"Argh!"

Brando groaned in pain as he pushed himself into a seating position.

The doctor and cleric weren't in the room. They just finished checking his condition along with Bryan who was still unconscious on the bed beside him.

The healing spell and potion worked on him. He could properly move his body but there were still wounds that weren't healed as the healing spell that was used on him was just tier 1.

"I'm useless. Even after all of that, they still managed to take Cl.u.s.ter."

Brando tightly clenched his fists. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He glanced at Bryan who was still sleeping beside him. He didn't know when will Bryan wake up so he decided to leave him alone.

He will go after Souta and the rest. It wasn't for Souta nor Cl.u.s.ter. It was for himself. He wanted something to prove to himself that he was a great shielder.

"I need to do something."

Brando narrowed his eyes as he resolved himself to fix his mistakes. He then turned to Bryan and said, "I'm sorry, Bryan. I will leave you alone here."

He stood up and quietly left the room. He didn't let any other people saw him leave this place. He was sure that someone would recognize him outside so he had to go away from this place as fast as possible.

"Hmm... This should be fine for now."

Brando left the district three and decided to rest in the district four. Just a little bit of running and he was already out of breath. He already expected it as he wasn't fully recovered.

He looked around him and was quite shocked. The devastation brought by the attackers was worse than he imagined. The whole city was destroyed and almost no buildings were left standing.

"Um..."

Brando turned around as he heard a voice behind him. He found two elderly people looking at him. A man and a woman.

"Hello, do you need some help?" He smiled and greeted them politely.

"Are you a student of Ladros Institute?" The old man asked him.

"Yes. I'm a student of Ladros Institute." Brando replied to the old man.

"What happened to the student there?" The old woman slowly asked him in a trembling tone.

He could feel her emotion. The fear was passed to him through her voice. Brando looked at them for a few moments before he decided to answer the old woman's question.

"Prepare yourself, ma'am and sir. It's sad to say this but... most of the students died and a lot of teachers died too. Not just the teachers and students, even the people that are living here have mostly died. From your question, I can guess that you're from another city and your child is studying in the institute."

Brando felt his heart tightened as he looked at the appearance of the two elders. They came here to find their child despite the disaster that hit this city.

The old woman started to sob and the old man comforted her.

"Sob... My daughter... She is a cheerful yet shy girl... So how could she..." The old woman said in a muffled sound.

"It's okay. Our daughter is strong. Also, we haven't found her body so there's a chance that she's still alive." The old man said in a gentle tone while patting her.

"That's right, ma'am. Just wait until you've seen her." Brando said to the old woman.

"But... I can't help but be worried about her..." The old woman said while sobbing.

"Ma'am. Your daughter is a student of Ladros Institute, right? Can I know her name? Maybe I've seen her before and I can help you." Brando asked her.

The one who answered the question was the old man.

"Our daughter's name is Lynn, Lynn Yaoli."

"...eh!!"

Brando opened his eyes widely in surprise as he didn't expect to hear that name from their mouth. He was familiar with that name. Of course, both of them were members of the Dark Oculus Legion.

"Your daughter's name is Lynn Yaoli?"

"Hmm...? Do you know her?" The old man asked Brando as he guessed that Brando knew her daughter based on his reaction.

"Yes, I'm one of her friends. I'm Brando Hylott. I'm on the same team as your daughter... Don't worry about Lynn the others are with her. She's not currently in this city when the attack happened so she's safe." Brando lied to them but he wasn't lying when he said that Lynn was safe.

The old woman grabbed his should and looked up at him. She asked, "Is she really fine?"

"Yes, I'm sure that she's fine." Brando nodded seriously.

"I'm glad..." The old woman breath a sigh of relief.

Brando smiled and he talked with Lynn's parents for a while before he bid farewell.

"Ma'am and Sir. See you later. When I meet Lynn, I'll tell her that you're worried about her."

"Thank you. Thank you." Lynn's mother was thanking him with tears in her eyes.

"Thanks for telling us all of this." Lynn's father said with a smile.

"Don't worry about it. Oh, if you go in that direction you will find a place for Dark Oculus Legion. Tell them that you're Lynn's parents and they will take care of you." Brando said to them before he left.

He didn't think that he would meet Lynn's parents.

"Oh? I forgot to ask their names."

...

The little girl was innocent and Souta guessed that she wasn't involved in the organization that kidnapped Cl.u.s.ter. If she was part of it then Souta would simply kill her but he wanted to avoid killing her if he wasn't sure that she's part of it.

What if he killed Juds? Souta will let her be. As long as she didn't do anything to him, he will let her live even if her father was part of that organization.

What if that girl wanted revenge? Souta wouldn't care about it but if she comes at him with the intent to kill then Souta will respond. But at this moment, the little girl couldn't harm him so if she wanted to kill him Souta preferred if she will come at him once she got stronger. That way the exp that he will receive would grow larger.

"DADDY!!"

"LET ME SEE DADDY!!"

The little struggled as she tried to break free from Lumilia's arms.

"She's your child, right?" Souta asked Juds with a wide grin on his face.

"W-What do you want?!!" Juds was showing fear for the first time.

"I always tell you that I want the information," Souta said as he turned to Lumilia. "You can release her."

Lumilia nodded and she released the little girl in her arms. The little girl quickly ran in the guild master's direction.

"N-NOO!! Don't come here, Chelsy!!" Juds shouted as he tried to move his body but several black tentacles rose from the ground and bound his limbs.

Before the little girl could reach Juds, Souta grabbed her arm and raised her above the ground.

"W-What are you going to do?!" Juds shouted at the top of his lungs. He was furious and agitated at this scene.

"Hey, stop struggling." Souta glanced at the little girl and knocked her out by chopping the back of her neck using his hand.

Bang!

The little girl fainted as soon as Souta hit her. She was just an ordinary person so Souta didn't put force in his hand. He was afraid to kill her accidentally.

"F.u.c.k!! I'll kill you if you harm my daughter!!" Juds shouted furiously.

"You're too stubborn you know. If you don't want me to touch your daughter then tell me what you know. It's simple, right? So why don't you tell me? Maybe, there's something that's preventing you." Souta said as he looked closely at the little girl. He gathered his mana in his other hand and placed it close to the little girl's neck.

Juds grew silent as he glanced at Souta and her daughter. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, ".....fine, I'll tell you what I know"

"Good. If you already told us what you know from the beginning then this wouldn't happen." Souta smiled as he placed down the little girl and called Lumilia to take care of her.

Lumilia carried the little girl and left the place leaving Souta and the rest to deal with the guild master.

"Don't worry about her. My friend will not harm her." Souta said while looking at Lumilia's back. He then turned to Juds and grinned, "So... can you tell us what you know? I want to know the truth. If I found that the information you've given to us was wrong, I will torture your daughter in front of you before I kill her and feed her to monster."

Juds bit his lower lips before he told him what happened to him.

It all started a few days ago when a man wearing a black cloak suddenly barged into his house. The said man was carrying a little girl with long green hair.