Operation Pulling Out Seeds

We started the preparations to exterminate the seeds as soon as the meeting ended.

There were many things we needed to take care of. Mainly about the manpower necessary for such a huge operation.

After all, Alice had managed to find more than two thousand infected people just in the capital, and we planned to catch them in the shortest time possible to avoid complications.

And although the emperor had given Headmistress Evelyn authority to deal with the issue as she saw fit, actually, that was the same as avoiding responsibilities.

The proof of that was that he never mentioned anything about cooperating with the Imperial Guards or something like that.

He basically told Evelyn to take care of everything by herself.

That way, if something bad happened, he could push the responsibility to her.

Fortunately, the problem of manpower was easy to resolve.

From the academy, Headmistress Evelyn asked for the help of several teachers plus some outstanding students. In total, she gathered fifty people plus the two beyond-twelfth layer powerhouses of last time.

Besides that, Alice also cooperated lending us several of her family's troops. One hundred elite soldiers to be accurate.

And I also asked Saintess Safelia for help secretly. She agreed to help us under the guise that the church could not accept the existence of someone that manipulated the thoughts of the citizens.

Thus, we received another one hundred and fifty elite soldiers.

With that, the number of people we had for the operation was of three hundred, each one an elite powerhouse of the fourth layer or above.

I could not make use of the forces of the Red Skull Gang, for obvious reasons. Although I could disguise it as help coming from the church, it was better not to force things in case someone starts to suspect something.

After the issue with the manpower with deal with, the operation finally could start in full swing.

We named it, Operation Pulling Out Seeds.

Not a very original name, but it described our goal pretty well.

The next day, three hundred people were standing on the academy grounds, waiting for orders.

In front of them, Headmistress Evelyn, Dina, Alice, Ysnay, Saintess Safelia, the two beyond-twelfth-layer powerhouses, and I were coordinating the operation.

After talking with Evelyn, we decided to make Dina the leader of this operation. This was a good opportunity to increase her standing in the empire.

Evelyn and one of the beyond-twelfth-layer powerhouses would stay in the sky the entire time the operation lasted, keeping watch of the situation and ready to intervene in case something went wrong. As for the last beyond-twelfth-layer powerhouse, he would stay behind to protect the commander, Dina.

Just in case, I also left Daisy behind with Dina, so she could work as Dina's assistant.

Besides them, Alice and Ysnay would stay behind too to keep watch of the situation with their fate. I was confused when Ysnay asked to stay behind, but she told me she was going to teach Alice some things.

I was not sure about Ysnay's intentions, but I did not bother to stop her. If Ysnay wanted to talk with Alice, she could do so even if I tried to interfere with her.

I could not stay beside Ysnay at every moment of every day just to watch against her plotting something, after all.

If Ysnay wants to plot something, with her abilities, she can probably do it even while standing beside me. That is not something I can stop.

Nobody is better at plotting that her. At least, I have not met someone like that yet.

So, I just trusted in the countermeasure I put in place and kept my guard up. I was ready to move as soon as I noticed something wrong.

I also warned Alice to be careful of her.

Strangely, Alice was looking at me with a pitiful expression, as though asking for help.

... Sorry girl, don't resent me.

Saintess Safelia, under my suggestion, decided to return to the church and get ready to mobilize the church's knights in case the situation turns bad.

When everything was ready for the start of the operation, Dina took a step forward to speak to the soldiers.

"All of you already heard the details of the situation, but I must remind you that the people you are about to catch are considered dangerous. Thus, even if the person you must capture is a child, you must be very careful and not lower your guard.

"Due to the danger of the situation, we decided to divide you into one hundred groups of three people. Each group will receive around twenty or so targets that you must catch. Remember, you must work together at every moment, and you must try to catch the targets alive if it's possible. But if they show hostile intent, you are free to attack.

"Any of you have a question? If not, I will start dividing the groups and assigning the targets."

Nobody said anything, so Dina proceeded to form the groups. She did her best to put acquaintances together in an attempt to make the teamwork easier.

Due to that, I ended grouped with Katherine and Rose.

… Yeah, I'm also participating in this operation. Obviously.

Although Evelyn looked at me strangely when I suggested participating, I did not mind. The fact that I'm a super overpowered character doesn't mean I'm not interested in this kind of event.

Plus, this was a good opportunity to collect affection points with Katherine and Rose.

In fact, the reason I ended grouped with Katherine and Rose was due to my skillful manipulation behind scenes.

"I hope we have a happy cooperation." I smiled brilliantly at the two beautiful girls.

Katherine rolled her eyes and snorted. Rose, on the other hand, replied with a troubled smile.

I frowned almost instantly, something is wrong with Rose.

She is too… Depressed?

As the Hero, Rose has always been a very lively girl. The fact that she is depressed like this shows that something is wrong with her.

Well, it was not hard to discover the reason.

As expected, she is still troubled by that.