Chapitre 422: The Spearwoman

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.

October, x785.

While Elicia, Rei, and Kohta were headed to the shopping outlet, Alfonzo, Saeko, and Saya were headed to Takagi mansion in the Humvee. However, they came across quite a few pockets of zombies on their way. So, they dealt with them in a way similar to how they dealt with the ones outside the primary school.

"Alright, that's the last one." Alfonzo said as he finished electrocuting a normal zombie. "Let's get back on the---"

Before he finished his sentence, however, Alfonzo heard the faint sound of banging. On top of that, he could hear the faint voice of a woman asking to be allowed into somewhere.

"What's wrong, Alfonzo?" Saeko, while sheathing her katana, asked as she approached the Humvee.

I'm hearing the sound of banging coming from that direction." Alfonzo said while pointing in a particular direction.

"Really?" Saya asked suspiciously. "I don't hear anything."

"You haven't been manipulating your magic power for very long." Alfonzo replied as he returned to the Humvee, as well. "With more training, you'll be able to hear stuff like that, too."

In response, Saya only snorted before dropping back into the Humvee's back seat through the hatch on the roof.

"Are we gonna check it out?" Saeko asked as she put her hand on the passenger side door.

"Yeah." Alfonzo replied. "I can sense another two groups of undead approaching that location, they're probably being attracted by the noise."

With that, Alfonzo and Saeko climbed into the Humvee before Alfonzo started the engine and started driving.

Meanwhile, a relatively tall, beautiful, buxom, light brown haired woman with red eyes wearing a long white coat with red trim over top of a white blouse, a black leather corset, black leather pants, and black leather boots with a red spear and a bag filled with scavenged food strapped to her back was standing outside of a house several blocks away in a residential neighborhood.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

"Hey, what are you doing?" The woman asked. "Hurry up and let me in. The undead are coming this way."

"No, it's because of you that we are stuck here." The voice of a man came from the other side of the door.

"What are you talking about?" The woman asked in a disbelieving tone. "I saved all of you from those things. I'm the one who has been keeping you all fed, too."

"Please, Mrs. Miyamoto, just leave us alone." Another man said in a scared tone. "We want the chance to return to our families. But you just want us to stay here."

'Are these people serious?' The woman, Mrs. Miyamoto, or Kiriko Miyamoto, the mother of Rei Miyamoto, asked herself as her hand fell weakly to her side. 'They begged me to take them in and keep them safe because I was the only one who could fight. And now they're saying it's my fault they've been stuck in this house?'

In fact, this was not Kiriko's fault. Instead, it was thanks to a new survivor they took in the night before. Like the others, he claimed he was unable to fight. So, when it came time to scavenge for materials and food, Kiriko once again went out alone.

However, while she was gone, the new man somehow got into the heads of the few people Kiriko had been keeping safe. With words alone, he was able to turn everyone in the house against her by blaming her for their current situation.

"You should just leave, Mrs. Miyamoto." The man Kiriko had accepted into the group only the night before said from the other side of the door in a smug tone. "We all agree that we no longer want to be beholden to your whims any longer."

'So, it was him… Son of a bitch!' Kiriko roared in her mind. 'I had a bad feeling about him from the moment I met him. But I ignored that feeling, wanting to help as many people as I could. *Sigh* I guess that will teach me to ignore my instincts, won't it?'

"Fine…" Kiriko said while clenching her fists and gritting her teeth. "I hope you don't regret this when it comes to finding food later."

"Speaking of food…" The traitorous man muttered as if he had just remembered. "Why don't you leave the food you found behind before you leave?"

Hearing the smugness in the man's tone, Kiriko had to resist punching a hole in the door with her spear. Instead, she took a deep breath to calm herself down. Then, she took a step away from the door before raising her voice again.

"If you want it so bad, why don't you open the door and take it from me?" Kiriko asked, still resisting the urge to unstrap the spear from her back. "If you do that, I'll leave without a fuss."

