It’s already been several days since the work in the church district began.

Starting with the surrounding buildings, today we were finally tackling the large structure—the orphanage.

Originally built to house several dozen people together, it was a large wooden structure, which made its demolition go surprisingly smoothly.

As expected of the 1st Unit, I suppose?

Despite the unfamiliar nature of the work, their high level of training meant things progressed without incident or delay.

◇

On the first day, we moved everything out from inside the buildings to be demolished. There were old, shabby pieces of furniture, but no documents or files remained. Maybe they were destroyed or taken out beforehand—either way, they weren’t there.

Given that a retreat from this land had already been decided, even if something had been left behind, it probably wouldn’t have been anything worthwhile.

Rick, who was in charge of directing the operation, didn’t seem too concerned about that.

As for me—well, I wasn’t really interested in who had been funding them or where the orders came from…

But I did want some information about the orphans, so I was disappointed on that front.

Anyway… that was all on the first day. From the second day onward, the big shots like Rick stopped attending the worksite.

Well, I guess as long as they received progress reports, they didn’t need to be there. If they had been, the workers might’ve gotten too self-conscious, and it might’ve even lowered efficiency.

So in the end, I was the only one from that initial group of officials who showed up every day.

Not that I was actually able to do anything by being there. But it was a place I had spent seven years in.

It wasn’t like I was getting sentimental or anything. It’s just—there weren’t any photos or anything, so I wanted to make sure I saw it with my own eyes before it was gone.

Man… it really was falling apart.

Not just the buildings being demolished, even the church itself…

When I came here the other day, I noticed that the walls and the surrounding area were visibly run-down. But now that I’m flying around taking in the whole place, it’s clear that was just the beginning.

Cobwebs clung to the windows, the glass was cracked, the roof tiles were broken and rotting, and the church’s symbol hadn’t been maintained at all—covered in bird droppings and grime.

It’s been over four years since we returned to this city, and the entire time I’ve been on guard around the church, making sure not to get close…

But it looks like I’d built it up way too much in my head.

Sure, the retreat order explains it to an extent, but I didn’t think the organization would fall this far just because of that.

Hmm…

If we’d stormed the church back when we first came to the city without any discussion, would the outcome have been different somehow?

It’s hard not to wonder.

“Hm?”

As I floated through the church district, I heard someone calling out to me from the demolition site.

When I turned toward the voice, I saw that the orphanage—the last remaining building—had been reduced to just a few columns and some floorboards.

Since the rubble from the demolition was being removed during the process and taken outside the city for disposal, the entire block was already mostly cleared.

They were disposing of it by… burning it, I think?

Nothing will be left behind…

“…Ah, right, someone called me.”

I’d been lost in thought for a moment, but this was still work.

Shaking my head a couple of times to snap out of it, I started making my way toward the soldier who had called me.

◇

With all surface structures cleared, it was finally time to deal with the real target—the underground.

That said, it wasn’t like we were going to just start digging wildly.

First, we needed accurate information about the underground structure.

Back then, the only ones who went down into the underground were me, Seriana, Teresa, and Fiora. And none of us had the time to create maps or cross-reference locations with the surface.

Even if we had a general grasp of the layout, it wasn’t precise.

I suppose we could manage with just that, but since we weren’t pressed for time, we wanted to do things as safely as possible—which meant getting accurate information.

So, to gather that info, one of the soldiers was about to descend into the well using a rope.

He had removed not only his armor but also his sword. He didn’t carry a lit torch, but instead had one enchanted with magical light strapped to his waist.

I understood removing the armor since the well was narrow, but… he wasn’t taking his sword either?

Sure, there shouldn’t be any Undead left down there. Still, heading into that cramped underground passage unarmed? I couldn’t do that alone, no way.

“Hey… are you sure it’s okay to go without a weapon? You’re going down there by yourself, right?”

I couldn’t help but ask the nearby soldier as I watched the man lower himself into the well.

“We were given a rough overview of the internal structure. For someone like Vice-Captain Sera or another small woman it might be fine, but for big men like us, going in armed and in groups might actually be more dangerous. We’ve also set a time limit for how long he’ll be down there. If anything goes wrong, we’ll know right away.”

“I see…”

He answered dutifully, but still… if something did happen, he’d have to deal with it alone, wouldn’t he?

He seemed aware of that too… definitely felt like someone from the 1st Unit.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Sera ・Blessing・【Hideout】 +1 【Prayer】【Blessing of Mira】【Water’s Garment】 Blessed Item ・【Floating Orb】 +1 【Shadow Sword】 +1 【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】【Monkey’s Arm】 ・8 cards

Seriana ・【Area Identification】・【】・0 cards

Elena ・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec ・【Power Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・10 cards