A Day of Disaster (5): Lufa's Circumstances

The fire I started wasn't meant to block the kidnappers' vision with smoke. That was merely a byproduct.

This was a marker—a signal.

"They got here sooner than I expected."

Ahead of me, dust was rising from the direction of Gadeland.

"Hmm? ...That's a lot..."

I had expected Zackhart-sama to smell something amiss and come running if I raised smoke, but... what? There have to be more than a thousand riders, don't there?

"What's that? Are they planning to wage a war?"

As I stood there dumbfounded, I heard Rapiria-sama's voice behind me. When I turned, Rapiria-sama was holding Lufa, whose head alone protruded from a burlap sack. Lufa still had a gag in her mouth.

"Lufa! Are you all right?!"

"Mmph!"

Though Lufa was still gagged, I breathed a sigh of relief at her lively voice and expression.

Behind Rapiria-sama and Lufa, I could see the confused kidnappers noticing the dust cloud and trying to flee.

I shouted, "Zackhart-sama! We've rescued Lufa!"

Whether my voice reached him or not, Zackhart-sama, mounted on a gigantic horse, gave a single cry of "Ngh!" and hurled the spear he was carrying at the group of kidnappers.

The enormous spear struck one of the panicked kidnappers head-on. The impaled man burst apart—literally exploding into scattered pieces. The impact threw the surrounding kidnappers to the ground, and those who fell were trampled by their comrades' horses, turning the scene into one of utter chaos and screams.

"I'll leave the rest to Baylieuse. Capture them all." Zackhart-sama reached us, issued that order, and began to slow down.

"The man who seemed to be their leader is missing his right arm! I cut it off! Make sure you capture him alive!"

"Understood!"

The well-disciplined force attacked the thirty kidnappers all at once—or, more precisely, the roughly twenty who remained after Wickhart's arrows and Zackhart-sama's spear had taken down the others.

At least a thousand against twenty. Knights against amateurs. The kidnappers had no chance of winning.

While some of the kidnappers collapsed in despair, the rest were swept away helplessly into the wave of the Third Knight Order.

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"Oh! Lufa! You're safe!"

"Yeah! It was scary, but I'm okay!"

Grandfather and granddaughter were overjoyed to see each other again.

As expected, the kidnappers had caused that commotion to target Lufa. Apparently, the man whose arm Rapiria had cut had devised the plan alone and recruited accomplices in the back streets.

"There's a girl who'll fetch a high price. I've got a contact. We'll split the money, so help me."

A contact who could get a high price for her... They were fleeing north... Rapiria seemed to know something, but...

...You will explain this, won't you?"

Zackhart-sama fixed Rapiria-sama with a stern gaze.

"Lufa. Is that all right?"

Rapiria-sama looked toward Lufa, and Lufa gave a small nod.

When we returned to Gadeland, the city was in an uproar. The Third Knight Order had begun a full-scale sweep of the back streets.

The tourists and merchants who had gathered to see what was happening hurriedly made way when Zackhart-sama appeared carrying Lufa.

We returned to the Third Knight Order's barracks, and once things had settled down somewhat, Rapiria slowly began to speak.

"Lufa was supposed to become the adopted daughter of a certain priest in the Riflea Holy Kingdom..."

Lufa was born to a middle-ranking noble family in a certain country on the southern continent. She was the eldest daughter, but her mother died young. Her father took a new wife, and they had two children together.

Lufa and her stepmother did not get along very well.

It was then that word came that a priest of the Riflea Holy Kingdom wished to adopt a Salsha child.

If Lufa crossed over to the northern continent, there would probably be no chance for them to meet again. Her father was reluctant, but his wife strongly supported the idea. Seeing how strongly she felt, he thought that Lufa might not have a happy future if she stayed in that household, and that she would be better off in a good family, so he agreed to the adoption.

That was how Lufa came to the northern continent. However, she was attacked by bandits near the border between Ludeck and Riflea.

The Tenth Knight Order happened to be passing through on a mission and rescued her.

"Hmm? Then shouldn't we simply deliver her to the priest in Riflea?" Zackhart-sama tilted his head.

"Normally, yes, but..." Rapiria glanced at Lufa again.

Lufa gave another small nod.

"Riflea is an allied nation. What follows is only rumor. Can you promise not to tell anyone else?"

...Of course."

"A priest in the Riflea Holy Kingdom adopting a child from the southern continent. There are dark rumors about similar cases. They say that some fanatics in Riflea are using Salsha people as 'sacrifices.'"

"...Sacrifices?" Zackhart-sama's expression grew even more severe.

"Our Tenth Knight Order actively accepts new recruits from other countries. Through some of them, we heard rumors quietly spreading among the citizens of Riflea: 'Don't approach Salsha people from the southern continent. They will always be attacked by bandits.'"

"...So you're saying that any Salsha person whose adoption has been arranged is invariably abducted by bandits?"

"Yes. And afterward, no one ever learns what happened to them."

"Could it not simply be coincidence?"

"I don't know."

"You do not know?"

"That's right. In Lufa's case, it happened within Ludeck territory, so we were able to save her, but we have no idea what happened to those who entered Riflea. All we know is that this is what people in Riflea say. But have you ever heard of people known as pure-blood supremacists?"

"Hmm. An old way of thinking. They say that only those who inherit Garod blood are the true people of the land. But it is an idea one hardly hears anymore."

"It seems that people who hold that belief definitely still exist. And they offer other races as sacrifices to the god they believe in...."

"Something like that, in this day and age?"

"Everything is merely a prediction by Rays-sama. But if Rays-sama, after gathering all sorts of information, judged that handing Lufa over as things stand would be dangerous, then I believe it must be true."

Rapiria-sama stated this firmly, and Zackhart-sama's brow furrowed even more deeply.

"...I certainly cannot imagine that even Rays would make such a claim without any basis, but..."

"Ah! So that's why the kidnapper said, 'I've got a contact who'll pay a high price'!" I interrupted their conversation.

"That's right. If the abduction of an adopted Salsha person was arranged from the outset, what the fanatics wanted was simply proof that the person had been 'kidnapped.' After that, no matter where or how the person ended up, the priest could simply deny all knowledge of it."

"But in reality, they would make it look as though she had been kidnapped, take her from the kidnappers, and sacrifice her.... And the man who arranged this kidnapping was a survivor of the bandits routed by the Tenth Knight Order...."

"If you look at it that way, doesn't their flight north—and the talk of a buyer—make sense?"

"It's a sickening way to do things." Zackhart-sama spat.

It was utterly absurd, and a blatant insult to everyone involved.

When I glanced at Lufa, she was quietly watching our exchange with the calm expression of someone who had already seen through it all.