CH 164

Sacrifice in vain

***---***

It was commonplace in the natural world, and it wasn't uncommon in Volzard, where there were dungeons and the Devil's Forest, but for someone who grew up in Japan, being eaten by something was an unusual way to die for humans.

One person died yesterday and two people today, but after the Griffon flew away, Volzard immediately returned to normal.

No matter how powerful of monsters come, they can't easily run away from the city they live in.

It would be a different story if the Griffon built a nest and stayed there, but the risk of being hunted was not a reason to abandon the city.

In that case, it was only natural for Volzard to return to normal life as much as possible.

However, it seemed that the classmates who were unreasonably brought from Japan were different.

In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that there was almost no danger as long as they hid in a building until the Griffon flew away, even so, turmoil spread among the classmates.

Isn't it enough to just have a Griffon ... A horde of monsters even larger than the Goblin outbreak might attack ... What if there is an even more powerful monster like a Dragon appearing ... Will they be able to return to Japan by then.

It seemed that the classmates had gathered at the cafeteria, which was built to be the most sturdy place to evacuate in case the monsters invaded the ramparts, but some of the girls who had a strong desire to return to their home country started to panic.

"Was it Takagi-san who prevented that?"

"Yeah, I think they're the kids who were on good terms with Sekiguchi-san, but even if they yelled at each other he got yelled at, he listened calmly the whole time, and even if other boys intervened, it was the same. He listened to them properly and relieved their anxiety by untying knots one by one."

"Hmm, is that so ..."

After being helplessly defeated by the Griffon, we discussed countermeasures for the future in Klaus-san's office in the guild.

After that, I asked the chairman how my classmates were doing, but I didn't get a clue at all.

To me, Takagi-san gave me the impression that he was rather emotionally throwing his words at me.

"If it's the teachers, shut up right now, we'll listen to you later ... they would interrupt the conversation while saying something like that, but Takagi-san listened to them patiently while taking notes, so everyone gradually calmed down, then what should we do ... is what it turned into."

"Hmm ... For some reason, he seems like a different person than when he meets me."

"However, I'm a little worried about the fact that I feel like he's too eager to bring everyone back."

"Ah, even when he was with me, he complained about why I let a teacher return first."

"Because, you asked the teachers to decide who to send back."

"That's right. Besides, Klaus-san told me to send one teacher back."

"Is that so? Then, it's not Kento's fault, is it."

"That's right, but Takagi-san didn't seem to be very convinced."

I was on the move due to the uproar with the Griffon, but Takagi-san was still trying to say something.

I don't know if it's because he has two sides, or if I personally don't like him, but I don't want to get involved with him unnecessarily.

"Hey, Kento, what are you going to do about the Griffon?"

"Yeah, we intercepted it today, but tomorrow we're going to raise an alarm and evacuate with everyone."

I tried to intercept it, but it didn't work at all, and on the contrary, two people were killed, so tomorrow, I'm planning to try a way to have the Griffon leave by evacuating everyone indoors when the alarm sounds.

However, it would be nice if everyone hid and the Griffon went away, but if it tried to get food even if it meant destroying a building, the damage might actually be greater.

"But, as long as the Griffon is there, we won't be able to go out during the day, right?"

"It depends on the Griffon, but if there are no other good hunting grounds, it may come back."

Klaus-san chose to hide and let it leave, but I had no intention of giving up on subjugating it.

If I thought I could do something, I would get permission from Klaus-san and start subjugating it.

If a monster like that was flying over my head, I wouldn't be able to live in peace.

"Could it be that Kento intends to subjugate it?"

"Yeah, I'm still thinking about how to do it. Considering Volzard's future, I can't just run away forever."

"You're thinking of a way?"

"Hmm ... It's still vague, but there are two problems. One is how to slow down the Griffon's speed of attack. The other is how to hit it."

The chairman was surprised when I told her that my shield of darkness didn't work, and that my attacks didn't hit as expected and had almost no effect.

