"Alright! With those three people rescued earlier, there’s only one person left in the factory!"

I can do this. Yes, I can!

It seems my Great Mage abilities are perfectly suited for rescue missions. The survivor’s location is instantly identified with my Presence Detection skill, and with the Crisis Detection skill, I can prioritize rescues based on the level of danger.

I can head straight to the survivor without getting lost, remove any obstacles with my bare hands, and support collapsing structures with magic. Even if someone is injured, I can heal them instantly with Recovery Magic. And if we get trapped, I can teleport us out in a blink.

Even leaping into a blazing inferno is no problem thanks to this suit. It’s made of some crazy fabric called Divine Spirit Cloth, and it’s completely fireproof.

So far, I’ve rescued everyone using Recovery Magic, then put them to sleep with Sleep Magic, and evacuated them to a safe location away from the factory. They should wake up in a little while.

Most of the people inside were trapped by debris or locked in by deformed doors from the explosions. Including the man from earlier, I’ve saved nearly 20 people. Now, only one person remains.

At least my Crisis Detection skill isn’t reacting right now, so there doesn’t seem to be any immediate danger. I should be able to rescue everyone safely this time. But why is the last person so deep inside the factory? Surely they didn’t go further in on purpose…

"Damn it! This is barely making a difference!"

A man in his 60s was stacking materials into a makeshift barrier. He had managed to pile it quite high, but it was clear it wouldn’t hold for long. He could only pray that the flames didn’t reach it.

CRAAASH!

"Out of my way!"

"Wha-?! Who the hell are you?"

Found him! The last survivor. Time to get him out of here.

"You’re the last person left in the factory. Let’s get out of here right now!"

"Wait a second! Are you with the rescue team? What’s with that strange outfit?"

...Yep. Another jab at my outfit. Not that I blame him—this doesn’t look remotely like standard rescue gear.

The man, dressed in a brown work jumpsuit, seemed panicked.

"I’m not with the rescue team, but I’m here to help. Why are you in a place like this?"

"Please, contact my colleagues! The fire needs to be put out immediately, or something catastrophic will happen!"

The man pointed to a large cluster of metal drums—easily around 50 of them.

"And what’s in those?"

"They’re hazardous waste from the factory. Flammable and toxic. If they catch fire, they’ll release harmful gases that could cause a major disaster!"

Great. Just great. Fifty barrels of potential doom.

"Is it normal for a factory to store this much hazardous material?"

"Of course not! Normally, such waste is immediately collected by a specialized disposal company. But our boss decided to cut costs by hoarding it and hiring a cheap disposal service later. It’s illegal…"

"What a scumbag boss!"

This explained a lot. The earlier explosion was also due to the boss ignoring safety concerns raised by the staff.

I felt a growing urge to track down this so-called boss and dropkick him into the burning factory.

"You were trying to protect these barrels from the fire, weren’t you?"

"Yes… Only the executives, including myself and the boss, know about this. I didn’t think I’d have time to warn the rescue team or firefighters. And today, none of the other executives were here, and the boss fled immediately. I had no choice but to stay and do what I could."

This man was clearly overwhelmed. While evacuating and informing the authorities would’ve been better, it’s evident he did what he thought was right. Choosing to stay in the heart of danger wasn’t an easy decision.

He bears some responsibility for staying silent about the illegal storage, but that’s not for me to judge.

...Though I’d still like to punch the boss just once.

"Alright, I understand the situation. As long as these barrels don’t catch fire, it’ll be fine, right? And there’s nothing else dangerous in this factory, right?"

"Y-Yes. As long as they don’t ignite, the harm will be minimal. And I’m pretty sure these are the only hazards left."

"Got it. Leave this to me. Let’s get out of here."

"I’m sorry for the trouble…"

Suddenly, the ground shook.

"An aftershock!"

RUMBLE, RUMBLE

Two of the barrels toppled from the stacked pile, one rolling straight towards the man.

"Watch out!"

I caught it with both arms.

"...You caught it?! Isn’t that heavy?"

"N-No, of course, it’s heavy! It was close, but I managed!"

I slowly placed the barrel on the ground.

"That’s not something a person can lift on their own… And didn’t you crash through the ceiling earlier…?"

"Sleep."

"...Huh?"

And just like that, the man collapsed. Whew. That could’ve gotten messy.

I noticed that one of the fallen barrels had leaked its contents after hitting a jagged pipe. Since it might release harmful vapors, I used Storage Magic to safely secure it.

"Alright. Time to get out of here."