The children from the Village of the Great Tree moved with terrifying speed.
Before anyone could intervene, they had already launched a raid on the Village Five children’s hangout.
Alfred-sama and Tiselle-sama were not among the attackers, but the local children already had a good idea of who they were dealing with. Furthermore, the Village Five children involved in the initial dispute were only between eight and twelve years old. They stood no chance of mounting a proper counterattack.
Frankly, the children from the Village of the Great Tree were complete anomalies for their age.
In any case, no actual violence was committed at first. It was mostly a display of intimidation and threats. Since the goal of the children from the village seemed to be establishing a clear social hierarchy, I assumed no further chaos would ensue.
Or so I thought.
Unfortunately, the world rarely works out as planned.
Another group of Village Five children happened to be nearby. These were adolescents—those at that awkward age between twelve and fifteen where they are no longer treated as children but haven't yet reached adulthood. To put it simply, they were the older brothers and sisters of the children involved in the argument.
From their perspective, their younger siblings were being bullied and threatened by a group of strangers. There was no way they would stay silent. They moved in to settle the situation, but tragically, some of them were carrying weapons.
That was the turning point.
One boy drew a sword and charged into the center of the fray.
"Hold it, hold it! Everyone, calm do—"
That was as far as he got before Urza-sama punched him into the distance.
From Urza-sama’s perspective, he was merely an armed intruder. Neutralizing him was the natural course of action. However, the older siblings only saw their brother—who had intended to stop the fight—get struck down. They immediately branded the village children as hostiles and leveled their weapons.
And thus, the massacre began.
To be clear, it was the older siblings who were being massacred. Even with weapons, they stood no chance against the children from the Village of the Great Tree. It was a tragedy that could have been avoided if only they had the experience to recognize the sheer gap in strength.
I immediately summoned those capable of using healing magic.
Once everyone had been laid out and treated, the older siblings heard the full explanation from their younger brothers and sisters. Their faces turned pale. They had repeated the exact same mistake as the little ones.
Urza-sama attempted to keep the matter private to settle things quietly, but the location was working against her. The hangout was located right in front of a storehouse owned by the Goroun Company, near the summit of the hill. While not the busiest area, it certainly wasn't deserted.
To put it plainly, there were witnesses.
The Security Team had already been alerted, meaning the incident could no longer be contained within that small circle. Perhaps it is a byproduct of their environment, but the children from the Village of the Great Tree seem completely oblivious to the public eye. They could use some lessons in that department. Ah, but I digress.
While I was reporting the situation to Yoko-sama, the older children were reporting to their parents. The complexions of Village Five’s Influential People grew even worse; I suspect many are developing chronic stomach ulcers as we speak. The sight of them apologizing to Yoko-sama while doubled over in pain was so pathetic it almost moved me to tears.
However, the sins of the child are the sins of the parent. They are far from innocent in this. I wish them luck.
And the same goes for Yoko-sama. I am currently working to ensure the rumors don't spread. Since the residents of the upper district are cooperative and I am well-acquainted with the responding guards, it should be manageable. To be safe, however, we need a consistent cover story. For instance, claiming the children were simply engaged in a new, vigorous game.
Fortunately, the children who were at each other's throats seem to have bonded through the experience, so that should help. I will see to the arrangements.
……
My apologies. A collaborator in Village Five has sent a new report. It seems to be an emergency… An emergency?
I don't understand. The report is brief, but the contents are nonsensical. Why is Urza-sama currently leading a mob of Village Five children in a brawl against the Security Team?
Is this a false report? It’s not? I see. How very unfortunate.
I bowed to Yoko-sama and hurried to the scene.
The Village Five Security Team is a specialized combat group centered around Pirika-san—a woman known as a Sword Saint in the Human Kingdom—and her disciples. Individually, they are skilled enough to suppress even the rowdiest adventurers. Their only weaknesses are a lack of coordination in group combat and a relative lack of experience against monsters and magic beasts. However, their training over the past few years has been rigorous. Rumor has it they will become one of the most elite units in the Demon Kingdom within a few more years.
