CH 72

“Thanks for your hard work. I’ll come pick you up later.”

“…You did a great job. Please rest here.”

We tied up two horses near our destination, the forest, and gave them a few words of appreciation for their hard work. The two horses seemed to have calmed down and were eating grass, despite the hard work we had put them through.

I then decided to walk to the forest and ask her what was on my mind.

“Come to think of it, that hair ornament… what is it used for?”

“Oh. You mean his one.”

Saying that, Emilia takes out a stuffed toy in the shape of a small dog.

I’ve never seen it before, but could it be a magic tool? But this design… I think kids will like it.

“This is…?”

“Oh…well, yeah. I know what you want to say. This is a magical tool that reacts to the magic imbued in an object to locate it, and since it was created by the femme, it’s only natural that you didn’t know about it.”

“Oh… that makes sense.”

Femme is an alchemist belonging to the ” Battle Maiden,” and like Luke, she is an eccentric with a researcher’s mind. The only big difference is that while Luke is a visual-neutral alchemist who pursues only effects and performance, Femme also values looks, such as prettiness and glamour. (TN: Changed “war maiden” to “battle maiden”)

And it seems that the two have known each other for a long time and have a dog-monkey relationship. As expected, I did not confirm this with them, but Kasha said so, so it is probably true.

When the missing child’s hair ornament is placed close to the face part of the dog magicl tool, it makes a sniffing gesture and then begins to stagger off into the forest with a small wag of its tail.

…The speed is surprisingly fast for its appearance.

“Hmm?”

And I noticed something while I was moving. The wagging tail of the dog magical tool is gradually getting bigger…

“I’m sorry I didn’t explain enough. The closer the target is to the tail, the bigger the swing.”

Emilia notices that I was staring at the tail and explains it to me. You’re very particular….

After running for some distance, Emilia suddenly overtakes the running dog and picks it up. The dog was held by Emilia and flapped its legs for a little while, but soon became quiet.

When Emilia confirms this, she looks back at me and holds up her index finger in front of her face in a gesture telling me to be quiet.

After nodding, I look ahead while hiding behind Emilia and the tree.

There were several carriages parked in an open space. Armed men are standing nearby and discussing something. It looks like they are preparing to move.

I thought they were some kind of bandits, but they’re equipped with equipment too fine for that.

“They don’t seem to be just thieves…There are some who are reasonably skilled, and there are even wizards.”

Emilia said in a small voice.

“Looks like it.”

They don’t seem to notice us. Emilia thinks so, but if we just fight them and annihilate them, it will be no big deal.

But in order to get them to give up information, we have to capture them alive as much as possible. Otherwise, Emilia would be angry with me later…

And if they take the children hostage, it would be troublesome.

So first we have to find out the whereabouts of the kidnapped children. They are probably trapped in one of those carriages…

“Hey Gray”

“What is it?”

“What are they going to do with the children they’ve kidnapped?”

If these were children of nobles or royalty, there would be a ransom purpose, but why kidnap the children of  commoners…Even if you make them illegal slaves, will they still go this far?

I’m also curious about what the informant said at that time.

Does it have something to do with the “goddess religion”?

“…I don’t know. We’re going to have to get them to talk.”

“I guess so.. Let’s wait a little longer.”

It would be much easier if the paralyzing paresis and sleep magic works, it will be much easier, but…looking at the quality of their equipment, it would not be surprising if they were wearing magic-resistant accessories. The only thing is, if the magic is repelled, there’s a good chance they’ll know we’re here.

After all, I still have to make them physically docile.

Oh just.

“Emilia…I’ll tell you first. I will kill the enemy wizard.”

As long as you don’t know what kind of magic they will use, you can’t feel safe even if you block the movement of their limbs. And they might harm their own people and children out of desperation.

“…don’t overdo it”

“Oh”

And as I was watching the situation, one of the men who was having a conversation with another went into the back of the biggest size carriage.

“It’s annoying! Are you going to be food for the wolves?!”

He yelled in a voice that could be heard up here.

At the same time, a loud cry of a child was heard, and another man was forcibly pulling the yelling man out of the back of the wagon.

Okay, I’ll kill him.

“Oh… hey Gray”