“Five locations… you’ve discovered quite a lot.”
The head of the coalition, Halo Mild, let out an honest expression of admiration.
“Yes, but it’s not fully confirmed yet.”
“Even so, are you planning to strike first?”
“I’ll have to. There’s no other way to find more.”
“The whereabouts of the Sewer Rat and Miss Sue are also still unknown, aren’t they?”
“Yes, I don’t think they’ll show themselves.”
The Sewer Rat and Miss Sue had already lost their power in the underground city.
No matter how violent the underground city might be, even it had to bow its head in the face of terrorism charges.
Having witnessed the Empire’s wrath 38 years ago, they likely hoped to quietly let this pass once again.
If the two were to reappear, they would be the first to be subdued and offered to the coalition.
“Like I mentioned before, we have sufficient troops.”
“Then we should move quickly. We’re fully prepared on our end as well. Shall we begin immediately?”
“That sounds good.”
The nobles affiliated with the council had already begun to sense Mild’s movements.
It was only natural, in a way.
The military of the coalition, which rarely took action, was now rising to its feet.
According to the adjutant’s report, there was already news that several nobles were gathering to carry out political maneuvers, so there was no point in delaying any longer.
“Also, it would be good to keep a list of those stirring up trouble through politics.”
“…I was just about to do that.”
Some might simply be trying to remove Mild from the political arena, driven by greed for the power that would slip away with his departure, but there would also be those with different motives.
For example, those who had already been swayed by Nameless
These are the same ones who have already swayed even the king of Haiel.
So, there was no reason why the coalition would be exempt.
Mild silently lamented to himself that he was experiencing all sorts of troubles at the twilight of his political career.
***
“We’ve arrived, Your Highness.”
“Hmm. So this is the place.”
Anastasia who was standing at the entrance of a quiet village spoke while equipped with gear that Shane had personally delivered.
Next to her stood the Lampert Adventurer Party who had entered the Great Mezaiya Forest with Shane two years ago and stood in neat formation.
The party leader Eleksa had a particularly stern expression on her face despite not being a soldier, and throughout the journey, she hadn’t once been able to meet Anastasia’s gaze.
“I’ve told you many times that what happened back then was unavoidable. There wasn’t enough time to call you. Don’t burden yourself with guilt.”
“N-No, not at all.”
During the war with the orcs, Eleksa had been exploring dungeons at the time, so by the time she received the news, much of the situation had already been resolved.
The fact that she had been wandering around from one dungeon to another without even knowing that a big incident had happened in her hometown filled Eleksa with a huge sense of guilt.
Because of this, there was a determined resolve in her expression.
Even though I can never fully atone for my past mistake… this time, I must resolve the situation perfectly and be of help to Her Highness.
Anastasia had wanted, time and again, to ease Eleksa of such guilt, but in the end, it was something she would have to overcome on her own.
The other members of her party seemed to share Eleksa’s burden. They walked ahead with equally grim expressions.
Soon, they arrived at a cave not far from the village.
The cave was so deep that its interior was barely visible and shrouded in darkness. The group heightened their vigilance as they cautiously entered.
***
Marcellus, the leader of the White Tree Adventurers was a man with a rugged beard and innocent eyes that did not match his huge size.
However, today those eyes were burning with fiery rage.
Similar to Marcellus, the muscular adventurers filled with anger stood at the entrance of an abandoned village and looked to him for direction.
“Comrades! Do you hear? The screams of innocent souls!”
“””We hear!”””
“Do you see? The overwhelming malice of our enemies!”
“””We see!”””
“Good! Today, we are here to capture the scum who enslaved the weak and caused suicide bombings! Today, our swords will be stained with the blood of our own kind. Does that scare you?”
“””Never!”””
“Good! Remember that the less blood we shed today, the fewer tears the weak will cry! This is the duty we must bear as those who hold power! Is it not so?”
“””Our muscles have been built for this very day!”””
“Tears are falling. I am proud of you! Let’s go, to restore justice!”
Having previously heard some information about the terrorist incident from Olicia, Marcellus accepted her request without a moment’s hesitation.
How righteous!
Despite being potential targets of political attacks, Olicia and her comrades sought to resolve the situation independently without a second thought.
For Marcellus, who was a lover of justice, it was impossible not to be deeply moved.
