Chapter 223

"Ah......ah......"

"Hii...... Go,god...... please, please help me......!"

"N,no! Let me out of this city......!"

I was moving towards the castle, but when I entered the city, I became even more aware of the abnormalities of this country.

To my surprise, all the people I passed by were so thin that they looked as if they hadn't eaten in days.

On top of that, someone was crouching in fear of something and even says he wants to get out of this city.

Why don't you just leave normally......that's what I thought, but maybe there was some reason why they couldn't get out, like the gate was closed or something.

Anyway, I quickly chose to hide in this unusual situation.

If this were a normal city, I could just walk down the street and move about confidently.

But in a situation like this, someone like me is sure to stand out now in a bad way.

As I continued to sneak like this, I suddenly saw a group of people in armor, who looked like guards, appear from the castle.

Then the people of the city showed a more terrified look than ever.

"No, noooo!"

"Do,don't come!"

"Free us!"

However, the voices of the townspeople were futile, and the country guards immediately moved, seized the townspeople, and began dragging them away!

"Nah!?"

I was surprised at the unexpected situation, but I couldn't just stand by and watch.

It would have been nice if I could just release the heroes without being conspicuous, but I was no longer in a situation where I can say that.

"Le,let go of me!"

"Shut up and follow me!"

"――――Stop!"

I quickly jumped out and went straight to grab the guard's arm and pulled him away from the resident.

"Wha!?"

"Who are you!?"

My sudden appearance and easy release of the city resident caused the guards to rush to draw their swords and point them at me.

Then, when he checks my appearance, his eyes widen.

"That action just now...... you're not from this city, are you!? How did you get here!?"

"That kind of thing doesn't matter! Why are you being so violent towards the people of the city!"

"Shut up! These people are the precious sacrifices for our Lord!"

"Sacrifice......?"

When I raise my eyebrows at his not-so-gentle words, the guard sneers.

"But, this is just right. I don't know how you got into this city, but now that you've jumped out like this, you too will be a sacrifice to our Lord......!"

"Ah, you better not do that, though ......!"

The moment the guards drew their swords and tried to attack me ――――.

"Nah!? My, my sword!?"

"Gyaaaaaahh!"

The phenomenon of the time when I once fought a soldier named Zakia at Barbador Magic Academy happened again!

The guards' swords and armor seemed to break on their own, and one after another, blood spurted from their eyes and mouths.

"Wha,what's going on! Uz baztard(You bastard), whast ded you doooo(what did you do)!"

"That's why I told you that you should stop......!"

I warned you!

However, my efforts were in vain, as the guards, realizing that I was the cause of this situation, desperately tried to move their crumbling bodies to defeat me, the culprit of this confusion.

The very sight of it, combined with the atmosphere of the city, was like watching a zombie movie. S,scaryyyy!

In the meantime, I immediately use my recovery magic on the guards because they will die at this rate, but......

"Thi,this is recovery magic......gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!?"

"Ueeeeeeeeeehh!?"

For some reason, the guard started screaming as he received my recovery magic to heal him!

"Wa,wait, what is it this time!?"

As I was panicking, I heard the voice from the recovery magic.

『It's a punishment for disobeying Seiichi-sama! There's no way I'll heal him for free! 』

"Eeeeeh!?"

『Right now, I'm pulverizing the inside of his body and regenerating it! It's all right! I'm adjusting it so that he doesn't properly die! 』

Why do I have to worry about the other person's life even though I just cast recovery magic?

He was exactly like a zombie in a game where healing magic applied to them becomes an attack.

As I couldn't do anything about it anymore, my eyes turned white.

In this way, the guards' screams resounded for a while, and eventually, the recovery magic seemed to have been satisfied, and then it disappeared without further ado.

And in front of my eyes, are the figures of the guards who were out of breath.

"Thi,this, what should I do with this......?"

I have accidentally overwhelmed my opponent, but......

Then, following the recovery magic, I heard a voice coming from the world. ......I already don't need to quip about the voice.

『Seiichi-sama! Please leave it to me! I will restrain these guys neatly! 』

As soon as the Earth said that, the ground around the fainted guards squirmed, and to my surprise, it swallowed their bodies and pinned them with only their faces out of the ground!

"Hmm.......nah!? What, is this!?"

The guards, who were unconscious, immediately realized their situation and opened their eyes wide.

We,well, when you wake up, then you find your body is in the ground. ...... I've never seen such a sight, except on a sea-bathing sandy beach .......

The guards frantically moved their bodies, but the earth was completely frozen and they could not move a muscle.

For the time being, the guards were put together thanks to the Earth, so I tried to check the state of the people in the city I helped, but.......

"A,a're?"

Before I knew it, the citizens I rescued had disappeared.

On the contrary, the other residents, who had initially been watching us from some distance away, have all fled farther away before I noticed it.

"Wha,what just happened......"

"They were suddenly spewing blood...... who the hell is that guy!"

"It's him, he must be the monster that's wreaking havoc in this city......!"

The only voices I could hear from afar were the ones saying that they were afraid of me, and there were no friendly glances.

We,well, it would certainly be scary if people were suddenly destroying themselves in front of you. It was scary for me, too!

Although I'm somewhat sad, it's kind of understandable, so it would be better not to provoke a bad situation here.

Rather than that, what should I do with these guards......

"I guess I could just leave them here like this......"

It's not like I did it, Daichi arbitrarily took care of me and restrained the guards, so it's unlikely that they will escape. Because the planet has gone out of its way to seize them. ......Ignoring the incomprehensible situation of the planet restraining them, if they are so tightly packed, it will not be possible for them to escape.

