kscans

Chapter 256 - The Siege of Miglutt and the Crystal Garden and the Guild

When I was captured by Irisalie in the kitchen of the Star Union estate, the red-hooded man had apparently attacked the mansion with his giant axe Special Skill as well. That was how a corner of the mansion had been destroyed, creating a large breach.

Marina seemed to have given up on defending the estate and decided to rely on the One-Land Family.

"We helped with that, and then went to search for you, Mash."

"Did you not consider the possibility that I was dead?"

"Mash..." Myra looked up once, then her eyes fell slightly.

"That is not something to be considered. Even now that we've been safely reunited, the thought of what might have happened then makes my chest feel like it's being crushed..."

We were walking towards the Crystal Garden with the nomads. Everyone was wearing a black hood, walking stealthily without making a sound. We were also speaking in hushed tones.

"And then, the members of Levante went to check on the house. That's when we heard a strange story."

"A strange story?" Myra nodded deeply at my question.

"They saw a naked man being chased by soldiers..." After Myra said that, Marmi pulled on the hem of my hood.

"...The only person who would wander around Miglutt naked is Mash."

"That's not the hint you're supposed to be focusing on!" Myra pressed her index finger to her lips. I let out a small cough to cover up the fact that I had raised my voice.

"It's not like I enjoyed wandering around naked," I replied in a low voice.

"He was said to be curled up and dragging himself as if in pain, so I thought he must have been injured in the battle at the mansion." That was when Riley had saved me, and I had drunk a stamina potion to get out of that jam.

"...After that, the suspicious man put on clothes, and we lost track of him."

"Did you say 'suspicious man'? You're all making me sound so bad, but you were more interested in the naked man than in me, weren't you? You perverts."

"...That's not true!" Marmi shouted, then quickly covered her mouth with both hands.

"We just followed the wrong clue." I poked Marmi's head with my finger. We had become intimate, but I didn't really think of her in a sexual way. But I wondered if she imagined such things in her head. Besides, she was so skilled in magic, why was she so clueless otherwise? Myra was the same. I left everything related to the church entirely up to her. Famu could see right through people as if she'd seen into their hearts, and Mizuki had been the class president in our old world.

"I regret that as well. We're not like you, Mash. We can't make split-second decisions in a crisis," Myra said, bowing her head in a genuinely apologetic way.

"No, it's fine to make a wrong judgment. I'm not making any judgments either. I'm just being swept along by the situation. I feel bad about it. Honestly, I'd rather just grab you all and run out of the city." Myra and I exchanged weak smiles.

"So, we thought that if you were injured, Mash, we had to find you as quickly as possible. That's why Marmi and I decided to search the southern half of the city, and Famu and Mizuki would search the northern half."

"I see, so that's why you split up..." They must have been in quite a panic. I looked at Myra, and then at Marmi. Clovis and his group were targeting otherworld heroes. The thought of Mizuki still being separated from us made me anxious. I wished they hadn't split up, but they must have been desperate to find me in such a large city. I myself had only found out where Levante was after meeting up with Kalpana and the nomads.

"You haven't eaten, have you?" I took out a sandwich of vegetables and meat wrapped in thin flatbread from my storage. I had saved it from when I ate with Kalpana and the others.

"But that's, Mash, for you..."

"No, I saved extra just in case something like this happened. At this rate, I have a feeling this won't be settled until tomorrow morning." I pressed the sandwiches into Myra's and Marmi's hands.

The Crystal Garden was illuminated by the light from the floating pyramid, the Crystal Palace, making it brighter than other places. Normally, bonfires would be lit, making it even brighter and bustling with people, but now there were no figures on the streets. The silence was eerie. It was past midnight, and the air had grown chilly. A cold, damp mist had crept into the city, creating a white haze that made the atmosphere even more unsettling.

