After that, Duanmu Huai no longer involved himself in what followed. This was not a matter involving xenos, heretics, or demons—it was purely a struggle on the human level. He was only responsible for giving advice, not for handling the aftermath. It was like a friendly reminder—do it or don't, however it turns out is your own problem; it has nothing to do with me.
Thus, over the next few days, Ulureze was kept extremely busy, while Duanmu Huai mostly stayed at the orphanage to relax. Augis put on puppet shows for the children, Zhen Jiling and the maid, along with Bunny, helped take care of them, and Duanmu Huai mostly lazed around nearby. These days were actually quite leisurely.
"Hm?"
Just as Duanmu Huai was sitting under the shade of a tree yawning, he suddenly felt a gaze upon him. Curious, he turned his head and discovered that not far away, a small girl was quietly peeking out from behind a tree, watching him.
"Hey, what are you doing, little one? Why aren't you playing with the others?"
Duanmu Huai greeted the girl, but the next moment, she shrank back and turned around to run away.
"...…"
How should I put it… expected, and understandable.
"Really sorry about that..."
Just as Duanmu Huai withdrew his gaze, Chimchi, who was in charge of managing the orphanage, walked over and apologized to him.
"It's nothing. I know I do look kind of scary."
"That's not it."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, Chimchi shook her head.
"It's just that the child herself is extremely afraid of men. But actually, she's already very close to you. If it were any other man, she would have hidden herself five meters away long ago."
"Is that so? Why?"
"This..."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, Chimchi hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice and spoke.
"Actually… quite a few wealthy people in Seth have that kind of interest… buying and selling children has already become a thriving business in this country..."
"Buying and selling?"
"Yes. Impoverished second-tier citizens sometimes have no choice but to sell their own children in exchange for money… things like this happen from time to time. In fact, many of the children in this orphanage come from similar backgrounds."
At this point, Chimchi's expression became much heavier.
"Although there are officially-run orphanages, they're all just for show. In name, they raise children, but in reality, they raise them to a certain age and then sell them to wealthy people's breeding farms… That child, Arufula, grew up in one of those places. At her current age, she's exactly at the age where she could be sold."
"Now?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai looked utterly dumbfounded.
"That kid isn't even ten years old… no, judging by her appearance, she doesn't even look eight. Is she even six? And they already sell her?"
"Not only that."
Chimchi sighed.
"After we rescued her, we conducted a physical examination. According to the results, she seems to have suffered beastly abuse in the past, and her left eye was injured back then as well. There's no way to treat it anymore..."
"That's this fucked up?"
Duanmu Huai frowned. To be honest, it wasn't that he didn't know such preferences existed. But that girl was far too young. Regardless of her actual age, from Duanmu Huai's perspective, judging purely by appearance, the child was definitely under ten—whether she was even eight was debatable… and they could still do it. What the fuck kind of people are these?!
"Not only that, the child occasionally dreams of what happened back then… because of demons, she sometimes even screams and jumps out of bed..."
"Then you should've already destroyed that hellhole, right?"
"This… although we did destroy it back then, it seems it was rebuilt later..."
"Alright, that's not surprising."
Duanmu Huai silently rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Miss Chimchi, do you know where that place is?"
"What do you want to do?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, Chimchi was a bit surprised, while Duanmu Huai let out a cold snort.
"Such inhuman cruelty, such savage methods, are already beyond the scope of normal humans. As an Inquisitor, I suspect that place is very likely connected to heretics who worship demons, so I intend to go investigate."
"That's certainly fine, but that place is very well hidden. Ordinary people aren't even allowed to enter, and even if you go there, it'll probably be hard to obtain any evidence..."
"Evidence?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai snorted coldly, a flash of frost passing through his eyes.
"The Inquisition never needs evidence."
To be honest, even in games, Duanmu Huai had seen plenty of tragedies. But games were still games—they had bottom lines. Reality, however, was obviously not a game. It didn't care about censorship, nor about bottom lines. Things like this would absolutely never appear in a game. On one hand, killing children was indeed "politically incorrect," and on the other hand, games still had to abide by basic law.
But reality was clearly far more brutal than any game.
After learning the location, Duanmu Huai went straight there.
Just as Chimchi had said, that orphanage was indeed extremely well hidden. Fortunately, Ice Flame's intelligence work was solid. Before long, Duanmu Huai found this so-called orphanage—named "Daisy Home"—inside an underground facility on the outskirts of the city.
Hm. Of course, only in name. In reality, this place was nothing like an orphanage.
Duanmu Huai reached out and shoved the door open, then walked inside. When he entered the main hall, a server quickly approached him.
