The abused merchant’s daughter – 77 | Sousaku – 創作

Chapter 2, Episode 31: Saint Sonia

“Waaah!” ”Kyaaaah!", screams like these echoed through the place.

When I arrived at the arena riding Cyril, there was tremendous chaos in front of a huge arena.
People were running around in panic.

『That's strange. The wasteland scorpions shouldn't be that big.』

Cyril muttered as she stood on the roof of a tall building.
Looking at it up close, it's really big.
It's so big that it could flatten a normal house.

I wonder why. I wonder why.

I'm not very smart, so I don't really understand. But there is one thing I understand.
We have to defeat it quickly or the damage will spread.

If I place the seeds of the holy tree on the ground and chant a spell, the seeds will respond to my voice.
They grow big and the vines become twisted.
When I looked at the enemy, I saw something small coming out in swarms from the rear of the scorpion.

We gotta take it down, quick! ! !

Please kill it! ! !

When I shouted in my mind. The vines of the sacred tree stretched high into the sky…… then plummeted down, piercing the scorpion without mercy.

■□■

How did something like this happen?
After parting ways with Riese and the others, Claire headed for the Great Temple by horse-drawn carriage, passing by the street next to the arena.
With a deafening roar, a huge Wasteland Scorpion emerged from the arena.
The carriage was unable to move forward due to the people fleeing in panic, and Claire was pulled away by armed priests who shouted, “Claire-sama, this way!”.

In the arena, there was a custom of betting on battles between wild scorpions.
So Claire also knew about the existence of the Wasteland Scorpion.
It appeared, breaking through the wall of the stadium, but it was clearly different in size from the scorpions Claire knew. It was so huge that it could crush a commoner's house.
It was rapidly destroying the walls of the arena.

Gigigigi.

The moment she turned around. She felt as if she had made eye contact with the desert scorpion that was supposed to be far away.

Countless smaller scorpions swarmed out from the giant wasteland scorpion.
Like animals seeking prey, they pursued the humans, who fled in panic.

As people fled screaming, Claire ran surrounded by armed priests and thought to herself.

Help me――Alberto.

But even when she wished. Even when she prayed. Alberto never showed up.
And then, with a sound like “gichigichigichigichi,” a swarm of small desert scorpions came toward Claire.

I have to escape, I have to escape, I have to escape.

She was being led away, hand held by a priest. But there were screams coming from behind.
As the swarm of scorpions closed in, Claire felt a chill run through her body, as if something dark was coursing through her veins.
The moment the swarm of scorpions was about to reach the people.

It appeared.

Zash! ! ! !
Zash! ! ! ! Zash! ! ! ! !

The small scorpions were pierced one after another by the vines of a tree, screeching and spewing green liquid as they swirled through the air.

Looking back cautiously――The vines were growing from a tree.
Looking up at the roots of the vine, there stood a blonde girl wearing a white robe and hiding her face with a white veil, a wolf with silver fur, and a giant bear, all standing on the trunk of a tree that stretched high into the sky.

Yes――There stood the figure of the Holy Saints who had once judged the fake saint.

"Saint-sama! ! ! "
The moment someone shouted, the screams turned into cheers.
Amidst the cheers, the Saints rushed forward.
To defeat the scorpion.

■□■

It was a fantastical sight.

That was what Claire thought when she saw the saints and the scorpion fighting.
I should have run away immediately, she thought.
Claire couldn't take her eyes off the girl with golden hair fighting, and the holy beasts, the silver wolf and the bear.

Extending vines to create a platform, the Saint rode the silver wolf, dodging the green poison of the scorpions with agile movements, gracefully soaring through the air.
The bear mercilessly knocked down the small scorpions.

The battle between the saints and the scorpions was like a scene from a fairy tale, leaving Claire holding her breath.

The saint, facing the large scorpion that protected itself with green venom, emitted light and relentlessly struck the scorpion's shell, breaking it open.
As the scorpion struggled and seemed about to fall, she used the vines to lift it into the air, then mercilessly cut off its pincers at the base and smiled, standing on a tree branch.
She couldn't see her eyes. But the saint's lips were always smiling.
She looked just like a warrior maiden fighting in battle.

And at that moment, the saint raised her hand.

The scorpion became entangled in the vines of the tree and was mercilessly crushed.

■□■

"Claire! ! Are you okay? ! ! "

After the saints defeated the scorpions, a large number of priests and knights rushed to the square.
The saints quickly disappeared, and the priests of the Holy Tree religion treated the wounded, while the knights carried them to safety.

Alberto pushed his way through the crowd and rushed over to Claire.

"I'm sorry, I never expected this to happen.
I heard that your carriage was attacked, so I rushed over, but I didn't make it in time."

Alberto apologized to Claire, but she smiled and shook her head.

Those who were still mesmerized by the battle of the saints seemed to be the same.
Everyone was frozen in place, unable to move.

Breaking the oath of Saint Kardiana, the saint was imprisoned and abused by a mean merchant, and it was rumored that she hated humans.
But even so, she fought and protected them without abandoning them.

"Thank you very much. Saint-sama."

Claire prayed in the direction where the saints had disappeared.

Unaware of Alberto's stern gaze as he watched her.