Dawn Architect

Chapter 56: consequences

"now that I have these guys restrained, kill them" I said dryly, sending fear coursing through the chained adventurers.

Eirlys, Clayton and Miyuki, at that moment, began to understand the situation and looked at me strangely, with doubt and hesitation in their eyes.

"I'm not going to force them, but they will inevitably face situations like this, so it's best to learn now. Remember these guys didn't hesitate to do the same to you."Well the truth is I wasn't going to force them to do it was unnecessary I just wanted to test their actions against the situation.

Taking a life, that's not something that should be done voluntarily.Still, he wanted to see if they were willing to do it with the excuse that they would do the same to him. No one stepped forward, not even the ever-willing Eirlys. That's good since it means they don't have a tendency towards murder which is a good thing, no matter how you look at it wanting to kill someone voluntarily is not something ten year olds should do no matter how hard life was with them.

If they have to kill someone for the first time, it is best that they do it when the situation calls for it. Any detour can cause them to become addicted to the sensation.Too bad that experience has to come so quickly, they all seem to be missing something, and that's the third lesson I wanted to teach them.

"It was just a test. You don't need to do something like that, but you all forgot something I taught you in the beginning, (the powers of an awakened can take lives easily) and that's something you shouldn't have forgotten," I said, pointing to some guys on the ground.

Most of them are dead, Some had cuts in their stomachs, embedded arrows, as well as chunks of ice that were starting to melt, forming larger pools of blood as they combined with it. There was even one that was still being strangled by the plants, but he wasn't struggling as he had died some time ago.

The leader of the group that negotiated with me had his head crushed; he probably died from a brain hemorrhage if not directly from Clayton's blows. Even the first guy who offered them the poison and was incapacitated by Eirlys bled out during the course of the fight, slowly dying.

When the guys saw the scene, they lost the color from their faces as they realized what they had done and the consequences of using their powers on people.Sure, not everyone killed someone, like Walter, who only defended until he got reinforcements, but I could see the hands of the kids that did start to shake.'Haaa, this is never easy, but it's something that would someday happen.' I could only say something to try to calm them down.

"I know it's hard to accept the fact of taking a life, but you have to understand that in this world we live in, if you want to survive, you have to fight, and in those fights the results can be as you see. even so, if you manage to overcome this obstacle, you will become great people.

don't forget that, if you were weaker or I were not here, those on the ground would be you. So don't run away from reality and face the truth; this is the path you chose by following me."

['You suck at comforting children.']

'Damn! I know I suck at comforting people, but you didn't have to say it like that.'

Lili, with her unconstructive opinion, spoke in my mind. Even though she said that, I could see the fading light in the children's eyes resurface again, proving that my words weren't all wrong.

Still, they didn't say anything and we decided to leave. i just hope they are mentally prepared next time. I took the snake, killed the living guys bound by the chains, gathered the corpses and threw a potion at them that serves to disintegrate bodies and is normally used to wound beasts during a battle with large beasts.

As we walked back, all the children were deathly silent. I didn't want them to break down over something like this, but it's something they all have to go through at some point if they want to survive in this world. If it is too much for them, I will stimulate them with light mana infused with the traits will and holy, which can help repair their mind, but only if necessary.

.

..

The next morning, they were all in better condition and their looks were clearer and more determined. That's why I like these kids who grew up on the periphery; if something like this broke them, they wouldn't be here.

By the way, Eirlys infiltrated my room with Miyuki. They both used me as a pillow. I can't believe Eirlys is spreading that bad habit, which, instead of being corrected, is spreading.But I have no heart to reject them with the events that have happened.My age makes me care for them as if they were my daughters.

['Rather, your granddaughters,']

Lili said in my mind.For some reason Lili has been especially venomous for a while now and I don't even feel like talking back to her anymore, so I just ignore her. It's not the first time it's happened and I know she'll grow out of it eventually, as for why she gets like that, it's always a mystery to me.

As the boys seemed to be in good condition, we would continue the hunt for the next few days. Nothing special happened again, so it was a quiet few days of hunting. So the day came when we began the defense of the city.

We were all on the walls, as we had been instructed. We were on the south wall, and in front of us, a knight or soldier of the city was giving us orders.Since we were several groups from different places, he did not give us detailed instructions on how to act, but divided us into roles: close and ranged attackers.

He asked us to attack only when he ordered us to.After adjusting a few things, the ground could be felt vibrating slightly. The beasts were coming, as several scouting parties had reported over the past few days.

When the beasts were close to the city, the guard seems to have received an order and immediately ordered all the archers to fire at will.A hail of arrows fell upon the horde of beasts.I drew the normal sword I carried at my waist and prepared myself.

Although many beasts fell, the horde was still advancing, mainly consisting of beasts between two and four stars, with a few of higher rank. Assault weapons on the walls were also used to kill beasts, but the number was simply too great.So, they made it all the way to the foot of the wall.The soldiers threw potions and other things at them to kill them, but it was not enough. 

The flying beasts began to break through the ranged attacks of the mages and archers, being the first to reach the wall. A force suddenly manifested, leaving them unable to fly and they plummeted. Some died and others were finished off by us.

The battle continued and the beasts began to scale the walls. I had arranged the children in a triangle formation, with the mages and attackers at a distance behind and in the center of the formation, with the guards behind me and the attackers further back protecting the sides to the mages and archers. I was in front.

I am taking the opportunity to train my physical body. The whole battle I will fight without using any spells, just my strength and raw stats. My physical stats are in the average three star range thanks to the potions I usually drink. If I count my intelligence stats, I fall into the four star range.

So I will only use close range attacks and the Elemental Knight Art. That way I could teach the kids what the other stances looked like in action. When they got to the top, they attacked us, but we didn't hesitate and cut down the beasts that got close enough.

The other boys were also helping. I was taking care of the stronger three- and four-stars, while letting the two- and some three-stars through for the boys to fight. That kept happening for a while.

When I saw that the kids were exhausted, I informed the manager, and he quickly gave orders for our group to be replaced by another, allowing us to go to the rest area they had prepared.

There were already a lot of people, and as usual, a rude guy spoke up. Those guys who think they have the right to say whatever they want just because. There are always people like that in the world and it's not the first time the kids and I have encountered such people.