have made it clear that I am allergic to kids and vice versa.

Rather than causing a scene here, I prefer distancing myself away from them. I have given the moral right to kill humans, so I might find myself accidentally kicking one of the kids to death when they bother me.

"Woah... You are so tall!"

My eyes quickly darken when I feel a tug on my pants. Looking down, I find a midget looking up at me in, what I say, admiration.

Extending his hands, he says, "Pick me up, Mr. Scary Mask!"

I immediately click my tongue in annoyance at that request. I then uncross my hands, pick the midget up, put him down beside Vibiane, and return to my spot.

I sigh in relief when I manage to get rid of the endless annoyance, and watch as the midget wondering about what has just happened. He must be shocked that his attempt to enslave me has failed.

'Who do you think I am? I am not stupid like those two. I know that once I let you ride my shoulders, you will order me around like your bitch. I am not going to be fooled by your tac—'

"Mr. Scary Mask, can you pick me up like Reinhard too?"

"..."

As I look down at another midget who has tugged on my pants, I wonder what I have done wrong. I am pretty sure I have made it clear that I don't want to be disturbed.

Not only one, however, even the kids that are previously surrounding Vibiane are also now standing nearby, waiting to be picked up ... It is annoying.

"Wow. You are popular among children, Layland," Vibiane remarks.

"Shut up, birdbrain!"

"I am not stupid!"

Ignoring Vibiane, who is now giving me reasons why she is not stupid, I turn to the kids, and think of an idea.

"Do you guys want to be picked up or just know how it feels to be tall?"

"What is that?" One of the kids asks.

"You see, I have something more fun for you than riding on my shoulders. Of course, I won't show it to you if you—"

"Show it!" The kid exclaims excitedly.

Grinning under my mask, I thank the fact that I am wearing a mask. I am sure if they could see my grin, they would be able to tell I am about to do something that they won't like and will likely traumatize them for life.

"Well, in my opinion Magic brings fun the most."

Snap!

Snapping my fingers after quick casting an Earth Spell, the ground below the kids are standing on rises to the air. It raises the kids to the air, causing them to fall on their knees and grab on the ground for their dear life.

I laugh evilly as quiet as I can, but I still can feel the 'really?' gaze from my two troop mates. The caregivers are also looking at me in shock, definitely not expecting me to do that to the kids.

Of course, I am not crazy enough to kill 9 kids right in front of the people for no reason. My Spell doesn't cause the ground to rise that high—it stops rising when it reaches the height of 6 feet.

"Woah! I didn't know being tall was this cool!"

"Why do you care being cool? Suddenly rising to the air is cooler!"

"Yeah! I love that too—it was awesome."

"..."

Expecting the kids to cry after what they have just experienced, they make me speechless when they laugh cheerfully. They seem to like what I have done to them, and it makes me wonder if there is something wrong inside their head.

Turning to Vibiane and Eliseus, I find them as bewildered as me, so I quickly erase the notion of this being actually the norm.

Sensing someone approaching, I turn my head to see that it is one of the caregivers. "They are a unique bunch, but I can't tell whether they are brave souls or fools," I say to the caregiver.

Laughing faintly, the caregiver says, "Well, they have faced quite a lot of things despite being young." Stopping beside me, she shouts at the kids, "Be careful to not fall, everyone!"

"Unwanted children?"

"None of them was." The caregiver shakes her head. "Children are cherished everywhere. That is a good thing, but it also makes everyone want them ... These kids were the victim of kidnapping."

The Kingdom gives subsidy—money to those who have more than two children. There are many sick people who collect kids just to get this subsidy.

These cheerful kids were snatched away from their parents because of that. It is ironic, in my opinion, that they lost their parents to another humans instead of us, Cursed Creations.