After the terrorist attack, some things happened.
First, after finishing talking to the gentlemen who were investigating the place, Celes asked me if I could investigate the area where the armored carriage had come from.
Since I had no reason to refuse, I said it was fine and immediately went uphill, following the tracks the carriage had left behind. I also asked Maria to stay behind just in case; Gabriela stayed with her.
Lately, she has become less and less dependent on me, which is a good thing, but as her mother, it makes me feel a little lonely.
Okay, let's get those depressing thoughts out of my head and focus on the research.
I took one of the cigars from the inside pocket of my trench coat; these are versions that I had improved so they wouldn't be too strong, since normal cigars in this world exceed the amount of tobacco.
I walked along the slightly steep path, noticing some injured people and others confused, as a metal cart had almost run them over. Luckily, there were no deaths or serious injuries.
While helping a child who had injured his ankle jumping to avoid the carriage, I started thinking.
It was highly likely that the other side knew our travel route beforehand for this attack.
I wasn't paying attention because I wanted to relax and do some sightseeing, but it was very likely they had been monitoring us from the moment we left the inn.
That attack happened at the exact moment we were in the right position to collide, and besides, the carriage came from quite a long distance; it can't just be a coincidence.
I said goodbye to the boy and his mother, who were still thanking me, and continued on my way to the place where the carriage began to go out of control.
During my journey, I noticed several presences following me from the rooftops of the houses at a distance.
They must be the ones who have been following us until now. What impatient people they are. They also left some more where Celes and the others were.
Let's leave them alone for now; they won't do anything to give themselves away.
I followed the trail left by the carriage to an area of the city in rather poor condition.
It seems that, before I knew it, I had left the upscale area and entered the slums.
The foul smell of the surroundings combined with the level of humidity in the air made being in this place nauseating.
Well, anyway, there were quite a few places like that in the area where I lived in my previous life, so I'm used to it.
I stopped near a place with several abandoned houses where the trail had stopped.
The whole place seemed silent, and at first glance, there didn't seem to be anyone there well, that was only on the surface.
I turned my face to the side, dodging a rusty knife that came flying from behind.
That was a 100% intent to kill attack.
"I managed to dodge it."
When I turned around in response to the voice, I could see a group of filthy, poorly dressed men holding damaged, poor quality weapons.
I suppose these kinds of people live around these places.
"Hey, Nee-san, since you're in a place like this and wearing such beautiful clothes, why don't you give us some incentives as a gift for our meeting?"
The tallest man with the bushy beard was the one who said that; probably the incentives they were referring to must be money. I also noticed some lustful glances among their ranks.
"Unpleasant [increased severity]."
Without thinking twice, I used gravity magic, which caused the group of thugs to be pinned to the floor.
Try to use as little power as possible since you weren't trying to kill them.
These people, although unpleasant, live here, so they are a good source of information.
I kept pressing down until most of them fainted; the only one who remained conscious was the bearded man who seemed to be their leader.
I canceled the magic and lifted the leader by the neck to have him at the level of my gaze.
"Hey, filthy beard, do you know anything about an iron clad carriage that went out of control around here?"
"I don't know much! I only know that someone brought him here out of nowhere and convinced some of the people who lived around here to take a strange drug!"
"Hmm, so were you able to identify the person who did that?"
"And I don't know either! He was wearing a mask and a thick robe; it's not unusual to find people like that around here."
"I see. Do you know what happened to the people who took the drugs?"
"Suddenly, they started going crazy. They kept shouting things like 'God is dead' or 'By the Lord's command!' I really don't know anything else!"
"Mmm, that's enough."
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
After finishing the interrogation, I threw the man away like he was disposable trash and walked toward a nearby alley where a strange aura emanated.
Once there, I could feel that the foul odor was stronger and that there were bloodstains along with unknown traces of dirt.
Upon closer inspection, I could see a vial lying to one side near a pile of trash.
I picked it up and saw a little dark red liquid lodged at the bottom, but I could see traces of miasma inside; this must be the drug mentioned before.
This will serve as evidence; there's more to it, and with this, I can also take my time to analyze it later.
"...That house."
Looking further down the alley, I could see a half destroyed house with a door made of broken wooden planks.
"That place also gives off a better aura; it needs to be checked out."
