“Rena… you’re going?”
Ron voiced his bewilderment at Rena’s declaration that she would join the search for the missing children.
Ron felt it was his duty to search for Nal himself, as he was the one who decided to shelter the children. However, Rena’s purpose in staying with Ron and the others was to avoid danger, and he vaguely expected her to choose to remain behind.
So why would Rena willingly choose to go to a place where danger might lurk?
Ron believed that the girl calling herself “Rena” was a “noble from a foreign land.”
She might be hiding it, but her skin color, her words and actions, and the fact that she could secure so many guards of the same age and gender, suggested that she could only be a high-ranking noble.
Ron initially suspected Rena and Aria of being spies. He hadn’t made contact, but some of the traveling merchants gave off that kind of vibe.
But that suspicion quickly faded. The two girls, who looked like a young lady from a good family and her bodyguard, were too conspicuous in many ways.
If he started to doubt, there would be no end to it, but if he wasn’t looking at them with suspicion, it was reasonable to assume that some noble had been caught up in an incident or accident.
If that were the case, he could understand why they were trying to escape the town.
Ron initially had no intention of getting involved, but when he learned of their abilities, he wondered if he could use them for his own purposes. Camille, who had decided to act with Ron for a certain reason, seemed to be captivated by the words and actions of the bodyguard, Aria, but Ron was interested in Rena’s judgment and negotiating skills.
Ron was a noble of the Calfaan Empire. He was much younger than his brothers, and until his position became clear, he was in danger of being targeted by members of his brothers’ factions.
To that end, Ron took a gamble by taking on a dangerous mission alone. Normally, someone in his position would not be allowed to act alone, but he later learned that this was made possible because members of his brothers’ factions were working behind the scenes.
Ron, who was allowed to use the only hot air balloon and traveled to this land, was attacked by his own attendants who were guarding him, but he managed to survive by destroying the hot air balloon himself.
Presumably, the attendants had also been won over by his brothers’ factions. The attendants died in the fall, and Ron, left alone in this town, began to struggle to survive.
Nearly two years had passed since Ron came to this town. He couldn’t contact his homeland, and his status as a noble was nearing its limit. He would survive and return home without fail. His stated goal of escaping the town was the same as Rena’s, but Ron felt that the “reason” he sensed from her was different from his own.
In these two years, Ron had developed affection for the orphans. Even though he knew he couldn’t save everyone, he couldn’t abandon Chako and the others he had come to know. Camille probably felt the same way.
This was probably not the right way of thinking for a noble. But Rena’s eyes, which looked straight at Ron, gave him the impression that even though she said the word “save,” she was looking at the world from a broader perspective, like his “father.”
At first, he thought she was just a “young lady.”
As they spent time together here, he realized that she had a lovely, genuine smile, and before he knew it, he was following her with his eyes.
But he was made to realize that the younger girl understood the meaning of being a noble even more than he did.
“I understand. Let’s go, Rena.”
“Yes!”
“Everyone, brace yourselves!”
“Ooooooh!”
Jesha’s spirited voice echoed, and the Adventurer’s Guild adventurers roared back.
The adventurers were mobilized to deal with the Monster Stampede.
Dwarf heavy warriors, with rock dwarves wielding massive shields and axes, and mountain dwarves wielding halberds. In contrast, beastmen light warriors, mainly from the Munza Society, were equipped with swords and spears in desert-like light armor. More than 150 adventurers of Rank 2 or higher, including humans, were marching towards the ancient ruins of Lace Veil. But—
“…Tch, something smells fishy.”
Jesha muttered as she shouldered her Magic Steel Two-Handed Axe, watching the adventurers following her instructions.
Her own dwarves, whom she had raised, were no problem. The beastmen, who showed an unusual eagerness for battle, were also being managed by the Munza Society, with whom they had reaffirmed their agreement after the “Rose” incident. But, aside from the Dark Elves who had disappeared, she could glimpse uneasy emotions from the adventurers, mainly humans, who made up only about 20% of the group.
“Boss…”
“I know, Jilgun.”
Jesha replied to her guardian’s voice, who was walking beside her, in a tone that tried to suppress her irritation.
Unlike the sturdy dwarves and beastmen, there were not many humans who became adventurers in the harsh environment of the desert. There were some, but most of them were vagrants or orphans who had trouble making ends meet, and bringing such low-ranked people would only be a hindrance.
Nevertheless, the few Rank 2 or higher humans were participating, but she could sense an uneasy atmosphere from some of them.
“Can’t say it out loud… Leesan Syndicate?”
“Good if you understand.”
“Hmph.”
Jesha snorted at Jilgun, who treated her like a child.
