Chapter 116: Silence Territory ②
“Uwooooooooh!!”
Angry roars echoed across the battlefield.
A dozen or so Knights, surrounded by Monsters and covered in wounds, were fighting desperately.
Amidst them were the figures of a young boy and girls, looking somewhat out of place.
“Hey, old man, my Magical Power is getting pretty tight. Can I switch to my Maso Weapon!?”
“Wha-!? No, no way! If you do that now, those regular Hunters over there will die!”
“Ehh… So, should we just give up on close combat and put everything into the Laser Guns?”
Yes, the voices of the young boy and girls belonged to Hiroki and his two companions.
They had been continuously thinning out strong enemies with their Laser Guns to prevent them from reaching the regular Hunters, and were now reporting to the commander that their Magical Power was running low.
“More importantly, this is a reconnaissance mission, right? Why haven’t we retreated in this situation?”
“Because the objective of the reconnaissance hasn’t been achieved. Originally, the densest pack of monsters is much, much further ahead. However, I understand it’s about time to pull back. We will retreat, so don’t worry. I don’t intend to let anyone die in vain.”
After replying to Akito, who had spoken, the commander raised his voice and called for his comrades to gather.
However, the retreat didn’t happen immediately; the Hunters were gathered, and a discussion began,
all while he had ordered Hiroki and the others to buy a little more time.
“Just make sure to tell us what you talked about later, old man!!”
“Hiroki, let’s focus for now. Just by being mindful of instantaneous bursts, the drain on Magical Power changes drastically.”
“That’s right. You two need to concentrate. I’m already used to it, though.”
The three of them continued their annihilation using Magic Tools with practiced ease.
“So… I apologize for this, but I’d like to request a solo reconnaissance. I know it’s a difficult task, but… could I ask you to do it?”
The ones the commander was speaking to were a Hunter couple, the eldest among the group present.
Although they were the eldest, all the veteran soldiers had gone to the war front, lowering the average age here.
The Hunter couple appeared to be in their late thirties.
“That’s true. With those kids’ Magical Power being unreliable, it seems only we would be capable of going, I suppose.”
“Hahaha, either way, he wouldn’t send children out solo, would he?”
“W-we don’t have time to talk forever. I need you to decide quickly. If it’s impossible, then it’s impossible, and we can plan accordingly. That time is precious.”
It seemed he couldn’t quite stand up to the Hunter couple, but considering the situation, he urged them to make a decision.
“Alright. It’s just scouting, right? As long as there are no irregularities, going there and back shouldn’t be a problem.”
“That’s right. And we don’t have any children either…”
“O-oi. If it can’t be helped, it can’t be helped. Don’t get down about it.”
He sighed at the couple who started to go off-topic, but quickly bowed his head saying, “Please,” and then issued the retreat order to everyone.
“You guys did really well this time! As expected of Owen-dono’s children. Thanks to you, not only have there been no deaths, but so far, no injuries either. I’ll file a proper report, so you can expect a reward when all this is over.”
“Yaay! Money, money!”
“Hey, Ami… We didn’t come here for money, did we?”
“Yeah. We need to get stronger to protect the country. This is just a stepping stone. If you want a reward, look forward to one from the King someday.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…” Akito muttered, but no one picked up on it.
He sighed, but then a slight smile touched his lips as he thought, “Well, this is us, I guess.”
“So, what were you guys discussing while we were fighting?”
Hiroki asked him cheerfully, “We worked hard holding them off, so you’ll tell us too, right?”
“Ah, about that… I asked some skilled Hunters to scout the interior.”
Hearing that, Ami remarked, “Ah, there were a couple of people who looked pretty capable, weren’t there?”
“Huh? If they could go solo, was there any need for us to come?”
“It’s not like there’s no danger. I asked them, knowing it was a difficult request.”
He explained that he absolutely had to obtain information for countermeasures, and for that, he was having them take a risk.
Hearing what was discussed while they were holding the line, the relaxed expressions on Hiroki and his friends’ faces tensed up.
