Rokuya's eyebrows shot up at that.
Over a hundred living villagers? By the system's reckoning, that was definitely an incredibly generous haul of group gratitude points! If he descended like a god at their most desperate moment and rescued them from a demon's butcher knife, the scene would be simply too beautiful to resist.
Wasn't this a little too lucky?
"You didn't alert that demon?" Rokuya asked flatly, his voice betraying no emotion.
Reiko bit hard on her lower lip, putting on a frightened expression. "I didn't dare get too close. I only took a look from far away at the cavern's exit. The aura that demon gave off was so terrifying, I almost stopped breathing. It took everything I had to get back out, and I rushed straight back to report to you both. Lord Takanashi, those are over a hundred human lives! That demon has gone too far, torturing the adults in front of those children... right before their eyes! Please, you have to save them!"
Reiko pleaded through tears, and her words "gone too far" struck just the right note with Rokuya's favorite catchphrase.
Kanae couldn't bear what she heard and clenched her fists. "How could anyone do something so cruel... Rokuya, if they're in an underground cavern, the sunlight won't reach them even now that it's daylight. The demon can still move freely underground. If we don't act quickly, all those villagers will be done for once it wakes up."
Rokuya stood, casually picked up the Shura Greatblade beside him, and slung it over his shoulder. The heavy blade pressed against his shoulder with a faint scraping of metal.
"Enough pointless chatter." Rokuya spat the words coldly, his gaze instantly sharpening like a blade. "Since we have the location, we'll go straight in and crush it.