บท 28: Pretend
But the array has been executed successfully. For Mages, there was no margin of error and no casualties could be seen. Which means Nicholas's calculation of this demon town exorcism is impeccable. Yet, why did he have a feeling one of these children was a demon? Was it safe to get them back to the Demon Slayer's base? As he pondered about it, the Magic Specialist who led the cleansing approached the children.
He was obviously in his mid twenties. Sharp eyes, sharp nose, brows that seem to be always furrowed but are actually too thick. Mouth always pursed but is actually normally closed and not deliberately pursed. He wore a short-sleeved red cape with the crest of a level 3 Magic Specialist. His eyes curve in a kind smile. Because of his grey hair, he seems older than he looks. When the children saw his face reflected from the first streak of sunrise, they immediately had good feelings for him.
He's like a kind man who offers candies to children.
"Hello, do you want one?" The man opened up his palm and revealed seven pieces of chocolate candy. Indeed, the children are proven right. They happily ate it and felt energized. Lucien took one tentatively and smelled it. He raised it up high and looked at the texture of the chewy thumb-sized chocolate. Aiden took the last one and stared at Lucien.
"What's wrong? You don't like chocolates?" The Magic Specialist asked.
Lucien glanced at him with blank eyes before saying,
"The first demon has the same chocolate." He said in monotone.
Aiden raised his brows at him. The expressionless is back. Aiden mused for a few seconds before burying his head in Lucien's chest. No matter. He saw him burst into panic and bravery. That image will be his alone.
Every Mage in the area crowd around Lucien. Their expressions were shocked.
"What did you just say?" Nicholas touched Lucien's shoulders, trying to comfort the teenage boy. Lucien lowered his head. His mind started to think.
In the 'Slaying the Demons', the Mages produced a white lump like sweet candy that has light particles good for fast healing of grave injuries. This was extremely useful for the Warriors who were wounded in battle. Although this won't help much if Mages experienced light magic deficiency.
"The first demon killed the Sister. He killed Tina. Chase us, hit us unconscious. Tie us up in the basement. When I woke up, he forced me to play hide and seek. He was scary. I told him no. He wounded me here." Lucien pointed to where the demon used his claws to rip his skin off, but is now extremely healthy.
"I was dying. He said he wanted to play the game. He didn't want me to die, so he handed me this chocolate to eat. When I ate it, I was healed. I gave one to the wounded boy to heal his grave injuries. It also works."
All the Mages frowned after Lucien spoke. They know kids who went through the trauma of being offered as sacrifice alive shook their minds to the core. Hence, they did not question Lucien's expressionless face.
His mind may have entered a blank state because he was broken and scared.
"I was forced to play hide and seek with the demon. Aiden used that time to hide the children in the hole. My shoulder was severely injured. I wanted to retaliate…so I took…. Knives. Hid in the bathroom where we found the body of the nun. I stabbed the knives in the door to – to trapped him. When he approached the door, I slammed the door with the knives aim at him. And it killed him. He was emaciated. But I didn't expect the nun is still alive. She was a witch…. She – she –"
Lucien pretended to stutter. He shivered and trembled his shoulders on purpose to make his shell shock disguise more convincing. This created the image of a poor, fragile boy in the eyes of the adults. The Magic Specialist crouched down and comforted him, encasing Lucien's body with light particles to calm his spirit.
Lucien is already calm. His face is already expressionless to begin with. But he stopped shaking his shoulders and focused on the occasional shivers. When they saw this, they were instantly relieved. At least the light magic helps to stabilize the poor child!
"She – she... the other kids. The other children that were tied up – they are not hu – humans. The kind uncle who gave us fresh harvested potatoes – they are not humans. They have scary black eyes. They move fast. They are scary! " Aiden said
Aiden also sense Lucien is trying to narrate what happened from a child's perspective and decisively cover most of what happened. He did not admit anything. He buried his face on Lucien's chest in silence. His hands wrapped around Lucien's waist.
Lucien recollectively told them the sequence of the events that happened afterward. He did not tell them he tried to fight back, he just told them he tried to take Aiden and find somewhere else to hide. To prevent the puppets from finding out the five children's location, Lucien deliberately acted as a scapegoat.
Much to the adults' surprise. The ending of Lucien's narration – there was no lie or cover up this time. He stated them the most shakenly possible in his expressionless face. How he was overwhelmed by the mob of children and townpeople puppets. He thought he was going to die from the pain – until he woke up in Aiden's arms and Nicholas' voice.
This leads to the question, 'What happened in between?' At that time, there was only one child who was awake and aware of what happened.
Aiden.
Feeling their eyes upon him, Aiden spoke in a low voice.
"I don't know. I don't understand. The ugly monsters are tackling Lucien to the ground. I know they are eating him. I tried to rip them away, but they wouldn't budge. Some tried to attack me. I screamed for help. I screamed at the top of my voice to stop the pain. Then suddenly, the group of puppets exploded into black powder. Including the Sister. Th – they are gone. Just like that. "
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