Blue moonlight settled down.
In the dark mountains, there stood a person cloaked in a black robe.
That person slowly stepped forward, her feet clad in heels.
Her alluring gait continued until she reached the edge of the cliff.
A bee-shaped brooch pinned to her voluptuous chest glittered.
“‘Love Orphanage.’”
She removed the hood attached to her robe.
Long hair that had been hidden beneath the hood cascaded down.
She murmured the names of several orphanages.
The names spilling from her crimson lips scattered into the air.
“‘Hope Orphanage,’ Morning Star Orphanage. And, Ark Orphanage….”
Her lips twisted.
A smile formed.
Subtle ridicule and contempt lingered within.
Her scorn was aimed at the orphanage a kilometer away.
It was not only her derision that reached out toward the orphanage.
Her pale hand joined in as well.
Mana gathered in her palm, pointed at the earth.
“‘Hive Summon.’”
What was summoned from her hand was a beehive.
A massive hive appeared, as if a new ground had been created at the edge of the cliff.
The hexagonal holes forming the hive were enormous to match its size.
They were as big as the windows of a midsize car, and naturally, the bees pouring out from those holes were just as large.
Soon, the mountain was filled with a sound like dozens of drones buzzing in flight.
“Finally, finally the time has come.”
Murmuring, she closed her eyes.
Her lips trembled.
A sense of satisfaction slowly blossomed across her face.
It was the face of someone who had achieved what they had endured for a long time.
Like a person reaching out to pick luscious fruit only when it has fully ripened.
“You’ll never know, not even until you die, how much I’ve sacrificed.”
With a sneer, she flicked her fingers.
It was the shape of an eight lying on its side.
Then, hundreds of gigantic bees flew through the night.
At her command, they soared toward Ark Orphanage.
Watching them, she giggled.
Her body shook with laughter that only subsided after several minutes.
“Come to me, ‘Kang Woo-hyuk’!”
She stretched both arms forward.
It was like a stage actress reaching out to her beloved.
She grasped at the empty air as if drawing a lover into her embrace.
Both hands slowly came together in front of her chest.
The gesture resembled that of a nun offering a prayer to God.
“Kill that damned woman and bring him before me…!”
The words from her crimson lips were far from a prayer.
They were more like a curse.
After spitting out such words, she laughed again.
Her lips twisted, and her shoulders trembled.
Her face, distorted from laughter, soon contorted for a different reason.
“……?”
There was no response.
Feeling something was off, she shared her vision with the bees through magic.
Layer upon layer of protective spells were still guarding the orphanage.
The bees were only able to buzz around the perimeter, blocked by the protective magic.
They tried to ram through it, but the invisible barrier remained intact.
No matter how much time passed, the protection surrounding the orphanage did not fade.
“What on earth is that brat doing?”
Frustrated, she shouted her question aloud.
According to her plan, Kang Woo-hyuk should have already broken through the protection.
The bees should have swarmed the orphanage and slaughtered all the humans inside.
But the multiple layers of protective magic still guarded the orphanage, untouched.
She sent one of the bees, sharing its vision, to circle the orphanage and search for Kang Woo-hyuk.
Soon, she spotted Kang Woo-hyuk collapsed in the office, as if unconscious.
“You stupid—”
Just as she was about to vent her irritation, her mouth shut.
The life signs of the bees she’d sent to the orphanage vanished in an instant.
The connection with the bee whose vision she was sharing was severed.
There was only one thing that could mean.
All the bees were dead.
Hundreds of bees, each at the level of a B-rank monster.
“Urk!”
The terror the bees felt in death was transmitted to her without filter.
The deaths of hundreds of creatures swept over her body.
The shock made her stagger.
Then, sensing something, she looked up toward the orphanage.
Killing intent.
From the orphanage, a kilometer away, murderous intent shot toward the mountain where she stood.
Directly, as if it knew exactly where she was.
“Who the hell is emanating such killing intent…!”
Before she could finish, her question was answered.
A blue tower had appeared in front of the orphanage.
She knew full well it was not actually a tower.
That enormous thing, so large as to be mistaken for a tower, was a blade.
A sword shining blue, as if the crescent moon in the sky had descended to earth.
She knew all too well who the owner of that blue sword was.
The man rising as the new enemy of Crowd.
“Baek Do-un!”
Like the crescent moon splitting the night sky, it surged toward her.
[The World Tree sapling observes the caretaker, Baek Do-un.]
[The sapling feels fear toward the caretaker.]
I was about to go out to hunt the monsters surrounding the orphanage.
If I hadn’t heard Auntie’s scream from the office, I surely would’ve left right away.
Thinking a monster might have gotten in, I rushed back to the office.
“…….”
What I saw upon returning to the office was Auntie, injured.
She was cradling her wounded hand.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a serious wound.
She would recover in no time after eating a pine needle.
The problem was, it wasn’t a monster that caused the injury—it was Kang Woo-hyuk.
The kid, who’d been sound asleep, had woken up and attacked Auntie.
In his small hand was a pair of scissors, far too big for him.
Scissors stained with Auntie’s blood.
“I-I’m okay!”
Auntie cried out desperately.
Her voice was directed solely at me.
But I didn’t look at her.
I stared only at Kang Woo-hyuk, who had hurt her.
He gazed at Auntie expressionlessly, his eyes gone completely black.
A strange steam was wafting from his small body.
