CH 98

“I want to save Miss Mia if I can. I think it was having her in my home and seeing her act like a normal girl her age that made me feel that way. I only knew what she was like inside the church, but after seeing how she is normally, I became aware that she is still a regular girl. No, I was made aware.

Yes, I get how he feels. But is he all right? I figured he was a lot stricter because he’s a cardinal, but was I wrong?

“There is more. My faction was not made aware of this, but apparently people close to the head of the church were told ahead of time that they were going to dispose of Miss Mia. But that meant seizing her, not harming her, so even the people that talked about that were surprised.”

It sounds like things didn’t go according to plan.

And did he manage to learn all that in this short amount of time? Is this old man actually very capable?

“Can you and your faction keep Mia safe in the church? Or rather, can you save her?”

“Maybe if the stampede dies down, but honestly, it won’t be easy. Even this place will have to be abandoned eventually, even if it serves us for now. They don’t have the situation under control now, but give them some time, and they are going to form proper search parties.”

“Then can I just take Mia?”

“Sure.”

“Your eminence!”

“It’s fine. Miss Mia’s life was saved by him once already. And he should be able to move about more unrestricted than us. If we appear publicly now and incite a rebellion or chaos, the city might really fall to the monsters. We have to avoid that at all costs.”

One life versus a whole city. Put those on the scale, and that’s the result.

But I understand that even what he’s done so far is already crazy.

“What if I didn’t come here?”

I don’t get an answer to that question, meaning they probably didn’t have a plan. I’m guessing Dan just gave instructions in case something happened and didn’t go beyond that.

“I will be going back for now. Sigurd, hide somewhere else for the time being.”

“Understood.”

They leave in a hurry. They’re walking a pretty dangerous path.

“So what do we do now, master?”

Asks Sera.

“First, we try to get Mia to wake up.”

I could have her drink a mana potion, but that would mean mouth-to-mouth feeding again.

Hn? She has a wound on her flank. It’s been healed, but only enough to stop the bleeding.

First, I cast Heal on it, then I put my hand near her belly button and make magic energy low there. It’s like shock treatment. Not a bad idea, uh?

I increase the output to replenish her depleted magic energy.

Her long eyebrows start twitching, and her eyes slowly open. She looks sleepy, but her expression turns to surprise when she sees me.

“Where…”

“Do you remember what happened?”

Her mind is still not fully here.

I know I’m making her remember something painful, but we don’t have time to think about that.

“I… Yes, that’s right…”

Tears start streaming down her cheeks.

I don’t know what she’s feeling or thinking, so I can’t really find the words to console her, and feel like anything I’d say would just make things worse.

It’s no good. I feel like I’d look great if I said even just a couple of tactful words, but it’s too high of a hurdle for me.

“I’m going to tell you what I know. Is that all right?”

Mia sits up and nods.

“People are after you. The head of the church talked to his believers, and they’re looking for you.”

She nods again. Her eyes are full of sadness. I feel like I’m looking at an abandoned puppy.

“And up until you woke up, the person that saved you and Cardinal Dan were here.”

“Cardinal Dan?”

“Yes, I asked him to leave you with me. He says he wants to save you.”

She seems surprised to hear Cardinal Dan’s name come up. She probably figured the entire church was after her.

“In any case, it might be dangerous to stay here. Can you move?”

I have her drink a mana potion, and figure that she can’t keep wearing that, so I take from the Item Box spare clothes that I keep there for me just in case.

Technically she could also wear Sera’s clothes, but there’s a hole in the bottom, and that’s kind of lewd.

I leave the room and let Sera and Hikari help her change.

I bring up Map and activate Presence Detection. Everyone’s presences are displayed, and there are more than I imagined. Everyone’s moving around in a hurry, either looking for Mia or preparing for the stampede.

There are more guards than usual stationed at the gates. The north and eastern gates in particular have a lot of people near them. Are they adventurers?

It might be a good idea to take advantage of the confusion and leave through a place with a lot of people, but going through there and then heading in the direction opposite to the forest with the monsters would attract suspicion.

I start thinking about just charging into the forest, but it’s too dangerous. From what I hear, it would be tough for everyone except Sera.

Does that mean we have no choice but to disguise ourselves and leave to another town through a different gate? People don’t really know Mia’s face, so it could actually work if we dress her in casual clothes.

…But there’s a good chance that people from the church would know. Her face wasn’t hidden when she was being chased either, and surely she didn’t wear a mask indoors anyway.

Mia is done changing in the meantime, and they all come out. She looks embarrassed for some reason…

Is it because they’re my clothes? They look fine. They’re as good as new thanks to my purification magic, without a hint of dirt. Or does she think it’s no good unless they’re hand washed?

It’s kind of awkward. We keep looking at each other, waiting for the other to speak.

“Now what do we do, master?”

Yes Sera, what do we do?

I look at Sera, look away, and look at her again. Then I check the Howler slaver company on Map, and see him moving all over the place. Is he leaving the city?

“Let’s head to the Howler slaver company. You go first Sera, and convey a message to Drett. Tell him we’re coming, and to wait for us if he’s leaving.”

“All right, I’m going.”

Sera nods and takes off running.

We leave in a hurry too, but not so much that it attracts attention. We head to the Howler slaver company while picking the route with the fewest people.