Chapter 39: Volume 1 - CH 3.14

“Are you certain about this information!?”

A panicking Rex asked as he grabbed the gatekeeper’s shoulders.

“Aah…Without a doubt, I saw it with my own eyes! I was the lookout on top of the outer wall on the west side. Just as I thought that it was just those persistent Demon King Army fellows again, it turned out to be something else entirely…The Monsters that dropped from the sky were just a feint. We were hit through the front!”

The gatekeeper who had been complaining in desperation unintentionally pointed a sour look to Rex, as if he had been accused of lying, and Rex released his hands from the gatekeeper’s shoulders.

Sweat dripped from Rex’s forehead as he considered their options, while Krul and Tina stared at him, waiting for an answer.

“And? What should we do, Rex?”

Palna imposingly asked Rex, not giving him any more time to think, as if he should know what to do in such while he was overwhelmed by the situation.

“Courage and recklessness are different…We should withdraw from here. Although Salumeria is being attacked by the Demon King Army…it’s fine if we counterattack after we re-organize and gather more people. We shouldn’t die in vain here.”

“That’s reasonable…We’ll guide the people who are still in the city as far as we can until the Monster troops arrive.”

Whether or not Krul and Tina also believed this to be the best strategy, they wore serious expressions and nodded their heads in assent.

Seeing this, the gatekeeper was at a loss for words and thanked them with a “Sorry about this…you’ve saved me.”

“Kagami-san, please lend us your strength as well. Cooperate with us and help rescue the people of this city.”

During this exchange, Kagami had been staring at them idly, until Krul suddenly took his hand and pleaded for his help.

Kagami assented with a, “Yeah,” while strongly gripping Krul’s hand, and then immediately let go. Then he said, “Though, I have something I need to do before that,” before heading in the direction the gatekeeper had come from.

“Where are you planning on going?”

Rex stopped Kagami, who had tried to casually head off somewhere, and asked him.

“I went ahead and called Takako-chan earlier. Takako-chan has war potential.”

“Takako?”

“Is that the muscular monk man?”

“Hmm? Takako-chan is a woman, you know?”

Although it wasn’t as startling as the fact that there was a group of 10,000 Monsters currently rushing towards them, the hero’s party, familiar with Takako’s figure, distorted their expressions, unable to conceal their shock.

Rex recalled her appearance and wondered how it was possible for her to be a girl despite her severe lack of feminine elements. Putting his feelings aside, he considered that maybe every part of her body had been completely changed into muscle.

“Since I need to meet up with her, I’ll start guiding the city’s residence before you guys. I leave Alice to you.”

“Hey…you, do you realize what you’re saying? I believe that we should kill Demons, you know? Did you already forget our dispute from the other day?”

“Don’t you guys have things you want to ask me? Surely there isn’t any merit to killing Alice until we’re done talking.”

Certainly, there wasn’t any merit in killing Alice at this point. However, the ones attacking the town were Demons and Alice was a Demon as well. Under normal circumstances, it would be natural to kill a Demon like her if any were present.

Despite this, Rex became bewildered and wore an unpleasant look. Even without Kagami asking to protect her, he himself wouldn’t kill someone who had already declared themselves as a friend.

“Since what I want to ask doesn’t matter, what if I said I would like to immediately kill this child?”

Palna spoke such menacing words with a smile in response to Kagami’s inexplicable attempt to leave.

“I ask of you not to kill her and to protect her, please.”

Palna was bewildered by his unexpected reaction. He didn’t behave arrogantly and give them an order, nor did he preach to them with foul words. Instead, he had merely asked them for a favor with a troubled smile.

While they were dumbstruck by his unexpected words, Kagami rushed away without waiting for a reply, and, just like that, he was gone.

Although she had temporarily stiffened due to his crazy actions, Palna soon returned to her normal self, and sighed as she muttered “Aah, geez!”

“Such an irresponsible man. You were abandoned by him.”

Although she muttered this to Alice as if pitying her, Alice just stared at Kagami’s fading figure with honest eyes.

