The Villains I Taught Became Heroes

“…Looks like you’re heading somewhere nice, huh?”

Serin, dressed in her priest battle outfit, said with a pout as soon as she saw us.

Not an unusual reaction, to be honest.

No matter how you think about it, Sowol, Lena, and Arisha looked more like they were going out for fun rather than gearing up for a fight.

“Ugh. Whatever. The place we need to go is the back alley of the Deorent Kingdom’s capital. We found traces of the Asura sect there.”

“Is the location accurate?”

“Yep. And I also figured out that kids in the back alley have been disappearing.”

They must be trying to use the kids as sacrifices to gain Asura’s power.

If we’ve even caught wind of human sacrifice, there’s no time to waste.

“First, we’ll sneak in ourselves.”

Good thing our outfits look like we’re just out for sightseeing.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Of course, it’s fine.”

Serin smiled brightly and approached me.

Then she put her hands together and began to pray in front of me.

Usually, she looks like a neighborhood punk, but when she prays like that, she definitely looks holy.

“May the Lord’s blessings protect you.”

As she traced the sign of the cross and kissed my forehead and cheeks, she stepped back and entered the church.

As I watched her go in, I turned my body.

The three were staring at me with bewildered faces.

“What. Why. What’s up?”

“Um… I’ve been thinking this for a while, but you seem really close with Serin-sensei.”

At Sowol’s comment, Lena nodded her head.

Arisha, on the other hand, muttered with what seemed to be a mind-blown expression.

“…I can’t believe there’s anyone else who gets that close to the teacher…”

I mean, come on, just because I got a blessing doesn’t mean you should be that shocked.

If I let this go, it’ll go on forever.

“Don’t be like that. Come on, let’s go.”

I brought the sulking trio through the Dimension Magic Circle.

Our first destination was the Deorent Kingdom.

The kids remained gloomy until we entered the capital of Deorent, which hadn’t changed much since we last visited.

“How about we grab something sweet on the way? How about some cake?”

“Master, I’m not a kid. Cake won’t cure this gloomy feeling.”

“Then cookie it is!”

“…That’s not what I meant…”

“S-Sensei! W-What kind of relationship do you have with Serin-sensei?”

“Just friends?”

“Is it okay for friends to kiss like that?!”

“Come on, it was just a kiss on the forehead.”

“Sowol, do you do it like that when giving blessings at church?”

“Of course not. Just holding hands is enough for blessings. But I’ve always thought Serin was overly friendly with you… do you think she likes you?”

The three of them suddenly gave me sharper glares.

Under their scrutinizing eyes, I shrugged my shoulders.

“Ha. This popularity. What should I do?”

“Right? What should we do… I almost want to lock you up somewhere.”

“…Huh?”

“…That’s actually a good idea.”

“Eh?!”

“I-I know a good place…”

“Hey, guys?”

If I let this go, I might really get locked up.

I barely stopped the trio exuding a strange aura.

“Guys? This isn’t the time for that! We need to rescue the kidnapped kids before they get sacrificed!”

“Right. Then let’s talk about this later.”

“Y-Yeah.”

For now, I avoided the crisis.

Seeing the strange aura from them dissipate, I led them toward the back alley.

The back alley of the Deorent Kingdom wasn’t much different from back alleys in other countries.

There were many beggars and people glancing over this way.

But since I was armed, no one dared to step up.

“Is it here?”

“Yes, it’s right here.”

It was a large, old building.

When I entered what seemed to be used as a storage room, I was greeted by a strange smell and clutter everywhere.

From just looking at it, it seemed like an ordinary storage room.

“You said they went in here, right?”

“Yes. They haven’t come out after bringing the kids in.”

That means there must be a secret mechanism inside.

I was about to use Detection to find the secret mechanism when I playfully tapped Arisha on the shoulder.

“Want to give it a try?”

“Sure!”

Arisha closed her eyes and activated Detection.

If she uses her martial artist senses, she should easily find any hidden mechanisms in here.

Sure enough, shortly after, Arisha quickly found the device.

As she activated the hidden mechanism inside the wall, a secret door concealed by junk opened.

It led down to stairs.

