Leave a comment

Led by Cortina, we headed towards the seventh ward located in the south-southwestern section. It was a dangerous place, but taking her eyes off me was apparently even scarier to her.

Given her suspicions about this being Kufar’s scheme, her decision was unavoidable. Though I could also take this as an opportunity to clear my name of the previous defeat.

Looking up to the sky, I could see some Adventurers using Flight and flying over the roots that divided the city. Adventurers could do this since they acted individually, but the chivalric order that moved as a group didn’t have enough users to cast the spells. This was an option available to Adventurers who were quickly adaptable.

“This is the weakness of large organizations, huh. They don’t have much adaptability.”

Cortina, who was also looking at the sky, clicked her tongue and stopped. After we lowered our gazes, before us was the chivalric order at standstill in front of the gate leading to another division.

Some citizens were fleeing away from the gate, so they were probably the ones that managed to escape through it.

“This is bad.”
“Yes, really bad.”
“Huh, what is?”

The two of us noticed how bad things were, but Mark’s group seemed oblivious.

As Cortina said, the situation wasn’t looking very good. Half-demons had rioted and the chivalric order was sent to suppress them. But the fleeing citizens were blocking their way, so they couldn’t take further action.

In other words, the citizens and knights were confronting each other. It was only a matter of time until they would start pushing through the citizens with the use of force to accomplish their mission.

If that happened, the riots would start to spread out even more. As a result, many casualties would be born from it.

“Nicole, you…can’t use flight, yes?”
“Yea, it’s part of the puppetry system so I have a bad affinity with it. Finia can use it though.”

The flight spell was somewhere between mid to high rank of the puppetry magic. I was focused on one talent so I couldn’t use it, but an all-rounder like Finia could just barely use it now. That said, she wasn’t here now. And Cortina didn’t know a spell of that level either.

“Returning to the inn… no, that would be difficult now.”

The confusion had already started to spread to this western ninth ward. If we made a round trip to the inn, the situation could fall into a panic in the meantime.

“Maria would’ve been able to calm the situation down had she been here. Okay, I’ll see if I can do it myself. The rest of you return to the inn and bring Finia and Maria.”
“Understood!”

Maria’s charisma was practically absolute here in Berith. She would’ve been able to take control of the citizens in place of the Pope. Finia who could use Flight would’ve been useful to have here, even if she could only use it on a few people.

“Ah, wait!”

Cortina stopped Mark and others who were about to run off, then took out a folded paper and a pen pot. Then she quickly scribbled something on the paper, folded it into four, and handed it over to Mark.

“If you find Lyell and Cloud at the inn, give them this memo. If not, then dispose of it. Make sure you do.”
“Huh? Okay, understood.”

Mark bent his head in puzzlement, not understanding her intentions, but these guys wouldn’t refuse Cortina’s request. Hearing his reply, she barged into the maelstrom of confusion ahead to give directions in the place of the knights’ commander.

Although not to Maria’s level, she was still popular to a degree too. But given that this was a religious kingdom, it was probably not as effective as in other cities.”

She would probably have quite a bit of trouble. She most likely gave those instructions because she expected that.

“Okay, Mark, John, Tony. We’re returning to the inn!”
“Gotcha!”

With Cortina getting involved, the knights should be able to regain control at least to a degree. Even if her influence wasn’t big here, she should still have enough authority as one of the Six Heroes to accomplish at least that much.

However, it would have no influence on the citizens that were flooding in. And unless they were stopped, the chivalric order wouldn’t be able to reach the area of riot. She could only manage to suppress the spread of the riot. To stop it, they needed the Pope or Maria who held even more charisma.

“I don’t know if Maria is at the inn but… Hmm?”

I suddenly stopped.

I knew that I had to get Maria here as fast as possible. But even so, I saw something that made me stop. There was a small crowd formed before us as we entered a narrow alley. For a moment, I saw the figure of a small girl from the gaps at their feet. And their legs were swung towards that girl.

“Kya—agh!”

Her scream was cut short, probably due to a kick in the gut. Either way, I couldn’t overlook it now that I had seen it. Even if wasting time here would lead to more people dying, I couldn’t abandon the girl before my eyes. This is how I’ve been since the old days.

“You three, sorry but go on ahead and call Maria.”
“Huh, what about you, Nicole?”
“I’ll go save her!”

I ran off without waiting for their reply. I understood full well that my simplistic thinking has brought a lot of bad fame to me. But even so, overlooking this would be like stopping being myself.

“Wait, you people!”
“Huuh?”

The men surrounding the little girl turned around at my sudden intrusion. Thanks to that, I managed to get a proper look at the girl. She wore tattered clothes and looked to be around ten years old. She had a small horn on her forehead, making it clear that she was a half-demon.

The clothes of the surrounding men weren’t as dirty in comparison. They were probably doing proper work normally. But hearing that the riot was half-demons’ doing, they directed their wrath at the innocent half-demon they found nearby, huh? Unfortunately, this was a common occurrence during these kinds of chaotic situations.

“What are you doing to that kid? Isn’t she just a little child?”
“But she’s a half-demon! They were the ones that caused a riot in the south. Where’s the proof that she isn’t with them.”
“Where’s the proof that she’s with them then? Besides… she’s just a child.”

I said and stepped forward with my left leg. Doing so should’ve allowed them to see the katana on my waist.

Being ordinary citizens, they weren’t armed. No well, they weren’t completely unarmed, but their weapons were daily use items like rolling pins and mops. They were nothing compared to the intimidating air of a katana that was specifically forged for bloodshed.

As their gazes focused on my waist, I made use of the timing and put a hand on the scabbard, and unsheathed it slightly with my thumb.

Seeing how they took a step back looking overpowered, I realized that they saw the blade peeking from the slight gap.

“B-But…”
“But what?”
“No, well…”

This time, I lightly put my right arm over the hilt and slowly gripped it. Then I took a posture from which I could unsheathe it at a moment’s notice.

The men who were being overwhelmed by me should have realized that too. That said, since my left leg was forward, this posture was unsuitable for making a slash from the sheathed state.

Naturally, I understood that well, but I wasn’t actually planning to unsheathe it against ordinary citizens.

“Kh, if a riot happens in the western ward, it would be on you!”
“Hey, wait for me?!”

Succumbing to the pressure, one of the men spit that out and tried to leave the place. Seeing that, the rest of the men also ran off at once. Once I confirmed that they were gone, I relaxed my guard and rushed over towards the girl.