Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang out from every gate of Orario.
Evilus had completely surrounded the city!
At this moment, anyone who took a single step outside the walls would be ambushed by them. A large number of civilians had gathered at the city gates, loudly protesting the Guild's decision to seal the city.
"Let us out!"
"We want to leave this place."
"Orario is finished!"
"The Adventurers can't even protect themselves! They don't have the strength to protect us at all."
The Adventurers in charge of guarding the gates were all relatively high-level adventures.
For now, with them holding the defensive line, the civilians hadn't yet broken through the blockade.
But they were about to reach their absolute limit.
Having lost their homes, the refugees now lacked even a change of clothes or food to fill their empty stomachs.
"This is bad. If this goes on, a rebellion might break out!"
"Wait, everyone, please listen to me! The outside is surrounded by Evilus! If you go out, we won't be able to protect you!"
"Please wait for the distribution of relief supplies."
An Adventurer was shouting at the top of his lungs.
But a heavy rock flew straight toward his face. Fortunately, the Level 2 Adventurer reacted quickly, tilting his head just in time to dodge the stone.
"Shut up! You didn't protect us at all!"
"What protection? Didn't you lose?!"
The Adventurer who had the rock thrown at him was a little annoyed.
That rock had almost hit him right in the eye!
For such a fragile part of the body, the effects of the Endurance stat were basically negligible. Being blinded in one eye by the very civilians he was trying to protect wasn't a funny joke.
"You people!"
Seeing his companion about to erupt in anger, another Adventurer quickly held him back, desperately trying to calm him down.
If they clashed with the angry civilians at a time like this, the rift between Adventurers and civilians would quickly escalate into open opposition, and the situation would become completely irreversible.
'Are these really the kind of people we're protecting?'
At this moment, the girls of the Astraea Familia had just been through several intense battles.
Every one of them was exhausted and had sustained some minor injuries.
Even so, they had absolutely no intention of resting. As long as they were still able to move, they felt they should be saving as many people as possible.
However, what was now laid bare before their eyes was this pure human ugliness.
Ryuu wore an expression of someone questioning her entire life's purpose.
For the overly forthright Elven girl, this harsh reality was a heavy blow. She lowered her head, her fists clenched in tight anger, trembling slightly.
The specific phrase Rayleigh had once used, "human depravity," automatically surfaced in her mind.
Rayleigh was right.
The victims only feared their cruel aggressors, yet they easily unleashed their greatest malice upon the very people who helped them.
Bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Repaying kindness with bitter enmity.
'This is really hard to watch, meow.'
Eh?
Hearing the strange voice that rang out clearly in her mind, Ryuu's face showed deep bewilderment.
'This voice is... Haineko?'
It was a distinct voice she had heard many times during Jinzen.
She picked up the sheathed Haineko and asked softly, "Haineko, is that you talking?"
'Who else would it be, meow? You're such an idiot, Ryuu, you overthink things way too much.'
"Hah?" Ryuu made a small sound of displeasure at Haineko's scolding tone.
'Have you already forgotten Rayleigh-sama words?' Haineko's blunt words made Ryuu pause.
She murmured under her breath, "My heart and my actions are as clear as a mirror..."
'You act for the sake of others.'
'As long as you know that isn't wrong, all you need to do next is charge straight ahead. That's the real you.'
"For the sake of others... Yes, helping others can't be wrong," she agreed.
'You can't be a good champion of justice if you care too much about what other people think, you know.'
'A beloved hero is as terrifying as a demon to their enemies. Those who enact justice must, in turn, bear something heavy themselves. Are you such a weakling that you'd be crushed so easily, Ryuu?'
"I'M NOT!" Ryuu shouted.
"Whoa!" Lyra, who was standing quietly to the side, jumped in fright.
She looked quizzically at the Elf girl who had just stood up and complained, "Geez, what are you shouting about all of a sudden, Ryuu? You scared me."
"Er..." Ryuu showed a slightly apologetic expression. "Sorry, Lyra."
"Hm? Your expression just brightened up, Ryuu. Did you figure something out?"
Ryuu smiled faintly, then shook her head. "No, I was just getting a stern lecture from my other self."
'Thank you, Haineko. Thank you for worrying about me.'
Clutching her Zanpakuto, Ryuu gave her sincere thanks in her heart. In that very moment, she felt some kind of profound change occur within her.
The feeling was untraceable, yet it was truly there.
'Haineko? Did you do something?' Ryuu curiously asked her Zanpakuto, but this time, she received no reply from the spirit.
'Her other self?' Lyra quickly realized Ryuu was talking about her Zanpakuto.
Her expression promptly darkened!
She reached back and touched the fifty-centimeter-long short sword resting on her back, thinking to herself, 'When is my Zanpakuto going to finally awaken?'
Several months had already passed, and she hadn't received a single response from her Zanpakuto even once.
'What in the world are you so dissatisfied with me about, hey!'
...
"Finn." Rayleigh arrived at the high city wall and found the Pallum hero.
Seeing him appear, Finn asked, "Are you alright, Rayleigh? You don't seem to be injured."
"I'm fine, but you don't look so good."
Being teased a little, Finn revealed a weary smile. "This is a very difficult battle. The survival of Orario is at stake, as is my lifelong dream. I can't fail!"
The sheer determination in the hero's eyes was striking.
As the supreme commander of Orario's gathered forces, he held the fragile lives of everyone in his hands.
If it were anyone else, they would have surely been crushed by this immense pressure long ago.
Only because he was Finn could he maintain his steady composure.
"There are too many wounded," Finn admitted. "Not just Adventurers, but civilians too. We don't have enough healers, and we can't spare them to go out and treat the scattered victims. We can endure sleeping on the cold streets. Having no food is hard, but we can hold on for a while. But if the severe injuries aren't treated soon, people will start dying."
Even in this very second, a large number of the injured were perishing simply because they couldn't be treated in time.
"Just as I thought," Rayleigh said. "That's why I brought you a helpful gift."
"What?" Finn was taken aback.
His gaze then fell upon the long bag Rayleigh was carrying on his back.
The bag was about eighty centimeters long, very similar to the size of an average sword.
'A sword? It must be Zanpakuto!'
"Rayleigh! The gift you mentioned, could it be?"
Without another word, Rayleigh took the bag off his back and quickly untied the thick rope on it.
Inside rested three brand new Swords!
"This is?" Finn asked expectantly.
Rayleigh silently drew one of the blades and infused it with his Reiatsu.
The blade emitted a soft, glowing green light.
He brought the glowing green blade horizontally right up to the Pallum hero's face.
Finn didn't flinch.
Rayleigh pressed the flat of the blade against his cheek and made a very light sliding cut across a previous wound.
'Hiss—'
A faint painful scratch on Finn's face, after being touched by the glowing blade, wasn't harmed further.
Instead, it actually emitted a tiny wisp of white steam.
When the steam cleared, the scratch had completely vanished!
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