Chapter 35: State of Emergency
Melissa and I moved down from the top of the hill using Step Cancel. The man and woman who are being attacked are most likely adventurers, but we should hurry up and reach the pair.
「Garururuu」
「Tch! Wavering Scarlet, Crimson in My Palm, Now is the Time to Awaken. Scarlet Become Flames, Become My Protector, Shatter Apart―― Fire Kyaa!」
「Eni! D-d.a.m.n it all! C’mon! s.h.i.t, Kuu!」
Fumu――she trying to cast the elementary fire magic “Flame Shot” huh. But she was attacked during the incantation so it got disrupted.
The other one of them, a man, was trying to kill all the ones charging the woman, but their numbers were too great.
Once there was an opening one of them would sneak up and attack from behind.
There is one thing I realized after getting closer though. The things attacking are Killer Wolves. A type of Monster.
Their characterized by having much longer claws and fangs than a normal wolf. They are a monster that primarily travels in packs.
Well, it was a good thing we were close by.
「Melissa, wait here. I’ll go and finish things up quickly」(Hitto)
「No, I will fight as well! Please allow me to fight!」(Melissa)
I’m a bit stuck, I don’t want her to fight, but I don’t have to time to argue about it.
「Fine. But please, don’t do anything too dangerous」(Hitto)
「Understood! Goshujin-sama!」(Melissa)
Saying that, we settled the matter quickly.
In any case we have to move out――
「S-s.h.i.t! There’re too many, at this rate-!」
「W-We have to inform the Guild. Even if we have to, we can’t-……」
「It’s no use! I’ll lure them to me! Eni, you have to run away and tell the Guild!」
「B-But Dan! If I did that, then you will……」
――Whamm!
Sorry for b.u.t.ting in while the two of you are getting emotional.
For the time being I teleported near the pack, and Hurricane Slicer to clear a way through the wall of wolf flesh.
But, Hmm? The two of them are just staring at me with wide-open eyes.
「…… Eh? When did he-?」(Dan)
「W-Who are you?」(Eni)
「Cancel!」(Hitto)
“EEH!” The two raised their voices in surprise.
「Behind you! Don’t let down your guard! I’ll take care of the ones over here!」(Hitto)
After I said that, the two finally noticed the Killer Wolf that was approaching them from behind.
Since I Cancelled the wolf’s attack, the soldier-like man vigorously roared as he took advantage of opportunity and sliced the wolf clean through with a horizontal cut.
I see now, so this man’s Job is a Swordsman huh. Horizontal Cut was a Weapon Skill that Swordsmen could use.
A Weapon Skill is something than can be used when both the weapon and job match each other. In terms of power they are divided into expert techniques, master techniques, grand master techniques, venerate techniques.
Horizontal Cut was a expert level technique.
「Haaa!」
Whoa, looks like Melissa is pretty good at using the power of wind dwelling inside her Wind Estoc to take care of her enemies.
Alright! I should start getting to work too.
For now let’s have the other two take care of our front-side and focus my attention on the rear.
As the Killer Wolves swarmed us, I continuously used Attack Cancel to unleash a flurry of attacks that had no openings. While we’re at it――
「Hey you! You can use magic right! Use it to defeat them!」(Hitto)
「B-But, the incantation will take too――」(Eni)
「It’s fine! The magic will fire immediately! Just hurry up!」(Hitto)
When I said that, the woman magician called Eni started chanting the incantation with a look of doubt, but―― That’s when I activated Charge Cancel.
「Eh? This is――」(Eni)
「The incantation should be done! Hurry and shoot it!」(Hitto)
「O-! Okay!」(Eni)
Eni shot a ball of fire towards one of the wolves. The fire ball flew straight forward and clashed against the Killer Wolf’s body.
The impact didn’t leave too much of a scar, but gradually the wolf’s body was set ablaze from the burning heat.
Good, if this is the effect then it’s plenty useful.
As I continued to cut down monsters I gave Eni the order to keep firing magic.
Charge Cancel was, it was one of the few support Skills a Canceller could use.
Cancellers themselves cannot use magic, but if they have an ally who can use magic, then they could Cancel the incantation and cause the magic to be instantly ready to activate.
Likewise, it was also possible to use it on Skills and such that take time to activate.
It’s just that I never really got the chance to use it.
In the meanwhile I was about to tell Melissa to keep being on her guard, but it seems like my fears were unwarranted. Melissa skillfully dispatched of the Killer Wolves around her.
As I kept cutting down Killer Wolves with my twin swords, Incantation 【Cancel】 Flame Shot → Incantation 【Cancel】 Flame Shot → Incantation 【Cancel】 Flame Shot……
Getting a sense for the rhythm, I repeated the process again and again.