I headed toward the house, and as I did, I could feel the presences even closer, emanating some hostility.
Something important must be hidden here.
I pushed aside the pieces of wood that had once been a door and entered the residence.
There weren't many rooms; the floor was chipped and unstable, and there were unknown holes in the walls. It also stank of excrement.
There were many more vials than outside; I also found some notes with strange and disturbing sentences written in blood.
One of them looked like the portrait of a man in a robe and mask, with the word god above his head.
From everything I've seen, the effect of the drug is clear anyway; this is also evidence.
I took the sheets and put them in my bag, then I started checking every room or rather, the only two rooms.
In one of them, there were two corpses: one was a woman of about thirty, and the other a child, both with traces of torture, their eye sockets empty. It was not a pretty sight.
With my blessing, release their souls so they can die in peace, and store their bodies for proper burial after restoring their appearances.
In the next room, there were pieces of mutilated bodies and a magic circle drawn in the center with blood. There were also some miasma stones and magic stones scattered about.
Taking my notebook that hung from my belt, I made a quick sketch of the magic circle along with a few observations.
When I had finished, I approached the table in the corner and began to glance at the notes that were there.
Unlike the previous notes, this one was more coherent; it included instructions for creating the magic circle and some predetermined commands.
"This should be enough evidence. I'll put it in a safe place so it's not affected by the trap they set here."
Just as I finished saying that, a current of magic centered at my feet, forming a magic circle and covering the entire house.
This isn't something you'd use on a person, but on huge, tough monsters.
I don't know if the fact that they put so much effort into this just to kill me is a compliment or an insult.
A brilliant light enveloped the entire house, followed by an explosion that destroyed everything within its range.
The nearest passersby ran as fast as they could to avoid being affected, and after a while, the smoke had dispersed, revealing a crater full of debris.
Then a group of people wearing black clothing and masks appeared near the destroyed area.
"Have we killed her?"
"No signs of life were detected, so it's safe."
"We still have to examine her body; Mr. Goros wants to see it for himself."
"I'll take care of it."
One of the members of the suspected group went down to the center of the crater where the debris had accumulated.
While removing the pieces of stone, he could vaguely see a gloved hand beneath the stones.
Before he could rejoice, the hand quickly emerged from the rubble and gripped the masked man's neck tightly.
Confused, he tried to break free from her grip as quickly as he could, but no matter what he did, her hand wouldn't move.
The hand rose higher and higher, moving the subject's feet further away, while a large figure emerged from beneath the wreckage.
Large, imposing, and very beautiful are the only words that could describe that figure.
"YOU?! What?!"
"Am I alive? Darling, you can't kill death."
After saying that, I looked in the direction where the rest of the companions of the one I had trapped were.
They were equally bewildered, but the moment they saw my evil smile, they began to flee.
"Or they won't go anywhere!"
I took a long leap, destroying what was left of the floor, and landed in front of them.
Their eyes trembled; it was as if they were looking at a terrifying monster.
I moved my body before they could react, grabbed one of their heads with my free hand, and while I had him, I slammed him against one of his companions, knocking them out.
I saw one of them pull something out from under his clothes, so before he could do anything, I threw the guy I had by the neck, making them both crash into the nearby wall and that finished them all off.
Don't kill them, they'll be useful for interrogation… they're not dead, are they? I think I held back as best I could.
A little worried, I checked the bodies of the four stalkers and was able to confirm that they were alive… badly damaged, but alive.
I tied up the four of them and checked their belongings for any dangerous objects.
After leaving them half naked, I discovered that they were a group of two women and two men with various self destruct and anti-interrogation tools.
The good thing is that I was quick.
I finished tying them up and put them over my shoulder to carry them back to where the others were.
When I was halfway there, a carriage came speeding toward me and stopped near my position with other carriages following behind.
"Lucia-san! Are you alright?!"
The first person to get out of the carriage was Celes, who looked quite worried, I suppose because a large explosion had occurred where she was.
"I'm fine, you see, I don't have any injuries. Anyway, I have quite a few things to show you."
"That's a relief."
"Mrs. Celestina had told him that Lucia-sama would be fine; there was no need to make such a fuss."
"Mom is super strong!"
From behind, Maria got out of the carriage holding Gabriela in her arms.
"Hi, did anything happen while I was gone?"
