Merchant Noble is out (1/4 chapters for today)
Crisis
(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)
(POV Switch – Shoppers)
“This is turning into quite a bad situation.” (Alma)
Alma said as she blended into the crowd causing a commotion in front of the sealed-off slums.
“Did we get found out…?” (Kanna)
Kanna’s voice trembled in anxiety, and her face had turned pale.
“Calm down. If they had found us out, they wouldn’t be carrying out such a large-scale search. The enemy is still in the phase of mere speculation.” (Alma)
“That’s true.” (Kanna)
“But at this rate, it will only be a matter of time before we get found.” (Alma)
From the outside, it appeared that the search teams were thoroughly investigating each house, tearing up carpets and demolishing walls if there were any suspicious gaps in the house layouts. The house occupants were collapsing in tears, but the soldiers continued their investigations without any regard.
“Hey, let us in! I was just out for a walk!” (Resident)
“No! This blockade doesn’t allow for any exceptions.” (Guard)
“I only went out to buy some fruit for my sick mother. Please let me in!” (Resident)
“I told you, no exceptions! If you try to force your way in, I’ll kill you immediately.” (Guard)
At the entrance to the slums, the residents who had happened to be outside were desperately shouting to be allowed back in, but the guards paid them no mind. In fact, the guards were prodding the pleading residents with spears, forcing them to leave.
“It seems there is no way to get inside.” (Alma)
Alma, who had been listening to the back-and-forth between the guards and the residents, said.
“Fighting is impossible due to the numbers. Taking hostages and escaping is also impossible.” (Alma)
Kanna despaired at the current situation. Even though Alma had managed to calm her down earlier, her breathing became erratic once again. Kanna had been a top student at the Sheeb Order. Her research and preparation skills were of such a high caliber that no other Order members could match her in terms of precision. That was why she had been chosen as a member of the rescue team this time. However, the flip side of her excellent preparation was that she was extremely vulnerable to irregular, emergency situations. If something unexpected happened that she hadn’t prepared for, she would fall into a panic state in an instant.
Muttering to herself, Kanna desperately tried to think, but she had no idea what she was thinking or what she should be thinking.
“Look!” (Alma)
Kanna, who was on the verge of fainting from tension, had her shoulder sharply tapped.
“Lift your head and look properly!” (Alma)
Alma grabbed Kanna’s head and forced her face upwards. It was only then that Kanna realized she had been looking down. Her field of vision opened up immediately. Beyond the crowded entrance of the slums, filled with onlookers, residents, and guards, there were a large number of soldiers searching the houses.
As she showed this scene, Alma said.
“Even though the search has started all at once, the slums are large. At this rate, it will still take some time before the search reaches the hideout.” (Alma)
The soldiers conducting the search had sealed off the north, south, east, and west entrances, and were now methodically searching each house, starting from the edges. The hideout where Yuna and the princess were hiding was located in the center of the slums. True, the situation was critical, but the search wouldn’t reach them immediately.
“Thank you.” (Kanna)
Kanna thanked Alma, then began reconstructing the relationship diagram of the Lureid Kingdom in her mind. This was a power structure diagram that she had memorized and engraved in her mind during the preparation of the rescue operation, to the point that it was almost worn out. The closeness to the king, factions, loyalty, sense of justice. By examining these factors within the power structure, she tried to figure out who could stop the search.
“There’s only one person.” (Kanna)
Kanna muttered, as if deciding on her course of action, then earnestly asked Alma for help.
“Alma-sama, I will take a very risky course of action. It’s a dangerous method, one that could go either way. Could I ask for your cooperation?” (Kanna)
She recalled the family structure, daily schedule, and the guards’ openings of the target she had pinpointed from the power structure diagram.
—
(POV Switch – Remaining members)
“…I never imagined the search of the slums would start this quickly.” (Yuna)
Yuna couldn’t hide her confusion at the sudden start of the large-scale search of the slums.
She had camouflaged the city walls and tried to divert attention outward. She had expected that the slums would eventually become a target, but the speed at which this happened was beyond what she had anticipated.
“What should we do… there’s no way to escape now.” (Bal)
“From what I can tell, there are at least 2000 soldiers. Of that number, about 1200 are actively searching. They’re searching each house systematically in groups of 30.” (Lumin)
Ignoring the frightened Bal, Lumin, who had been looking outside the window, spoke.
“…Is escape possible?” (Lumin)
“Not at all. All the routes out of the slums are blocked, and there are soldiers even on the roofs.” (Lumin)
“We’re going to be found out soon.” (Bal)
Lumin was calm, while Bal continued to tremble in fear.
Yuna decided not to focus on the outcome for now but to carry out what she could do step by step. First, she headed to the next room where Princess Alice was. Although Alice was somewhat free, Yuna decided to restrain her once again.
“…Princess Alice, if we get found, I will have to kill you and die myself. Please cooperate so that it doesn’t come to that.” (Yuna)
Yuna’s tone was polite, but there was no room for refusal. Alice could only nod in agreement.
“…Lumin, put a gag on Princess Alice and have her hide under the bed.” (Yuna)
The bedframe was made of wood, but it had been hollowed out beforehand, anticipating situations like this, so a person could hide under it.
“Yuna-san, what should we do, what should we do?” (Bal)
“…For now, calm down.” (Yuna)
Yuna shouted at the panicking Bal.
“The fact that Kanna and Alma-sama were out shopping in the slums was fortunate. They might do something.” (Yuna)
Lumin spoke, but Yuna shook her head.
“…We can’t expect too much. We’ll do what we can.” (Yuna)
Then, she gave the order to prepare for battle as best they could.
(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)
Please consider supporting Bayabusco Translation @
bayabuscotranslation 