Editing Ultimate Antihero:Volume 2 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 7===

The voice came from the same direction where the sister and the teacher of the orphanage came before.

Looking there, there was a large man, with height that might have reached two meters, his body wrapped in the priest clothes of the <Holy Path Church>, wearing a bowler hat with wide brim, and a face like a Buddha, that man was approaching their direction.

That large man was slowly walking until the location of Homura and others while remonstrating the sister’s action.

“The girl is in pain. Release her.”

“Father…! Ho, however…”

“They, the little children are unable to differentiate between the good and evil correctly. To press them forcefully will only make them scared.”

“Ye, yes… If that’s what Father said…”

The sister released her hands from Hime after being rebuked.

The man that was called Father watched at that situation with narrow eyes that looked like string, and he nodded in satisfaction.

“That’s good sister Lily. There is no sin in a little child. A little child’s error is the adult’s responsibility. To be unable to teach the really obvious truth, that the children must not come to associate with the enemy of god, whose existence should be avoided―this responsibility is on the shoulder of the incompetent educator.”

And then, with a gentle smile still fixed on his face, a fist was swung aimed at the face of Nagashima of all things.

“Divine Punishment・Enforced.”

“Te, Teacherr―!”

“KYAAA―――!”

Even with the children screaming from the Father’s sudden brutality, the Father’s fist didn’t stop.

The trained body to the degree where the muscles could be perceived even from outside the priest robe, the rock-like fist that was launched from that body mercilessly, extended out to the nose of the dumbfounded Nagashima―

With intense strength, a sound of struck flesh resounded.

However, that rock-like fist didn’t reach Nagashima’s face.

It was because Homura held his hand out between the fist and the face and blocked the fist.

“…Oh? Oh oh ohh? What is the purpose of this, <Evil God User>-dono.”

“What about you bastard, what are you gonna do in a place where the brats are watching?”

Homura who blocked the fist that was almost as big as a basket ball with one hand, was standing in front of Ms. Nagashima “Awawa” who was unable to stand up from fear , glaring at the clergyman in front of him with eyes filled with quiet rage.

The Father received that gaze without breaking his smile,

“Hoho, what a strange thing this is. …Naturally, I was going to hand down the divine punishment towards the educator that was unable to correctly guide the young children. After all the instruction of clergyman and acting as the agent for divine punishment are the roles of this <Special Missionary> Alfaro.”

Alfaro. Homura obtained a single understanding from the words of the man who introduced himself like that.

“I see. [Special] huh. Indeed, you are wrapped in an unpleasant presence.” <ref>Homura here actually shortened rudely the title of Special Missionary, though I got no idea how to shorten it in English.</ref>

What was called as <Special Missionary> was a position that only those who held exceptionally strong faith even amongst the priests of the <Holy Path Church> were allowed to introduce themselves as such.

They are fundamentally the same as any other priest, it was their duty to give their best effort for the sake of expanding the <Holy Path Church>’s influence in every place, but… they, whose title was added with the word [Special], had one more role, a role that was exactly [Special].

And then, Homura strengthened his vigilance exactly because he knew something about that.

“What business a [Special] has in this kind of place? Gonna swim?”

“Hohoho, what a man with bad judgment. The time has just become afternoon, so I came to deliver the distribution from the <Holy Path Church> towards the children of the orphanage. Well, originally this is sister Lily’s role, but I heard that today you are accompanying the children, so for the sake of my peace of mind I also came along here. …However, it’s a correct decision to come along here. There is a teacher here who cannot sufficiently accomplish her duty to guide the young children. It’s necessary to quickly teach her with divine punishment.”

Inside the narrowed eyelids, only the eyeballs moved in a fierce glare, glaring at Nagashima who was unable to stand.

“Hii…”

“I really didn’t know that. For that lazybones god of you bastards that couldn’t bother to save even a single person at <Walpurgis Night>, to have such a diligent personality that scolds every single minor mistake of the humans and give out divine punishment, that’s really unexpected.”

