Mob Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni
Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #132
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 132: Alone
Afterward, we learned from the
man, who was frantically pleading for help, that the shelter in the hotel where
they had been taking refuge had been breached by monsters, and they had barely
managed to escape.
"We somehow got out, but many people are
still left in the hotel! Please! You have to help them!"
"Please calm down. First, how far away is the
hotel? And what rank are the enemies?"
My questions made the man look
impatient for a moment, but he must have understood their importance, as he
answered with a serious expression,
"The hotel is only a few hundred meters
from here. The enemies are mostly like the ones you just saw, but there was one
that was unbelievably strong. It's because of him that the shelter was
breached."
Mainly Centaurs, huh? And if there's a boss...
maybe a B-rank Chiron1?
Either way, they don't seem like a threat to us
right now.
In that case...
"Yuki, [Lord of The Territory]."
"Yes! ――――AWOOOO~o~o~o~o~o!!"
I gave the command verbally so
they'd understand, and Yuki let out a high, drawn-out howl.
Her presence spread throughout
the surrounding area, and I could feel the monsters, unsettled by it, receding
from the area like a wave.
Even the B-rank monster
leading the Centaurs was no exception; it hesitated for a moment but quickly chose
to retreat.
With her recent rank-up, Yuki
can reliably drive away even C-rank monsters.
Against a B-rank, she could
only hope to decrease the encounter rate, but judging by its choice to
withdraw, it was likely a lower-tier B-rank monster.
"That should have driven away the monsters
around here."
"R-really? Is that your card's
skill?"
"Yes. Can you guide us to the hotel?"
"Th-that's amazing... Okay. This way,
follow me."
We headed towards the hotel,
led by the man.
Along the way, we introduced
ourselves briefly.
The man was Victor Pallas, 42
years old. The little girl was Victoria-chan, 9 years old.
They were indeed father and
daughter. Since there was no mention of the mother, I deliberately didn't bring
it up.
After we finished our
introductions, I asked Victor-san,
"By the way, where exactly are we?"
"Hm? Where? We're at Finland Village, of
course..."
"Finland... Village?"
Finland? Is this Finland? But, village? Do
people usually name a village after their own country?
Seeing my confused expression,
Victor-san looked puzzled as well,
"It's one of those 'foreign-themed villages'.
You know, where you can experience life in a foreign country without leaving
Japan. Hokkaido2's a snowy region, so the
environment is similar to Northern Europe."
"Ah!"
I finally understood.
I see, a foreign-themed village. That's why the
townscape looks so foreign!
At the same time, I felt a
wave of relief. This was honestly great
news.
Seriously, thank goodness.
I'd been worried about what
I'd do if we were actually overseas.
If we were truly abroad, returning
to Tachikawa would be a truly hopeless prospect.
Coming all the way from Hachioji to Hokkaido is
quite a distance, but it's still far more hopeful than being connected to
random locations all over the world.
“Do you work here, Victor-san?”
"Yeah. I run a restaurant here.
......Well, it was my late wife who was Finnish. I'm German."
"I see."
We talked like that, but as we
got closer to the hotel, our chatter gradually died down.
Because we began to see the
bodies of those who had not managed to escape.
They were in such a state that
it was clear at a glance they were beyond saving, and even when I probed with
the senses of my cards, they no longer emitted the presence of the living.
We each covered Ai's and
Victoria-chan's eyes as we moved forward, eventually stopping in front of a
particularly large building.
The manor-style hotel, which
must have been quite magnificent once, was crumbling in places with large holes
blown through it.
Averting my eyes from the
numerous bodies strewn carelessly in front of the hotel, we entered through a
large hole and went down the stairs to the underground shelter.
And there…………――
"A...gah...!" "...It, hurts-s,
Mama..." "I don't want, to die..."
What lay before us was a true depiction
of hell.
Inside the vast hall, which
could easily fit hundreds of people, echoed the groans of those who had
fortunately, and unfortunately, survived.
Losing limbs was still among
the better cases; some writhed with their guts exposed, others were charred
black from head to toe, some were halfway melted from being exposed to potent
poison, and others had their faces gouged out, unable to even scream. They were
experiencing a living hell, their deaths certain but unable to fully die yet.