"Kento's shield of darkness didn't break even when Nero hit it."

"That's right, but it seems to change depending on the strength of the opponent's magic power, so I think the Griffon's magic power is considerably higher than mine."

"Is there a chance of winning then?"

"I've come up with a few methods, so if they go well, I think I can do some damage."

"For example, what are you thinking?"

"Hmm ... That's right, the shield of darkness was destroyed, but this time I'm thinking of stacking it several times so that it won't break easily."

"Even so, if it's destroyed, won't someone fall victim again?"

"No, the next time we do it, we'll use the Kobold Corps as decoys and evacuate them to the world of shadows before they're grabbed by the Griffon, so it's fine."

As for the Griffon, it moved very quickly, so I thought it was a good idea to give priority to stopping its movement, and if it stopped moving, the chances of being able to hit it would increase.

To be frank, I thought that if I fired several shots of light-attribute attack magic to its head, I would be able to stop it even further.

"But, how will you hit it? Because it's wrapped in wind magic, half-baked attacks won't hit it, and you won't be able to deal any damage, right?"

"Yeah, that's the problem. I came up with something, and put up a guild request."

"A request ... ?"

"Yeah, it's a small thing. I couldn't do it, so I asked a specialist to do it, and they said it was probably fine, so if it went well, the attack would hit ... I feel like."

"Somehow, it feels a little unreliable, but is it okay?"

"Well, after all, the opponent is a Griffon. Assuming that it won't work, I can't win if I don't think of many tricks."

"It doesn't matter if you don't win, but it's no good if you get hurt."

"I know, I don't care if I lose, but I'm planning a strategy based on the premise that everyone of my genus is safe, so it's okay."

"Yeah, that's fine."

Like today, even if I lose, if I survived, I would have a chance to get my revenge.

I had learned a lot from today's defeat.

I'll analyze the information I've obtained about the Griffon and find a method of subjugation.

After returning to the lodgings, finishing dinner, and putting Meisa-chan to bed, I took measures at the Devil's Forest training ground.

The first thing I started working on was combining the shields of darkness.

Anyway, unless the Griffon's speed was stopped, the subsequent strategy wouldn't go well.

Up until now, I had deployed two or three at once, but when it came to five or ten, I had never tried it.

Considering the momentum of the Griffon that broke through the shield of darkness, I felt that if I could deploy at least 10, ideally about 30, I could definitely stop it.

For the time being, I started practicing so that I could deploy five at once.

That was relatively easy to do, but it was difficult to arrange them neatly in a specific direction, so I asked Nero to help me visualize it.

In order to be able to instantly deploy five layers of shields in front of the moving Nero, I practiced over and over again.

Nero was one of my genus, so it could pass through without hitting the shield.

When it went through the shadow space and came out from another place, 'Nya!' it let me know where it was.

From there, Nero began to move randomly, so I continued practicing deploying multiple shields in front of it.

Tonight, when I was able to deploy the five layers of shields as I wanted, I ran out of mana, so I finished my practice.

"Haa, haa ... This ... It's pretty tough ..."

"Nya, Nero had fun, nya."

I felt a little envious of Nero who wasn't breathing hard at all because he was an undead.

When I returned to the boarding house and crawled into bed, I fell asleep like I was switched off.

The next day was dark day, and Amanda-san's shop was closed, so I woke up a little later than usual, but I wasn't waking up at all, and Meisa-chan and Amanda-san woke me up.

"It's rare that Kent isn't awake."

"It looks like I used too much magic yesterday ..."

"Kent is always working too hard, so you have to think about resting your body."

"Yes, I don't have any particular errands today, so I should be able to take it easy, so it's okay."

"Is that so, then that's fine."

The three members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been assigned to Volzard, but due to the Griffon turmoil, they were unable to carry out their activities in the city.

In a situation where they didn't know when the alarm would go off, they couldn't go out with peace of mind, so the number of people on the main street had decreased dramatically.

Yesterday and before, the Griffon was able to obtain food through its raids, so after the alarm was lifted they were able to go out without worry.

