Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 75

The Day of Disaster (5) – Rufa’s Circumstance

The reason I started the fire wasn’t to obstruct the kidnapper’s view.

The fire was a signal.

“They’re fast.”

From a distance, I could see dust clouds rising from the direction of Gedland.

“Woah. That’s a lot of people.”

I thought that if Zackhart-sama saw the fire, he would come but…the heck. There were about…1000 horsemen with him!?

“Is he planning to go to war!?”

Lapilia-sama’s voice came from behind me, stunned. When I turned around, Lapilia-sama was holding Rufa who had only her face sticking out of the sack. Rufa still had a gag in her mouth.

“Rufa! Are you okay!?”

“Mmm!”

Even though Rufa was still gagged, I was glad to see she seemed to be fine.

Behind Lapilia-sama and Rufa, I could see that the confused kidnapper noticed the dust cloud and tried to escape.

I immediately shouted, “Zackhart-sama! I rescued Rufa!”

As if my voice had reached him, Zackhart-sama, who was riding on a giant horse, shouted, “Hmph!”  and threw his spear at the group of kidnappers.

A huge spear flew through the air and hit one of the panicking kidnappers, sending him flying back. The kidnappers surrounding were also thrown to the ground due to the impact, and the kidnappers who were thrown to the ground were also crushed by their own horses, creating a rather agonizing scene.

Then, Zackhart-sama led his men toward us.

“Beylues, I’ll leave the rest to you. Don’t let anyone escape.” 

“I cut off the right hand of the person that seems to be their leader. Capture him alive.”

“Understood!”

All at once, the well-coordinated group attacked the kidnappers’ group of 30 people, or more precisely, 20 kidnappers, since the rest were already killed either by Wickharlt’s arrows or Zackhart-sama’s spear.

1000 vs 20, knights vs thugs. The kidnappers have no chance of winning.

While some of the kidnappers collapsed in despair, they were all swallowed by the wave of the 3rd Division’s knights.

***

“Rufa! You’re alright!”

“Un. I was surprised, but I’m fine.”

The ‘granddaughter’ and ‘grandpa’ were now reunited.

As I had expected, the kidnappers were aiming for Rufa and caused that commotion. It seems that the man who had his arm cut off by Lapilia-sama made a plan all by himself, then recruited ‘friends’ from the underworld.

“I have found a girl who can be sold for a high price. I have a connection to the buyer. I’ll share the money so help me”

The leader probably told his ‘friends’ something along that line.

A girl who can sell for a high price… they were going to the north… and Lapilia-sama who seemed to know something…

“Can you tell me?”

Zackhart-sama turns his stern gaze towards Lapilia-sama.

“Rufa. Can I?”

Lapilia-sama turned her gaze to Rufa, who gave her a small nod.

3rd POV

When Roa returned to Gedland, the town was in the midst of a commotion. The 3rd Division was cleaning up the underworld.

The tourists and merchants who gathered, wondering what was going on, hurriedly cleared the way when Zackhart appeared carrying Rufa.

After that, Roa and his friends returned to the 3rd Division’s barrack. After resting for a while, Lapilia finally opened her mouth.

“Rufa was supposed to be adopted by a certain priest in the Lifrea Holy Kingdom”

Rufa was born into a middle-class noble family in a country on the southern continent. Although she was the eldest daughter of her family, her mother died early, and her father took in a new wife and had two children with his new wife.

Rufa’s relationship with her stepmother was not very good.

In the midst of all this, news of a priest from Lifrea wanting to adopt a Sarshan child came to Rufa’s household.

If Rufa crossed the sea and went to the northern continent, she wouldn’t be able to meet her family again. Her father was reluctant, but his wife strongly agreed. Seeing his wife’s enthusiasm, Rufa’s father agreed to let the priest adopt her. As for Rufa, she thought that she wouldn’t be able to gain happiness by staying at her home…so she also agreed to be adopted.

That was how Rufa started her journey to the northern continent. However, she was attacked by bandits near the border between Rudek and Lifrea.

The 10th Division happened to be passing by on a mission and helped her.

“Hmm? Then, shouldn’t we just send her to the priest in Lifrea?” Zackhart tilted his head and asked.

“That’s our original plan, but…”Lapilia glanced at Rufa again.

Just like before, Rufa gave her a small nod.

“We have an alliance with the Lifrea Holy Kingdom. From this point on, it’s nothing more than a rumor. Can you promise me that you won’t leak what I say?”

“..Of course.”

“There is an unpleasant rumor about priests from Lifrea who want to adopt a sarshan. According to this rumor, those priests are fanatics who want to make the sarshan child a sacrifice.”

1st POV

“Sacrifice?” Zackhart-sama’s expression became even more grim.

“The 10th Division is actively accepting new recruits who came from other countries. I heard from the knights who came from Lifrea that in their country, there’s a rumor that goes like this, Don’t approach the sarshans who came from the southern continent if you don’t want to be attacked by bandits.”

“So, the sarshans who came to Lifrea to get adopted will always get attacked by bandits?”

“Yes. And no one ever knows what happened to them after that.”

“Any chance that it’s just a coincidence?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“In Rufa’s case, she was coincidentally attacked in Rudek’s territory, so we helped her, but we don’t know about other sarshans. But, have you heard about the pureblood supremacist?”

“The group of people with an old way of thinking that only people who inherit the blood of Garod are the true people of this land. But I rarely heard of their name lately.”

“It seems that they still exist. And they sacrifice foreign races to the gods they believe in.”

“Something like that is happening in the current day and age?”

“This is all just Rays-sama’s conjecture. However, if Rays-sama, who has gathered information from various countries decided that handing her over to Lifrea is dangerous, then I believe he is right.”

Lapilia-sama declared, and Zackhart-sama’s frown deepened.

“…I do believe that Rays won’t make that kind of decision without any basis…”

“Ah! That’s why the kidnapper said he had a connection who can sell Rufa for a high price!” I interjected into their conversation.

“Yes. If a sarshan child who is supposed to be adopted was kidnapped midway, then the priest who was about to adopt them can easily escape the blame.”

“But if the truth is, the ‘kidnapping’ was a ruse and after being ‘kidnapped’ the priest will take the sarshan child and make them into a sacrifice…then…if the man who planned the kidnapping this time was a survivor of the bandits who tried to kidnap Rufa before…”

“It makes sense that the man has some ‘connection’ and the reason he fled north can also be explained.”

“What a disgusting bunch of people,” Zackhart-sama said.

I agreed. 

When I looked at Rufa, she suddenly seemed to have noticed something, then she silently looked at our conversation.