Such ferventness sent a shiver down Irwiz's spine.
'Is this a cult? Were we sacrifices of a demonic ritual?'
Right now, he couldn't see the people chanting these or the orphans of the shelter that he suspected were with these people.
The 'children of god' likely referred to them, after all.
However, he could feel that the sturdy and stable stone walls were almost shaking slightly from the chants.
He was still puzzled about something though.
If the 'children' spoke of them and his guess was correct, why was he not alongside them right now?
Perhaps those children had been separated into individual cells and yet to be brought forth for the ritual.
And by a stroke of fate he was able to escape from that goddamn prison cell. Stroke of fate… huh.
'Am I being helped by fate?' Irwiz contemplated.
If so, it was quite an appropriate help. Since, he had spent all of the fate points he got from killing the boss.
Still, he didn't know where to head now.
What would happen if those cult worshippers came out to bring the children in for the sacrifice?
They would notice that one of them was missing; that person being him. Once that happens, Irwiz imagined alarms ringing throughout this whole place and a massive hunt down for him.
'I have to escape this place or at least hide before them.' Irwiz firmly decided.
He didn't know the mentality of these cult worshippers but he didn't entrust his wellbeing to the sanity of mad people.
Especially in this victorian era world. Human rights didn't exist now.
Treatment of humans would be especially worse in this situation.
Once he gets caught he can probably think of himself as dead.
Not that he had the fate points to save him anymore anyways…
Irwiz thought of fate and then looked at the panel that appeared before him.
[Servant LCEF-707
Fate Points: 1]
Nothing else after that. No mention of how to use those points nor any new missions.
However, through trual and error the previous day he was able to realize how he would be able to use it.
He just had to think about using his points and it would come naturally.
'Use fate points' Irwiz thought.
[How many would you like to use?]
The panel popped up.
After this, he can decide. Anyways, he didn't want to waste his points so he didn't continue with the process.
He still felt like the duration of the fate point he used hadn't ended.
For now, he probably had to find an escape route.
Thus, Irwiz continued exploring the place.
…
'Damn it! Am I in a labyrinth?!'
Irwiz thought in frustration. He had explored this place for about half an hour already.
Yet, not to mention finding a route to outside, he felt like he was just going in circles!
All he saw were stone walls upon stone walls illuminated merely by lanterns, and some by torches.
Now, Irwiz was increasingly feeling the urge that he was running out of time.
He even felt it was a miracle that someone hadn't found him by now, or that he saw anyone!
No choice… he has to find a place to hide instead.
Irwiz's mind went to all the places he had been to, knowing that unless he hid in a cell like before, he didn't have a place to hide.
But that was just offering himself on the chopping board.
The cult people wouldn't be stupid. Knowing the place themselves, they would look in the prison cells first.
Not to mention…
Irwiz tried to pull open one of the cells.
It didn't budge. All these doors were locked. The key he found earlier didn't work either.
It was a no brainer to have all the doors have the same lock after all.
Irwiz's face grew grim.
After racking his brain and hardening his spirit, he decided to do an unimaginable thing.
He was going to go to the place where the chants were coming from!
He didn't dare to do so before in fear of getting caught, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
At the same time, the safest place was one where the enemy don't expect at all.
Hiding in the wolf's den would make the wolves searching for him unable to find him.
So, Irwiz cautiously approached the place where the sounds were originating from.
Even now, these mad people's chants hadn't decreased in devotion.
In reverse, it was even getting more and more fervent. That was what scared Irwiz the most.
He felt that whatever they were doing, it was ending soon.
He had to find a place fast. Or become a sacrifice for whatever ritual it was.
Surprisingly, it was getting easier to find his way once he started approaching the source of the sound.
At the same time, it was also getting noisier though.
Not only did he hear it, Irwiz was also feeling the ground and the walls shake more.
Then... Irwiz was caught by surprise.
Hearing the sound of sobs and whimpering from a particular prison cell, he decided to look into it. Of course, he was very cautious about it, barely peeking in through the small opening with iron bars covering it.
Inside it seemed to be a kid crunched up at a corner.
Although the visibility was low, Irwiz was barely able to see the figure.
A small girl holding her knees while tucking her head in. Her hair was grayish black, and her skin was pale...
Rera!
Immediately, Irwiz was able to recognize the figure.
He still remembered the medium sized birth mark on her forearm after all.
Since who was in there was pretty obvious now, he had a choice.
Either leave her and explore by himself, or save her.
Of course, it was only possible if he was able to unlock the door. Irwiz preferred not to let Rera know he was just outside her door until he was sure he could save her.
Squinting his eyes, Irwiz looked at the girl. Somehow, he felt that she had quite a presence.
His guts was telling him to save her.
It would be a stupid decision to leave his fate to a child who was barely holding herself together.
What if she made some strange noise and they got found?
He would only have himself to blame.
Still, Irwiz decided to trust his guts and at least try to save her.
From the many prison cells, none of them matched the key he used to unlock his door.
However, he didn't believe all of the locks were unique. There could only be a handful of keys after all.
Irwiz's black eyes were misty; others wouldn't be able to discern his emotions from his gaze.
Thus, while trying not to make much noise as possible, he thrust the key into the heavy metal lock.
And then... click!
It matched!
'Fate...' Irwiz's emotions were hard to describe. Was the key matching a fortunate matter or the prelude to a disaster?
He didn't know, but since he had decided to save Rera, he will do just that.
"Who- who is there??" inside, Rera's sobbing finally stopped as she lifted her head and looked fearfully towards the door.
The recent events were just too ominous.
Not only did the boss die, some strange robed man came into their shelter and suddenly started beating the kids.
Then, she presumed what seemed to be a kidnap happen to her.
Not only was she locked up in a dark prison cell once she woke up, she could hear strange and scary voices and chants.
She could hear it all the more since she was close.
And those people chanting, they seemed insane!
She was clearly locked up in a cult's basement!
Thinking that the door unlocking was the cult's doing and her beckoning to death and being evilly sacrificed, she was afraid of her life.
Creakkk
The heavy wooden door she couldn't push open no matter what creaked open.
Then, whoever was behind it came into view.
"Eh?" a surprise came out from Rera's mouth.
What appeared in front of her wasn't any strange cult worshipper. Instead, it was a child just like her, one she seemed to know even.