Volume 3 Chapter 22 Something Appears, But...
A soldier who seemed to be leading a group approached me. He looked a bit different from the others, so he must be the captain or something.
'Oh? Could it be that guy...'
Gram telepathically expressed surprise. The man who was running towards me also had a surprised look on his face when he saw me.
"You...?"
"Huh, what? Have we met somewhere before?"
Except for Relix, I didn't know any of the soldiers from the kingdom.
'You know, during the Monster Rampage, when Brave came rushing in, there were soldiers with him too. He was one of them. Don't you remember?'
I definitely don't remember. At that time, I was literally on the brink of life and death. Recognizing familiar faces was the most I could do.
This guy is looking at my reaction, trying to figure out if I have no memory of something. The captain dude got all serious all of a sudden.
"...What's a mercenary doing in a place like this? Through the guild, mercenaries were supposed to be asked to intercept monsters gathering outside the royal capital."
"Unfortunately, I'm a low rank. The obligations about that stuff don't apply to me yet."
I shrugged my shoulders, and the captain's eyes twitched a bit. Did he think I was teasing him?
Normally, I might have cracked a joke or two here, but it's an emergency. I can't afford to mess things up. Before the captain gets angry, I kept talking.
"You're asking what I was doing, but can't you see? It's the mercenary's job."
I pointed to the scattered Kobold corpses around us. The captain looked around and then seemed to be taken aback.
"So, the signal flare earlier?"
"That's good to know. I can't handle everything on my own. ──I'll explain the situation later. Let's talk about something more practical for now."
"...Understood. We're aware that the current situation is abnormal on our end as well."
Soldiers are usually known for being stubborn, but this captain seems different. The conversation is progressing smoothly.
"How much do you guys understand about the situation?"
"...Until we arrived here, we confirmed several small groups of monsters and magic formations summoning them. We've received similar reports from other units operating separately from us. And──"
The captain's face turned serious before speaking decisively.
"──It's not certain, but there have been reports of what seems to be a 'demon' presence."
"So, at the very least, the soldiers understand the basics. It saves me the trouble of explaining."
When I told the captain that we had killed a couple of demons, his face tightened up even more. It seemed like he hadn't encountered them himself and was somewhat skeptical about the existence of demons.
But putting aside the captain's surprise, I couldn't help but think,
'The military's response is faster than I expected. Maybe they were somewhat prepared for internal abnormalities.'
If it doesn't cause any trouble, I don't really care about their situation over there. As long as the damage is minimal, I have no complaints.
"So, how many magic circles did you destroy?"
When I asked, the captain snapped back to reality.
"Well, before we arrived here, we destroyed four. And some were also destroyed by other units."
"So, if we add the ones I destroyed, it makes ten in total."
Without saying it explicitly, the captain was taken aback by the fact that I had destroyed six by myself. About half of them were destroyed before the magic circles were complete, so I didn't have to fight the monsters. It's not really a surprising number, is it?
(Gram. How many magic cirles would be needed to cover the entire royal capital?" )
'Twenty should be enough. And if we combine them with you and the captain's team, that's ten more, partner. If we include the ones that were destroyed by the other teams in separate locations, we can earn more than half of the cirles.'
For now, it seems like there's no need to desperately run around the royal capital anymore. I can't let my guard down, but all I have to do now is divide and destroy the remaining magic formations. I could even move together with the soldiers if necessary. At this point, it's foolish to argue about personal preferences.
While I was lost in my thoughts──
"Yukina-samaaa!!"
"Hmm?"
I turned my head towards a familiar voice, and to my surprise, it was Mikage coming towards me.
"...Wait, why did you come here too?"
She was supposed to be out there, fighting off the monsters, but here she is in the royal capital. And wait a minute, I see a few other mercenaries trailing behind her, a little late.
"Sorry for the wait, Yukina-sama!"
"No need to wait. Seriously, why did you come?"
Mikage came running over with confidence, and I couldn't help but make a tsukkomi.
"I arranged for those magic tool that shoot signal flares. There's no way I would miss hearing them."
Mikage proudly twitched her fox ears.
"...What about guarding the outside?"
Mikage is supposed to be the main force in the counterattack operation with the mercenaries. Is it okay for her to leave?
"Don't worry! The Brave party has finally arrived, so we pushed the responsibility onto them!"
Well, I want to ask something, but that's probably something I shouldn't mention. I sneak a glance at the captain's face and it's surprisingly tense. It's too scary to talk about.
"...What about the guys behind?"
"I don't know. They just followed on their own."
"......"
I look at the mercenaries behind Mikage, but they're just looking around without paying attention to me.
'They probably thought a 'big shot' came out because Mikage moved, and they wanted to get in on the action.'
Well, let's think positively that we've got more people now.
Gram estimates that there are about 20 magic circles set up in the royal capital. We've probably destroyed over half of them at this point, but the actual number is unknown. More hands are better. If Mikage moves, the other mercenaries will move too.
"Huff... huff... finally caught up."
At this point, Kyunei appeared from further behind the mercenaries, a little out of breath.
"You came all the way here!?"
"Mikage was rushing near the field hospital area. Just before that, a signal flare went up from the royal capital, and I immediately knew it was about Yukina-kun. So, isn't it natural for me to rush as his lover?"
Well, I'm happy for that feeling, but...
"Is it okay at the field hospital and all?"
"From what I can see, there are enough doctors even without me. And just to be safe, I left the medicine I mixed, so it's okay."
It feels a bit crowded, but having an emergency healer coming is good. Anyway, having two lovers here really comforts me mentally.
Now, there's no time to stand around talking here. It's not the worst, but it's still not a good situation.
"So, Yukina-sama. What's going on?"
"I'll explain along the way. Hey, Captain!"
As the captain directed a disapproving look at Mikage, I firmly told him to switch gears.
"I'll keep breaking the magic circles with Mikage and the others, so you guys──"
Just as the solider army and the mercenaries were about to split and move, Kyunei suddenly muttered while looking in a certain direction.
"...What is that?"
Following her gaze, it was toward the central part of the royal capital, where the castle was located.
Under normal circumstances, it would have had a majestic atmosphere, but in the current situation, it felt eerie.
However, there was something even more noticeable.
Near the top of the castle, there was a huge "frame-like" thing floating. I hadn't been staring at the castle all day, but at least it wasn't there a moment ago.
Inside the frame, nothing was drawn, just a translucent surface.
'That's magic projection. It's used to show scenes from one place in another place.'
(Thanks for the explanation. But why is it in such a place?)
Before I could ask Gram, the frame changed quickly. The translucent part twisted and gradually transformed into something else. Soon, what was shown was...
"────Huh?"
It was the throne room inside the royal castle.
There was a huge monster inside.
There was also a grinning demon and a tense-looking king, but that information was completely pushed out of my head.
I widened my eyes and focused on just one thing.
A beautiful young lady with crimson hair.
"────Young lady?"
Unconsciously, I tightly gripped the ring hanging from my chest.
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