Seijo no Hazu ga, Douyara Nottoraremashita – Chapter 94

In the end, I quickly decided to heal the entire village all at once.

Some of the guards went around to check the whole village while I was healing the first person and they found out that nearly everyone in this village was sick.

There weren’t any signs of Galleon, who the Elder said would be here, nor any signs of men who might be his subordinates. They weren’t anywhere.

Then, I knew what I had to do.

“This disease will be ~ cured ~~~!”

Blow away the black smoke~. Hyuu~~.

Well, I wasn’t sure if I could heal the whole village at once, so I decided to do several houses at once.

There was a suspicious woman who suddenly raised her hands in different places in the village and used her skill, and that was me.

But it was important to perform so that everyone, especially the Grunge Person who the Elder had guided us here, can see that the Saint has used her skills.

But I was surprised at how dire the situation was, so I spread my hands as quickly and as widely as I could and cleansed the black smoke that I saw as quickly as I could.

As a result, I was able to heal all those who were still breathing.

There were a lot of people and a lot of stubborn black smoke, so it was a bit difficult and tiring until I got the hang of it, but at least I managed to get rid of all the disease.

But there were many people who didn’t make it.

My goodness!

Didn’t that Elder say I would make it even if I left the next day?

I believed him and it turned out like this.

If we had arrived yesterday, then I might have been able to save more people…

I pursed my lips.

I can’t bring someone back to life if they’re dead. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see the black smoke that I was supposed to cleanse.

I could only watch with regret as my servants and guards, who didn’t fear catching the disease because of my magic, helped the surviving villagers, who had just been healed and were exhausted, make temporary graves while quietly crying.

Everyone was tired and it was already night, but there was no way everyone could sleep under such sad circumstances.

Everyone moved their tired bodies and worked silently to finish burying everyone as quickly as possible.

According to the survivors, they had been living elsewhere, but were suddenly stricken by a disease that no one had experienced before.

And since it was an unknown disease, they had no effective way of dealing with it and it began to spread very quickly.

When the elders of the Grunge People learnt of this situation, they quarantined the sick people in this village and requested the ‘Saint’ be dispatched.

However, until my arrival, there were only a handful of nurses, who had no expertise in this field and were only people who had managed to recover in the early stages of the disease, who took turns taking care of the people.

When I arrived, the only people who were here were either suffering from high fevers or exhausted from immediately caring for those who were sick.

I wondered if there were any more sick people who needed to be cured, but most of those who had recovered immediately came to greet me and forcibly took me away.

And I heard a rumour… that there were other villages where sick people were quarantined.

There are others?

Eeh, wait, I didn’t hear about that?

Does that mean someone is in control of this situation?

No, that someone is part of the Grunge People. So, the Elder?

I haven’t heard any of this from him at all.

What’s the meaning of this?

A lot of questions popped up in my head and I pondered about this, then it occurred to me.

This was a set-up.

It was already too late by the time I thought this.

Unfortunately, Father and I were far apart.

He just happened to be away to get water.

Half of my guards were also helping with the burial.

I was watching them from a short distance away with the rest of my guards.

So, we were quickly captured by a large group of men who had suddenly appeared.

We were outnumbered.

Unfortunately, the odds were against us since they were strong men with weapons, who had hidden in the dark while we were many people who were exhausted from burying so many people and a small number of guards.

The next thing I knew, the guards around me had been eliminated and Father and I were held as hostages.

We’ll kill everyone if you resist.

One of them spoke as they circled around the Priest. I couldn’t bring myself to resist with so many men pointing weapons at me, and the Priest didn’t want to provoke the many men around me who were raising their blunt weapons and were about to crack my head open.

If either of us resisted, the men would swing their weapons down at us.

If my head was destroyed in one shot, then I would die instantly without any time to heal. That would be bad.

Well, I’m sure Father won’t die.

But I will…

Still, I could damage all the men around me.

But by the time I faintly grasped the situation, everyone but Father had already been separated from me, and I didn’t even know where they were taken.

They will kill everyone if I resist a little, and I can’t guarantee the lives of a lot of people when I don’t know where they are. I don’t have the guts to take a gamble I’ve never taken before with my magic decreased.

I couldn’t feel Alice either. The Priest seemed to have given up and was quiet.

In that case, there was nothing I could do.

As a result, I was in this place.

I was taken to a modest room, but I don’t know where it was.

All I knew was that I was probably not far from that village, somewhere in the wilderness along the border.

I was all alone now.

They bring me food and I can wipe myself down, and I’m comfortable just like how I would be if I were in a simple inn.

But this was clearly confinement.

I’m sorry, Lector… even though you told me to be careful.

I don’t know if I was naïve or if they were just extra careful.

The only thing I knew for sure was that the Elder was behind this.

Dammit…

I want to go back as quickly as I can.

But if I act now, then there’s a good chance that the people who are being held at a separate location will be in danger.

I’m sure those men weren’t lying or bluffing. A number of my guards who have resisted have already been killed.

I can’t treat the lives of those who I had finally saved and those who saved me poorly in order to serve my husband.

So far, they didn’t seem like they would kill me.

Come to think of it, I’m officially a ‘Saint’ who was dispatched by Farglow.

If the official ‘Saint’ is killed, then Farglow won’t stay quiet about it, and if they wanted to kill the ‘Saint’ and declare war, then they would have killed me first.

When the time comes for me to be killed, I’ll use all my abilities to survive.

I would like to avoid any more casualties if possible. But if it comes down to it, I will resist with all my might.

I’ll do what I can and somehow survive…!

I waited and waited hoping for something to happen with that determination.

I waited, but nothing happened.

Now, I’m confused. What’s their purpose?

If the snow falls while I’m stuck here and Lector gets in danger, then what will I do…?

That anxiety made me restless.

It took us days to come here by carriage.

It would probably take just as long to get back even if I had a carriage.

Without a carriage, it would be even more hopeless. And now, I have no carriage.

I can escape from this room. Probably.

It was a dangerous idea, but honestly, it was easy to threaten people.

I was no longer afraid to take someone hostage and threaten them.

I have a weapon called magic now.

If I want, I can make all those here unable to walk.

I was reminded of the feeling I had when I crushed Prince Loire’s knee in Origlow.

But how will I get home even if I get out of here?

And how am I going to save the hostages?

I couldn’t act without thinking about how to do that.

I pondered in circles in my small room.

But I couldn’t come up with any ideas.

I was annoyed at myself for obviously not being used to surviving.

If Father or Lector were in my situation, they would have done better…!

One day while I was panicking, I heard Lolo’s voice and was really surprised.

“Meow.” 『Can you hear me?』

Huh, Lolo?! You can talk to me even though you’re so far away?!

“Meow~ meow.” 『Oh, you can hear me~. That’s good. It’s been a while since I’ve done this, so I was worried. You’re a bit far, so I only transmitted my voice.』

Huh, oh… so I can connect with Lolo’s voice even though we’re this far apart?!

Yay, I’m saved~. How’s Lector?

I couldn’t help but ask excitedly.

“Meow.” 『He’s okay~. He’s been a bit down since you left, but he’s in good shape~. But something troublesome happened right now~.』

Huh, what? Troublesome?

“Meow.” 『The woman who slapped me is here~.』