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Book 2: Chapter 399

Not just to Lukas. The dozens of children in the orphanage also took Sophia as their real mother. That was why he couldn’t take the feeling of betrayal that grew when he found out the truth.

It wasn’t just the city’s children that Sophia touched. There were a total of seven victims from the orphanage. The first victim was Ellie. Naturally, they were all killed. Perhaps they were even eaten.

The youngest among the victims was only 6 years old.

She kidnapped, confined, degraded, and eventually killed a child who could not even speak properly.

Throb-

His head ached.

Lukas massaged his temples.

He still couldn’t remember how he’d responded to this last time, but that didn’t matter.

Regardless of the reason, there was no justification for the murder of 61 children.

Sophia’s true nature was human scum, disgusting trash. She played the role of a good Director in front of the children she collected.

Lukas couldn’t help but feel disgusted by her hypocrisy.

‘It should’ve been young Lukas that discovered the truth.’

He couldn’t remember what kind of person he was at that time. But 12 was not a young age. At the very least, his basic personality would have already begun to form, and he would have begun to have his own subjectivity.

‘…’

As his eyes had gotten used to the darkness, it was possible for Lukas to analyse Sophia’s condition despite being 20 or so steps away. Curled up in the grass, Lukas observed her.

She looked to be in a state of excessive excitement. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, and her fingertips trembled slightly. Saliva was also dripping from the corner of her mouth. She looked like an insane person who had gone completely mad.

But she was not mad.

If that were the case, then Sophia would not have been able to hide her crimes for such a long time. She was cunning, thorough, a woman capable of making perfect plans.

That was probably Sophia’s hidden nature.

She held a sword in one hand. There were traces of blood on the blade that had not been wiped clean yet. And the person in the sack was probably a child.

‘…her muscles are swollen.’

Lukas soon realised.

Sophia’s forearms were so thick that they didn’t match a woman of her age. It was like someone who had taken enhancement drugs. Although he couldn’t be sure, he guessed that the strength she could display was probably two or three times more than usual.

It would be difficult for the 12 year old Lukas, whose body was not well developed yet, to openly fight such an opponent.

“…”

He softly chanted a spell. The grassy area swayed slightly, but this could be dismissed as the act of a passing breeze. As proof of this, Sophia didn’t even glance over to him.

When Lukas had finished his preparations, he shook the grass with both of his hands.

Swish!

The sudden sound was barely audible in the quiet forest.

But Sophia’s head swung around.

“Who’s there?”

Her voice and tone were harsh. If he just heard her voice and didn’t see her, he wouldn’t think it was Sophia. He could see her slowly approaching him, the hilt of the sword held tightly in her hand. Despite the sound being light, she still managed to pinpoint the correct direction. He had no intention of leaving. If he were to show an appearance of running away, she would chase him to the ends of hell.

Lukas waited until Sophia stepped into the planned location.

Then, when it was time, he showed himself.

“It’s me, Sophia.”

Sophia’s expression became puzzled.

This came from meeting an unexpected person at an unexpected time.

“Lukas…?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you here?”

Her voice and eyes shook slightly, showing that her reaction was genuine.

At the very least, it was clear that she was surprised at that moment.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I went to look for Sophia, but you weren’t in your room. So I went out to look at the moon for a while, but then I saw Sophia going into the woods…”

“…you… followed me here?”

Sophia stuttered slightly.

Lukas nodded.

“Yes.”

Silence.

But Sophia’s eyes moved busily.

Then, she smiled gently. Nevertheless, she couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from twitching slightly.

“You followed me well. It must have been very dark…”

“My vision is pretty good at night. By the way, Sophia…”

“Y-, yeah?”

0

“For some reason, Sophia looks bigger than usual.”

Lukas looked at her thick forearms as he said that.

She responded with a slow nod.

“…perhaps… I look like this because I’m wearing a lot of clothes. Isn’t the night breeze a bit chilly?”

