Ch.273Operation-Setting NPC (4)

“What’s going on?!!”

“Bi-Billion Father!! There’s a fire!! A fire has broken out in the armory and food storage…!!!”

After finishing preparations to restrain those spoiled girls and arriving at the entrance of the hut, I questioned a nearby priest about the sudden explosion. One priest who had been moving urgently stopped and began to report.

A fire in the food storage and armory? Could this possibly be someone’s attack?

“Is it an attack! Where’s the enemy?!”

“I-it doesn’t seem like that. The surveillance holy spells are functioning normally, and no intruders have been detected! Others are heading to extinguish the fire and searching the area, but it seems like some kind of accident…!!”

An accident in this situation? A fire occurring right when we’ve obtained sacrifices comparable to a thousand lives and quite excellent high-grade items? Suppressing the urge to strike this stupid lower priest, I activated my mana sight to check the direction of the fire. What I saw then was.

-Whoosh!!

“What is this now…?”

I see a flow of mana equal to that girl Ira in the hut, no, something far more powerful. The massive movement of mana from the center of the fire, as if spreading from the middle of the burning flames, is enough to make me slightly dizzy. So I look back at the hut with suspicion, and those two girls are indeed still inside. Moreover…

[What’s happening?!]

[We suddenly heard a bang! What is it? Can we come out?]

I hear the surprised voices of the Grace family’s second daughter, who had answered when I knocked on the hut earlier, and that girl named Ira who had only made her presence known before. Do they not know what’s happening? Well, for now…

“Would you please wait a moment? There’s been a small accident outside, and it would be dangerous for you to come out. Please don’t worry and wait inside for now.”

It’s better to keep the two girls from coming outside. If this is someone’s attack, the targets are clearly these girls. Moreover, I put a small amount of sleeping drug in the tea I gave them earlier. So when both of them collapse, unable to resist the drowsiness, that would be the best time to move them. An attacker might follow their voices if they hear them.

[…Alright. Please let us know what happened when the problem is resolved. And please prioritize the safety of the conscripted commoners.]

“Of course. Now, just a moment…”

If we’re facing an enemy with such tremendous mana capable of causing those flames, there’s no time to worry about such things. Originally, I don’t care what happens to the other trash anyway. I immediately agree. After all, with just these two girls, we’ve almost completed the sacrifices required by the Empire.

I signal the priest who was reporting to me to guard the entrance of the hut, and after confirming that the girls have quieted down and fallen asleep, to move them. Then I approach the fire scene. If there’s a being with such tremendous mana, the lower priests certainly won’t be able to handle it. Moreover…

‘If I capture that too, we’ll definitely be able to summon all Seven Deadly Sins and have them exert their full power as soon as they’re summoned!’

“…Kekeke. Then this continent will literally be engulfed in calamity. All for the revival of the [Great Holy Nation].”

With a snake-like smile, Billion Helm moved quickly, focusing on the mana at the fire scene. And then.

-Creeak.

“Huh? Oh, you shouldn’t come out…”

“Ehehe.”

Focused only on the enormous mana before him, he failed to notice that as he landed, the entrance to the hut opened and a deeper red than the fire ahead began to move.

*

-Thud!!

“Phew! It’s really hard to knock someone out without using magic!”

“A-are you okay, Ira?”

As soon as the high priest moved away, Ira quietly opened the hut door, approached the priest waiting in front of the door with tiny steps, smiled brightly, and then very cleanly punched him in the solar plexus, and as his waist bent, drove her fist into his chin, making him fall forward.

…I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but Ira is surprisingly the type to throw punches first, isn’t she?

“Yep! Come on, Grace. Let’s go that way!”

“W-wait. Do you know the layout of this garrison? If we wander around aimlessly and get caught by other priests…”

“It’s fine! Piyak, make it bigger!!”

-KWAAANG!!

“!!!”

The flames, which were already bright enough to illuminate the dark night sky, began to burn even more intensely at Ira’s command. Has Piyak’s firepower gotten much stronger than before? Is that really a low-grade spirit? No matter how I look at it, it seems stronger than my intermediate spirit?!

Unaware of my thoughts, Ira dragged the fallen priest into the hut, and due to the increased flames, the priests who had been sporadically visible were now moving to control the fire, not even glancing in our direction. Indeed, with this, they won’t even see us small-statured girls unless they’re specifically looking for us.

“I told Piyak earlier to check the surrounding buildings. He said there are about 20 people crammed into each of those identical small huts over there.”

“Twenty people in one small hut? Wait, then…”

“They’re all suffering, unable to even lie down properly, so let’s hurry!”

Ira pointed to a tiny hut that looked like it could hold five people at most, then grabbed my hand and started running ahead. Somehow, I feel like I’ve been escorted by Ira all day long. Not that I mind, but how should I put it? Like I’ve become a princess? As we arrive near the closest hut and hide, I can see three priests guarding it despite the fire.

“The same surprise attack won’t work this time, will it?”

