Unchained Neck - 80
Slowly, his gaze drifted toward the floor.
There, lying among the debris, was the collar.
Its orb had been shattered into pieces.
For a moment, the doctor could only stare.
The very thing he'd been using to threaten Bell, the thing he'd believed gave him complete control over the children…had already been destroyed.
And Bell had been standing right in front of him the entire time.
…
Bell followed his gaze downward. A smirk crept onto her face. "Ah, seems like you saw it. Now, do you realize?"
…
Back at marc he hurried toward the entrance with Nery in his arms. Her legs were trembling so badly that she could barely stand, leaving her unable to walk properly on her own. Marc was still struggling with the knife wound in his stomach, his breathing growing heavier with every step, but he refused to slow down until they reached safety.
As soon as he arrived at the entrance, he spotted Juro.
"Ah! Teacher Juro!" Marc exclaimed between heavy breaths.
Juro turned toward them, his expression shifting as he took in Marc's condition. "Oh, Marc… you don't look so well."
His gaze briefly moved to Nery before returning to him. He quickly approached them. "Here, let me patch you up. Just put Nery down for a second."
Marc did as he was told, carefully lowering Nery to the ground. Once she was settled, Juro crouched in front of him and examined the knife lodged in the side of his stomach.
"Calm your mana down. You'll be fine now, so there's no need to grip the knife so tightly. Just relax your mana and endure the pain for a moment."
Marc listened to every word without hesitation. He relaxed his core, allowing his mana to settle.
And then the pain hit him.
The moment his body loosened, the pain surged through him, shooting straight to his brain. Before he could fully brace himself, Juro gripped the handle and pulled the knife out of his stomach.
The pain was almost unbearable.
For a child his age, it was far too much to endure. His body wanted to recoil, and a groan threatened to escape his throat, but then he caught sight of Nery.
She was staring at him with a frightened, worried expression, her little hands clutching her shirt.
Marc forced himself to hold it in. He didn't want her to become even more scared.
As soon as Juro removed the knife, he placed his hands over the stab wound and began to chant.
"Huo, reparere."
A soft blue glow spread across Marc's wounded skin. Slowly, the torn flesh began to regenerate, the two sides of the wound drawing together until they connected and sealed completely. Before long, the skin had merged cleanly, leaving no visible opening for blood to escape.
But the pain hadn't disappeared.
"We're not done yet," Juro calmly explained. "I've only sealed the skin to stop the bleeding. Your muscles are still damaged."
He hovered his hand over the same spot and chanted again.
"Voovi, reparere."
Beneath the newly healed skin, Marc's damaged muscles began to regenerate, their torn fibers reconnecting as his body returned to its normal state.
"Luckily, no major organs were damaged," Juro said with a reassuring smile.
He withdrew his hands and dusted them off, seemingly satisfied with his work.
Marc, however, looked as though he was about to faint. Between the pain he'd endured and the shock of having a knife pulled from his stomach, his head felt light, and his vision began to blur. Even so, he managed to force out a few words in a raspy voice.
"Magic's… so cool…"
Juro paused.
"Oops, I forgot."
He raised a hand and cast a light healing magic.
"Yoki Chiyu."
The magic took effect almost immediately. Marc's head cleared, the dizziness faded, and his vision gradually returned to normal.
"Whoa… that felt so odd…" Marc exclaimed, straightening himself as he tried to get used to the sudden change.
Then he turned toward Nery.
She hadn't moved much. Her hands were still clutching her shirt, and the fear in her expression hadn't completely faded. She had been watching the entire time, worrying about him even after the wound had healed.
Marc gave her a gentle smile.
"See? I'm fine."
He said it with such a bright, reassuring smile that it was almost as though nothing had happened to him at all.
But Nery's eyes began to fill with tears again. She could no longer hold them back, and Marc immediately pulled her into a firm hug.
Then Marc turned toward Juro. "Ah, Teacher Juro, what about the people outside?"
Juro smiled casually. "I tied them all up and put them to sleep for a bit. I also removed their collars."
"That's good! We should find the children next!" Marc exclaimed, still keeping Nery close to him.
"Ah, I think I already know where they are," Juro replied.
"Wait, really?! Let's go, Teacher Juro!"
Juro chuckled at Marc's eagerness. "Alright, alright. Follow me."
Marc took Nery's hand as they followed Juro around the side of the orphanage. Nery was still shaken, but she had managed to compose herself enough to walk on her own, even if her steps remained a little unsteady.
Juro led them to a door built into the ground. It was locked, with a heavy chain securing it shut, but that hardly seemed to matter to him. He grabbed the lock and chain with his bare hands and simply tore them away before pulling the door open, revealing a staircase leading underground.
