Even if you're a corrupted magical girl, you still have to try to redeem yourself.

"We sent enough reinforcements to put out the fire long ago, but... but, as you can see, it's too late now..."

The other soldiers nodded in agreement; the collapsed main building made their words all the more convincing.

Mizuno Yu was well aware of just how horrific the situation was inside the Prime Minister's residence.

Indeed, the people inside are beyond saving. Whether it's the high temperature, toxic fumes, or the collapsed building, all of these can easily take the lives of everyone inside.

Time was of the essence, and Mizuno Yu could only rescue the general.

Mizuno Yu was completely taken aback when the regicides set fire to the city; she had assumed that at most they would send someone to assassinate the general.

Even if Mizuno Yu knew, she couldn't get everyone in the Prime Minister's residence to go and take refuge; that's just how cruel reality is.

She knew that rushing into the fire would only be suicide; she genuinely wanted to save people, even those on the outside.

But she could also guess that even if she saved several lives, they might continue their lives in pain.

No, their lives were merely extended temporarily. Since someone could burn down the Prime Minister's residence, taking a few more lives would be a piece of cake.

But those people were living, breathing human beings, some of whom had been faithfully carrying out the mission the general had given them not long ago, preventing them from entering...

The general's life is life, and so are the lives of those she knows; life cannot be judged by its relative importance.

Mizuno Yuu kept reminding herself that she couldn't save everyone, and this was all she could do.

If the general also perishes here, the monarchy will only be plunged into another bloody storm under the leadership of the regicides.

Let them mistakenly believe that the general has perished in the fire; this will buy the general more time.

Mizuno Yu knelt down helplessly, clenching her teeth, listening to the footsteps coming and going beside her.

No matter how much the surrounding soldiers tried to help Mizuno Yu up, they couldn't budge her kneeling body an inch.

Mizuno Yu wasn't pretending. Watching almost all of the general's men perish in the flames, she was truly heartbroken and could hardly breathe. Everything before her eyes turned gray and white, as if she might faint at any moment.

"The Prime Minister is not inside."

In the midst of the bustling crowd, Mizuno Yu's words were heard exceptionally clearly.

He was not the only one who heard this; the onlookers around him also heard it.

If even one informant or one person were to spread rumors about this, the general's situation would become even more dangerous.

I can't keep kneeling here any longer.

……

Riding on the general's warhorse, Mizuno Yu left the city gate.

If there are pursuers, riding this warhorse is the perfect smokescreen, completely drawing their attention.

Mizuno Yu thought to herself.

Even if he were caught, he could easily make up an excuse about walking the general's horse to get away with it.

Moreover, if he were to catch up with the general, he could inform him of the current situation in the city, allowing the general to bypass the checkpoints and return.

Mizuno Yuu, who was speeding along, did not see the general or the pursuers. Instead, under the dim light of dawn, she saw a large group of civilians walking towards her along the main road.

Even though the nearest village is some distance from where Mizuno Yu is, it's really hard to understand why a group of people would suddenly appear here.

Moreover, these villagers were poorly dressed, and at first glance they looked like refugees fleeing a disaster, but they did not look like long-term homeless people covered in dirt.

The group also included a significant number of elderly people and young children. Ordinary migrants would not move in such a large-scale manner, and the proportion of the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled would not be so high.

If they were moving instead of fleeing a disaster, they wouldn't have even the most basic belongings.

Some of them were still injured, their clothes stained with blood.

Yes, it was blood, bloodstains that hadn't completely dried, and this didn't escape Mizuno Yu's eyes at all.

The only possibility is that this group encountered some danger, which led to their temporary collective escape.

But this is near the monarch's city, where the security has always been good, and the monarch's cavalry often go out on patrol, so even if there are roaming bandits, they dare not break the law.

Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any danger that would cause nearby villagers to flee en masse.

While Mizuno Yu was pondering, he had already spurred his horse to the side of the villagers.

Given the current urgency of the situation, Mizuno Yu should simply bypass these civilians and continue forward.

But things took an unusual turn, and this caution prompted Mizuno Yu to tighten the reins at the front of the group.

The direction these civilians came from was the same direction the general left in; they might just run into him.

A tall horse suddenly stopped in front of them, blocking the middle of the road and the way for the fleeing villagers. The villagers stopped and looked up at the blue-haired girl sitting on the horse.

Mizuno Yu merely reined in her horse but did not dismount. She knew that the refugees were not without threat, so she stopped on her horse and asked, "Have you seen anyone leave on horseback along this road?"

Upon hearing Mizuno Yu's words, a murmur of discussion erupted among the crowd, with villagers offering a variety of opinions.

With dozens of people talking at once, Mizuno Yu didn't know who to listen to for a while, and in the end, she couldn't hear anything clearly.

The villagers aren't a well-trained army, so urging them won't make a difference. If he gets a negative answer, it's better not to bother.

After about a minute, the villagers' discussion gradually subsided. A middle-aged woman who seemed to be the leader, but was only wearing a large robe, stepped out from the crowd and answered Mizuno Yu's question on behalf of those around her.

"A person riding a horse? No, you were the first person we saw riding a horse."

The area outside the city is so wide that the general might not have been on the main road, so it's normal that he didn't run into this group.

