"What are your plans?" The subtext was naturally, 'Join me, join me, join me!'
"Hmph, anyway, the organization will be purged, so I might as well just join you, I'm done with it." Sophia, the blonde Claymore, suddenly exclaimed.
"Irene…" The other short-haired, brown-haired Claymore looked hesitantly at the silver-haired, pointed-eared Claymore.
"If Teresa agrees to join you, then you already possess the strength to shelter us, so I will agree to join." Irene said calmly.
"If you join, I promise that after inheriting Red Leaf Ridge, I will use my intelligence network to help you find Clare." Kayal was in a good mood and smiled at Teresa. "And I also guarantee that your hand can be slowly healed with healing magic."
"Alright," Teresa, who hadn't found the little girl Clare, seemed a bit dejected. She sat on the ground, looked up, and nodded softly, as if her entire being had lost its soul.
"Slap!" Kayal's sudden slap stunned everyone. "Enough with this willfulness! Your Clare is still waiting for you, what right do you have to be dispirited?"
"…" She instinctively tried to touch her face, but found her hand was gone. Shaking her head, a smile reappeared on her face: "Yes, so you're my boss now!"
"That's right." There was no trace of the earlier slap on Kayal's face. "Please guide me from now on, my Captain of the Guards."
"Wait!" Gawain cried out. "Kay, you're not thinking of making her your Captain of the Guards, are you! What about me!"
"Gawain…" Kayal placed his hand on his shoulder. "Don't be naive… If you really served as my Captain of the Guards for a lifetime, your father would come and kill me!"
"Wait, what about me!" Atoris asked unceremoniously, not to be outdone. "Why am I not the Chief Captain of the Guards!"
"At this stage, Teresa is still the strongest, right?" Kayal tilted his head, maliciously acting cute. "Talk about these things after you become the strongest and defeat Teresa."
"Damn it…" Even more dispirited than Teresa, his cowlick drooped limply, completely unable to find words to refute Kayal's statement.
"Alright, everyone, since you've all made your decisions, let me arrange the division of labor." Kayal clapped his hands lightly to draw everyone's attention to him. "First, let me tell you about my identity."
"I am the first heir of Red Leaf Ridge, and I have obtained the title of 'Little Sage' in the Kingdom of Camelot. As one of the future great lords who will inherit the Red Leaf territory, I will now assign the following tasks."
"My mount, Unicorn, although it's still young." Stroking Unicorn's mane, Kayal said with affection.
"My pet, Priscilla, is still young." Stroking Priscilla's hair, Kayal said with a smile.
"Teresa, First Captain of the Guards." Pointing at Teresa, Kayal was direct.
"Irene, Sophia, Rolulia, close guards, I'll be entrusting the protection duties to you from now on." Kayal smiled.
"Knight attendant, and one of the future great knights, Gawain." Gawain proudly puffed out his chest. No one looked down on him; his courage in daring to face Priscilla's oppressive power in front of everyone and unhesitatingly stepping forward showed everyone that although Gawain was still young, he would definitely be a great person in the future.
"Although there are still many things I want to ask you, let's talk about it when we get home. Can you keep up, Teresa?" Of everyone, Teresa was the only one injured.
"Don't underestimate me, the No. 1!" Teresa smiled.
The group did not return to the inn, but headed directly south, crossed the great mountain, and stopped at the foot of a mountain.
Because they didn't know that the Claymores ate very little, the extra food all went to Priscilla. Although Priscilla didn't like to eat such things, she didn't care much when it could alleviate her urgent hunger.
"I have so much to say but can't find a topic to ask." Kayal shook his head, surrounded by twelve balls of light, shimmering brightly and looking very beautiful.
After the twelve balls of white light dispersed, Kayal closed his eyes and thought for a moment. When he opened his eyes, he asked, "First of all, what is a Claymore?"
"A Claymore, ah, is a warrior specifically created to slay demons, by mixing demon flesh and blood, existing for the purpose of hunting demons." Sophia, being outspoken, answered first.
"Then what is a demon?" Kayal immediately followed up.
"Demons are creatures that have been feeding on humans since ancient times." Rolulia explained with a shrug.
"So, the creation of Claymores is directly linked to demons? Will all Claymores eventually turn into that form?" Kayal asked, pointing at Priscilla, who was quickly but daintily devouring food.
"Although the forms may vary, almost every generation of Claymores has been unable to escape the fate of either dying or transforming into these monsters called 'Awakened Beings'." Sophia said with a bitter smile.
"So where do Claymores come from?" Kayal vaguely felt that some threads were about to connect to form a complete picture.
"The Organization, the Organization continuously searches for orphans in towns destroyed by demons from various places, then trains them, holds an initiation ceremony after they come of age, and finally they become numbered Claymores. Each Claymore then has a supervisor and a region, responsible for purging demons in that region."
"Alright." Kayal took a deep breath. "Let's use reverse deduction to sort out the whole matter."
"The existence of demons is extremely abnormal… Although I don't know why, let's make an assumption first—if demons are controlled by someone… Then, after destroying a town, they specifically don't kill the children… And the children who weren't killed are absorbed by the Organization to become Claymores… Claymores then turn into demons again… Demons again go kill humans… Humans again leave children… Children again turn into Claymores… No… what benefit could they gain?"
Kayal scratched his hair, his voice growing softer and softer. He used a branch to repeatedly underline a few words, then suddenly looked up and said with great certainty: "The Organization must be controlling the demons, killing your parents, then taking you away, raising you to become Claymores, and finally starting a new cycle: Claymores are killed or awakened, and then a new batch of Claymores is born… It's just that I don't understand… Why would this Organization go to such trouble to do these things?"
"Claymores charge a fee for demon extermination." Irene's words hit the mark, making Kayal's eyes light up, but then he shook his head: "Money is easy. Higher power brings more money. Money isn't the most important thing… There must be something else… Something that they value very much… Otherwise, the process is simply too troublesome." If they simply transformed into Wall Street financial magnates, they could continuously draw in money, rather than using such a complicated model… More pawns mean more uncontrollable factors, and more variables. A clever person would never go to such trouble to achieve their goals, let alone an organization.
"That Organization is not from this continent." Teresa finally revealed the truth… "As No. 1 for so long, I've heard and seen many things the Organization shouldn't have shown… When I was a trainee, I left the Organization's training base, and not far away was the Organization's center… In a certain place, I heard them speak, and in their vague conversations, it seemed as if they weren't from this continent."
"Exactly… Exactly!" Kayal's eyes grew brighter and brighter, like incandescent lamps. "If they are not from this world, then they can unscrupulously absorb gold and silver coins to contribute to their own country's economy. If they are not from this world, they can freely use and experiment with the human weapons they create. If they are not from this world, they naturally don't care about the lives of the people here… Bastards!"
Kayal's first curse word in this life slipped out: "A bunch of inhumane bastards! When I grow up, I will definitely overthrow this Organization!"