They were proud to be present at this moment. And so they boldly took up their weapons and stepped forward to bring justice to life.
***
A sharp dagger flew through the darkness.
But Klein easily blocked the dagger flying straight for his neck.
“Be careful. There’s something on the blade.”
“It’s obviously poison. How cowardly.”
In response to Klein’s small warning, his fellow adventurer Al Ross gritted his teeth and said so.
Based on the information gathered by the dark elves, Klein and his party made their way to the abandoned, dilapidated mansion. They kept their guard up, ready to face any enemies that might appear.
Could they be the subordinates of the sewer rat who had vanished earlier?
Ragged beggars hurled poison-tipped daggers, and others sprang out from beneath worn frames to attempt assassinations. They launched various attacks to put pressure on Klein.
However, after experiencing two years of war in Arunvida, the party had grown all too familiar with such ambushes. They easily blocked the attacks at their source and eventually completed their search of the mansion.
“The resistance wasn’t as fierce as I thought it would be.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
While Klein had played a major role, Artia’s constant magical scans to monitor the environment and Dilaila’s connection to Earth to track enemies had been valuable.
Al Ross and Alex stood by. They were guarding the two mages and preparing for any sudden ambushes.
How far had they ventured inside by now?
“Ugh…”
“What’s wrong?”
As they pressed forward, Dilaila frowned and Artia had to ask.
“Over there. That statue.”
As they entered the mansion’s back garden, they found a half-destroyed bronze statue.
Dilaila sensed a strong emotion emanating from the statue.
Most of it was deeply dark and somber.
“There seems to be a passageway beneath it.”
“Alright.”
As they moved the statue, just as Dilaila had said, a passageway leading downward was revealed.
“It seems… only non-humans are inside.”
Thanks to Dilaila’s earlier communication with the earth, which confirmed no enemies within, the group quickly entered and came face-to-face with the non-humans.
“Hi-hic…”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Their joy at finding the non-humans was short-lived.
The moment the group saw the condition of the abducted non-humans, they were left speechless.
Every single one of them was barely clothed and trapped in a filthy basement that resembled a pigsty. Their health was in obvious ruin.
Dilaila stepped forward and spoke.
“E-Everyone. We’ve come from the coalition. Please, don’t be afraid, follow us and we’ll get you out of here.”
Perhaps it was thanks to Dilaila’s sharp fangs.
At first, they looked at Klein’s group in fear, but when Dilaila who was a fellow non-human continued to reassure them, their expressions gradually began to change.
“A-Are you really from the coalition…?”
“Yes, yes. We were sent by the Council themselves to find you, so you can relax now.”
“Ahh…”
As the next words were spoken, the enslaved non-humans shed their long-dried tears.
They had believed they no longer had any tears left to cry, but now they saw a glimmer of hope for life.
Klein watched the non-humans slowly regain their composure. With a heavy expression, he pulled a communication crystal from his cloak.
“Phew… I’ll go ahead and make the report.”
“Got it. We’ll stand guard, so take your time.”
Al Ross and Alex began keeping watch around the area, while Klein stepped outside the basement and attempted to make contact.
“Ah, Princess, you’re still there.”
[Of course. Did everything go well?]
“Yes. Fortunately, we’ve found the non-humans safely.”
[That’s a relief. I’ll send a transport crew, so if you could wait just a bit—huh?]
At that moment, Olicia who was reflected in the crystal suddenly turned her gaze to the side, and the crystal’s magic dispersed quickly, cutting off the communication.
Just as Klein was about to reconnect, wondering what had happened—
“Kyahhh—! Alex!”
“……?!”
A surge of immense magical power rushed out from the basement he had just exited, and Artia’s scream echoed through the air.
***
Clang—!
“Kyaaah!”
At the same time, an unexpected blackout occurred, and the sound of shattering windows caused Olicia to instinctively scream.
The figure that entered through the broken window rushed straight toward her upon hearing her scream.
“Stop.”
In that urgent moment, another figure emerged from under Olysia’s shadow and stopped the intruder.
Just a single word: “Stop.”
That alone made the intruder’s eyes widen.
Literally, their body froze and they couldn’t move.
W-What…?!
The intruder desperately tried to move, but their body refused to obey.
“Who are you?”
