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For a while, knowledge I had forgotten flickered through my mind.

The conversation I had with the coachman on the way to the Capital City. What Daisy said at the Red Bear Inn.

There’s a group of racists who call themselves “The Future of the Empire,” and their numbers have been rapidly increasing lately.

Just a few days ago, it seemed like it was spreading in the shadows, but has it really grown to the point of openly protesting like this?

The angry demonstrators cross Market Street, shouting slogans with voices filled with rage.

The commotion they were causing in District 8 was getting louder and louder.

“Get lost, you filthy ground insects!”

“Ah, no! Why are you doing this?!”

Some of the protestors kicked over the display cases of a dwarven weapon merchant. The swords and armor, painstakingly crafted, tumbled to the ground, getting dirty with dust.

“It’s because filthy ground insects like you come crawling onto our land! We’re the ones losing our jobs!”

“W-What nonsense are you spouting!? I was born in the Empire! My family has been trading here for generations!”

To the dwarven merchant who was just honestly trying to sell weapons, the protestors’ words made no sense, but unfortunately, they were in no state to be reasonable or logical.

Instead of logically rebutting the dwarf’s comments, they simply kicked at him with faces twisted in anger.

“Shut up! You non-human!”

“Ow! Ouch….”

Similar things were happening all around Market Street.

Some protestors deliberately overturned the sacks of spices belonging to a black-skinned merchant, shattered pottery belonging to an Eastern merchant, and even harassed passing cat beastmen, calling them filthy drug dealers.

It was truly a scene of madness.

I quickly approached my students. Osnia and Titania were watching the chaos unfold up close, their eyes wide with shock.

Especially Titania, who had just been smiling cheerfully moments ago, now wore a face filled with confusion and fear.

“Both of you, follow me. We need to get out of here. And Titania.”

“Yes?”

I took off my instructor’s jacket and covered her head with it.

“Cover your ears for now.”

“Ah, yes….”

Titania was an elf. And elves have very distinctive racial features. With her long ears and a beauty not commonly found in humans, she naturally drew attention.

Titania clutched my clothes tightly, her eyes trembling as she watched the protestors’ rampage.

“Why are they behaving like that? Aren’t they all citizens of the Empire?”

Osnia responded to that. Her usual laid-back, vacant expression had been replaced with a hardened face.

“Titania. Humans often refuse to accept other humans just because they look different.”

“That can’t be….”

Perhaps for Titania, who had only grown up in the forest, the concept of humans’ malice was unfamiliar. But there was no time to be in shock; the protestors were closing in on us.

The market had fallen into complete chaos. People were frantically trying to get as far away from the protestors as possible, forgetting all sense of order.

I gripped both Osnia and Titania’s shoulders tightly, trying not to lose them in the crowd. Titania carefully clutched my sleeve.

“Are we just going to leave them be?”

Titania’s gaze wasn’t on the rampaging protestors but rather on the suffering immigrants and different races due to their outbursts.

I spoke in a calm yet firm tone.

“The Capital City Gendarmerie will be here soon. The safety of my students is my top priority.”

The market guards were in a state of helplessness due to the protest’s intense escalation, but since they were making such a public scene, the Capital City Gendarmerie would arrive in a few minutes at the most, unless they were mere figures.

Despite my words, Titania still looked confused, unable to tear her eyes away from the merchants. Yet she didn’t stubbornly insist on helping them.

I led the two of them, making my way through the crowd towards the tram station.

In the meantime, the protestors were shouting even more aggressively.

“Immigrants, get out! Execute the non-humans!”

“Burn the cancer of the Empire!”

It seems that ever since the war ended, strange things have started to rampage.

Humans often point to external factors as the cause of their difficulties. During the war, they just had to blame the Demon King and the demonic races, but now that the war is over and they can’t express their anger towards the Demon King anymore, they look for another scapegoat.

For them, it became the different races and other species.

“Ugh! Move, get out of the way!”

“Don’t push! Don’t push!”

This isn’t good. People were completely in a panic, blockading the street.

To make matters worse, I noticed from a distance that the Capital City Gendarmerie had been blocked by the fleeing crowd, unable to approach the protestors.

It was a situation where they could easily be trampled to death in the chaos. I could easily escape by climbing onto the rooftops, but unfortunately, this area was mostly made up of stalls with tents, making that difficult.

“This won’t do. We have to change course.”

Even though it might mean getting a bit closer to the protestors, it was better to turn back.

Osnia and Titania both nodded in agreement.

We changed direction to find another pathway.

The protestors were moving from the east street closer to the central street, and we were trying to head south towards the tram station, but this side was blocked completely.

The north was opposite to the tram station, so we had to exit to the west street.

We made our way back through the crowd.

Most of the people in the market were fleeing from the protestors, who were behaving almost like a riot, but a few were seizing the opportunity to steal unattended goods or join the march of the protestors.

