Is everything alright?"
"Aisha?"
Though she heard the words, it was like they were talking to a shell of Aisha. For the person herself, she was trying to comprehend what she had just read and hoped to god that it was just some sick joke.
What eventually got her to speak again was Hinata shaking her arm. "Aisha? What happened?"
"Oh… sorry. It's just… there was a landslide… there's already been multiple deaths…"
Upon hearing this news, Souma immediately started to think about what they could do. Currently, it was up to him to decide whether or not to help out immediately. This was something that Aisha wanted to beg for, but she was struggling to even get words out of her mouth at this point. However, for Souma, the answer was obvious. He took note of his surroundings and went up to Aisha and said, "I know that you're in shock right now, but can you please tell me when it happened."
"Last night… a few hours before the sun rose…" came the meek response.
That was all the information that he needed. "Alright, listen up! This unit is currently going to support the dark elves!"
Though a few people heard it, Hal was a bit shocked at the rash decision. "We only have like fifty guys. What are we supposed to do with that?"
"Anything," came the immediate response. "Anything that we can do. Time is of the essence, and we have to do what we can with what we have." He turned towards Liscia and said, "Go back to the castle and inform Hakuya to send tents, food, clothing, sheets, and whatever else he deems necessary for this. Bring the bodyguards as well just to be safe."
Despite knowing that time was of utmost importance, she still felt the need to ask, "Can't you just use one of your dolls to do that? That way we have more people for the relief effort?"
"I can't. While my dolls have a wide range, I haven't left any at the castle. The nearest one is over twenty kilometers away, and they won't reach the castle until almost nightfall. It's only a couple hours from here to the castle, on horseback, so someone from here needs to do it."
With his reasoning explained, she saw no need to further hesitate and promptly left for her destination, bringing the bodyguards with her. As she left, Souma was contemplating what to use to get to the forest in the quickest way possible. As everyone was sitting around waiting for orders, Hal was thinking about something that bothered him a bit.
There is no way that Lady Testarossa sensed that kui, right? That had to have happened almost ten minutes ago…
Messenger kuis were quite fast and agile, and while they exhibited a slight amount of magic, it was something that was practically undetectable unless you were using an instrument. Essentially, what that meant was from the time she turned to look at something, she either saw something completely different or sensed that kui from almost fifteen kilometers away.
No. There's no way. It had to have been something else. Anyone who possesses senses of that level simply don't exist.
As Hal was thinking about Testa's actions, another person was having something of a moral dilemma.
Hinata was seriously contemplating just teleporting to the scene and explaining that as some sort of magic after the fact. However, that would defeat the entire purpose of what they were doing here, which was mainly observing, and participating as a person. Though Testa and Rimuru could alter memories, they would have to be exceedingly thorough about it, and that would not only include erasing the memory of teleportation but implanting new memories about how they got to the forest, which was much harder to do. After all, if they just left those couple minutes blank, there was a good chance that someone would put the pieces together of how a normally two-day journey on foot was done in under a minute.
What she wound up doing was contacting Rimuru and letting him make the final decision, seeing as the main reason they were here in the first place was for his sake. If he decides to blow his cover, then they would deal with the fallout.
Rimuru was currently having a lunch break and ruffling Tomoe's hair. She quite enjoyed it when she was close to him like this, even if her mother insisted that he was just spoiling her. However, right as he was about to take a bite out of his food, he got the thought communication from Hinata. Tomoe picked up on this, as it was quite difficult to miss someone just pause right as their spoon was about to reach their mouth, and said, "Is everything alright, Sir Rimuru?"
Rimuru put his spoon back in his bowl, smiled, and said, "Everything is just fine." He felt that there was no need to worry a child like Kaede about something she has no control over. As the two went back to start eating, Rimuru secretly cloned himself and silently set out for the forest.
As he teleported there instead of taking conventional means, he immediately saw the devastation that was wrought. Taking perch on a nearby tree that hadn't fallen over, he was examining the wreckage and just thinking about what to do, if anything.
From an onlooker's perspective, the current action taken by him could only be called callous. Since Rimuru was no longer human, that meant that the millions of years that cultivated a sort of pack mentality and instinct of the sort to immediately rush to the aid of random people just didn't exist in him. He could remember how they felt like night and day, but he would need to put in plenty of effort just to feel them, unless of course someone close to him was in this scenario.
What that basically translated to was an almost disturbing sense of calmness that only someone who was desensitized to these sorts of situations would experience. However, this came with the benefit of thinking with a logical brain rather than one flooded with emotion. Using this logic helped greatly in his decision making.
