All My Summons Become Divine Girls

Chapter 244: What Mercy Cost

Sable entered the quarry drain beside Hajin while Juna and Elise climbed toward the watcher above the kiln terrace. A man’s voice ordered him forward, followed by the scrape of feet near the kiln entrance.

One Ring formed around Hajin’s wrist as he held the chain against his leg.

They reached the descent as Toma appeared between two mercenaries, one holding his arm behind his back.

Blood covered Toma’s temple, and one shoulder hung lower than the other. The second man carried a torch near an oil line running from the kiln entrance toward the northern grain shed.

"Stop there," the man holding Toma said, pressing a knife beneath his jaw, "drop the chain, then call the women off the ledge."

Hajin let the links touch the ground without releasing them, watching the torch instead of the knife.

"The grain cord is cut," he said, moving one step into the terrace, "your watcher has nothing left to burn."

"Then he burns the shed himself," the torchbearer said, raising the flame toward the oil, "you can carry your worker home after."

A bird call came from above them, though the second note ended when Juna struck the watcher behind the ledge. Elise caught his crossbow before it fell, lowering both the weapon and the unconscious man away from the terrace.

The captor pulled Toma backward at the broken call, giving Sable room to slip through the lower kiln opening.

She reached the torchbearer from his blind side, striking his wrist before the flame touched the oil line.

The torch dropped between them as he turned, forcing her to catch his knife arm instead of stamping out the flame. Oil caught along the terrace, racing toward the drain where the second cord disappeared beneath the passage.

Hajin sent the chain across the fire, wrapping the torchbearer’s ankle before dragging him away from Sable.

The man holding Toma cut toward his throat, but Toma dropped his weight before the blade reached skin.

One Ring tightened around Hajin’s wrist as Aegis formed between them, catching the knife against a narrow golden plate. Toma fell through the captor’s grip while the chain changed direction, closing around the man’s weapon arm.

Hajin pulled once, bringing both mercenaries down without dragging the injured hauler across the burning oil.

"Get Toma into the drain," he said, holding the chain tight, "leave the fire for me."

Sable kicked the torch away, then lifted Toma beneath his good arm before the trapped blocks shifted overhead.

The fourth operative appeared above the passage with one hand on the cut rope, trying to release the stacked blocks across their exit.

Juna crossed the ledge without opening a Wing, hitting him before his knife finished cutting through the last strand.

The rope slipped anyway, sending the first row toward Hajin as Toma reached the lower drain.

Aegis widened from his Ring, stopping the blocks above the passage while Sable pulled the injured man beneath them.

Elise sent a light bolt through the burning oil line, breaking the shallow channel before the fire reached the buried cord.

The terrace fire still spread uphill, finding dry sacks stored beneath the grain shed’s rear awning. Smoke rose past the ridge as the northern bell struck twice, calling the shelter crews away from the yard.

"The shed caught," Elise said, looking toward the town, "Hans has people moving, but those sacks are gone."

Hajin released Aegis after Sable cleared the passage, letting the blocks close the terrace behind the fallen men.

Juna dropped into the drain with the unconscious watcher, landing beside Toma while his breathing turned shallow.

"Shoulder came out," Sable said, supporting his arm without moving it, "he also hit his head when they took the cart."

"I can walk," Toma said, trying to push away from the wall, then stopped when his legs failed beneath him.

"Stay down," Hajin said, catching his good side, "your legs are not working, so stop trying to help."

They returned through the channel with Elise leading, leaving Juna to check every ridge turn for the missing riders.

Hans met them near the northern grate while workers threw sand across the last fire line beside the forge. His bandaged leg had opened again, though he kept directing the grain crews until Vella came through the gate.

"Put him down here," she said, clearing a space beside the cart, "Hajin holds his neck, Sable keeps that shoulder where it is."

Golden healing covered Toma’s head before Vella examined the joint, leaving his wife beside the grate with both hands over her mouth.

The children reached him after Lana released them, pressing against his good side while Ash returned the carved bird.

Toma closed his fingers around it, then passed the carving to his daughter before Vella reset his shoulder.

His shout carried across the grate, followed by several curses that made both children stare at him.

"Let him swear," Vella said, wrapping the shoulder after healing the torn tissue, "I just put the joint back where it belongs."

Marrick arrived with his ledger before the grain crews finished, bringing numbers nobody near the cart wanted softened.

"Seventeen sacks burned through," he said, keeping his eyes on the page, "another nine took water, so the northern villages lose part of next month’s reserve."

"Write the guard’s wound beside it," Hajin said, watching Vella check Toma’s eyes, "then record who held the shed after the second bell."

Marrick added both entries, refusing to remove the loss after Ferra reported the forge material survived. The captured watcher woke with Juna’s knee across his back, finding Lana beside Hans as she copied his face onto her slate.

He turned away from the girl before Sable tied him to the cart, hiding his mouth beneath one shoulder.

"I saw him near the registry during the drill," Lana said, adding a line to the sketch, "he watched which haulers left through the grate."

"Write only what you saw," Hajin said, looking at the unfinished sketch, "Marrick keeps the rest with the raid report."

The girl nodded, marking the time beside the face before following the prisoners toward the eastern cells.

Juna waited until Toma left for the clinic, then carried the cut map strip back toward the drainage channel. Hajin followed her past the cart as workers replaced its wheel pins, leaving the grain count behind with Marrick.

She stopped beside the tree carrying the copied registry mark, pressing one claw through the line the scouts had cut.

"They took him through our count," she said, pulling the claw free, "the route existed before them, but we showed them when it emptied."

"You told me the second report would do that," Hajin said, taking the strip from his pocket, "I wanted to follow it back to the Flints anyway."

Juna looked toward the clinic instead of helping him finish, waiting while Toma’s children walked inside behind the stretcher.

"I was wrong," he said, putting the strip against the carved mark, "Toma paid for me keeping those scouts useful."

"What happens to the next scout?" she asked, folding her arms, keeping her voice below the workers repairing the cart.

"If they surrender, we hold them," Hajin said, tearing the map strip across the drainage line, "nobody leaves after mapping our people twice."

"Put it in the patrol orders," Juna said, taking both pieces from him, "I want every road crew hearing the same rule."

Hajin turned toward the registry where Hans was arguing with three bell workers over their missing reserve.

"You are writing it with me," he said, starting back through the grate, "then Hans gets authority to enforce it."

Juna followed with the torn map pieces, listing the patrol leads who needed the order before sunset.