“I see. Then what’s that sack in your hands?”

Sophia shook at those words, but it was only for a moment.

She soon responded with a normal expression.

“Ah. This… is beef.”

“Beef?”

“Right, I was lucky enough to get some beef. I kept it a secret from you kids. Right. I kept it as a secret because I wanted to surprise you guys.”

“It looks a bit small to be a cow.”

The sack wasn’t that big. Even half a cow wouldn’t be able to fit in it.

“…that’s because it was a young calf.”

“I see.”

“…”

Silence fell once again.

And once again, it was Sophia who broke it.

“Did you come here alone?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because the forest is very dangerous at night. Of course, there aren’t any wolves or bears in the forest. But wild owls can also be quite aggressive. If you came with another child, and if they were left alone somewhere in the forest, they might be in a very dangerous situation.”

“That’s fine. I came alone.”

“…really?”

Sophia’s complexion brightened a bit.

Then, she smiled and stretched her hand out.

“Come here, Lukas. Let’s go back home.”

“Okay.” (TL: Start)

Lukas wiggled his fingers as he walked towards her. This wasn’t motion magic. It was just a signal for his pre-casted spell.

The Stone Tooth he cast shot forward before Sophia could realise.

Crack.

“Kuack!”

Sophia screamed and fell down. The Stone Tooth had struck her knee. This proved that his magic skills were still lacking since he had originally been aiming for her ankle.

“Wh-, at…”

Lukas used one spell after the other on Sophia, who had not fully grasped the situation yet.

“Magic Missile.”

Woowoong, the projectile of pale glowing energy hit Sophia in the face. Although the power of this spell was not strong, it became a different story when it was continuously launched at a vulnerable and vital spot like the face.

It was very possible to crush an eyeball, or cause the nose bone to collapse.

“Kuaack…”

Sophia grabbed her face as her body curled up. She was probably feeling the pain of having her face torn apart.

Lukas didn’t show any sympathy, and instead continued what he planned to do.

“Fire Ball.” (TL: Brownie points for any naruto weebs who remember how to say this in Japanese.)

Fwoosh!

A finishing spell.

The dark surrounded lit up in an instant.

Fire Ball was considered one of the most basic 2 star spells, but its pure destructive power was on a higher scale.

He’d also put most of his mana into it, making the fireball twice as large as usual. This left him with barely any mana remaining.

Shuk.

As soon as he pointed his finger towards Sophia, the ball of flames engulfed her entire body without mercy.

“Kyaaaak!”

This time, her scream contained a noticeable amount of pain.

Before, when she was hit by the previous attack, the pain she felt was slightly numbed due to the fact that it was a surprise.

However, the Fire Ball was different.

Those who hadn’t experienced the pain of having their skin burn would not know. Sophia’s clothes burned. The smell of a burning human was truly appalling.

Sophia rolled across the ground in the clearing crazily. Nevertheless, as they were created by magic, the flames would not be extinguished so easily.

This wasn’t to say that he actions were completely ineffective.

When half of her body had been burned, the flames disappeared.

“Kuuk…”

Sophia was still alive.

Rather than because her will to live was strong, this was probably because Lukas’ magic skills were terrible.

He walked towards her.

“A-, auh…”

Sophia seemed to have already gone blind.

Perhaps a Magic Missile had crushed her eyeballs or the Fire Ball had burned her optic nerve. It could be either one. Either was fine with him.

“Lu-, kas, Lu-, kas…”

She groaned out his name, but it didn’t affect Lukas. He calmly checked his remaining mana.

What was left… was enough for five Magic Missiles. It was enough.

“Magic Missile.”

After lining up the Magic Missiles, he aimed at Sophia.

To be precise, he aimed at her forehead.

Then fired them one by one.

Paak!

“Eek!”

Paak!

“Euk!”

Paak!

“Uek!”

Whenever the Magic Missiles struck, terrible screams, reminiscent of the sounds made by a pig, rang out.

