There was a mountain of injured men on the ground. They were still alive, though—Reiko wasn’t that heartless. As long as they weren’t dead, I could use my potions to alter their physical conditions as I pleased. I could heal them back to perfect health, heal them in a way so they wouldn’t have any permanent symptoms but keep their bones broken, heal them just enough to live but without regard for whatever symptoms they’d be stuck with, etc.
There was room for sympathy for territorial soldiers who had no choice but to obey orders, but the scummy hunters and thugs who’d accepted an illegal job without going through the guild and knowingly helped with illegal activities could burn for all I cared. If I went too easy on them, they’d just go right back to committing crimes. If I cut off their thumbs, they’d no longer be able to participate in criminal activities because they wouldn’t even be able to hold a sword. They also wouldn’t be able to hold a hoe or plow, so farming wouldn’t be an option for them either, but at least they could still be shopkeepers or porters carrying baggage on their backs. They could even go around picking herbs. I decided to go easy on the earnest-looking soldiers by making sure they’d heal slowly but surely—secretly, of course, so the others wouldn’t notice. It’d depend on whether they cooperated with us and whether they showed remorse. Anyway...
The local hunters, territorial troops, the lord, and Hunter’s Guild guildmaster all stared at me in silence. Yeah, I had an idea why they were here. It was a bit hard to believe that they’d all just happened to be here by coincidence because the guild was out hunting a monster and the lord’s army was doing some special training, which only meant one thing.
As for Reiko, she’d already vanished after saying, “Evil has been vanquished! Farewell!” though she’d probably only made herself invisible and was still observing from nearby.
I had a feeling this silence would go on forever until I said something.
Ahh! Aaaaaargh! Damn it, am I screwed? Should I turn on the charm? Hmm...
“Th-Thank you for coming today, everyone!” I said out loud.
What the heck am I saying?!
The silence was palpable.
See?! Now it’s all awkward!
I heard Reiko stifle her laughter as she nearly cracked up while still invisible. Damn it!
“It seems the Goddess has sent an Angel for all of you because you tried to protect her priestess from harm!” I went on. “Yes! Not for my sake, but for all of you!”
“Whaaat?!” everyone said in unison.
This was my “I’m Just a Nobody” plan. The masked angel Namahage hadn’t arrived to protect me, but to protect all of the selfless people who’d put themselves in harm’s way to save a lowly stray priestess.
I walked over to the pile of defeated enemy soldiers and found what appeared to be the commander. I grabbed his jaw, forced his mouth open, created a confession potion in his mouth, then tilted his head back to make him swallow. Oh, he’s coughing. Must’ve gone down the wrong pipe. Looks like no one saw... It should start to take effect now.
“Who sent you?” I asked.
“Count Tartus...” the commander answered.
“What were you planning to do with me?”
“We were going to take you to the count...by force, if you refused. If that failed, we were to kill you, because he didn’t want to lose face when word got out that a mere commoner girl turned him down, and he didn’t want you falling into the hands of other aristocrats.”
“Thought so.”
The people who heard our exchange looked surprised, but I wasn’t sure whether it was because of what he was saying or the fact that he was giving up information so easily. The potion’s effect would last for a while, and since the commander had spilled the beans so easily, his subordinates would all follow. There’d be no point in keeping their mouths shut when their superior had already talked, and they’d only get a heavier punishment for refusing to cooperate or show remorse. They were going to talk.
“Anyway, I have things I need to take care of now. Goodbye!” I said.
“Wait! Waaait!” the lord called out to stop me for some reason. “Hold on! Now that we know Count Tartus was behind the attempted abduction and murder of a young girl, we’ll have an inspector sent from the royal capital to arrest him! I will seek His Majesty the King’s blessing to have his house destroyed and his entire lineage eradicated. Please leave it to us and don’t do anything rash, I beg of youuu!”
What was going on? I mean, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for the government to punish an aristocrat for their crimes, especially when they were caught red-handed with so many witnesses. That much was fine, but...why was the lord begging me so desperately? And his demeanor became a lot more respectful near the end.
Seriously, what in the world is happening?
An old woman—that is, a woman who only seemed to be middle-aged, which was oddly young considering her actual age—was speaking to a girl who looked around fourteen to fifteen from a seat one step higher.
“A messenger has arrived from the lord of a country on the eastern coast of the continent. They say the Angel has been spotted, and that they seek the help of the Goddess’s guardians, the Einherjar, if we are to prevent the continent from being sunk into the sea.”
Einherjar was the title given to the one and only great hero and guardian of the kingdom, Fearsome Fran. However, it now referred to the group of fighters who had inherited some of her incredible fighting prowess and had gone through the extraordinary training regimen taught by Francette herself. Francette had four children, and if each of them had an average of around four more, the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren went from four to sixteen to sixty-four to two hundred fifty-six people. Their numbers totaled three hundred and forty, and nearly all of them were still alive. Even if Fearsome Fran was to pass away, the Kingdom of Balmore’s future was secure.
“After waiting for seventy-three years, your time has come...Falsetto, the Goddess’s guardian!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
There was a pause, then a drawn-out silence.
“Why are you still here?” Francette asked with a puzzled expression as Falsetto looked at her blankly.
“Oh, uh, I thought you would bestow the divine sword Exgram upon me...”
“That sword is mine! You go get your own from Lady Kaoru!”