He had been her guardian for nearly thirty years, but Jesha, when converted to human years, was still just a young girl who had just come of age, so she knew it was useless to say anything.
(…Oops, this isn’t the time for that.)
The Hoglos Company was a trading company that made its living by selling weapons and armor and doing blacksmithing work, but as the Adventurer’s Guild, it also had the role of protecting this town from external enemies. They hadn’t been asked to do so by others, but it was precisely because they did so that they could flaunt their power and, despite being the smallest of the four powers, could have a big face in this town.
Therefore, the current Monster Stampede had to be stopped for the sake of the Hoglos Company’s prestige. Even if the cause was really the Earth Dragon that was supposed to be in the depths, Jesha had no intention of backing down.
Behind the scenes, she could feel the intentions of those who were scheming, like sand clinging to her. Whether it was the Evil Race or the Leesan Syndicate… It was dangerous to jump to conclusions, but she couldn’t afford not to be wary.
But, if the goal of those people was to keep Jesha and the Hoglos Company and the adventurers away from the town…
“What are the suspicious guys doing?”
“We put them in the rear just in case. But, as long as we don’t know their purpose, we don’t know if that’s the right thing to do.”
“That’s true…”
After taking a meal break once along the way, the adventurers started walking again.
In this region, relatively docile subspecies of Armored Dragons were sometimes used for transportation instead of horses, but they couldn’t gather enough to transport this many people right away. Therefore, they basically had to walk with almost no rest, and from that point of view, it was judged appropriate to have the humans in the rear, guarding the dragon carts loaded with food.
And several hours later—
“Guild Master! Sand dust in the distance!”
“They’re here!”
Jesha grinned broadly at the report from the female beastman who looked like a leopard and had been out scouting.
The fact that they could see sand dust even from a distance meant that a large number of Monsters were Stampeding. But, the reason Jesha was smiling was probably because she was more suited to swinging her battle axe than to thinking about detailed strategies.
“Alright, you bastards, reform the ranks!! The shield-bearing rock dwarves, get to the front and take the hits even if you die! The mountain dwarves, follow behind them and annihilate them the moment they stop! The beastmen, move as you please and kill them all!!”
“Ooooooh!!”
“Guild Master, there are some who aren’t bastards too, you know!”
Several female beastmen, including the scout from earlier, raised their voices in a teasing manner.
Basically, dwarves of the same race were valued in the Guild, but even so, the few female adventurers were valued for Jesha’s personal requests, and now they had built a casual relationship to some extent beyond race.
“Don’t get carried away! First, we’ll preempt with Magic!”
More than half of the female adventurers were Magicians. At Jesha’s command, the beastmen and human Magicians began preparing Magic behind the shield bearers.
“I can see them!”
The first to approach, raising sand dust, were fast-legged Armored Dragons and some flying insect Monsters. After confirming that there were no heat-resistant fire lizards among them, Jesha had the Magicians chant fire spells.
“Stop their momentum, fire!!”
“—【Air Bullet】—”
Elena’s wind bullets tore several beetles from the ground, exposing their abdomens.
“Haaah!”
Ron, who had jumped in at that moment, slashed open their abdomens with his sword and sliced off their heads from under their jaws.
Even Elena alone could defeat them if she used powerful spells. Still, she knew that if there was a warrior to be the vanguard, she could conserve her Mana and fight.
Ron was not on Camille’s level, but he had two years of experience surviving in this town, and his skills had reached Rank 3.
However, despite easily defeating several monsters, Ron’s expression showed a hint of anxiety.
“Monsters even in a place like this…”
“Yes. Something is wrong. Let’s hurry.”
The information about the monster outbreak and its rampage had not yet reached them.
Both Elena and Ron felt an ominous premonition and were on alert, but Ron’s anxiety stemmed from involving Elena in this situation, as well as concern for Nal, a matter of a man’s pride.
However, the women of Claydale were not so weak.
The previous Elena might have felt some anxiety, but the current Elena, having made up her mind, was surprisingly calm.
(The former me… was prepared to die, but not prepared to risk my life…)
As a princess, Elena had prepared herself to become a “stopgap queen” if her elder brother, the Crown Prince, was deemed “unfit” to be king, educating either the Crown Prince’s child or someone of royal blood to be the next ruler.
This was something young Elena had directly appealed to her father, the king, about, believing it was the best course of action for her, given her illness that prevented her from bearing children. But now, she realized it was a passive resolve… an escape.
Even if it was for the sake of the nation, it was not a decision for the sake of the “people.”
If it was for the sake of the nation, she would choose death rather than be used by political enemies. But wasn’t that an “escape”? If she truly thought of the people, she should struggle and live as a princess.