It was a sight sufficient to
flash me back to when my torso was severed by the Pied Piper of Hamelin――――
『...ro! Utamaro! Snap out of
it!』
『!』
Renge's voice, like a jolt to
my core, snapped me back to reality.
『Renge! [Rain of Amrita]!』
『Got you!』
Renge descended into the
center of the room, unleashing the [Rain of Amrita].
"A-agh... huh?" "It doesn't
hurt?" "My body..."
If they weren't completely
dead, the [Rain of Amrita] could fully heal them even from the brink of death.
One after another, those who still breathed came back to their senses and
slowly began to sit up.
"This is... Oh, God."
Faced with a sight that could
only be called a miracle, Victor-san's eyes widened, and his body trembled.
"Victor-san, I apologize, but could you
please gather the survivors? I'd like to evacuate them into the cross-space
card I possess."
Given the progression of the
phases, it wouldn't be surprising for the A-rank to have already appeared on
the surface.
There was a chance they might
be drawn here by Yuki's [Lord of the Territory] skill.
As a precaution, I wanted to
evacuate everyone into Mayoiga and deploy the pseudo-safe zone while we still had
time.
"Ah, ah, yes! I understand!"
Victor-san vigorously nodded
his head and rushed over to the people, who still looked confused about what
had just happened.
『Yuki, go find out if there are
any other survivors besides those here.』
『Understood.』
A few minutes later.
A few minutes later, after
searching for and treating any survivors in the surrounding area, we moved into
Audrey's Mayoiga.
In the end, we were only able
to rescue about thirty people.
About 40% of them were guests,
and the rest were employees such as Victor-san and their families.
It seemed there had originally
been over 100 guests and more than 200 employees and their families here,
meaning nearly 90% of the people had perished.
The biggest reason for such
extensive damage was the presence of a C-rank monster with Cross-Space Movement Skill among the enemy forces.
This foreign-themed village
had also prepared as best as it could for the Angolmois, even possessing
several D-rank cross-space cards.
However, because a monster
with a Cross-Space Movement Skill was among the enemies, the owner—who was the
cards' master—was assassinated, and the cards were Lost. Afterward, the result
was the sight before us.
It was especially unfortunate that
the monster with the Cross-Space Movement Skill was an assassin type. Many
people here, like Victor-san, personally owned D-rank and C-rank cards, and if
a Cross-Space Movement Skill monster had simply invaded, they would have had
enough fighting power to repel it.
But because the opponent was
an assassin type, they didn't even realize the infiltration until it was too
late. They lost the cross-space cards and were subsequently overrun by the
B-rank boss.
If there hadn't been an enemy
with the skill to move between spaces, or if it hadn't been an assassin-type,
the casualties wouldn't have been this severe.
In any case, after hearing the
detailed circumstances from Victor-san,
"...... How do I put it... you were really
unlucky," that was
all I could say.
"You can say that again... Thinking about
it now, we should have at least distributed the cross-space cards among us
employees too, not just the owner."
Victor-san sighed in regret, but
since the cross-space cards were the owner's personal property, distributing
them would have been emotionally difficult.
Considering the risk of the
cards being stolen, the owner couldn't have easily entrusted them to employees,
even if the employees were trusted.
There might have been an
option to distribute them to others once everyone had entered the shelter and
it was no longer possible to run away with the cards, but it would have been
harsh to expect that kind of snap judgment from ordinary people who aren't
adventurers in an emergency...
"If you hadn't come, we all would have
been slaughtered. On behalf of everyone here, let me express my gratitude
again. Thank you very much, truly."
After lamenting for a while,
Victor-san snapped back to his senses and bowed deeply to me once more.
"But, why are you here? You don't seem to
be a guest..."
"I'm just an adventurer."
I briefly explained how I got
here.
I told him about the
phenomenon of spaces being isolated by area all over Japan, how dungeon-like
stairs had appeared on the surface, and how I had ended up here from Hachioji
after heading to the other side of the stairs to join my family and friends.
For now, I left out the
details about the divine domain and unshackled monsters for now, as it would
only confuse them.
"Space isolation... Such a thing
is..."