A young girl’s voice came from the front, drawing the intruder’s gaze.
From the darkness, a pair of eyes glowed blood-red as they calmly observed the intruder.
It was like a rabbit facing a lion.
Although the figure was much smaller than the intruder, the overwhelming presence seemed to crush them.
“You’re not going to answer? Well, fine. It would’ve been easier if you spoke before dying.”
Her voice was indifferent and was carrying a faint hint of pity.
Was she planning to torture him?
As the intruder became aware of the poison pill hidden in their teeth, Olicia finally regained her senses and turned her gaze to the figure with the red eyes.
“E-Evelyn? When did you get here?”
“Mm. Master told me to stay here just in case.”
“Ah…”
Of course, it must have been Shane’s arrangement.
Olicia, who had felt secure, never expected an intruder to appear in Arunvida like this. With a sigh of relief she asked Evelyn.
“What about the others?”
“Mhmm. Around twenty of these guys came. Eight are here. The rest went toward Master.”
“.…..?!”
The intruder was startled at those words.
Right after he had entered and taken Olicia as a hostage, the soldiers who were supposed to escort him had been immediately discovered.
He tried desperately to shift his gaze behind him, but Evelyn’s voice came again.
“It’s no use. Anyway… the ones outside can’t move either. As for the ones who went to Master… mhmm. They’ve already been eaten.”
Eaten?
Before he could even begin to understand what she meant, the intruder lost consciousness and collapsed with nothing more than a casual gesture from Evelyn’s hand.
***
“A-Ah…!”
“Hey, hey Alex! Hey you bastard! Open your eyes! Don’t close them!”
As soon as Klein entered, the first thing he was met with was the heavy scent of smoke and blood, filling the scorched basement.
“What the hell…”
Alex was lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. His side was ripped open as if he had been slashed by something massive.
Al Ross, in a panic, pulled a flask containing the essence of an elf from his pocket and frantically inspected Alex’s wound.
Dilaila stood dazed as if she had lost something. She just stared blankly at the huge earthen wall she had just raised.
The last one to scream was Artia…
“I-I couldn’t help it. Alex, Alex…”
“Aaaah!!”
Dilaila’s crazed scream drowned out Artia’s excuses. She shattered the charred earthen wall and charged forward.
Beyond the wall, the scene was grim—charred corpses stood upright; they died in place.
“What is this…”
The non-humans who had clung to hope only moments before had been burned alive,
In the midst of the chaos, Klein, who felt the heavy weight of responsibility as team leader, grabbed Artia’s shoulders, who still hadn’t come to her senses, and asked urgently.
“Artia. What happened?”
“A-Ah…”
Artia who had been staring down at her hands snapped back to reality at Klein’s voice and looked up at him. Her eyes were wet with tears.
“R-Right after you left, Dilaila was talking to those people and then…”
“And then?”
“They suddenly went berserk. Without any warning, as if it was natural…”
“What? Without any doping pills?”
“Y-Yeah… That time, Dilaila hit the wall, but just before that, Alex stepped in to protect Al Ross from an attack… H-He got hurt instead… I was so shocked!”
Seeing Alex collapse in front of her, bleeding, Artia instinctively unleashed magic from her fingertips which led to the current situation.
Two years ago, Artia had received personal training from Shane, and her power had since grown to the point where she was practically a walking weapon of war.
The magic she unleashed at that moment was enough to kill the rampaging non-humans instantly, and Dilaila, who had been in deep communication with Earth, witnessed their deaths right before her eyes, causing her a severe mental shock.
“Haa… Artia, listen to me. There was nothing else you could have done, alright? You did your best to protect the team. The only one at fault here is me for letting my guard down too early. So, please, take care of Alex.”
“O-Okay.”
Unlike her usual confident self, Artia seemed stunned, perhaps shocked by the scene she had unintentionally caused.
Still in a daze, she finally rushed over to Alex and began tending to him.
Meanwhile, Klein, with a deeply somber expression on his face, approached Dilaila who was still screaming hysterically. He struck her in the back of the neck, knocking her unconscious.
It had been to prevent any further mishaps.
“Ah…”
Klein bit his lip, but it was already too late.
There wasn’t a single survivor among the non-humans.
A deep sense of defeat consumed Klein as he stared at the charred remains of a child in a corner.
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