The sudden explosions threw everything into immediate chaos.
“Damn it! Are there more of them besides those men from earlier?”
“If it wasn’t a timed magical device, then that’s very possible.”
The former margrave and I both grimaced at the same time. We’d made a mistake. There was no time to stand around any longer.
“What’s going on?! What’s with that smoke?!”
“You stay at the mansion and coordinate information gathering. House Kasuak and the Human Supremacy Cult are causing trouble.”
Members of the margrave’s household came rushing out of the estate with shocked expressions, but the moment they heard Emilia’s explanation, their faces hardened instantly.
“We are now at First Combat Readiness! Seal the fortress gates and begin evacuating the citizens! Hunt down every last rat that has infiltrated my territory!”
“““Yes, sir!”””
Whoa… amazing.
This was nothing like the lazy, carefree Margrave I usually knew. He gave out orders one after another without hesitation.
“My son excels at crisis management. Once things reach this stage, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“I just wish he acted like this all the time…”
The contrast between his usual slovenly behavior and his current commanding presence was so extreme that I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile.
We need to move too.
“Shiro and Ao, you’re coming with me. Sue and the others, stay with Emilia-sama. Fran and Horn, remain by Kent-chan’s side in case the mansion comes under attack.”
“““Yes!”””
“Mm. A solid decision, Shun.”
The former margrave praised me, but this wasn’t the time to relax. From here on out, we had to prepare for the possibility of full-scale combat. Just then, Toria-san stepped over to my side with a spear in hand.
“I’m going too. I can use healing magic as well.”
“Just don’t push yourself too hard, alright?”
“Yes!”
Toria-san was the former margrave’s daughter, so she was probably quite strong herself. Together, we headed toward the source of the explosions.
Dash dash dash.
“Look—the smoke is coming from the plaza!”
“Oh no… this is terrible!”
The town square where the Harvest Festival and wedding ceremony were supposed to take place had been utterly devastated.
Ao’s goddess statue—
the decorations—
the stage—
everything we had worked so hard to prepare had been completely destroyed.
Toria-san’s face twisted with grief at the sight. But before mourning the damage, there was something far more important we needed to do first.
“Rescuing the injured and providing treatment comes first. Ao, come with me. We’ll also search the surrounding area.”
“Shiro, you’re with me. We’ll question witnesses. There’s still a chance suspicious individuals are nearby.”
From there, we split up to handle different tasks. Fortunately, because it was still early morning, no one had been caught beneath the collapsing festival structures themselves. However, several people had been injured by debris blown around in the explosions, so Ao, Toria-san, and I moved quickly to treat the wounded.
“Hmm….. Apparently there weren’t any suspicious people around until evening yesterday.”
The former margrave and Shiro continued questioning the townspeople, but so far nobody had noticed anything unusual.
“We patrolled the town last night as well, but we found no suspicious individuals.”
“I see… Understood. Continue maintaining heightened vigilance.”
Because the festival was so close, soldiers had already been conducting nighttime patrols, yet according to their reports, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. The former margrave clicked his tongue in frustration as he issued further orders.
At that moment, my detection magic suddenly picked up an unmistakably suspicious presence.
There!
“Shiro! Someone’s on top of that shop roof!”
“Found you! Hyaaa!”
“Guh!”
The instant I shouted, Shiro leapt high into the air and landed directly in front of the suspicious figure.
Ah—another reaction!
Ao noticed it too.
“Someone’s hiding behind the vegetable stand—wait, they’ve already prepared a spell!”
“Die!”
Two suspicious figures burst from the shadows and unleashed the magic they had been charging in advance straight toward us.
Their targets—
the former margrave and Toria-san!
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next
Yume Neiji's Works 