Chapter 30: Search for the Special Individual

“Alright, let’s run!”

When I shouted it loud enough for everyone to hear, Liluria—riding the horse beside me—immediately started complaining.

“You’re kidding, right?! After coming all this way, you’re just going to abandon those people?!”

But even if you say that, I’m in a bind. I had heard there were 100,000 of them, but I never imagined that seeing them in person would be this horrifying.

Observing the battle, no matter how many we knocked down, new monsters kept coming without pause. They didn’t seem to fear death at all—charging forward even when their arms were ripped off or swords were impaled in their legs. Their relentless advance was nothing short of a nightmare.

The humans fighting them were clearly struggling too. I certainly didn’t want to face those things in combat.

“Well, running away is one option. There’s no obligation to risk our lives fighting here.”

“Hmm, if we’re going to run, then I’ll use my teleportation magic to send everyone off to a neighboring country.”

“Hey! Aren’t you guys supposed to be heroes? A hero is one who saves the country in its hour of need!”

“No, like I’ve said countless times—I’m not a hero.”

“Can’t Professor Zenon use her teleportation magic to dump the monsters somewhere in the mountains?”

“No way. Teleportation magic consumes an enormous amount of mana. With my power, I could barely send ten of them away.”

If such ferocious monsters suddenly teleported into a mountain, even the owner of that mountain would be shocked. That idea is definitely off the table.

Seeing that the idea of fleeing seemed to be gaining favor among us, Liluria pouted, “Really… Isn’t everyone except me on board with this?”

“Come on, Ao. Let’s do our best, okay? I’ll even take a pay cut next time!”

Hmm, now that’s an attractive proposal. But I certainly don’t want to risk my life just for that. I might have a cheat that keeps me safe, but the rest of you would be risking your lives. If I agree too hastily and someone dies, I’ll regret it for sure.

“Fine, fine—I agree. I’ll take a full pay cut. So, c’mon, let’s get ready to fight!”

A full pay cut, huh. If that’s the case, maybe I should fight… No, wait, think again. This isn’t about money. Money is only valuable when you’re alive. Life is worth more than money, and the reverse can never be true.

Besides, our original mission was to defeat that special individual. But even if we search, can we really find that special individual so easily? That creature is said to be incredibly intelligent—and is probably taking every precaution to hide its location. No matter how motivated we get, I have a feeling that defeating it before the country falls is going to be extremely difficult.

After all, this is a losing battle. Running away is clearly the best option.

“Alright, I get it. I get it. So here’s my final proposal: Ao! If you decide to fight, I’ll grant you one day—just one day—where I’m free to do as I please!”

“Alright, everyone! Prepare for battle! Let’s save Rozy with our strength!”

Hearing Liluria’s words, I immediately steeled my resolve. People are suffering. I may not be a hero, but as an ordinary person summoned under heroic circumstances, I simply cannot stand by and do nothing.

My sudden turnaround made not only Sylha and Professor Zenon, but even Liluria recoil a bit.

Well, what can you do? When you put it that way, I feel fired up! Money > life may not hold up, but sex > life sure does.

And so, we plunged into the fray.

～～～～～～

Clang clang… clank-clank!

An overwhelming horde of monsters surged toward me. Although my cheat ability rendered every one of them powerless, the sheer terror was unimaginable.
Damn—this plan didn’t take my weak heart into account.

“Die! Die! DIE!!!”

Far away from me, Liluria—shielded by Sylha and Professor Zenon—unleashed her black magic in full force around my position. The strategy was simple: I lure in as many monsters as possible, and Liluria gets to feast on them with her magic.

I slipped on the ring embedded with a magic stone that Liluria had given me and dove headlong into the monster horde. The magic stone attracts monsters even from a distance. Soon, the creatures swarmed around me like bait, and Liluria proceeded to massacre them all with her black magic.

“Seriously, there’s just no end to this!”
“I still think smashing their heads in is quicker than a full-blown sweep.”
“But we have no clue where the 【Command Tower】 is! What are we supposed to do?”