"Excuse me, sir, are you a member of our establishment?"
"What?"
Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow and looked at the server.
"So if I'm not, I'm not allowed to come in?"
"Of course."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, the server revealed a smile.
"Our establishment is opened for gentlemen and ladies of status and reputation. Someone like you..."
However, before the server could finish speaking, Duanmu Huai reached out, grabbed his head, and slammed it violently against the nearby wall. In the next instant, the server's head exploded against the wall like a watermelon, blood and brain matter splattering across it. The headless corpse then collapsed limply onto the floor.
"Ah————!!"
Seeing this scene, several young nobles in the hall immediately screamed. Duanmu Huai stared at them, a cold smile appearing on his face, and then slowly walked toward them.
"Y-you… what do you think you're doing?!"
Seeing Duanmu Huai approach, the first-tier citizens turned pale with terror, trembling uncontrollably.
"We're first-tier citizens! How dare you commit crimes here..."
"Commit crimes?"
Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow.
"As an Inquisitor, I suspect you of heretical blasphemy here. Therefore, in the name of the Inquisition… I shall purify you all!"
Before his words had even finished, Duanmu Huai suddenly reached out, grabbing the heads of two first-tier citizens—one in each hand. He exerted force with both hands, and in the next instant, crushed their heads into pulp.
"Noooooo—AAAAAA!! Someone help!! Murder!!!!"
The last noble girl, upon witnessing this, screamed and turned to flee. But before she could get far, Duanmu Huai stomped down with his foot, pinning her slender, delicate body to the floor. The girl immediately let out agonized whimpers and screams, writhing like a fish as she tried to escape from beneath his foot. Duanmu Huai pressed down harder, and in the next moment, accompanied by spurting blood, the girl's body was severed at the waist. Her upper half let out muffled, indistinct screams as she desperately clawed at the ground, trying to crawl forward.
Behind her, scattered viscera and intestines dragged across the pristine white floor, leaving a trail of bright red blood.
"Help… help… he—!"
The girl raised her head, staring forward in despair. But in the next instant, Duanmu Huai stomped on her head again, crushing her beautiful face into a mess of mangled flesh and blood.
"Trash."
Duanmu Huai looked down contemptuously at the remains beneath his feet, then continued walking forward.
Perhaps Duanmu Huai had acted too quickly. The receptionist at the counter hadn't even reacted yet. When Duanmu Huai's figure appeared before him, the receptionist turned deathly pale and opened his mouth to scream—but in the next instant, Duanmu Huai grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up.
"Answer my question. Who's in charge here?"
"I-it's Teacher Mingjin…!"
"Where is she?"
"On the third floor!"
"Very good."
Hearing the answer, Duanmu Huai nodded. Then, like tossing out trash, he casually flung the receptionist aside, smashing him into the nearby wall and instantly turning him into a mangled pile of flesh and broken limbs. After that, Duanmu Huai stepped through the hall and went deeper inside.
The corridors were empty, and he barely encountered anyone. This was normal—this wasn't some tavern or restaurant, so there naturally weren't many attendants in the halls. Duanmu Huai walked forward like this, then his ears twitched and he stopped.
He turned toward a door, reached out, and pushed. Under Duanmu Huai's force, the locked door let out a strained creaking sound. Then the entire doorframe tore away from the wall, and Duanmu Huai stepped into the room.
What he saw next was a sight beyond description.
"Alright, hurry up and scream. This kind of raw, immature feeling is exactly what I want. Honestly, I paid so much money—how can you not even do this little thing properly?"
Inside the room, a first-tier citizen was assaulting a little girl who looked about the same age as Arufula. Seeing this, Duanmu Huai's face darkened. He walked straight over, pressed a hand on the man's shoulder, and kicked him hard in the waist. With a light crack, the man's body instantly folded backward at a full 180 degrees, collapsing to the floor and twitching before dying.
"Filthy and degenerate."
Duanmu Huai glanced at the corpse on the floor, then withdrew his gaze and looked at the girl. She had been completely stunned by the sudden turn of events and sat there blankly, staring at Duanmu Huai, seemingly unsure of what to do.
"...Sigh."
Seeing this, Duanmu Huai sighed, reached up, and touched his ring. In the next moment, the maid and Zhen Jiling appeared beside him.
"You two are responsible for taking care of the children. Gather them together."
"Yes, Master."
The maid nodded slightly, while Zhen Jiling glanced at the corpse on the floor and curled her lips.
"Not cute at all."
"This isn't about being cute or not."
Duanmu Huai withdrew his gaze, his eyes turning cold.
"Looks like I'm going to make a big mess of this place."
(End of Chapter)