Gacha Kingdom Building-Chapter 295: Execution In Detail

I left the car to see what we were dealing with.

At the same time, the squads in the cars behind us formed a perimeter around the mayor.

They wanted to move him to the last car in the column, reverse, and leave the street.

Almost immediately, they realized it was impossible.

We were surrounded; men charged at us from all sides.

The squads ahead of us kept them away with gunfire, but with each passing second, we were forced a step back.

Miwen: "...Mia, Anna. Careful. There’s something strange going on here."

Our enemies’ levels were fairly low, ranging between 20 and 40.

The bullets pierced their skin, and they bloodied the streets with every step.

Yet, even after losing a limb or having their chest pierced through, their incessant advance continued.

Mia and Anna, despite wanting to interfere, stood by the mayor’s side, waiting for new orders.

With a snap of my fingers, I summoned Cass from the Kingdom.

Instead of the dual blades she normally transforms into, this time she became a pair of cutlasses.

The black curved blades were heavier than what I was used to, but their increased reach was much welcomed in an open space, with so many enemies to fight.

It wasn’t just a tactical decision, though.

Cass refused to teach me her swordsmanship after our battle against Nissa, saying neither I nor any other citizen was at a suitable level to be her apprentice.

After much insistence on my part, she agreed to teach me if I could master the use of several different blades.

Miwen: "But a cutlass, really?"

Cass: "Don’t go complaining before giving me a swing~"

Like usual, she treated herself and me as each other’s playthings.

But to her credit, the cutlasses actually fit my style surprisingly well.

After the first swing, I realized the curved blades felt close to the daggers I used.

The biggest difference was the momentum.

I felt the blades drag me slightly more.

It gave me the confidence to put more strength into the swing.

I slashed through a second neck, and only then did it feel ’enough’.

Needing more energy to regain my balance, I put more strength into my right side.

Thus, my right arm was raised a moment faster.

I counterbalanced myself with a second swing to the right side, using the other cutlass.

My arms were being pulled further into each motion.

The slashes became longer.

However, it was simply a different rhythm than the one I was used to.

Less stormy.

More sophisticated.

Almost like a-

Cass: "It’s a different dance, huh?"

Miwen: "Yeah... I could get used to it, though."

Cass: "Heh~ You’re a natural~"

Even though she wasn’t in her humanoid form, I could tell she was smirking at me.

Our enemies this time were weaker than usual, so it was the perfect training ground.

No matter how much flesh and bone stood in our way, Cass cut through them.

The bullets flying right past were the only thing stopping me. Sometimes, it felt like they were hitting me more than the enemies were.

Still, at my level, they were only a nuisance.

The real problem was that, no matter how many I cut through, there were more coming my way.

The men charging at us didn’t flinch or cower.

I wasn’t allowed a single second to breathe.

Swinging endlessly like this started to drain my energy.

Mia and Anna were ready to jump in and help, but I needed them near the mayor.

So, without much of a choice, I summoned Licia and Claire as reinforcements.

Miwen: "Licia! Save one of them! Claire... Have fun!"

The air around me was already hot.

Then came Claire’s flames.

With a massive horizontal swing of her sword, wave upon wave of flames carved a path forward.

Before the wind could blow away the ashes, Mia and Anna took the mayor and our driver into the front vehicle.

Claire and Licia jumped onto the roof of the car, where they stuck their swords and held tight.

While we drove away, like turrets, they used their magic to clear our rear and the front.

The first battle of this mission ended with the loss of five vehicles, and most of the mayor’s guards.

Out of the thirty or so men we started with, only twelve remained.

The number of girls I had summoned also had increased from two to four.

A number that was about to change...

Miwen: "Just to make sure... You’ve got nothing to do with this, yeah?"

James: "Haha... These ugly things... I don’t really like them..."

Halfway to the cemetery, we stopped at a nearby building to regroup with James and the soldiers who had recovered unnaturally fast once the mayor was out of reach.

While they checked the mayor’s condition, I checked one of our enemies that I had Licia freeze.

At first glance, nothing about him stood out.