[The sapling informs you that the demonic energy lingering in the child’s body is controlling him.]
[The demonic energy is rapidly being purified and will soon disappear.]
The sapling explained what I was seeing.
Only then did I understand.
Why those bastards committed the string of orphanage murders.
How Kang Woo-hyuk, who’d had his throat stabbed, was still alive.
“So that’s how it was….”
Ark Orphanage is protected by Dohee’s magic.
Shield magic, perception magic, sanctuary magic—the types are numerous.
Those spells are maintained by some medium, just like the hair tie holding up the hair at the back of my head.
But the medium isn’t actually an object.
It’s Choi Claudia.
Auntie, who never leaves Ark Orphanage unless something major happens.
She herself was the medium that allowed the protective magic to activate.
In other words, Crowd sent Kang Woo-hyuk to kill Auntie.
Whether it was simply to kill her or to destroy the orphanage, I wasn’t sure.
“Don’t! I’m really fine. Hey, Baek Do-un!”
Ignoring Auntie’s protests, I used a gentle touch.
Blue mana gathered on my index finger.
Perhaps because the World Tree had grown into a sapling.
More mana than ever before gathered at my fingertip in an instant.
“……!”
He must have sensed my approach.
Kang Woo-hyuk flinched and moved.
I grabbed the hand wielding the scissors and—
“Grow.”
Snap!
I flicked my finger as I used the gentle touch.
Struck on the forehead, Kang Woo-hyuk collapsed on the spot.
I caught his falling body and laid him gently on the floor.
Behind me, Auntie’s frightened voice rang out.
“You didn’t… kill him, did you?”
“What? Has Auntie gone senile? Didn’t you see me just flick his forehead?”
I said, wiggling my index finger.
What I’d done wasn’t an attack.
Just as I handed mana to the sapling, I infused mana into this child.
I used the World Tree’s mana stored in the pine needles to purge the demonic energy, so all I did was help that process.
“Why would I kill a kid?”
“Ha, haaa. Thank goodness.”
Auntie let out a long sigh of relief.
Anyone would think I’d tried to kill him for real.
Honestly, what does she think of me?
If Kang Woo-hyuk had attacked Auntie of his own volition, maybe.
But I wouldn’t do something so reckless to a kid who’d been manipulated.
“Here, eat this.”
I pulled a pine needle from my inventory and handed it to her.
Auntie took it, surprised by its size.
The wound on her hand had stopped bleeding, but it still caught my eye.
“What’s this?”
“Healing potion.”
“Huh, what? What kind of potion?”
She tilted her head, not understanding.
Well, who would believe a big pine needle is a healing potion?
Even Hong Su-jeong, with her appraisal skill, had been unimpressed when she first saw the leaf.
Before leaving the office, I reminded her again.
“Be sure to eat it, okay?”
“Um, yeah. Okay.”
Auntie nodded, her face flustered.
She cautiously opened her mouth to eat the pine needle, but soon closed it again without biting down.
She must have doubted whether she could really just eat it.
It’s probably hard to accept the idea that a pine needle is a healing potion.
Watching her, I stepped out of the office.
And then—
“Sapling.”
I called the sapling.
[The sapling reports sensing demonic energy within its detectable range.]
[The location of the foul energy is transmitted to the caretaker’s mind.]
Our sapling is truly clever.
It knows exactly what I want.
As I stepped outside, I checked the location the sapling conveyed.
Just as I expected.
Crowd was not far from the orphanage.
They had to be nearby to manipulate things.
“Phew, disgusting bastards.”
[The sapling agrees with the caretaker’s opinion.]
Once outside, I saw a swarm of enormous bees flying around.
They looked like bees, but were far too large to be called that.
They were more like monsters shaped like bees.
Because of their size and number, the buzzing noise was as loud as a flock of birds flapping their wings.
“Ugh….”
“Gross!”
Dohee’s magic blocked them from approaching.
Even knowing that, the nuns and children stared at the swarm in fear.
I understood completely.
No matter how safe a place may be, it’s natural to feel primal fear when things like that are surrounding you.
First, I had to erase that fear.
I stretched my right hand forward.
“Arbor Capulus.”
Arca slowly emerged from my palm.
I reached out with my left hand and gripped Arca with both hands.
Then I thrust it deeply into the ground.
The sensation of the blade’s tip driving into the earth filled both hands.
Feeling that, I spoke quietly.
“World Tree Summon.”
All my mana poured into Arca and flowed into the earth.
The mana streamed through the ground and soon erupted before my eyes.
Leaves made of blue mana swirled and surged upward.
It looked as if the leaves were frolicking among themselves.
Softly whirling, they slowly gathered in one place.
When gathered, they formed a single young tree.
It was taller than me, but it was clearly still a sapling.
“Wow!”
A child let out an exclamation.
That amazement spread among the other children.
No sign of anxiety remained among them.
All they could see was the World Tree scattering blue light in every direction.
Not even a trace of the giant bee swarm remained nearby.
“Now then….”
[The sapling reconfirms the presence of demonic energy.]
[The confirmed location is transmitted once more to the caretaker’s mind.]
The sapling understood my intentions perfectly.
How can it be so wise?
Pleased, I drew out Arca.
With a burst of mana, the blue blade stood tall.
“Ah…!”
Now I understand why people call me the Moonlight Swordsman.
Arca’s blue blade really did look like moonlight.
[The sapling says it does not like that title.]