Chapter 80 Firefighting Activities
The Grandchester Knights were preparing to deploy under the orders of the Marquis, but even a small-scale military movement wasn't easy. They formed a unit, and as they were about to send out the vanguard with weapons and minimal provisions, a report of a forest fire from Sara arrived.
When it comes to a forest fire, preparations for battle alone aren't enough. As they hastily began additional preparations, a follow-up report from the scene arrived. The content was: "A forest fire has broken out around 2 kilometers (� 1.24 miles) west of Baron Walt's estate, likely caused by a magic attribute fire going out of control."
This information was shared with Sara and the others, and they set off towards Baron Walt's estate, which was close to the hunting grounds.
However, just after that, another follow-up report came in. "Around 100 enemy soldiers have been spotted near the hunting grounds. They're moving towards the inn, armed, to escape the fire." But Sara and the others didn't know about this information.
* * *
The distance from Grandchester Castle to the hunting grounds was about 15 kilometers (� 9.3 miles) in a straight line. Although the road was well-maintained due to the frequent passage of horse-drawn carriages during the hunting season, there were still steep and winding sections.
In this world, the main mode of transportation was by horse or horse-drawn carriage. However, since they were living creatures, they couldn't be driven at full speed like cars. Sara and the others changed horses at 2 points along the way and hurried towards the hunting grounds as much as possible, but it still took them about 2 hours to arrive.
The sky was growing dark, but the western sky retained a reddish hue like a sunset. As they galloped towards the west, Sara prayed that this was due to the sunset.
However, her prayer was in vain. As they approached, the air was filled with a burnt smell. Fairies who had come from the forest began to gather around Sara and Rebecca.
"Sara! Help!"
"Please put out the fire!"
"My precious beech tree is burning!"
As the fairies' cries for help grew louder, the heat from the fire became more palpable.
As they approached the Baron Walt estate, the situation with the fire became clear. The flames were spreading widely, scattering sparks everywhere.
Sara, who had transformed into her 18-year-old form after getting off her horse, struggled to move her legs, which were about to give in to the dazzling light and intense heat, as she approached the Baron Walt estate.
It seemed that the rioters had fled in fear of the fire, leaving behind weapons and other objects scattered in front of the gate. However, lights were still shining from the windows of the Baron Walt estate. Apparently, there were people who had not evacuated and remained inside.
Sara used her wind magic like a megaphone, calling out to the Baron Walt estate in a loud voice.
"Sir Robert has arrived from Grandchester Castle! Open the gates!"
In response, Robert stepped forward and raised his right hand.
Then, several men rushed out from inside the estate, frantically unlocking the thick chains wrapped around the gate and finally opening it wide. The last one to emerge was the master of the estate, Baron Walt.
"Sir Robert, welcome."
"It's been a while. By the way, why haven't you people evacuated, even though the rioters have fled?"
"We have a duty to protect this place."
"No, no. You'll just get steamed to death if you stay here, so please hurry up and evacuate."
Rebecca also stepped forward.
"I've heard that your daughter has been injured. Is that why you can't evacuate?"
"It's not a serious injury, so we can take her with us."
"Then, please leave everything to us and evacuate."
Baron Walt looked at Rebecca in surprise.
"Could you be Lady Rebecca of the Orson family?"
"Yes, that's correct. You know that I have a friendship with the fairy, don't you? So please don't worry."
Rebecca used her utmost charming smile to calm down the people of the Baron Walt estate and persuade them to evacuate.
Sara looked around restlessly, searching for Benjamin, who should have been heading this way. However, she couldn't see him anywhere.
"By the way, didn't Mr. Benjamin, the bureaucrat, come this way?"
"Benjamin checked on his daughter's condition and then left the mansion. We scolded him, saying that a bureaucrat like him, who was supposed to assist Marquis, shouldn't stay behind, and secretly escaped from the back of the mansion."
"I see. That's what happened, huh?"
'Does that mean we missed each other?'
"Sa--Sophia, the situation is getting urgent. Can we do something about it?"
"Let's try for now. But it's dangerous, so please hurry and evacuate."
Robert nodded and instructed Baron Walt's family and the servants to evacuate to the east. Since the 3 of them had come from the east, they knew there were no rioters in that direction.
Baron Walt's daughter, who had been carried out of the mansion by her father, was also able to evacuate smoothly thanks to Rebecca's magic treatment.
Sara created a water wall around herself and headed towards the forest.
'Hey, isn't it more effective to sprinkle a large amount of water near the source of the fire rather than from above?'
She created a large amount of water with magic and poured it onto the area near the fire. Suddenly, a massive amount of steam was produced.
'Ah, yeah, that's what happens.'
To prevent the spreading of damage from the fire and steam, Sara created a cylindrical air wall to surround the burning area. Then, above the wind tunnel, a cloud formed from the rising steam.
'Will it become a rain cloud like this?'
Sara was thinking carefreely, but the cloud grew bigger and started pouring rain over the entire forest. However, although the flames had weakened compared to before, they were still burning.
'If I reduce the oxygen concentration, will it produce carbon monoxide? I think it's not a problem since we're outside, but what should I do?'
Sara's brain was already in science mode from her school days. However, Sara wasn't good at science, so she could only recall vague knowledge.
'It's crucial to take away the heat first...'
At that moment, what suddenly crossed Sara's mind was "dry ice".
'Yeah, let's try blowing carbon dioxide gas. I think there was a fire extinguisher like that.'
However, since the first thing that came to mind was dry ice, Sara couldn't quite imagine the state of carbon dioxide gas being sprayed in her brain, and as a result, she ended up scattering a large amount of dry ice particles at the fire scene.
As a result, the white smoke filled the tube in an instant, and the situation of the fire became unrecognizable.
'Ah, did I fail?'
But it was certain that the surrounding temperature was dropping. Sara waited for a while, but the flames didn't reappear.
'Did it work? Maybe I should add a bit more?'
Just in case, Sara poured the same amount of dry ice as before into the tube, letting it fall down.
The forest fairies gathered around.
"Sara! The fire is out!"
As Sara carefully turned off the wind tube, the dry ice that had accumulated inside the tube spread out rapidly, like an avalanche, around her. Just as the fairy said, there was no longer any sign of flames, and the quiet of the night took over.
Robert and Rebecca approached from behind.
"This is amazing. Is it ice?"
"No, it's not ice. It's colder than ice, and if you touch it, you'll get frostbite."
"Will it melt?"
"Yes. It won't turn into water, but it will dissolve in the wind."
"Is this also Zensen no Kioku (Memories of Past Life)?"
"It might not be wrong to say that."
'Phew. It seems like the fire is out for now. But where did the rioters go?'
These 3 didn't know yet that not only the rioters, but also 100 enemies were hiding in the forest.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)