The Great Sinner Takes Command

“‘O earth, become a wall and protect me! 【Wall】!’”

Meanwhile, elsewhere: the provisional branch office meeting room, where Giovanno and the others had been holding their discussion.

The one chanting earth magic was, of course, the “Earth Sage” Earthcell.

He was currently repairing the walls and floor.

The mysterious boom that had roared out a moment ago, and then the tremor.

So had the provisional branch office cracked under it, you ask? ......No.

The building he had created with earth magic was reasonably robust and would not collapse from a mere tremor.

So why was he making repairs, you ask? The cause was Emi.

After hearing the explosion, she had been the very first to react, flying outside before anyone around her could even call out.

With great force...... by bursting through the wall.

Thanks to that, there was currently a gaping hole in the wall of the provisional branch office, and the floor where Emi had stepped was cracked and slightly sunken.

“......Forgive me, Earthcell-dono. Come to think of it, I never did teach Emi, ‘When you go outside, use the door instead of bursting through the wall.’”

Giovanno said this with a wry smile.

“Foooh~~~! No matter, no matter! A lively child is the best kind!”

Earthcell laughed heartily.

“Wow, what a tomboy!”

Yuju said with a carefree smile.

“No, no, no, that's way too lively; this goes way past tomboy......”

The only one objecting was Taiche, who looked pale and held her hand to her forehead as if suffering from a headache.

But smiling or not, not a single person in the room other than Taiche was letting their guard down.

They still didn't know the true nature of the explosion, and since then, sounds and vibrations—zun...... don......—had been intermittently reaching the provisional branch office.

“Foooh~~~! Repairs complete!”

“I am grateful, Earthcell-dono.”

And so, the gaping hole in the wall was cleanly sealed.

The task Giovanno and the others had been working on had also just reached a stopping point.

They had been moving the desks and chairs in the room to create a wide, open space.

Currently, a dozen-odd merchants and roughly the same number of adventurers, including their guards, were staying within this base.

Adventurers aside, many of the merchants possessed no combat ability.

They were creating a shelter to protect such people.

While those in the room did not have an accurate grasp of exactly what was happening at the base, Giovanno was taking command and coordinating the response so they would be ready for anything.

“Now then, we are ready to take people in. Next, we split up, make the rounds of the base and guide the evacuation......”

“Report, report!”

And here, once again, the grubby man, Modokin, burst into the meeting room without so much as a knock.

“Status, report! The defensive wall, came down! ......And in three, places!!”

“What did you say!?”

In spite of himself, Earthcell was startled and raised his voice!

His right hand slipped into his pocket without his meaning it to...... and squeezed his treasure.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down, leaving a small stain on the newly repaired floor.

“Calm down...... catch your breath...... then go on. Unhurried, and brief.”

He must have run here at full speed...... Modokin was drenched in sweat and panting hard, and he sank down onto one knee.

Rubbing the man's back, Giovanno—in stark contrast to the flustered Earthcell—made a point of staying calm as he urged him to go on with the report.

“Haa, haa...... sorry...... the wall's down in three places: the east side, the north side and the south side. And they've burned monster lure inside the base and stimulant in the forest, and monsters are pouring in by the bucketful.”

Yes, as stated in the report, the defensive wall had not been breached in just one place!

This was information Modokin had confirmed by taking a quick look around the base on his way back to the provisional branch office.

“Foh!? You mean this is the work of people!? That this base is under attack!?”

“Tch...... is this the work of terrorists who fly the anti-Adventurers'-Guild banner......?”

Earthcell's eyes widened in shock, and Taiche furrowed her brow.

The Adventurers' Guild was an international organization.

Backed by its military and financial power, it had spread into every corner of the world.

Naturally, there were many countries, organizations, and individuals who did not view this favorably for political, economic, or even cultural reasons, and it was not unheard of for such people to carry out attacks targeting the Adventurers' Guild.

“We shall put the identity of the culprits on hold for now. Modokin, give me the details on the monsters. How is the situation being handled?”

“The most monsters are on the east side, near Mount Nanga. Miss is holding it by herself. The north, with the next most, is us, ‘Brown Dragon's Heel’, since we're used to it. The south, the adventurers who happened to be here.”

“......Emi is alone, then.”

Hearing the rest of Modokin's report, Giovanno frowned for a moment.

The image of the young girl flashed through his mind.

If he were to prioritize personal feelings, he would want to send her more support.

But Giovanno knew.

“Where is it most precarious?”

“The south. Thanks to Miss going wild, the noise has pulled a lot of the monsters her way. Even so, those guys aren't used to it.”

“Earthcell-dono.”

“Foh!!”

Giovanno sent a sharp look toward Earthcell.

Glared at by that villain's face full of fighting spirit, even Earthcell, the elder of the two, flinched in spite of himself, pulled his right hand out of his pocket and straightened up!

