Chapter 646: Central Continent

From deep within the cave, an old blind woman emerged and spoke, saying that another name given to the woman who received an angel’s love is the Happy Princess.

“Happy Princess?”

“Yes. According to some accounts, she was originally a princess born in a wealthy Kingdom and lived happily.”

“Hmm…”

Oliver let out a low hum as he looked at the statue.

The old, unimpressive wooden statue was so worn that its face was no longer recognizable.

Even so, not every detail was impossible to discern.

Details like the simple cloak, worn-out shoes, and rough, calloused hands were still visible.

It didn’t align with the appearance of a princess who was said to have lived a wealthy and happy life.

That wasn’t the only part that didn’t make sense.

Oliver also wondered how a princess who lived in such a wealthy Kingdom ended up helping a weary angel.

Pandora explained that the process of helping the angel began when the princess took care of the sick who needed help.

But it seemed too sudden—how could a princess from a wealthy Kingdom end up caring for the sick?

As if sensing Oliver’s doubts, the old blind woman spoke first.

“Of course, the princess’s happiness didn’t last her entire life.”

“…Did something happen?”

“Yes, a huge, unavoidable catastrophe appeared.”

With the three keywords, Central Continent, princess, and catastrophe, Oliver reflexively came to the correct conclusion.

“Is it the Pied Piper?”

The old woman slowly nodded.

“Correct… When he appeared hundreds of years ago, many small Kingdoms fell. The anger and hatred of parents who lost their children turned toward the Kingdom’s highest authorities.”

Oliver already knew this. Sleeping Beauty had shown it through shadow plays.

The anger was so great that people once loved the princess but then handed her over to the witch themselves.

“Even the Happy Princess couldn’t evade that catastrophe and fell to the bottom… I heard she shed tears.”

“That must be sad, falling from being a princess.”

Oliver couldn’t empathize, but due to what he had learned, he understood.

However, the old woman’s reaction was unexpected.

“No, the princess didn’t cry because she had lost her status as a princess. It wasn’t because she couldn’t wear expensive dresses or eat good food. The reason she cried was that she could finally see the poor and pitiful people she couldn’t see when she was high up.”

“…”

“She thought everyone lived as happily as she did. It was her reality.”

Oliver could understand what she meant. When he lived in the mines, he thought the entire world lived as he did.

It was the opposite of the princess’s case, but the principle was the same.

“Ironically, it wasn’t until after being swept away by the catastrophe that the princess realized how blessed she was and how much suffering others endured… Do you know what she did afterward?”

“No. What did she do?”

“Instead of being distressed by the catastrophe that had struck her, she began helping those who were in need right in front of her. For an unimaginably long time… We now follow in her footsteps.”

With her explanation, Oliver once again looked at the wooden statue.

Except for the worn-away face, nothing else stood out about it, yet he still found it strangely captivating.

“Is something wrong?”

The old blind woman asked as she looked at Oliver.

Oliver shrugged.

“No, it’s just… It seems there are a lot of princesses in the Central Continent.”

“You’re referring to the three princesses.”

“…?”

“Sleeping Beauty, the Swan Princess, and the Happy Princess. Here, they call those three women the princesses who represent the catastrophes.”

“What do you mean by representing catastrophes?”

“It means they symbolize the reactions that come from tragedies humans can’t handle… For example, Sleeping Beauty represents avoidance. She fled to the forest after being betrayed by everyone.”

Although Oliver showed no visible reaction, he silently agreed.

The Sleeping Forest created by Sleeping Beauty was incredible—so much so that calling it Dark Magic felt insufficient—but its primary role was merely to seal her off from the outside world.

A locked door, so to speak.

“The Swan Princess represents anger. Unable to endure the pain she received, she tried to destroy everything.”

Oliver agreed once more.

Though he hadn’t met the Swan Princess personally, from the explanations he heard and what Unbent Knee told him, he could gather a rough idea of who she was.

Like Sleeping Beauty, the Swan Princess went through tragedy because of the Pied Piper. She might have seemed calm, but deep down, she clearly wanted to burn the world more than anyone else.

“Naturally, you can’t blame her too much. Not only had she been betrayed, but she also lost her brothers in the process.”

“You seem to know a lot.”

“It’s simply through my efforts to follow the will of the Happy Princess. Dave.”

Despite her blindness, the old woman recognized Oliver.

“You know me?”