“Wha…-! Are you intending to ridicule god!? This insolent person-!”

“I’m just merely saying a fact though.”

“You……-!”

“Sister Lily. Calm down.”

Alfaro restrained Lily who got provoked by Homura’s words with his hand.

“The appearance of this man is a human, but the inside is the same as a demon, an evil existence. There is no way we can make something like this to understand the greatness and generosity of god. Trying to convince him is only a pointless waste of time. Leave him be. …Rather than a man like this, there are many more people who need god’s teachings and saving.”

And then once again, Alfaro called out to Nagashima who was behind Homura.

With a really gentle voice,

“Miss Nagashima. Come. How long are you going to hide behind the back of an evil man like that, come out. And then atone for your sin by divine punishment. If you do so then surely you will be forgiven by the generosity that our god has.”

*grip*, while his fist that was like a rock made a cracking sound.

Naturally Nagashima froze.

For Nagashima who was just a middle-aged woman without any power, Alfaro’s fist was a brutal weapon even more lethal than a knife.

There was no way to not get scared.

‘Yes, I understand’, she shouldn’t be able to say that. However―

“―However, if you say that you won’t atone for your sin, then it cannot be helped. We the <Holy Path Church> will recognize you as a renegade, and from now on, we will stop all the support for this orphanage.”

Alfaro informed that towards Nagashima who wouldn’t get out from behind Homura.

Suddenly, Nagashima’s countenance turned pale.

No, not only her. Even Lily who was beside Alfaro was the same.

“Th, that…-! If you do something like that, then the children will……-!”

“Fa, Father. That’s just too harsh so…”

Just as mentioned before, the majority of the war damage orphanages couldn’t function without the support of the <Holy Path Church>.

No, if something attracted the eyes of the <Holy Path Church> who was involved with all the infrastructure of this world, even a country could possibly fall into ruin. The power of the <Holy Path Church> was just that strong.

Something like a small orphanage was helpless against that.

In this age, what awaited after being thrown away by the <Holy Path Church>, was only death by hunger and thirst.

However, Alfaro was without mercy even knowing that.

Against the two whose faces were pale, his face was still smiling yet he declared with an indifferent tone.

“It’s just as you imagined. However it cannot be helped. Because young children are pure and innocent, their nature is largely ruled by their upbringing. Young children that are taught by a renegade can only become renegades. And then we cannot wish for a world where unbelievers and renegades against god run rampant.”

His tone was filled with a strong and solid core of fanaticism.

He was serious.

If here Nagashima didn’t receive punishment, with his authority as a <Special Missionary> he would cut off this war damage orphanage from all the church’s support.

Nagashima understood that,

“I, I understand…! I’ll receive the punishment!”

She answered so while her knees were trembling.

With that Alfaro nodded in satisfaction.

“A good reply. Now, can I have you move away from there I wonder, <Evil God User>-dono.”

“Bastard-….”

Alfaro who was going to raise his hand towards the teacher that could be said as the parent of the children right in front of their eyes.

But Homura was not someone that would overlook that unreasonable atrocity.

A dangerous light filled Homura’s eyes.

Both Homura and Alfaro wouldn’t back off, it was exactly at this explosive situation.


{Both of you, that’s as far as you go.}


Inside both side’s head, a voice resounded from a <mental transmission>.

It was the voice of the <Operator> of the 101st trainee platoon, Onjouji Shiori.

Until now, the girl who even while watching the situation from afar didn’t get negligent of her vigilance of the surroundings, announced to everyone.

{―A dimension shake has been observed. Estimated <Knight class> 1. It’s coming in front of your eyes.}

Instantly, exactly at the sea right in front of their eyes, a water pillar with width of twenty meters and height of fifty meters shot up― and that appeared.

A gigantic squid, it was a monster that looked like a giant squid beyond the pale.

A monster of the sea that was told in legend all over the world.

<Knight class> demon―<Sea Monster・Kraken>.