Hunter and Mad Scien Chapter 177

The monsters swung their feet and tails toward the organ. With sharp sounds, the vacuum tubes began breaking from the center.

Alastair's gaze turned toward the organ bench. And he could spot a small golden head rising above the inside of the railing.

"Cordelia Mabelwood!"

He gritted his teeth and ran toward the direction of the performance platform. He had no idea when she had co up from underground. It wasn't that Cordelia lacked combat experience, but then and now were on different dinsions. Was she out of her mind? What if she got hurt!

"Why on earth did you co out? It's dangerous!"

"There was an underground passage. Everyone escaped through there, but only I ca back."

"An underground passage?"

"As for how that ca about......."

Cordelia pulled the trigger of the pistol she had kept while briefly explaining the situation.

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Thud, thud. Every ti the turtle monster placed its legs on the chapel floor, heavy sounds echoed through the ceiling. The people gathered in the small underground space looked anxiously at the stone dust falling steadily.

"Is it okay to keep staying here?"

Annie said while tearing a blanket to make a hood for a child's head.

"I don't know. Should I go up to the first floor for a quick look? Oh, drink this."

"That's nonsense! What if you get hurt!"

Cordelia handed Annie a drink given by the restaurant owner and smiled awkwardly.

"I was just going to take a quick look and co back! Anyway, it doesn't seem like the current situation will end soon......!"

It felt like the ground was being shaken to its roots. Cordelia couldn't finish her sentence and leaned against the stone wall before sliding down as if flowing.

"At this rate, won't the ceiling collapse?"

A young woman glanced anxiously at the ceiling while soothing a crying child in the sudden vibration.

"No way. It's still an old cathedral."

"But when they built this cathedral, they didn't know such monsters would appear! Didn't you see those monsters earlier? They were crawling up from the sea....... I thought the world was ending today."

Already on one side, there were people with dazed faces just repeating prayers. The restaurant owner clicked his tongue disapprovingly but still placed water bowls next to them.

"Drink this at least. Even though the ceiling is in that state, no one knows how long we'll have to endure here."

"What the hell is the navy doing!"

Every ti ceiling materials fell, every ti the ground rumbled, anxiety flared up like sparks. There were people hugging each other and crying. Annie tightly held hands with a young wife she had been sewing with, her face fearful.

"I really should go out and see what's happening......."

"Huh? Look here!"

Then, the children who wouldn't sit still and had been causing worry burst into exclamations. The children gathered in a circle were looking at a hole in one corner of the floor.

"It's a secret passage!"

"Waaah!"

"Wait, kids. Stay still for a mont."

Cordelia, who had stopped the children from jumping in imdiately, examined the hole in the floor.

"Is there a candle or lantern or sothing?"

"Here. Wait a mont, miss. I'll take a look."

A skinny man brought a lantern. Instead of Cordelia, he bent his body halfway down into the hole. Behind him, other people held his feet so he wouldn't fall.

"Ugh, this seems like a sewer?"

The man who had covered his nose crawled back up awkwardly.

"How is it?"

"It's dark so I can't see well, but there seed to be a path. There's no water, so it might be an unused sewer."

"Is it really a sewer?"

"......It might not be."

"We'll go down and check."

A young man and woman who had introduced themselves as siblings readily volunteered. Annie, who had been watching the situation, gathered the remaining blankets to make a rope.

"I feel like a noble lady escaping from a tower by tearing curtains."

The woman giggled and went down first, followed by the man. After they took the lantern and examined the passage, they spoke in echoing voices.

"The path seems quite long? It doesn't seem like a sewer but really a secret passage!"

Whether it was a sewer or passage, what mattered was that there was a path. Having a path ant this underground area connected sowhere.

"Could we go toward the naval base?"

"That's southeast. Oh, this helps at tis like this. I'm a navy veteran."

The old gentleman sheepishly offered his pocket watch with a compass attached.

After about 20 minutes, the two people returned safely. The anxiously waiting people brightened and lowered the blanket.

The returned pair said while chewing water and stiff bread.

"The path does lead toward the navy, but we can't enter the naval base itself, it stops near the harbor. The exit can be opened from inside. We looked from the exit and fortunately there were no monsters. We requested rescue from navy personnel passing nearby."

"Well done! So they'll co this way?"

"The combat units can't co yet. They said it would be better if we could go that way if possible."

"What about the people on the first floor?"

No one was the first to speak up.

Instead of an answer, massive vibrations pounded the ceiling. The lighting in the middle of the room flickered with the vibrations and went out. The hesitating people quickly made their decision.

"At this rate, we'll die first. It's not like we can fight alongside them right away anyway."

It wasn't wrong. They were non-combat personnel anyway. Going out without a single weapon would obviously result in being sliced up by those giant claws.

But not .

