Ch.492Situation Summary

We retreated from the walls of Arvil to hold a strategy meeting.

It wasn’t an elaborate discussion. We had too little information about the enemy to form a perfect plan.

“Let’s start by… organizing what we know for certain. Looking at Arvil, it’s clear that the cultists have occupied the entire city. We must assume the Church of Saulite and Church of Imela have also fallen victim. That disgusting ritual… I can barely bring myself to speak of it.”

Lacy’s face contorted like a starved chihuahua.

Her expression couldn’t hide her contempt and hatred for the atrocities committed by the enemy. If Valkers were standing before her, she looked ready to flay him alive piece by piece.

“It doesn’t seem to be a trap set for us. If they knew we were coming, they would have positioned people near the entrance. While you, Lady Elmaine, and Lord Median were resisting the mind control ritual, they could have easily ambushed and annihilated all of us without difficulty.”

Agnes sighed with relief as she spoke.

As she said, if Mein or the cultists had attacked while I was still under mind control, we might have been wiped out like a bad joke and used by them.

Perhaps I might have broken free from the mind control immediately upon sensing danger from a sudden attack… but that’s something we’ll never know without experiencing it.

“It’s the protection of Lady Astraea, Lord Elpinel, and Lord Menes. Evil always plots vile and cunning schemes, but all things eventually flow toward the righteous path. The gods sent us here because the time for judgment has come.”

“Yes. That must be it.”

I covered my mouth with my left hand, glaring at the walls of Arvil while exhaling cigarette smoke.

A mix of complicated feelings and hatred stirred up murderous intent.

What lay inside was hell disguised as daily life.

It was an act of cruelty that made me shudder. For the women being “used,” and for the men using them.

Even if we slaughtered all the Mein and cultists to break their mind control, the terrible memories they’ve already experienced wouldn’t disappear.

Such memories brand themselves into the mind like hot irons, leaving eternal scars.

“We have to kill them all…!”

Millia couldn’t hide her anger either.

Understandably so. She couldn’t forgive the evil deeds the villains had committed against the city’s residents, nor could she forgive herself for trying to cling to the city’s residents when she left the carriage.

All that anger was directed at the cultists.

“I’m deeply ashamed, Lord Haschal…”

Nigel looked ready to prostrate himself in apology, head bowed low.

It seemed to be the most humiliating experience of his entire life.

It appears he was more shocked by falling for the enemy’s trick and removing all my lower garments than by exposing himself. That was nearly a case of force majeure, so he could have dismissed it with a simple apology like Leonore. He’s certainly conscientious.

—-

“What’s their purpose?”

Demian muttered quietly.

Not knowing emotions means one’s judgment isn’t clouded by them.

Rather than being angry at the enemy’s evil deeds, Demian was coldly contemplating the reason behind such a ritual.

“Purpose… Good point. If it’s not a trap set for us, there must be a reason for putting the city in such a state…”

“Well… that Valkers, judging by his past actions, was an incredibly perverted bastard. Maybe there isn’t some grand reason—perhaps this chaos itself is the purpose?”

Leonore clicked her tongue, shooting a contemptuous glare at Arvil.

It was a reasonable argument. Valkers’ hobby was creating discord between people and enjoying the spectacle.

With the entire city reduced to that state, simply breaking the mind control later would create exactly the kind of scene he enjoyed.

“If Valkers were our only enemy, that might be the case. However, I don’t think a city-scale ritual combining at least three powers would be deployed just for Valkers’ entertainment. There must be another reason.”

“…Eljur.”

Hush suddenly mentioned his former superior’s name, as if just remembering something.

“Ah. Come to think of it, you were part of the Council of Dream Utopia, weren’t you? Seems like you’ve remembered something?”

Agnes glared at Hush, showing her persistent animosity.

Despite the chilling gaze making him sweat profusely, Hush continued speaking.

“W-well. Could it be Lady Eljur’s… no, that Eljur woman’s revenge…? She was excommunicated from the Church of Imela for doing such things.”

