“Lena?!” Ron exclaimed in shock.
It was only natural that he would go searching for Naru—Ron had taken on the duty of sheltering the children, after all. But Lena was staying with his group to avoid danger. He’d figured she would have chosen to stay put, not join him in his search. Why was she heading into potential danger?
Ron figured Lena was using a fake name and was likely a foreign noble. At first, he’d suspected her and Alia of being spies. Though he’d never personally dealt with any, some of the traveling merchants who came to town gave off that impression. But those suspicions had been quelled quickly; the two girls—likely a well-bred lady and her guard—were too conspicuous to be spies.
There were countless possible suspicious reasons for them to be here, but if he were to be charitable, another possibility was that Lena had fallen victim to a scheme or accident. If so, their desire to escape the town was understandable.
At first, Ron hadn’t wanted to get involved, but after learning of their abilities, he’d figured he could use them for his own ends. Camille, who had allied with Ron for his own reasons, seemed taken with the words and deeds of the guard girl, Alia. But Ron was more interested in Lena’s judgment and negotiation skills.
Ron was a Kal’Faan noble. Though he was considerably younger than his older brothers, their supporters might still target him for elimination if he failed to establish a firm foothold within the family hierarchy. Thus, he’d taken his chances with a dangerous solo mission and obtained permission to use the one-of-a-kind hot-air balloon to travel to this land.
Normally, his position wouldn’t have allowed such risks, and he eventually came to realize the only reason he’d been able to leave was that his brothers’ supporters had pulled strings. Upon arrival, Ron had been attacked by his own attendants, who were supposed to have been guarding him. He’d only survived by destroying the balloon itself. The attendants, who had died in the fall, had likely been acting under orders of his brothers’ supporters. Left alone, Ron had been forced to fend for himself and figure out how to survive in Cutlass.
Nearly two years had passed since then. Since Ron couldn’t contact his homeland, his noble registration was about to expire. He had to live and make it back. Though his reasons for escaping town were the same as Lena and Alia’s, Ron had a feeling that their motivations differed from his own.
Over these two years, Ron had grown attached to the orphans. Though he knew he couldn’t save every urchin in Cutlass, he couldn’t leave Chaco and the others he’d grown close to. Camille probably felt the same.
Speaking strictly as a nobleman, this was foolish sentimentalism.
Lena, meanwhile, regarded Ron with eyes that seemed to view the world with a broader perspective. In that regard, she reminded him of his father. Though they both wanted to save people, their ambitions seemed markedly different in scope.
At first, he’d thought her a mere noblewoman. Over their time together, he’d grown fond of her genuine, lovely smiles. Before he knew it, his eyes were following her every move. Now he could see that, despite being younger than Ron, Lena had a firmer grasp of what nobility truly entailed.
“All right,” he conceded. “Let’s go, Lena.”
“Let’s!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“All right, people! Show them what we’re made of!!!” Jaysha bellowed.
“Raaaaaaaaaaaah!” the guild members shouted back.
The guild had mobilized a mixed group of adventurers to deal with the stampede: crag dwarf heavy fighters wielding massive shields and axes and mountain dwarves brandishing halberds. The Munza gang had sent a group of light fighters, all beastmen, equipped with swords and spears and clad in desert-appropriate light armor. Joining them was a group of human adventurers. In total, over 150 adventurers Rank 2 and above were marching toward Reisveil.
But...
“Tch,” muttered Jaysha, who had a two-handed magic-steel axe balanced over her shoulders, as she looked back at the adventurers under her command. “Something smells fishy.”
Her people, the dwarves, weren’t the issue. And the Munza, with whom the Hogroth had renewed agreements after the Rose incident, were keeping the bloodthirsty beastmen in line. The dark elves were, of course, missing.
But something felt off among the human adventurers—who comprised about twenty percent of their full numbers.
“My lady...”
“I know, Jilgan,” Jaysha snapped.
Unlike the sturdier dwarves and beastmen, humans struggled in desert environments, and so few of them became adventurers. Some did, of course, but most were outcasts or orphans driven to desperation. Bringing such low-ranking individuals along would’ve only caused more problems. Instead, they’d recruited the few humans Rank 2 and above—who seemed oddly unsettled.
“I can’t say it too loud,” Jaysha murmured. “The Reezan, you think?”
“You figured it out. Good job.”
Jaysha scoffed at being treated like a child. “Hmph!”
Still, she knew arguing with Jilgan, who had been her chaperone for nearly thirty years now, was useless. In dwarf years, she was barely an adult.
Wait, that’s not the issue right now.
The Hogroth Merchant Company dealt in weapon and armor sales as well as smithwork, but as managers of the Adventurers’ Guild, they also had the responsibility to protect Cutlass from external threats. Doing so, even without being asked, served as a show of force and afforded them considerable standing in the town despite having the smallest numbers among the four factions.
Therefore, the Hogroth had to stop this stampede—their reputation was at stake. Even if an earth dragon from the depths of Reisveil was behind it, Jaysha had no intention of retreating. But swirling beneath this situation were shadows that clung like sand to her skin. It was dangerous to make assumptions regarding the mastermind who’d orchestrated this crisis—demons, the Reezan, someone else—but it was impossible to not be wary.
What if their objective was to lure the Hogroth adventurers away from town?
“What of the shifty bunch?” Jaysha asked.
“Moved them to the rear, just in case,” Jilgan said. “But we don’t know what they’re up to, so it’s hard to say whether that was the correct call.”
“Right...”
After breaking for a meal, the adventurers resumed their march.
In this region, relatively docile subspecies of shelled dragon were sometimes used for transportation in lieu of horses. However, procuring enough of them in time to transport this many people wasn’t feasible. Therefore, the main group was traveling on foot with almost no rest—all the more reason to have the fragile humans in the rear, guarding the supply carts the dragons were pulling.
After several more hours, a panther beastwoman shouted, “Guildmaster! Dust clouds in the distance!”
“Here they come!” Jaysha shouted back, grinning boldly.
Dust clouds in the distance meant many monsters were stampeding—but Jaysha, who far preferred swinging her axe to ruminating on detailed strategies, liked it this way.
“Form up, you dirty bastards! Shields to the front! Block them with your lives if you have to! Mountain dwarves, follow behind and strike when they hit the shields! Beastmen, do whatever you want! Kill them!!!”
“Yeeeeeeeeah!!!”
“Hey! Not all of us are dirty, Guildmaster!” joked several beastwomen, including the scout.
While the guild was partial to dwarves, Jaysha often favored the few female adventurers and personally offered them quests, which had led to a degree of casual rapport between them that transcended race.
“Very funny! Focus up! Sorcerers, get ready to strike first!”
Over half of the female adventurers were sorceresses. At Jaysha’s command, human and beastfolk sorcerers began to ready spells from behind the shield bearers.
“Incoming!”
The first to emerge from the dust clouds were nimble-legged shelled dragons and a few flying insect monsters. Upon confirming no heat-resistant desert lizards were among them, Jaysha ordered the sorcerers to channel fire-elemental spells.
“Trip them up! Fire!”