“I don’t think that’s the case. Since Kagami-san thought that this was for the best, I’ll believe in his decision.”

“Even though you’re a Demon, what the hell are you saying? What would you do if I were to kill you?”

“Although that’s a possibility…I think Kagami-san believes that you guys aren’t like that. Therefore, he asked for a genuine favor, without setting strange terms. That’s why I believe in you guys, who believed in Kagami-san.”

Alice’s hands were trembling as she said that. Palna could see as clear as day that Alice was bluffing and began to head towards the center of the city.

“Y-You aren’t scared?”

Tina asked, worried that her little companion was bluffing.

“Although it is scary…I trust him. It’s useless to not believe in him, since I have my own hopes.”

Alice did not change her posture as she said that, staring at a Kagami who was no longer visible with a serious expression. However, her body was trembling and tears had gathered in her eyes.

They did not know why Kagami had left in such an odd manner, so although they tried to trust his judgement, the ones left behind couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Alice’s goal was for Humans and Demons to reconcile and coexist. Yet, 10,000 Monsters were rushing forth as if to destroy that hope. This conflict could only become a spark that would worsen the relationship between them. For example, even if she stopped this recklessness by going to her father, the residents of Salumeria would probably still hate the Demons for attacking their home.

Even if Kagami were to fight as a part of the Third Army like he had said he would, she couldn’t see an end to the conflict.

“It’s fine. Please be at ease.”

At this time, Alice, whose eyes were brimming with tears, was hugged by Krul.

“The promise won’t be broken. I, too, think that I want to try and believe in Kagami-san. You’re innocent, right?”

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When Krul attempted to comfort her, Alice, who had been wrapped in unease, was at a loss for words and realized that she had incorrectly guessed the Hero party’s actions. At the very least, her hands had stopped trembling, and she became curious as to why Krul was trying to understand her.

“…Let’s go.”

Rex muttered that in a worried manner, feeling strange after witnessing that scene, and Palna chased after him.

“Before that…Please let me know one thing. What kind of person is Kagami-san when he’s with you?”

“Well…he treats me without any discrimination…No, well, um…he’s a gentle person.”

With a satisfied expression, Tina replied, “I see,” and chased after Rex and Palna saying, “Let’s go,” as if she understood what Alice had tried to say.

As soon as the three caught up to Rex and Palna, they began to run around searching for those who were left behind when fleeing from the city.

Although there were many Monsters that the Adventurers had failed to defeat that came to attack them along the way, they weren’t as powerful as the Berserker Beast Kagami had defeated. With the four’s power, the Monsters were swept away.

There was pandamonium, like a scene straight out of Hell, and many of those who had given up on escaping chose to flee towards the eastern side to take refuge. The Hero’s group moved into the heart of the buildings on the west side, yelling out loudly to check for anyone that had yet to flee.

“I wonder if the Monsters were defeated by the other Adventurers for us? There aren’t that many left.”

“S-Since a group of 10,000 Monsters are coming, we have to warn the people that are still taking refuge without knowing about it.”

Palna was walking while staying vigilant of her surroundings, and Tina yelled out loudly, “A large group of Monsters is heading this way! Run away everyone!” Rex, Krul, and Alice, who were behind them, carefully checked for any stragglers.

“Now that I think about it, why aren’t you emanating any magic power even though you’re a Demon?”

Along the way, Rex realized that there wasn’t any magic power emanating from Alice’s horn. While Rex asked that, Krul poked at the pointy part of Alice’s head that looked liked a horn, which was wrapped in white cloth and a stylish ribbon.

“It’s thanks to this cloth. It was given to me by Kagami-san…It’s an item that is made from a Spawn Blocker, so it’s able to completely suppress the magic power Demons emanate.”

“Eeh! Well if that was made for all the Demons, wouldn’t the breakout of Monsters stop?”

Tina yelled out from behind Alice as she casually listened in to her unexpected explanation.

Surprised as well, Rex and Krul stared hard at the white cloth covering Alice’s horn as if they were seeing something unbelievable.

