Elfaria Chapter 31

031. Seeds of Anxiety

　As places change, so do demonic beasts.

　Of course, although the location was "just across the bridge," it was clearly different from the demonic beasts we had encountered so far.

　However――

「Haaaaaaah!」

　After applying folia [Physical Enhancement], I cut down a "Large Frogger" twice as tall as I am in a single blow.

　I also burned away a "Walkflower" with my【Flame】which had countless flickering tentacles, and crushed a "Man-Faced Butterfly," which uses scales to create illusions, with my signature【Energy Bolt】.

「Uuuuoooohhhhhhhhhh! Yuuto, amazing――!!」

　Osada-kun sounded impressed, but I didn't make the mistake of responding to him every time.

　After all, this is a battlefield.

　When, where, what, and how will it happen? We don't know.

　Until safety is confirmed, I cannot let my guard down for even a moment ― I use [Sensing] to probe the situation in the vicinity.

「!」

　I noticed a goblin that was about to attack Osada-kun on the back of the cargo, and I threw a boomerang that was inserted between my waist and belt.

「Oooohh!?」

　Perhaps it was because the goblin was sneaking up on Osada-kun from a blind spot, but he didn't seem to notice the goblin until just before I threw the boomerang, and it hit the goblin perfectly.

　I closed the distance with the goblin while it was frightened and I slammed my sword into its head with all my might.

(Okay! This side seems to be okay!)

　Although they were all opponents I was fighting for the first time, I was able to deal with them with ease. And.

「I'll join you! You guys take care of the big guys! I'll take care of the annoying ones!」

　I moved to the right side of the line and instructed the struggling fixers to use [Flame] and [Energy Bolt] to finish off the Man-Faced Butterflies and Walkflowers.

　My colleagues, who had regained their strength, also took out the Large Floggers and Goblins, and soon the battle was over.

「T-thank you. You saved us」

「You're an "F" rank like the rest of us, right?」

「Y-You're too strong――」

　I was told that and I humbly said, "No, no, no. I'm not strong enough yet", and after returning to the carriage, I asked Matoya-san to continue.

「Yo! Yuuto. Good work!」

　As I sat down on the back of the wagon, Osada-kun offered me a bottle of water.

　I thanked him and took it, then drank all the water in it at once.

「Pwahh! Delicious!」

　I didn't know cold water could taste this good! With a smile on my face.

「Yuuto-san, are you all right?」

「I was watching you, and it was hard to believe that you and we are the same "F" rank!」

　Akari-san and Mona came up to me.

「I'm in training, you see. This time, I was able to produce results by chance, but you can never be too careful. After all, the goblins we had heard so much about appeared in a place not far from the Hanaria Bridge.」

　When I said this, the mood of victory changed drastically.

　Akari and the others, their expressions clouded, affirmed, "Indeed".

「I know that they have a strong reproductive capacity, but this is indeed unusual.」

　I wonder what's going on in the Karguri and Forres forest areas? It makes me feel uneasy.

「Speaking of which, I heard that a platoon dispatched by the military is missing in the area, do you know anything about it?」

　I asked not only the two of them but also the three fixers who had just fought with together.

「Yes. I've certainly heard rumors about that.」

「But I heard that the guys they sent are still inexperienced, you know?」

「Rather, for the military, the situation in the east is more of a problem, isn't it?」

「After all, they are holding back the monster from "Great Sea of Trees".」

「I don't think they can compare to the goblins.」

　I could hear such talk.

(In any case, though, I have a bad feeling about it.)

　With a hint of uneasiness, the carriage still kept its speed and continued on its way toward Karguri.

　◇◆◇◆

　Night. And the next day, although we were attacked by demonic beasts quite often, we were able to defeat them without a hitch.

　Almost as planned, we were able to arrive at our destination, the town of Karguri, before dusk. However,

「S-So this is Karguri」

　I got off the back of the wagon and stared at the entrance to the town.

　It seemed that Osada-kun was similarly overwhelmed.

「Wow. Could it be that the entire town was surrounded by logs? And there are even barricades and watchtowers」

　It was so impressive that it reminded me of a city or fortress at war.

「There was nothing like this before we went to Hanaria to work.」

「I can't believe they made it look like a fort in just two years.」

　Akari-san and Mona, who are from this town, muttered with pale expressions on their faces.

