episode_0121

“Everyone, enter your designated positions. No one should escape from here from now on, not even a single ant.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Following the Knight Commander’s orders, the soldiers and knights of the kingdom moved in unison.

Vice Knight Commander Mirabel also led her troops to enter the underground waterway from the rear.

It was a kingdom’s operation to eradicate crime, but in reality, it was a ruthless massacre operation.

It was a drastic measure to eliminate the dark guild that had grown to be a substantial threat to the kingdom all at once, but the plan was absurd.

Mirabel sighed deeply, hoping that Yunoa would safely escape as planned.

“Vice Commander Mirabel, both exits 7 and 8 have been sealed off.”

“Detach half of the troops from exit 7 to support exits 5 and 6.”

Exit 7 was the entrance Yunoa was supposed to escape from.

Mirabel planned to minimize the troops at exit 7 as promised and weaken the blockade to make it easier for Yunoa to break through.

“Yes? But the Commander’s orders…”

“I am the one commanding this unit. Did you forget?”

“Oh, yes… I apologize!”

Conflicting opinions among commanders were common, so there was no need to doubt to this extent.

Even if the commander made a somewhat unusual decision, the soldiers would think that the commander had a reason only known to them and would follow.

Mirabel was the one commanding this unit, not the Knight Commander.

“And we want to minimize civilian casualties in our assigned area. Especially the residents of the slums and the slaves held in the slave market, try to save them if possible.”

“Yes? But… then the operation orders…”

“The main goal of the Knights is to protect the lives and property of the kingdom’s citizens. Even if such an operation is carried out in the kingdom, we must not forget the Knights’ main goal.”

Mirabel said firmly.

In fact, this order was unnecessary.

If the fact that she gave such an order became known to the Knight Commander or higher-ups, she might face severe disciplinary action.

However, besides helping the demons escape from the demon protection facility, Mirabel could not turn a blind eye to the lives of other innocent people in the slums and underground waterways.

Of course, even if Mirabel gave orders, the area she was responsible for in this operation was very limited.

She would not be able to save everyone.

But even so, she wanted to save as many people as possible.

“Do you understand?”

Mirabel asked her subordinates once again.

“Yes, yes! Understood.”

The unit led by Mirabel replied in a tense voice.

***

Screams echoed in all directions.

Sounds of fighting and the smell of something burning began to fill the air.

People were running around in chaos, trying to escape from this place in a hurry, creating a scene of chaos.

It was like hell, but Mirabel’s judgment that escaping on the day of the operation might be better was correct.

The surroundings were so chaotic that no one paid attention to us in the underground waterway.

Rather, it became a situation where only the kingdom’s army and knights needed to be concerned, so I led the demons towards the exit.

“What’s that? That is…”

When we arrived at the exit designated by Mirabel, a strange sight unfolded before us.

The bodies of the kingdom’s soldiers were scattered everywhere.

The people guarding the exit were all dead.

“Those bastards! The encirclement has been broken! Capture them!”

At that moment, soldiers chased after us from behind, shouting towards us.

What on earth happened? We didn’t do anything.

“Run!”

I shouted towards the demons and entered the passage leading to the slums on the surface, avoiding the soldiers chasing after us.

Aruru and the other demons were all following without anyone falling behind.

Since all the soldiers guarding the exit were already dead, it was much easier to escape.

But what is this uneasy feeling…?

“The kingdom’s plan to clear out the slums and underground waterways was disrupted by the counterattack of a man known as the King of the Underground.

Anticipating that the kingdom would eventually meddle with the underground waterways, he had secretly built up his power behind the scenes.

Now, the underground waterways had turned into a battlefield where the kingdom’s army centered around the knights, mercenaries, and assassination squads of the rebellion were entangled in fierce combat.”

What is this all about?

A rebellion? Was there such a thing in these underground waterways?

If the kingdom’s soldiers guarding the exit were harmed, does that mean it was the doing of the rebellion?

In the midst of the sudden chaos, one thing was clear – the soldiers chasing us right now mistakenly believed that the bodies lying at the exit were our doing.

“Capture them! Capture and kill those criminals! Request backup!”