On the other hand, it would be a hindrance for the people of the city to leave them here as it is.

"......Ah, I got it! I'll just take them over there!"

When I remembered a certain place, I immediately called out to the Earth to take the guards there.

"Hey, I want to move these guys, but is it possible to move them while being restrained?"

『Please leave it to me! 』

As the earth cheerfully uttered this, cracks began to appear, this time surrounding the bound guards, and only the area where the guards were located became more and more raised, finally forming a small earthen tower.

"Oh, with this, I can carry it"

I quickly cut off the base of the tower and lifted the entire tower of earth.

"Hiiiiiiii!"

"Pu,put us downnn!"

I can hear the guards shouting at the top of the tower, but let's ignore them for the time being.

Thus, while carrying the tower, I activated my transition magic and instantly moved to a certain place.

"Wha!? Wh,where are we!?"

"I,it's the sea!?"

"More importantly, release us quickly!"

The place where I brought the guards.

It was none other than the place where the soldiers of the Kaizer Empire, who had once invaded the Varsha Empire, were as I had dumped the entire land into the sea.

Yeah, their fellow Kaizer Empire soldiers should be here, so it won't be a problem.

I gently lowered the tower onto the land, and I raised my hand as it was.

"Well then!"

"Haa!? Oy, wait ――――"

I think he was calling out to me for something at the end, but I'm busy right now.

So with that, I came back to the Kaizer Empire once again.

"Nevertheless...... what the hell is going on......?"

Even though I don't have good feelings about the Kaizer empire, I never imagined it would be such a brusque country.

Above all, from what I have heard, the Kaizer Empire has taken over every land except the Varsha Empire, the Welmburg Kingdom, and the Eastern country, or something like that.

Despite the fact that it continues to make rapid advances, the atmosphere in this country is quite strange.

"At any rate, I should head to the castle first......"

"Hmm? You......"

"Eh?"

I, who was surprised when I was suddenly called out, did not expect that I'll be approached here.

After all, there should be few people who would know me in the Kaizer Empire.

That's why, for someone to talk to me here......

When I turned my gaze towards the voice, there stood a man past middle-aged in a military uniform with a splendid handlebar mustache.

For a moment, I was confused because I didn't know who he was, but then my mind drifted back to the people who had participated in the gluttony contest when I was on a date with Rurune.

"You...... I,if I remember correctly, you were in the big eating contest before......!"

"Umu. It's Soshaku"

Yes, the man in front of me was the very same player, Soshaku-san, who had participated in the big eating contest.

Certainly, at that time, it was said that he was from the Kaizer Empire......

Even so, I didn't think he would remember me.

I've just met someone I know. I guess I can ask him about the current situation in this place......

"That is, this town, what the heck is going on here?"

"......As you can see, this country has gotten strange. I don't know about the other cities, but at least this one has fallen through. And that's all because of the change the current emperor has made."

"Eh?"

"Don't you know? When the previous emperor was alive and well, unlike today, we don't have a military power like this, and we were a very peaceful country."

"Really!?"

Even if he said that I can't believe it, or I can't imagine it......

The Kaizer Empire I know does not have a good image and is nothing more than a nation that summoned us otherworlders as heroes and took advantage of us.

"However, one day the previous emperor suddenly collapsed."

"You mean...... he had a disease or something?"

"No, the details are being withheld by the upper management, so I can't say anything for sure, but...... rumor has it that it may be due to a 『curse』......"

"Curse!? Why such a dangerous thing......"

No, but I'm told that although the Kaizer Empire is now in the position of an aggressor nation, it wasn't so in the past, so I wonder if it was rolled up in the schemes of some other country. ......

As I thought this, Soshaku-san's voice trailed off as he looked around.

"......It was rumored that His Majesty Sheld may be involved in that curse as well."

"Wha!?"

So you are saying that the current emperor of the Kaizer Empire ascended to the throne directly after bringing down his predecessor using a curse?

The more I hear about it, the more I think this country smells fishy. ......

If someone was summoned to such a country, of course, they would be used.

"Anyway, the country's policy has changed drastically since the ascension of the current emperor. The result of that, is the current Kaizer Empire. From the point of view of the invaded country, it was not great, but in our country, it was still good enough to keep winning wars...... At least, we will be spared from being treated as a defeated nation. However...... they showed up"

"They?"

Then Soshaku-san's expression instantly turned pale and he began to tremble.

"Tha,that monstrosity...... it's neither human nor a monster, it's a genuine devil...... Those creatures, have overflowed from the castle."

"From the castle!? But I don't see that creature now...... did someone defeat it?"

"No, it seems that the second unit of this country is somehow holding them back, but...... I wonder how will it turn out too......"

"Then, what was the sacrifice the soldiers were talking about earlier?"

"I don't know much about that. Periodically, soldiers would come and take citizens to the castle, but......"

"......"

If I just listen to his stories, I can already see what happened to those people who were taken ...... I have a bad feeling about this.

I don't know about the military system in this country, but I heard that the members of the second unit are defeating the monsters, so maybe they are not all bad.

Anyway, all these mysteries will soon come to light when I get to the castle.

"Thank you very much. I'll go then."

"......Don't tell me, you're heading to the castle?"

"Yes"

"......Frankly, I probably should stop you from doing so, but the fact that you are here in this town, which is supposed to be cut off from the outside world, must mean that you have a certain amount of ability, and above all, since you are going out of your way to take risks, you must have a reason for doing so. Nevertheless...... be careful. Since if you die, you'll lose everything"

As I nodded to Soshaku-san's words, I started running toward the castle once again.