"Remove your blockade and let them pass" [Amleth]

"That's not what we were told"

"So you're actively trying to disagree with a royalty from another country. You're obstructing us even after an agreement has been made. When the words come out, your nobles won't even support you and will happily throw you into the gutter, just like they did with poor Grugach" [Randy].

"That's..."

"Fine. Just give us 10 minutes."

Yesterday, an agreement was reached between the countries. Agreement is a strong word when Aunt Amleth along with other countries involved threaten Kor. They don't mess around, especially after so much gold has been invested in this project, so a country that suddenly causes such headaches will obviously incur the wrath of other countries. That, and the fact that we are in danger, is why Aunt Amleth doesn't even hide her anger. 

Nar and Sas are also safe. They will join us later, as they keep telling us to head for the Hallow Valley. Obviously, there are still some units of both monarchies that haven't been informed about the current situation, similar to the one that is setting up a blockade to hinder us. 

If we are too late, they might feed them to The Great Earthworm or The Monstrous Ancient Cassowary. The Great Earthworm is almost literally an earthworm that's impossibly large due to the constant absorption of mana and miasma. Unlike the usual earthworm, which doesn't eat people, this one does, or rather, it doesn't discriminate what it eats. Cassowary, the usual one, is a flightless bird that is typically shy and will run at sight when it sees humans. Usually a very harmless bird. Ancient Monstrous Cassowary however are larger and fiercer. Their beaks will pierce any skull, human or giant, and they actively seek prey larger than themselves. 

"We are almost there"

"Please be safe. Please be safe"

"Keep praying. May the Goddess answer your prayers" [Jean].

True. At this stage only the Goddess can help us. 

We tried to speed things up. Only Jean, Randy, some of the Grugach and I are far ahead, as the others still have to install the core. Hopefully they are safe. If anything happens to them, we'll all know, and we wouldn't hesitate to blast our way through just to keep them safe. We have talented adventurers, knights and teachers, so we're sure they can protect themselves, but that doesn't take away our fear if they were suddenly attacked.

As Jean kept spamming her wind spell to speed us up, we finally arrived at the Hallow Valley, where

"Look!"

"They're hanging my grandparents!"

"Stop it! Please stop!"

"Tchh! Diana, get ready. Fiery Slash!" [Randy]

"Right!" [Diana]

With his golden axe and fire mana, he unleashed a slash that interrupted the process. The Grugaches hang from their ankles down as their heads are sacrificed to the ancient monstrous cassowary and the great earthworms below. They scream and beg for mercy, repeatedly shouting that they have done nothing wrong and how unfair this treatment is. Some of them even have a dead eye, not even caring about anything anymore. 

"Got them! Thank goodness my wind spell pillow made it through" [Diana].

"Who goes there?"

"Wait... Is that Berserker Randy and the young lady from Vars' house?" 

"Those pests have arrived. There are only three of them with a bunch of Grugach! Kill them! Kill them now!"

"Then let us reap or be rewarded!"

"Insolent. Wind spell: Wind Push!" [Jean]

They leave us no way to talk as they begin to attack us. At least the one with the barricades was open to talk, allowing us to pass through easily without conflict. But those two, they literally fire their spells and arrows at us. They're trying to kill us, while we're just trying to keep them safe.

"You think your inferior plant magic will work on us!"

"Tchh..."

"How rude you all are! You know what wind magic is: Great Wind Push!" [Diana]

Of course, I asked the Fairy Wind Sylph to help me as I unleash a fiery wind that pushes them all towards Hallow Valley, where they scream as the monsters are actively trying to devour them. I made sure to put a strong wind barrier spell as well since I don't want to be convicted on killing soldiers from another country 

Well, only a few of them get hit, while some still manage to dodge my spell. But that's not enough for them, as Randy and Jean quickly cover me and start attacking them as well. Shields are useless against Jean's mobility or Randy's strength. As soon as they wanted to continue their attack 

"Aura Slash!" [Nar]

"Gaia Hand" [Sas]

"Shit!"

"It's the two heroes!"

"Don't you know what you're doing?"

"How about you take a look at this, then" [Nar]

Nar threw a scroll with the emblem of one of the monarchs at them. Sas did the same with another monarch's emblem. They got angry, but they couldn't express it with words because of how strong Nar and Sas are. When they read the contents, their faces have a mixed expression 

"Tchh..."

"Even Amleth are acting like that damned superpower now."

"All humans! Retreat!"

They don't even care about the Grugach. They don't even release the Grugach chain when we ask them to. Their hatred for the Grugach, I believe, isn't just some kind of racial discrimination, but unfortunately it is. I can hear the Grugach crying their hearts out, being saved by us, as they cry and cry, telling how they're just a victim of the never ending power struggle between the two sides. How they are literally the black sheep of everything bad that happens, so that the masses are distracted from what's really important. 

"I'm glad you're all safe" [Jean].

"I don't mean to sound rude, but we better get moving or we'll attract the attention of the giant earthworms and those ancient monstrous cassowaries" [Sas].

Sas is right. Even though I wanted to hug the two of them for a job well done, everyone's safety is our top priority.