With an expressionless face, Lukas sent the Magic Missiles forward one after the other, maintaining the precision of a craftsman driving in nails with a hammer.

First, her forehead became red and swollen. The pain similar to her head being hit by a small hammer was a bonus.

Second, her skin was torn and blood began to flow. Her entire head felt shaken, and she was no longer able to think consistently.

Third, a crack appeared on her skull. In that instant, she fainted two or three times and instantly woke up each time.

Fourth, blood flowed from her eyes, nose and mouth. Now, pain was the only thing she could feel.

And finally.

Lukas waited a moment instead of firing this missile right away.

After firing this Magic Missile, Sophia’s skull would be completely shattered and she would die.

“Ah, auh, ahhh…”

Groaning heavily, Sophia crawled across the ground.

She looked up at Lukas with a bloody face.

By now, she couldn’t see or hear anything, but she was surprisingly able to find the right direction.

“Lu-, ka-, s…”

The moment Sophia called his name once again, Lukas released the last Magic Missile.

Crack!

And that was the end.

The murderer who killed 61 children, Sophia Trowman, was dead. Her body had been torn apart, and her blood scattered across the ground. (TL: End)

“…huu.”

With a heavy sigh, he sat down on the ground.

Killing Sophia hadn’t been that difficult. There was no danger. From beginning to end, everything had gone according to Lukas’ plan.

She didn’t have any special power. Of course, her swollen muscles were a bit strange, but that was all.

She wasn’t good at using weapons, she wasn’t good at magic or spiritual arts, and she didn’t know black magic or holy power.

None of that was the reason why Sophia had been able to kill so many children.

She was just cunning.

There was never a single trace of her at the scenes of her crimes, and there was never any room accidents in her carefully crafted plans.

Her outward appearance was also perfect. The kind Director of an orphanage who took care of dozens of children.

Even the city guards wouldn’t suspect her.

As he was lost in his thoughts, he felt his fingertips become wet. Without him realising it, Sophia’s blood had spread across the ground to his hands.

“…”

Just as Lukas looked down at his bloodstained hands.

[So this is your choice.]

Following the voice, ‘Lukas’ appeared.

[I’m surprised. I didn’t think you would kill her without hesitation.]

“She is human garbage that killed 61 children. There was no reason to hesitate.”

‘Lukas’ expression became stiff.

[That’s a very unsympathetic statement. So you’re saying you killed her because she was human garbage. Even though she was the person who raised you like a parent until now?]

“Is that why you showed me that before? The scene when I was a baby.”

As he said that, Lukas recalled that scene.

Sophia’s smiling face as she accepted his young self into her arms.

“It has nothing to do with family ties. If you commit a crime, you deserve to be punished. That is the way it works.”

[…and you are the judge?]

“At least in this case I was.”

‘Lukas’ had a complicated expression on his face before opening his mouth.

[Your principle of judgement cannot be considered a human thing.]

“What?”

[Your words are not wrong. But there is one important thing missing.]

“What is it?”

[Human emotion.]

This made Lukas pause.

[Your words are right. Sophia is a vile murderer, a piece of trash that could not be saved. Such a woman does not deserve to be shown mercy. However, was there even a shred of hesitation when you killed her? Was it so easy to remain expressionless while hearing her tortured screams? Was the relationship you’d built with her over ten years so light?]

“What are you trying to say?”

[…it is human nature to be swayed by emotion even when we know it is morally wrong. Even if my child were to kill someone and be scorned by the entire world, as their parent, I would have no choice but to cover for them because they are my child. That is the tie of family. Of course, that doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do. However…]

‘Lukas’ voice became cold.

[If you considered Sophia to be your family member at all, you would have considered a different ending.]

-A different ending.

At that moment, as Lukas’ face turned white.

…A thought suddenly popped into his mind.

What had ‘Past Lukas’ done after finding out the truth about Sophia?