"I don't see any soldiers..." Aira murmured. We were walking down the road leading to the entertainment district. First, we would head for the Adventurers Guild, and then the entrance to the Crystal Palace. The four of us—me, Myra, Marmi, and Takamura—were walking down the center of the street. There was no sign of a lurking enemy, so it didn't seem like we were heading into a group fight for now. That's why we were the decoys. If anything happened, we'd use Takamura as a shield. The plan was to rely on his Vampire Special Skill. The nomads, Hyakka, and the others were hiding behind us, on alert for enemies. There were over a hundred of them following us, but they were so quiet I almost thought they weren't there.

After a while, we reached the entrance to the main street, where a barricade made of stacked lumber, about shoulder-high, was blocking the road. In front of it stood about ten soldiers. When they saw us, they drew their weapons and approached.

"This road is closed," one of the soldiers said.

"We have friends inside. We need to see them."

"You... you're an adventurer, aren't you?" As the soldier was asking, another soldier on the other side of the barricade started to take aim at us with a bow. Before I could even brace myself, the sound of something tearing through the air came from behind me, and an arrow pierced the soldier.

"What?!" Just as the soldiers were about to charge at us, a volley of arrows rained down. The soldiers fell before they could even cry for help. Immediately, the nomads who had been hiding in the shadows of the buildings emerged. They climbed over the barricade to search for any enemies on the other side.

"I wanted to get some information out of them..."

"Protecting your life is our top priority," one of the nomads replied. He then kicked a fallen soldier over to check if he was still breathing. I had thought that no matter who shot a bow, the accuracy wouldn't be that high, but there was a difference in skill level. I stroked my chin and watched their efficient work.

"We wander from city to city without belonging anywhere, so we often run into situations like this with monsters and bandits. For now, let's use this barricade. If the enemy comes at us, we can use this spot."

"I see..." I replied, not really knowing what to say to his somewhat defensive words. Just then, Hyakka called my name.

"Looks like we can get some info from this one." Next to Hyakka, Etwán was giving a stamina potion to a bound soldier. He was also very efficient.

The buildings in the Crystal Garden were built individually, but they were arranged in rows, connected to the adjacent buildings. The lower floors were made of stone, and the uniform color of the plaster created a sense of unity. Most of the buildings were four to five stories high, with the upper parts being a mix of stone and wood. However, this uniformity was only on the street-facing facades; it might not be the same on the other side. The Guild was in a corner of one of these connected buildings. The large wooden double doors were closed. Two soldiers stood in front of it like sentries, but they crumpled under the nomads' sniper fire. I walked past the fallen soldiers, placed my hand on the door, and pulled. It wasn't barred from the inside, and the door opened with a creaking sound. Following me, Myra, Marmi, Takamura, and the members of New World entered. There were no lights, and we couldn't see anything, but soon Marmi raised her wand and created light with magic, illuminating a large, high-ceilinged hall. She then wrinkled her brow and covered her nose.

I gasped at the sight revealed by the light. There were no bodies, but the traces of a struggle remained. Broken chairs, overturned tables, scattered documents. And there were traces of blood as well.

"They say the people who were here were put in the dungeon, but..." I thought they might have been killed and was looking around when Komachi, Doris, and ten nomads entered. The soldier we had knocked out earlier was also carried inside.

"We'll wait here. It didn't look like there were any lights on inside, but there might be enemies hiding, so please be careful." Heeding the warning, I took Myra and Marmi with me, went past the counter, and entered the back room.

"Hey, the cell is locked. The guards at the entrance didn't have the key. What are you going to do when you get there?" Etwán's voice came from behind me.

"I can open it. If there are any survivors, I want to get them to a safe place." I didn't say it out loud, but there was a chance Famu and Mizuki were captured, so I wanted to check. Myra and Marmi were following me with their lips pressed into a thin line. They must have been thinking the same thing I was.

"We're outnumbered. And if the enemy's main force attacks, we'll have to run. The people we rescue will just slow us down. If we leave them alone, they'll be rescued when the One-Land Family defeats the Air-Ally Family in the final battle. It's better for both sides if the injured just stay quiet in their cells." Etwán was right. If we went to check on them, we would have to help them. But even if it wasn't Famu and the others, there might be people we knew captured there.

