CH 102

Ado is gone, so people’s eyes move to the burning remains.

The saint is dead. The saint they hurled abuse at until just a few minutes ago, the same person so many were demanding to be killed. But now, they kneel, pray, and beg for forgiveness.

It’s quiet, like that madness before never even happened. But the smell of burning flesh makes people face reality whether they want to or not. Many people bawl and express sadness.

The head of the church is the only one standing in mute amazement. Is he having trouble facing reality? He looks at the scene in front of him like he lost all emotion in his face.

I look at that selfish man with cold eyes.

The mood there did seem strange. Was Ado using some sort of technique to amplify negative emotions?

The head of the church, cardinals, and priests all believed the words of their goddess with blind faith, and tried to kill Mia. Of course, I wouldn’t have gotten involved with it even if I never met Mia, and didn’t feel this way.

Sadness falls upon this square, but the howls we hear from far away breaks everyone from this stupor.

People look up and towards where the noise came from. It’s the direction where Ado pointed in the end.

“Stampede.”

Someone whispers, as people slowly get up with fear twisting their faces.

At this rate, this powder keg might blow.

But thankfully, that’s avoided, as some of the cardinals regain their composure and speak loudly to calm the population.

They give directions to those who have calmed down to return to their homes or inns to prevent panic.

I slip out of the crowd and check on the merchant caravan with Map. They seem to have passed through the gate, and are advancing through the main road with a few other caravans. That’s a relief at least.

I change Map’s position towards the forest. Unfortunately, I’ve never been there, so it only shows me the outer edge of the forest. I can at least confirm that the monsters haven’t left the forest yet.

I stop, and wonder what to do. I didn’t think the situation would be settled so quickly. If I could ride a horse I could probably catch up to them, but sadly, that’s one skill I don’t have. There are still a lot of people trying to leave, so it would probably be hard to find someone willing to take me along.

What about the power of money!? No, I don’t have enough to count on that. And I want to explain what’s going on to Leila and the others, so it’s not like I can leave right away anyway.

I want to prioritize mobility, but it might be better to just walk. If I deviate from the main road and go straight ahead, I might be able to catch up to them.

But since I can’t leave right away, I might as well check the enemy’s movements. Can’t I go up to the walls or something like that?

No, I can’t. I ask, and I’m told it’s too dangerous. I’m a merchant now after all.

I look around to see if there’s anyone I know around, and spot Luilui. I use Presence Detection, and see Leila and the others are near too.

“I heard something that sounded like monsters howling. What’s going on?”

I talk to Leila normally, and she looks at me like I’m some weirdo.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?”

I’m confused as to why she’s talking like she doesn’t know me, but then I remember.

I take out the mask and put it on. I guess this caught me off guard too.

“Sora!? What happened to you?”

She asks loudly in surprise. Yelling like that is going to attract a lot of attention, you know? I quickly put the mask away.

“Just a change of pace? Is what I could say, but that’s a lie. I’ll explain it later. What happened with you?”

“There was a signal earlier, but I believe they were not able to go far with their preparations to meet the monsters in the forest. I cannot imagine how many monsters will escape.”

“So you’re going to be standing by here for the time being?”

“I think so, master. We are technically from the Magic State of Efa, so we were positioned in the back.”

“It is said that it will take about a day for the fastest monsters to arrive, so now we are mostly observing the situation.”

“It’s that far, and the group that went ahead is already in the forest?”

“A few parties were dispatched there in advance. Apparently they were ready to go because reports from adventurers led the guild to think something was going on.”

Says Yor, and I’m pretty impressed by how capable that guildmaster is. The one from the merchant guild could learn a thing or two from him.

“Did something happen here in town, Sora?”

Asks Talia, sensing something isn’t normal.

“Ah… How do I explain this? We can’t talk about it in detail here.”

There’s that whole thing with the saint, and with the demon. The demon in particular should probably be explained by the guild or the church. Someone else might say it first, but I’m not going to be the one to spread the word.

In the end, I stay up here with them on the outer wall. No monsters leave the forest, but we hear explosive sounds, so we do know that there’s fighting going on.

It looks like we’re in for the long haul, so when the sun sets, other adventurers come to take over.

People standing by need to rest, so many head to the simple lodging facilities set up nearby.

Leila and the others decide to go back to the mansion, and check the situation tomorrow. And apparently the simple facilities aren’t ready yet for the number of people they need to accommodate.

I’m going back to the mansion with them. I need to get Mia’s things.