The response Kiriko received was a few moments of silence. However, the silence did not last for too long.

"See? This is the kind of person who was claiming to keep you protected." The traitorous man said loudly. "She's holding the food hostage to force us to let her inside. Is that really the kind of person you want to lead you?"

Once again, Kiriko was dumbfounded. On top of that, she could hear the people in the house agreeing with what the traitor said.

"If you were really the kind of leader you claimed to be, you would just leave the food behind and be on your way." The traitorous man continued. "So, why don't you show them what kind of leader you are one last time and leave the food before getting out of here."

Shaking her head in response, Kiriko pulled the spear off her back. However, instead of thrusting it towards the door, she looked to either side at the zombies that had been attracted by the banging and yelling.

"Damn it…" Kiriko muttered. "I got too wrapped up with those fools. I stopped paying attention to my surroundings. "Well, I guess I'll do one last good thing for these people before I die. At least I can thin out these numbers to give them a chance."

With that, Kiriko took her fighting stance. Like Rei, Kiriko also had a more than decent amount of magic power in her body. Unlike Rei, however, she had been trained to use it. She never taught her daughter to do so, though.

When Rei was young, both Kiriko and her husband wanted Rei to have a safe and happy life. So, they did not want her to be a wizard. And the reason for that was because as wizards, they knew how trouble seemed to be easily attracted to them in some way or another.

"[Physical Enhancement Magic: Full Body Enhancement]." Rei chanted before taking a step to her left.

*bang!*

In the next instant, a magically enhanced zombie whose power was nearing the A-Class slammed his fist down from above, creating a crater in the street.

Immediately, Kiriko could hear the sound of the people in the house panicking. However, she did not have the luxury to pay attention to them. Instead, she swept the butt end of her spear at the enhanced zombies' legs, knocking it off its feet. Then, before it could fall to the ground, she thrust her spear through its head.

A moment later, with the zombie still hanging from her spear, Kiriko took a step towards the zombies on her left and hefted her spear back into a throwing position.

"[Spear Magic: Gungnir]." Kiriko chanted as she threw her spear at the group of zombies in front of her.

In the next instant, the spear in Kiriko's hand turned into a red streak of light as it covered the distance. Then, it pierced through the front most zombie. At the same time, the head of the zombie that was still pierced on the spear exploded on contact with the other zombie's head.

On top of that, Kiriko's spear continued flying forward, piercing through the necks, heads, and chests of all the zombies behind the first one, eventually losing momentum after piercing through at least fifteen zombies.

"[Return]." Kiriko chanted as she held her right hand towards her spear.

A moment later, the red spear, which was pierced into a zombie's upper chest, flicked upward, freeing itself from the zombie's flesh, slicing the zombie's head in half in the process, before spinning back through the horde as it returned to Kiriko's hand.

Easily catching the spinning spear, Kiriko was just in time to parry the outstretched arm of a normal zombie. Then, she lowered her head to avoid a bite from a magically enhanced zombie while simultaneously stepping backwards, placing the butt end of her spear between the enhanced zombie's legs, then raising it to throw the zombie into the normal one in front of her.

As a result, the magically enhanced zombie's open mouth closed on the normal zombie's arm. Then, while distracted by the meal it just bit into, Kiriko stabbed her spear forward, piercing both zombie's' heads with one thrust.

Retrieving her spear, in the next instant, Kiriko whipped its bladed end around in a circle, cutting through the heads of a dozen zombies that had approached in the meantime.

Realizing that she had been surrounded, Kiriko took advantage of the space she created for herself, slamming the bladed end of her spear into the ground and using it to fault high into the air.

'Even though they don't deserve it, I should draw these things away from them. *Sigh* I really don't want their deaths on my conscience.' Kiriko thought as she flew towards the edge of the horde of zombies.

A moment later, while still airborne, Kiriko raised her spear above her head while charging it with her magic power. Then, while approaching a zombie from above, she swung it down with all her might.