Ururur!

The number of soldiers chasing us increased.

Well, even if they knew it wasn’t our doing, they wouldn’t just let us go, but it still felt unfair.

In reality, we could have stood and fought against the pursuing soldiers if we wanted to, but we continued to flee.

Our goal was not to fight and defeat the kingdom’s army, but to escape from this place.

“What is this…?”

And finally, when we emerged to the surface, I witnessed the sight of more kingdom soldiers’ bodies scattered in the slums.

The pursuing soldiers, momentarily taken aback by the sight, lost their fierce momentum.

“What is happening…?”

Puff!

At that moment, one of the soldiers chasing us collapsed, coughing up blood from his throat.

The confused soldiers looked around frantically and scattered.

Puff! Puff!

But the soldiers continued to fall one by one, spitting up blood from attacks coming from who knows where.

Sensing the threat, I quickly realized where the attacks were coming from.

“Is it from the rooftops!”

The attacks were coming from above the roofs.

Upon closer inspection, I saw suspicious figures dressed in clothes similar to the color of the roofs throwing small daggers to kill the kingdom soldiers.

It was clear that they were the assassination squad led by the King of the Underground.

Could it be that they are also attacking us?

If so, we had no choice but to respond.

Sensing magic, I felt a considerable amount of power in the flying daggers.

In adventurer terms, each of them possessed skills equivalent to Silver rank or higher.

“Everyone, be careful!”

I shouted to the anxious demons.

Including Aruru, the demons had a certain level of combat ability.

With their powerful physical abilities derived from demon blood, they wouldn’t easily fall.

But if the assassins on the rooftops targeted us, there was no guarantee that all the demons could be protected.

It seemed that the scale of the rebellion fighting in the underground waterways was larger than expected.

If they didn’t attack first, there was no point in increasing the enemy unnecessarily.

Puff! Thwack!

“Aaah!”

The number of kingdom soldiers chasing us noticeably decreased.

The assassins on the rooftops were concentrating their attacks on the kingdom soldiers, reducing their numbers.

“Quick, this way!”

Fortunately, the assassins did not attack us.

To them, we seemed like people who had just escaped from the underground waterways.

Not missing the opportunity, I led the demons to flee the slums.

The situation was different from what was expected, but it was still a chance to escape from here.

Whether the rebellion and the kingdom’s army fought or not, the priority was to safely evacuate the demons.

“The rebellion prepared by the King of the Underground seemed to have turned the vast wealth accumulated in the underground waterways into power.”

The kingdom had no idea that the dark underground waterway faction was organizing a rebellion of this magnitude.

A significant number of kingdom soldiers surrounding the slum area fell to the rebel forces, and even the knights were struggling.

At that moment, the narration clarified the chaotic current situation.

A tremendous event was unfolding, more than I had anticipated.

But I didn’t want to take sides in this conflict.

Both the kingdom and the rebels are nothing but trash.

I didn’t care if they fought each other to the death.

The only thing that worried me was Vice Captain Mirabel.

She must be reluctantly fighting on the side of the kingdom right now.

She had mentioned pulling out some troops for our escape, but now that the situation had escalated, it seemed like it had been in vain.

I hoped she would stay safe.

“Everyone, head to the surface! Do not advance further into the underground waterway!”

How did it come to this?

Mirabel fought against rebels who appeared out of nowhere, shouting at her subordinates.

The surroundings were already a chaotic mix of enemies and allies, and more rebel reinforcements were pouring in from the underground.

The kingdom’s regular troops were no match, and even the knights were being pushed back by the overwhelming numbers and strength of the enemy.

Who knew they had gathered such forces in the underground waterway?

“Ha…!”

Mirabel cut down a rebel who appeared before her, parrying a dagger with her sword and charging forward.

She had expected this operation to be a one-sided massacre by the kingdom.

That’s why she had thought she needed to save the civilians who would be slaughtered.

But now, Mirabel had no time to think about such things; she had to worry about her own life.

“Vice Captain Mirabel! We’ve reached our limit! We’re surrounded!”

A knight from Mirabel’s unit approached and shouted.

He was bleeding heavily from one shoulder.