“There were rumors about the Sub-Highpriest bringing someone… And I’ve heard about the flying ship too.”

“Ah…”

“I thought you might come. But I didn’t think you really would.”

The old woman, despite being blind, looked at Oliver as she spoke, which was very strange.

Stranger still was that even though this was their first meeting, the old woman seemed to know Oliver.

“Would you like to hear more?”

The old woman, who had explained the avoidance represented by Sleeping Beauty and the anger represented by the Swan Princess, asked.

Oliver shook his head.

“No, it’s an interesting story, but I didn’t come to hear it… Are you the leader of the Dark Magicians here?”

“Calling it leadership is too grand. It’s simply that people gathered around me while I lived following the will of the Happy Princess.”

“So, yes.”

“Yes…”

“I’ll get straight to the point. Can you persuade them to disarm and follow me?”

Despite the sudden request, the old woman was neither surprised nor flustered. She calmly asked.

“May I ask what you intend to do?”

“If you disarm, it will prove you have no intention of harm. With that, I’ll try to persuade the Holy Knights that you are not dangerous. I don’t know much about this place, but I’m aware some of you learned Dark Magic just to survive.”

Oliver recalled the Dark Magicians who had entered Gallos.

Some had come seeking personal gain in the power vacuum left by the Flesh Cook, but others had learned Dark Magic solely to survive.

“So, you’re saying you’ll help us?”

“It’s not as grand as that. I happened to get involved in this situation, and I simply want to see less bloodshed. To be honest, I didn’t even plan to come here.”

Though his tone seemed somewhat irresponsible, the old woman neither panicked nor got angry, merely listening calmly.

“To be even more honest, I was half-forced to come because of some idol worshippers. Such things are troublesome, so I just want to resolve it peacefully since I’m here. Even if you cooperate, the Pater Church will still arrest any dangerous criminals they can’t ignore. If you, elder, fall into that category, you’ll be arrested as well.”

Deliberately Oliver added harsh words at the end to draw a clear line.

He wanted to make it clear his presence here was coincidental and that his offer was not from pure intentions; he just wanted to wrap things up smoothly.

It might have seemed extremely self-centered, but it was Oliver’s best offer.

He didn’t want to take responsibility for anything more. Life was already tough enough.

If it was irresponsible, well… That was fine. The old woman merely smiled with her wrinkled lips.

“You’re a kind person.”

“I’m sorry, did you misunderstand me?”

“No, I understood perfectly. Whatever the reason, you came all the way here for people you have nothing to do with and made this proposal. That’s something only someone with a good heart could do.”

“…Could you answer my question?”

“First, let me thank you again. But right now, the Pater Church isn’t doing this because they think we’re a real threat.”

“I’m aware, that’s why I offered to convince them. If you’ll just help me.”

Oliver, who had already realized that the Pater Church had motives beyond just exterminating Dark Magicians, responded.

After all, it just didn’t make sense.

Considering the pure power of the Holy Power and the relation between it and Dark Magic, there was no reason why Holy Knights wouldn’t be able to defeat Dark Magicians from the Central Continent.

And that was even more the case if people like Armand and Roderick, representing the Sub-Highpriest, had brought Oliver into their plans.

It was only logical to assume they had another purpose.

Oliver planned to leave before that purpose reached him.

He wasn’t sure if this would be the end, but for now, it was his best course of action.

With so many doubts and troubles weighing him down, Oliver decided to focus only on what he could do in the moment.

“So, what’s your decision?”

“I won’t follow everything you said, but I’ll talk to them.”

“That’s enough. Those who can’t be persuaded—”

[“Dave.”]

As Oliver was about to wrap up, Eve’s voice came through the communicator attached to his shirt collar.

Her usual robotic tone carried a faint sense of urgency, which Oliver quickly picked up on, instinctively turning his gaze toward Pandora.

Pandora, who was more expressive than Eve, showed a bit of panic and opened her mouth.

“Sub-Highpriest Roderick has arrived with the Holy Knights.”

***

The outskirts of Gallos, in Ark.

This was a small village in a vast plain, where an orphanage named Ark—after the Ark region—stood on an uphill.

The orphanage was quite large, fitting for its purpose, and being in a remote area, it was surrounded by sturdy walls.

Though these walls couldn’t guard against every danger, they provided a sense of security even during the dark of night.