The three of them—aside from me—bent their heads together to figure something out. Admittedly, our joining the front lines had helped the other adventurers somewhat.
But this isn’t the only front—the entire border of Rozy is under siege. Holding the line here won’t save the country if the others fall.

“Professor Zenon, you’re a sage, aren’t you? Can’t you think of something?”
“Hmm… If this 【Command Tower】 has the same abilities as the one from before, we can narrow it down a bit. The 【Command Tower】 can command monsters, but it can’t share their senses. That means it’s very likely watching this battle from a vantage point.”
“A vantage point? Hmm… Are there even any? There aren’t many tall buildings around here…”

I mulled over the situation while dodging monster attacks. A good vantage point, huh…

“Could it be up in the air?” I wondered.
If it can command the monsters, perhaps it’s using flying ones to monitor the fight from above.
“The air, huh… Yeah, that’s very possible. Even a special monster probably can’t issue orders to creatures far away—but from the air, that condition would be met.”

At Zenon’s words, we all looked up at the sky—me still dodging monster strikes.

Hey, Liluria—your attack’s been on pause for a while now. Can you hurry up and take these guys out? You haven’t forgotten our plan to use me as bait, have you?

“Lil, Ao’s over here looking like an abandoned puppy!”
“Huh? …Ah, I totally forgot!”

I knew it—you forgot! If it weren’t for my cheat ability, I’d have been dead at least ten times by now.

“Die!”

Liluria’s black magic exploded outward, and every monster around me was slaughtered in an instant. Ugh, I’m so sick of playing this bait role.

I then flung the magic-stone ring off my finger in the opposite direction of Liluria and the others. Like a dog chasing a thrown ball, the monsters bolted after the ring. Seizing that moment, I regrouped with Liluria and the gang.

“Hey Ao, you stink…”
“Ugh… I feel like I’m gonna puke.”
“Ao, please don’t get so close!”
“That’s harsh! I worked hard as the decoy!”

What kind of remark does a party leader get? Sure, my clothes and face are splattered with monster fluids and bits of organs—but that’s just part of the job. You can’t be complaining about being filthy on a battlefield.
Besides, after being around these monsters for so long, my nose has gone completely numb—I can’t even tell what stinks anymore.

“Hey, I’m gonna teleport up to see if I can spot the 【Command Tower】, okay? Not that I want to be anywhere near you, darling!”
With those tsundere-like words, Zenon teleported into the sky.

…Do I really stink that badly right now?

“Ao, why don’t you take off your clothes?”
“Are you telling me I should go completely naked because I smell?!”
“Don’t worry, Ao. No one can see you here on the battlefield.”
“That’s not the point!”

But if you two are going on about it this much, then I must really stink.

No helping it—I stripped off my clothes, leaving my upper body bare.
Liluria wasted no time; she shattered my discarded clothes into tiny fragments with her black magic.

“Phew, that’s much better.”
“A-Ao, you’re surprisingly muscular!”

Sylha tried to cover her eyes so she wouldn’t see me naked, but through the gaps between her fingers, she was blatantly staring.
…So Sylha, you’re quite the pervert, huh?

Sigh.

Then, Zenon reappeared by teleporting back to us.

“There! I see it! That must be the 【Command Tower】! I froze it up in the air, so it should be falling any minute now!”
At her words, we immediately assumed battle positions. I couldn’t believe it was really up there in the sky!

After a moment’s wait, a frozen monster plummeted from the heavens—a crow-like beast with, surprisingly, a cat riding on it (or so it seemed).

Thud!

The crow monster died from the impact, but the cat monster clinging to it remained unscathed.
This must be the culprit behind all this chaos! We kept our guard up, never once taking our eyes off the cat.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch! What the heck?! Damn, throwing magic out of nowhere—if this plan to doom the country fails because of that, what are we gonna do—”

The cat, moving in a strangely human way, rubbed its head and grumbled at Zenon for unleashing magic so abruptly. It ambled around on two legs, eyeing its surroundings, and only then did it notice us.

So, what’s this cat going to do next? It slowly surveyed our faces before suddenly flopping face-down on the ground.

Then it said,
“Nyah, nyah-oon.”

No, I can’t let you pull that off any longer!