Episode 37: Rescuing Lives
The next day and the day after, we continued thinning out the Black Ant population while heading towards the nest. Since there were no night battles, we could rest properly, so morale was still generally high.
Then, on the fourth day since our arrival, the operation to infiltrate the nest finally began.
Apparently, a team composed of top-class members from the Knights Order and Adventurers would be the ones to enter.
We weren’t assigned to that; we continued thinning out the ranks. One way or another, Black Ants were still emerging on the surface, and we also served as a vanguard for the infiltration team before they entered the nest.
Brenda received a Sword and rejoined the battle, making things easier.
I let her use one of my weapons just in case, but it seemed she felt more at ease using a weapon that was okay to break.
“Nuuuuuuuuuun!”
With a spirited shout, Grams’s powerful blow mercilessly crushed a Black Ant as usual.
But that’s when the incident occurred.
“Ah…”
With a loud crash, the ground split open! Grams and the Black Ants around him fell into the hole.
“Crap! Bleh!”
“Stop! Not now!”
“Brenda! Clear the surroundings first!”
“Ouch… You just wait!”
I hastily erected a Barrier to stop Brenda from rushing to help.
If Brenda left now, our enemy annihilation pace would drop, and Mira-san, who didn’t have close-range attack options, would be in danger.
“Pick up the pace!”
“Guess we have to!”
“Don’t blame me if it breaks!”
I also unleashed the splitting blades of my Nata. The pace of defeating enemies accelerated. Raise-san also drastically increased the amount of Magical Power she was channeling into her fists, and Brenda seemed to have increased her body enhancement multiplier.
Mira-san, who had been focusing on healing magic, was now launching ice-attribute attack spells. She had been conserving Magical Power until now, but it seemed she had decided to switch to offense.
We defeated the Black Ants quickly but calmly, and with certainty. We couldn’t help but leave the corpses, but we omitted stripping them of materials.
“Well, things have calmed down for now. Now then, I’d like to go help, but…”
“I think he’s still okay since the ground is shaking occasionally. Though, for some reason, he seems to be getting further away.”
Raise-san was worried that Grams might have moved on, but he seemed to be swinging his hammer underground, as vibrations were still coming from below.
“Of course, we’re going to help. Isn’t that why we cleared out the enemies here?”
“Well, yeah, but…”
If we forced our way to help, there was a possibility that more Black Ants would appear from above the hole and sandwich us. To prevent that, we needed to clear out the enemies in this area.
Mira-san was hanging Monster Repellent Sachets on the trees around the hole to prevent additional Monsters from coming.
“Are you injured?”
“I’m fine.”
“I’m okay.”
“No problem. How about you guys?”
“Still have some leeway.”
I guess she’s talking about Magical Power.
“To get down, we need a rope?”
“We can descend with a Barrier, you know?”
“That’s helpful. Still, I’ll prepare a rope for climbing back up.”
I nodded at Raise-san’s words. We’d need it in case something happened to me.
“Then let’s hurry. Grams may be strong, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get hurt.”
In reality, Grams was the one who had taken the most damage and was bleeding. The other members were mostly dodging, and Mira-san didn’t approach the enemies, so she hadn’t taken any damage.
Grams was the only one who stopped to attack the enemies, so he was surrounded and attacked several times. He just nonchalantly punched back, though.
Also, Raise-san had injured her hands as a consequence of her attacks.
“Right. Let’s head there immediately.”
We tied the rope to a tree and lowered it into the hole. The sunlight illuminated the rubble and the corpses of the Black Ants inside.
I erected a visible Barrier and created stairs in the hole in the ground.
Fortunately, there were no signs of enemies below.
“It’s this way.”
We could hear the sound coming from that direction.
“Why is he moving forward?”
“It would have been easier if he had waited for us.”
“He’s okay, right?”
Mira-san remained silent. She was the most vulnerable, so it couldn’t be helped.
“Let’s proceed for now. Then retrieve him and return immediately.”
“The lecture will have to wait until we get back.”
We nodded at Raise-san’s words.
“Oh, you guys came too?”
“Falling in was one thing, but don’t go further in.”
“I was curious about the Royal Guard-class.”
“Even if it’s just out of curiosity… More importantly, what about them?”
Mira-san, who was looking ahead, shook her head.
“I understand. Leave them be.”
“Hehe, to think… people would come…”
Leaning against the wall were two Knights.
They were people who had been working with Brian-sama. One was the eyepatch Knight who had given us pickles, and the other was a woman with long hair.
To cut a long story short, both had missing limbs, and their faces and bodies were covered in roughly applied bandages, which were stained bright red.
As if to prevent enemies from approaching, a large number of Monster Repellent Sachets were placed around them.
But these two were clearly fatally wounded.
“I can at least ease the pain.”
“I don’t need it.”
“Eh… More importantly, support our comrades.”
Even healing magic wasn’t omnipotent. Even in the Unified Space Force era, we couldn’t instantly regenerate flesh; we had to use Medical Capsules and slowly regenerate over several weeks.
The injuries themselves could be healed with healing spray, but regenerating limbs required specialized equipment.
Incidentally, some people chose to become cyborgs instead of undergoing treatment.
“More are coming.”
“Is this a thoroughfare?”
“…Be careful of the Royal Guard-class, Brenda. If it seems too tough, disengage.”
“It’s A-rank, right? I know.”
Since there was a reasonable amount of space, Grams readied his Spike Flail. Raise-san also had a grim expression.
“Young warriors… Don’t protect us. More importantly, I have a request.”
“That’s right, we couldn’t… rely on the captain…”
A request? Ah. Mercy killing, huh. I see… Yeah, that’s what it comes down to.
“…I can’t.”
“Clough, but…”
“Leave the enemies to me; I’ll save them… I want to save the lives I can.”
I can’t abandon people in this situation. As someone who has participated in massacres, I want to save as many lives as possible.
“What are you?”
“I’ll explain later. Hakoniwa.”
I deployed the entrance to the Hakoniwa near the wall where the two were. Then I stepped inside.
“Emergency situation. Prepare the Medical Capsules; we’re expecting two patients.”
I gave instructions to the Support Drone waiting at the entrance. The drone, upon receiving the instructions, hurriedly began to move, and additional drones headed towards us.
“You only prepared one capsule? I’ll get another one out.”
I had prepared the treatment facilities just in case. But since I had only prepared one for myself, there was only one Medical Capsule.
I took out an additional one and prepared a cylinder filled with treatment fluid.
In the meantime, four Support Drones had gathered, so I took them to carry the two Knights.
“Hey, what are you doing!?”
“I’ll explain later. I’m in a hurry, so see you later.”
I exited the Hakoniwa entrance once and had the drones carry the two Knights. The drones put them on stretchers and returned to the entrance again, ignoring the two Knights’ bewilderment.
I moved through the Hakoniwa, stripping off their equipment and clothes. I also used treatment spray to treat minor injuries and reduce the amount of bleeding.
“What are these things?”
“The wounds…”
“Please stay still for a while. Go to sleep, and you should be healed when you wake up.”
When the Support Drones put inhalers to their mouths, the two easily fell asleep.
“Limb regeneration treatment. There must be a lot of bleeding. Please be careful.”
Limb regeneration treatment has various problems. Not in the sense of problems with the treatment itself, but thinking about what comes after gives me a headache.
For now, I’ll head back.