Chapter 67 – Outskirts Clinic ~ Princess Priestess in White Clothes 2
Night came to the clinic, which was noisy and crowded when the sun was bright.
Natsuki fell asleep in the blink of an eye as soon as she put her head on the pillow, but I couldn’t sleep yet, so I left the room to spend some time by taking a walk.
There were still many people left in the dark clinic, lit only by a few candles.
Most of the patients who flocked in from the morning finished treatment by daybreak, but there were some who had serious wounds and had to rest for a few more days to monitor their progress, or some came late at night.
As Natsuki had advised the soldiers standing guard at the entrance, patients who came at night were not turned away just because their wounds were not serious.
It was a pity that now may be the only time when those working in the most difficult and difficult places have time when the sun is high in the sky.
The doctors and medical women who sympathized with that idea stood on duty to make up for the absence of Natsuki, who was exhausted, looking for medicinal ingredients, and were in charge of treating hospitalized patients and late visitors.
It was uncomfortable to just look at the people taking care of patients by candlelight, with nothing to do, so I went to the back floor and sat down.
I was spending time looking at the bright moonlit garden, rocking my feet back and forth, and it was so quiet without the sound of insects that I could even hear Ain’s footsteps, which I normally wouldn’t hear.
“Master. “Suspicious people are surrounding the building.”
“… Already? “Isn’t it too fast?”
If she was going to tire Natsuki out, she would have waited at least a few more days and thought that the good girl would show up after she had exhausted a lot of her physical strength, magical power, and mental power.
“It doesn’t seem like they have any intention of attacking right away, but they aren’t even trying to hide their presence.”
“… Even though you know that there is a ninja named Aiko here, right?”
Aiko had been Natsuki’s confidant ever since she was young, so there was no way she wasn’t aware of the other person’s existence.
Even though she knew all about her skills, it felt like she had no intention of concealing them if they were detected by Ain who had only experienced in frontal combat.
“No matter how much jealousy or inferiority she feels toward Natsuki, she has no intention of concealing it so confidently… “No?”
She stopped her shaky feet and stood up. Because of the low wall, she could see what was beyond her wall just by standing on the floor.
As I looked around, I saw people dressed in black and with hoods over their faces, hiding here and there in the shadows created by the moonlight, looking at this place.
“I know this well because I have been the victim of an ambush before. They will attack today.”
“Shall we summon the soldiers and inform the surrounding area?”
“No. Fighting head-on will only increase sacrifices.”
At least the soldiers who were merely following orders could not be allowed to die in vain.
“I’ll wake Natsuki. Ain goes around and tells his soldiers to prepare stretchers.”
“I understand.”
When I saw Ain go out to the front yard where the clinic was set up, I hurried into the room.
When I held Natsuki’s shoulder and rocked her while she was still breathing quietly, she pursed her mouth and made a cute expression.
“Natsuki. Wake up.”
“Yes… No… “
“This is not the time to talk in your sleep.”
I was able to wake Natsuki from her deep sleep by stimulating her body by kissing her forehead or cheek, or squeezing her shoulder or chest.
“… Ugh”
She was only half asleep, so she just stayed still like a doll until they took off her pajamas and changed her into comfortable clothes.
“Eww… What’s going on?”
“Tonight. There will be an attack. We’re already surrounded.”
“Raid?”
Natsuki also raised her voice as if she didn’t know they would attack today.
“What about the patients?”
“Don’t worry. “We will put him on a stretcher and escape together.”
“Is there a place to escape?”
“There is.”
Perhaps, if I use the solution I came up with and get through the situation safely, I will have to reveal that I am the woman who was sealed by Natsuki, but I decided not to pay attention to her for now.
When I answered confidently, Natsuki regained her composure and began gathering her necessary items.
“Master. We have prepared as many patients as there are patients who cannot move the stretcher.”
“Move to the basement immediately. “Everyone will see us moving, so there is no reason to move late.”