However, as I cut deeper into his skin, I noticed thin, yellowish vines spreading inside him.

They were like roots, coated in a massive amount of mana.

Miwen: "...Do you think you can reverse engineer this?"

It’d be great to avoid fighting another endless horde.

But if not, then at least recovering a single person would be great.

We could extract information from them.

Potentially, the culprit’s identity.

James: "It would take me a while... Unless you happen to have a [Green Magic] expert friend to help me..."

He seemed dejected, already expecting me to say there were none.

However, as rare as it was, there was actually someone in the Kingdom with powerful [Green Magic] and extensive knowledge.

She probably wouldn’t call herself an expert, though...

Miwen: "I do, but... I really wouldn’t like to summon her..."

James: "Oh... She’s hard to deal with?"

Miwen: "Absolutely not. It’s just that... Haah. You’ll see."

After a deep sigh, I did the unthinkable.

Almost immediately, she accepted the invitation and appeared before me.

While her tail wagged uncontrollably, she rubbed her eyes.

The moment she finally opened them, a big, dumb smile was plastered all over her face.

Even her fluffy ears perked up before flopping back down.

Miwen: "...Were you sleeping?"

Lily: "N-no! Raella was reading a book for Lana and me! But Agatha said Lana should rest, and that if I kept it a secret from you, I could take a nap with her! So then..."

I’m sure Agatha only said that as a joke, but for some reason, Lily truly believed I’d be angry at her if I discovered she had spent the afternoon sleeping with Lana.

She tried really hard to convince me she was only taking a nap, despite her unruly hair and the reddish mark of a suspiciously Lana-sized arm on her face.

I could listen to her explaining and immediately contradicting herself all day, but unfortunately, I had a job for her to do.

So, I patted her head, calming down her enthusiasm a little.

She tilted to the side in confusion, and I heard the girls’ giggles coming from behind us.

However, it worked, and she stopped talking long enough for me to speak.

Miwen: "Lily, I need your help."

Lily: "H-Hmm? What is it?"

Her voice was slightly timid, probably wondering if she could help with anything, considering that I had already gathered so many girls.

However, the idea of refusing didn’t even cross her mind.

If anything, she seemed happy to be of help.

So, I started explaining it to her, and eventually, I showed her the roots.

Lily: "A-Ah! Wasn’t there a species of fungi in your world that could do something like this? Uh..."

Despite appearances, Lily loved reading about Earth’s animal and plant life, so her knowledge already surpassed mine.

With just a look, she had already found a probable cause.

Miwen: "I know the fungi you’re talking about. But that one can only take control of ants and critters. Also, they are pretty apparent, and we found nothing like it in his body."

Although admittedly, our search was surface-level at best, and we stopped as soon as we found the roots.

Lily: "Hmmm..."

She closed her eyes and her fists, placing them on her cheeks, swaying her face from side to side.

To everyone’s surprise, her ritual seemed to work.

Lily: "Strengthening plant life is the most basic form of [Green Magic]... It’s not impossible to do something like this... It would just need a lot of mana."

Miwen: "Funny. That’s exactly what I found..."

James: "Good job, Missy."

As I expected, like the old man in Rodky, James took an immediate liking to Lily.

Like moths to a flame, her bubbly, grandkid-like energy drew these calm, gentle old men to her.

Miwen: "If you’re right... Do you think it’s possible to turn them back to normal?"

Lily: "Hmm... I don’t know... M-Maybe? I need to look more into it..."

Even though there was no need, I felt a strong urge to protect Lily from gruesome sights.

Because of this, I thought about having Agatha take over for Lily.

She lacked Lily’s [Green Magic] expertise, but she made up for it with her medical knowledge and potion-brewing abilities.

However, Lana’s treatment left only Angelica and Agatha available as the Kingdom’s healers.

On a normal day, Angie alone could take care of the clinic with her magic. But with hundreds of Snow White Wolves living in the Kingdom, if something were to happen, she would need Agatha’s help.

Besides, after James’ praise, Lily seemed motivated to continue helping...

James: "Don’t worry. I swear on my name that I won’t let the little missy see anything bad."

