「……Kuushe-san」

「Nn? ……What’s wrong?」

When Kuushe turned around to look at Bernadette who had called her name, she saw impatience on Bernadette’s facial expression.

「We “found” them」

「?……っ!?」

When she understood the meaning of those words, Kuushe turned her eyes to where Bernadette was looking at.

「……So it’s that.」

From the alleyway that was where Bernadette’s gaze was looking at, men carrying a jute bag appeared. Taking two men to carry a jute bag whose size was big enough to hold a child, the men preceded through the crowd of people in a composed state as if they weren’t doing something like kidnapping.

「How dare they go about so brazenly……っ!」

「Please wait, Kuushe-san.」

The moment that Kuushe, who felt anger for the kidnappers, looked like she would start running at any moment, Bernadette stopped her with her hand.

「……What’s the meaning of this?」

Kuushe was stopped before the kidnappers. Not knowing the reason, she turned her anger for the kidnappers towards Bernadette just like that.

As for Bernadette, she was in a composed state.

「Please calm down.」

「Calm down, you say? ……In this, situation, how dare you say that.」

「Of course I’ll say it. ……Right now, it isn’t a good idea to lose our cool in “this place”.」

Nearby, although it was past noon, the pedestrian traffic was intense. If they were to denunciate the kidnappers here and now, the kidnappers would probably act violently. ……The damages would only get bigger.

「I understand how you feel, but please restrain yourself.」

「……Roger.」

Looking reluctant, Kuushe nodded. When Bernadette saw that, she turned to the kidnappers, and started walking.

◇

Like that, the two of them tailed the kidnappers, but, maybe having got an inkling of something, the kidnappers

「For me of all people to have done such a thing……っ!」

Bernadette was pursuing the kidnappers while jumping from one building top to another.

Having been discovered despite tracking them while consciously maintaining a reasonable distance, she groaned at her own failure.

「But, for now!」

How the kidnappers persisted in escaping without getting violent was a pleasant miscalculation.

Not having the time to squirm about in regret, Bernadette chased after the kidnappers.

「!?」

Bernadette was pursuing the kidnappers while jumping from one roof to another, but, responding to something black that suddenly crossed her field of sight, she jumped back.

In an instant,

*Gooooooohhhh!!!!* (Thunderous roar)

the building that had become her foothold just a moment ago exploded all of a sudden, and blazed up.

「っ, what in the world……っ!?」

Having her field of vision snatched away by the flash, Bernadette promptly bent over and endured the blast.

What she saw beyond her blurry field of vision was a black shadow in the shape of a person.

「……I see, that just now was the explosive magic, 『Explosion』……High Wizard!」

Still in her stooped over posture, she drew both of her Magic Guns and pointed the muzzles at the wizard.

「For them to be employing a High Wizard……It looks like they’ve put a lot of effort into this incident……っ!!」

Randomly firing Maryoku bullets as a diversion, in the next instant, cocking the firing hammer of both guns, Bernadette turned the muzzles towards her own temple.

「Ernst! Paladin!!」

What was fired from the two Magic Guns was magic bullets. They were unique magic given the names of saints and were considered secret arts in the church.

「……I see, so it’s a dog of the church.」

The voice heard from the black figure was the low voice of a man.

「Dog……It seems that you’re considerably good at talking.」

What she saw with her “recovered” eyes was a man whose large build easily surpassed two meters and had his body wrapped in a black robe. Although his face was hidden in the hood and couldn’t be seen, that physique and voice was unmistakably that of a man.

「If you want to pass, ……this is one of those moments, isn’t it?」

When Bernadette said that while preparing her Magic Guns, the wizard laughed with a *Kutsukutsu*.

「What’s so funny?」

Bernadette asked while being suspicious of the fact though her opponent was a wizard, he did not hold anything that could act as a catalyst for invoking magic in either of his hands.

When she did, the man held his left arm out towards Bernadette.

「ッ!!」

*Gachi!* (Click!)

By reflex, Bernadette pulled the trigger, but the Magic Guns only finished with making the sound of the trigger.

「No way……!?」

Bernadette pulled the triggers making clicking sounds, but she then noticed the sensation of Maryoku disappearing from her own body.

（My Maryoku is vanishing!? ……Just, what……!?）

The man showed a creepy smirk from seeing Bernadette panic from the sudden situation.

「……Dogs, should just crawl on the ground.」

「っ, this is……Sleep, magic? ……Why……Ernst, should work on abnormal conditions,……」

Ernst’s true value was the continuous recovery effect that it continued to invoke called Regeneration. That effect should have been effective against abnormal conditions such as poison.

（Yashiro……san……）

As her consciousness was becoming hazy, a boy’s smiling face flickered in Bernadette’s mind.