"[Spear Magic: Meteor Strike]." Kiriko chanted loudly.

*Boom!*

In the next instant, Kiriko's spear head cut straight through the zombie she had targeted before slamming into the street. Then, immediately upon making contact with the street, the magic power Kiriko charged into the spear was released. As a result, a shockwave sent all the nearby zombies flying while a crater was created in the ground.

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

"Come on you undead sons of bitches!" Kiriko shouted as she leapt out of the crater and slammed the butt of her spear into the ground repeatedly. "I was expecting more from an entire horde of you ugly mother fuckers."

Immediately, the zombies, both normal and magically enhanced, were attracted to the sound Kiriko was creating. As a result, they completely ignored the panicked sounds coming from inside the house.

Naturally, the first to arrive at the source of sound was a magically enhanced zombie. And like she had done before, Kiriko thrust her spear at its head.

*Clang!*

However, before her spear could pierce its skull, the zombie opened its mouth and bit down on the spear tip, stopping it in its tracks.

'Shit! This one is a lot stronger than the rest.' Kiriko thought to herself as she tried to pull her spear back.

Unfortunately, Kiriko was unable to pull her spear away. On top of that, two weaker magically enhanced zombies were approaching her from either side. So, at this point, she only had two options, continue struggling to free her spear, or abandon her spear and fight barehanded.

Although fighting barehanded was a possibility, Kiriko's combat prowess would drop drastically. So, she gave up on fighting barehanded immediately.

'Damn, I would have liked to get a bit further away from the house before dying.' Kiriko thought to herself as she threw a kick at the S-Class zombie's legs. 'But I did all I could for them. I hope they can appreciate my last show of kindness.'

With her kick having next to no effect on the zombie, and her spear lodged between its teeth, Kiriko had all but given up. Before she could close her eyes, however, a pair of kunai, crackling in violet arcs of electricity, flashed past her.

*Boom!* x 2

In the next instant, the heads of the two magically enhanced zombies on either side of Kiriko exploded.

"What the hell was that?" Kiriko wondered aloud.

*Vroom!*

Instead of an answer to her question, Kiriko heard the sound of a magic engine. Before she could look in its direction, a shout from the distance stopped her. Instead, she followed the instructions that were shouted from the distance.

"Let go of the spear and get down!" Alfonzo, while driving the Humvee towards the horde, shouted at the top of his lungs while his left arm was sticking out of the window with his palm pointing at the horde. "Get down on the ground and dig your fingers into the street! Hurry!"

Doing exactly as the shout told her to, Kiriko dropped down to the ground on her back. At the same time, she dug her fingers into the street.

'Fuck! I just broke a nail.' Kiriko thought while trying to escape reality for a moment.

At the same time, Kiriko noticed several short spikes piercing the ground around her. Then, she heard the chanting of a spell.

"[Electromagnetism Magic: Lightning Shell]."

A moment later, a violet flash passed over Kiriko. On top of that, this flash was discharging small bolts of electricity, which were mostly drawn to the spikes in the ground next to her. However, she was hit by one, as well. Luckily, she had dug her fingernails into the street, partially grounding the shock. Meanwhile, the rest of taken care of by her natural defenses.

The rest of the flash, on the other hand, continued forward, obliterating the zombie with her spear in its mouth, before continuing on to the rest of the horde. Then, when it reached roughly to the center of the horde, it exploded into bolts of horizontal lightning.

*Boom~~~!*

"I guess that's the end of my spear." Kiriko muttered, though no one would be able to hear her over the sounds of striking lightning. "Those ingrates are probably dead, too. Oh well, I did what I could to save them. This wasn't my fault."

By the time all the sound had ended, and Kiriko's eyes returned to normal, Alfonzo had parked the Humvee next to her.

"You alright?" Alfonzo asked from the driver's seat while looking down at Kiriko.

"Yeah." Kiriko replied as she sat up and pulled her fingers out of the street. "I broke a nail, though."

