Chapter 6: A Soldier hated, A Soldier loved.

"D-don't move!" Julia aimed the gun towards Julius. Due to the appearance of a gun, many children went into a state of panic and scattered all over the place. Some passed out with bubbling mouths, some went to insanity and are calling their non-existent parents. When the other caretakers arrived, they weren't able to do much except cover the children with their own bodies despite the fear. A caretaker slowly approached her-

"... Julia, calm down-" 

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! EVERYBODY SHUT UP!"

BANG!

The shot grazed the caretaker in the cheek and hit the vase behind him. A shard of the vase was about to hit the Japanese boy, but Julius was able to block it with his forearm in time. Due to absolute terror, the caretaker fell to his knees. The sight of the Elder Caretaker's corpse on the floor caused him to immediately pass out while foaming.

"Y-you! Julius, what are you doing! D-don't move and give me Yuu!" 

Yuu. Is that this Japanese child's name? No matter. The target is the child for reasons unknown. Interrogation comes later, subjugation comes first. 

The model of his revolver (which is now in Julia's possession) is an old but well-kept M1879 Reichsrevolver that has 6 rounds, 3 of which have been fired. The girl is in a state of extreme distress and nausea from taking a life, showing symptoms that this was her first time committing murder. Julia is about to throw up, but the distance between Julius and the girl is too wide, about 10 meters from him to her. Shots will be fired if drastic measures are taken, and the children behind him might be killed.

In his head, it already played out. All he needed to do was to put it into action.

First, he waited for her to throw up. This shall give him a small window of time, and due to her nauseous state, Julius can close the distance by 4 meters in about 1 second before Julia notices after approximately 2.5 seconds, in which about 9 meters have been covered. Then, he grabs the coat in the cabinet to throw and obstruct her vision-

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

The remaining 3 shots are rapidly fired in reflex, but due to the deterrent, her aim is greatly off-track pointing upwards in respect to build-up recoil. All three shots are missed.

Finally, the distance is closed. Julius pins both of Julia's hands on the door with one hand and his lower body with a leg. Any further struggle is useless, his strength is clearly superior to hers.

"LET GO OF ME! YOU FUCKING BITCH!" she spits at the unfazed man. Using the vase shard in his forearm-

THUD!

 Julius nails both of her hands at the door, making her shriek in tremendous pain as he wipes her spit with his fingers to brush it on her face. 

"P-please don't kill me." Julia whimpers at the sight of the soldier, who picked his gun up on the floor as if it was a treasure. After grooming his coat and putting it on, he knocked the girl out with a single punch without uttering a word before, during, and after. It was flawlessly executed.

While bleeding, he turned back to the children to check their state. However, he no longer appeared like the handsome and tall gentleman that he did earlier. To the children, he looked exactly like the soldiers who killed their families, a cold-blooded monster.

Everybody distanced themselves from Julius, the one who saved them from danger, their savior. The terrified looks on their face caused a certain memory from not so long ago to surface-

"You're just a monster who only knows how to kill! You will never be a human! You can love all you want, but you will never be loved!"

And for a moment he thought that what she said was true. He will never change. He will always be a monster incapable of being loved, and he accepted it with a heavy heart.

Until... a single child out of many came forward. He was hesitant at first, circling around the dead body on the floor before dashing towards Julius with a tight hug. 

It confused him, but he didn't hate it. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He only ever felt this pleasant warmth at the arms of his mother. It was... not bad.

"Namae... Yuu, desu yo ne? (Your name... It's Yuu, right?)"

"Hai. (Yes.)" the child sniffles. 

"Do you want to come with me? I'll adopt you." He switched to English. He's still not comfortable speaking the child's ethnic language. It was a ruined day, but a day finished nonetheless. He explained all of his plans to the child because he didn't know what else to say to convince him. 

"So, what do you say?" somehow, he doesn't want to let him go.

"... Okay."

And he didn't.