“Indeed…”

“Revenge in the same manner…? As always, those tainted by evil never reflect on their sins…”

Lacy and Ceylon nodded. It was quite a plausible speculation.

The hellscape spread across Arvil was essentially a recreation of the village Eljur had created. The only difference was the method—mind control instead of persuasion.

Paying back the Church of Imela, which had excommunicated her for promoting orgies, by plunging them into an orgy. It was the kind of revenge an evil woman who had abandoned all conscience and humanity might devise.

—-

Both Leonore’s argument and Hush’s speculation had merit. They weren’t mutually exclusive either.

So it was reasonable to assume both were true.

Valkers and Eljur. The two villains likely collaborated while looking forward to the same spectacle, each for their own motives.

Considering that the mind control ritual incorporated three different powers, there was probably another collaborator with yet another reason.

“So… what do we do now?”

Ceylon answered Agnes’s question.

“A frontal assault is… too dangerous. Many would be sacrificed. As long as that mind control ritual exists, they can use the residents as hostages or troops at any time.”

With a furrowed brow, he voiced his unpleasant conclusion as if warning us.

As Ceylon said, if we charged in openly, they would certainly use the residents as shields.

The perfectly mind-controlled residents would fight to the death to stop us.

“So we need to deal with that ritual first… doesn’t look easy.”

I flicked my cigarette, scattering the burnt ash as I muttered.

While mind control itself could be blocked by casting mental defense miracles, dismantling a power spread throughout an entire city was an entirely different matter.

Besides, it might be impossible to dismantle the ritual before eliminating its casters.

“Can’t we just knock them all unconscious? Mind control becomes meaningless if consciousness itself is gone. An unconscious body won’t move on its own.”

“Oh… that’s true…?”

Leonore calmly pointed out the obvious solution.

Finding it reasonable, Lacy murmured and nodded blankly.

“Ah. Might be difficult for the young lady? You might blow their heads off while trying to knock them out.”

Hey, even I can control my strength to that degree.

…Though I can’t say there’s absolutely no possibility of mistakes.

“Let’s test it first. We should capture someone under mind control and interrogate them to investigate.”

After finishing her words, Lacy looked at Hush with an accusatory expression, as if asking why he wasn’t volunteering.

Her gaze was filled with blatant pressure. Hush’s face turned ashen.

“Um… Lady Elmaine…? Why are you looking at me like that…?”

“Kidnapping is your specialty, isn’t it? It’s not like you haven’t done it before, so you should have no problem doing it again, right?”

“Ugh… well… that is… I mean…”

Hush tried desperately to refuse, saying the enemy might have noticed our arrival, but as always, he only had half the human rights others did.

That meant his right to survival was recognized, but not his right to refuse.

Well, his concern was valid.

While the residents showed no particular reaction, there was a high possibility that the enemy already knew about our carriage resisting the mind control and escaping from Arvil.

There wouldn’t be many who successfully overcame the mind control and retreated.

If the enemy had any brains, they would have immediately figured out the identity of the visitors.

In the worst case, they might attack all at once the moment we carelessly re-entered, as if they had been waiting for us.

Hush alone wouldn’t be able to withstand such an ambush.

So…

“I’ll go with you. If we climb the walls instead of using the gate, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”

I had to step up myself.

—-

After persuading my companions who objected saying it might be dangerous, I headed back toward Arvil with Hush.

With blessings cast by Lacy and Agnes enveloping my entire body.

In Hush’s case, perhaps because he was only half-human, Elpinel’s miracle had little effect, but Menes’s miracle seemed to work relatively well. Agnes was a bit displeased about that.

While the light of the miracles remained, Hush and I jumped onto Arvil’s walls and infiltrated the city. We grabbed the first woman we encountered, knocked her unconscious without warning, carried her on my back, and leaped back over the walls.

Contrary to Hush’s concerns, it was an incredibly smooth abduction.