The frontline unit successfully escaped the Stampede for now, and they continued their retreat toward Sentrea while fending off monster ambushes along the way. While resting their exhausted horses, Tsutomu passed by Alma, whose black hair had stiffened due to the dried Sandworm blood.
“I REALLY need to wash this off soon…”
“……”
While the smell had not been too bothersome before due to everyone being occupied with monster ambushes, Alma had now realized that she smelled terrible — something akin to rot, perhaps due to there being things inside the Sandworm’s stomach that had not completely digested.
With Tsutomu passing by with a slightly wrinkled nose, Alma turned to face him, alert to his presence. Normally, Alma would not have struck up a conversation with Tsutomu due to the awkwardness between them, but in her current state of agitation after being swallowed by the Sandworm, she reflexively opened her mouth,
“What, you think I’m stinky?”
“…To be fair, you ARE stinky. Maybe your nose has gotten used to it by now, but you smell like rotten meat to me.”
“Uh… fair enough, I guess?” Alma, hearing Tsutomu’s response, looked away after an awkward and hesitant pause.
For a similar reason, the space around the rescued Explorers who had been swallowed by the Sandworms was noticeably vacant.
Tsutomu, observing Alma’s reaction, made a face with a mix of amusement and exasperation before calling out to the Undine in his pocket.
“Can you clean her up? She smells so bad, my nose is about to curl…” Tsutomu made his request while holding his nose, and the Undine, the Slime-shaped Spirit, turned away in a decisive refusal.
Tsutomu proceeded to negotiate with the Undine, stacking up more and more Water Magic Stones. He eventually managed to entrust the clean-up of the fluid-covered Explorers to the Undine.
“…Aren’t you a White Mage? How come your affinity with the Spirit is so high? I can’t believe one of them would be willing to do such menial tasks like this…”
“Eh, because I’m a lucky boy, I guess?”
“Gah… Look, I’m sorry about that, all right?”
“…I should say sorry, too. I know it’s behind us now, but… well, I couldn’t resist.”
Tsutomu had already received a full apology from Alma, and seeing that she was genuinely apologetic, this time he was the one to apologize for making an insensitive joke. The Undine crawled up from the ground and started scraping the gunk off Alma who, while appearing slightly ticklish, lowered her gaze.
“…Say, do you remember that one time, while that nickname fiasco was going on, when our eyes met?”
“……”
“I pretended not to see you. I was afraid that if we spoke, I’d be asked to return the Black Staff. Really, I’m sorry. The face you made at me… I still remember it sometimes.”
“It’s all right. As you can see, I’m doing perfectly well for myself.”
Despite what he said, Tsutomu’s expression was not particularly bright. When the nickname Lucky Boy became known, Tsutomu had no reliable allies in this fantasy world. Alma’s act of deliberately avoiding eye contact with him at that time stuck with him due to it happening when absolutely everyone around him was a stranger — It felt as if he had been pushed off a cliff.
“You’re strong, you know — strong enough that you actually don’t need the Black Staff. But… I really should have talked to you then. When Weiss took the Black Staff away, I felt a bit of what you were going through — and if it weren’t for my Clanmates doing that… I wouldn’t be here.” Alma glanced at Garm and Amy, who were chatting with the other Absolute Helix members. “And you… you have good friends, too. There is no telling what would’ve happened if they hadn’t been there for you. I mean, back then, you seemed like a lost child. All the more reason that I should’ve spoken up instead of avoiding you, you know, seeing that I was the one who penned that nickname.”
“…It’s all right, really. You apologized, and that’s good enough for me.”
“I dunno, you didn’t exactly leave on a good note the last time we talked… But for the record, I treat the Black Staff as just a tool now, all right? I don’t hold it in my sleep anymore, really!”
[She actually did that!? I mean, that might’ve sounded cute out of context, but still…]
As Tsutomu stared with widened eyes at Alma, she blushed and took a moment to regain her composure.
“A-anyway… Considering how badly I treated you, I– Mmph!?”
“Huh? A-are you all right?”
“Mmph!? Blub blub blub…”
“Whoa, Undine! Stop it! You’re drowning her!”
The Undine, seemingly unable to overlook Tsutomu’s saddened expression, suddenly pounced on Alma’s face. Alma, with the blue Slime-like creature covering her face, could not breathe and struggled, while Tsutomu hurriedly tried to peel it off.
As the chaos unfolded, Weiss looked on with a solemn expression.
▽▽
The frontline unit, having rested their horses, resumed their journey and safely returned to Sentrea without any further monster ambushes. House Babenberg had put up shields spanning from the underground to the sky in Sentrea, providing ample protection against monster attacks. With the threat seemingly averted, the troops finally let themselves relax, engaging in casual conversations.
