Chapter 13 - Request for Reinforcements and a Reunion

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“This is bad. No… it was already bad.”

After returning to the outer layers of the unexplored region where Rolo and Fimia were waiting, I told them about Scarr. Rolo praised me for not attacking it on the spot—but this was no time for that. That kind of monster, wandering so close to the village was far, far beyond dangerous.

“Yulg, calm down. Let’s summarize the situation and draft a plan.”
“I know that…! But still—”
“Now you’re just being unlike yourself. Snap out of it, even if it takes some cursing.”

Having been firmly scolded, I shut my mouth. Fimia had a point. If I—likely the one expected to stall the thing if it came—lost my nerve, there’d be no one left to protect anything.

“Still, why would Scarr be in a place like this? It’s been five years since it disappeared, right? And the last sighting was at the base of the Eldarn Mountains. That’s across the whole damn kingdom.”

Rolo touched his chin and frowned thoughtfully. Given the fact that it was here now, yeah—it was strange. But a manticore is the kind of monster that some countries even worship as a divine messenger. A long-lived specimen like Scarr is even capable of understanding human speech and using magic.

It may have used those abilities to travel all the way to this remote eastern frontier.

“In any case, we need to report to the guild now. The monster activity we’ve seen might be caused by Scarr.”
“Agreed. Once we’re back, I’ll send out a Mail Bird right away. After that, I’ll head directly to Hirte.”
“You sure I shouldn’t go, since I’m the one who saw it?”

Fimia shook her head at my suggestion.

“In case something goes wrong… whether you’re here or not could make all the difference to Marhas. And the one who knows how to make the best use of you is Rolo. That makes me the best person for the job, wouldn’t you agree?”
“…Fair point.”

Besides, Fimia’s a priestess known as the Church-certified Saint. Even Adventurer’s Guild staff would be swayed by her word. If luck was on our side, she might even secure support from the Church. That would be much more effective than me shouting “I saw Scarr!”

“Alright then, to the village first. Rolo, I want you to gently encourage the villagers to consider evacuation.”
“Got it. Everyone understands how dangerous the forest can be. I don’t think there’ll be panic.”
“Yulg, you’ll continue your patrol near the campsite from last night. Hanging the fresh skin of that Grayback Bear might also help deter other monsters.”
“Ain’t that a little grim, coming from a clergy?”
“That’s adventurer’s wisdom.”

Still, those words were a bit too shocking for a Saint. If Albert heard her say that, he’d probably foam at the mouth. Well, not like I ever thought she was some pure-hearted maiden anyway, so it’s fine by me.

“Alright then, let’s go with that plan.”

Rolo and Fimia both nodded. We had to move fast—any delay could cost us dearly. After all, the word manticore literally means “man-eating beast.”

♦

Five days after Fimia left the village. While I was keeping watch over the unexplored forest and living out of a tent, Rolo came to find me.

“Is she back?”
“Yeah. But…”
“Tch. Guess there’s nobody in the boonies.”

Seeing the bitter expression on Rolo’s face, I had a hunch what this meant.
We were never going to find anyone here capable of fighting a monster that even Advante’s top-ranked adventurers would struggle with.

But judging by Rolo’s face, that wasn’t the only bad news.

“Actually, that’s not all. Can you promise not to get mad?”
“Have I ever snapped at you?”
“A couple times when we were kids?”
“Let’s leave the past in the past.”

I conveniently shoved that aside. More importantly—what could get me mad?

“Albert’s here.”
“Hah?”

Rather than shock, I just went blank. What the hell is that narcissistic, ignorant waste doing in a backwoods place like this?

No—never mind. It’s obvious. Just like Fimia followed Rolo, that guy must’ve followed Fimia.

“As much of a pain as that is… if he’s here, then Saran must be too, right?”
“Yeah. Right now, they’re working with Fimia on a counter-strategy.”
“Well, that balances things out. I’ll come too.”

With a light sigh, I followed after Rolo. As long as Albert didn’t start spouting nonsense, Saran would come up with something clever.

…Or so I thought. I was too optimistic.

“We should withdraw immediately! There’s a Named monster nearby! We can’t handle this alone!”

I could hear his wailing voice from outside the building. And he was supposed to be the leader of a State-Sanctioned party. What a joke.

“Hey, Albert. If you don’t like it, go home.”

I opened the chief’s house door and said it with just enough menace to shut him up. The former leader turned around—not to me, but to Rolo—and shrieked:

“Rolo! This is all your fault! Is this revenge for being kicked out? Dragging Fimia out to this godforsaken place! Do you know how worried I’ve been?!”
“Shut it. What the hell are you even doing here?”

I hadn’t even told Albert the real story behind Rolo’s situation. Honestly… I can’t believe I was ever in a party with this guy. Back when we met, I thought he was a bit more decent.

“I came to take Fimia back!”
“Are you out of your damn mind?”
“What did you say!?”

Oh, get mad all you want. You don’t scare me one bit. Besides, Fimia followed Rolo. Anyone who gets in the way of someone’s love story deserves to get kicked to death by a horse.

Luckily for us, Marhas has plenty of horses to choose from.

“Anyway—Saran. Got a plan?”

I ignored the idiot and spoke to the quiet, thoughtful former party member.

“Long time no see, Yulg. I’ve just arrived, you know. Things aren’t as simple as your smash-first approach.”

Despite the jab, Saran never looked away from the map Rolo and I had drawn of the unexplored region. He always analyzed things with an ice-cold calm, and the fact that he wasn’t saying “This is impossible, we should retreat” meant he already had something in mind.

“We just don’t have enough information. Yulg, it’s your job.”
“You got it.”

As Saran adjusted his glasses with a finger, I responded with a grin.