CH 202

“So, it’s already this late, but do you think we should just stay here? What about tracking?”

Leaning back in her chair, it was Irumi who remained at the guild. Retzel was not there, and Reiss was eating a late lunch next to her. Kelbrem opened his mouth with a raised eyebrow.

“You don’t like the fact that Retzel is acting differently? I’ve heard that you’ve got a little boy named Lars who knows your face, so it’s no wonder. If you’re bored, I’ll give you a job.”

“It’s probably a crappy job anyway, right? Irumi, let’s go shopping or something. I’m sure Retzel will be back soon.”

“Oh, I like that.”

Reiss and Irumi did not going to listen to Kelbrem and make arrangements to go out. Without hiding his annoyance, Kelbrem continued.

“I want you to attack the lord’s mansion. I’ve got a couple of guys in the organization..”

“What was that? …… That would have been after confirming that the adventurers had failed, right. You think Retzel is going to fail?”

“There’s that too …… but it’s a joke, but I’ve got to make the lord regret what he’s done by shaking off the threat letter. it’s not good for me to go, though. That’s why you guys are the best choice to get out of this town. I can talk to Leisha and the rest of the adventurers for an alibi.”

He said as Irumi takes Reiss’ sausage from her plate and puts it in her mouth, chewing it.

“Gulp …… Well, I don’t mind as long as the doctor isn’t here and there’s no killing.”

“I don’t know why anyone would say that with a psycho like Retzel around.”

“The doctor only kills people who have something to gain for themselves. Did you think he was killing indiscriminately?”

“Isn’t that natural? It’s disgusting that you like to watch people grieve over the death of people.”

When Kellebraim’s face twisted into a spiteful grimace as he said to her, and Reiss slaps Irumi’s hand that took the sausage and says.

“…… Well, Retzel has put himself in a different place than good and evil. Now then, if Retzel’s going, I’ll go too. Bring me the piece, and we’ll make our move when the sun goes down.”

“Yeah, that’s good …… Now, they’re about to reach the bottom of the abyss. Then I’ll call for someone. You guys stay at the empty house in the residential area to the west.”

“……”

A smiling Kelbrem tosses the house key to Irumi, who backs away and walks out of the Guildmaster’s room. As he watched her back, Reiss’ glasses flashed and smiled wryly.

◆ 　 ◇ 　 ◆

Rustle Rustle ……

The place that was supposed to be an open space, the simultaneous assault by the Treants that appeared from all sides suddenly made the visibility worse. I thought it was dark, but it was because of the dense leaves of the Treants.

But there was something more surprising than that.

“Their movement is ……!?”

“They’re not like the ones we saw earlier! Watch out, everyone!”

Conrad and the others wielded their weapons in front of the Treant. While they had been able to use their weapons to cut down branches and trunks, these guys were literally unstoppable.

“Shaaaa!”

“Damn it! …… Gugu …… On top of being tough, they’re strong ……”

“Cave! …… Kyah!?”

“Don’t worry about me! Protect yourself!”

A few Treants attacked Cave, Sifol, and the others, and they were forced to fight back. Conrad’s right, they’re nothing like before, the leaves are darker, they move faster, and their attack and defense capabilities are off the charts. It’s more like a subspecies, if you will. 

“Woaaaaa!”

“Cut them down from the thinnest point!”

But the adventurers weren’t going to just sit back and get taken out. It is a battle of trial and error, trying to find a way to survive despite the damage.

“Go around, I’ll take the front …… Ugh!?”

“Tch, These guys are watching us very closely …… I was trying to get caught them in the middle, but I was the one that was caught instead ……”

“Don’t rot, the only way to deal with these big guys is to have two of them come at the same time …… don’t extend your branches when I’m explaining!”

There are about thirty-five Treants, and they are more powerful than us. However, their size gives them an advantage, and although they can move quickly in all directions, they take a long time to turn around when they are surrounded. The adventurers also use their legs to take advantage of this.

“Lars, let’s go too!”

“Yeah! !”

As the Treant was about to attack me, I launched an oversized fireball at him, ripped off half of his body, and I also blew a hole in the torso of the Treant behind me. Then Makina’s [Kaiser Knuckle] explodes. 