She had thought that even her brother, who had been raised by the peace-loving queen and had the awareness of a mere third son of a count’s family, could become a decent king if Elena supported him.
But if she truly thought of the people, was it necessary to make that brother king?
Elena’s body had already healed. In that case, who should become king?
A king is lonely. But a country cannot be built alone.
A nation is built upon vassals who wholeheartedly support the lonely king.
The adults who pay taxes, the children who help them and inherit their work, the nobles who protect them—all of them are the “people” whom the king should cherish, and those who prey on them are enemies, not citizens.
That was why young Nal, who wished to be of help to Elena, who had to return to the country, and tried to do so of his own volition, was already a vassal to be cherished for Elena.
Even so, she had the resolve to cut them off if necessary.
Even so, she had the resolve to risk her life.
Not to be swayed by emotions. Even so, Elena believed that the extent to which she could save people with her own hands was the “size of her vessel” as a queen.
“Rena, look at that!”
Near the rocky area where Nal had gone, their destination, they saw a swarm of monsters.
“…We can’t fight them all. Let’s avoid them as much as possible, secure Nal, and escape.”
“That’s all we can do…”
The red grass that Nal had gone to collect grew in clusters around here and could be found everywhere.
If he had collected as much as he could with his child’s hands and left, there would be no problem. Children living in this area should know how to escape even if they encountered monsters.
However, if there were too many monsters, even a slow caterpillar might not be able to escape.
“This is…”
While avoiding the swarm of monsters, they found a caterpillar crushed by a thin object like a stick.
“…Could there be an Adventurer around?”
“No, there are marks of repeated blows. Maybe someone living around here did it.”
“Are there people living in a place like this? If so, Nal might have run there.”
“…Yeah, maybe.”
Ron hesitated slightly, seeing Elena’s bright face as she found hope.
“Don’t get your hopes up too much.”
“…?”
As they headed towards the place where the residents Ron seemed to know lived, Elena realized why Ron had hesitated.
To put it bluntly, it was the lowest of the low in this town, in a bad way.
“…………”
Not weak, but not strong either. Too mediocre to belong to any of the four organizations, and unable to do the lowest jobs like the weak due to their pointless pride.
They could only survive by taking from the weak, and lived hiding from the strong—such were these people.
The dozen or so people, seeing Ron and Elena with weapons, fearfully raised what appeared to be homemade clubs.
“W-who are you?”
“We’re looking for a child we know. A beastman boy. Have you seen him?”
“D-don’t know… Leave once you’re done.”
The middle-aged human man avoided Elena’s gaze.
Elena sensed that the man knew something from his attitude. But as Elena tried to question him, Ron pulled on the hem of her cloak to stop her.
“Let’s go. It’s better not to provoke them too much.”
“But…”
“It’s okay. I think we’re probably right.”
Ron had noticed that when Elena said “beastman boy,” several residents had glanced in a certain direction.
“Let’s hurry. He’s probably being used as bait.”
“…………”
Elena gasped at Ron’s words, and they quickly headed in that direction. Soon, they heard a small child’s voice.
“Nal?!”
“That way!”
Less than a few seconds after the two started running, they heard a familiar child’s voice. There was Nal, climbing on the rocks and throwing pieces of stone at several caterpillars.
“—[Water Ball]—!”
The mass of water that Elena released on the spur of the moment washed away the caterpillars.
“Ron!”
At that voice, Ron headed towards the washed-away caterpillars, while Elena secured Nal.
“Nal!”
“Rena nee-chan!”
Noticing her, Nal jumped off the rocks and hugged Elena. Relieved that he was dirty but unharmed, Elena met his gaze and peered into Nal’s eyes.
“I’m glad you’re safe. Why… did you go outside alone?”
“Look, this!”
Nal proudly showed her the red grass he had packed to the brim in his burlap sack.
“You need this, right? I found a lot!”
“Nal…”
Patin.
Elena, on the verge of tears at the sight, gently tapped Nal’s cheek.
“…Eh?”
“Don’t… worry us. Everyone will be sad if you get hurt.”
He didn’t understand what he could and couldn’t do. That was because there were no adults to teach him, more than because he was only three years old. Chako and Noi, who were struggling to survive, couldn’t teach him either. So, Elena hugged Nal’s small body tightly to convey that.
“I’m really glad you’re safe… And thank you. You’re a fine boy.”
“Nee-chan… I’m sorry.”
Elena didn’t know if Nal understood. Still, feeling something, Nal hugged her again and started crying, falling asleep as if reassured.
“…Rena. Let’s go back soon.”
