"Whoooaaaa?!" (Everyone)
Thud, bang!
The men fell from a height of several meters in the air and, unable to even defend themselves, were slammed into the ground rather brutally.
"These men who attacked the daughter of a nobleman! Capture them and tie them up! It's okay if some of them die, but leave two or three behind for questioning, okay?" (Mitsuha)
"...Oh, yeah..." (Captain)
This was, as everyone knew, the home base of Wolffang. Taking the time difference into account, I figured that at this time of day some people would be on the ground training. And just as I expected, there were quite a lot of people there, including the captain. The thugs were transferred to several meters above the ground—a perfect height where they would be unable to move for a while after falling but would not be killed or seriously injured. …Of course, I was properly transferred to the ground.
Naturally, the thugs' swords were left behind over there, but if they were to be transferred normally, the Wolffang's members would be in training and unarmed and would be unable to react immediately to the sudden event, so there was a chance that they could be injured even if the thugs were barehanded. Therefore, in order to take away the thugs' fighting power, I dropped them several meters to inflict damage on them.
...A broken bone isn't considered a serious injury in this industry, right? Probably...
Okay, transfer!
I returned to the scene of the attack...
Yep, only a few seconds have passed, and the situation hasn't changed at all.
"Transfer!" (Mitsuha)
"……eh?" (Everyone)
The members of the soup kitchen were stunned, not understanding what had happened.
"This is the courtyard of Viscount Reiner's house! Everyone wait here until I return! Tell the Viscount, his wife, and Adelaide-chan that I will explain later!" (Mitsuha)
My tone has become a little rougher than that of a commoner, but time is tight right now, so I won't mind that!
I didn't know where Theresa-chan and Lastena-chan lived, and I didn't want people who were not closely involved to know about this matter yet. Thinking about it, this was the only good place I could think of that was safe and problem-free...
…Okay, teleport!
Back at the scene...
"I'm going to the hospital! Transfer!" (Mitsuha)
Yes, the child with her arm cut off was left at the scene. I thought it might be a bad idea to carry the severed parts around with me again and again. I felt that if the severed parts rolled on the ground every time they were transferred, so they would end up covered in dirt...
"Emergency! Injured person!!" (Mitsuha)
A large hospital in London that I knew well.
It's my third time, I'm used to it!
When I told the attendants who came running my identity, they dealt with the situation as quickly as possible. Of course, I gave they three hand parts. The thumb was also flying, so there were only two slashes, but there were three parts. I was used to seeing people with amputated arms, but for some reason I was quite put off by this.
...Ah, it's probably quite rare for someone to be slashed twice with a sharp blade and for the cut parts to be torn apart. It's obvious that it was cut intentionally. That wouldn't be out of the ordinary for a factory worker operating large machine tools, but she's dressed like a maid... Well, I was sure the director and the higher-ups would understand the situation, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Let's just leave it alone and not contact the usual "department in charge". Maybe the hospital would contact them. It would be good to check that too.
I told the girl that this was a distant country with advanced medical technology, and that an interpreter would be brought, so until then she should just let the local people do what they wanted and not resist. Perhaps she was in a state of shock, her eyes were a little unfocused and she looked stunned... Maybe she was relieved when she realized the crisis was over. Well, maybe it's understandable considering how hard she tried...
Just before she was taken into the operating room, she seemed to have regained her senses and tried to talk to me, but when I told her to stay quiet while I treated her, she obediently kept quiet. Yes, there was no noble servant in that country who can defy what the Lightning Archpriestess (me) said.
And then, while the girl was in the operating room... Transfer!
"Colette-chan, I've taken an injured person to that hospital, so please accompany her as an interpreter!" (Mitsuha)
"Roger!" (Colette)
It will take some time to prepare a change of clothes and some books to pass the time, so I think I'll go back to the hospital for now... Transfer!
"Archpriestess-sama, how's my lady!!"
That was the first thing the girl said when she came out of the operating room and saw me. It's as if she didn't care about his arm at all.
"Everyone is safe. We’ve taken them all to Adelaide-chan along with the carriage… to Viscount Reiner’s residence via 'crossing'. We’ve also captured all the bandits. You bought me some time, so I made it just in time. Your courage and loyalty saved the young lady and her fellow servants..." (Mitsuha)
That's a big lie. Even without this child's actions, everyone would have been saved. ...But I didn't want this child to think that her actions were in vain.
The surgery didn't take long. There was no indication that she was given general anesthesia. And worst of all, the child's left arm was missing from about the middle between her elbow and wrist...
All the parts that had been slashed away were transferred back together. The front of the palm, the thumb, even the part from the center of the palm to just past the elbow... However, the fact that the procedure was over fairly quickly, and the child's arm was left in the same state... meant that they gave up on reattaching the arm.
Was it because the cut surface was in a bad state, or was it because it was divided into three pieces? Certainly, if the part beyond the one that was cut off was also cut off, it would be difficult to reattach it...
I hadn't yet heard whether the child is a servant of Theresa-chan or Lastena-chan... but no matter which family she was from, I was sure both of them would feel responsible... Well, the truth was, I was responsible.
…And I felt responsible too. Although I was not directly responsible for causing the incident, I was underestimating the situation and seemed strangely nonchalant. For me, there were plenty of ways to do it. Safety first, I should have teleported them right from the start, either the thugs or the food service staff...
I was just leisurely waiting to see what would happen, with the foolish idea that everyone would make decisions and act the way I wanted them to, and I was so surprised by the sudden, unexpected change in the situation that I was slow to react. I didn't want to show the transfer if possible, and for a reason that was insignificant when compared to the risk to human life, I didn't choose the safe and sure method.
...The result was this. A promising girl lost her left arm. There's a limit to how stupid someone could be.
And this child, without any regret for her actions or their consequences, smiled with genuine satisfaction at my words.
Damn it!
...Don't cry!
Don't shed a tear, me!!