“What should I do for the entrance?”
“It’s okay to use a little rough method.”
Ain nodded her head once as if she understood and quickly moved away without even closing the door. As Natsuki gathered everything and came out of the room, holding her hand tightly, Aiko fell from the roof.
“Aiko. Are you here now? “You understand the situation, right?”
“Yes. There is no room to escape. When he came back, it seemed like they had deliberately created a loophole and let him in.”
“I guess they’re going to handle it all at once. Let’s go.”
Without even asking where she was going, Aiko moved right behind Natsuki and was on guard to see if her memorization came.
As we headed towards where the soldiers were lined up with stretchers, we saw a small storage room where gardening tools were stored. Ain was using a shovel to scoop out an amount of soil at once that exceeded human strength.
Meanwhile, there were broken shovels lying around, but no one paid any attention. Natsuki’s eyes widened as she saw what I was doing.
“Setsuka. No. “Do you think there is something underground?”
“Know. There is only one way for us to escape.”
As if at the end of my words, the shovel Ain was swinging stopped and an underground passage large enough for a person to enter appeared.
Even while we were standing still, patients who could walk on their own and those on stretchers were busy moving around according to Ain’s instructions.
When the patient is halfway in. The people surrounding us outside began to move, perhaps realizing that our movement was not simply a sit-in protest in the warehouse, but that we were plotting something different.
The assassins quickly jumped over the low fence, lit the torches they had brought with them to candles left nearby, and began to throw them at random things around them.
Bright red flames and thick smoke prevented anyone from escaping from this manor. Realizing that there was a fire, nearby residents screamed and tried spraying water, but the fire only intensified even after spraying water, perhaps because they had already sprayed oil on it.
They sent all the patients and soldiers into the warehouse, and together with Natsuki, Aiko, and Ain, they blocked the entrance to the warehouse.
“Confirmation of the shaman princess.”
“Exclude.”
While the assassins surrounded and pointing their swords exchanged glances and signals. Ain stepped forward, holding a long scythe that she used to cut grass.
“Ain. You don’t have to actively fight. If we hold out here and escape underground at the right time, we will win.”
Since she had not revealed her identity to Natsuki yet, she believed that she could easily defeat her by taking advantage of the confusion and using magic to destroy the passage.
Aiko also listened to me and focused on protecting Natsuki by throwing shurikens in her defensive stance and skillfully blocking the attacks of assassins coming from various directions.
As time passed and the number of people on the other side of the fire increased, the assassin leader became impatient at the sight of us only defending ourselves and ordered us to attack actively, but the time we had already lost was on our side.
“Aiko!”
As soon as I called his name, he immediately took out a smoke bomb from his belt and threw it on the floor.
Pop! As white smoke rose with a sound, Aiko and Ain threw themselves into the basement without even looking back, hugging Natsuki and me.
The assassins who followed behind, dispersing the smoke, froze for a moment when they saw the unexpected underground passage, and then immediately jumped down.
As we came down first and ran down the passage, we heard footsteps and followed us persistently. The soldiers who were moving with the patients earlier shouted at Aiko when they could be seen in the distance.
“Aiko! Throw a smoke bomb behind you!”
“It’s underground! Do you want to be suffocated?”
“Quickly!”
Aiko gave her a crazy look and then biting her lip she pulled out a small smoke bomb and threw it behind her. When the smoke bomb exploded with a smaller sound than before, blocking her vision, she pretended to fall, placed her hands on the ground, and quickly activated her magic.
A thick earthen wall appeared in the passage we couldn’t see beyond the smoke screen, blocking us from getting any closer. We could have dug it out with a weapon and passed through it, but then it would have already run too far away for us to be chased.
I said I knew the way and led many people, including Natsuki, in the direction going down to the second basement level. The wide open space where the golems rested was planned to become a comfortable space where people could take a break from the commotion.