“Yes. Thank you for waiting.”
Elena smiled at Ron, who had waited for Nal to calm down after defeating the caterpillars. Ron twisted his lips slightly and averted his gaze.
“…No, it’s only natural.”
“Yes…”
Seeing Ron like that, Elena’s smile deepened a little more.
All that was left was to return. Just as the two of them started back the way they came, the residents from before stood in their path, blocking the way.
“…What do you want?”
As Ron stepped forward to protect the two of them and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, the residents retreated as if intimidated, but the middle-aged man from before stepped forward from among them.
“Y-you guys are strong, right? Kill the monsters around here for us.”
“Monsters are starting to appear in town too!”
“I ran away from town, but to think there are monsters here too…”
“If you’re strong, do it for us!”
“…You guys.”
They could surround and kill a single monster, but they didn’t have the courage to face multiple ones. So, while plotting to use a child as bait to save themselves, Ron couldn’t help but show his anger at the residents who were saying whatever they pleased.
“Wait, Ron.”
“Rena…?”
Feeling a chill for some reason at her tone, he turned around to see Elena, wearing a cold smile, handing the sleeping Nal to Ron and stepping forward.
“Why should we do such a thing?”
The residents, as well as Ron, seemed to sense something from her words, which were not her usual polite way of speaking but a way of speaking that matched her audience, and they audibly gasped.
“You should defeat them yourselves, shouldn’t you?”
“W-we’re weak, it can’t be helped! You can say that because you’re strong! That kid isn’t your child, is he? Then save us instead of that kid!”
“No.”
The air froze for a moment at the word she answered without a pause.
“This child thought about what he could do for me and his friends, and made an effort to achieve it. How do you think you can be forgiven for interfering with that?”
There are emotions that can be conveyed precisely because the words are spoken calmly and without emotion.
As a king, one must protect their people. But I will show absolutely no mercy to their enemies. Elena smiled sweetly at them, who were silenced by the cold determination in her words.
“Whose town is this? Isn’t it your town? If you don’t protect it, who will? Isn’t this… your home?”
“W-Well… we…”
The man’s eyes wavered in confusion. He hated this town, where just living was a struggle. He had always wanted to escape this place someday.
But the word “home” that the smiling girl spoke stirred something warm that he had almost forgotten deep within his heart.
“I can’t have you doing that.”
“!?”
Ron and Elena turned around at the sudden voice.
Looking up, they saw a man hiding his face with the hood of his cloak, looking down at them from atop the rocks. From below, they could see inside the hood, but his face was hidden in shadow. But they felt like the face they couldn’t see was smiling.
“…Who are you?”
“Mersenian girl… are you the girl called ‘Rose,’ or someone related to her? I was told to chase down those who fled the town and crush any who resisted, and I thought I’d drawn the short straw… but I never thought I’d actually find someone.”
“…………”
Perhaps he was just talkative, or perhaps he thought he had the upper hand. He said only what he wanted to say, and Elena sensed a hint of sadism from him. From behind the man, several more Cruz appeared.
“Hey, boss. Don’t talk so much…”
“Come on. The young lady deserves a little chat before she dies, doesn’t she?”
All of them were Rank 2 or higher. It was hard to tell because of the cloak, but Elena guessed from her experience in the dungeon that the hooded man was at least Rank 3.
If they were to be believed, something was happening in the town, or about to happen. And Elena realized that they weren’t here to capture them, but to kill them on the spot.
An unexpected event had begun, and Elena calculated whether she and Ron could win against them.
If it became a melee, their chances of winning would be slim. Ron should be able to use magic, but he couldn’t use magic powerful enough to defeat these people in one blow.
At this distance, the Digvolt spell would dissipate and lose its power with Elena’s skill. To defeat them in one blow, she would have to use an ice-based spell, but at this distance, there was a risk of it being dodged.
(If there’s even the slightest… opening…)
She could have Ron use magic to distract them, but she couldn’t say that out loud, and they weren’t so in sync that Elena’s intentions would be conveyed without words.
But at that moment…
–Hyun!
“Ngh… gah!?”
The moment the man raised his face at the sound of the wind being cut, a small arrow pierced his right eye.
“–Ice Lance–!”
In that instant, Elena fired the Ice Lance she had prepared, and the man, his heart pierced, revealed his dark elf face and tumbled from the top of the rocks.
“What…”
The man’s comrades were speechless and looked around, and Elena alone turned to face the direction. A girl with hair dyed the color of burning ash-iron appeared from the rocks on the opposite side, panting as she held a small crossbow.
“Did I keep you waiting?”
“No, you came at the perfect time, Aria-san.”