I can’t use Cancel on the same person multiple times in a row, but if it’s a magic on the level of Flame Shot, then it was possible to use Cancel on Eni again after waiting to see if the shot hit her target.
At that time, the swordsman called Dan, although his face was warped from the pain of his wounds, he didn’t give in to that pain, and repeatedly slayed his opponents. Not before long, the pack of Killer Wolves were splendidly annihilated――
「You really saved us, Thanks」(Dan)
Perhaps his fatigue caught up to him, the swordsman sat down where he was, and told me his thanks.
On his left arm were the leftover marks of a Killer Wolf’s bite, you could tell that it was still bleeding.
The other person, the woman, pulled out what looked to be bandages and medicine from her pouch.
She probably plans to apply some first aid before wrapping up the wound.
「That said the two of ya are real strong. Let me guess, you’re adventurers right?」(Dan)
「Well pretty much. From the looks of it you guys are too right?」(Hitto)
When I asked the swordsman he paused in thought for a bit, and then the both of them responded.
「Yea, that’s right. The name’s Dan, I have the Swordsman Job. And this is Eni[1], I’m sure you can tell from looking but she has the upper magic job of Magician」(Dan)
「I see. My name is. .h.i.tto, and this is… Huh?」(Hitto)
「Oh, that slave person, she went over in that direction to go pick up something――」(Eni)
Eni turned her head and pointed it over to where Melissa was.
Fumu, it looks like she’s leaning over and harvesting something from the bush over there. Ah, looks like she’s coming back.
「Ano, if you smear this over the wound I am sure it will help. It is a Bond-All Flower」(Melissa)
Saying that, Melissa held out both hand and showed us the flower she picked.
Right now the petals were closed up; a violet colored flower.
「Normally you would need to compound it to get the full effect, but if you squeeze out the nectar, and add it together with the medicine Eni-sama has with her, then it should enhance the medicine’s effects. It should also be able to stop any puss from forming」(Melissa)
「T-Thank you so much!」(Eni)
Bowing her head many times, Eni expressed her thanks.
Fumu, Even though Melissa is a slave, these two don’t seem to be prejudice against her.
「By the way, Her name is Melissa. I’m the only one who’s registered with the Guild though」(Hitto)
Dan nodded his head as he accepted my words. In the meantime Eni extracted the nectar from the flower and mixed it with the medicine before starting to give Dan treatment.
「Incidentally, earlier you said you have to hurry and inform the Guild but… did something happen?」(Hitto)
It felt like they were in a big rush after all, I’m a bit curious so it’s best to ask them directly.
「That’s right! Truth is that a ma.s.sive amount of monsters have appeared at the Mt. Stone Mines up ahead. We were in a hurry to inform the Guild about it」(Dan)
「A ma.s.sive amount? At Mt. Stone?」(Hitto)
「Yea, cuz we didn’t want to get close to the monsters at the mine, we took a job where we were suppose to be guards. The number of orggs inside the mines had exploded, but not the ones outside. When we saw the miners outside in a panic we decided to go take a look to check if anything was strange, but…… There was just too many of them, our comrades lost their lives… Eni and I were the only ones who could escape」(Dan)
Orggs huh…… An Orgg is a monster that is a like a baby ogre.[2]
Compared to humans their height is smaller, about 1 meter tall. In terms of dealing with them they are on the level of kobolds and goblins, but the strength of an orgg is tied to its color.
They range from Green, Pink, Yellow, Blue, and Red. The most troublesome to deal with were the Red ones; even while they are young they can breath fire from their mouths.
All the other orggs have one horn, but a Red Orgg has two horns.
Underneath that were the Blue Orggs, and ranked in the middle were Yellow Orggs. Pink and Green Orggs were about on the same level of strength.
By the way, just because they are pink doesn’t mean they are all female.
Anyways, it seems like a large number of orggs have appeared huh. They shouldn’t be that strong individually though.
「I see, so you were going to the Guild huh. Are the miners and the rest of them safe?」(Hitto)
「I wouldn’t exactly say “safe”, but for the moment they’ve retreated to a cabin that’s normally used as a resting spot. However, I’m sure the one’s left behind are feeling hopeless about now…… We were a.s.signed as guards but we were completely pathetic」(Dan)
Saying that, a grim look overcame Dan’s face and he dropped his shoulders. Eni was worried and tried to comfort him.
