He who Bends Time-Chapter 88 - doubting choice

As the spell spread like a dark veil over the group, Henry focused intently, ready to detect even the slightest pushback—any subtle flicker of counter-magic that would betray another hidden enemy.

The blinding spell was cast, and it affected the whole group of children.

"Huh!"

"I can’t see!" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Sister, where are you?!"

As the spell took effect, the children panicked—crying out and stumbling in confusion. But among them, a few acted strangely calm.

"Got you...! And it’s not just one but four," Henry, who was fully focused on observing and sensing everything, quickly recognized who had put up mana resistance against his spell. He managed to locate four of these individuals.

They appeared to be kids, obviously, but they bore enough magic to resist his spell.

Henry acted fast. After recognizing the enemies, he had only one thing to do: take them down.

{Zero Movement Restriction}

Four instant-cast spells were released from him one after another, all of which rushed and absorbed into the unprepared, blinded youth. It didn’t take long for all of them to fall down as the curse’s restriction took hold.

"Take a rest now. Don’t cause more trouble for anyone," Henry muttered after taking care of the four imposters hidden among the kids. He once again lay down to rest on the ground.

However, he didn’t stay resting for long. He knew that if he was careless, someone else could come and put him and the other children in danger. So, after about ten minutes of resting, he searched through his clothes and found another healing potion.

"Thankful that healing magician had an extra potion with him."

Henry drank the potion in one gulp. After a moment, he felt the broken bone in his leg slowly readjust itself.

"Bless that healing magician. Although he had to die because of his wrongdoings, if not for him, I would have died. Thank you," Henry prayed for the dead man, then stood up and looked at all the kids staring at him.

"Stray Nick’s old mansion should be able to house all these kids too. The previous group is already there, and besides them, a few of his followers still live there. After threatening them, they agreed to take care of the kids in return for some money."

After thinking that to himself, Henry spoke a few calming words to the children and led them, walking back toward Stray Nick’s mansion, located on the sixth floor. It was going to be a long walk.

As planned, he eventually arrived at the sixth floor and made his way to Stray Nick’s former mansion.

When Henry arrived with another group of kids, one of the men guarding the gate saw him.

"Huh, more kids? This isn’t an orphanage, you know," said the man. But still, he opened the gate, and Henry led all the kids into the mansion.

"I’ll send you more money. So take care of these kids. Most of their families are already dead. Let them stay here until they grow up and choose their own paths," said Henry, watching the kids run around the mansion.

"I don’t know, man. Seeing how you’re suddenly bringing all these kids from somewhere, I don’t have a good feeling. The kidnapping of kids has been going on for quite some time, and nobody’s meddled in it because they knew someone powerful was behind it. Getting involved in this... are you sure you did the right thing?" asked the guard.

Looking at the innocent kids, Henry pondered the same question in his mind:

Did he do the right thing?

If he had let them be and gone his own way—if he had informed Auran about their situation—maybe both of them could have found a proper solution. Maybe the they would already be on their own path, starting their magical journey once again.

But now, not only had he slaughtered an entire group of people, he had also gotten entangled with some powerful individuals. And if things went as Kunch warned, even his friends might get into trouble because of his actions.

"Did I really do the right thing?" Henry thought to himself, deeply troubled.

It was at that moment a little girl saw Henry and came running toward him. She was the same girl Henry had first seen in the carriage—the girl with eyes full of despair. Back then, she didn’t even react when she lost her favorite doll. But now her eyes were full of joy, and in her hands, she held that same favorite doll tightly.

"Mister..."

The little girl tugged on Henry’s coat.

She was so small Henry could easily lift her—and he did.

"Look at you, smiling so brightly now," Henry said, returning her grin.

"Thank you," the girl whispered. Her words blew through Henry’s lingering doubts like a fresh wind.

"Thank you for freeing all of us. My father once said that if someone does me a favor, I should repay it ten-fold. But I don’t know... I don’t know if I’ll ever find you again, so... here." She held out her favorite doll.

"This was a gift from my mom, and since she’s gone, it’s the most valuable thing I have. I—I don’t know if it has any worth to you, but I want you to have it."

Henry gazed at her silently, then smiled and gently placed the doll back in her hands.

"You’ve already repaid me—the smile you’re wearing is worth more than anything. Now go, your friends are waiting for you."

He set the girl down. Seeing her companions waving, she ran toward them.

"Good-bye, mister! Thank you for everything!" she called, beaming as she joined the others and disappeared into the mansion.

Henry kept his eyes on the doorway where the children vanished.

"Yeah," he murmured, "I did the right thing."

. . . . . . . . . .

Stepping through the spatial fold beneath the giant tree, Marian re-entered the Awakened City. She jumped into the spiral gap, was caught by the guiding wind, and was carried straight to the blessing crystal—eventually arriving at the mansion’s entrance.

The wind set Marian down where the two crystal cliffs stood. The shimmering cliffs parted, and the twin golems materialized, welcoming her return.