And yet, that very Security Team was being toyed with by a pack of children.
I found it hard to believe my eyes. The guards had fallen for the children's diversion hook, line, and sinker. I watched as they overextended—only for a flank attack to shatter their formation. It was a complete melee. Honestly, they would have been better off abandoning group tactics and fighting individually.
What was Pirika-san doing? I looked for her, but someone else was commanding the unit. Pirika-san was locked in a duel with Urza-sama. I suppose she judged that the chaos would end if she took down the leader. It wasn't a bad plan… provided she could win.
Pirika-san’s full-throttle attacks weren't even grazing Urza-sama. Every move was being read. Urza-sama was parrying and redirecting every strike with effortless grace. It looked less like a fight and more like Urza-sama was systematically dismantling Pirika-san’s spirit.
Suddenly, Pirika-san snapped. She unleashed a devastating Secret Technique. The sheer sword pressure was immense. One could argue it was petty to use such a move against a child, but Urza-sama dodged it with ease—and then immediately performed the exact same technique in return.
……
Pirika-san went down. Is she even alive? Ah, she is. Good. Urza-sama must have held back.
Then it clicked. The children weren't moving to annihilate the Security Team; they were simply stalling. They were buying time. This meant Urza-sama wasn't trying to defeat Pirika-san quickly, either. She was dragging the duel out.
I worry for Pirika-san’s mental health. She unleashed another technique, only for Urza-sama to mimic it and throw it back at her. At this point, it looked like Pirika-san was just providing free lessons.
This was bad. I could sense an uncontrollable monster being born. I had to stop this.
"Gentlemen of the Security Team! I am Secretary Nana, attendant to Yoko-sama! Due to the emergency, I am taking command in Pirika-sama’s stead! Obey my orders! No, you WILL obey!"
If the children’s only goal was to stall, the solution was simple.
"Everyone, cease combat immediately and fall back five steps! The children won't pursue you! Retreat with confidence! Good, reform your ranks! Not yet! Do not overextend! Wait for my signal to—"
Three arrows whistled toward my thighs. The shooters were Lilius-sama, Rigul-sama, and Ratte-sama. Even though the heads were blunted, they were clearly aiming to disable me. However, arrows of this level aren't enough to take me down. I am fairly capable in combat myself—at least enough to catch three arrows with my bare hands.
……
Rapid-fire is cheating! This is impossible! Wait, a smoke screen? The source was Torain-sama. These children have absolutely no mercy!
I did my best. I truly believe I did.
In the end, it turned out that one of the Village Five girls had orchestrated the entire standoff just so she could confess her feelings to one of the guards. I could only laugh. When the guard in question was "captured" by the children, I feared the worst, but it was all for a romantic confession.
As for the guard’s answer… he actually postponed it. The surrounding guards immediately began booing him. I joined in. His unit is scheduled to deploy to the forest for training tomorrow and won't be back for twenty days. He claimed he needed those twenty days to think it over. If he intends to give her a serious answer, I suppose that’s fine. Still, if he's back in twenty days anyway, did she really need to paralyze the village's security just to talk to him today?
Is twenty days really such a long time? Perhaps I’ve just grown old.
Regardless, I had to bring the situation to a formal close. I raised my voice and made an announcement.
"Today’s Special Drill is hereby concluded! Let us give our thanks to the children who cooperated!"
I forced everyone to applaud. The gesture successfully created the illusion of a planned event.
"Security Team, today’s duties and the training departure are postponed until tomorrow. We will hold a Review Meeting immediately. Everyone, double-time it back to the barracks!"
We couldn't have them being toyed with by children without consequences. They needed to reflect deeply on their failure.
Oh, and I made sure to send someone to collect Pirika-san. She was still sitting on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest.