◇23 Rampaging State
"Wh-what's that!?"
"Kyahhhhhh!?"
The sudden appearance of numerous summoned beasts caused panic among the people enjoying the festival. It's no surprise—they were attacked by ferocious beasts right in the middle of the town.
"I don't know who they are, but they're ruining the festival."
"Hmph. I question their sanity."
Despite the situation, Tifa and Luca were not frightened. As expected of a princess of a kingdom, they have nerves of steel.
Our crown prince, Elliot, also seems to be holding his ground, not panicking. Well done.
The one currently in a panic is Lady Annemarie, one of Elliot's attendants. She's clinging to Elliot's waist, flustered and running around in a state of distress. Elliot seems to be troubled, unable to move.
'Grrrrraaaaahhh!'
The shadow of a wolf dashed toward us, leaping high to attack.
However, my grandfather stepped in front of us, swinging his sword in one swift motion. The wolf was cleaved in half, its body splitting apart and falling onto the street in a gruesome display.
The black wolf, bleeding black blood, made eerie hissing sounds as it turned into black mist and disappeared.
"Even summoned beasts have a physical form! Cut them down!"
At my grandfather's command, Elliot, Luca, and Tifa's bodyguards began swinging their swords at the summoned beasts charging toward them.
As expected from royal guards, their skills are impeccable. While protecting their charges, they sliced down the summoned beasts one after another.
The summoned beasts aren't only targeting Elliot. They're attacking indiscriminately, including us. It's a full-blown rampage. If this continues, it might harm the innocent civilians around us...
I suspect the summoner can't control them. The best course of action would be to capture the summoner and sever their consciousness, but in this chaos, we can't even locate where they are...
Fortunately, it's still in the rampaging state. Please don't let it reach the final form...
In the game, after Sakuraile falls into a rampaging state, she becomes reckless, summoning the strongest dark dragon through Beast Demon Summoning, at the cost of her own life.
That dark dragon is then destroyed by the light sword summoned by Estelle and Elliot, using Sacred Miracle, marking a happy ending for the Elliot route.
However, if the affection level with Elliot is low at that point, the light sword won't be summoned, and the dark dragon will not be destroyed. It will only be sealed in a magical artifact known as the Seal Crystal. Estelle then embarks on a journey of training to completely destroy the dark dragon, while Elliot waits for her, resulting in a good ending.
Of course, there's also a bad ending where the two lose to the dark dragon and die together.
Currently, Estelle, who is capable of summoning the light sword, isn't in the royal capital. If the dark dragon is summoned here, we'll be completely doomed. It's a critical situation. What should we do...?
The summoned beasts are attacking everyone indiscriminately. We stood by the building walls, keeping our backs protected, and focused on a defensive posture.
'Grrrraaah!'
"Ugh!?"
"Eeek!?"
A summoned bear charged toward Elliot, and one of his bodyguards was blown away.
Lady Annemarie, driven by fear, hurriedly detached herself from Elliot and fled like a startled rabbit.
Ah, I've seen this scene before. It's almost identical to the still where my attendants ran away when I was accused in the game. Only Attendant B isn't here.
Leaving us in this situation is incredibly dangerous, but perhaps by luck, the summoned beasts didn't pursue her. If she can escape, that's for the best. She's more of a hindrance anyway. Well, I suppose I am too.
"Gravity Change!"
Elliot used his Gift on the summoned bear. At that moment, one of his bodyguards charged at the bear, and it was sent flying with absurd force.
I see, he made the bear lighter and sent it flying. I thought Gravity Change only worked by increasing weight, but this is an interesting application of it.
"Prince Elliot certainly knows how to handle himself."
Tifa smiled challengingly. It seemed she had gained a bit more respect for our crown prince.
Amidst the rampaging summoned beasts, we focused on defense while gradually reducing their numbers. My grandfather, displaying remarkable prowess, protected me while also keeping an eye on Elliot, ensuring not a single beast passed by.
My grandfather’s Gift was Blade Legion, a power granted by the God of Blades, Blade-sama, which allows him to handle any weapon with blades at an exceptional level.
Though aging, he remains the Lion of the Empire. Tifa watched him with sparkling eyes, clearly impressed by his impressive combat skills.
However, even so, if the dark dragon were to appear, I couldn’t help but fear that even my grandfather... As I worried, the sound of clanking armor grew louder as the knight brigade arrived at the scene.
With such a commotion, it was only natural they'd come.
Among the knights, one in particularly conspicuous red armor rushed toward Elliot upon spotting him.
How did he recognize Elliot so easily? Could that person be the commander of the knights? If so, that would make him Gene’s father, a potential target for romance in the game...
"Crown Prince?! Are you unharmed?"
"I'm fine! Protect Princess Lucari and Princess Tifania!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Immediately, half of the knights gathered around us, forming a shield wall, while the remaining knights rushed to engage the still rampaging summoned beasts.
