Ch.57Promoted to a City (2)

“Jack! Jack!”

A reconnaissance team dispatched to the outskirts of the village returned urgently.

It was the scouting team I had sent with former miners to investigate a suspected mineral vein.

They seemed to have been digging and investigating for quite a long time. Have they already found something?

I wonder what kind of minerals might be buried there. Hopefully something with high utility like iron or copper.

Rare gems would bring immediate profit, but those deposits are usually quite small.

That would mean a quick profit that ends just as quickly.

Better to mine more versatile minerals that can be used in various ways.

Even if they sell for less, at least we can use them domestically.

Now that we have a blacksmith shop in the village and proper blacksmiths, refining shouldn’t be a problem.

“M-monster!”

But it seems that’s not the case.

“A monster, you say?”

“I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I think it’s a monster!”

After piecing together the incoherent reports from the knights, it really does seem to be a monster.

Drawing on my knowledge of the original story, I could narrow down a few possibilities.

If even one of them turns out to be correct, this is no ordinary situation.

“Sir Hostante. Gather all the knights. This is an emergency.”

Following my order, seventy heavily armed knights were assembled.

Our forces, which used to be around thirty, have now doubled. That’s more than the security forces in Odelin City.

Plus we have Holy Knight Liberone, Adelheid from the Remugen Mercenaries, and the 2nd Division Commander.

“Mirella. You’re staying behind.”

Mirella, who was standing with Vint’s Opener in hand, furrowed her brow.

“Why? Why do I have to stay behind?”

“It’s too dangerous. You could get seriously hurt.”

“What are you talking about? Have you forgotten about the Siren incident?”

“Umm…”

I was at a loss for words. If it hadn’t been for Mirella then, I would have died.

“Take Mirella with you, Guardian Angel.”

Liberone approached and said.

“Mirella is perfectly capable of protecting herself.”

“Well… I guess there’s no helping it.”

And so, with Mirella included, the knights all headed to the village outskirts.

“Ohhh, Mr. Jack…”

The administrator standing at the eastern entrance of the village waved her hand, sobbing as if she might die at any moment.

“Please come back safely… for our children’s sake…”

“What is that woman talking about now?!”

Mirella became furious again, and the 2nd Division Commander snorted.

“Hey, Red Head. What are you going to do about being angry?”

“What?!”

“I mean, why are you getting mad about whether that woman and the potion guy have a kid or whatever?”

The 2nd Division Commander is definitely an adult, but her youthful appearance makes her look almost the same age as Mirella.

That’s why Mirella thinks of the 2nd Division Commander as her peer.

“Think about it. You’re just a kid whose head isn’t even dry behind the ears, you have no job, and you’re freeloading at the potion guy’s house. Are you making money? Are you making potions?”

“Eek!”

“Meanwhile, what about that woman? She’s a civil servant with big breasts and hips, perfectly ready to have children at any moment. Plus she’s mentally ill, so she’d probably do anything the potion guy tells her to… What the hell!”

As the Opener flew toward her, the 2nd Division Commander blinked away, narrowly avoiding the red aura.

“Die! You bobim-obsessed lesbian psycho!”

Mirella has become quite skilled at fighting after receiving special training from Liberone.

So despite being from the Remugen Mercenaries, the 2nd Division Commander had to block Mirella’s Opener while breaking into a cold sweat.

“Stop it.”

When Adelheid, who had been walking quietly, opened her mouth, the 2nd Division Commander pushed Mirella away and stepped back.

“What disgraceful behavior.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

Seeing the 2nd Division Commander unable to move under Adelheid’s gaze, Mirella giggled.

“Mirella. I told you not to let emotions lead you in battle.”

But when Liberone gave a stern warning, the smile disappeared from Mirella’s face as well.

Sigh, this is giving me a headache.

* * * * *

After walking for quite some time, we arrived at a low mountain a bit away from the village.

Rather than a small mountain, it’s more like the end of a branch extending from a mountain range, and it’s quite substantial in size.

It’s not strange for there to be mineral veins here, nor is it strange for monsters to be present.

Before climbing the mountain, I listened once more to the description of the suspected monster and quickly devised a strategy.

“Holy Knight and instructors will take the vanguard. Knights, hold onto these and throw them when I signal.”

I distributed transparent potions that I had prepared in advance to the knights.

“Not fighting would be best, but if we must fight, we absolutely need to kill it here. Otherwise, we’ll have a real disaster on our hands.”

“Understood.”

“For now, everyone wait here. I need to see the site first. You, come with me.”

I pointed to the 2nd Division Commander. She has the ability to blink, so in case of emergency, she can grab me by the collar and quickly escape the mountain.

“Me?!”

The 2nd Division Commander who was singled out turned pale, but following Adelheid’s direction, she reluctantly followed me.

Mirella tried to come along too, but Liberone didn’t allow it.

“Hey, potion guy.”

As we climbed through the forest, the 2nd Division Commander called out to me.

“What? Looking for a fight?”

“You know, I’ve figured you out. You said things you didn’t mean to the Captain, completely breaking her down and making her look like a fool.”

“I did it to survive. If she hadn’t dragged me along in the first place, none of that would have happened.”

“But now I see you’re treating other women the same way?”

I ignored her and continued climbing the mountain, but the 2nd Division Commander kept chattering.

“That red-head is obviously trying to give herself to you, but you keep going in circles and making her desperate. The Holy Knight practically worships you like a god, but you treat her like a subordinate. And that woman with the disgustingly huge breasts.”

