Pauline, Arisugawa, and Piyo were asked to help the Dark Harpies trapped in a hut.
Pauline began to gnaw at a part of the wall, tearing it away with a *bara-bara* sound.
“Hey, what are you doing? Your teeth will chip if you do that!”
She herself had a nonchalant expression on her face.
“Ah, my teeth are hard, unlike yours, so I’m fine. Look.”
She said that and showed her teeth with a smile. Her front teeth were connected like blades, resembling those of a pufferfish.
“We often gnaw on wood and dirt to build nests. This part is a bit rotten, so I’ll try to make a hole.”
With that, she returned to peeling away the wooden wall. However, even if people were rescued, they might discover her then. Fortunately, the sound of her peeling wood seemed to be drowned out by the surrounding commotion.
I looked around to be on guard. I happened to glance down and saw a dry branch on the ground.
“Hey Piyo, can you light this branch?”
“I’ll try!”
As I held out the branch, Piyo started to groan.
“Make it small. Don’t cause an explosion.”
“Y-yes, small. Ugh, grrr…”
Then, the dry leaves at the tip of the branch began to burn little by little.
“Good, good, that’s enough now.”
I blew on it, like when starting a bonfire, and made the flame bigger.
“The hole is made. It’s a little small, though.”
Pauline pointed to the hole in the wall while wiping sweat from her brow. Just as she said, it was only large enough for one child to pass through. I peered inside.
Just as the man had said, many women and children were huddled together inside the house.
“Uh, I’ve come to help. Please come out one by one.”
At my voice, they all rushed forward at once and shoved the children into the hole. I handed the burning branch to Piyo for a moment and received the children.
I left the rescue work to Pauline and Piyo and threw the burning branch at a large tree next to the house. The branch got caught in the dense leaves and quickly intensified the fire. The guards were distracted by the burning tree behind them.
“Now, hurry and go to the Flower Harpy village up ahead.”
The rescued people started running with their children. While they were doing so, a young girl ran up to me.
“Uh, my mother isn’t here. She’s probably trapped somewhere else. Please, help her.”
I told the girl to evacuate first and that I would help her later, but she shook her head. She seemed determined to confirm her mother’s safety herself.