"I'd say that's a pretty small price to pay for surviving a horde like that one, don't you think?" Alfonzo asked with a smile.

"Yeah, and if that were all, I wouldn't have anything to say." Kiriko replied. "But the spear I've been using for decades is gone now, too."

"Oh, are you talking about this spear?" Alfonzo asked while lowering a red spear with a zombie head biting down on its tip. "I could tell this was a pretty good spear, so I decided to save it."

Hearing that, Kiriko looked up at the spear that was floating down from the sky. Then, she jumped to her feet, grabbed the spear's shaft, and yanked the zombie's head off the end.

"I'm glad I didn't lose you." Kiriko said with a smile while holding her spear. "It would have taken forever to find another spear as good as you."

After gushing over her spear for a few moments, Kiriko finally remembered the people she was trying to protect. Then, she looked back at the explosion sight, expecting to see a large crater and the debris of destroyed houses. And although she did see a large crater, it did not extend past the edge of the street. Instead, lining the road was a row of large metal spikes.

"Well, at least my effort didn't go to waste." Kiriko muttered.

"Oh, were you trying to protect the people in that house?" Alfonzo asked while pointing at the house with the people that betrayed Kiriko.

"Yeah, one last act of kindness before I left." Kiriko replied.

"Well, if you're leaving, wanna catch a ride with us?" Alfonzo asked. "We're on our way to Takagi mansion. "Their little princess is with us, too."

"Don't call me that!" Saya shouted from the back seat.

"See." Alfonzo said with shrug.

"Wait, Saya?" Kiriko asked, finally looking into the interior of the Humvee. "You're okay. How are Rei and Takashi?"

"Hi, Mrs. Miyamoto." Saya said politely. "they're fine. This guy and his wife saved us on the first day. Right now, they should be near the primary school with Takashi's mother."

"I see, I'm glad you're all safe." Kiriko said in a relieved tone. Then, she finally looked at Alfonzo for the first time. "I should have known it was you after seeing the spear float, the electric spell, and the metal spikes. Thank you for saving me, Master of Metals, Alfonzo Marcus."

"No problem." Alfonzo replied nonchalantly. "It's part of my job. Anyway, you wanna come with us to Takagi mansion?"

"Of course." Kiriko replied as she pulled open the back door.

"Wanna say anything to the people in that house before we leave?" Alfonzo asked as Kiriko shut the door behind her.

"No." Kiriko replied bluntly.

Shrugging his shoulders, Alfonzo stepped on the accelerator and continued driving towards the Takagi mansion, completely ignoring the shouting coming from the people in the house.

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Chapitre 423: The Takagis

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.

October, x785.

"That took longer than I thought it would." Alfonzo said while driving the Humvee up to the gates of Takagi mansion. "But we're finally here."

"Yeah, but at least we got rid of quite a few of the undead." Saeko said, looking quite refreshed as she spoke.

"I'm actually surprised you kids are so skilled in combat." Kiriko said from the back seat. "I mean, you all just found out that you have magic power a couple of days ago, right? Yet, you're wielding it like you've been doing it for a while."

"What can I say?" Alfonzo said proudly. "I'm just a bad ass teacher."

"You act like you're so much older than them." Kiriko replied while rolling her eyes. "You're what? Twenty at the very most."

"That's true." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "But I've been leading other wizards in training since I was eight. So, I'm really not just boasting."

"I see…" Kiriko replied, though it was obvious that she was skeptical of Alfonzo's claim.

"Anyway, why are you so quiet, Saya?" Alfonzo asked, looking back at Saya through the rear view mirror. "Aren't you happy to be back home?"

"Huh?" Saya exclaimed in surprise after being mentioned so suddenly. "Uh... Yeah… I'm glad to be home. I wanna see if my parents are safe."

Hearing Saya's somewhat downcast tone, Alfonzo, Saeko, and Kiriko exchanged glances. However, none of them knew what to say.

'She's probably upset that no one ever came looking for her… Just like in the source material.' Alfonzo thought as he stopped the Humvee outside the Takagi mansion's main gate. 'But it probably would have been more dangerous for her parents and their forces to start combing the streets for her at the beginning. Of course, I know I can't tell her that.'

"Halt!" A guard manning the mansion's gate shouted, though he was a bit late. "Identify yourself! And explain how did you get here with that magic vehicle despite all the obstacles that were set up along the way?"

In response, Alfonzo rolled down the driver's side window and stuck his head out.

"I'm Alfonzo Marcus of the Fairy Tail guild." Alfonzo replied calmly, completely unbothered by the magic rifles aimed at the Humvee. "And I'm only here to bring the Takagi princess home to see her family. As for the obstacles, they were all made of metal… So…"

At the end, Alfonzo shrugged his shoulders. However, it seems he ran into a group of people that did not recognize him or his name immediately. Because his explanation of how the obstacles were cleared was not taken well.

"That's not an explanation!" The guard shouted. "Now, please get out of the vehicle and come with us for questioning."

"Hahaha! I guess you're not as famous as you thought, huh?" Kiriko laughed.

"I guess not…" Alfonzo said while scratching his head. "And did they just ignore the fact that I said I have the Takagi princess with me?"

"That's what it sounds like." Saeko replied with a nod.

"So, can you say something to them, Saya?" Alfonzo asked, looking back at Saya over his shoulder.

"*Sigh* Fine." Saya said as she stood up and opened the hatch on the ceiling. Then, once her head was sticking out, she shouted. "Hey, I'm back home! Go inform my mother and father that their daughter is back!"

Immediately, the guards showed shocked expressions after hearing Saya's voice. Then, when they focused on the head sticking out of the magic vehicle's roof, they finally lowered their guard. On top of that, one of the guards immediately sprinted back towards the mansion to relay the news.

Even so, they did not open the gates.

"I guess they need permission before opening the gates." Kiriko muttered.

"It's a sound strategy to keep the people inside safe." Saeko replied.

"Yeah, but the young lady of the house just came home." Alfonzo said. "You'd think they could make an exception for that, right?"

Meanwhile, Saya, instead of participating in the conversation, only clenched her fists in frustration. It was rather embarrassing to be forced to wait outside your own home, after all.

It did not take long for a response to come from the mansion. Though, it did not come in the form of the guard returning to open the gate. Instead, a relatively tall, beautiful, fair-skinned woman with long purple hair, purple eyes, a slender figure and large breasts wearing a thin red evening gown and a shawl wrapped around her arms and lower back came sprinting towards the gate with the ferocity of an enraged bull.

"Saya! My baby!" The lady of the house, Yuriko Takagi, shouted as she approached the main gate.

"Mama!" Saya shouted in return as she jumped through the roof hatch.

Then, in a display of superhuman strength, Yuriko jumped and cleared the gate. At the same time, Saya leapt from the top of the Humvee. Then, the mother and daughter embraced in midair.

"Damn, that was pretty bad ass." Alfonzo muttered.

"Yeah, I didn't know Yuriko was so strong." Kiriko added.

"But isn't she concerned about flashing the guards?" Alfonzo asked. I mean, she's doing all that in a dress.

"I don't think she cares about that right now." Saeko replied with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Alfonzo said with a nod.

However, Alfonzo continued to watch. And to his surprise. Even when descending to the ground, Yuriko's dress was not raised by the wind. Instead, it looked as if something was actively keeping her dress down.

'I'm not even gonna ask.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'If I do, these two are gonna look at me like some kind of pervert who was hoping to catch a peak.'

"Saya, I'm so glad you're safe." Yuriko said with Saya in her arms as she landed in front of the Humvee. "I'm sorry we couldn't come to find you sooner. But clearing the area around the mansion took all our attention."

"*Sigh* I know." Saya said as she buried her head in her mother's bosom. "But if it weren't for Alfonzo and Elicia, you probably would have never seen me again."

"What do you mean?" Yuriko asked in a much sterner tone. "What happened?"

"Uh… Sorry to interrupt your reunion." Alfonzo said, once again sticking his head out the window. "But should we leave? Or can we come in?"

Hearing Alfonzo's voice, Saya looked embarrassed that she had forgotten about the others. Meanwhile, Yuriko turned her head towards the voice's direction. Then, she looked down at her slightly blushing daughter.

"Oh, it looks like someone has a little crush." Yuriko whispered into Saya's ear.

"What are you talking about, Mom?" Saya shouted back, her face even redder than before.

In response, Yuriko only giggled. Then, she unwrapped her arms from around her daughter and started walking towards the Humvee's driver's side.

"So, when Saya mentioned that Alfonzo and Elicia saved her, she was talking about Alfonzo Marcus and Elicia Taylor, huh?" Yuriko asked once she was standing in front of the driver's door. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter. I cannot thank you enough."

"Don't worry about it." Alfonzo said with a smile. "It's kind of my job."

"And it looks like you found Kiriko, too." Yuriko said while looking into the vehicle. "Oh, and the daughter of Master Busujima, as well."

"Yeah, he pulled me out of a pretty sticky situation." Kiriko replied with a shrug. "But because of him, there's a chance I'll get to see Tadashi and Rei again."

"Indeed." Yuriko replied. Then, she pulled the door to the backseat open. "Anyway, let's return to the house. We can talk more there."

As she spoke, Yuriko signaled to the guards manning the gates to open them. Then, she ushered Saya back into the Humvee before climbing in herself. After that, once the gates were open, Alfonzo drove through them before they were quickly close behind them.

Considering the fact that Alfonzo was not driving very fast, the drive from the gate to the front of the mansion took about five minutes. And in those five minutes, they were able to see quite a few tents set up.

"You've saved quite a few people in only a few days." Alfonzo said as he scanned the surroundings with both his eyes and [Magic Power Detection].

"Yes, while securing the area around the mansion, we came across quite a few of them.

"But why aren't they doing anything to help?" Alfonzo asked, his eyebrows furrowing in discontentment.

"*Sigh* It's because they are too scared to fight." Yuriko said. "Or at least, that's what most of them say."

"Yeah, but there are many other ways to help in a situation like this than to just fight." Saeko said. "They could help prepare meals, maintain weapons, or any number of non-combat related tasks."

"Yes, I realize that." Yuriko replied in an exasperated tone. "But they refuse to do so. And my husband won't force them."

"I know I probably shouldn't say this as a wizard who came here to stop this shit show." Alfonzo said. "But if they're not willing to help, then they don't deserve your protection."

"Alfonzo's right, Mom." Saya added. "If they don't want to help with little things, then they don't' deserve to be protected. I mean, you're providing shelter and food for them."

"I understand what you mean." Yuriko replied. "But as nobles, it's our duty to protect the common citizens."

"Ah… That noblesse oblige shit, huh?" Alfonzo said. "I've heard a lot of nobles talk about it in my career as a wizard. But this is the first time I've actually seen it taken seriously."

While Saya frowned slightly at Alfonzo's crass language, Yuriko giggled.

"I see… So, a foul mouth can be passed on from generation to generation." Yuriko said in an amused tone.

Hearing that, Alfonzo could only smile wryly. Meanwhile, Saeko, Saya, and Kiriko were a bit confused by the seemingly out of place comment.

"So, you knew my mom, huh?" Alfonzo said with the wry smile still present on his face.

"I did." Yuriko replied. "She actually saved me from a Dark Guild when I was younger. I think I was only twelve back then. When she brought me back home, she said something about completing her first S-Class quest successfully."

'Her first S-Class quest, huh?' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'Gramps told me that she made S-Class when she was seventeen. So, that would make Mrs. Takagi---"

"It's rude to guess at a woman's age, young man." Yuriko said playfully. However, there was a hint of sternness in her tone, as well.

