Ch.222Advance Team Deployment

The man who had entered the restaurant covered in blood quickly regained consciousness thanks to Jessica’s healing magic and the doctor’s emergency treatment.

He was a resident of “Wellord Salt Mine,” a small outpost about 60km southwest of Leatherwork. He said he had made a desperate escape on horseback to alert nearby cities about a large-scale monster attack.

The only confirmed monster was a Lesser Demon, a low-level demon type.

It was a humanoid monster with bat-like wings and a small build. Though not particularly strong except for its flying ability, there were so many of them that the mine’s defenses alone couldn’t handle the situation.

“How bad is the damage to the mine? Lesser Demons don’t have ranged attack abilities like magic or breath attacks, so dealing with them using guns from inside the barrier shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

“…We thought so too. Until they started flying in with rocks and dropping them on our heads.”

“Stone-throwing attacks…”

The safety zone provided by the barrier tower prevents monsters from approaching by stimulating their instinctive sense of danger, but it doesn’t have physical shielding capabilities like a defensive wall.

Moreover, since its range doesn’t extend all the way up into the sky, it’s completely defenseless against magic, breath attacks, or stone-throwing attacks from above.

“People fighting outside started getting injured and falling one by one, and when the remaining residents locked themselves inside their homes, those creatures began destroying buildings and facilities. Even brick-sized rocks can do plenty of damage when continuously thrown from above.”

Fortunately, the entrance to the Wellord Salt Mine was included at the edge of the barrier’s range, so the remaining residents had hurriedly taken refuge deeper into the mine, protecting their heads with pots, pillows, and whatever they could find.

Apart from a few injuries that occurred during this process, there shouldn’t be any further casualties.

“The problem is food. The farmland outside the barrier is completely ruined, and the silos and warehouses are destroyed. Even if we wanted to retrieve food left in houses, it would be risking our lives. At this rate, we’ll all starve to death.”

“How many monsters are there?”

“I didn’t even dare to count. Just from what I could see, there must be at least 200-300, and who knows how many more might come from the overflowing dungeon.”

As the man finished his story, the gazes of the people around began to focus on us.

Among everyone in the restaurant, we were the only ones giving off obvious adventurer vibes, so they were probably expecting us to offer our help to the Wellord Mine.

“What should we do, Jessica?”

“There’s no question about it. Once this news reaches Moon Lake, a special emergency quest will be issued, and all nearby adventurers will be mobilized.”

“Hmm? Is there such a regulation?”

“It’s not legally binding, but it’s like an unwritten rule among adventurers. Especially for someone like me with high-level mage qualifications—if word got out that I ignored a dungeon overflow situation, I’d never be able to show my face again.”

So-called noblesse oblige… responsibility that comes with power.

I’m not sure if that unwritten rule applies to natives like me, but there’s no need to look for excuses to ignore people in distress.

“The question is how we’ll participate in this situation. The easiest way would be to return to Moon Lake as soon as possible to report the dungeon overflow, then move with other adventurers to exterminate the monsters, but…”

“The people at Wellord Mine are isolated without adequate food supplies.”

“They might not be able to hold out until adventurers from the two cities arrive…”

The western cities have magical communication networks, so once the news of the dungeon overflow reaches Moon Lake, it will be immediately shared with other cities.

But how many days would it take from issuing the emergency quest, gathering adventurers, assembling a sufficient force, and then traveling through Leatherwork to Wellord Mine?

Most of them would be traveling on foot, too.

“The entire village probably hasn’t completely run out of food, but there’s a risk of starvation or casualties if they take risks trying to retrieve supplies.”

“What if we load up our carriage with plenty of food and bring it to them? The body and roof are reinforced with titanium alloy, so it should withstand rocks just fine.”

“That’s right. It would be difficult for just us to exterminate all those monsters, but if we deliver supplies, care for the residents, and buy time until reinforcements arrive… yes, that seems possible.”

“Great, then let’s buy as much food as we can here and take it with us. Choose ingredients that provide a lot of sustenance relative to their volume, like flour. I’ll inform Anastasia about the dungeon overflow.”

“Got it.”

Having decided to provide supplies to Wellord Mine, we raided Leatherwork’s shops and filled our carriage with as much food as possible.

Given the severity of the situation, Leatherwork’s residents and hunters cooperated fully, and the shop owners provided receipts certifying that our food purchases were for resolving the dungeon overflow situation.

Apparently, submitting these receipts to the Adventurers’ Guild or Pioneer Project branch later would not only prove our active participation in resolving the overflow but also allow us to be reimbursed for part of the expenses.