"In any case, given the situation, you
should move to another shelter. Where is the nearest Guild?"
"Hmmm......."
Victor-san groaned with a
troubled look on his face.
“The nearest Guild would be Sapporo, but that's
about 40 kilometers away...”
"F-forty kilometers...?"
I was left speechless.
I had heard that the sense of distance
is a bit absurd in Hokkaido3, but I didn't expect it to be this much...
If it's that far, it's almost certain that they're
isolated from the Sapporo Guild.
No choice then... I'll have to rely on the
Hachioji Guild. But would they even accept refugees from Hokkaido?
"I understand. I'll try to reach out to
see if there's any place that can take you all in."
"Oh! Really?"
"Yes, but every place has a limit on the
number of people they can accept, so whether they'll take you in right now is..."
I made sure to add that
heads-up.
"Even so, that is more than we could ask
for. Please, and thank you so much,"
Just then, Ai came trotting
over, pulling Victoria-chan by the hand.
"Ne~e ne, Onii-chan. How about letting
everyone take a bath?"
I looked around at the
refugees, and indeed, everyone was in a terrible state.
Not a single person's clothes
were unstained by blood, and some had even lost their clothes entirely, wrapped
only in blankets.
"Right, you noticed well."
I nodded at Ai, then turned to
Victor-san,
"For now, everyone should take a bath and
relax."
"Thank you."
I asked Audrey to guide
Victor-san and the others, then I contacted Shigeno-san.
It would be best to give him a
rough explanation and make an appointment for a more detailed conversation
later.
After about a minute of
ringing, just as I was wondering if I should hang up, Shigeno-san answered,
『Yes, this is Shigeno.』
“I’m sorry to bother you if you're busy, this
is Kitagawa. Were you in the middle of something?"
『No, I'm glad you called. I was
just about to contact you, so this is perfect.』
"You were?"
『Yes, but let's hear your business
first. It sounds like a matter of urgency. Isn’t that so?"』
Though curious about what
Shigeno-san wanted to say, I decided to explain my situation first.
I told him about the stairs on
the surface, the monster domains, the existence of monsters that could be
negotiated with, and the Gatekeeper Hermes. Then, I explained that Hachioji was
connected to Hokkaido, and that I had protected a group of refugees here.
I omitted the more complicated
details like shackles and such, conveying the situation as concisely as
possible.
Throughout my explanation,
Shigeno-san listened without interrupting, though he occasionally let out
sounds of surprise or grumbles of understanding.
『I generally understand what
you've told me. Thank you for this valuable information.』
Shigeno-san first expressed
his gratitude.
『Regarding the protection of
the refugees, I apologize, but we won't be able to accommodate them,』
was what he said.
『The Hachioji Guild has already
significantly exceeded its capacity for refugees; we're completely overcapacity.
It would be difficult to accept more people from outside the city.』
"I... see."
My shoulders slumped. It was
the answer I half-expected, and all I could do was sigh.
『And, Kitagawa-san, it might be
best if you don't return to our place for a while.』
However, his next words
completely caught me off guard. I couldn't hide my shock.
"W-what do you mean?"
『The truth is... there's a
growing opinion here that we should ask you to contribute your cards and magic
items.』
According to Shigeno-san, the
Hachioji shelter, as a result of taking in more refugees than it could handle,
was now outpacing the supply from their food-generating cards.
While they had enough food and
Magic Stone reserves to last for a while, the higher-ups were reportedly
feeling a sense of crisis. With transportation networks between Guilds cut off
and no end in sight for the Angolmois, they were unilaterally depleting resources.
And that's where I, who had
arrived with two Irregular Encounter Magic Stones, came into the picture.
The Irregular Encounter Magic
Stones were like an inexhaustible oil well; just one could improve the
shelter's supply balance.
I had already handed one over
to the Guild, but they calculated that if they also had the other one I
possessed, the supply would completely exceed the consumption.
Furthermore, the Artemis card
I was given could produce animals like cattle and pigs in exchange for Magic Stones
thanks to her Authority of Beasts.
Artemis hadn't been considered
a food-generating card before and was put on the support list due to the high Magic
Stone consumption. But now that an inexhaustible Irregular Encounter Magic Stone
was available, Artemis's value as a food-generating card had skyrocketed.