　The screening process was much more rigorous than the one in Hanaria, and we were finally allowed to go inside, but the air was so heavy that it was almost depressing.

「Yuuto-san. Osada-san. Thank you so much for your help.」

「We are going to stay in town for a while, and if anything happens, just mention our names to the people in town and they will tell you where we live right away♪」

　After parting with them, we decided to find a place to stay for the time being.

　Then it was time for dinner.

　I smacked my lips into the town's famous rabbit dish and talked with Osada-kun as we tasted the "Light Rum" that is said to be widely loved in the town.

「Say, Yuuto. How did you feel when you saw this town?」

「......To put it bluntly, it's pretty bad. I'm going to gather more information about the details and questions tomorrow, but――」

　It's not normal when a town of 30,000 people is half-fortified.

「I had heard that the town was "preparing for an attack by goblins" and that "the whole town was strengthening its defense". But I didn't expect it to go this far. Besides...」

「Besides?」

「...... If you think about it calmly, there were more rumors about the "Great Sea of Trees" than about Karguri, and there was not much information about the state of Karguri.」

　I didn't think much of it, because I thought "I'll know it when I get there".

(From the looks of it, there is a good chance that the town has been half-abandoned.)

　If this town was important to Hanaria, they would have sent a reasonable number of soldiers, regardless of the circumstances.

「I'm not sure why, but I'm pretty sure the top brass doesn't intend to send troops ― and I'm sure the townspeople have sensed this, which is why they're fortifying themselves as a means of self-defense.」

「I'm sure they are. But you see. No matter how many goblins they are, they wouldn't think of attacking a town that is on such high alert, would they? Even though there are many non-combatants, 30,000 is not a small number.」

　Osada-kun pointed out the possibility that with the current defense system and the town's residents alone, they may decide that they are safe for the time being.

　That's certainly a possibility, but...

(From a different perspective, it is also true that there is no 'reason to abandon this town and the benefits to be gained". The disadvantages are too great. Besides, if I were to take down this town with my small army.)

　Several options came to mind, but it's probably not impossible.

(Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if we were attacked at any moment. ...... or is it "the other way around"?)

　I thought, but the theory was so ridiculous that I had to put on a hundred faces. (?百面相).

「Hmm? What's the matter, Yuuto?」

　Osada-kun asked me, who looked at me strangely.

「Either way, I guess we'll just have to do what we can, one thing at a time.」

　Defeating the goblins, investigating the cause of the abnormal increase, and searching for the missing platoon members ― Though, it's not going to be simple tasks.

「Thank you for waiting! It's our signature "Meat pie"!」

　A waitress with calm brown hair and big eyes brought the dish we had ordered.

　Osada-kun said, "Ooohh! It looks so delicious!" but,...

「By any chance, are you a fixer, too?」

　When asked, I replied vaguely, "Well, yeah".

「I'm glad to have as many fixers as possible because things have been so dangerous lately ― But, I wonder what the military people are doing」

「I heard a platoon was dispatched a while ago.」

「I know. But I heard that it was almost entirely made up of new recruits, and they went out to take down the enemy and never came back, no? No new reinforcements are coming, and some people are saying, "I don't trust the military!" and "We'll protect this town ourselves!" but ...... Most of us are civilians with no combat experience. We have a job to do.」

　As expected, the residents were feeling a deep-seated uneasiness and distrust of the military.

「More importantly, are you free tonight? How about 300?」

　I was startled by the sudden proposal whispered in my ear, but upon closer inspection, I saw that she was a simple and innocent-looking beautiful girl. Besides,...

(Her boobs are so big you can see them even through her clothes.)

　It was very rude of me to look at her that way, but once I started to pay attention to her, I couldn't stop.

　Before Osada-kun, I wasn't sure what to say in response to her, but Osada-kun said,

「Don't worry about me. But this meat pie. I'm going to eat all of them, okay?」

　He told me that as if he guessed it, so I whispered, "I'm sorry," to Osada-kun and accept her invitation.

「Yes♪ I'm going to go get ready, so please wait a little bit♪ Oh, by the way, my name is "Natsuki"」

「...... It's Yuuto.」

　When I told her my name, the girl who called herself Natsuki said, "Well then, I'll see you later♪," and disappeared into the back of the store.

Previous Chapter --- TOC --- Next Chapter