A knock suddenly sounded at the door.
"..."
Shirou and Karen exchanged a glance. Neither of them spoke or went to open it.
As time passed, the knocking gradually grew more violent.
It went from "Knock, knock, knock," to "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Just as the dilapidated door began to shake precariously from the pounding, Shirou flew forward and kicked it down—
Waiting for them in the corridor outside were people holding woodcutting axes, hand axes, and old-fashioned rifles.
The person at the front lunged at them, and Shirou slashed without hesitation—
After knocking one of them down, he grabbed Karen by the wrist and started running.
Shirou leaped over the people crowding the narrow passageway.
Several of them tried to grab Shirou or Karen, but he severed the arms they reached out.
He carved a bloody path through the crowd and then escaped through the inn's back door.
A considerable number of people had gathered outside as well.
It looked like a zombie siege.
They held rifles, pistols, sickles, axes, woodcutting axes, and all kinds of other weapons. What was astonishing was that they neither made a sound nor showed any expression.
There was no surprise, sorrow, or anger. They merely kept their mouths tightly shut and stared fixedly at the inn.
At last, they began to move sluggishly, rushing into the inn one after another.
There was no fear, hesitation, or anger.
The situation had developed into the worst-case scenario Shirou and Karen could have imagined.
What was the safest way for a magus to live in seclusion in a remote countryside where communication was inconvenient?
Was it to minimize contact with others and make them think you were a weirdo?
No. It was to bring everything around you under your control.
The people in this town had probably