Of course, the merchants weren’t standing idly by. Some merchants attempted to fight back against the protestors to protect their property. Those merchants were all being brutally beaten by the demonstrators.

There didn’t seem to be any dead yet, but if the situation continued like this, it certainly looked like a serious accident would occur soon.

Titania opened her mouth, sounding like she was about to cry.

“Why is this happening? What did those people do wrong…?”

“…….”

Instead of explaining to the confused Titania that humans were originally like this, I simply quickened my pace.

At that moment, one of the fleeing merchants bumped shoulders with Titania while carrying a load of his goods.

“Get out of the way!”

“Ahh!”

The merchant nearly shoved into her shoulder, but thanks to me grabbing hold of Titania, she barely managed not to fall. However, the cloak she had been draping over her head fell to the ground.

It seemed like someone among the protestors noticed the situation, as someone shouted loudly.

“Wait, wait! There’s an elf over there!”

“What? An elf?”

“An elf? If it’s an elf, then she must be a servant of the Demon King!”

There were elves who had opposed humanity by belonging to the Demon King’s Army in the last great war.

Most of them were dark elves, and the tale of a certain elven dark mage destroying a kingdom is very famous. However, those were a scant few compared to the overall population of elves.

Titania protested with wide eyes and a trembling voice, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“No! Elves are never servants of the Demon King—”

What is she dutifully answering for?

“We’re running.”

I wrapped an arm around both their waists and sprinted forward. As my view suddenly rose, I dashed quickly into the closest alley, stepping on walls and rooftops.

“Ahh!”

“Ugh…!”

Titania and Osnia seemed to struggle to adapt to the rapid movement, clinging to me with tightly shut eyes.

“Hey? They’re running away!”

“What are you doing! Chase them!”

“Ch-Chase them? Why?”

“Why, you ask? Because we’re fleeing! And she’s an elf!”

Some eager protestors who spotted me fleeing into the alley followed us into the narrow space.

To be honest, I would have preferred to climb onto the rooftops, but when I briefly checked right after leaping, the buildings in the alley were old, making the ground quite unstable.

It wouldn’t have been too difficult alone, but carrying two people while running posed a considerable risk. Besides, the buildings weren’t tall enough to keep the protestor’s attention from being drawn to us.

Moreover, in this narrow alleyway, it would be much better to deal with the situation quietly.

Despite running quite a distance, I could still sense the footsteps of people pursuing from behind.

Even though I was holding two people and it was a narrow alley, I was running at quite a fast speed, yet they were still on my tail, indicating that my pursuers weren’t just ordinary civilians.

Something felt off. My instincts, honed from decades on the battlefield, were telling me so.

I could speed up and lose my pursuers completely.

However, I decided to slow down after running through the alley for a little longer.

“Instructor Ion…?”

Finally coming to a full stop, I let the two of them down onto the ground.

“Osnia, Titania. Step back behind me.”

“No.”

A violet spark of electricity suddenly crackled up from Osnia’s small palm.

“I can fight too.”

I quietly shook my head.

Osnia looked at me with an expression of disbelief. But from my perspective, I couldn’t let my students risk their lives any further.

And anyways, it didn’t seem to be that dangerous of a situation.

Soon, five men arrived on the scene.

“Phew… We finally caught up.”

They were breathing lightly but didn’t appear particularly tired.

I squinted my eyes as I observed the men.

Their gait, stance, muscular development, and the distinct vibe setting them apart from civilians… they were not ordinary protestors; they were trained combatants.

Just as they seemed to intend to charge at us without a word, I preemptively took out my identification from my pocket.

“Stop. Do you see what this is?”

“Uh? What is that?”

“I am Captain Ion Graham of the Imperial Army’s Special Operations. You are currently attempting to commit acts of violence against an Imperial soldier, which is a serious violation of Imperial law. I demand that you immediately cease any threatening actions and withdraw.”

“…You’re from the Imperial Army?”

While the men were momentarily taken aback and hesitated, one of them, a man with a long scar across his cheek, stepped forward and cautiously spoke.

“Listen, soldier, we won’t do anything bad. We only want that elf lady over there. If you hand her over, we’ll quietly retreat.”

I folded my arms and spoke in a low voice.

“What if I can’t do that?”

“…If you want to see blood, then so be it.”

The man drew a knife from his waist and aimed it at me.

Even with the revelation that we were soldiers, they showed no signs of backing down.

“So you were targeting Titania from the start.”

“If you noticed that, then you definitely can’t let her go.”

They exchanged glances with one another, tension etched across their faces as they all drew their weapons.

I had no desire for bloodshed.

Well… at least I would try.

I unfolded my arms and took my stance.

“Guess it’s been a while since I’ve had a good sword fight.”

 

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