However, starting today, we would change the policy to a method of hiding to prevent damage, so they needed to consider the possibility that the Griffon would return even if the alarm was lifted.

I didn't think the number of people walking in the city would increase even after the alarm was lifted.

"We're closed today, so it's fine, but we may have to think a little about business starting tomorrow."

"Will other businesses be affected as well?"

"of course. If customers stop coming, there's no way to do business."

Usually, Amanda-san seemed to be full of energy, but this time she was in a situation where she couldn't do anything, so she looked really troubled.

After all, if I thought about Volzard's future, it seemed that I had no choice but to subjugate the Griffon somehow.

On this day as well, I sent every member of the Kobold Corps to watch, and I waited for the Griffon to come, hiding myself in the shadow space at the top of the tower.

Both the garrison members and the adventurers gathered by the guild had been summoned and assigned to their posts, but they were ready to hide immediately.

Even before the alarm was issued, there was no one on the main street, and the whole city was wrapped in a heavy atmosphere.

Won! Won won! Won!

Kan kan kan! Kan kan kan! Kan kan kan!

Just like yesterday, the barking voices of the Kobold Corps could be heard from the southwestern forest, and the warning bells were run immediately, after ringing for a period of time, the bells ceased, and Volzard fell into a suffocating silence.

According to the city's arrangement, once the Griffon appeared and the warning bell rang, you were not allowed to go out at all until the cancellation bell rang.

The Griffon continued to circle high above the city just like yesterday, but it didn't show any signs of diving, perhaps because it couldn't find any prey.

The Griffon, which made two or three laps, suddenly turned to the east and looked like it was leaving the city for a while.

"It looked like it had given up and gone looking for food elsewhere."

[ It seems so, if we finish evacuating so quickly ... No, Kent-sama, it's coming. ]

"Ehh ... Why?"

The Griffon seemed to move away from Volzard once, but when it folded its flapping wings, it began to descend towards the ground at once.

Rather than heading straight in, it looked like it was going in from a slightly diagonal direction.

[ Kent-sama, isn't that the direction of the garrison quarters? ]

"Eeehhh! No way ..."

I had a bad feeling about it, but I heard that my classmates would gather in the cafeteria for breakfast and continue their classes until the evening.

If that's the case, did someone in the garrison carelessly expose themselves.

There was no time to check it out, so I deployed the 5 layered shield of darkness in front of the charging Griffon, but immediately after a crushing sound resounded, a death scream echoed through Volzard.

"Gyaaaaaa!"

It was a little far away, so I couldn't say for sure, but I thought it was a young man with black hair.

The Griffon grabbed a bloodied human and calmly returned to the sky and flew away.

When I hurriedly headed to the garrison's cafeteria, the cafeteria building didn't look damaged, and apart from a frightened female student who heard the scream, there didn't seem to be any particular problems.

I was a little relieved that I was able to confirm that the chairman was safe.

Then, who was the one who raised the death scream just now ... Looking around the premises in search of the answer, the third floor of the building where the boys were staying was largely destroyed.

When I went to the room where the outer wall was destroyed, there was a classmate who was sitting facing the direction of the broken outer wall, his eyes wide open and trembling.

After all, my bad premonition was right, and it seemed that the one who was kidnapped by the Griffon was a classmate.

I went out from the shield of darkness and called out to him.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"M, Mita is ... Mita iiis ... Aaaaah!"

"What were you doing here? Why was Mita-kun kidnapped?"

I grabbed the sobbing male student by the shoulders and shook him, half forcing him to regain his senses and started talking to him.

Taichi Fuuji, who was slumped on the ground, and Masashi Mita, who was kidnapped, in order to take a picture of the Griffon, they slipped out of the cafeteria and returned to the lodgings.

Mita, who was kidnapped, was filming with a smartphone from the window, and it seemed that he leaned out to chase after the Griffon that changed directions on the way, but it seemed that he was blocked by the building and couldn't see it.

