Chapter 28

"Many from the front, two from the right!"

Sania, hearing the footsteps of the pursuers, warned everyone.

This happened as soon as they entered the town. Gaeist's thorough preparation was astounding.

Ryuryu looked at Lazette. They had decided beforehand to follow Lazette's instructions during the escape.

"Let's run straight through."

Koru let out a small scream, and Sania reminded everyone again that there were many pursuers from the front.

"It's fine. It's safer to break through that group."

When asked who said such a thing, Lazette pointed to the lord's mansion.

Looking in that direction, one of the windows of the lord's mansion was blinking.

Sora was looking down at the town from the mansion, signaling to Lazette with the reflection of a mirror.

If there was light, run towards the mansion; if not, make a judgment on the spot. It was a simple signal with only two choices, and the chances of misreading it were low.

"But if Sania can't tell the number of people, there are at least more of them than us."

Ryuryu pointed out that it would be reckless to charge into the pursuers.

Lazette quickly ignited the wooden stopper of the glass bottle with a flint. Koru did the same, but he was a bit hesitant.

"Sora-sama said to make it as flashy as possible. It's apparently fine even if there are injuries."

While putting the flint back in her pocket, Lazette glared at the front. The sharp gaze she directed at the seven or so men running down the road made Koru teary-eyed. He had prepared, but emotionally, he didn't want to use the glass bottle. However, since Lazette had decided to use it seriously, Koru had no choice but to follow.

"Lazette, are you angry?"

"I've developed a grudge against the church."

Lazette answered with a smile that only curled the corners of her lips and instructed everyone not to stop no matter what happened.

"Capture the children!"

"There's no need to block the road, just catch them here!"

While running towards the men who were shouting, Lazette and Koru threw the glass bottles.

"You're bad at this!"

"It didn't even graze us!"

The men mocked as they watched the glass bottles fall to the ground. They didn't slow down. The moment the glass bottle landed just in front of the leading man, it shattered, and the scene unfolded.

The glass shards scattered, followed by flames that spread rapidly. The leading man was engulfed in the sudden inferno. The flames that splashed onto his legs caused him to scream and roll on the ground, clutching his legs. The other men were so shocked that they fell to the ground, sitting and staring in disbelief.

Ryuryu and Koru slipped through the stunned men, and Lazette and Sania kicked and trampled the heads of the dazed men as they passed by.

After Lazette and the others ran away, the men were left in a daze, still trying to comprehend what had just happened, with the flames still burning on the ground.

Ryuryu, confirming the scene over his shoulder, turned his gaze forward.

"Was that magic?"

Even though the glass bottles were set on fire, the sudden and widespread burning of the ground suggested nothing else.

Ryuryu knew that magic required incantations or complex arrays to be activated, but there were none on the glass bottles.

If anything, it was possible that a magic array was written on the wooden stopper of the glass bottle.

"Anyone would think so, but it's not."

Denying Ryuryu's guess, Lazette lightly shook the glass bottle in her hand.

"This is filled with extremely strong alcohol. I ignited it."

The glass bottle contained distilled alcohol, which is highly flammable.

The high-concentration alcohol ignited from the wooden stopper, and the splashed alcohol further spread the flames.

This was the basic concept of the Molotov cocktail, which Finland used against the Soviet Union during the Winter War. It was sarcastically called the Molotov cocktail, dedicated to Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov. Sora referred to it as the Gaeist cocktail, dedicated to Bishop Gaeist.

"We can still do this six more times with Koru."

Hearing this, Sania made a troubled face. The smell of vaporized alcohol was strong.

Wishing that the pursuers wouldn't gather, Sania let out a heavy sigh at the approaching angry shouts.

Gaeist and Sharina, who were heading to the lord's mansion through a different route, were incredulous.

They had received the news that the maids they were chasing had used magic.

"That's... impossible."

Sharina looked like she was about to cry.

If they were dealing with a magic user, Gaeist would not back down. The treatment of Sania and Ryuryu would also worsen.

"...It's strange. Too strange."

Gaeist repeated "strange" with a voice that was more confused than angry.

He had expected them to use magic in a way that could be explained away later. Using such a flashy and powerful spell would result in witnesses, making it impossible to explain away.

"I thought that maid was a more thoughtful woman..."

Gaeist pushed aside a minor sense of unease, thinking that she was just a magic user who defied God.

Regardless, the plan wouldn't change.

"Gather around the lord's mansion. As servants, they can't be away from the mansion for long. It will be easier to capture them once they are separated from the children."

Even with a magic user who could create a sea of fire, the gathered pawns wouldn't be very useful.

In this situation, it was best to concentrate the pawns at the base, the lord's mansion, and prevent the opponent from achieving their victory conditions.

"–That's what you'll think."

Looking down at the town from a room in the lord's mansion, Sora was smiling sardonically. Sora had accurately read Gaeist's thoughts.

Gathering the church's believers around the mansion and making Lazette appear to be a magic user were all part of Sora's plan.

"Fool. Do you think you can stop us by lining up your pawns?"

Mocking Gaeist, who was not present, by referring to the church's believers as pawns.

"You're setting yourself up to be checkmated."

Sora used a hand mirror to send Lazette the order to charge and left the room.

"Let's see if you can checkmate us."