Chapter 65 – v2c26 The Never-Ending Disaster

「Thank you, everyone. I will take care of the rest.」

I felt relief for the safety of the townfolks and gratitude for the adventurers as I said that.

Honestly, I didn’t think Marnell and the other adventurers would stay in this situation.

I knew about how they became familiar with the townfolks.
Still, the idea that they would leave the townfolks and run away in the event of an emergency also existed in my heart.
However, that was just a selfish assumption on my part.

Their tattered appearance as they charged at the hobgoblins while being injured here and there was a telling proof above all else.

「I have to apologize to Marnell and others later.」

I muttered that and laughed.
I guess I should’ve talked with Marnell and the others more, I thought.
And for that, I first must eliminate all these enemies.

「So, I’ll make this quick.」

The hobgoblins were still in complete chaos from my sudden appearance.
I made my move before these hobgoblins realized I was a threat.

「Gee!」

I swung my dagger with a force that was strengthened by overwhelming body reinforcement.
It decapitated one of the hobgoblins.

「BE CARE-…」

At that moment, a hobgoblin that realized I was a threat tried to warn the others, but the warning stopped halfway.
Before it could finish, I sliced its head open with my dagger.

Two hobgoblins were killed in a flash.

「SURROUND AND CRUSH HIM!」

At that point, the hobgoblins, finally realized I was a formidable opponent, little by little moved to surround me, taking advantage of their number.
It was a classic, yet effective, strategy.

However, that move wasn’t enough to overturn the gap in ability between me and the hobgoblins.
A single swing of my dagger and I removed multiple hobgoblins from the fight.

「That’s like coming here to get killed.」

「Gigi-!?」

The hobgoblins faltered as they watched multiple of their kin got killed in an instant.
They finally realized it was impossible for them to reach the townfolks beyond me.

「AIM AT THE OTHER HUMAN!」

The next moment, the hobgoblins turned around and started running, it was as if their obsession with the townfolks from before was a lie.
In that direction were the injured adventurers.

Right, the hobgoblins, realizing they couldn’t kill the townfolks, turned their target to the adventurers, and attacked them.
It was true that the adventurers were not as powerless as the townfolks, but if the hobgoblins attacked them in droves, it would still cause considerable damage.
The adventurers have been desperately trying to protect the townfolks from the hobgoblins and were currently exhausted after all.

However, I didn’t become agitated in front of such sight.

「…I’m sorry, but I already saw that trick.」

I calmly held my dagger toward the hobgoblins who were facing away from me.
I was sure I could kill all the hobgoblins before they could reach the adventurers.

「That is……」

It was at that moment I noticed someone with blue hair approached in a hurry.
When I realized who that was, I smiled and relaxed my stance.
I’m pretty sure I don’t need to go there myself anymore.

And my prediction didn’t fail me.

「Haaaaaaa!」

「Gigaaa-!?」

Without paying attention to the dumbfounded adventurers, the person who rushed between the adventurers and the hobgoblins did a flying kick using that momentum, hitting several hobgoblins at once.

「Wha-!」

Nevermind the hobgoblins, even the adventurers who were being helped didn’t understand what just happened as it was too abrupt.
Meanwhile, the blue-haired female, Narsena, looked at me and bowed apologetically.

「I’m sorry, Onii-san. I’m late…」

I shook my head, telling Narsena that I didn’t care.

「Don’t worry, I understand that the situation in the guild is messy.」

Narsena smiled a little at my words, then turned back to the hobgoblins.
The hobgoblins, being surrounded by Narsena and me, were in turmoil.

「After we finish this, I will tell you everything I know!」

They finished annihilating the hobgoblins in dozens of seconds after that.

「It’s about adventurer guild, apparently, the branch head and the top brass staffs have disappeared, they’re in a terrible commotion now.」

After the annihilation of the hobgoblins, I listened to what happened in the guild from Narsena while treating the adventurers.
Honestly, I didn’t have a good impression toward the branch head, I wasn’t expecting much from him.
However, to go missing in this situation was too much.

「Top brass staff… Does that mean, Hanzam also disappeared?」

The one in my mind was the guild staff that we tricked when we were getting into the fight with the adventurer party called Wolf of Calamity.
Even that guild staff called Hanzam is on the run?
I didn’t exactly trust him or anything, but I could see that Hanzam was a fairly skilled person.
That was why I didn’t expect him to get scared and run away.

「Guess there is no meaning in remembering who have escaped currently, huh?……… What about the other guild staff?」

「Everyone is left behind. Even the top adventurers who have a pretty close relationship with the guild also left behind……. Even though it would be better if they’re taken along as well.」

From her voice which trailed away in the end and the weariness that she didn’t bother to hide on her face, I got a general idea of what happened at the guild.

Many of the adventurers, as they became stronger, became more selfish, the worst of them would cause trouble without considering the situation.
As one of the few people who could tell those adventurers to listen to her by force, Narsena must have worked really hard.

「…Thank you for your hard work. Are they really doing as they please even in this situation?」

「Some of the adventurers were planning to take advantage of the chaos and plunder the city. If not for Laila-san, I have a feeling that the adventurers would have killed each other…」

「……………Hahh.」

My head ached as I realized I had to deal with these adventurers who would do whatever they wanted in the future.
Now that we don’t know what’s going on, we can’t just not making use of these adventurers, who are a valuable asset.

「Especially in this situation…」

Seeing the adventurers groaning in front of me, I muttered.
Since bringing the material to this town, Marnell and other adventurers had grown at an extraordinary rate.

Holding back this many hobgoblins when each one had an extraordinary strength that could only be beaten by either ten beginner adventurers or five intermediate level adventurers with only this many people was the best proof.

…That was why it was a considerable loss of strength that I couldn’t count on the adventurers here.

Thanks to my treatment, none of the adventurers were dead.
However, there was a limit to what I could do, the number of people who could still fight was less than half.
Moreover, the healer was exhausted, and we were almost out of recovery medicine.
In such a situation, we wouldn’t be able to expect even half of our strength.

「If only this can be used by the normal healer as well…」

I muttered as I looked at the magic tool that strengthened healing magic I made.
By using this magic tool, it was possible to heal serious injuries with just 《Heal》, or you can throw the magic to heal from a long distance.
However, in order to activate it, it was necessary to put in both magic power and ki, which meant only I could use it.

If the magic tool could be used by other healers, I would ask other adventurers to heal the other, but they wouldn’t be able to heal this many people when they didn’t know what was going on.
In spite of this situation, or perhaps because of it, the adventurers in this town were the ones who worked to ensure their own survival.

「… At least, if we can cooperate even just now.」

Even though I knew that, I still uttered those words.
Because I was convinced the threat was not over yet.

I didn’t think this was the end of the hobgoblins raid.
From what I heard from Narsena, there were no more hobgoblins in Labyrinth City, the Adventurers and the townfolks also believed that the battle was completely over.
Yet, I still felt a chill.
As if it was telling me that it wasn’t over yet.

…However, even my vigilance was lacking compared to reality.

「Onii-san, more monsters are coming!」

「………Huh?」

Suddenly, Narsena uttered a word of warning.
Pressured by her serious gaze, I turned my eyes toward the direction she was looking, but I could only see the wall surrounding Labyrinth City and no hobgoblins.

I was about to ask what her warning meant, but it was then Zieg-san came running, looking flustered.

「New enemies are closing by, it’s orc!」

「───Wha-!」

An extraordinarily strong hobgoblins raid that plunged the Labyrinth City into turmoil.

…… It was just a little bit more until I realized that was all just the beginning.