He couldn't get a good picture at all, and he couldn't tell if it was a Griffon or a bird, maybe it would come back ... The next moment when he was leaning out of the window and talking, he was grabbed by the Griffon that was approaching while hiding behind a building and was taken away.

Tayama died just three days ago, and there were victims yesterday and the day before yesterday, so I was honestly a little surprised by his actions that didn't seem to have a sense of crisis at all.

Kaan, kaan, kaan, kaan ...

Perhaps because they confirmed that Mita had been kidnapped, the alarm bell rang, and eventually I heard footsteps running down the corridor.

"Hey, is there anyone here, if so, answer me!"

When I went out into the hallway, I met Katou-sensei who was running up the stairs.

"Sensei! This way."

"Kokubu, what happened? Uu ..."

When Katou-sensei was invited in, he was at a loss for words when he saw the blood splattered on the wall that had collapsed.

"Sensei ... Mita was, Mita waaas ..."

"Was it Mita who was kidnapped?"

In response to Katou-sensei's question, Fujii, who was still depressed, nodded.

When I explained what I had heard on behalf of Fujii, who seemed unable to have a proper conversation, Katou-sensei covered his face with his right hand and let out a deep sigh.

"What the hell ... Tayama just died ... To prevent something like this from happening, we gathered them in the cafeteria and even did roll call ..."

After the roll call, Mita and Fujii pretended to go to the bathroom and returned to the dormitory.

Katou-sensei started taking pictures of the room with his mobile phone, and he let out a sigh after each shot.

Of course, he had to report to Japan, and thinking about it made me want to sigh.

He was probably dead, but he was eaten by a monster and his body didn't exist ... It was impossible to report that.

Like Funayama, he would be treated as a missing person, and then certified as dead.

However, unlike with Funayama, this time my classmates had a means of contacting Japan.

Mita's story would soon be posted online.

It seemed that he was kidnapped by a monster and eaten ... If the story spread, I was worried about what kind of reaction would happen.

Before long, Nakagawa-sensei and Furudate-sensei also showed up, so I asked them to take care of Fujii and went to report to Klaus-san.

I saw Donovan-san in the guild's office, but I walked in regardless.

"I'm sorry, Klaus-san."

"Was it your friend who was kidnapped?"

"Yes, it seems that after everyone gathered in the cafeteria, they slipped out to take a look at the Griffon."

"What, are they stupid?"

"It can't be helped if you say so. However, even though he leaned forward, he was looking from the window, not outside the building."

"I see, from the window ..."

Hearing that Mita, who had been kidnapped, had not left the building, Klaus-san crossed his arms and thought deeply before suddenly opening his mouth.

"Kent, is there still no prospect of subjugation?"

"Yes, I tried to block it with a five-layered shield of darkness just now, but it seemed to have been pierced through."

"Does that mean you can't stop it?"

"Currently ... But, if 5 is no good, then 10, if 10 is no good, then 15, if 15 is no good, then 20, but I'm not going to give up."

"Have you thought about what to do next after stopping it?"

"We haven't been able to make the item you mentioned, and at present, we're not prepared enough."

"Is that so ... If you rush to launch it and fail, it will only make it wary."

"Yes, I'll get back to preparations."

After bowing to Klaus-san and Donovan-san, I dived into the shadows and headed for the Devil's Forest training ground.

"Nero, can you help me with training again?"

"Of course, nya, leave it to Nero, nya."

With Nero's help, I was able to deploy ten shields at will thanks to the training I continued until the sun went down while doping myself with medicine that helped restore my magic power.

[ Kent-sama, you should leave it at this for today. ]

"That's right. Before I go back to the boarding house, I'll stop by Nott-san's shop and ask about the progress of the item I ordered."

[ That's right. It's necessary for another strategy. ]

As Reinhardt said, the magic tool I asked Nott-san for would play an important role.

Once the shield of darkness was layered and the magic tool was completed, the path to subjugating the Griffon should become visible.