Ch. 8: Emergency Shutdown (SUN)
In the moment we thought we had successfully expelled the attacking crows from the town…-.
Leeya: "Wh-what the hell!? Why won't it stop!?"
OO: "Wh-what's wrong!?"
Leeya: "This thing…I can't stop it!!"
No matter what he tried, Leeya couldn't get the scarecrow to stop moving.
OO: "Leeya, if you calm down, we can think of…"
Leeya: "Don't tell me to calm down!! Damn! Here I'd thought the initial startup had been a success…!"
The enormous scarecrow was quickly moving further from the village.
At this rate…what on earth should we do!?
Leeya: "No choice, guess I gotta use the emergency shutdown."
OO: "Eh? Is there such a thing?"
Leeya: "Yeah, just in case. But once I push it…"
OO: "U-um, what will happen?"
Leeya: "…it'll just stop completely, never moving again. It's a one-time use thing. Even if it comes to nothing, it won't…"
OO: "Leeya…"
Leeya: "Don't look at me like that. At this rate it'll destroy the whole country. There's no room to hesitate."
Leeya looked as if he'd resolved himself, then flipped open the cover on the emergency shutdown button.
And then…-.
OO: "…did…it stop…?"
There was an ominous noise, and the giant scarecrow halted…-.
…
……
The great scarecrow had finally stopped moving, right in the middle of a river a long distance from the town.
Leeya: "Haa…this is the worst."
OO: "But you were able to get rid of the crows."
The two of us stepped out of the cock pit, and our shoulders dropped in defeat.
Leeya: "If it's not flawless right till the end, you can't say it was a success."
Leeya stood there for some time, sighing.
Then as if surprised, he turned his gaze forward and…-.
Leeya: "Look out!!"
He roughly grabbed me and pulled me into an embrace, as if he were shielding me.
Wh-what!?
My heart pounded furiously in surprise, and then came another surprise.
That critical moment was when the crows chose to attack.
Leeya: "Damn, what's with these…!? Cowards!"
As Leeya held me in one arm, he swatted at the crows with the other.
There are so many…we won't last like this!
At that moment, I thought it was hopeless.
Villager 1: "Ooooooh!!!"
Villager 2: "What do you think you're doing to Lord Leeya!?"
A large group of people from the town came running towards us.
In their hands were man-made scarecrows, and mirrors reflecting the light.
Leeya: "What…is that…?"
Leeya, taken aback by the sudden event, noticed what the people were holding, then gave a cry of joy.
Leeya: "Alright! Those guys are awesome!"
With a great cry, the crows as one flapped their wings in surprise as the people wielded a great many items that weren't actually good for attacking anything.
Then immediately, they took off into the sky.