The situation was so dire that finding an uninjured soldier was difficult.

But the unit had ventured too deep into the underground waterway to easily find a way out to the surface.

The kingdom’s operation to clear the waterway had been a complete failure.

And due to the inefficient deployment of troops for Yunoa’s escape, the casualties had increased when facing the rebels.

Although this outcome was not what was intended with a single order, Mirabel’s unit was on the brink of annihilation.

“We barely made it out… Thanks to the appearance of the rebels, we were able to escape easily…”

Leading the demons out of the slum area, we arrived at the first outpost prepared by Algot near the capital.

Our escape plan involved passing through a total of four outposts.

Since ordinary carriages were not an option, Algot had arranged for carriages to transport us.

Although time was tight, it seemed that preparations had been made just in time.

The carriage carrying ten demons was designed to move to Kubel’s outpost through a route designed to minimize encounters with people.

As it was not a normal route, we planned to rest at the four outposts and move slowly at night to avoid attracting attention.

“Welcome, there’s still time before nightfall, so please rest here for now.”

A man from our side who had hidden the carriage at the outpost said to me.

The demons, relieved to have somehow escaped that hellish ordeal, relaxed and rested, some sitting on the ground or leaning against the wall.

“If we’ve made it this far, we should be able to safely reach Kubel. Algot has made sure of that.”

“That’s a relief.”

The outpost was a makeshift building hidden in the remote forest near Piphnel.

The lush bushes and trees were camouflaged, with guards positioned around the perimeter.

Looking flustered and anxious, Algot showed that this kind of preparation was indeed necessary.

Her unusually wide network of connections and power as a guild master must have been helpful in situations like this.

“What are those guys… Besides the kingdom’s army, there are a lot of other people. Have you seen them?” Aruru approached me, covering her lower abdomen.

Are you talking about the rebel forces?

Although the narration explained their identity, other demons like Aruru might not understand the situation.

Seeing the rebels emerging from the underground waterway, it was clear that they were not of ordinary size.

Considering the narration’s mention of the kingdom’s army and knights struggling, the kingdom might be in quite a dangerous situation.

Despite successfully escaping to a safe place, I couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

The rebels appearing from the underground waterway and turning the kingdom into chaos was honestly beyond my control.

Thinking about what the kingdom was planning, I didn’t really want to get involved.

However, Mirabel, who had been helping us as the deputy commander of the royal guard and supervisor of the demon sanctuary, was in the underground waterway.

I wondered how she was doing now. Should she just leave with the demons to Kuber as planned?

“Yunoa was worried about Mirabel, who was unavoidably left behind in the underground waterway.

The rebel forces prepared by the underground king, Lotus, were much stronger than expected.

The unit led by Mirabel naturally clashed with the rebels and engaged in a bloody battle.”

At that moment, the narration informed me of the situation in the underground waterway.

It seems to be unfolding that way. I hope everything turns out okay.

“Wh-what…”

In essence, Mirabel was facing defeat in the underground waterway.

She was always a kind person who took care of Meruru and me whenever I visited the demon sanctuary.

But now, she was forced to participate in an unwanted operation and ended up falling to the rebels.

It was all in vain, but she even reduced the forces at the escape route to make it easier for me to escape.

Knowing Mirabel’s fate, I couldn’t just leave with Kuber pretending not to know.

“What should I do…”

But I was the one responsible for the ten demons here.

If I went back to the underground waterway to save Mirabel and something happened to the demons, what would I do?

Should I continue as planned and head to Kuber with the demons, or should I go to rescue Mirabel?

“Um, please wait here until I come back.”

I finally told the man guarding the base.

“What? But…”

“Something urgent came up. Please keep these people hidden until then.”

Algot’s prepared base had a good location and clear defenses.

As long as I was gone for a short while, the demons staying here wouldn’t be in big trouble.

On the other hand, if I didn’t go, Mirabel would definitely be defeated and killed.

If Mirabel died, the demons here, including Algot, would be deeply saddened.

I couldn’t leave behind such a troubling situation.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

Leaving the demons at the base, I headed back to the kingdom’s capital, Pifnel, alone.