“…Wait a minute. Then shouldn’t we go too, as support?”
“No, you guys just said your Magical Power was running low, didn’t you?”
“If we don’t have to cover everyone, we still have some leeway. It was more like, if we kept dragging it out, it would get really bad. Since you decided pretty quickly, it’s not that tight.”
At those words, Hiroki and Akito checked their total Magical Power, nodded to each other, and then looked at Ami.
“What? If you two are going, I’m going too. To be honest, I’m the one with the most Magical Power left.”
As she was originally a rear guard and most accustomed to the Laser Gun, she nodded confidently, “It’s fine. I’m used to tight spots by now, so I can handle it.”
“Haha, I’m not worried about that. Isn’t it just our worrywart big brother?”
“Wh- I didn’t say anything like that! But, well, yeah. With Ami as she is now, there’s no need to worry. Alright then, let’s all go!”
“If you understand, then very well,” Ami’s satisfied voice accompanied the end of their decision-making, and the three of them turned their gazes to the commander.
“Old man, we’re going too. Though, I don’t know if we’ll be able to rendezvous.”
“Wait, this was decided after proper discussion. It wasn’t something forced!?”
“No, we don’t think of it that way. We’re just going voluntarily. We’ll do what we can within our capabilities.”
The commander pressed them, “Do you understand? You’re currently surrounded by an army of monsters. On top of that, you’ll have no one’s help,” but their determination didn’t waver.
After a sigh, he strongly admonished them, “Just don’t forget about your Magical Power for the return trip, absolutely,” and permitted their departure.
And so, they drew the monsters away and retreated towards the town.
Leaving the three Hunters behind.
♢♦♢♦♢
After Yuri and I advanced for a while in the direction the voices came from, we heard sounds approaching us, so we hid in the shade of some trees.
“Those sounds are human. By hiding, do you intend to proceed without making contact with anyone?”
“Well, I’m not entirely sure, but if they see the monsters up ahead, they’ll report about us too, right?”
That’s right, even without using that monster’s poison magic, we’ve defeated quite a number of them.
If we reported that there was a Boss, we’d probably be summoned, so honestly, I thought it was safer to hide. But I wondered if there was another way and looked at Yuri.
Then, after thinking for a moment, she nodded once and said, “Indeed, that seems to be the case.”
And so, we watched as two people who looked like Hunters passed by.
However, as they continued deeper and deeper, I grew worried about them. When I followed them, they arrived at the site of our previous battle and were looking around, bewildered.
“Ohh. They’re investigating very thoroughly.”
“It feels a bit strange to have the way we defeated them observed, doesn’t it?”
She had an expression like she’d been seen in an embarrassing situation, so her feelings were probably different from mine, but I just replied, “Yeah, I guess so.”
And so, Yuri and I were observing them from afar with a telescope when something unusual happened.
It seemed one of them had touched the remnants of the poison magic.
If a little more time had passed, it would have disappeared. What bad timing.
“George! Hang in there, George!”
The woman’s scream echoed.
“Ah, looks like we have no choice but to go…”
“Indeed. It would be truly regrettable to overlook this.”
Because she had shouted loudly, nearby monsters were starting to gather here and there, but she didn’t seem to have noticed.
I picked up some speed, annihilating monsters as I ran towards the two of them.
“Shall I detoxify that for you?”
“Wh-who… No, that doesn’t matter. Can you do it!?”
I nodded honestly at her words.
For this level of poison, just having him drink a little Elixir diluted a hundred to one should be enough.
I came up with the idea back with Natalia-san and had prepared it just in case, so I could use an appropriate amount for times like this.
While Yuri continued to annihilate the monsters, I had him take a sip, and he immediately regained consciousness clearly and stood up.
Seeing that, the woman tearfully expressed her gratitude, saying, “Thank you.”
“I-I’m saved… I must thank you. But before that, may I ask your standing? I don’t even know how to show my gratitude. Either way, I’ll give you a suitable reward, but…?”
