Chapter 219: A Little Too Many

After using a Return Scroll, Arianne arrived at their “safe house,” situated more than a hundred kilometers from the Empire’s capital city.

However, upon arrival, she immediately realized… they fucked up.

“Everyone! Food is over here! Please form a line!”

“If you have injuries, please take a potion from this station! Just one sip, and you should be back in shape!”

“For those who have been separated from their families, please come here to register so we can assist you! Don’t worry, we’ll find your family members, for sure!”

The 180 soldiers of Sophia whom the girls had “borrowed” were working tirelessly, managing the sudden influx of prisoners in need of assistance.

To avoid intimidating those they had rescued, the soldiers were not in their usual armor. Instead, they wore outfits labeled as “Shaolin training clothes,” which gave them a monk-like appearance… but with hair instead of being skinheads.

Arianne gazed toward the back, where their “safehouse” was located.

It wasn’t really a house; rather, it was a campsite enclosed by four walls, each spanning about 100 meters. This space should have been sufficient to accommodate around 100 people, or 300 if including the soldiers and others.

However, now that they had thousands, it was far from enough.

“Looks like I need to work on it by myself until the others return,” Arianne whispered.

Just as Axel would do, she focused on her task, disregarding the eyes watching her.

First, she dismantled three walls of the original space, then extended one side to about 500 meters. Next, she continued perpendicularly, adding another 500 meters.

With this expanded area, they should be able to comfortably accommodate the thousands of new “refugees” they had just saved.

That was at least until Ria returned.

“I’m back~!” she shouted loudly.

…And along with her came roughly 35,000 people from the slums.

Arianne stared at the little witch and then at the wall she had just remade, realizing it was nowhere near enough. With no choice but to extend them again, she increased the walls to about a kilometer. That should be sufficient to allow everyone to stay comfortably for the night.

Of course, this place was merely a temporary refuge. Once they completed their mission in the Empire, these people would definitely move to the Axevaria Kingdom.

How would they accommodate so many people at once? That would be Axel’s responsibility, a problem for him to answer, not the girls. Yep.

Within the next hour, Arianne finished the walls and set up basic defense mechanisms.

Specifically, they installed M134 Miniguns every 100 meters along the walls.

Thanks to the bullets crafted by Axel, which were basically “holy bullets” on their own, these weapons could mow down zombies without requiring much skill to operate.

Furthermore, given their current funds, crafting a few miniguns wasn’t difficult.

If purchased directly from a shop, they would cost a fortune, but by crafting the items themselves, the only expenses were raw materials and time. Each minigun would cost 500 billion if bought outright, but crafting it themselves only cost about 100,000 Colts!

With that, they should not have any problems with the nightly zombie waves.

After Arianne finished the walls and defenses, Nina finally arrived.

She could only whisper one question while staring at her.

“What’s that?”

Like Ria, she had something with her.

It wasn’t as many—just about a dozen—but…

“These girls?” Nina asked, turning her head back and scratching her cheek. “Well, it’s a long story… But they decided to come with me.”

Behind her lined up a dozen little girls, all appearing to be around 8 to 10 years old, looking even younger than Ria. However, it was not just their youthful appearance that caught everyone’s attention.

It was the pair of horns and bat-like wings on their backs.

At first, one might assume they were demons, but as a witch who had fought against the Demon’s invasion her entire life, Nina could confirm they were not “demons,” but something else entirely.

“They’re succubi,” she explained. “I picked them up in the alleys of the Worker’s District.”

Arianne felt a complaint bubbling up, but…

“Well, compared to Ria’s baggage, yours are cute,” she sighed. “Literally, cute. So I approve.”

The succubi, despite wearing ordinary clothes and no makeup whatsoever, appeared extremely cute to everyone. This was not due to any illusion; it was simply a reflection of their innate beauty.

If they grow up properly, they would surely blossom into great beauties!

Of course, this beauty was also the reason why the whorehouses around the Worker’s District were “keeping” them… and the main reason Nina had saved them.

She could still feel the blunt strike to the back of her head dealt by the “kidnappers” who were after them.

She hadn’t been injured at the time, just surprised.

After turning the tables on them, she ended up saving twelve little girls. It had all happened so quickly that she struggled to justify her actions… until she heard what Ria had done.

“You… What the hell are you thinking?! Don’t you know the meaning of restraint?!”

“A-Ahawch! Ahm showwy…!”

In the end, she gave her little sister a firm double pinch on her cheeks, hoping that she would learn from her “mistakes.”

…

Time passed, and morning turned to noon.

By then, the setup for the temporary housing—long tents capable of accommodating a group of 20 each—was complete. The people had finished scrambling, finding space for themselves to rest.

With a square kilometer of area available, there was no concern about anyone lacking a place to sleep.

But one problem remained.

“Princess Eve is not here yet…” Arianne whispered, her worry evident.

It had been several hours since they returned, yet Eve had not yet returned. Of course, given her abilities, there was no real reason to worry for her safety, but Arianne couldn’t help herself. It was in her nature to fret for the person she was meant to protect.

Navi and Mimir had not returned either, leaving her unable to ask them to relay messages to Eve.

In other words, all they could do was trust in her and wait.

Just then, a sudden surge of presences approached. It wasn’t just one or two, but thousands.

“They’re here,” Nina whispered, gazing toward the east.

Moments later, a figure emerged from the shadows. Dressed in black from head to toe, like a ninja, he revealed only a pair of red eyes. Without hesitation, he walked before the three girls and knelt like a devoted knight.

“I have completed my mission,” the man said, bowing deeply. “With this, we can initiate the plan at any moment.”

Nina stood up and patted the man’s shoulder.

“Good job,” she praised lightly. “We have also fulfilled our part of the deal. Go and greet your clanmates.”

“…!”

Upon hearing the good news, the man’s gaze lifted, his eyes sparkling with gratitude.

In the next moment, he lowered himself to the ground, kneeling on both knees and pressing his forehead against the earth. “Thank you, princesses! I, Crow, shall never forget this debt!”

And just like that, the leader of the Empire’s Shadow, the True Vampire, Crow…

Reunited with his family.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep