Published: September 2, 2025
※Please be cautious if you have trauma related to accidents.
※Correction made on 2/11.
This is Satou. Although the crimes punished under the traffic laws were said to be minor, it seems that the situation here is beyond what anyone expected.
When handling a coachman’s duties, safety should always be a priority.
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Two carriages came to pick us up from the Baron. Both were box-shaped carriages designed for two passengers. The doors were engraved with reliefs that would delight refined nobles, adorned with gold leaf and what appeared to be jewels.
The Hayuna couple and we split up to ride separately.
It was learned from prior investigation that this city is unusually deserted. Although its area is nearly twice that of Seryu City, its population is only one-sixth. For a while after the main gate, houses lined the streets, but gradually vacant lots covered in weeds became more prominent.
“There are so many vacant lots,” I said.
“My lord is aware of the incident from twenty years ago, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard most of it from rumors, though I’m not sure how much is true.”
“It’s probably mostly true. The reason why there are so many vacant lots is that the king’s army set fire to the city to eliminate the undead who had attacked.”
The coachman answered my question without turning around, both of us speaking loudly to overcome the noise of the carriage.
“The royal army?”
“Yes. The undead who killed the previous marquis’s family and exacted revenge remained immobile in the town. So they probably tried to do something before they started moving again. More citizens died from the army’s fires than from the undead who did not attack when people stayed inside their homes, by a factor of dozens.”
I wondered if the idea of “setting fire only after evacuating the citizens” was just something that came from not knowing the situation on the ground.
“Because of that, many citizens abandoned this territory. Now, fewer than twenty percent of the population from twenty years ago remain.”
“Still, how did the city itself not disappear?”
“Well, there are walls that protect the city. The walls, built during the era of the king’s ancestor, have magic that fixes them in place. Even if monsters attack, they don’t budge. Building a new city elsewhere isn’t something even a great noble can do easily.”
I see now why, despite the territory looking poor, the walls seemed disproportionately magnificent.
◇
There was a thud from the front carriage, followed by screams from the nearby residents. After a short pause, our carriage also jolted over something and swayed.
“My lord, young lady, I apologize for the shaking. Some poor people suddenly jumped out and shouted, ‘Stop!’”
Before the coachman could finish making excuses, Arisa interrupted with a command. As expected of a former princess, she was used to giving orders. The coachman reacted reflexively and stopped the carriage.
It seemed a girl had been run over.
Before the carriage fully stopped, I jumped out and rushed beneath the girl. Her HP was rapidly falling.
“Clear the way!”
It was frustrating trying to evade the crowd of citizens swarming around the girl with quick footwork. But I should just barely make it in time.
Sitting beside the girl, I took out a magic potion from my pocket and made her drink it. She was unconscious—her breathing had stopped. Because of that, the potion spilled from her mouth as I poured it. Perhaps because some did go in, the HP drop temporarily halted.
I tried to perform artificial respiration by pressing her chest, but her chest was sunken from being hit by the carriage. That was impossible.
I took out another potion from my pocket, held it in my mouth, and gave it to her by mouth-to-mouth.
The effect was weak; her HP bar fluctuated but gradually decreased.
I had managed to save an old man who suffered a fatal sword wound, so why not her? Or maybe the broken ribs had punctured something, causing continuous damage.
Should I risk using an unidentified potion from my storage?