I was sure this place was supposed to be the orphanage that Jeanne wanted to go to. It was evident from the signboard that had the words orphanage outside the front yard of the building.
Everyone would imagine that a place called an orphanage was heaven on earth for children. Orphanages are naturally filled with the laughter of children. Unfortunately, this was not the case with the orphanage in front of me.
The scene in the front yard of the orphanage looked quite gruesome. I could see what was happening clearly.
Many children seemed to be the residents of the orphanage being disorganized in the front yard of the orphanage. Most of them were children less than 10 years old.
They were not playing. Some children were standing crying bitterly. Some of them were bowing down and screaming in fear. Meanwhile, some were curled up like a ball on the ground.
Their bodies kept shuddering as if there was a beast in front of them ready to eat them at any moment.
Indeed, what was in front of them was not really a beast, but perhaps what was in front of them was even worse than a beast.
What caused their fear was the burly men who wielded swords, whips, and other gruesome weapons. They also wore strange clothes that were very revealing.
When I saw the disgusting clothes of the men, I wasn't sure whether the children were scared because of the weapons they were using or the disgusting clothes the men were wearing.
One thing was for sure, the treatment that the children were receiving was the problem.
If you can't bear to look at it, you can just look at my eyes. Because in my eyes, a horrific scene was reflected.
The burly men were trying to forcefully tie the children's hands with a big rope.
Among the children who had been caught, some children had tried to escape.
It was fortunate that not all the children had been caught. Some were still trying to escape even though they had been caught. And there were also those who were still running with all their might towards where Jeanne and I were.
The expressions of some of the children who were still trying to escape looked very desperate. Therefore, they did not see us.
"Run faster! We have to run as hard as we can."
"W-what should we do?"
"F-first of all, we should ask people for help. And if that's not enough, we should call the knights."
Their naive thoughts had taken over their brains completely.
It was only natural that they concluded to ask people for help or to ask the knights belonging to the nobility of this region for help since they were so desperate.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtTheir efforts will be in vain.
From the beginning, all of this was planned.
When they kept shouting, they finally realized that their cries of despair were useless.
They need to accept the situation and get out of their comfort zone of thinking that makes them think so naively.
Even though their screams echoed through the neighborhood, not a single person came to their rescue. It's very strange that such a horrific scene can still happen even in the city center.
When they started screaming, the local knights should have heard and saved them, but what happened was the opposite
"Hahaha, it's useless for you to scream like crazy. Even if you scream and ask for help, no one will help you. You better stop running away and come here obediently. That is if you don't want to get seriously injured."
Far behind the children who were still running, the old man with the command stick was shouting at the children who were still trying to escape.
"Hey, hurry up and catch them!"
That person was still shouting. I could hear his voice.
From his words, it was clear that he was the boss of the burly men with weapons.
Neat clothes, fashionable hats, and old-fashioned-looking glasses. Such traits already clearly reflect that he was a high-status person.
Although his body was shorter than the disgusting burly men around him, his status was higher.
He ordered the few people behind him to chase after the few children who were still trying to escape.
As a result, several burly men did as he said and chased after the children.
They seemed ready to attack with whips in their hands, so the children who tried to run away failed to escape.
Among the children trying to escape, there was a girl who was the smallest. She was running while hugging a handmade straw doll very pitifully.
Perhaps because she was panicking, the little girl who was running while holding the shabby doll tripped and fell to the ground.
The older children tried to help her, but a whip suddenly came and wrapped around the little girl's legs.
At the end of the rope binding the little girl's legs, burly adults looked ready to devour them.
Especially the one who managed to entangle the little girl's legs. He held the whip as if he had gotten a good catch.
He would pull the whip in his hand as if he were fishing.
However, before he could drag the poor little girl away, he had to deal with someone first.
Jeanne, who had been pumping up the anger in her heart, finally exploded the rage in her heart.
All around Jeanne's body, there was already a reddish color that seemed to burn like a fire enveloping her. Even the beautiful hair on top of her head was floating in the air. It looked as if her hair was dancing to the rhythm of the anger in her heart.
She released a very concentrated Mana from inside her body. I was sure she had released a certain skill. If I was not mistaken, she had a skill that could increase her strength when she was angry.
The more sad and desperate she was, the stronger her power would be. Those are some descriptions of her powers that I've read.
To confirm this, I activated the judgement skill.
[Judgement Skill- Activated.]
[Name: Jeanne
Title: Impenetrable Tank, Child Protector, Madwoman.
Stats:
(Strength: C) (Speed: E) (Endurance: A) (Agility: E) (Immunity: C) (Mana Core: Middle)
Skills:
Berserk, Shield Mastery, Defense Cultivation.]
Looking at the stats that she had, I was sure she would be able to take care of them.
Moreover, as I suspected, she had the Berserk skill. That skill was what she was using. The Berserk skill could only be activated when the anger emotion of the skill owner exploded.
That was what I had read from the Demon Lord and Hero of Light.
Even without looking, I was sure Jeanne's eyes were now burning with anger.
She picked up the shield hanging on her back. Kicking the ground beneath her, she leaped high into the sky in the blink of an eye.
Not that she could actually reach the sky. However, even with the huge shield in her hand, she managed to reach where she wanted to go in just one jump.
Kaboom!
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmComing from above, she landed right between the little girl holding a shabby doll and the burly man who was about to pull the little girl's legs off with a whip.
She landed right on the whip. Using the bottom of the shield in her hand, she managed to cut the whip to shreds.
That way she managed to prevent the girl holding the seedy doll from being pulled by the burly man using the whip.
As the whip in the burly man's hand snapped surprisingly, he almost fell to the ground.
"What?"
"Eh?"
Everyone's gaze right away fell on Jeanne. Whether it was the shocked gazes of the burly men holding various weapons or the teary-eyed gazes of the children.
As people were just staring in confusion, coming from the back row, an old man who seemed to be a leader said loudly to Jeanne.
"Who are you? How dare you interfere in our business! Move aside and don't dare interfere if you don't want to get hurt!"
"Those are the words I should have said. What makes you guys dare to do all this?"
From the voice Jeanne let out, I could feel the great anger behind her tone of voice.
Not just me, everyone who had heard it also quickly shook violently. I was sure their hair was standing on end all of a sudden.
However, that didn't seem to be the case for the old man who looked like a boss. The old man was instead engrossed in observing Jeanne for a while. And finally, he seemed to have recognized the identity of the girl in front of him.
"Oh, are you Jeanne? A famous teenage girl who had become a B-ranked Adventurer? It's a pity you came here. This is a bit out of the plan. Even so, I'll catch you too as a souvenir."
"...."
Jeanne stopped responding to the old man's words. She seemed to think that arguing further would be pointless.
Well, that was just my guess. There was no way I could read what she was thinking.
She was just focused on looking at the children.
With her arrival, the burly men, who had been focused on capturing the children, now began to focus on her.
At some point, she looked at me. Her eyes seemed to be pleading with me to keep the children safe.
It seems that she hasn't been completely swallowed by the berserk skill. The proof was that she could still give me that look.
"Yes. Please go on a rampage as you please."
That was all the reply I needed to give. With that answer from my mouth, she right away focused on fighting the surrounding hordes of enemies.