Lucia, Attacked by Monsters
Upon hearing Benedetta-san’s exclamation, everyone in the room froze in shock. Then, accompanying the sudden clatters of the wood, shrieks and bellows were heard.
“Run! We have to run!”
“If we’re not safe here, then where can we go!? What a nuisance!”
“Why does this have to happen right after Her Holiness had just left?!”
“With the commander and the Dragonslayer Hero away, can the Knight Brigade still win!?”
“A lot of the soldiers went along with Her Holiness! It’s impossible!”
“No, the soldiers seemed to have returned!”
In the midst of the clamour, I also stood up.
What to do, what should I do?
It’ll be the first time that Al Tado was on the receiving end of a monster attack. The royal capital should be safe. At least, that was what everyone living here believed. Because of that a.s.sumption, the news incited a panic amongst everyone.
What came to mind was what happened to our neighbouring country, Aquilani. Last year, Aquilani was devastated by a dragon and according to the rumours, they were still recovering from the scars of that attack.
If the invader in this case is a dragon, then without the Dragonslayer Hero leading the knight brigade, there is a possibility that the Banfield Kingdom will meet the same fate.
To die without meeting Celes-san again, I don’t want that. I wanted to properly welcome him back and thank him for the ribbon.
Kikka-san and the others noticed me clasping my hands above my furiously beating chest.
“Benedetta, do you have any information on the attacking monsters?”
Kikka-san’s voice resounded clearly throughout the chaotic canteen.
“Eh, what was it… wait a moment……”
To Kikka-san’s question, the pale Benedetta-san put her hand to her head.
“If- if I’m right, they’re a group of ogres and ogresses. Since there was quite a number of them, the knights of the Third Corps and Fourth corps along with the soldiers were making preparations for battle.”
After hearing that they were ogres and ogresses, many screams were heard.
Ogres were ferocious monsters. The fact that they like human meat is common knowledge. Although it’s said that they’re not very smart, they’re still a threat for people who have no combat skills like us.
Which was why, upon hearing that, everyone rushed to the exit at once.
I didn’t want to die either. Although I like meat, I definitely didn’t want to be eaten as meat!
However, whether it was safer to run or stay inside the castle, I couldn’t decide.
At that time, a voice cut through the panic.
“Calm down! Everyone, it’s safer to stay in Al Tado! We are different from the Aquilani Kingdom! In a short while, we will be closing the castle gates and begin firing the trebuchets! If your families live in the town then summon them to the castle! This is the order of Vice-Commander Astor who was entrusted with the Kingdom’s protection!”
The soldier brigade raised a voice that overwhelmed everyone. After hearing the message from the soldier, everyone preparing to flee calmed down.
“My bad, Lucia. I’ll be heading to my family’s place for a bit!”
“Lucia-chan, wait in the castle, ok? We’ll return immediately!”
“Let’s meet later, Lucia-chan! Let’s go, Gina! We need to fetch father and mother!”
“Lucia, it will be alright. The knight brigade will protect us all. Let’s meet later.”
Kikka-san and everyone else had families in town so after saying that to me, they ran off to bring their families into the castle for refuge.
As for me who had been living alone in the castle, I could only see them off while shivering to myself.
Celes-san……please help me, Celes-san! What do I do? It’s scary. It’s really scary!
Even if it’s a world crawling with monsters, I was lucky enough to have never encountered one. Whenever I headed outside of the town to collect medicinal herbs, even when I had known full well of the danger, I had never been attacked.
That’s why I had always felt like it was someone else’s problem. Even if it’s scary, it’s not like I would actually be harmed.
But, this was reality. Fortunately, the knights and soldiers like Celes-san have returned from the purification journey so it should somehow be alright.
Perhaps Her Holiness and His Highness the Crown Prince had predicted that and thus sent the military force back. If that were really the case then they’re really amazing people.
It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine. That’s what I kept telling myself.
Although I was so scared that I wanted to escape, Celes-san is now in Al Tado. He will definitely protect us. I believed in Celes-san.
Biting down on my lips, I straightened my back and took a deep breath. For now, I needed to calm down.
And then, the nightmare began.
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TN: Eh, it’s a short chapter so I decided to post it up. (≧▽≦)ノ
Thanks for reading! And thanks to my lovely proofreader for proofing this awesomely fast!
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