Cordelia ntally counted her poor shooting skills, the people who had taken on the dangerous first-floor combat without complaint, and the gun in her pocket.

A middle-aged woman who had been watching Cordelia's troubled face spoke up.

"Miss, I have a husband on the first floor. But I don't think it's a good idea to leave the children in this basent that could collapse at any ti."

Eventually, Cordelia agreed to go find the navy through the passage. Children, won, and elderly people went down in that order. Finally, even the few remaining young n all headed toward the passage. The passage wasn't very long.

After walking briskly for about 10 minutes, they could quickly reach the exit where the navy supply unit was waiting.

'Really close.'

Was this the sun seen again after several hours? Although the day was gloomy and everywhere was filled with the noise of monsters and the magic cannons opposing them, Cordelia was moved just to face the outside air again.

"This is Major Renfrew. Rest assured, everyone. From now on, you'll board the supply wagons over there and move to the naval base."

Major Renfrew? Cordelia's head shot up. Goodness, it was a familiar face.

"Lady Cordelia?"

Major Renfrew was Alastair's cousin. Since Alastair had brought the couple to Cordelia's hotel room before, he also recognized Cordelia.

"Major! When can the combat units arrive? Lord Sterling is still at the cathedral."

At those words, Major Renfrew's face showed difficulty.

"How did that fellow end up there....... As you can see, our situation is also bad, so there's a high possibility the higher-ups will refuse."

When Cordelia turned pale, Major Renfrew also seed uncomfortable and averted his eyes.

"Still, if we say Earl Sterling is there, sohow....... Lady Cordelia, hurry to the wagon!"

Monsters appeared from behind again.

That's right. Even though soldiers were positioned here, this was a wide beach. Although it wasn't directly adjacent to the sea due to being near a cliff, they hadn't expected monsters that could climb even cliffs.

"Please go quickly!"

The soldiers ford ranks in perfect order. Cordelia ran to the hesitating people.

"Quickly! Everyone, hurry. Children get in first, ma'am, hurry."

The won holding children took their places first. The wagon entrance was narrow and there were many people. A bug-like monster spat out sticky liquid. After deliberation, Cordelia took out her gun from her pocket.

"Lady Cordelia?"

"Get in quickly!"

People squeezed through the small entrance. Cordelia stood in front of the wagon and raised her gun high. Major Renfrew pulled his gun's trigger and asked.

"Do you know how to shoot?"

"Not at all!"

True to her words, Cordelia's gun showed terrible accuracy despite its powerful force. If the situation hadn't been this serious, they might have laughed. But thanks to provoking the monsters and buying ti like that, the wagon was half full.

"Miss Cordelia!"

"Miss Tate, get on quickly. If anything happens, you know what to do?"

When Annie hesitated, clinging to the wagon door, Cordelia gestured with her chin. Annie shook her head. It was ridiculous. Cordelia and Annie were shooting beginners at a similar level. It would be better to entrust the gun to soone else and evacuate safely. But Cordelia didn't seem to have that intention.

"Hurry!"

When all the n had finally boarded, Annie had no choice but to get on the wagon. The wagon departed. Almost simultaneously, the monster that had climbed up also fell back into the sea. It was an achievent made by ten soldiers working together, but it would have been difficult without Cordelia's strangely powerful gun. Major Renfrew wiped his sweating forehead and turned his head, only then realizing the sense of incongruity and opening his mouth.

"Lady Cordelia, did you not board the wagon?"

It was a tone suggesting she wasn't in her right mind. Cordelia agreed.

"I'm going back to the cathedral."

She really wasn't in her right mind.

"The passage to the cathedral is safe. And you just need to send combat units quickly."

"That's......."

Cordelia, who had swept up the hair covering her forehead, smiled as brightly as possible.

"My shooting skills are terrible, but since my gun is better than yours, Major, I won't be a burden there either."

Major Renfrew couldn't say anything. Cordelia returned to the passage. When the passage door closed, a middle-aged nobleman got out of a military wagon stationed behind where the supply wagon had been.

"Alastair is at Saint Marvin Cathedral?"

"Yes, Uncle. That's what they say."

The man with the cane had nurous dals densely hung on his chest. One of them was the Order of Solomon Knight, given only to a few among the titled nobility.

In the north, there was only one person with the title of Solomon Knight.

Duke Dunbarton.

The man who had arrived in 30 minutes by airship from Talmine darkened his face at the first news of his son he had heard today.

"Neil, request support to the cathedral from your superior. I'll handle the aftermath. We can't lose a son in a place like this, can we?"

Major Renfrew didn't hide his troubled expression, but without hesitation, he went to find a communications soldier. After all, if he could prevent his cousin's death, receiving a little anger from his superior wasn't a difficult task.

Duke Dunbarton seed to have more to ask as his mouth moved, but when Major Renfrew ran far away, he silently turned his head toward the cathedral.