Chapter 32 – Unforgivable

With a single swing of his katana, Ren sent the guard into eternal rest. He couldn’t allow the man to wake—not after hearing that cry.

He stripped the keys from the guard’s belt and pushed open the double wooden doors. Beyond the threshold lay something more atrocious than anything he had ever witnessed in Cegris.

The moment he stepped inside, his fury began to burn. Slavery… that was one thing. But this—this was a thousand times more unforgivable.

Darkness. Freezing damp air. The heavy stench of death seeped into every corner. Lined against the walls were cells filled with broken voices.

Pleas for help. Hunger. Despair.

The faces behind the bars reflected the same hell Ren had once seen in military concentration camps—but here, the experiments had surpassed all humanity. There was no distinction: humans, demi-humans, children, the elderly. All were reduced to nothing. Cruelty without limit.

The chamber was dimly lit by magical stones embedded in the walls. At its center stood a monstrous machine, a towering construct of steel that drained mana from those forced to sit upon it.

A young girl with fox ears—a kitsune, perhaps—was strapped into the seat. Her lips were cracked, her skin pale and withered. She wasn’t even given water. The machine wasn’t just draining her power—it was draining her life itself.

The sob rang out again, closer this time, stabbing into Ren’s mind like a knife. He followed it, each step hardening his heart further.

Behind the machine, a smaller reinforced cell glowed faintly, as if it were the very core of this abomination. Ren crouched, dread pressing down on his chest. What if…? What if it was Rin?

He grit his teeth. He knew this had to be the light elf Aria had mentioned. He knew.

And yet… that cry was identical to Rin’s when she was small.

That possibility never left him, because the fear of losing her haunted him—even in worlds where she didn’t exist.

Inside the cell, he saw a girl about the same age as his sister. Filthy, clothed in rags, her malnourished body trembling with weakness. Streaks of dried tears marked her cheeks, and her pitiful sobs filled the chamber like an echo no one could ignore.

“…Hey there, little one,” Ren said gently—softer than usual, almost kind. “What’s your name?”

The girl instinctively retreated into the darkest corner of her cage, trying to escape even knowing there was nowhere to run.

“I-I’m sorry… I won’t cry anymore. Please, don’t hit me…” she begged, her voice hoarse from endless screaming.

“I’m not here to hurt you. I’m one of the good guys,” Ren replied, forcing a calm he didn’t feel as he unlocked the cell.

But the girl wasn’t convinced. Her trembling eyes still stared at him with disbelief. Ren understood. He knew too well what she was going through. So he didn’t push her.

Instead, he took out a key and placed it on the ground, near the collar chained around her neck.

“With this key, you can take that collar off, elf. Take your time. No one’s going to force you.”

Without another word, he turned and began working on the other cells. Trust had to be given freely.

One by one, he started to free the captives. From his bag he pulled out the few healing and mana potions he had, applying what little he could to soothe wounds, burns, and the scars left by their collars.

He couldn’t give them a feast, or a place to rest, or a home to heal… but he could give them first aid. The same kind he had learned during his campaign against Lilith, when every day was a struggle to survive.

Slowly, the little girl stepped out of her cell. She remained silent, watching as Ren tended to the others—some exhaling in relief, others managing faint, fragile smiles. Deep down, she wished he would tend to her too, even as her body trembled with fear.

“Thank you, young man… it’s been a long torture,” murmured a demi-lizard, tears welling in his eyes.

Ren lowered his gaze toward another cell, one he had reached too late. The lifeless bodies inside stabbed him with a pang of helplessness.

“…I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. If only…”

“Don’t blame yourself, boy. It’s not your fault,” said a demi-human woman with equine features, her voice tired but firm.

“Even so… I can’t help but feel responsible. No one deserves this.”

“All of us were born to be free,” Ren added, his voice heavy with sincerity.

Those words struck deep in the little elf’s heart. So simple, yet they pierced through the walls of fear she had built. For the first time in years, she realized this young man wasn’t like the other humans who had captured her, sold her, and drained her day after day.

At last, Ren carefully lifted the kitsune from the machine. The moment he removed her, the monstrous device fell silent, as though it had lost all meaning without its victim.

Then, a gentle tug on his clothes made him turn. The little elf looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with tears.

“Th-thank you…” she whispered, her voice trembling.

Relief washed through Ren’s body like a tide. No matter how strong he became—hero or villain, burdened with a thousand masks—he could never silence the part of him that made him, unavoidably, human.

In that moment, Ren realized that being reborn into the Sinclair family might have been his true gift from the gods.

He laid the weakened kitsune gently with the others and continued tending to the wounded. The little elf followed silently behind him, as if seeking refuge in his shadow. Once he was certain the rest were stable, he crouched down and softly ruffled her hair.

“You don’t need to thank me, little one… My name is Ren Sinclair. What’s yours?”

“…Latina. Latina Delmires.”

“A pleasure, Latina,” Ren replied before applying first aid to her frail body as well. Then he reached into his bag and pulled out a sweet—the kind Lilith loved to snack on—and offered it to her.

“Thank you, Ren… onii-chan,” she whispered sweetly.

Ren simply smiled back at her.

At that moment, Yura entered the chamber and froze at the sight. Her eyes swept across the cells, the exhausted bodies, the chains… until her expression hardened into sheer horror.

“The regent has fallen,” she announced coldly. “What’s the situation here?”

“They’ll live… I think. I’ll explain the details later. Right now, they need food and rest. All I could do was patch them up and hand out a few fruits from my bag.”

“I see.” Yura nodded gravely. “The city and castle are secure. I’ll order my men to see to every survivor.”

Then, she knelt before the captives.

“In the name of the Aseina family, I beg your forgiveness for what has been done to you. I swear—those who stained Yukihana with such atrocities will pay with their lives.”

The weakened prisoners could only nod faintly, their eyes glistening with gratitude.

Yura walked toward the mana extractor. In one swift motion, she unsheathed Sakuragiri and returned it to its scabbard. The device shattered into a thousand pieces, as though the nation itself had cut its chains.

The honor of Yukihana was defiled by these traitors…

This is no longer a matter of freedom. It is the honor of our nation that is at stake, she thought, her gaze unshakable.