“I'd like you to repair the defensive wall. Can you?”

“As a stopgap, yes! But without the big base rocks, it'll take time!”

“Then south, north and east, in that order. Your work will be the key to bringing this under control. Modokin, sorry, but make a round of the base and bring anyone who can't fight to this room. After that, back up Patchino. As for the adventurers, ask them to join the defense of the south or the north.”

Giovanno issued the orders in rapid succession!

Chest out, back straight, commanding.

His voice resonated well within the meeting room, which was silent save for the deep zun that occasionally shook the base.

It was a voice full of spirit, yet calm, and one that felt almost cold.

“W, wait, please!”

But Taiche hurriedly objected!

“You mean you'll leave Emi-san on her own!? You can't, surely!? She's nine years old!?”

“............”

Upon hearing those words, Giovanno fell silent for a moment.

With a deep zun......, the building shook again.

Emotionally, this villain-faced man wanted to agree with Taiche's words entirely.

But he couldn't do that.

There wasn't that much fighting strength in this base.

To protect this place...... he couldn't waste a single person.

Besides, Giovanno knew.

And he believed.

“Modokin.”

“Yeah.”

“This shaking we keep feeling...... it's Emi's doing, isn't it?”

“Yeah, that's right. Miss has really snapped and isn't holding back. Get close and even we're in danger. That's why Patchino moved to the north side, too.”

“Wha......!”

Taiche was an office worker through and through.

Unlike Yuju, she could not grasp an opponent's combat ability just by facing them, nor had she ever seen Emi fight.

So when it came to judging how best to deploy their fighters here, the villain-faced man had the edge.

Giovanno knew Emi's strength well.

And he believed she would never lose.

“So that's how it is. No change to the orders. Now, Earthcell-dono, Modokin, I'm counting on you.”

“Leave it to me!”

“Roger!”

The two of them scrambled out of the meeting room.

Left in the room were Giovanno, Taiche, and Yuju.

With a zun, the building shook yet again.

“Now, Yuju-dono: as Taiche-dono's guard, you can't leave this place, I take it?”

“Wow, well, ordinarily, yes.”

Yuju scratched her cheek, wearing an awkward expression.

“Then I'd like you to stay here and watch over the evacuees as well as guarding Taiche-dono. Can you?”

“I permit it.”

Yuju tried to glance toward her employer, but before she could, Taiche spoke without a moment's delay.

“Taiche-dono, those of us who cannot fight shall coordinate the evacuees here. It may be outside your official duties, but could you lend us your help?”

“Well, naturally.”

“Then, let us move to the entrance. We shall welcome the evacuees.”

Having said that, Giovanno immediately left the meeting room and began striding down the hallway.

Taiche and Yuju hurriedly followed.

“......You're very practiced at command. Earthcell praised your leadership to the skies in his letter. I see why now.”

“I'm honored by the praise.”

“......Though I can't quite accept the decision to leave the defense to a young girl. Isn't that rather heartless?”

“It's my nature.”

Taiche was still not convinced by Giovanno's decision, which in a sense looked like he was abandoning Emi to fight alone.

Giovanno didn't even turn his face toward her as she followed behind him; he only answered, flatly.

He didn't argue.

The words had thorns, but he didn't answer them with sarcasm either.

Because Giovanno understood how Taiche felt.

Giovanno knew Emi's strength well.

And he believed she would never lose.

But, still, he also thought this.

Making a cold decision because it was necessary.

Wasn't that the same as back when he played the wicked count?

Since meeting Emi and the others in the demon realm, he had somehow felt like a new man.

But that had been a mistake.

In the end, he hadn't changed a bit since the days he was called a great villain.

After all, wherever he went, he was a great sinner.

Several merchants had already gathered in front of the provisional branch office entrance.

They had likely evacuated on their own initiative.

Among them was a little boy, likely traveling with his parents as peddlers.

Spotting him through the glass pane in the front door, Giovanno caught his breath in spite of himself.

Seeing the terrified, trembling boy, he remembered what he had done in the past, and his chest tightened.

But he had to switch gears.

He shook his head, shook off the self-loathing that bound his heart and weighed his body down, and set his fighting spirit alight.

He would protect them.

He would protect this base.

The warriors holding the defense.

Giovanno, who couldn't fight.

But the wish to protect everyone was the same.

Giovanno flung the entrance door open with vigor, made the best smile he could to reassure the evacuees, and shouted!

“Everyone, well done for making it here safely! Now that you're here, there's nothing to fear! Come, hurry inside!”

As ever, it was an evil smile that would make a child cry at the sight of it.

But that figure, which looked full of confidence and fighting spirit, certainly won the evacuees' hearts!

Stretches like this, where nothing much moves, are hard to write.

It makes me feel all over again how poor my writing is.