"Apart from the fact that, for some reason, the blond haired gentleman gave me the address of his house, nothing in particular."
"Where is he? I'd like to speak with him for a moment."
"Calm down, Lucia-sama. He had already gone to the Knights' Fortress, and I already threw that thing away. If it emanates such a dense killing intent, it will be difficult for normal people to breathe."
Upon hearing Maria's words, I saw the faces of Celes and the gentlemen who had come they were pale.
"Oh! Sorry about that."
"Huh? Ha! Nothing, it's no problem, although I'll have to give Sanctus-sama Entises another warning since Lucia-san is fine. Could I ask her who the people she's carrying are?"
"Well, it's an interesting story."
After that, I told Celes everything I had found while presenting her with various pieces of evidence along with the people I captured.
Celes seemed quite happy about it, but then she became thoughtful.
"Thank you for everything. It's a shame we can't continue our tour, but I have to report this to the castle."
"Don't worry, we'll visit you once things have calmed down."
"Fufu, I'll be waiting then. Have a good day."
With that last thought, she returned to the carriage and left as quickly as she had come; she must be in a hurry.
sigh Shall we go back to the inn?
"That would be good, it's been a very hectic day."
"Mom, I'm hungry!"
"Yes, yes, let's go back quickly."
With that said, we prepared to return home.
......
"What is that monster?"
Gorgon, who until recently had been monitoring Celes and the others, watched in horror as their planned assassination attempt failed absurdly.
First, a single female Majin had fought alone against the damned beings prepared for the attack, and although that was expected, it was at least anticipated that she would be seriously injured. Furthermore, she also emerged unscathed from a fifth degree spell, straight on! How is that possible!?
Is this the power of those who have lived from the beginning?
"What do we do now, Gorgon-sama?"
The one who said that was one of the stalkers who survived Lucia's attack because he stayed behind to watch over Maria and the others.
sigh Let's keep our distance for now. We won't be able to show much of each other for a while. From now on, I have to report this to my superiors.
With that said, they all disappeared without a trace.
"We had finally arrived."
I opened our bedroom door and without hesitating, jumped onto the bed, sending all my clothes flying, leaving me in nothing but my underwear.
"Lucia-sama, you should at least wait until I close the door before doing that; it's not appropriate."
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I'm quite tired today."
"You don't get tired."
"It's mental fatigue."
"..."
"Mom, I'm Hungry"
"Is that so?, come on"
At my call, Gabriela climbed onto my belly, lifted my bra, and began to suck the contents of my nipples.
I've gotten used to this by now.
"Anyone who saw her would think that your a neglectful mother, Lucia-sama."
"It works, doesn't it?"
"It doesn't look very different from how monkeys feed their young."
"That's a lie! Monkeys give more affection."
"Why do they want to lower it even further?"
"Forget that... here, look at this."
I threw the vial with the drug I had kept earlier to Maria.
"A potion?"
"It's the kind of drug that our attackers used. Do you have any idea of its effects?"
In response to my question, Maria placed a little of the vial's contents on her finger, and a palpable energy began to emanate from it.
"It appears to be of the hallucinogenic type, diminishing the perception of reality and weakening free will; that would be its function with the basic ingredients. On the magical composition side, it seems to create violent tendencies using the rancor of the dead and corrupt mana/miasma, in short."
"Those idiots did something nasty."
"I cannot doubt it"
"Hmm, well, let's leave the complicated things for tomorrow and rest for today. Come on, you must be feeling exhausted too."
"Well, I can't deny that my joints are a little stiff."
Saying that, Maria changed into her usual pajamas and lay down on the right side of the bed next to me.
"..."
I could see out of the corner of my eye that I was occasionally glancing at Gabriela, who was still sucking on my breast.
My smile deepened at that
"Do you want to continue with what we did this morning?"
I lifted the other side of my bra, revealing the juicy, plump fruit on Maria's face.
"..."
She didn't say anything, she was just staring at the pink protuberance that bobbed up and down with my movements
"...just this once"
Saying that, Maria came closer and, as if not wanting the morning's situation to repeat itself, quickly caught my nipple with her mouth.
And so, feeding two babies, I spent that night
Of course, things didn't progress beyond that. Gabriela was nearby anyway; it was a good rest.