CH 128

Episode 128 – Rumors of a Monster Horde

TL Note: Decided to post one more today.

As soon as the five of us walked up to the quest commission reception desk, we spoke to the receptionist lady.

“We’re the C-rank party [Iron Gear]. We returned from a quest commission just now; has something happened? This is the noisiest I’ve ever seen this place be.” (Byrne)

“The C-rank party [Iron Gear], is that right? ―Okay, confirmed. Actually… the cause of all this is the report we received earlier this morning about the neighboring city, Seykoll, being attacked by a horde of monsters. Grezesta has already sent the Knights of the Royal Order as reinforcements for the Kingdom Soldiers. And just a while ago, the kingdom requisitioned the Adventurer’s Guild for help, using a large sum of money to put up a lot of quest commissions. So now, we’ve been dispatching a large volume of adventurer parties over there.” (Receptionist Lady)

A horde of monsters attacking the neighboring city… I hadn’t been to Seykoll before, so it was a bit fuzzy to me. But if I wasn’t mistaken, the city was located near the Nava Forest. And if a large number of monsters were attacking, then the only place they could have originated from was Nava Forest. I had been there before many times to hunt monsters, so I knew that there shouldn’t have been enough of them to form a horde and attack a city. Even if an abnormal situation occurred and a large number of monsters appeared, except for the Brutal Kongs, all of them should be the lowest level of monsters. Taking all of these things into account, I couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable about all the fuss that had been going on.

“When you said ‘horde of monsters’, does that mean they suddenly appeared and attacked?” (Byrne)

“This incident only happened today in the early hours of the morning, so we haven’t further received any precise information just yet. But as for the rumors… the most probable information is that these monsters are from the Demon King’s Army.” (Receptionist Lady)

“D-Demon King’s Army… wouldn’t this be seriously bad if they were led by an Executive-class monster?” (Byrne)

“That’s right. If it’s a Demon King’s Army Executive commanding these monsters, then they will definitely be coming to attack Grezesta next after Seykoll, I wager. Therefore, the Adventurer’s Guild is putting forth their maximum cooperation and dispatching as many adventurer parties as possible. I hate to implore you after you’ve just returned from a quest commission, but we would appreciate it very much if [Iron Gear] would participate as well,” the receptionist lady said while bowing her head deeply. There were some terms I didn’t fully understand in their conversation, but I could tell from what was being said that the situation was very dangerous.

First of all, it wasn’t that the monsters just spawned in the vicinity of Nava Forest and attacked Seykoll, but rather the horde of monsters were attacking Seykoll as part of the “Demon King’s Army”. Perhaps they were an organization that used monsters to attack cities. But just from that alone, it was clear that they were a dangerous group.

“Receptionist-san, thank you for the information. Please give us a moment to discuss whether we will accept the commission.” (Byrne)

“Now then… what should we do?” (Byrne)

“I don’t think we should go. We just came back from a quest commission, so it’s hard to say that we’re in perfect shape right now. Besides, the enemy is the Demon King’s Army, so I don’t think we should act recklessly.” (Porta)

“I know that what Porta said is right, but… I want to go! I don’t want to refuse and think that it’s fine because someone else will help them!” (Lyra)

“…I agree. Just like Lyra, I want to offer our support. Just like I did in the past, I want to help those in need, even if it’s only a little bit. That’s why I became an adventurer after all.” (Nina)

It seemed that within [Iron Gear], there were directly opposing opinions on this matter. The women wanted to accept the request, but the men wanted to refuse. Byrne might be in a neutral position, but I could tell from his expression that he didn’t want to go.

“…..Porta, what do you think after hearing Lyra and Nina’s opinions?” (Byrne)

“It hasn’t really changed. Thinking about it calmly, I don’t think we should go. But… if you all want to go, then of course I’ll follow.” (Porta)

“…….I see… Haaah… Let’s just accept the commission then. Even if it is the Demon King’s Army, we’ll be able to save people while having the chance to make a name for ourselves,” Byrne muttered with a downcast expression. It looked like it was decided. [Iron Gear] would be going to the city of Seykoll to provide reinforcement.

“With that decided… Lewin, we’ll be going to the city of Seykoll now. I guess we’ll be splitting up here.” (Byrne)

“Lewin, this time’s plant gathering was a lot of fun! Let’s go again soon!” (Lyra)

“Lewin. I’m going to train even harder so that next time I won’t collapse mid-fight, so let’s have a rematch some time!” (Porta)

“…Our match on the first day was the most fun I’ve ever had in a match in my entire life. Let’s have another magnificent battle of tactics again some time.” (Nina)

In the bustling interior of the Adventurer’s Guild, the members of [Iron Gear] each took their turns saying their parting words to me. I wasn’t an adventurer, so there was no reason for me to be going with [Iron Gear] on this commission, and the right thing would be just to go home here… But for some reason, I had this unpleasant premonition in my chest.

The bizarre ambience in Grezesta… Kirty’s expression when I saw her leading the way out of the city gates… The strange, tense atmosphere around the members of [Iron Gear] as the words ‘Demon King’s Army’ were uttered.

My words of farewell lingered on the tip of my tongue, but the words wouldn’t come, and a moment of silence passed.

“Hm? Lewin, why are you not saying anything? Are you not feeling we―” (Byrne)

“―Umm! Would it be alright to follow you guys to Seykoll?” (Lewin)