Chapter 68 - Great Uproar (1/2)

Chapter 68- Great Uproar

Strained voices of soldiers, running around, and noises of metal clanging with metal echoed inside the castle.

「Found them?!」

「First floor, farther there!」

「Such idiots! Going to the dead end on their own!」

The inside of the castle was in a complete uproar akin to a stirred up beehive. Fleeing civilians, like civil officials and maids, jumbled together with the soldiers rushing to the scene, creating chaos.

「The stairs to the dungeons are narrow! Front line, prepare shields and spears, form double file and advance!」

When a middle-aged man, who seemed to be a commander, ordered so in a loud voice, the soldiers, who until now advanced in disarray, immediately obeyed. Leading the group of soldiers that filled the corridor of the first floor and a few magicians, he raised a sword overhead, free from its sheath.

「Now, we trapped them! Slowly go down the stairs!」

【Ditzen]

Advancing through the damp, humid and putrid underground passage, we reached the last cell in there.

However, inside was only one tattered man, who likely went through all possible forms of torture. The man had a piece of cloth black from blood wrapped around him and slept like the dead. Looking at his unkempt silver hair and beard, he must have been held here for a long time.

「Looks like this is a miss. We will head to the lady’s mansion next.」

Said Aifa with hints of sarcasm, completely ignoring the terrible scene. I have a lot of things I’d like to say but first comes my own well being.

「I hear footsteps of people descending the stairs, Aifa-dono. Could it be that you are planning to dive into the bunch of soldiers who are rushing toward us this very moment?」

Put into this obviously hopeless situation, I unintentionally asked in a weird tone.

「No, we are going to move, avoiding the soldiers.」

「How?! We are presently at a dead end with no way out!」

Pointing at the jail I explain the situation, but Aifa only snorts and points up.

「We should just make one. This dungeon is sturdy, but they didn’t anticipate that I will do something to it.」

「Huh?」

Such sound unintentionally leaked from my mouth when I heard Aifa’s words. Doesn’t he remember how many steps we took when we descended the stairs?

Such a thick ceiling is not easy to destroy.

While I thought that, looking at Aifa with eyes full of skepticism, Yuri’s voice came from the side.

「Now, do you feel any better?」

As I turned around, I saw Yuri with her hand reached to the confined man, and noticed that the countless wounds that could be seen on his exposed skin before, now disappeared.

「W-What are you doing, Yuri-sama…」

Right when we are about to exert techniques as we run around the castle, why do you have to use them to cure wounds of some prisoner that is about to kick the bucket?

And it would be one thing if she just broke into the cell and released him, but of all things, she had to use healing magic.

「……You can use healing magic? How unusual.」

As expected, even Aifa was surprised. He muttered those words with a frown on his face.

Then, Yuri nodded with「Yes」and turned to us.

「He looked very pained, so I couldn’t help myself.」

Seeing smiling Yuri I dropped my shoulders and said.

「Is that so. That person would be happy. Then, let’s go already. Since Aifa-dono is saying that we can somehow escape from the underground.」

Saying that I took a sidelong glance at Aifa. However, Aifa was looking up, without even noticing my look.

「First, the soil.」

The moment Aifa uttered that line, the ground started to shake bit by bit with a rumbling sound.

And then the dungeon ceiling moved. Some of the stones were dropping to the floor of the underground passage like they were alive. Seeing that scene I frowned.

「Won’t soldiers arrive here first?」

When I asked so, full of discontent, Aifa responded with a sigh.

「If I do it all at once we will end up in a cave-in. That’s why I have to break it down part by part and immediately solidify the soil above with magic. And create a hole by repeating that process. The excess soil and stones are used to block the passage. They won’t be able to get this far so easily.」