Volume 2 Chapter 45 Neighboring Town and Barrier

If the damage from the labyrinth runaway already reaches the neighboring town…
It was a situation I didn’t even want to think about.
Unlike the labyrinth city, the neighboring town didn’t have enough fighting power to deal with the labyrinth runaway.
I heard that they had walls surrounding the town and a knight order, even so, I didn’t think it would be enough to protect themselves from the labyrinth runaway.
One day….. that was the limit of the time they could buy.

Because we were so sure of that, we couldn’t hide our turmoil upon hearing Laila-san ‘s words.
If Laila-san’s words were right, the neighboring town would be in a hellish state by now.

However, even though we understood the damage that would happen, we didn’t worry about the neighboring town before this not because it slipped our mind.

「…… I don’t think the damage would reach the neighboring town, Laila. Do you think those adventurers can reach the neighboring town?」

Zieg-san asked Laila-san.
Yes, that was the reason we decided the damage wouldn’t reach the neighboring town.

Personality aside, members of Wargod’s Great Sword were certainly excellent adventurers.
There was no denying hundreds of adventurers led by them would be a powerful force.

Even acknowledging that, it still seemed impossible for them to reach the neighboring town in the current situation.
The memory of the lich who tried to unleash tactical magic reinforced that thought.
Zieg-san too had the same opinion as me.

「The ogres I fought had strength that rivaled super-high difficulty magic beasts. Even with their large numbers, I don’t think their sloppy plan to escape to the neighboring town will succeed.」

In response to Zieg-san’s serious remark, Laila-san looked like she was in deep thought for a bit.
However, the anxious look on her face never disappeared.

「It’s true that I’ve only fought the hobgoblins in the labyrinth runaway, so this might be wrong, but I hope you can give this a thought.」

After that preamble, Laila-san continued with a serious expression.

「If… If Wargod’s Great Sword used the hundreds of adventurers as a decoy, would you still be able to say that?」

「Decoy!?」

「Even as adventurers of labyrinth city, there is no way… right?」

Zieg-san and Armia raised their voice in disbelief.
That would be a natural reaction.
Unlike us, the hundreds of adventurers escaping along with Wargod’s Great Sword were their allies.
Even the adventurer from the labyrinth city wouldn’t abandon hundreds of allies like they were just pawns.

…… And yet, I knew if it was Wargod’s Great Sword, that wasn’t an impossibility.

In contrast to Zieg-san and the others, the heat was escaping from my face.
If anyone looked at me, they must find my face to look very pale.
Even though I knew that, I couldn’t fix my complexion.

When they escaped the labyrinth city, they left behind their own members.
If they made that choice, then it wouldn’t be strange if they decided to use the hundreds of adventurers as decoys in order to save themselves.
And if the magic beasts were attracted to the hundreds of adventurers, it would buy Wargod’s Great Sword enough time to reach the vicinity of the neighboring town as the magic beasts wiped out the adventurers.

……In that case, it wasn’t strange at all if after killing Wargod’s Great Sword, the magic beasts rushed toward the neighboring town.

After thinking about that, I opened my mouth with a bitter look on my face.

「… I think what Laila-san said is possible. If it’s Wargod’s Great Sword, it wouldn’t be strange if they take advantage of their position as the leaders of adventurers and uses their allies as decoys.」

「Wha-!」

「…!」

Unable to hide her anger, Narsena voiced her agreement.

「I also think what Onii-san said is correct. Even when I knocked some of their members unconscious, the rest just kept going without hesitation. If they can leave behind their comrade like that, using others as a decoy is…」

「… Now that you mention it, it’s the comrade of that warrior and healer, huh?」

Hearing Narsena’s words, Zieg-san murmured with a tense face.
Zieg-san also already heard about them from me before, he might have an idea about the character of the members of Wargod’s Great Sword.
Armia was the only one who couldn’t hide her shock, but this was not the time to thoroughly explained the inhumanity of Wargod’s Great Sword.
Right now, the first priority was to check the situation in the neighboring town.

It was then Master opened her mouth with an awkward expression on her face.

「… Sorry for pouring cold water on your enthusiasm, but it’s impossible for them to reach the neighboring town.」

The words Master just said should’ve been good news.
Despite this, instead of being happy, she said that with regret on her face.

「First of all, what I’m about to tell you must never be shared with other people. I was going to tell you from the beginning, but if the word spreads, not only adventurers, even common people would be out of control.」

We nodded silently at the serious tone of the Master’s voice.
At that time, I noticed that Ronaldo-san’s unchanging expression looked a little tense.
That was the best proof that what Master was about to tell us was an extraordinary situation.

「The wall which is the only entrance to the labyrinth city from the neighboring town, Nellburg, is blocked by a barrier.」

「…………Huh?」

But, even assuming that was true, I was visibly shaken.

The labyrinth city was isolated, which implied that there would be no help sent from the country in the event of a labyrinth runaway.
In other words, we must overcome the labyrinth runaway with only our current fighting force, which had reduced significantly.
That was a very difficult situation for the current labyrinth city.
With a grim face, Laila asked Master.