Melissa as well, she wore a uneasy expression as she muttered, “Goshujin-sama……”
「I understand the situation. Will the two of you be able to make it back to the Guild?」(Hitto)
「Yea, I think we should be fine. I doubt we will run into any more Killer Wolves, and if we go on a bit further we should be able to reach the highway」(Dan)
「I see, okay. Well then, us two should hurry on ahead」(Hitto)
「……? Hurry on ahead… The only thing past here is Mt. Stone you know?」(Dan)
「Yeah, to begin with we had some business to take care of at the mines. We have a request to gather iron ore and magic stones you see」(Hitto)
「Wha-!? Don’t be stupid! Didn’t you hear what I just said? The mines have been overtaken by a swarm of orggs! It’s in no condition for you to be transporting stuff!」(Dan)
Dan’s eyes widened as he let out a roar.
It’s true, if this was in the game then this situation would come close to being an emergency subjugation quest.
The majority of people would want to Party up for it though.
「You don’t have to worry about us. Well, we won’t do anything too dangerous, but while we’re there we’ll cut down their numbers a bit. Leaving that aside, I’ll count on you to inform the Guild. This will probably be treated as an emergency situation after all」(Hitto)
After I said that, Dan opened his mouth and said “Count on us” while still astonished.
「I’ll give you a word of advice. If you die while saying someone then they will only have nightmares about it. I agree that you’re strong and you seem pretty confident, but make sure to not do anything too rash」(Dan)
「Yeah, thanks for worrying about us」(Hitto)
Melissa and I said our piece to the two, and we lightly waved back to them as we departed.
「OH! Hey, are you perhaps an adventurer!?」
When Melissa and I arrived at the entrance of the Mt. Stone Mines, there were two men who looked to be miners who went out to survey to situation. They called out to get our attention.
「Yeah, that’s right. On our way here we me up with the two who were a.s.signed to guard you. It seems like you’re in a bit of trouble right?」(Hitto)
「Like h.e.l.l it’s “a bit” of trouble! I have no idea what happened, but suddenly a bunch of orggs came up out of nowhere! A lot of my comrades were left behind, they, they probably won’t live long!」
「You two were dispatched by the Guild right? Are more reinforcements coming later?」
The miner was, he placed his hand on his brow and looked off into the distance behind Melissa and I.
Apparently they are under the impression that I have other allies coming.
「I think more will come, but it will probably take some time. I originally came here to transport some iron ore and magic stones. On our way here we heard about the situation from those two who are heading to the Guild. We pretty much met at the halfway point, so I think it will take at least and hour before those two reach the Guild. From there I think it would take a couple more hours for the adventurers to gather up and rush over to this place」(Hitto)
「Stop s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with us! It will be night by the time they come then!」
There’s no point complain to me about it though. Well, but still.
「But I can’t exactly go back now. Since we’re here already, we’ll go inside and defeat the ones that we can」(Hitto)
When I told the two, they raised their eyebrows and said, “Haaa?” while looking puzzled.
「You’ll beat the orggs inside? It’s not just one or two of them you know? At the least, there’s about 100 or 200 of them」
「I see. As long as there’s not 1,000 of them… Well, I’m sure it will work out」(Hitto)
Truthfully that I think we could somehow handle 1,000 of them though.
「Are you serious. Just like that female knight from earlier, how come only the overconfident and c.o.c.ky bunch are coming here……」
One of their words caught my ear. A Female Knight? What’s going on?
「Who is that female knight you’re talking about? Is she an adventurer? And she went inside?」(Hitto)
Once I asked them my question, the two of them looked at each other for a second, and then finally looked back at me.
「No, apparently she wasn’t an adventurer. She was a real beaut though, she suddenly showed up from nowhere and asked, “Has things been strange around here recently?” the whole thing seemed really unusual. “Something strange is happening RIGHT NOW!” is what we told her」
「And then, even though we told her to not even try it, when she heard what happened she said somethin’ like『I will go have a look!』 and just dashed off like that」
Fumu, from the looks of things no one knows who she is.
A female knight showing up out of nowhere huh…… And she’s also pretty brave at that.
But I can’t just ignore the lady after hearing about her. I hope she’s still all right……
「I got it. Then I’ll look for that female knight while I’m at it. If aid comes then please tell them that as well」(Hitto)
Telling the two miners that, Melissa and I were about the enter the mines, but-
「Whoa, hold up, you can’t be serious. Rather, if you have that much confidence, then you must have a pretty high rank right?」
「Yeah, despite how I look, I’m a Beginner rank adventurer」(Hitto)
「I see…… A Beginner, no wonder why――」
Saying that, the two miners cleared a path for us.
I casually pa.s.sed in between the miners, and proceeded to walk ahead.
And, the moment our backs had past them……
「「WHA-, A BEGINNER!?」」
The two of them retorted in unison.
Yup, since I acted so bold I thought this would be their reaction, as expected――