At this point, the Hachioji
Guild began to regret sending Artemis to me.
That was when a Guild
executive suggested using a certain law to forcibly retrieve the Irregular
Encounter Magic Stone and Artemis, which had been given to me as a form of
support.
Of course, a proper
compensation would be paid, but only after Angolmois had ended.
It was, in effect, a
confiscation.
And the Guild executive who
proposed claiming the Irregular Encounter Magic Stone and Artemis from me was
one of the parents whose children had been abducted by the Pied Piper of
Hamelin and never returned.
He was also my benefactor,
who, along with Shigeno-san, had persuaded the reluctant shelter higher-ups to
put B-rank cards like Artemis on the support list to help me save the
children...
"........................"
Having heard everything, I let
out a heavy sigh.
Honestly, when I first heard
they were planning to use that law to take the Magic Stone and Artemis from me
(though I'd already used the card for Yuki's rank-up, so there was no way to
return it anyway...), I felt genuinely furious.
But all that anger completely
vanished the moment I found out that the proposal came from a parent whose
child never came back.
That person most likely had seen their child's body.
The sight of their own child’s state after
being brutally toyed with by that monster...
When their child was abducted
by the Pied Piper of Hamelin, they frantically scrambled to save their child,
but in the end, while the other children returned, theirs did not.
And then, they saw their
child's body.
It's only natural for them to feel anger and
resentment.
I shook my head. Almost in an
attempt to divert the conversation, I asked about something that had bothered
me,
"...I understand what you're saying. But,
putting that person aside, didn't the others consider that I might just leave
the Guild shelter?"
It would be one thing if I
were just a Three-Star adventurer, but I was an adventurer capable of defeating
A-rank equivalent Irregular Encounter.
I possessed enough power to
survive outside the shelter, and there was no reason for me to stay if I was treated
unfairly.
Objectively, I thought I was a
useful asset as a force against Irregular Encounters......
"That's probably because they believe you
have nowhere else to go,"
Shigeno-san replied.
『The higher-ups are aware of
the spatial isolation from your other Guilds’ reports, but they don't know yet about
the stairs on the surface or what lies beyond them. If they believe you have
nowhere else to go, they probably think that even if you left the shelter, you
would eventually return, seeking the Guild's resources and facilities.』
I see.
I nodded, understanding
Shigeno-san's speculation.
If they didn't know that the
stairs led to other areas, it wouldn't be strange for them to think that I
would eventually return to the well-equipped Guild shelter.
『In any case, it's best if you
don't come back for now. The other higher-ups are just being opportunistic,
driven by greed. There's no telling that they won't try to play on your guilt
and make further demands. As for the person who started this... he's lost
himself to grief right now, but he's a rational man at his core. I'm sure he'll
come to his senses eventually.』
I wonder about that. I don't think the anger
and sorrow of losing a child can be so easily resolved.
Thinking like this inwardly, I
said my goodbyes and ended the call.
"......Hu~u."
I'm in a tough spot.
Leaving the Hachioji Guild was
already certain once it became clear that Victor-san's group couldn't be taken
in and be protected there, but to think I couldn't even return to the Guild
myself...
Even if they couldn't
accommodate everyone in, I had at least hoped for some support with their daily
necessities.
What am I supposed to do now?
I stood there, alone, at a
loss.
[Tips] Energy Guidelines for Each Rank of Magic
Stone
Assuming that the daily electricity usage per
household (family of four) is 1 energy:
F: 30–60
E: 60–120
D: 240–500
C: 2,000–4,000
B: 30,000–60,000
A: 1,000,000 (1 million)–???
***
Notes:
1 Chiron was the eldest and wisest of the Centaurs (half-man, half-horse creatures). Unlike his brethren, Chiron was an immortal son of the Titan Kronos and a half-brother of Zeus.↩
2 Japan’s northernmost prefecture ↩
3 Distances in Hokkaido can be tricky. Even though it's Japan's largest prefecture, covering over 20% of the country's land, maps often make it look smaller than it is. Plus, with its vast, scarcely populated areas, mountains, and dense forests, getting around can take much longer than you'd expect. ↩
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