Another major point that Rimuru understood was the nature of a soul. With special thanks to Ciel and Diablo, Rimuru understood that, to the soul, life and death were only states of being. While things were quite a bit complex, and he was certain they had only scratched the surface, what they did know was this: Once a soul inhabited a body, said soul would be in a state of life. Once it departed and was drifting, said soul would be in a state of death. Though it was incredibly rare to be conscious during a state of death, it wasn't impossible. Hell, he was a prime example.
He did understand the nature of loss, the instinct of self-preservation, and plenty of other things connected with the body, but he recognized those as what was best for the body and what the body wanted. While the body and soul often acted in tandem with each other, so far, what the soul wanted was an enigma even to Ciel. For example, how it would choose what body or fetus to inhabit. Or if it even chooses to in the first place. How the memories get wiped. How they are able to, in some cases, be remembered well after death.
Either way, all of these things were running through his head when he was making his decisions. Sure, reviving all of those who were lost may be best for this moment. But what about in the future? And if he were being completely honest, he felt that these people deserved to have it happen. After all, they were warned almost four months in advance that something like this could happen. They had even seen it happen in the uninhabited areas of the forest. For the past four months, Aisha had spared no effort in writing to them, desperately trying to help them see the ever-present danger lurking in their midst.
Still, if there was one thing that could just about always move Rimuru, it was children. Seeing children suffer for the errors of their parents was simply not something that he was fond of. Nor was it something that he could just overlook.
{Are you certain about this? There may be some questions about it later on.}
I've already made my decision, Ciel. Don't try and talk me out of it.
{Forgive me. I'll make sure everything goes perfectly.}
Thank you.
What Rimuru wound up deciding to do was to revive the recently deceased children and, for those that were buried under what must have felt like a mountain of soil, put them above ground and slightly away from the wreck. He then healed all the children, not fully, as it needed to be believable, but to the point where the injuries that they would sustain would not be permanent. As for the rest of the Dark Elves, he would only make sure that they didn't die, at the very least until the initial round of help arrived. As for what would happen after, that would be on them.
After Rimuru finished up, he sighed.
I wonder if I passed the first trial.
{There will be many more like this. As for passing or not passing, you should know that there is no such thing. All of this was your decision to make.}
Well, at the very least, I hope I can live with it.
{Even if you can't, there is nothing stopping us from saving every single one of them. If need be, we can always create new souls to inhabit the bodies. As merciless as this might be to hear, the only way to know is to have a feel for it, and that can only come with practice.}
He just sighed, and promptly left the scene. According to Testa, they would be reaching the forest by tomorrow morning, so as long as they held out then, they would be able to save as many people as possible.
While the army unit was coming, it was definitely not in the most ideal way, especially to people like Testa and Souma. What they ended up using were a couple of rhinos who were pulling loads of materials. After unloading everything, they were basically packed like sardines into the container units and had a driver lead the rhinos towards the forest.
The ride was surprisingly nowhere near as bumpy as they expected, and outside of only one major break, were able to make record time and get to the forest in just under a day. Something that they did, however, that irked Souma, even though he saw it necessary, was to cut the top off the container for proper ventilation.
Fortunately, the time required to get there allowed Aisha to gather herself and began to look hopeful, and the second they got the forest, sleep deprived as she was, she was ready to instantly start helping. However, firstly, there was someone outside awaiting their arrival.
Wodan was feeling quite sleep deprived himself, but nonetheless, put on his best performance for the group that he heard coming to the forest. He imagined that it must have been Aisha, but he was a bit shocked that it was so soon. After all, it had not even been two days since he contacted her. Still, he was more than happy to see that not only had she arrived, but also brought some much-needed help. Even if they were about as sleep deprived as him.
"Welcome, Aisha. And thank you for the help you brought along."
"Of course, father. We came rushing as soon as I got your letter. Before anything else, I need to introduce you to someone."
Though Wodan was wondering who it was, it didn't take long for him to see a man dressed quite a bit differently than the others. Though he had only seen him from the broadcasts, it wasn't difficult to put two and two together.
"My king, I'm glad to finally meet you. Normally, we would provide a welcoming party, but I hope you can forgive this instance due to the circumstances."
Souma gave a weak chuckle. "Of course. Nice to meet you…?"
"Wodan. Wodan Udgard."
"Nice to meet you as well, Wodan. I do have quite a bit of questions, but for now, let's just skip the formalities and provide all the help we can."
"Thank you for your understanding. Please, follow me."