The 2nd Division Commander slapped her own flat chest as she spoke.

“She’s completely addicted to your potions. If I were a man, I would have done it already.”

“But you like women.”

“Ugh… Anyway… And what about that green pig woman? That pig woman seems happy just to be taken in by you with her flowery head. You have all these women crowding around you in the same space, and you do nothing.”

“Do I have to do something?”

“That’s the problem, you potion bastard.”

The 2nd Division Commander pointed at me with a contemptuous expression.

“That’s the problem. At the very least, you should make your feelings clear so they don’t have to suffer anymore. Instead, you sit there being ambiguous, planning to exploit their desperate feelings whenever you need to. You trash.”

“I’ve never done that. The people you just mentioned are all like family to me. Do you do it with your family? Well, I guess someone who does it with women… Shh!”

I pressed down on the 2nd Division Commander’s head and lowered my body.

The very scene the knights had described appeared before us.

An exposed ground on a slightly sloped hill.

Shovels and pickaxes were abandoned here and there as if the knights had stopped excavation midway, and the slope of the hill was deeply dug.

Large stones were mixed in with the pile of soil on one side, and they were shining in the sunlight, suggesting they were indeed some kind of mineral.

I wonder if I could see them up close. But where is the monster?

“Eek?!”

The 2nd Division Commander covered her mouth with both hands, suppressing a scream.

Following the direction of her trembling finger, I too almost cried out.

On the slope of the hill. A huge eyeball was visible in the half-dug pit.

An extremely large eye filling the end of a pit large enough to fit a carriage.

The reason we didn’t notice it earlier was because it had its eye closed.

As the thick eyelid slowly closed, it camouflaged perfectly like the dirt ground.

“What… is that…?!”

“It’s a Mountain Worm. We have to give up.”

There’s no way we can catch that with our current forces. Even the Imperial Army would struggle.

If we don’t make any big movements here, pretending not to have seen it would be the best strategy.

If we provoke it and it comes to the village, we’re done for.

I was happy about finding a mine, but of course something like this had to show up.

“Let’s go back.”

“Yeah… That looks really vicious.”

The 2nd Division Commander and I slowly backed away from the scene.

After putting some distance between us, we sighed and turned around to quietly descend the slope.

Suddenly, the 2nd Division Commander grabbed my wrist.

“Hey.”

“Enough. Stop nagging.”

“No, that’s not it. Something feels off.”

“What?”

“The ground is shaking.”

I closed my mouth and looked at a fallen branch right next to us.

The leaves were trembling slightly even though there was no wind.

“Jack! Run!!”

The knights below shouted.

“Aaaaaahhh!”

The 2nd Division Commander screamed, grabbed me by the collar, and started blinking wildly.

As I was dragged along by the 2nd Division Commander, I caught glimpses of what was behind us. Damn it all.

I could see the Mountain Worm twisting its disgusting, enormous body and surging upward.

Why is that thing suddenly coming to the surface?!

Then suddenly, knowledge from the original story came to mind.

When a Mountain Worm reaches adulthood, it goes to a river or lake just once to consume all the moisture it will need for its lifetime before returning underground.

And right now is exactly that time, and the closest water source is the river flowing right next to our village.

We’re screwed.

“Guardian Angel! Please step back!”

As soon as I came down the mountain, Liberone rushed forward, exploding with holy power.

Liberone was now burning with holy power incomparable to when she destroyed the Remugen Mercenaries, and the impact was causing the ground around to crack.

“It’s coming! Everyone get out of the way!!”

The Mountain Worm, which had stretched its body high into the sky, curved and dropped its disgustingly hateful eye-head toward where we were.

Holy power shot from Liberone’s body, spreading in the air to form a semicircular barrier.

But the Mountain Worm broke through the barrier purely with its mass.

KWAAAANG-!!

The knights all fell down from the strong earthquake that occurred in an instant.

“Oppa!!”

Mirella crawled over and covered my body.

“Get up! Everyone get up! You’ll die if you stay here!”

Adelheid grabbed the scattered knights and pulled them to their feet.

The Mountain Worm, with its head buried in the ground, began to move quickly toward the village, plowing through the soil like a plow.

Damn it! We were just about to be promoted to a city!

If that thing reaches the village, our village will disappear from the face of the earth!

“Stop it! Throw the potions!”

Potions flew from all directions, hitting the Mountain Worm’s body, but they were useless.

The potion I had distributed to people was a salt water potion with extreme salinity.

Salt water is supposed to be effective against monsters like the Mountain Worm, but I hadn’t expected it to be this big.

Liberone’s great sword, heated to a golden glow, struck the creature’s body, but again, it couldn’t even make a scratch.

“Jack! Danger!” “Guardian Angel!”

As the Mountain Worm’s tail whipped toward me while it was writhing, Adelheid and Liberone simultaneously rushed to me.

“Hnngh!”

Mirella, still covering my body, gritted her teeth and hugged me even tighter.

We can’t stop it. There’s absolutely no way to stop that thing.

First the Siren, and now this. Why do things always go wrong like this?

So this is how it ends for me, possessed by an insignificant NPC.

However, even after a long time, nothing happened.

I just couldn’t open my eyes properly because of an intensely blue light.

What is that?

“Mister.”

“Alreina…?”

The silver-haired hero Alreina was looking down at me.