Ch.6464. Festival (3)

The expressions of the two executives were far from pleased.

At first, they had boldly claimed that one person might act that way, but soon the same situation unfolded again.

When the first time becomes easy, the second and third follow in even quicker succession. With the thought: “So this is how I can get what I want.”

Instead of resolving the situation, they begin to fill their own bellies.

Because they’re trapped anyway. Because they can’t do anything anyway. Because whatever they do here won’t change anything.

They try to gain even a small advantage to prepare for what lies ahead.

If food runs out, those who have eaten more will endure longer, and those who secure weapons in advance can threaten others even if they’re weak.

When those with weapons divide people into factions after luring them in, they monopolize food and escape hunger. They hoard blankets and bedding, light fires and cover themselves with blankets to endure the pain of cold.

And finally, when they believe reinforcements won’t arrive, they’ll do anything to survive until the end.

Even if it means abandoning human morality.

That is the reaction of those whose composure has dulled, those engulfed by fear and madness.

“…What should we do?”

“You! Don’t tell me you’re thinking of listening to that guy?!”

“We have no choice. At this rate… we won’t last long.”

As merchants, calculating profit and loss would be their specialty.

As anxiety intensifies, time becomes more valuable than money. Members and outsiders gradually grow discontented.

They must have predicted that this would lead to greater losses.

“What exactly should we do?”

The more reasonable executive requested a conversation first.

The middle-aged executive who had been fuming beside him was now silent, deliberately avoiding eye contact. As if he couldn’t deny it.

Finally, they recognized the gravity of the situation and recalled the measures Junon had mentioned.

“We’re just merchants ignorant of magic, so I’d like you to answer. I believe you mentioned something about doing something with those carriages containing mana stones.”

“You confirmed it earlier, didn’t you? That explosives and fireworks alone aren’t enough to break through the blocked passage.”

“Indeed. That’s why we’ve only been sending signals. The firepower was insufficient.”

“Mana stones are just rocks containing unrefined magical energy. Using that property, mana stones can be used as fuel substitutes. Also, the black smoke released when mana stones explode might be seen as a danger signal by the Academy.”

“W-What…!”

The executive finally understood what was meant by consuming mana stones.

It meant gathering all the mana stones from the carriages and igniting them like a single bomb.

“Are you insane? Just say you want to die, huh?!”

“Have you lost your mind…? If we do that, none of us will survive…”

The two executives exploded in anger at Junon’s words. Understandably so—it was like saying they would set up explosives on the rock right in front of them and detonate it.

The act of causing an explosion itself was extremely dangerous, but there was something even more perilous.

“No matter how ignorant I am about magic, I know what a mana storm is! Haven’t you thought about that?!”

“That’s right. Aren’t you taking splash-out too lightly? And to use that as a signal…”

Something even darker than the smoke produced when mana stones are burned as fuel to cause an explosion.

It was because of the storm of magical energy, called a mana storm or splash-out.

‘So they know that much.’

All living beings on the continent have adapted to accepting magical energy, but there are still limits.

Because of this, all living things must refine this magical energy and maintain a certain ratio. Among them, humans are the creatures that refine magical energy best.

But if the human body inhales magical energy beyond what it can handle, it takes time to refine it.

Like the complex digestive process of breaking down small amounts of toxic substances and absorbing them as nutrients. Just as excessive poison endangers the body, magical energy works the same way.

This accumulated impure magical energy has harmful effects, from nerve and cell paralysis to various poisoning symptoms. It can even cause magical energy to go berserk, like Charlotte during the beginning-of-term evaluation.

Therefore, if mana stones are detonated in large quantities, everyone in this enclosed space would inevitably inhale impure magical energy.

Humans who continuously inhale impure magical energy show symptoms of poisoning, and if this state persists for a long time, it can lead beyond pain to death.

This is why they were jumping up and down, raising their voices. Because they could die if they weren’t careful.

“Well, since you already know that much, my explanation will be quicker. You’re right. If we do this, a splash-out will occur. With paths blocked both front and back, the symptoms of magical energy poisoning will approach even faster.”

“Knowing this, are you still asking us to proceed with the absurd task of detonating mana stones…?”

“No. There’s a way. A method to avoid being poisoned by magical energy. Of course, we’ll need to be careful about the unstable geological layers.”

“Is that even possible?”

The two executives didn’t hide their skepticism.

But honestly, I think most people would react the same way.

“First, tell your members that we’re going to escape from here. Before another incident occurs.”

The two executives gathered their members and gave them encouragement, and everyone checked the items in the carriages and carts once more with hope.

Among them were quite a few things that could be useful. But the most important thing was the quantity of mana stones.

The mana stones in one carriage weren’t enough to blast away the rock.

“How many carriages contain mana stones?”

“Four.”

If there had been only two, it might have been insufficient, but four was a different story.

Plus, the number was even. It fits perfectly.

