Episode 277: Madness and regret (Third Party Perspective)

“Haa … Haa … I can’t do it anymore, desu ~ .”

 Saint Noelle, a girl wearing a white priest’s uniform, dripping sweat on the ground, kneels down and repeatedly takes shallow breaths.

“That’s no good. If you don’t do your best, the people of our country will starve. Until you finish the quota, you won’t be able to eat, right?”

“That’s terrible, desu, I was told you wouldn’t make life difficult, desu.”

 She was forced to transform what was once a vast wasteland into a fertile field, and uses magic to encourage the growth of plants.

 Several hectares of land have already been plowed and a large number of workers are being used to sow and harvest.

 However, the meal is still being held hostage and she is made to do other work.

 That is, the task of continuously producing water using water magic. She keeps filling plastic tanks that people bring with them.

 This country is suffering from chronic water shortages and is being squeezed out by the upper echelons who have their eyes on Noelle’s magical powers.

 Water will come out if you use magic, but the more MP you consume, the more something like vitality will come out of you, and this will accumulate fatigue.

 The work is done for several hours under the scorching heat of the Middle East. She has been living like this for almost a week now.

“We won’t let you be inconvenienced. If you work properly, we will provide food and shelter in return for that.”

 One of the soldiers who is watching, gives a nasty smile.

 She is sweating profusely, the priest’s clothes sticking to her skin, and the sweat that floats on her skin, give Noelle a lustrous color, but she herself is already exhausted.

 However, if she doesn’t do it, she won’t be able to eat well. Then, she has no choice but to whip her painful body and continue working.

 However, Noelle also has a limit. She is tired physically and mentally.

“Haa ~ … Sanctuary!!”

 Noelle reaches the limit of her patience due to the excessive tyranny and chants magic.

 Sanctuary.

 This magic is a magic that forms a barrier to protect herself. It is an excellent thing whose strength increases proportionally according to the magic power, and does not allow attacks from the outside, or intrusion by those who are not approved.

 Noelle, who is called a Saint, has extremely high magical power, and if you look only at magical power, it is comparable to the SS-rank, so Noelle’s Sanctuary has a defensive power that can be said to be an impregnable wall that can not be broken by most explorers.

 If she puts enough magic power into it, she can leave it unfolded while she sleeps, so she won’t be attacked at night.

“What!?”

 The soldiers are confused by Noelle’s sudden outrage.

“I’ve run out of patience. I’m going on strike.”

 Noelle surrounds her hut and herself with Sanctuary. As a result, the soldiers can no longer harm Noelle directly.

 Of course, it is possible to take indirect measures such as not giving food or making the facilities in the hut unusable.

 However, since Noelle can grow food in emergency storage items and grow fields in Sanctuary, food is not a problem to some extent, and water and other life problems can be managed with magic, there is no doubt that it will be a competition.

“I demand improvements in working conditions, desu!!”

 Noelle speaks loudly with a doya face.

 She thinks that if they will provide her with at least three meals and she would have time to sleep properly, she would be able to complete her work despite her complaints.

“Gununununununuu.”

 The soldier makes a frustrated look at Noelle’s doya face and then looks down.

 However, Noelle is unable to see through the mental abnormalities of the soldiers of this country. Because it is too far from her common sense.

“Set maximum working hours per day and breaks, three satisfying meals, and at least seven hours of sleep. I demand this, desu.”

“… Kuukuuku. A-haahaaha!!”

 Noelle expresses her demands to the soldier who looks down in frustration.

 Hearing Noelle’s words, the soldier who had been looking down for a while lets out a chuckle.

“It seems you don’t understand your position!!”

 The soldier readies his gun and glares at Noelle.

“Wh, what are you doing?”

 Noelle is upset when a gun is suddenly pointed at her.

 However, she shouldn’t take any damage from being shot, herself. Noelle doesn’t know what the soldier means.

 But the next moment, she understands his intentions.

“~~ !?”

 The soldier who held his gun, aims the muzzle at the civilians working in the country.

-Daann

 The next moment, a loud gunshot resounds and the nearest civilian to the soldier collapses. A red liquid spreads out on the spot.

“”Kyaa!!””

 The civilians scream at the sudden turn of events.

“You guys, don’t move!! I’ll kill anyone who moves.”

 The soldier yells and warns the civilians who try to escape. The civilians know that the soldier is an explorer, and is of a high rank, so they are stuck.

 Noelle can’t believe the sight in front of her.

 At least, one person died just by demanding better working conditions through a strike.

“Every time you skip work for ten seconds, I’ll kill one person. What are you going to do now?”

 The soldier, with a devilish smile, asks Noelle in front of him.

 On person has already died because of her. And it will increase every ten seconds. They are civilians of a country with no connection to her, but there is no way, as a Saint or as a human being, for her to let an innocent person bear such a tragic fate.

“Understood, desu … I’ll work, desu …”

 That’s all Noelle can answer.

 And she deeply regrets her careless behavior.