Chapter 478: Cat (2/2)

Eckert yelled severely at the now-seemingly-embarrassed tradesman-looking man who had just stormed into the hall.

“Ah, I’m truly sorry! But sir, the ship…!”

“…Has there been an accident?”

Seeing that the tradesman appeared to be unable to finish speaking, Eckert made a guess, partially as a joke. But unfortunately, his guess had hit the mark.

“Ah, that’s correct, sir!”

“…What!? Tell me more!”

The color on Eckert’s face changed as he urged the tradesman to speak, almost as if he had forgotten that Jin and the others were still present.

“The scaffolding collapsed, trapping ten of our workers under it!”

“What!?”

Eckert got off the chair so fast that it almost fell, and then looked at Jin and the others.

“Please forgive my rudeness. It seems that there’s been an accident. It was truly great to have you all here today. Thank you very much for coming.”

As he tried to excuse himself from the hall with another example of his lighthearted manners, Jin called out to him.

“Wait, please! Is there anything we can do to help?”

Having people trapped under a collapsed scaffolding sounded like the type of accident that was a matter of life and death.

Jin wasn’t so coldhearted that he could simply ignore such a thing. And his friends were the same.

“…We can heal those who were injured in the accident.”

“That’s right, we’ve heard what happened loud and clear. Please let us help in any way we can.”

Elsa, Saki, Reinhardt, and Berthie all expressed their willingness to help. Stearleana and Vivian soon followed.

“You can’t hesitate when something as life-threatening as this happens. If you have any complaints, please save them for later. The lives of those workers should be our first priority!”

After hearing everyone’s thoughts on the matter, Eckert made up his mind.

“Alright. Please bring your attendants along as well!”

Then he finally broke into a run, leaving the room. Jin and the others followed him.

After going through the residence’s back door, a long corridor seemed to lead them towards a huge dock. Screams could be heard from that direction.

As they arrived at the dock, all they could see was a complete disaster.

In the center of the dock, there was a huge wooden ship that seemed to be under construction, and a wooden scaffolding had been built around it. But this very scaffolding seemed to have collapsed halfway, and several workers had been pinned under it.

Some of the ship’s building materials had been knocked over and were about to fall, so if things didn’t go well, a second disaster would be likely to occur.

Even among the workers that hadn’t been caught under the fallen scaffolding, several had sustained slight injuries.

The fallen scaffolding had also trapped several golem workers, which was causing them to malfunction.

“This is terrible…”

A single look at that disastrous scene was enough to make Jin frown. Elsa and Saki had their breath taken away. Biting her lips, Berthie held tightly onto Reinhardt’s arm, and Stearleana and Vivian involuntarily pulled themselves closer together by their arms.

“Those who are safe, clear the debris away! Help those who are trapped under the scaffolding!”

After shouting his command, he himself set out to the collapsed scaffolding and reached out to it as if trying to move some of it out of the way, but at that moment…

The rest of the scaffolding that was still standing also collapsed.

“Watch out!”

Schwartz Ritter had jumped in. His sturdy back caught the falling wooden girders.

“Ah, ah…”

Eckert’s face turned white as a sheet. Had it not been for Schwartz Ritter’s intervention, he would have been hit directly by the falling girders.

“Mr. Techres, please evacuate everyone. We’ll take it from here!”

At first, Eckart was hesitant about Jin’s words, but then…

“It’s much safer if we use our attendants to save the trapped workers!”

Those words had closed the deal, and Eckert finally nodded.

“Everyone, please take refuge outside of the dock!”

At their employer’s command, the laborers and engineers began to evacuate the dock. But Eckert stayed behind.

“Mr. Techres?”

Jin seemed a bit lost, but although Eckert still seemed a bit pale, his next words came out with an undaunting resolve.

“As their employer, I’m responsible for their safety. I will see this through to the end.”

Resonating with his strong determination, Jin called out to his friends.

“Everyone! Let’s help the injured!”