“No, I’m not looking for any thanks, so if you could just act like this rescue never happened, that would be fine.”
“Huh?” he replied, looking back at me with his mouth agape, as if he didn’t understand what I was saying.
“Um, well. If you could consider us to be traveling incognito. Please refrain from any further prying.”
“Ah, I see. If that’s the case, then of course, we’ll do that. Thanks, both of you! If we’re to settle this here and now, this is all I have, but will this do?”
Saying that, he offered three gold coins, but I replied that I’d just accept the sentiment.
Honestly, I have more Lestall gold coins than I know what to do with, so I don’t need them, and it would be more helpful if he focused on not telling anyone.
However, he said, “I can’t just do that. Don’t worry about me not telling anyone either,” and forcibly placed them onto my palm, so I accepted them, thinking, “If that’s how it’s going to be,” and a period of silence followed.
“Um… I think it’s dangerous ahead, but are you still going further?”
Unable to bear the silence, I was the one who spoke first.
“Yeah, well. I was told to go check out the scale of it, you see.”
“Just that poison alone confirms it’s an abnormal situation, and I really want to go back already…”
In a normal year, apparently, it ends with only a few thousand of those small fry spawning.
Even so, compared to a normal time in Oldam, it’s quite harsh, but for the people here, it’s an annual event, so they’re diligent about personnel training, and apparently, there hasn’t been any particularly major damage.
But following Oldam, this place is also in an abnormal situation, huh? Well, of course it is.
If the main source of Mana Essence is connected underground, it’s normal for everywhere to be in a bad state during a bad year, right?
“Even by a conservative estimate, there are at least fifty thousand, right?”
Yuri, who had quickly finished subjugating the surrounding area, muttered. She must have heard our conversation with her Enhanced Hearing.
At that, George-san exclaimed, “Fifty thousand!?”
“Um, about how many would you normally be able to defend the Town against?”
“No, it’s usually around five or six thousand. As a Hunter, I can only say if it’s less than that…”
Ugh. Annihilating over forty thousand is going to be tough, as expected.
“Still, you’re very strong, young lady.
It was like watching the old master of your main family.”
“My grandfather, you say?” Yuri tilted her head. Apparently, her family is a line of Knights, and her grandfather is quite skilled.
“Uhm, well then, shall we accompany you on the reconnaissance?”
When I suggested that if they kept it a secret, we would protect them, the two of them immediately said in unison, “We’d like to ask that of you.”
After that, we advanced into the forest with George-san and Miranda-san, and climbed a conspicuously tall tree.
At the sight visible from there, the two of them were speechless and froze.
“Hey, hey, hey, hey! This is bad!”
“You’ve got to be kidding. This is a terrible situation…”
the two of them were holding their heads in their hands.
I thought I had told them the numbers, but…
“No, even I can tell it’s impossible with this many high-ranking species.
This is a level where even our main forces would undoubtedly struggle.
Without the main unit, there’s nothing we can do about this…”
Eh, is it really that bad of a situation?
Ah, I see.
In the war, there were many high-ranking Knights, but a single Town wouldn’t have that many, huh.
Wh-what should I do… I have to help them, right? I glanced at Yuri.
“Rui, you can do as you wish.
If it’s what you want to do, then that is right for me. I will follow you.”
“Well then, shall we do it?”
As I decided to join the fight, sighing, for some reason, a slight feeling of pride also welled up.
“A-are you sure? Having someone of your caliber, young lady, is appreciated, but… it’s probably impossible, you know?”
“Uhm, about how many would allow you to defend the Town?”
“I told you, I don’t know.
Well, we could probably manage if it’s under ten thousand, but that’s not the point…”
When I said with a laugh, “It’s alright. If it’s just this many Monsters,” Miranda-san asked back with a dumbfounded expression, “Really? Are you two that strong?”
“Fufufu, when it comes to magic, my Rui is the strongest in the world!”
Yuri, with her hands on her hips and chest puffed out, I thought she would lighten the mood as usual, but they continued to look dumbfounded, even with Yuri’s soothing presence.