Chapter 36: Burial Chamber of Angels (part two)
Auguste and the dragons were gone, and the people who were like dolls who had lost their souls were closing in.
It was my first time to jump into the zombie-like crowd that were approaching and swaying while muttering nonsense with blank expressions, I felt nervous.
However, when I realized that they didn’t attack people like real zombies, I stroke my chest in relief.
Although there was no direct life-threatening risk, caution was necessary.
If I got caught in the flow of the crowd, I didn’t know where I would be washed away.
Indeed, I saw some people from Aurelia who kept their sanity being carried far away, surrounded by the controlled people.
Because they were being controlled, the only salvation was that accidents such as shovelling didn’t occur.
“Huh? Speaking of which, where is Tir……?”
Tirnanog was more powerful than human beings and he should be able to move through the gap between people as he was tiny.
So it was unlikely that the crowd swept him away.
No way, I wondered if he followed Auguste with other dragons.
In the midst of this great confusion, it would be quite difficult to even think of meeting up.
When I was watching from the shade so as not to be caught up in the crowd, I could see shadows flying about on the roof.
They seemed to be alchemists of Aurelia and mages of Harvan, guessing from their clothes.
Aah, that’s right.
Because I tried to move on the ground, I got caught in the crowd.
If that was the case, I needed to move on a place where the people who were being controlled couldn’t get in the way, such as on top of the building or in the air.
Searching for a wand suitable for moving in the air such as Levitation or Leap that Tirnanog had put inside the bag.
Hmm, if I only wanted to climb the roof, then I needed Levitation to move upwards, but if I wanted to jump from roof-to-roof, then I needed Leap that would strengthen my jumping power.
Since I was looking for Auguste or Tirnanog, I also needed a wand for that.
“So you are here, Erica. I’m glad you are fine.”
While I was struggling with several kinds of wands, I was unexpectedly spoken to from above my head.
Looking up, there was the figure of Otou-sama who had gathered a group of alchemists and mages.
☆
The moment when Auguste’s telepathic attack occurred, Otou-sama was analyzing the magic tool collected from Blackcurrant with other alchemists and mages.
He seemed to have noticed something was wrong when the mages fainted from magical power exhaustion one after another while analyzing.
The symptoms were closely resembling how it was if they received continuous high-intensity mental interference.
Otou-sama who recognized that they were in an emergency situation, suspended the analysis of the magic tool and quickly moved to confirm the situation accurately.
He dispatched the staffs collected for analyzing the magic tool for the investigation, and Otou-sama himself attempted to meet up with King Ignatia and Duchess of Harvan.
The Duchess of Harvan, until just before she fainted due to magical power exhaustion, seemed to be struggling to protect the King and his children and other nobles who had lost their consciousness.
When he joined the Duchess of Harvan, he took over the role of protecting the people.
As the result of the investigation, it turned out that the entire Island of Messenger was under the influence of large-scale mental interference.
It was not realistic to evacuate all the citizens of the Kingdom to a safe place, as the only mean to escape the island was by riding a boat or crossing the bridge.
We established the evacuation route for the refugees to the separate residence of Duke of Aurelia which was in the suburbs and only received small influence of mental interference.
After that, Otou-sama organized several teams for the sake of going around to guide the controlled people, medical treatment for wounded people, dealing with the aftermath, and searching for missing people.
It seemed that it was at this time that he was able to join me by chance.
Currently, I was also evacuating to the Duke of Aurelia’s separate residence.
In the room where I was ordered to wait, there were the Duchess of Harvan who had fainted due to magical power exhaustion, Ann, King Ignitia who was sleeping magically for safety reason, Tricia and Marquia, and other protected nobleman’s children.
“It is not impossible for some lawless person to appear by taking advantage of this confusion. You are at least safe in here. Erica, you must stay here until the fuss gets subsided.”
“Otou-sama! I am a duke’s daughter. In situation like this, I have to fulfil my duty.”
“That is why we need someone to protect this place, Erica.”
When I gave a proposal earnestly while hiding my true intention to search for Auguste, he turned the table on me and blocked my movement.
I glanced back slightly, I saw Ann and other people who had fainted.
I couldn’t say no when he had referred to the women who were in a defenseless position.
“Erica……at that time, were you with His Highness Auguste?”
Looking down, I closed my mouth, and Otou-sama asked with a slightly calming tone.
When I was feeling troubled of how to answer him, Otou-sama bent over and smiled while looking at my face to cheer me up.
“It’s alright. We will definitely find and protect His Highness Auguste.”
“Otou-sama……”
“The confusion is great, but there is no life-threatening danger. Please wait here with peace of mind.”
Although Otou-sama was gentle, I could only answer ambiguously, and then he left the room.
What should I do.
I had prepared for various situations, but the actual situation surpassed my expectations.
It would have been easier if I had to battle the contract beast.
The fight against the huge ancient monster from the labyrinth search is in easier mode, what do you mean–!?
As a matter of fact, if a battle between a contract supremacy stuffed animal that seemed to come out from magical girl thing1 and Tirnanog broke out, it would have been a fluffy mascot showdown with a pleasant feeling.
From now on, I wondered if the contract beast would come out.
When I used a bag as a chair and looked at the ceiling to escape reality, there was a sudden rattling noise coming from outside the window
『Erica, so you’re in this place. I was looking for you.』
The one who was waving from outside the window was Tirnanog, who had been missing until a while ago.
I quickly hurried up and opened the window.
I was on the third floor, but he was able to climb it nicely.
Although he was wearing a heavy armor, Tirnanog was amazingly nimble.
Though it might be related to the power of the huge monster Zaratan, one or two armors might not be very heavy for him.
“Tir, where have you been?”
『As you planned, I was pursuing that blonde prince. I have located the place where the signs of the monster are properly monitored.』
“……Plan?”
『What, did you forget, my friend? It is the strategy you had set up. After the blonde prince fell from the dragon in the tournament, you told me to secretly track the guy and find the hiding place of the contract beast, right?』
“Ah, ah—……!”
Due to various things happening at once, I had completely forgotten.
Initially there was such a strategy.
I didn’t instruct him to either cancel or continue the strategy, but did Tirnanog track Auguste arbitrarily in that confusion?
“Amazing, Tir! What a fine play~…!”
『Kukukuku, you can praise me more. I’m a very useful guardian.』
“As expected of Tir! Tir is very cool! If this is the case, then let’s beat down the contract beast and end the unusual phenomenon right away!”
『That’s my favorite development! Leave it to me, whatever monster that appears, it is useless before my wisdom and power!』
I handed the battle bag to Tirnannog and wound a belt with a wand holder above the decorative dress that I was wearing to watch the tournament to prepare for battle.
My tension rose to the unexpected good news.
Because of that, I made a mistake forgetting where I was, and who was around me.
“Erica-oneesama, that golem……no, is that monster possibly Zaratan?”
To that voice, I looked back nervously.
Ann had woken up unnoticed and she had a suspicious look on her face.
“A-Ann-sama, I’m glad you’re well……”
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