Because of that, the director and staff of Ark Orphanage never forgot to lock the gate at night, if nothing else.

But tonight was an exception, for some reason.

The once-solid gate was left wide open.

Upon entering through the open gate, something unusual caught the eye.

That unusual thing was the orphanage building, now collapsed, burning, and frozen, with 64 children staring blankly into space.

Yareli’s face had turned white with fear. Behind her stood Rosburn and the orphanage staff.

Nearby, Derek’s arm was torn, making him scream, while Joanna, with a crushed shield and broken mace, hung limp in the Pied Piper’s grasp.

“Grrrnnnggh…!”

“…”

Derek, who had lost an arm, bit down and screamed, but the unconscious Joanna couldn’t even manage that.

Though the Pied Piper could have easily killed Joanna by just squeezing a little harder, he didn’t. He released his grip, letting her go.

With her Holy Power useless, her shield crushed, and her mace broken, Joanna fell lifelessly to the ground. The Pied Piper, without even glancing at her, approached Yareli.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The sound of shoes striking the ground echoed as the Pied Piper moved closer.

The orphanage staff, terrified to the core, couldn’t even scream and instead backed away, clutching one another.

Their fear had completely taken control.

Yareli felt the same as them, but the wit she’d cultivated as a magician and Rosburn’s warmth behind her, especially with Xenon placing his trust in her as well, kept her standing like a statue.

Though she felt desperate to tell Rosburn to escape alone, she couldn’t. In that moment, the Pied Piper, having reached Yareli, looked at Rosburn behind her.

In the stone-cold, emotionless eyes of the Pied Piper sparked a faint glimmer.

“Are you… connected with that guy?”

The Pied Piper asked a sudden, incoherent question.

That guy?

Rosburn, almost without realizing, answered.

“T-Teacher?”

“Teacher?”

“He means Xenon.”

Yareli, mustering all her strength, cut in with a desperate voice to respond to the Pied Piper’s question.

Instinctively, she felt that speaking was the only way they might survive, and it turned out she might have been right, as the Pied Piper let out a soft exclamation.

“Ah… Do you know him?”

Once again, the Pied Piper asked.

When Yareli nodded, the Pied Piper began to ponder as he stared into the distance.

The pause was longer than expected.

“I’ll leave… this child alone.”

Still lost in thought, the Pied Piper placed his hand on Rosburn’s head and made his decision.

It seemed surprisingly natural for a child-kidnapping murderer to place a hand upon a child’s head.

Without further explanation, the Pied Piper turned his head to look at the trembling orphanage staff.

His eyes had become stony and emotionless once again.

“Will you stop me?”

The Pied Piper asked if the orphanage staff would save the 64 children.

Among the staff were some who had grown up in that orphanage, Yet as they looked between the kids and the Pied Piper, they shook their heads.

They had chosen to abandon the children to ensure their own survival.

“I see.”

The plain-faced Pied Piper gave a brief response as he turned and walked away.

His intention was truly to kidnap only the children.

As he prepared to leave with dozens of children he had taken from the village, adding 64 from the orphanage to the group.

Click-Click—!

Amelin, the orphanage’s headmaster, appeared from the debris of the wrecked building, aiming her shotgun at the Pied Piper’s head and pulling the trigger.

Boom!

However, like Joanna’s Holy Power, Derek’s flames, and Yareli’s ice, the bullet didn’t even leave a scratch on the Pied Piper’s face.

All attacks felt as futile as trying to harm someone from another world.

Yet, the Pied Piper, seemingly displeased, extended his arm and grabbed Amelin’s neck before speaking.

“You should know it’s useless.”

Even as her throat was being squeezed by the Pied Piper, making it hard for her to breathe, Amelin coughed and then responded without averting her eyes.

“Whether it’s pointless or not… Someone still has to protect the children…!”

Amelin’s firm declaration caught the Pied Piper off guard. His reply came laced with a faint sorrow.

“…Indeed.”

At the same time, an otherworldly darkness, different from Dark Magic, began to flow out from the Pied Piper, engulfing Amelin.

The darkness emanating from the Pied Piper covered Amelin entirely. Her legs began merging with the ground, turning into something like tree roots, while her skin hardened, branching out like twisted limbs.

Before long, there stood nothing but a tree.

A tree that would remain standing for eternity, never dying, for countless years.

Just like all those who had tried to stop the Pied Piper over the past hundreds of years.