After a few minutes, a wooden hut came into view. It was terribly dilapidated, so much so it was hard to think anyone lived there. It looked ready to collapse at any moment.
However, the hut was sturdier than it looked. It had been fortified, though the work had been concealed. That had to be the demons’ doing.
“They’re inside. No, below,” I muttered, stopping my feet. Somehow, the demons and beastman seemed to be beneath the ground. So, there was an underground passage. The hut had to be the entrance—and the demons had to have built it.
“So? What do we do?”
“Hmm...”
We couldn’t kill the beastman, nor the demons—especially the former. Even with the latter, we had to keep at least one alive.
“It doesn’t seem like they’ve noticed us...”
“Should we launch a surprise attack?” Daggers was right. Our best bet was defeating them before they realized our presence. However, our foes’ strength remained an unknown variable, along with their battle methods and skills. Plus, we couldn’t ignore the possibility that monster-controlling magic could work on humans too considering brainwashing and other psychological spells had an effect on us. I didn’t want to start a fight if it would leave us disadvantaged.
“So the demons are below us, huh?” muttered Daggers, looking at his feet.
“Yeah... How do we get inside?”
“Right. It would be a tall ask to both sneak inside undetected and carry out a surprise attack.”
Huh? Wait, if they were below us, then...
“We could be bold about this,” I muttered.
Yui just tilted her head, looking confused.
✦ ✦ ✦
Allen was furious that the applicants lacked the talent he had hoped for. He was a Hero, one of only four in the whole continent! He was sure that if he started looking, he’d easily find skilled new members—but that changed once he started looking. Reality didn’t live up to his expectations. Not only was there no talent, all the applicants were practically useless...
No, at least one of them had to be good enough. But unfortunately, Allen failed to find the capable adventurers he was looking for. Of course, his expectations were high, but there was another reason none of the applicants lived up to that—the fact that he had failed a quest just days prior. Everyone in town had already heard the news that the Hero’s party had failed, and that one of them had suffered a grave injury. Merchants and travelers had further spread the word, and now, the news had even reached the royal capital. Thus, skilled professionals had chosen not to apply. They had given up on Allen.
“Um... What shall we do? I do not see any applicants of real talent,” asked Sheena, carefully watching Allen’s expression.
Mia and Lulu sat in chairs themselves, seeming quite on edge. An awkward atmosphere filled the room.
“Damn it! There’s nothing else we can do. There are a few that could maybe replace Rina. I mean, they won’t be as good as her, but we don’t have a choice. Our only problem is replacing that piece of crap. We’ve gotta at least find someone who can use storage magic...” said Allen as he checked over the list once again. Unfortunately, no one fit the bill. Two spells were the maximum number of buffs any supporter on the list could cast at once.
“What’ll we do? Should we just go without?” asked Mia, seeing Allen’s hesitation.
As she spoke, Allen picked up another piece of paper—the list of shieldmaster applicants. “I guess this one’s the best of the bunch,” said Allen, glowering at the list.
That’s when there was a sudden knock at the door. They all tilted their heads in curiosity.
“Go check it out, Mia.”
“Yeah... Got it.” Mia left the room.
A few seconds later, a band of knights stepped inside, panting and panicked.
“The knight brigade? What the heck do you guys want?”
“We just received word from the knights investigating the forest via detection magic. A giant horde of monsters is marching straight for the city! There are roughly ten thousand of them, and—”
“Huh?! Ten thousand?!” shouted Allen, shooting into the air. Even Sheena and the others looked shocked. “What the hell are we supposed to do about that?” he asked, but the knight brigade only ever had one reason for their visits. Allen gulped.
“Right... This is an emergency request, and we have thus come to ask for your aid, Sir Hero.” The knights all bowed their heads.
“So, an emergency request...” Unlike the typical quests posted by the Adventurer’s Guild, emergency requests were posted by the knight brigade in times of crisis. As a rule, the Hero’s Party was forced to comply. Unless they were visibly suffering grave injuries or were in too poor health otherwise, failure to do so would mean being rid of the title of Hero. Adventurers besides the Hero could participate as well, but under their own prerogative.
Losing the title of Hero... That was the main difference between typical quests and emergency requests.
“Damn it...” Allen technically had the right to refuse, but it would mean losing his title. What would happen next?
Let’s say, for example, that Allen did lose his title of Hero. While that would still remain his class, he’d lose governmental support and be banned from claiming the title, which was something Allen wanted to avoid. Just the name “Hero” was enough to be lionized by the masses and receive a hefty salary.
But Allen had another reason he couldn’t refuse—his image. Not only would he lose his title, he’d be labeled as a failed Hero who turned down a quest and abandoned his city. He’d be shunned by all no matter where he went. And that would only be worse for Allen than the other Heroes considering he had publicly announced his plans of eradicating the demon race. Refusing this emergency request would be seen as running.
“Damn it! Why now...?!” This emergency request came at the most horrendous timing, but he had no just reason to refuse.
“Well then, Sir Hero. We shall be waiting outside while we call upon the citizens to evacuate,” stated the knight brigade before stepping out of the room.
Allen watched them in silence until they were gone. Then, he turned to Sheena. “Hey. What’ll happen if I refuse?”
“The majority of our operational funds and reward money comes from the state—in other words, taxes imposed on the citizens. You will certainly lose your title. And—”
“The people will hate me, and I’ll no longer be a Hero... But if we make up for our earlier loss here, that’ll get erased from the books, yeah?”
“Huh...?” Sheena hadn’t been expecting those words. She couldn’t hide her surprise.
Allen ignored her. “Hey, Sheena. We can, right?”
“Y-Yes... This is an emergency request, and the city hangs in the balance. Success will not just make up for our previous failure, it will position you above the other three Heroes.”
“I see...” Allen’s smile grew twisted.
“Hey, Allen? You’re not...?” asked Lulu, looking quite nervous. She had a bad feeling about this, and it wasn’t just her. Both Sheena and Mia were looking at Allen with expressions tacitly begging for an explanation.
“All right, guys! Let’s get ready. We’re gonna go rout these monsters and prove to the people that I’m the strongest Hero!” announced Allen, before rushing out of the room.
The others watched him with worry.