“Yaaaaaahhhhh!? …… Damn, that’s hard!? And It’s also thick, with this equipment, it won’t go down quickly.”

“Giiiiieeee …….”

She was able to defeat it, but it didn’t go down with a single blow, it was cut in half from a series of blows to the fragile point. Listening to Makina’s voice, I unleash my magic on the two approaching torrents. 

“! So it’s not killed in a single blow even if Makina uses Kaiser Knuckle”

“What to do? Should we use the Sarge equipment?”

Makina asks me a question as she slams her fist into the Treant after it’s been hit by my Firelance. It’s enough of a force to turn things around, but I honestly don’t think it’s a good idea to take on every single one of them with this number.

“No, I can handle this. They’re down a bit, but are they still at least thirty?”

“Tah! Yeah, everyone is doing their best, but the problem is that there are too many of them ……”

It was a bit of a surprise attack and we got off to a bad start, but now we’ve got a reasonable balance.

“Ora~! …… Yosh, they’re off balance, get them!”

“If the target remains the same, there’s always something to do! There!”

“Gugyaooo ……!?”

I shouted out to the others, hoping that my plan would work.

“Everyone! I’m going to use extra-large magic now! So be careful not to get in my line of sight ……!”

“Lars-kun, no matter how much magic you have, this number is ……! Eiii, get away!”

“It’s okay! …… Okay, in this direction …… Makina, you cover my back.”

“Leave it to me. I won’t let a single branch near you!”

Saying that, she repelled the branches of the two Treants and used her full power [Kaiser Knuckle] to blow them far away. It’s a great power, even for my girlfriend.

“You’re awesome, little girl.”

“You’re good, Makina-chan. Oneesan can’t lose to you.”

Cave and Sifol-san were surprised to see Makina’s attack. I thought that I can’t afford to lose as a boyfriend, so I concentrated my magic.  Of course, I’ll use the magic I’m best at!

“I’m sorry if I hit you! !”

Immediately afterwards, a mass of flame energy was released, resembling a dragon, just like the time the kidnapper who turned into an ogre.

” ” ” “Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!?” ” ” “

“W-What is that!?”

“Kishaaaaa!?”

“Guoooo!?”

Its jaw opens wide, and it hits the Treants, swallowing them whole, before disappearing from the scene. I’ve just wiped out seven of them.

“Next, this way!”

“Uwawawa, oh no!?”

As I turn around, the adventurers scatter in unison. But then Conrad called out.

“Don’t just run away! Guide them into Lars-kun’s line of fire!”

“You’re so scary! Tch, It can’t be helped, don’t shoot at me, okay!”

“I know! …… they’re coming here now, huh……!”

The Treants seemed to see me as a threat, and five of them came towards me. Two of the faster ones came at me first. I thought I would intercept them, but that line of fire was also gathering quite a bit. Just when I thought there was no time to hesitate, Cave stood up and stopped the Treant.

“Do it, Lars! I’ll take care of this one …… Ugh!”

“Thanks ……! !”

I blew away eight more Treants, and the situation reversed. With the advantage of numbers, we surrounded them and were able to escape by carefully dealing with them one by one.

“…… Fuh~, did we defeat them all ……?”

“There’s no follow-up. It’s probably safe.”

Conrad said breathlessly, while Borzov looked around and made a strange noise.

“Right, where’s that guy called Croix ……? Don’t tell me he got killed ……? If so, we’ll never get to the source ……”

“He doesn’t seem to be down, but–“

The moment I said this, I spotted Croix looking at me from behind a tree.

“Ah! You’re safe, you’ve taken them down, so let’s move on.”

“……”

When I call out to him, he quickly turns himself around and disappears into the depths of the forest.

“…… he escaped? Don’t tell he’s the mastermind behind it? W-Wait up!”

“We’re going after him!”

When Makina and I started running, the adventurers rushed to follow us. If we catch him, we might be able to find out about the threat letter, no matter what ……!

Ahhhhhh, I’m running out of time …… I’m sleepy …… My shoulders hurt ……

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“Due to the absence of the author, this will be replaced by Lua-chan’s talk show.”

I’m here, though!? You’ll have no feed, okay!

“Feed!?”