While Jessica and the other five women went to purchase food, I met Anastasia in a dream to inform her about the dungeon overflow and asked her to notify the Riverside Adventurers’ Guild.

Additionally, since this was dungeon-related, I asked if there were any changes in the Book of Adventure, but there didn’t seem to be any special reaction this time.

For now, it seems we should focus on the immediate dungeon overflow situation rather than worrying about Demon Lords or ancient secrets.

After completing these preparations and filling the carriage with food, we left for Wellord Mine, leaving the man from the mine to guide later arrivals.

As always, I drove the carriage from the coachman’s seat with Jessica, who was familiar with Grantis’s geography, sitting beside me, while the other members rode in the passenger compartment along with large quantities of flour, meat, and preserved foods.

Whether this carriage, where food takes up more space than people, can still be called a passenger compartment is questionable… but it doesn’t matter since we’ll arrive at the mine and unload in about three hours.

“Hundreds of flying humanoid monsters…”

“You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

“I can’t help it. Our party’s strength lies in quick extermination, but if they overwhelm us with superior numbers, we’re bound to have gaps in our defense.”

“It’ll be fine. From what we’ve heard, there don’t seem to be any special individuals on site, and Lesser Demons prefer to torment their opponents from advantageous positions rather than charging in recklessly.”

“So with Ancestor and our carriage, we should be able to break through, is that it?”

“Yes. Our top priority is to break through the encirclement to deliver food to the residents, then prioritize defending the barrier tower while buying time until other adventurers arrive.”

There are three main points in this relief operation:

The first goal is to safely enter the barrier and use the food materials in the carriage to provide meals for as many people as possible, for as long as possible.

The second goal is to defend the barrier tower and repair any damaged parts—though it’s unlikely that stone-throwing attacks could destroy it, we need to be prepared for the worst.

And the third goal, if we have the capacity, is to provide safe evacuation routes protected from stone attacks so that residents can retrieve food remaining in buildings throughout the village.

Exterminating the Lesser Demons surrounding the area or suppressing the overflowing dungeon will be considered after reinforcements arrive from the western cities.

This situation will test our production and support capabilities more than our combat abilities.

“At times like this, I really see how experienced you are as a senior, Jessica.”

“You’re overestimating me. This is my first time directly dealing with a dungeon overflow too.”

“You seem pretty calm for that. The number of enemies is even greater than at Corcas Mine.”

“We have clear information that the enemy is Lesser Demons, and we can exploit their weakness of not being able to enter the barrier. Plus…”

“Plus what?”

“To be honest, I don’t think there are many enemies we can’t defeat or situations we can’t overcome with our current strength. We can always bring out artifacts if necessary, and in the worst case, we could load as many mine residents as possible into the Stone House and escape, saving many lives.”

“I see… that’s certainly an option.”

Hearing Jessica’s words, I realized I had been looking at this incident with too narrow a perspective.

What if we can’t break through the Lesser Demons’ encirclement?

What if the situation has already deteriorated beyond recovery?

What if the food we brought isn’t enough to last until reinforcements arrive?

What if we get trapped in the encirclement with the mine people and die helplessly?

All these negative possibilities had been weighing on my heart without taking clear form.

But stepping back and thinking with some composure, there’s no way we couldn’t break through even the thickest encirclement with Phyllis’s Fireball or Shockwave Splasher.

A metal barrier tower wouldn’t be easily destroyed by mere stone-throwing, and once inside, we could use the remaining ingots in the carriage to build protective structures for the barrier tower.

Making bread from flour or barley would provide sufficient quantity, and if necessary, we could even puff it up to increase volume.

And if the Stone House’s capacity is sufficient, we could save people even if we had to abandon the mine. So we have multiple chances we can grasp.

“Thanks, Jessica. I feel more at ease now.”

“I’m glad. If you were still tense, I was thinking I might have to let you touch my chest.”

“Oh? That’s a shame. Can I take back what I just said?”

“Will… getting too relaxed is also problematic, so bear with it for now.”

Saying that, Jessica leaned toward me and gave me a deep kiss.

As much as I wanted to trust Ancestor and give in to the temptation of skinship with Jessica, the kiss ended just before I could surrender to it, and Jessica returned to her proper posture.

“We’ll continue this after we finish this job and reach the 7th Western City. Understood?”

“Great, all Lesser Demons are dead.”

“I told you the mine relief is our top priority!”

Hearing Jessica’s light scolding accompanied by a smile, I cracked the reins to increase the carriage’s speed.