“…Grace, those two people over there. Can you knock them out with your spirit and magic? I’ll handle that one person.”

Since Piyak is causing a diversion with the fire, Ira asked me to help because she would have difficulty handling two people at once. Well, of course! But…

“Ira. That person looks strong, are you sure you’ll be okay?”

The problem is that the priest Ira said she would handle isn’t an ordinary adult like we’ve seen so far, but someone who’s clearly more than twice our size. Ira can use magic too, but wouldn’t it be difficult to control the power against such a large person? Rather, it might be better if my spirit handles that man and Ira and I together handle those two people…

“Mmm. No. You take the two people on the right. I’ll handle that big person.”

“…Alright. If you fail, I’ll back you up.”

“Okay! I’m counting on you!!”

Today’s Ira, or rather, the Ira I’ve met since arriving at our territory, seems much more proactive than she was at the academy. Of course, her cute smile and adorable gestures with every action are the same as usual, but how should I put it? At the academy, I was the one who led, but today it feels like Ira is leading everything.

Turning away from these thoughts, I quietly summoned a low-grade wind spirit and began chanting a spell, and Ira also began chanting. And then.

“Spirit Cannon, Wind Bomb!”

-BOOM!!

My magic hit the standing priests precisely, and the two who only noticed just before the attack were caught off guard and collapsed, hitting the hut.

‘Great! Now to support Ira…!!’

“Wow! As expected of Grace!! You took down both of them at once?”

“Huh, what?”

When I turned around immediately to support Ira, she was smiling brightly, looking at me instead. Huh? My magic definitely activated first. And where did the enemy go?

“I sent him flying far away! Now, let’s quickly open the hut! People are suffering!”

“Oh, right!”

Noticing my confusion, Ira explained with a bright smile, and I nodded somewhat dazedly and moved immediately. We had the spirit break the lock on the hut, and as soon as we opened the door, an acrid smell like a long-uncleaned toilet wafted out. Ugh…?!!

“Everyone!! Come out quickly!!!”

As I covered my nose in surprise, Ira shouted, and people who were packed so tightly they couldn’t move, like pigs forcibly crammed into a sty, began to look at us with dead eyes.

“…Girls?”

“What are they trying to do now…”

“Now they’re even using children like that.”

“…Disgusting.”

“I-I’ll go first!! My daughter!! Please let me see my daughter!!!”

“My husband!! Where is my husband?! Yesterday, yesterday he followed you people…!!!”

Some spat out curses that were hard to hear, while others let out desperate cries despite seemingly not having the strength to properly scream. Ira kept shouting that they needed to come out quickly, but except for a few, none of them seemed willing to move. What is this…

“Damn it, you think we’re going to go out just to suffer more?!”

“Your daughters and husbands are already dead, don’t you get it?! Not one person taken by those garbage priests has returned here!!”

“Fuck, kill me!! Kill me first, you bastards!!!”

Those who wouldn’t leave the hut despite the foul smell began cursing at us who had come to rescue them. What on earth has the Holy Nation been doing here? No, more importantly…!!

“Ex-excuse me! I’m not from the Holy Nation…!! P-please come out!! We came to rescue y-…!!!”

“Bullshit!! What can a tiny girl like you rescue?!”

“Is that it? Are you that so-called saint in the Holy Nation? Fuck, what the hell are you doing with us?! Now you’re giving us hope and experimenting with our reactions too…!!!”

“Enough!!!”

As curses filled with anger continued toward Ira, who was earnestly saying she came to rescue them, I shouted loudly to silence everyone and glared at those trapped in the hut.

What the hell!! We came to rescue you, and I understand you’re upset because you were captured, but!! That doesn’t justify cursing at Ira!!!

“My name is Grace Muller! I am the second daughter of the Muller Count family that rules this territory!! Ira and I here have come to rescue you who have been unjustly conscripted!! So shut your mouths and come out right now!!!”

As I shouted angrily and told them my name, the eyes of the people who had been looking at us with rotten fish eyes began to fill with surprise.

“S-second daughter?”

“M-Muller Count family’s young lady?”

“Oh, oh!! I-I’ve seen her before!! Sh-she’s the young lady!!!”

“Is, is it true that the lord has come to rescue us?!!”

“Haah, enough. Just come out right now!!”

After telling the people who wouldn’t leave the hut and kept asking in disbelief to hurry up, Ira and I stepped away from the entrance, and more than 20 people poured out of the tiny hut.

“S-so. Where should we go now?”

“…Huh?”

Just as I thought we had started our first rescue, the people who had come outside looked at us like baby birds waiting for food, and at this unexpected question, I blankly stared at Ira. How do we help them escape? If we tell them to walk away like this, they’ll be caught immediately.

“Hehe. Everyone, please go to the best carriage in the stable over there! Get into the brown carriage! Then you can escape from here!!”

And as if answering our question, Ira smiled brightly, apparently planning to cram these people who had been crumpled up in the hut into a carriage.