There was an uncharacteristic fire in his eyes.

He was more serious than I ever thought he could be.

But I understood it.

No price was too high to keep Lily’s innocence.

Miwen: "You better."

Knowing he’d never break this promise, I felt safe letting Lily work with James.

So, I moved on to check on the mayor’s condition.

I expected him to look at me with reluctant gratitude, however...

Richard: "Thank you, young man..."

They were, surprisingly, honest words.

Despite our attrition in the car, he recognized good work.

Mayor: "I guess this strengthens your argument, huh?"

Still, on this, he was half-hearted at best.

But I cared little for that, so...

Miwen: "...If anything, it strengthens yours. Our job, as adventurers, is to fight. So... Leaving it to the professionals is the best choice. Also, if it wasn’t for your security intercepting them first, who knows what could’ve happened?"

If Mia hadn’t been forced inside a closed space, she would’ve noticed the suspicious activity way before a single shot was fired, but for the sake of working together, I left that detail out.

Especially since there was one thing I needed to confront him on.

Miwen: "So... It appears these guys are something like zombies. And I can’t help but notice how our route leads directly into a cemetery. You don’t happen to know anything about this, right?"

Richard: "Nothing."

Without so much as a thought or a change in his breathing, he lied, looking directly into my eyes.

The stark contrast between his and Lily’s earlier attempt almost made me laugh.

Almost...

If not for how infuriating it was.

Miwen: "Alright. I’ve got no idea who we are dealing with. I don’t know what we are doing. And I don’t know why. So... I’m not risking my girls’ safety. Good luck... Sir."

This time, I remembered to treat him politely.

However, there was no pat on the back for me.

Richard: "You can’t do that. This operation-"

Miwen: "This operation has zero value to me. It doesn’t delay the AOTG a second. Either you give me a reason to care, or we’re out."

The mayor lowered his head, seemingly deep in thought.

I turned my back, thinking I’d give him time to consider it while I checked on the girls.

But then, I heard his voice from behind me.

Richard: "Bianca Graves. If you’re interested in the AOTG, you might know the name."

I had read about her.

She was a person of interest working under Neptune, one of many.

Interestingly, even after going over her profile a couple of times, I couldn’t tell what made her special.

Her Gift was unknown, but her threat assessment was fairly low.

Miwen: "What does she have to do with any of this?"

Richard: "Get me to the cemetery. You’ll understand and... The AOTG will be one person short."

It was a start.

But it wasn’t enough.

Miwen: "One person? That’s not much."

It was almost a joke.

I could get a hundred in a day, without putting the girls at risk.

Richard: "She is more than you think."

...He certainly had a way to avoid answering.

Miwen: "...Will taking this woman out stop the zombies?"

There wasn’t anything about [Green Magic] on her profile, but as someone who lied and kept the Kingdom a secret from the government, I wouldn’t be shocked by such a gap in their information.

Still, if she were the culprit, then yes, this mission would be worthwhile.

At the very least, if possible, I’d like not to have to deal with a zombie army while fighting the AOTG.

Richard: "Possibly."

...Aside from the obvious cases, it wasn’t easy to read whether the mayor was lying or not.

This time, I had to trust my gut.

Miwen: "Alright. I’ll get you there."

The mayor and I shook hands for the first time.

More than a mission, we now had a promise.

Although before we could resume working on it...

Lily: "Miwen! I f-found something..."

Her eyes were watery, and she seemed afraid.

Her trembling hands were cupped together.

She opened them to reveal something minuscule, half the size of a nail.

At first glance, they looked like fleshy orange sprouts, or maybe larvae.

Miwen: "Is it the fungi?"

Lily: "T-The roots were already the fungi! But ugh.. It’s urgent! This one was in the corpse."

However, there were two in her hand-

James: "Missy! I told you to wait for me to-"

Lily: "This one was behind Mia’s ear!"

...Despite the panic in his voice, I barely heard him.

From that moment on, reaching the cemetery was my only priority.

And I made sure the mayor understood something clearly.

If Bianca Graves didn’t stop this...

Whatever happened to Mia would pale in comparison to what I’d do to him.