I took Mia on a tour of the countryside in the territory.
　Accompanying may be a bit of a misnomer.

　When I said I was going out to tour the territory, Mia insisted on following me.


"Master Alec's ......
"What?
Every village has a statue of the god Alec: ......
"A stone statue, not a god statue.

　I chuckle, correcting him softly.

　Mia was right, everywhere I've visited in the farming communities I've visited, there's a set of my statue and Astaroth's statue.
　And in each one, I am the main one and Astaroth is the sub.
　She is my simobe.

　Astaroth's blessing, his guiding light, is the statue and the stone statue.
　At first I was only in one place, but when I was there, rumor spread that the goddess Astaroth was willing to give more blessings, and my statue was everywhere.

And it's getting more and more extreme.
Yes, some of them are extreme. The way Astaroth is pushing me, I think it's too much.
But the guy there seemed to have the best wings.
"Well, ...... hey ......

　That's how I felt, too.
　It's been about a year since people started talking about how my statue would be better with a stone statue of me, and even then, it's a clear feather in the cap - enough to make a difference in the residents' income.

　This fact will also spread.

Will they become more and more extreme in the future?
"Kicking a goddess in the leg or stepping on the back of her kneeling head.
I think you're going to be angry about that.

　...... angry, right?
　Or rather, get mad at me, Astaroth.
　I don't want to be angry if it leads to a good harvest.

　Mia and I have circled our village and inspected every field that was sure to produce a good harvest.

It's time to go home.
"I'll join you.
Let's go to town and get something sweet to eat.
Juli--Ha. I'll go with you!

　The moment you hear about the sweet treats, Mia, who was in ladylike mode in a princess dress, drooled and hurriedly wiped it away.

Haha, let's go then.

　On the outskirts of the village where the visit ended, I reached out to Mia to take with me to use instantaneous travel magic.

　Thump, thump, thump. .......

　The sound of rude footsteps approached.
　The next thing I knew, we were surrounded by wild footsteps.
　As far as the eye can see--there are roughly a hundred of them.

　They're not proper looking, and they're holding weapons, not farming tools, in their hands.

It's like you wanted to talk to me ......

　The men stared at me with a hateful stare.

What do you look like, not just a bandit or something?
"Ha, don't know.
It's true, they don't know anything about us.

　The men were talking wildly and insinuating.
　They kept on glaring at me, like they were laughing at me but not at me, like they were laughing at my face but not at my eyes.

We are the survivors of a rebel group that you interrupted and lost.
"How dare you interrupt me, kid!
"I'll take you down to three pieces and feed you to the pigs.

　They hurl their hatred at me, mouth to mouth.
　I see...the remnants of that rebel group.
　I'm sure I've given you instructions on how to clean up the mess, but I see that some of them have escaped.

It's just a stroke of luck that you came all the way out here to this remote place by yourself.
"Vice-Emperor, Commander-in-Chief. It doesn't matter now.
You're just a kid in here.

　More poisonous men.
　I looked at the men for a long time and quietly asked, "Which of the second to sixth strongholds are these men?

Any of the men in the second through sixth forts?
"Now you just know, Mr. Alec.
"Yes.

　Nodded back at a curious Mia.

　In the defeat of the rebels, I actually went to forts one and seven.
　The seventh fort was blown apart with colorless beams and spotted shadow warriors, and even the first fort had me at the center.

　The generals at these two forts know that I'm not just a child as I look.
　By a process of elimination, it's pretty clear it's the other five.

I don't care which one.
Kill the kid, take the girl.
"Heh, that's a nice girl. We'll all get a good look at her later.

　All at once, the men drew their weapons and attacked us.

"-GH!

　The enemy attacked, Mia immediately went into a state of readiness for battle and worked on the weapon that she had hidden under her dress.

It's okay, you don't have to do anything.
"Huh?　But--

　The moment I sat down, Mia looked up at me and looked puzzled.
　Taking advantage of the moment, some of them reached for Mia.

　I reached out to catch it, but.



"Oh, that?
"We can't get any closer. ......
"Is there an invisible wall?

　Surprised and confused men.
　They are refused to get within a meter of Mia and can't get any closer to her.

　It's not that they won't attack her, it's that they can't get close enough.

"What are you playing at?

　One of the men scolded the cowardly figure of his friends.
　Meanwhile, Mia asks me.

What have you done, Master Alec?
"Yeah, the application of plough warding
"Huh?
"Just like that. You have to attack from the youngest to the oldest. We're limited to seven players (、、、、) on our own, though. This time there are two of us, me first and Mia second. As long as I'm around, Mia is invincible and can't be touched.
"Eh, ......
"What ......, huh?

　Mia and the men who attacked us were all appalled.

　The plough's wards are familiar to everyone here.
　Mia and the men, formerly with the Seven Forts rebels, know it's invincibility well.
　I don't know the story, but I'm sure there were more than a few people who joined the rebels because of it.
　When they heard that--that or something like it was used by me, they were all at a loss for words.

"It was used by a human?
"Don't panic!　Then all you have to do is kill the kid first!

　When the man yelled in a lame voice, the others, who had been stunned, came to their senses in unison.
　They all have a "yes, that's right" look on their faces.

　Yeah, that's right.
　The plow wards, there is only one way to get at them.
　The plow wards, in order of descending number--in this case, from me.

　No doubt about it.
　But.

　Huh!

　The magic ball of fire melted the man's sword as he attacked and slashed at me.
　The iron sword melted down like hot butter and was sucked into the ground, disappearing without a trace.
　The momentum melted all the men's weapons around them.

...... Huh?

　Astonished men, their heads are still not up to speed with the situation.

　Even if you get away, it's just too much trouble from here on out.
　I took out fist-sized magic spheres for several of them and sent them all flying at once, bouncing around me.

　A hundred or so civilians, fallen rogues.

　I didn't even have to explain, and in no time at all I had them all crisply defeated and wiped out.