Lamps illuminated the stairs as the three descended, Juro taking the lead. At the bottom stood another locked door.
Once again, Juro casually ripped the lock off and opened it.
Marc's eyes widened at the sight beyond.
Children were scattered across the floor of the room. Some sat quietly, while others lay against the walls. A few had huddled themselves into the corners, staring fearfully at the door as though they expected whoever entered to hurt them.
Then their eyes fell on Nery.
"Nery!"
Two children Marc recognized from the forest hurried forward.
"Ah! It's you guys! I'm glad you two are safe!" Marc said, his expression brightening as he patted their heads.
He looked around the room, taking in the other children as well. At first, they remained wary, watching the newcomers with guarded expressions. But as they saw Nery standing beside Marc, some of that tension began to ease.
"We're here to set you all free! Don't worry, just trust us!" Marc declared with such a bright, reassuring smile that it was difficult not to look at him.
Juro watched the scene with a quiet smile before turning to Marc.
"Did Bell tell you how to remove the collars?"
Marc nodded. "Yup! He was the one who removed Nery's collar."
Juro smiled and gently patted both Marc and Nery on the head.
Then, something caught his attention in the corner of his eye.
At the far side of the room, a child stood in the corner, glaring at them with open hostility.
Juro began walking toward him. As he drew closer, he noticed the scars running along the child's arms and the bruises scattered across his skin. Looking around at the others, Juro could spot at least one or two bruises on nearly every child.
But this one had far more than the rest.
The child watched Juro approach, his hostile glare never wavering. Then, as though preparing to defend himself, he glanced around and grabbed a knife.
"What the? Why does he have a knife???" Marc asked, startled.
One of the other children answered quietly, "We all have knives. They gave them to us. They said these knives would help us live longer."
Marc fell silent.
An ache settled in his chest as he looked at the knife in the child's hand. The words were simple, but the thought behind them was anything but simple. These children had been made to believe that they needed knives just to live.
Still, Marc put on a brave smile and stepped forward.
"You won't need them to live anymore," he said gently.
He wrapped his arms around the child.
Caught off guard, the child loosened his grip, and the knife slipped from his hand, clattering onto the floor.
..
As Juro moved closer, the child began to tremble, raising his knife toward him. When Juro finally reached out, the child squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for what was coming.
But instead of a blow, he felt a gentle pat on his head.
Juro sighed softly, a faint smile on his face, before reaching for the collar around the child's neck.
The moment his fingers touched it, the collar began to beep.
The sound immediately sent the other children into a panic. Almost all of them scrambled away from Juro, rushing toward the opposite side of the room as fear overtook them.
The child standing before Juro panicked as well. A knife was still clenched in his hand, and a grown man stood right in front of him. All he had to do was stab Juro. That was what he had been taught to do if he wanted to live.
He tried to tighten his grip, but his trembling hands refused to cooperate. His fingers kept loosening around the handle, no matter how desperately he tried to hold on.
Tears began to gather in his eyes as he braced himself for the worst.
Then, in an instant, Juro acted.
He seized the collar with both hands and forcefully tore it from the child's neck. Without wasting even a second, he clamped his palms together, trapping the broken collar between them.
An explosion erupted inside his hands.
Thud!
A loud thud echoed throughout the room.
For a few seconds, no one moved.
Then Juro slowly opened his palms. All that remained of the collar was a scattering of ashes and debris. He brushed the remnants away and dusted off his hands as casually as if he'd finished an ordinary task.
"You're safe now, kid," he said, looking down at him with a warm smile.
The child stared at Juro, stunned by how quickly everything had happened. Slowly, he raised a hand to his neck. His fingers touched the bare skin where the collar had been, and the realization that it was finally gone washed over him.
His expression crumpled, and he began to cry.
Juro simply watched him with a gentle smile, continuing to dust off his hands.
"Teacher Juro! Are your hands okay???" Marc hurried over, his face filled with worry.
Juro smiled and held up both hands for him to see. "See? They're fineee. That tiny explosion doesn't have much effect on me, hehe."
Marc let out a nervous laugh, caught somewhere between shock and awe.
"Haha… but that explosion was big enough to blow someone's head off…"
His gaze drifted toward Juro's hands, and another thought crossed his mind.
"He didn't even cover his hands with mana… I couldn't sense a single bit of mana being used."
"Marc?"
Juro's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Ah! Well, I was just worried." Marc quickly smiled again before turning toward the other children. "Anyways, let's get the other kids' collars removed!"
Juro nodded in agreement.