We were saved. With this, we could somehow—
"Hmm...!"
Suddenly, the summoned beasts began to lose their form, vanishing and transforming into black mist.
I braced myself in fear, wondering if this was the precursor to the dark dragon’s summoning, but nothing happened.
Has the rampage subsided...?
"Is it over...? Sakuraile, are you alright?"
"Ah, yes. I'm fine, grandfather."
After confirming my safety, my grandfather let out a small sigh of relief.
The commotion died down, and a sense of relief spread through the area. However, since the person responsible for causing this chaos had not yet been caught, we couldn’t afford to let our guard down.
The summoner had called forth so many summoned beasts. It must have consumed a lot of magical energy. Unless the summoner had an extraordinary amount of power, it would be impossible for them to attack again on the same day.
Really... This festival has been completely ruined.
One by one, knights continued to arrive at the scene. Alongside them, healers with healing-type Gifts began treating the injured civilians who had been caught up in the chaos.
Fortunately, there were no fatalities or serious injuries, despite the rampage. Truly, we were lucky.
The people around us were whispering, some glancing our way. It seems we ended up standing out after all. I could see a few nobles and their children, whom I had seen at Elliot’s birthday party, watching us with curiosity.
"Princess Lucari, Princess Tifania, I deeply apologize for involving you in our country's troubles. I will surely make amends for this..."
Elliot ran up and bowed his head to both Luca and Tifa. Technically, it wasn’t his fault, but it was true that he had distanced himself from the two and exposed them to danger. It was only right for him to apologize to the guests he had invited.
"No, no, there’s no need to worry about that. This attack wasn’t the Crown Prince’s fault. The one responsible is undoubtedly the attacker. However, if you must apologize... well then, I would like something from Sakuraile. How about some sweets?"
"Huh?"
As I was left dumbfounded, Luca, who was standing next to me, vigorously nodded her head up and down.
"That sounds great. Your Highness, I would like the same!"
"Um... Sakuraile?"
Elliot looked at me with a confused expression. More sweets? How deep does this obsession go? It’s not like I mind, though.
"Hmm... In this situation, we can’t enjoy the festival. How about you all come to my house? I can give you as many as you want."
"“We’ll go!”"
Both of them nodded with bright smiles. How much do they really want them?
"Um... Sakuraile... Is it okay if I come too?"
"Elliot as well? ...Well, it’s fine, I guess."
There’s no reason to refuse, and it’s probably Elliot’s duty to escort the two princesses under the Emperor’s orders anyway.
It’s a bit awkward since we won’t be enjoying the festival, but it’s all the fault of the person who summoned those beasts.
I wonder who the culprit is. Who would dare to attack Elliot in the middle of a town and during a festival?
If Elliot were to die, the Empire would fall into chaos. There could be infighting among the nobles over who would succeed him. It’s also possible that the Empire is behind this, using the situation to incite a war of invasion, though...
But that Beast Magic Summoning... The dark dragon wasn’t summoned, but it went into a rampaging state. That means, with just a little push, there’s a possibility that the dark dragon could be summoned.
Ugh, I wish the Goddess of Summoning, Samonia, would take that Gift away from them.
Well, that’s probably not going to happen. Even though Sakuraile never lost her Gift after doing all those bad things in the game...
I guess Samonia isn’t interested in good and evil. The gods’ thinking is something we humans can never understand...
While I was thinking about such things, I took the crown prince and the two princesses back home a little earlier than planned.
Since there was still time until evening, I summoned a candy store and a food truck (now I could summon a food truck while calling other stores at the same time) and decided to treat the three of them to hot dogs. Of course, my grandfather too.
After the two princesses took a bite of the hot dog, their eyes lit up, and they started ordering from the menu one after another. ...They’re going to gain weight, you know?
"Yum!? This is delicious, Sakuraile! You’ve been hiding something like this from us! You’re not someone to be underestimated!"
"It’s delicious...! I’m going to marry you, Sakuraile...! I’ll eat this every day...!"
Whoops, Luca just proposed to me. Sorry, Luca, you’re cute, but I’m straight.
"This... I’ve heard about it, but Sakuraile, your Gift is truly amazing... As expected of my granddaughter!"
"Oh! A six-sided puzzle, this many...! There are even ones with patterns! S-Sakuraile, would you sell me these...?"
"Huh? Well, I guess it’s fine..."
While my grandfather was admiring the food truck and the buildings I summoned, it seemed like Elliot’s entire focus had shifted to the candy store’s six-sided puzzles. How much does he love them?
I wonder if I should summon a level 4 store tomorrow. Given the attack today, it’s clear that a Gift with no combat power is quite troublesome. Are there any stores with combat capabilities? Maybe a tank food truck... that would be cool, right?
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