Chapter 50: White Dress
The number of soldiers in the kingdom’s army had increased to two thousand. They were busy organizing the crowds in the ancient capital of Heartfield.
“Run away from here immediately.”
“Taking your belongings with you is prohibited.”
One day, such orders were suddenly issued, and the residents of Heartfield were astonished. The reason given was simply “danger is approaching,” and it was vague. The soldiers who were urging the residents forward also did not fully understand, adding to the confusion.
“I have to do business!”
“My parents are elderly and can’t walk. It’s impossible to suddenly be told something like this.”
“What if thieves break in while we’re away?”
“Tomorrow is my daughter’s wedding! Please spare us.”
“My wife is about to give birth. I can’t make her walk a long distance.”
Many people resisted, and the evacuation was not progressing smoothly.
Even though the soldiers instructed them to take only one piece of luggage, there were still people trying to load their carts with piles of belongings and escape. The narrow and winding streets of the ancient capital would quickly become blocked if a cart got stuck in the cobblestone grooves, causing hundreds of people to be trapped behind.
Daniel, a young soldier, was sweating profusely as he organized the crowd. While wiping his sweat, he noticed a child’s face peering out from a window on the third floor of a building.
“Oh! There’s still a child in a place like that!”
Daniel made his way through the tightly packed crowd and headed towards the building. He rushed up the stairs. He knocked on the door of the room where he thought there might be a child, but there was no response.
“Hey! Kid! Open the door for me!”
As he strained his ears, he heard a child’s voice from inside.
“I have to stay here! Don’t open it.”
That was the response he heard.
“It’s dangerous if we don’t run. Can you open the door?”
“No, I can’t.”
While this was happening, there were screams one after another outside. Worried, he rushed out to the external staircase, and he saw that the entire crowd had their mouths open, looking up at the sky. Daniel, influenced by them, also looked up and saw a dazzling golden disc-shaped cloud floating in the southeast sky of the town.
He had heard stories from his squad leader that “magic was falling from a cloud mass of magical energy, scorching the ground.” But honestly, Daniel didn’t quite grasp the situation. The cloud was much larger than he had imagined, rotating leisurely. The cloud, resembling sparks gathered together, was beautiful, but his instincts were ringing alarm bells, warning him, “It’s dangerous! Run away!”
“Kid! Get away from the door! Onii-san is going to break it down now!”
“No! I don’t want to!”
“Move away!”
After counting to three, he kicked through the middle of the door. Luckily, the old door held up. He reached into the hole in the middle, unlocked the door, and picked up the frightened child. Then, Daniel rushed down the stairs.
However, where he descended to was filled with a panicked crowd.
“Make way! There’s a child here!”
“We can’t move either!”
Shouts echoed through the narrow streets of the ancient capital. The evacuation order issued since yesterday was too late to thoroughly enforce among the hundreds of thousands of people.
❂❂❂❂❂❂
“It’s done.”
With disheveled hair, a visibly exhausted Victor announced the completion of the magic circle, and Prince Eldred, who also had a fatigued expression, breathed a sigh of relief.
“Now, let’s go.”
The prince, accompanied by his attendants, headed towards the densely populated area of the city.
Several hours later, on a small hill overlooking the old town, Prince Eldred witnessed a scene that made him doubt his own eyes.
“What’s going on? The evacuation isn’t complete.”
“I apologize. The people were slow to believe and many were trying to take their belongings with them, causing confusion.”
“This will result in a terrible disaster.”
Biting his lip, Prince Eldred pondered the course of action while observing the massive crowd pushing and shoving. Pauline-san’s foresight indicated that the next surge of magical energy would come tonight.
At that moment, Victor approached and bowed his head.
“Victor, it seems the evacuation won’t be completed by tonight. It has become a serious situation.”
“Your Highness, there’s no need to worry. Haru, Pauline, and I will protect the people of Heartfield.”
“But even if you concentrate the falling magical energy in one place, with that crowd, there’s nowhere to drop it.”
“Your Highness, I will catch it. I will catch it and return the magical energy to the earth safely.”
For a moment, Prince Eldred had a puzzled expression as if to say, “What is this person talking about?” He must have thought that if he caught the magical energy that would create a hole in the ground in an instant without making a sound, he would be incinerated.
With a smile, I made a declaration.
“Your Highness, have you forgotten? I’m the genius summoner Victor summoned. Let me show you how I can be of assistance. Please watch over us here.”
The prince knows that I have special abilities, but he looked at Victor with a face that seemed to say, “Can she really do that?” Then, Victor nodded with a clear smile.
“Haru and I will go to that square. We will safely return the magical energy falling from there to the earth. Well then, if you’ll excuse us.”
Saying that, Victor and I descended the hill together.
Someone came running towards us.
“Wait a moment!”
“Oh, Cyril-san. What’s the matter?”
“Pauline asked me to give this to Haru without fail.”
I received the offered box and took out its contents, revealing a pure white, lightweight silk dress with a simple design. Inside the box, there was a message card. The card had the words “Of course, this is perfect for Saint-sama!”
written by Pauline-san.
“Well, there’s no helping it. Go ahead and wear it. Pauline will be delighted,” said Victor.
“Um, well, that’s just how it is,” Cyril-san said apologetically.
With the white dress draped over my arm, I walked alongside Victor as we headed towards the plaza.
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