As he led them to the site, they all steeled themselves for what was coming. What awaited them was a small village that maybe had only a few houses left standing. All the others were either buried in mud, crushed by trees, or just completely collapsed. The people looked completely downtrodden, with many crying children, mothers desperately trying to console their own children, men who looked as though they have lost everything and were just sitting down, along with a few still desperately holding out hope and searching.
Once they got to the site and took things in, Wodan quickly debriefed them. "So far, we've counted almost eighty dead and half that missing. While we have tried to save as much as we can, over half the village has been hit horribly. We've asked for help from the nearby villages, but they have yet to come here."
Souma nodded, and then promptly started barking orders. "Keep on the lookout for any bodies or sounds! For any dark elves that are able bodies, bring them to help as well! Don't do anything that might endanger the lives of the victims! Remember, time is of the essence!"
A resounding 'yes sir!' could be heard throughout the soldiers as they all got to work. As they started, different thoughts were entering their minds.
On the side of Aisha, she was both relieved to be here and incredibly anxious at the same time. Relieved to provide help, and anxious that she might be too late. Nonetheless, that didn't stop her from immediately rushing towards the nearest sign of life that she saw and digging. Unfortunately, she drew the short end of the stick, as while she was able to save the child that was crying inside of the rubble, when she lifted it further, she saw the mangled corpse of what she guessed was one of the child's parents. Putting the child away from danger, she steadied her breathing.
Maybe I can use what Hinata taught me earlier… ruthlessness to save lives.
Looking over, she saw all of the soldiers, including Testa and Hinata, putting that thought into action. They would find someone, bring them to safety, and then immediately start searching for more survivors, not sparing a second thought for those that are already safe, and letting them be taken care of by those who were able.
While Testa and Hinata were the most efficient, mainly thanks to their Universal Perception abilities, they were still limiting themselves to only using physical means, which was somewhat frustrating for Hinata in particular. Something that she was quite happy about, however, was that she could detect Rimuru's magic on the people that he used to keep them alive by mending their internal injuries. This was especially potent for the children, who she imagined struck a chord with him. Still, this was going to be a long day ahead for them, and the two worked alongside the soldiers saving any that they could.
Souma was perhaps the person in the most stressful position. While he has seen disaster relief efforts on TV and the internet, there was an easy escape from that, and it was simply switching the channel or clicking off the video. Once started looking by using wooden mice with his ability, he realized just how disturbing these events could get. The only dead body he has seen previously has been Jorah and his crew, and they had bags over their heads and were just hung. No blood, no broken limbs, just a simple hanging.
This was wildly different, and it was quite apparent. Even still, he told himself that he needed to power through it. That he couldn't run away from it, and this included even taking the time to grieve whenever he saw a corpse so mangled that it made him want to throw up. The only saving grace so far was that no children appeared to be in such a sorry state, but the entire situation was just harrowing.
The events kept going until nighttime, and everyone was so exhausted that they were willing to just fall asleep on the grass. While Testa and Hinata could keep going for as long as they wanted, a chance to stop was something that they were incredibly grateful for. Especially after they confirmed that they had gotten all the survivors. As they were about to use a nearby patch of grass to rest, they heard someone walking up to them, and upon looking, found that person to be Souma.
"Oh, Souma. Can this wait until tomorrow?"
"Forgive me, Testa, but I wanted to ask you something, and I want to know the answer tonight."
Wondering what could be so urgent, she gestured for him to continue. With her okay, he asked, "You can use all forms of magic, correct?"
Though she could quickly see where this was going, she answered, "Yes…?"
"Would you please heal the survivors?"
"Are you certain about this?"
This was a daring move by Souma. Currently, what he was planning was to have her be their hidden ace. Initially, they didn't want any information leaking about her magic prowess, but now, what he was asking would force their opponents to act accordingly. Yes, by revealing that she could use light magic, they could limit it to that, but again, their enemies would spare no effort if she were to join the battlefield. Especially if he was asking for the potency of repairing broken limbs. Still, even despite all that, Souma just felt that it was… right.
"Yes. Completely certain."
His eyes stared deep into her crimson ones, and oddly enough, she bumped him up a couple pegs in terms of her respect towards him. "Very well. I'm assuming you don't want me to hold back?"
"Please don't. If you can heal them all back to full health, I will be very grateful."
"Understood. For now, I wish to get some sleep. I'll begin tomorrow morning."
As there was nothing that he could do to force her to begin tonight, he wished her well and tiredly walked back to a patch of grass and almost immediately began snoring. While Wodan insisted that he use a bed, he refused in favor of leaving it for the children. As the next morning arose, the dark elves were able to experience a miracle firsthand.