As I was about to move forward, Etwán clicked his tongue.

"Wait, I'll go first." Etwán pushed a lantern into my hands. Then, he took the lead and moved forward, checking for any enemies beyond the door.

"Anyway, why is there a dungeon in the Guild in the first place? Do they even have the right to detain people?" I asked Etwán.

"They claim it's temporary. Now, be quiet." Not only Etwán, but Hyakka also glared at me.

We reached the stairs at the far end of the building. There were stairs leading up and stairs leading down to the basement. The stairs leading down were blocked by a door. Etwán listened intently, then let out a small sigh.

"There are people upstairs and downstairs. The ones upstairs... have killing intent."

"An ambush? That's a pain. It's possible the people being held here are wary of intruders and on guard."

"Yeah." Hyakka and Etwán exchanged words in low voices. We wanted to explore the lower level, but we didn't want to be attacked from behind, so we couldn't ignore the people on the upper floor who were clearly hostile.

"I'll go." Takamura said, grabbing his large hatchet and grinning, revealing sharp, canine-like teeth.

"Wait, even with your Vampire ability, you can't regenerate from everything, right?"

"Hey, you haven't said a word until now, and now you're starting to worry? It's better to just get this over with than to waste time standing around here." Takamura replied to me and stepped onto the stairs. The wood creaked louder than expected, and we reflexively backed away, leaving Takamura behind. Takamura stared at our heartless display, then looked at each of us in protest before finally steeling himself and starting up the stairs.

"Isn't Takamura cooler than you, Mash?" Hyakka murmured as she watched his back. She then looked at me and smiled provocatively.

"Takamura and Komachi are into swinging. If you say so, maybe we should swap Komachi and Hyakka..."

"Idiot! I won't do it with anyone but you, Mash. If you say something like that, we're through." Hyakka readied her lance to react to any change in the situation. Chihiro did the same, trying to keep a distance from Takamura as she advanced, but the ceiling here was low, unlike in the hall. It would be difficult to maneuver. As I was thinking that, Morse and Kone moved forward to take their places.

Following the members of New World up the stairs, we found a long hallway stretching far into the distance. Doors lined both sides, one after another. At the boundary between the light from our lantern and Marmi's magic and the darkness beyond, stood a group of six, their weapons at the ready. The man at the front, who seemed to flicker in the firelight, had a smile on his lips as if he were at ease, but his eyes weren't smiling. And his shoulders looked tense.

"You guys, are you with Yuki?" Hyakka's voice was tinged with anger. But there was no reply from the adventurers. Hyakka's eyes narrowed, her expression becoming devoid of emotion.

"We don't have time for this. If you're not going to talk, we'll assume you're the enemy!" With a loud stomp, Hyakka dashed forward to close in on the enemy. Just then, a door to the side burst open, and a long spear was thrust out.

"Hyakka!"

"I knew it!" Hyakka's ponytail swung in an arc. She lightly sidestepped the blow and thrust her lance at the person in the doorway. A muffled cry was followed by the dull thud of a body hitting the floor.

"Another one, that room!" Etwán shouted and pointed. Morse tackled the door, breaking it down. Kone followed him into the room, and a loud crash echoed.

"Hey, we don't want to hurt you. Surrender." I called out to the enemies standing frozen in the hallway. But the one who turned around in response was Etwán.

"What are you being so cocky for? There's someone behind the door next to you too. They're planning to attack us from behind when we engage the enemy in front."

"Kuh!" As I was about to reach for the door, Etwán held out his hand to stop me.

"We'll take care of the enemy in that room too. This floor is secure. You're not planning on staying in the Guild long, are you? You guys go ahead and check the basement." Hearing that, I looked at Takamura.

"Leave it to me, I'll help New World." Seeing Takamura nod, I headed down to the basement with Myra and Marmi.