「……What do you mean?」

「It’s just as I said. The defensive wall had been strengthened by a barrier. It happened right after we left. It would be impossible for the people from labyrinth city to break through that barrier, and the people from the neighboring town can’t come to labyrinth city.」

「…!」

At Master’s words, Laila-san went silent.
But she didn’t just stop there.

「The barrier is also a really high-performance one made with magic that even I don’t know about. It nullifies magic and magic arts nearby. Even if attacked by a mutated super-high difficulty magic beast, there shouldn’t be any problem.」

Repelling attack from mutated super-high difficulty magic beast…… Everyone except Ronaldo-san was at loss for words from those words.

Magical barrier was inherently fragile.
After all, a barrier that consumed magic power over time was quite inefficient.
It was impossible to keep the strength of the barrier while also keeping it up all the time.
That being the case, a traditional wall was stronger, which explained why the neighboring town was protected with a traditional wall.

Therefore, a barrier that could block even attacks from mutated super-high difficulty magic beasts was nothing but an anomaly.
How great it would be if it was just a joke from Master.

「The reason why Ronaldo used the escaped adventurer as a decoy is probably because of that barrier.」

However, it was clear from Master’s words that this was ridiculous.
Ronaldo-san tried to use his failure as an excuse, but Master ignored him and continued.

「…Even if it was delayed just a little bit, I tried to buy some time, but it was impossible.」

A hint of regret showed up on Master’s face when she said so.
That expression implied she tried really hard to delay the deployment of the barrier.
Because I understood that, a doubt came to my mind.
As world-class adventurers, Master and Ronaldo-san were not only famous but also had some authority.
To be honest, I couldn’t help but feel that it was unnatural for them to ignore this and forcefully proceed with the matter.

「Compared to the labyrinth city, maybe your name isn’t as that big of a deal in the neighboring town, Master?」

「No, there is no way that’s true. The authority of a world-class adventurer is guaranteed by the guild, there is no way that Ralma-san’s authority doesn’t apply in Nellburg alone…」

「Just as Narsena said, wherever there is a guild, the adventurers’ authority is guaranteed. There is a guild in Nellburg, so it’s unthinkable that the authority of a world-class adventurer is being ignored.」

「I, see…」

In response to Narsena and Zieg-san’s additions, I put my hand on my chin and gave it a thought.
Unlike me who hardly left the labyrinth city, these are the words of two people who know the power of the guild.
It’s hard to think they’re wrong.
In that case, there’s only one possibility left.

「……Someone with authority greater than world-class adventurers created the barrier.」

The authority of a world-class adventurer is quite strong.
Considering that, was it Mist, the branch chief of the labyrinth city guild who created the barrier?
No, Mist’s authority is limited to the labyrinth city.
It doesn’t matter that it’s the neighboring town, it’s hard to imagine that Mist’s authority exceeds Master’s.
In other words, someone who surpasses even Mist created the barrier.

It was then that Master opened her mouth.

「Maybe it’s created by the people from the heart of this country. If you’re not that kind of person, you can’t create that barrier.」

「Can’t create that barrier?」

Master answered Narsena who parroted her words with a bitter look on her face.

「I have never seen such a powerful barrier. If there is something I can say about that barrier, it would take hundreds of magicians to create. It also will take a month to create.」

Master spat that out without hiding her disgust.
It’s Master, alright.
Guess she’s still a little bitter that they rejected her request.
There’s no way she was fine being isolated unilaterally, I’m not fine with it too.
However, if Master’s words are true, we can’t do anything about the barrier.
I grumbled bitterly at that fact.

「Hundreds of magicians, huh? And it also took one month, if that’s true, then… Hmm? a month?」

……It was then that I realized something was wrong.

Narsena worriedly called out to me, whose air suddenly changed.

「Onii-san?」

「…Narsena, do you know why there’s a barrier in the neighboring town?」

「Huh? …… Isn’t it to protect themselves from labyrinth runaway…… ah!」

Narsena didn’t finish her sentence.
That reaction made me realize that Narsena also noticed the same thing as me.
Right, it was impossible to create a barrier that normally would take a month of preparation for a labyrinth runaway.

——Unless, the labyrinth runaway was already foreseen one month ago.

「……No way, did the people in the royal capital foresee the labyrinth runaway?」

Laila-san who listened to us spoke with a trembling voice.
The one who answered her wasn’t us.

「No, there is no way the people in the royal capital who left the labyrinth runaway alone can foresee that. If there is anyone who can do it, it’s the people in the labyrinth city.」

Master said so indifferently.
From her calm attitude, Master must have reached our assumption beforehand.
No, Master must have gone even further than our assumption.
Understanding this, Master opened her mouth in the room where silence prevails.

「And that royal capital’s pawn could be none other than Mist, the labyrinth city branch chief, the elf with lost technology.」

At that moment, Master’s excessive hostility toward Mist, and all of her words and actions up until this point, finally connected inside me……

There is a couple of change onward, first, change monster to magic beast, this is a more literal translation, but based on what I read ahead, the change is necessary, next, there is a mention of magic arts in this chapter, it’s translated from majutsu, unlike the usual mahou they use, majutsu was mentioned first (if google don’t lie to me) in volume 2 chapter 32 when explaining about sub human race, I missed the fact they use different kanji there, so it seems like the magic Mist use is different than the magic human use, I might change the term again if I find more fitting term for it