Looking down the stairs, which seemed to lead to a pitch-black abyss, Lena raised her hand. In an instant, light appeared from her hand.

“L-Let’s go.”

As we went down the stairs, an eerie vibe began to set in.

The heavy, stagnant air didn’t sit well with me.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one feeling it.

“Sensei, this feels weird.”

Arisha, holding my arm lightly, said that.

With her keen senses, she might be picking up on something unsettling. I took her hand to reassure her. Though she was trembling, holding my hand seemed to calm her anxiety a bit.

Just how far down the stairs did we go?

When the end came into sight, I started hearing strange noises.

“…Sensei.”

Right, it was the sound of tortured groans.

The weak, pitiful moans sounded like the situation inside wasn’t good at all.

“Let’s hurry up.”

Quickening our pace, we reached the steel door at the bottom of the stairs.

The moans were coming from inside.

“It’s locked.”

“Wait a sec, let me take care of it.”

I pulled out my lockpicks and inserted them into the keyhole.

A few quick maneuvers and the lock clicked open easily.

“Where’d you learn that?”

“Just some gentlemanly skills.”

“…What exactly does a gentleman need to know?”

With Arisha looking at me with a strange gaze, I grinned and gripped the steel door handle tighter.

– Creeeak…

With an ominous sound, the door opened, revealing the scene inside.

It was a spacious chamber.

In one corner, tainted with blood and flesh, there were iron bars resembling a prison, and inside, half-dead kids were visible.

“Who are you!!”

People in black robes guarding the bloody pile cried out.

Are they even human?

Calling them human would be an insult; they were nothing but monsters wearing human skins.

“Sensei.”

Sowol raised her Moonlight Sword with a cold voice.

Even the righteous Sowol couldn’t accept this situation. She truly is my disciple.

“Take them all down.”

As soon as my command fell, Sowol, Lena, and Arisha charged at the black-robed figures.

“It’s an attack!!”

The ones lounging inside sprang into action, rushing to confront the trio.

While they took care of the robed figures, I headed towards the prison.

The missing kids were looking at me with faces filled with despair and pain.

“P-Please… save us…”

One girl managed to plead with me, not even shedding a tear.

How scared must she have been?

How painful must that have been?

As I met her vacant eyes, I used Healing.

“Oh…”

I could see the kids recovering from their pain and wounds.

As the faces of the children, who had been sacrificial offerings to Asura, began to relax, one of the Asura sect members nearby screamed in rage.

“No!! They are offerings made for Asura!!”

“Shut up.”

Drawing my dagger, I swung it at the approaching sect member.

The Asura sect member, thrown back by my attack, bared his teeth and began chanting a spell.

His body swelled and dark energy began to rise around him, fueled by hostility.

“I’ll kill you!!”

The one empowered by Asura rushed at me.

With a roar, I slashed him down as he lunged at me while glancing at my disciples.

Just like my students, they were handling themselves well in battle.

Then it was time for me to focus on rescuing the kids.

“Phew…”

I looked at the prison bars.

As the healed children gazed at me blankly, I sent them back and swung my sword.

– Clang!!

“T-Thank you!”

“Thank you!!”

Hope rang out in the voices of the kids trapped behind the bars.

When they felt the joy of being able to live, as they were about to come out, I raised my hand to halt their movements.

“Stay there; we’re still in battle.”

“Y-Yes!”

Seeing the kids retreat to the corner, I watched my disciples fight. They were doing a fantastic job, truly my disciples.

“Sensei! We took care of everything!!”

Arisha, who took down the last Asura sect member with her Arang Technique, brightly exclaimed.

Nodding vaguely at her, I turned to Sowol and Lena.

“Take care of the kids. We’re leaving right away.”

“Got it.”

While the two escorted the kids, I ascended the stairs with Arisha. Typically, there’d be another fight waiting for us outside.

While Sowol and Lena guarded the kids, the real battle would fall on Arisha and me.

“Are you going to be okay? It seems like we’ll have to fight again once we go up.”

“I don’t think I’ll be okay.”

“Huh?”

What’s with that response? Arisha looked at the busy Sowol and Lena and leaned closer to whisper in my ear.

“I think if you bless me too, I’ll fight better~.”

I seriously can’t let my guard down!

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