The fairytale scene appeared to be enough to make the ladies swoon, only Claire's mother was currently aware that I was Lily... and the guard captain. That was why he'd been against the duel... even so... to think he was staying quiet...
The atmosphere lightened from our performance, and things seemed like they would return to normal as the guards began their light banter and light chatting. A truly soothing thing for the soul.
"That was all to close... I was so exhausted my shield kept dropping..."
"Yes... I'm glad their commander left when he did or we wouldn't even have lasted until Celeste-sama arrived..."
Ohohoho~ that's right, water contains the power to remove fatigue. If not for that we would've been overru-
He left?
I pulled away from Claire in an instant.
"What do you mean he left?!" No, it made sense, just shortly before the duel was requested the air of the bandits had gotten a bit more confident...
"He left after wounding the captain," the guard reported out confused at my attention to the detail.
That was it, the dark nagging feeling.
With a properly trained commander the bandits should have circled around and attacked the rear. We didn't have enough people to protect both sides because most of the men were injured.
Then... were they guarding something?
I looked to the guard captain.
"What is down this street? Something important?"
The guard captain caught onto my train of thought quickly.
"A our headquarters, some warehouses and houses of some patricians."
...
I turned my attention to the guards.
"Search everything in that direction! Be careful of fortified positions! It isn't over yet! Two of you start the evacuation of the civilians to the castle immediately!"
I turned to Claire. "I know you've just learned to use your magic, but I need your assistance. You need to heal the civilians so they can make it to the castle, no more and no less or you will run out of time and mana."
My sudden change of pace made her timid.
"But then Hero-sama..."
I shook my head. "I can heal myself now if needed. If the people aren't evacuated we will die protecting them."
She was young, but as the heroine and as a healer she needed to be able to take responsibility for her newly gained power.
"I'll do some first aid as well-"
I paused and turned to Lumere.
"Is there a way to transfer magic?"
Lumere nodded and motioned to my lips and then her forehead... Well... as long as it wasn't the lips I suppose it shouldn't be all too much of a problem... probably...
I quickly grabbed Claire in my arms and pulled her close for me to press my lips against her forehead. A normal kiss wouldn't do though... like meditation perhaps? I focused my energy to my lips like I would usually do with my prayers.
"Kyah!" A sweet little sound escaped from the girl in my arms, which I took as a sound of 'it is working'. Unsurprisingly, when I pulled back from feeling a light resistance, she was red like a sunset. I wanted to curse the author of the novel for coming up with such a foolish and intimate way of transferring mana, but for a romance novel for foreigners I suppose it was charming.
"I have plenty more mana, so if you run out come back and I'll refresh you again," I declared without skipping a beat, once I'd decided not to consider Claire's point of view as an 8 year old girl thinking I was a hero.
Although still red, Claire actually nodded with more bravery in her than I expected. I wasn't really sure I understood what was going on in her head, but if she was helping then I didn't care for the reason right now.
...If possible I don't want to ever do that again though...
I looked to the two guards that began the evacuation plans immediately. I just hoped we would be done before anything happened.
I went to the injured and proceeded to help with normal first aid. As you've realized by now, I can cast healing magic on large areas, but there is a condition which none of these peasants fulfill. You need to be honorable for it to work.
While I could heal the guards struggling to keep the civilians safe, the civilians themselves we just normal terrified civilians that would lie, run and betray if their lives were in danger. I do have healing spells that do not have that requirement, but I can cast 7 water spells in a day at most, and I have used 4 already.
1 to create the sword... which I... wait... what happened to the sword?! I can't recall when I let it go, but when I do the sword dissipates into thin air... well, not like I could do first aid without holding it.
I used two to heal and rest the guards fighting, and then the last one to knock down the bandit leader and his underlings. I've spent them quite well, and if it wasn't for the bad feeling I had, then I'd heal the guards more.
As for that bad feeling... If the bandits chose that method of killing us, then they must've wanted to hold us away from the area at all costs. That probably means they have something important in there somewhere... they didn't intend to stay here or they would've tried to fortify themselves... but if they were just raiding, then there would be no need to prevent us from entering the area... I did consider if they were violating the women, but a former captain shouldn't stoop that low.
That left only that they were hiding... or even preparing something.
My guess was a fire, or poison... or weapons. Something they needed to make sure we wouldn't get our hands on.
"Celeste-sama! We found something suspicious!"
See?
I got up from the first aid area and looked to Claire to see if she needed more mana. She gave a determined nod back to signify that I could go and then focused back on the injured.
---*---
What they found was... barrels... of a black powder they didn't know what was. I did. The characteristic smell gave it away along with the color.
"It's gunpowder," I stated with a grim expression.
"Gun... powder?" The guard captain asked with a confused expression.
"It is incredibly flammable powder that explodes when it connects to fire and air. Just one barrel of this would blow up the entire building," I warned, relatively calmly.
Every guard checking the barrel contents took a few respectful steps back from the barrels. I could see their faces turn pallid.
Honestly I feel bad as well. I've never seen so much black powder. What was up with the production amount?! I made a quick count.
"...There's about 36 barrels... if they all went off... they'd eradicate the city. There'd be nothing left..." I knew just enough about gunpowder to know that what we had just found was absurd. There would be no benefit in blowing up the tow-
"The bastards..." My eyes widened with realization and I turned to the guard captain with unprecedented hurry.
"We need to get these barrels to the castle immediately! The Zocrian bastards are going to put us under siege! These barrels are for blowing up the castle walls!"
The guards looked between me and the barrels and their expressions turned grim in an instant.
"Go!"
The guard captain backed me up.
I swallowed to ease the sudden dryness of my throat. The sneaky bastards were attacking while Father was away... The question was their next step. They'd have to get to the barrels here, but there was no way we could let them get here while the civilians were carrying away the gunpowder.
"Is the guard Captain here?!"
He perks up.
"What's wrong?"
"Captain! Spotters report signs of people moving through the southern forest and heading towards the city!"