CH 258

Episode 258 – Turned Away at the Door

Author’s Note: This chapter is written from the POV of Tobias, the reporter from the Laudungeon Company.

“See? I told you it’d be pointless.” (Tobias)

“What the hell was up with that receptionist woman? Just ‘cause she’s a little cute doesn’t mean she has to be so full of herself!” (Juno)

After having a cup of coffee at the cafe, we had immediately headed to the town hall to meet the mayor, but, as expected, we were turned away at the door. The receptionist woman’s attitude towards us had been quite something, which was why Juno was this riled up.

“It’s probably because of orders she’s received from higher up. She must have been told to turn away any weird people.” (Tobias)

“We even gave her so much information! Why can’t they see how dangerous it is?” (Juno)

“Well, that’s because the other side doesn’t have any information. Anyway… why are you so worked up?” (Tobias)

It was on my mind for a while now, but Juno’s impatience about this matter was worrying to me. My guess was that the attack would happen in several months time, and we would be able to pick up on some signs before it happened. Her telling them in such an urgent manner would only make the chances of it ending in failure even higher, but…

“…I never told you, but there’s one thing that came to my mind after hearing about this matter.” (Juno)

“Something that came to mind?” (Tobias)

“Yes. You know about how my hometown, Kanba Village, was destroyed by monsters, right?” (Juno)

“Yeah. After people heard that Kanba Village had disappeared overnight, it had been the talk of the town for a while. There was no way that I would forget that you said that you were from Kanba Village back when you first introduced yourself to me.” (Tobias)

“Great, then that makes things easier. At that time, I managed to escape from the attacking monsters thanks to my parents, but I saw a certain monster there.” (Juno)

“A certain monster? Does the type of monster you saw at that time have something to do with this time’s attack?” (Tobias)

“Yes. According to eyewitness reports at the time, the special characteristic that those monsters had was―” (Juno)

When Juno spoke up to that point, 3 soldiers dressed in fairly grimy armor passed by us in a hurry, heading in the opposite direction. Seeing such a strange occurrence, Juno and I exchanged a look. With a nod of tacit understanding, she went back towards the same receptionist woman from before, while I ran outside to find out what happened from those soldiers.

I made my way around Landaust in a flurry, asking the townspeople whether they had seen anything out of the ordinary. However, none of them said that they had seen anything strange. I had thought that the city was under attack since the soldiers appeared to be in a rush, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

After that, I walked around Main Street for a while, but even after circling the area, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It seemed that we might have made a hasty judgment of the situation given the context of what we had been talking about earlier.

Feeling relieved that I had simply gotten worried over nothing, I returned to the government office and found Juno there arguing with a guard. For some reason, she was causing a big ruckus, which ended up drawing the stares of the surrounding passersby.

“Let me go! I have to talk to the mayor about something!” (Juno)

I was a bit shocked, thinking that she probably could have handled the situation a bit better, but then again this situation was bound to happen if she were to force the information onto them. She was going to get taken away to the guard station at this rate, so I hurriedly came forward to mediate and try to smooth over the situation.

“Sorry. This is an acquaintance of mine, what did she do?” (Tobias)

“She tried to sneak into the town mayor’s office! I should have her be taken away for unlawful trespassing!” (Guard)

“As I was saying, it wasn’t trespassing, I was just trying to have a chat with him! If the city falls, it’s all going to be on your shoulde―” (Juno)

“Excuse us. It seems that she’s gotten drunk in the middle of the day… I apologize. Come on, you lower your head too!” (Tobias)

“Hey, that hurts!” (Juno)

“Sigh… What are you doing?” (Tobias)

“It hurts. You’re grabbing me too tightly!” (Juno)

“Tch, I just saved you and you’re not even thankful. So, did you manage to figure anything out…?” (Tobias)

After I released my grip on her, Juno brushed herself off and straightened her clothes before pointing towards the west.

“Apparently, there are droves of monsters coming out of the Western Forest. I overheard the soldiers saying that there were quite a few casualties among those that were trying to suppress the monsters.” (Juno)

“A large number of monsters… Could it be the Demon King’s Army?” (Tobias)

“No. It seems that those monsters have already been subjugated, and I’m pretty sure that they were the ones living in the Western Forest.” (Juno)

“Oh well, then that’s good― or not, I suppose.” (Tobias)

We wouldn’t be able to know without looking into it further, but the chances were high that the Demon King’s Army was nearby and on their way, just as Juno had said.

“I agree… Looks like somehow things have suddenly gotten dangerous yet again.” (Tobias)

“Did you figure anything out on your side?” (Juno)

“No, the town was the same as ever. We won’t know more about this unless we go outside the city.” (Tobias)

“Exactly. Then from here, let’s split up and work separately. Tobias, you should go outside the city and gather information, and I’ll stay in the city and see if I can convince some people.” (Juno)

“Why should I be the one to go outside the city? My name is written on the newspaper articles written about the attacks, so it would be better for me to stay in the city and try to convince people. Besides… you’re really going to get arrested next time.” (Tobias)

“There’s no way I’m going outside the city when monsters could attack at any moment. You’re a former adventurer so you can handle it, right? I’ll take a different approach next time, so don’t worry. Well then, I’m counting on you.” (Juno)

After saying what she wanted to say, Juno took off, headed to who knows where. I felt a bit exasperated by her selfish actions, but this was no time to be thinking about that. I guess I’ll need to make a trip back home first and brush the dust off of my old equipment.