Even if they saw him from afar, it's possible that the general would deliberately hide in order to avoid revealing his whereabouts.

Mizuno Yu knew that asking any more questions would be a waste of time, so she didn't intend to get entangled with them any longer. She raised the reins, lifted her foot to give the horse a light kick, and ordered the general's warhorse to leave quickly.

"You...you're from the Monarch City? Please save us! You have to save us!"

Just as Mizuno Yu was about to leave, a plea from the crowd broke the silence, followed by the innocent cry of a child. The villagers quickly surrounded her, blocking her way.

That wail seemed to flip a switch, and cries of agony rose and fell from the crowd, along with pleas for help like "Please!" and "Save us!"

Mizuno Yu was afraid of this: it was not a problem for the villagers to ask for help individually, but when the people asking for help became a group, they would often inadvertently do something outrageous.

If necessary, Mizuno Yuu will also choose to use some harsh methods to drive away the villagers.

It wasn't that she didn't want to help, but rather that her strength alone was too small, and being surrounded would only waste time.

Fortunately, some villagers were maintaining order.

"Quiet! Quiet! Stop crying! What if... what if they catch up?!"

The woman in the lead shouted angrily a few times, but to little avail; in fact, her own voice began to tremble with tears.

Even so, she still managed to reorganize the group, and at her command, the villagers who had been blocking Mizuno Yu's path all backed away.

"Don't cry! No one is allowed to cry!"

While the general's matter was urgent, Mizuno Yu didn't believe she was certain she would be able to find him.

Although she had many reasons for coming out, she knew in her heart that those reasons were just excuses she made for herself.

She simply didn't want to stay in the gloomy, overcast city any longer, even for just a little while.

Actually, her real purpose was just to relax.

Even if someone's strength is small, she will still lend a helping hand if she can.

Moreover, they were only temporarily fleeing and did not cause me any real trouble, nor did they harbor any ill will towards me.

"Tell me what happened."

The woman in charge stammered, "It's...it's bandits! Bandits have invaded our village! They're burning, killing, and looting in the village! We ran away to save our lives."

"Bandits? In a place so close to the monarch's city?" Mizuno Yu frowned.

The woman who spoke could tidy up the crowd, but she couldn't stop the others from crying, so she could only shout at Mizuno Yu in a voice louder than the wailing behind her.

"Bandits have always existed, but they've never been this rampant, at most just small-scale skirmishes. But today they suddenly started a large-scale massacre. However, someone told us that as long as we come to the Monarch City for help, someone can assist us!"

"Someone? Tell you? Isn't the person you're talking about someone from your village?" Mizuno Yuu found the woman's words strange no matter how she listened to them.

"Yes, yes! Someone came to our village tonight, wanting to stay the night, and then..."

……

The woman was referring to the general.

Whether it was attire, weapons, or horses, the characteristics the woman described perfectly matched those of a general.

Mizuno Yu could guess what the general was thinking. In order to avoid pursuers, the fleeing general planned to hide in a nearby village and continue his actions after dawn.

Then, for some unknown reason, a group of bandits appeared in the village and began burning, killing, and looting. The general told the villagers to flee towards the monarch's city, while she would deal with the bandits herself.

The general is a founding hero who established this country. He has seen countless battles and is so experienced that even a few well-trained soldiers would probably be no match for him, let alone bandits.

Moreover, the general left with plenty of weapons. There are probably only one or two people in the entire country who could defeat a general who was armed.

Since the general ordered the villagers to flee first, it proved that she was absolutely certain of her success.

But Mizuno Yuu still worries about the general. No matter how strong the general is, he is still alone. After all, two fists can't fight four hands.

Having found the general's trail, Mizuno Yu was determined to go and see him no matter what.

The village wasn't far away, and the refugees were moving slowly. Mizuno Yu only rode for a short while before catching a glimpse of the village's outline.

Before even entering the village, a pungent smell of blood filled the air, intensifying Mizuno Yu's ominous premonition.

Now she can see several corpses lying haphazardly by the roadside.

Most of them were unarmed villagers, who appeared to have been killed by the bandits who caught up with them because they were too slow.

Among the villagers, there was another person who caught Mizuno Yu's attention.

Mizuno Yu dismounted and went to the corpse that stood out from the surrounding villagers.

Judging from the attire alone, Mizuno Yu could tell that the corpse was dressed very differently from the villagers, and it was obviously the bandit who had attacked the villagers.

What truly made it stand out was the arrow stuck in the robber's corpse.

Mizuno Yu was very familiar with that arrow. It had the bright red tail feathers of the snake-eyed firebird, the shaft made of dark wood, and even though it was embedded in the chest of the corpse, Mizuno Yu could not see it for the time being, but he knew that it was made of lacquered steel.

Without a doubt, only a general in the entire country would use such an arrow.

In other words, the bandit was shot and killed by the general himself.

Mizuno Yu grabbed the arrow shaft and tried to pull the arrow out, but the spiraling arrowhead was already embedded in her flesh, giving her a resistance that she couldn't remove.

The resistance came not only from the spiral arrowhead, but also from the crisp sound of metal rubbing together as Mizuno Yu pulled out the arrow.