Chapter 54 - Holy Light
I am in the back room of the Great Hall, which has become a temporary hospital, with the Headmistress. There must be some reason why the Headmistress is intentionally not going to the front lines.
But she is truly impressive.
The magic she is using is Heal, which even I can use, but when the hazy white light envelops the wounded person's entire body, wounds all over their body close simultaneously and the bleeding stops. When I do it, it's a palm-sized haze, and the range I can treat is also palm-sized.
"Bishop-sama, thank you very much! I'm heading back to the front!"
Perhaps because the pain was significantly reduced thanks to all the wounds closing, he suddenly stood up, thinking he was back to normal.
"Hey! You've lost too much blood, so sudden movements can be fatal. You'll only be a hindrance if you go to the front, so become a temporary medic and carry the wounded here!"
While scolding him, she poked his thigh with the tip of her mace. It must have hit a pressure point because he was writhing in agony.
Headmistress, the person is an injured patient. Please be a little gentler!
Whether he learned his place or was terrified of the raised mace, he became quiet and walked toward McBurn-san and the others, slightly dragging the leg that the Headmistress had poked.
After a while, that former casualty came back carrying a guard on his back. He was bleeding from the head. He was probably unconscious. He was breathing but not moving.
"I will take charge of the transport as the Bishop-sama instructed. Please, look at this guy too."
He has become completely submissive.
Taking the Headmistress's nod as a sign, he set the wounded man down and ran off again.
The wounded man was bleeding, but his skull seemed fine. The injury appeared to be only on his head.
The Headmistress chanted Heal again. This time it was a thick haze. It was palm-sized and felt like it was converging into the palm she held over the wound. She uses them differently.
By the time the haze subsided, the wound had indeed closed and the bleeding had stopped.
I wiped away the blood with a towel dampened with water. He didn't move a muscle, perhaps because he was unconscious, but his breathing had settled, so he should be fine.
She told me to let him sleep as he was, so I decided to leave him to the mother goblins.
After that, the wounded continued to be brought in one after another—hit by stones, pierced by arrows, stabbed by spears.
If it was relatively light, I would handle it; if not, the Headmistress would use Heal to recover them.
The temporary medic who had been poked in the thigh was pulling in the injured one by one. He had them recovered while the injuries were still light and sent them back to the front immediately. That way, the number of people who could fight wouldn't decrease. After all, the Headmistress was here. The turnover was fast.
Finally, even a goblin arrived. It was dragging its leg. There was no blood, but the leg was bent at a strange angle. It might be broken.
Heal cannot be used on monsters. On the other hand, herbs won't recover it. What will she do?
Just as I thought she was touching the injured area, she suddenly grabbed the leg with both hands and twisted it.
"Gieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Unable to bear the intense pain, it foamed at the mouth and fainted.
The goblins were all leaning back, staring at the Headmistress.
The Headmistress placed a wooden stick that was lying around against the ankle and wrapped it round and round with a hand towel. It would have to stay like that for a while, but it would probably be fine.
The mothers bowed their heads to the Headmistress, so it seems the message got through. Though the children are quite terrified.
While we were fulfilling our duties as a field hospital like that, McBurn-san arrived.
"Bishop Catherine. It's the final stage. Please."
He had a solemn expression.
McBurn-san glanced at the goblins, said nothing, and went back toward the entrance.
"Jeanne. Follow me."
The Headmistress stood up, mace in hand, and followed McBurn-san toward the hall.
When I followed and looked back, the mothers and children were gathered at the entrance of the room, looking anxious.
"It'll be okay."
I gave a bright smile, but no child smiled back.
In the Great Hall, everyone except Marcelo-san and Emily-sensei was gathered.
Excluding the wounded still under treatment, there were fourteen humans, nine goblins, and seven wolves.
With Robinson-san at the center, the wolves were on both sides of him, the humans were in a cluster by the wall, and the goblins, centered around the Elder, stood a short distance in front of us.
Paul-san must have used earth magic. At the entrance of the Great Hall, there was an earthen wall about waist-high, and there was another wall of the same height in front of us. The final defense.
Robinson-san gave some kind of instruction to the Elder.
When I asked Beowulf, she said they were going to negotiate a surrender.
I could hardly believe my ears, but she said it was a strategy. Apparently, they were going to deceive the enemy boss to draw him out. Fortunately, the goblins were there. There was no shortage of interpreters.
As I watched to see what would happen, the Elder shouted something toward the passage.
Shouting could be heard from the passage as well.
Hearing that voice, the Elder said something to Robinson-san.
After pointing toward the back of the passage, he made the number two with his fingers and finally pointed to his own feet.
When Robinson-san nodded, the Elder shouted toward the passage again.
As I watched, two monsters arrived. A large pig-face with a spear and a hairy one with horns.
When the Elder said something, the monsters cackled and slowly shook their heads. So the negotiations failed...
"Holy!"
The Headmistress stepped forward and chanted the magic; a white light fired from the tip of the mace she thrust out pierced the hairy one's chest. It didn't move a muscle. The other pig-face was struck with terror.
As if to follow up, the Elder shouted something, and the pig-face scrambled back toward his companions.
It's not like it's a legendary weapon; I've never heard of magic being fired from the tip of a tool held in one's hand. Even if you weren't a monster, you'd be surprised.
When I asked Beowulf, she said the hairy one was an ogre and was skilled in magic defense. The one who had reduced the power of Paul-san's magic by more than half was also that hairy one. And she had taken it down with a single basic spell.
The human side had threatened to fight to the death unless the boss was brought out, and the Headmistress's magic was truly effective. Half-baked magic defense was no match for the Headmistress.
However, for Holy through a mace to have that much power, the difference in level between me and the Headmistress is completely insurmountable. I can barely manage a single mouse.
The threat seemed to have worked, as orcs came filing in.
At a glance, there were about forty of them.
If all the orcs had gathered, it meant they had defeated over twenty in the battles so far.
The one who came in last carried an iron shield and spear and wore armor. On top of that, he even wore a helmet with a feather decoration.
He must be the boss. He's hiding behind his allies. What a pathetic fellow.
When the boss shouted something, the Elder pointed to the Headmistress's mace, then pointed to the boss.
Is he saying to hand over the magic mace that defeated the ogre in one blow? He seems to think the magic came from the mace.
There was more back-and-forth after that, and eventually, the Headmistress threw the mace toward the orcs to hand it over.
Is the negotiation settled?
The orcs it was thrown at screamed and scrambled away. They're pathetic, considering they were the ones who told her to hand it over. They probably only act tough when facing those weaker than themselves.
After all, it's a mace made of white silver. Monsters can't touch it.
However, the boss was even wearing gauntlets. If he grabbed it with steel gauntlets, the evil-breaking effect of the white silver wouldn't affect the monster's body. If he could master it, the fear the boss would instill in the other monsters would be immeasurable. As proof, when the boss timidly grabbed the mace with his gauntlet and swung it around, the other orcs backed away in fear.
Relieved by this, the boss grinned and started walking toward the Headmistress.
"Holy Overflow!"
There, the Headmistress, with both hands thrust above her head, detonated a high-level Holy spell.
To my surprise, she chanted the high-level magic without an incantation. Since it was both hands, it was at full power.
The holy light released from both hands spread throughout the entire Great Hall.
It pierced through the bodies of everyone present and reached every corner. When it comes to such a grand technique, even though it's holy magic, there's a sensation like something is piercing through your body.
But, at this rate... the goblins...
After the light subsided, the orcs were all lying down as if they had been mowed down. Total annihilation.
The humans were, of course, fine. The wolves were so startled their legs gave out, and they were foaming at the mouth, unable to stand up.
However, the goblins were all collapsed.
When I looked back, the mothers and children were also collapsed.
Hearing a thud, I looked over to see Beatrix sitting on her rear, her face pale as she looked at the Headmistress. The Headmistress had taken back her mace and was inspecting the goblin corpses.
...No way, the Headmistress used a sneak attack... the goblins are wiped out...
"You betrayed us!"
Robinson-san was shouting at the top of his lungs...
Listening to that voice, my consciousness faded away...