CH 107

The group began to prepare for the encampment.

Although there was still a small chance that there were survivors or even demons lurking about, the visibility was already poor, making it impossible to conduct an efficient search, and the four platinum-class members were showing some signs of fatigue from the forced travel from Ilstadt.

All of them, except for Louise, had used magic, big or small, and had depleted their magic power. Considering what would happen tomorrow and beyond, there was no choice but to take a rest.

“Phyllis and I will take turns keeping watch. We’ll start our activities at dawn. Phyllis, do you mind?”

“I’m fine with that.”

At Louise’s suggestion, the two of them, who had almost no magic power drain and had excellent senses, were assigned to be on guard.

I felt bad for them, but I needed a good night’s sleep to recover their magic power. Souya, who had exercised a great deal of magic, made a rational decision and decided to take a break without hesitation.

“Louise-san. What are your plans for tomorrow and beyond?”

Souya lay down, wrapped in his cloak, in a comfortable position, and asked Louise.

There is also the matter of the rescued girl Emily. Souya personally thinks that he will choose not to stay long, but there are Seran who consider the Red Horn as his sworn enemy. It was a confirmation just in case, considering that.

“We’ll search all day tomorrow and pull back to Ilstadt as soon as we’re done …… I’m sorry, but I can’t handle everything right now. That and, I’m going to have to ask Siren to put up some kind of warding to prevent undead spirits.

It was going to take a lot of labor to go around burying all the Lingen residents that would be found tomorrow, more than they could handle. The reality was that the search for survivors was the top priority, and there was no time to waste.

If the guilds decided that it was too dangerous to enter the city, the area might be abandoned for the time being.

It is not possible to mourn all the residents individually. This is why the first step is to prevent the deceased from becoming an undead.

“…… Seran-kun, are you okay with that? You can’t choose to go after the Red Horn.”

“–I understand that I alone am not a match for him, even if I put my mind to it.”

Seran seemed to approve of the decision Louise had made.

As a personal feeling, he may not have agreed with it. However, Souya was relieved to know that he was also looking at the reality.

“Seran-kun. The possibility that he will return to Lingen is not zero. When the time comes, let’s assemble immediately and do our best. He’s quite a big guy. If he flies in from the mountains, we can easily see it.”

That said, considering that the purpose of Red Horn was eating the summoned Silver Demon, Souya estimated that Lingen was no longer useful for it.

–Growth by cannibalism. It might have been a harvest to be able to observe what seemed to be a clear objective.

He’s not destroying them for fun. The fact that he is slaughtering people more horribly than necessary suggests that he may have such a preference, but that is not their only purpose.

(…… Growth through cannibalism, huh. The reason for the interval between attacks is that it takes time for the body to adjust. It could also be a sign of caution.)

Growth through cannibalism in a short period of time is not possible. Or, to avoid becoming the target of a full-scale attack, he is allowing time for the situation to cool down.

If it was the former, it seemed that there would be some time to wait until the next target village was decided.

If it was the latter, it might turn into a terrifying demon that would bring down the world when it gained enough power to become a serious target for subjugation.

And with the progress of the Demonization Electrum, it didn’t seem that far away.

“I’m going to do what Louise said and set up Sanctification [Sanctuary] all over Lingen …… That’ll take more than half a day.”

Siren’s languid voice. If this is a half-day ceremony, it will be a very strenuous task.

“It’s going to be a huge area. Is your magic power alone going to be enough?”

“Of course not. I’ll need the assistance of priestesses, but I couldn’t bring them this far …… I’ve got six mana crystals from the adventurers guild.”

Sanctification [Sanctuary]. It is a high-level sacred art, a technique of expulsion that puts up a sacred warding over a wide area, and is especially known for its effectiveness in preventing dead bodies from becoming undead. In the large cemeteries managed by the temples, they are all hung up.

As the area of effect is expanded, the degree of wear and tear on this technique changes. It was impossible for a single person to support the entire Lingen area under normal circumstances.

“Mana crystals. I suppose you’ll have to use all of them.”

“I don’t have a lot of time, after all. It’s for the Red Horn, but I kept it in case of a situation like this. It’s a treasure, but we can’t afford to be complacent.”

The mana crystal is a jewel that can take the place of magic power.

""

Souya hadn’t seen it in a while, but 20 years ago, he often picked it up and shared it with his party of six heroes. It is a valuable item, even at that time’s market price, a single piece of it would cost no less than three hundred gold coins.

It is a magic item that is out of the reach of most novice adventurers, or if you are lucky enough to find one, it is a magic item that should be sold. This is probably the best time to use it.

“Siren, take care of the Sanctification [Sanctuary] …… Who should I leave as guards?”

“Escort. Let’s see ……”

Siren pondered a bit, then opened her mouth.

“Souya’s cat familiar. I’m pretty sure it’s called Cait Sith …… How much magic can you do?”

“…… me? …… I can use magic and spirit magic to a certain degree.”

“…… A double speller, huh. You’re pretty good.”

“Siren-kun, Shamil is excellent, you know. He can handle a bronze demon on his own.”

Souya interrupted Siren, as if to stop her from evaluating Shamil.

“–Then I’ll ask for help from the Cait Sith.”

“What?”

Shamil was not expecting to be nominated, but he let out a surprised voice and looked astonished.

“Hey …… you don’t like it?”

“…… No, not at all, I don’t mind.”

Frightened by Siren, Shamil turned to Souya, who was lying next to him, but Souya had already closed his eyes to fall asleep.

There is a reason why Souya encouraged Shamil. Considering the possibility of telepathic communication between two distances, it will be easier to judge the situation at each activity site if they take separate actions.

The other reason was to be able to deal with the sword that would cause explosions when they encountered the Bronze Demon. He thought it would be better to keep Shamil and Siren separate, as they were relatively easy to deal with through spirit magic.

“Louise. What about the girl that was saved, Emily?”

“Siren, she’ll be standing by your side. Of course, we can’t just let her take in the sights of the city. Besides, she has to save her strength for the way back …… So, Shamil-kun.”

“Yes.”

“Can you take care of Emily?”

Emily had already fallen asleep. We don’t want to keep her too long in Lingen, but we don’t have the manpower right now. She was going to have to wait just one more day.

“Yes …… well, I’m not confident, but you can leave it to me.”

""

Shamil replied unsurely. This is the familiar of the magician who was a recluse hermit.

He is probably not used to serious communication with young children.

Anyway, we had a general idea of what to do.

In parallel with the search for Lingen during the day, Siren would deploy the warding of Sanctification[Sanctuary]. After that, we would return to Ilstadt.

Souya’s adventure, which began with a request to escort Lingen, had finally come to a close.

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