In response, Alfonzo could only smile wryly once again.

"Wait, so who was his mother?" Saya asked curiously.

"The Mage Killer, Bianca Rollen." Yuriko announced.

Immediately, Saeko, Saya, and Kiriko opened their eyes wide in surprise.

"Mom had so many fans." Alfonzo said with a smile.

"It's probably because she didn't destroy everything like the rest of your guild." Kiriko said.

"Yeah, I guess I can see that." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "From what Gramps told me, only Mom and Lici's dad were like that."

"By Lici, you're referring to Elicia Taylor, correct?" Yuriko asked.

"That's right." Alfonzo replied with a nod as he pulled the Humvee up to the front of the mansion.

"Indeed. The Shockwave, Orlando Taylor, was another one who kept property damage to a minimum."

With that, Alfonzo put the Humvee in park and the five climbed out once the engine was turned off.

"Saya, it's good to see you back, safe and sound." A tall, intimidating man with jet black hair and fierce, red eyes with a predatory gaze said from the mansion's front door.

Hearing that voice, Saya's head snapped in its direction.

"Father… It's good to see you, too." Saya said politely in a subdued tone.

'I guess he's pretty shit at expressing himself in this world, too.' Alfonzo thought to himself.

"She called you father." Alfonzo said, stepping forward. "Then, does that mean you're Souichiro Takagi, the Marquis in charge of this town?"

"That is correct." The black-haired man, Souichiro Takagi, replied with a stern nod.

"Good." Alfonzo replied. "Then, I would suggest you relocate everyone here as fast as possible. There's a horde of nearly---"

"I won't be relocating." Souichiro said, cutting off the rest of what Alfonzo had to say. "I refuse to abandon my home… No, I will stay here and fight to the very end."

"*Sigh* I expected you to say that." Alfonzo muttered. "Luckily, there's nothing in this town I can't handle yet. But if there were, I'd knock your stubborn ass out and drag you to somewhere safe."

While Souichiro was too far away to hear Alfonzo's muttering, Saeko, Saya, Kiriko, and Yuriko were able to hear it just fine. And while Saeko and Saya were surprised to hear that Alfonzo was willing to treat a marquis like that, Kiriko and Yuriko, a former knight and a marquis's wife, respectively, could only shake their heads with bemused expressions on their faces. They had heard a lot more about the wizards of Fairy Tail over the years, after all.

"Well, since you're not planning on going anywhere, I guess I'll have to wipe out that horde." Alfonzo said. "But if you had relocated, I could at least set up an ambush when they showed up here. Now, I'll have to fight them on the road leading to the gate. And there are a lot of houses and shit along that road."

"How are you so sure there's a horde on its way here?" Yuriko asked curiously.

"A detection spell I came up with a long time ago." Alfonzo replied. "I've pretty much got the whole town under surveillance. Though, I can't tell exactly what anyone is doing."

"Impressive." Kiriko said. "Having a spell like that would have been nice when I was on duty as a knight. You wouldn't mind sharing, would you?"

"He won't." Saya said in a huff. Then, she continued in a mocking tone. "It's a Fairy Tail secret, after all."

"I see." Kiriko replied with a nod of understanding. "Well, then I won't ask again. I know better than to dig into a guild's secrets."

Yuriko and Souichiro nodded along, as well.

"On top of a horde coming this way, I think the one who started this whole mess is leading them this way, too." Alfonzo added, deciding to get the conversation back on track.

Hearing that, everyone widened their eyes in surprise.

"Do you have any idea who that could be?" Souichiro asked in a stern tone.

"Not a clue." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "I'm not familiar with the magic power signature. But they are driving here in a magic vehicle with a few other people. And the horde is following behind them."

"Then, I'll be coming with you when you go to deal with them." Souichiro said in a tone that would not accept no for an answer. "I'd like to see who had the audacity to sink my town into such chaos."

"If that's what you want." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "They should be arriving at around sunset. If they keep their current pace, that is."