“There’s one more thing I need to know. However, this…”

The reason Junon hesitated to bring this up was because it would require breaking one of the principles the Rwen Merchant Group insisted on so strongly.

If it were just one person’s stubbornness, it might be different, but asking to break a policy that hasn’t changed for a long time isn’t something to be taken lightly.

However, they also knew well how dangerous this situation was.

“Don’t hesitate, speak. We need to break out of this situation anyway.”

“I agree for now. Even if it sounds crazy, we have no other options.”

They were merchants. Not people who waste time and information, and their calculation speed far exceeds that of ordinary people.

They had already anticipated what would happen in a few minutes by observing the members’ reactions, and had finished their calculations on matters that ordinary people might consider insane.

Thanks to this, Junon didn’t need to struggle to persuade the two executives.

“To establish the final condition, I need to know what our current strength is.”

This was something like a taboo for the Rwen Merchant Group.

It meant revealing the identities of its members.

***

“I’m sorry. That’s… a bit difficult.”

“It seems you’re trying to gather the powerful ones, but that’s problematic too. We haven’t even informed the members yet.”

“Why is it difficult?”

At first, it seemed strange that they would resist gathering the powerful ones to solve the problem.

“My, my… you’ve thought about their position but haven’t put yourself in ours.”

“Listen carefully.”

The two executives calmly explained to the puzzled Junon.

‘I see, that makes sense. Since I’ve already mentioned using mana stones like explosives.’

They said that was also the reason they hadn’t properly informed the members about this outrageous plan.

‘If the details of the plan are revealed, they might rebel, calling it absurd, which could lead to the strong grouping together, causing the aforementioned dangers again…’

I had overlooked this because I simply thought of it like a team at the Academy facing a magical beast.

I thought it was similar to how positions within a team show differences in strength, but these people are not like that.

In D and C classes, there are differences in magical indicators. Relatively speaking, there are the strong and weak based on magical metrics. That’s about it.

But would magical indicators even matter here?

That’s right. This isn’t the Academy. If we announce and divide them that way, they’ll be split between those who can handle magic and those who cannot.

The powerful ones will try to band together, which might result in the complete exclusion of the powerless.

In the end, we’d be back to square one.

‘Is there no other way?’

Even detonating mana stones would require at least two elemental mages to attempt.

At this rate, we can’t move rashly, making escape impossible.

Junon pressed his fingers against his temples, thinking that he needed to find an answer somehow. And then:

“I’ve had enough! This wasn’t what those guys ordered us to do! Who cares about escort duties in this situation?”

It seemed time had run out.

“Even if those of us who can use magic band together, we can’t find a way through no matter how hard we try!”

“Calm down. We’re also looking for a way…”

“What way? What are you doing over there? Just calculating the merchant group’s losses in your head?”

This is dangerous.

I knew the grace period was short, but this is too early.

There must be a reason they realized they couldn’t break through despite their best efforts.

“It’s getting dark and freezing cold, but you’re just warming yourselves by the fire. Do you think we can survive for hours on that tiny piece of jerky you gave us earlier?”

—That’s right, that’s right!

“We’re people too! People who get hungry and shiver from cold! But what did you do while we were sweating to break through that?”

Indeed, hunger and thirst drive people mad.

There’s no way they could stay calm with just a piece of jerky and a bottle of water.

Since they’re not trained soldiers, they don’t know how to ration jerky or minimize thirst when wetting their throats.

Where would they find the will to resist the fundamental urge of hunger?

Most of those assigned to escort duty are commoners with tuition problems.

Among them, these are the “relatively weak” ones—those with weak firepower or those who gave up learning magic and left the Academy to barely make a living.

Could those who have always lived as the weak maintain their reason when facing death? Of course not.

Their unstable psychology, like a fragile thread about to break, eventually gets caught up in one person’s instigation.

“If you’re human before being merchants, shouldn’t you value life over money? Is money still your priority in this situation?!”

—Yeah… why should we suffer like this?

—We’re the ones with power, so why should we listen to them?

—I saw earlier that there were several carriages with food. Those who can’t even share that much…

Those who had been trying to break through were one by one raising flags of rebellion, casting distrustful glances at the powerless, and were about to transform from escorts to looters.

Just as Junon was about to step forward, saying there was no time, he blocked the path of those about to become looters.

“You’d better stop there.”

“Who are you? Just a mere porter, get out of the way!”

Junon blocked the instigator’s magic.

The extremely weak electric shock merely emitted a brief light.

“How did this…?”

There always needs to be an example.

One shouldn’t even show a weakness. If you don’t knock them down properly, they’ll pounce immediately.

“What… is this? How did this…?”

“You’re noisy.”

“Gah…! What is this…!”

The body of the one who had been drawing weak electric magic circles several times collapsed with a thud.

What they saw was the instigator who had collapsed without knowing why, and the porter from Room 229 who had easily subdued him.

Their march, unable to comprehend what had happened, couldn’t move forward.

And then, a warning followed:

“If you move even one step from there, I’ll consider it as challenging me.”