Christia conveyed to House Babenberg the intelligence she gained from the Stampede, instructing the knights to readjust Sentrea’s defenses, including its walls and weapons. Afterwards, she called over Leon, who had been conversing with the head of House Babenberg.
“Listen, Leon — if this information doesn’t reach the Royal Capital, I fear that things will take a turn for the worse. You must ensure that they are informed. Return to the Capital immediately and ensure this information is delivered. The documents are all compiled here.”
“Mm-hm. Sure, leave it to me.”
“Sorry for making you do this. When you successfully deliver this information accurately to the Royal Capital, I’ll have a reward ready for you.”
“For real!? All right!”
Leon, who had been working himself to the bone since being summoned to the Capital, was suddenly reenergized upon hearing of Christia’s promised reward. With Leon brimming with enthusiasm as he left Sentrea, Christia headed toward the head of House Babenberg to discuss matters concerning the defensive battle.
Meanwhile, Tsutomu, leisurely seated in the inn’s lobby, speculated about the recent behavior of the monsters.
“Hmmmmmmmm…”
[Monsters commanding other monsters… I don’t think that has ever existed before.]
Beside him, Hannah, wearing a difficult expression as she practiced Magic Fist with Magic Stone Scraps. Tsutomu crossed his arms and dug through his mental archive of Live Dungeon knowledge. However, in the game, creatures with the intelligence to command monsters were nonexistent. Although there were talking monsters, they usually were encountered alone in pseudo-boss fights, making it unlikely for them to assume a commanding role.
“Ow–!? Teach! I’m hurt again!”
[Also, the members of the Scarlet Devil Squad and Absolute Helix were specifically targeted. If there’s someone who can command monsters, they’d typically aim for Christia, the commander… right? Considering what the targeted members have in common… it’s probably that they’ve progressed further down God’s Dungeon compared to the others. Besides, the targeting toward me specifically seemed even more persistent.)
Even if there actually was someone capable of commanding monsters within the Stampede, Tsutomu could not discern the motive behind the attack. Concealing Wyverns in the clouds, ambushes from Sandworms in the ground — particularly in soft soil where Sandworms could easily advance, and likely having other monsters help with the digging. Despite possessing intelligence capable of issuing such detailed instructions, the individual commanding the monsters did not seem to target Christia but rather those associated with God’s Dungeon.
“C’mon, Teach, can I get some healing here? What, you’re not gonna make me waste a Potion, are you~~?”
“Hannah, don’t bother him,” Korinna said, “Here, I’ll heal you.”
[If it spawned in a Dungeon like a Devourer Dragon, it probably wouldn’t target me, and instead go for someone stronger. Still, the fact that it specifically aimed for me suggests another factor… Maybe the monster infiltrated Dungeon City even before this Stampede?]
Arriving at such a conclusion, Tsutomu turned to Hannah, who was having her injured fingertip healed by Korinna. As Tsutomu reached his hand out to Hannah, she brightened, hoping for a swift recovery.
“<<Holy>>.”
“Gyah!! Why’d you attack me like that, Teach!? WHYYYYYY!?”
<<Holy>> had almost no effect on humans — at most warming them up a little — but Hannah rolled around on the ground, exaggerating her pain.
“Well, it seemed like someone was commanding the monsters in the Stampede, you see, and it’s probably someone related to Dungeon City — So I thought it might be you. Looks like I was wrong, though.”
“What!? I mean, I have absolutely no idea what you were talking about, but you’re… suspecting me of doing something!? Why!?”
“I dunno, maybe you were getting kinda annoying with how much you hurt yourself?”
“Oh c’mon! I’m working hard on my training, you know!”
Indeed, Tsutomu had been finding Hannah’s recent practice of Magic Fist somewhat irritating — especially how she would do it near him. His casting of <<Holy>> on her, however, was unintentional. Hannah was angry all the same, however, as apparent in how she was flapping her wings.
“Also, back when we were in Dungeon City, I already told you not to use the Magic Fist out here. If you’re going to keep flaunting it just because you’re Sir Melchor’s apprentice, I won’t heal you anymore.”
“I wouldn’t do it here!”
“And Korinna, don’t feel obligated to heal her, all right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Korinna! Don’t let him poison you! I still want you to be a good girl! KORINNAAA!!”
“Oi,” retorted Tsutomu, feeling that he had been indirectly insulted.
In return, Hannah looked at him with a mixture of fear and expectation. Tsutomu proceeded to ignore her, standing up from his chair.
“I’ll talk to Garm and the others. Since Healers might be targeted from the start this time, you should be careful too, Korinna.”
“Y-yes, I understand.”
Following Tsutomu’s warning, Korinna, looking scared, and Hannah, appearing jittery, were left behind as Tsutomu went to the other Clan members, conveying to them his speculation about the possibility that the one commanding the monsters might be related to Dungeon City.
<hr/>