“It’s too difficult to make, and it has to be from Spawn Blockers or else it won’t work. Kagami-san did say that it was really valuable after all.”

Alice answered honestly while feeling some slight regret that she could only report what she knew even though they showed great interest. Deep down in her heart, Palna muttered, “It’s natural…” in wonder.

“…Tch! Careful!”

When she heard that, Alice’s eyes opened wide as she looked at the source of the voice, and Palna jumped to the left, guessing that she was being targeted from Alice’s gaze. Immediately after, a pale sphere of light shot out and on impact, engulfed the place Palna had been standing, in flames.

“Get away from Alice-sama!”

The moment they heard that, the Hero’s party grabbed their weapons and readied their stance. When they looked for the threat, they saw a muscular man in a pink dougi and a silver haired man wearing a surcoat and hat.

“Takako-san! Menou!”

Before anyone else could react, Alice ran up to the two of them. Takako and Menou welcomed Alice, who had been released too easily, with a bewildered “Are?”

“Alice-sama! I’m glad you’re not hurt…Tch! Although you were released quickly…What’s the meaning of this?”

“Well…It’s quite a long explanation…”

Takako who somehow guessed what was going on without her explanation, gazed at the Hero’s party who were brandishing their weapons, and let out a sigh as she muttered, “This party that we’ve formed really is out of the ordinary.”

Rex, Tina and Krul gulped when the muscular presence wearing a pink-colored dougi in front of them sighed and placed her right hand on her cheek. “This is…a wo…man?”

“I wonder if it’s fine that his magic power isn’t being concealed? Though it does look like his horn is being hidden.”

Palna, who didn’t care whether Takako was a man or woman, began to ask as she directed her hateful gaze to Menou.

“In this confusion, there probably aren’t many people paying attention to who’s emanating magic power and who’s not. There aren’t any Spawn Blockers around here either. Rather than that, why are you bastards acting in concert with Alice-sama!”

Menou yelled while letting out killing intent, and stepped forward, trying to protect Alice. He was vigilant thanks to yesterday’s events.

“We were asked to by Kagami-san. He said that Takako-san would lend us her power and should be able to solve the situation…Did you not meet up with Kagami-san? He said he would search for Takako-san.”

Trying not to irritate Menou, Krul undid her stance and replied to his question.

Takako and Menou looked at each other’s faces once as these words were spoken, and shook their heads back and forth in denial, looking troubled.

“We came directly from the inn…Where would we have passed by him in this heavily populated town? Anyways, we haven’t seen him.”

“Somebody! Somebody, come here!”

Krul simply muttered, “I see…”, but her reply didn’t mirror her feelings. She was worried about Kagami, who had strayed from the correct path. Takako and Menou, who didn’t know the full story, tilted their heads, not knowing why Krul was so worried.

At this time, they heard a hurried cry for help from the road to the west side of town. Everybody there directed their gaze to the gatekeeper who came running from that direction.

“Somebody…Anyone is fine…the west, somebody come to the west gate!”

The running gatekeeper came to a stop in front of Rex, and spoke in a hoarse voice as his shoulders heaved up and down.

This was a different gatekeeper from the one earlier that was fleeing from the Monsters in the west side, and at his words, Rex and Tina became bewildered.

Meanwhile, Krul healed his vitality using Healing Magic, and promptly tried to talk to him and calm the distressed man. And then,

“There is an idiot standing against the horde of 10,000 Monsters by himself! I tried to stop him! Even though I tried, he wouldn’t listen! Even though he looked like a weak Villager…He’s fighting with those Monsters alone right now! Somebody…Anyone is fine! Don’t let him be abandoned! It’s fine if you just run away after taking him…Somebody go save him!”

He yelled out, and even though he had witnessed it himself, the gatekeeper was bewildered and couldn’t calm down. He couldn’t believe that the Villager would win such a reckless battle.

Immediately afterwards, Alice began to run as fast as she could towards the west gate. She began to cry in anxiety, regretting the fact that she had let Kagami leave, and thought about what would happen from here on out.

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