Now, the monsters are in a lull.
　Apparently, monsters don't keep springing up indefinitely, but rather at regular intervals. Once a decent number of them come out and you've defeated them, there's an interval until the next one.
　Come to think of it, that's what happened in Shamash-san's mine.

"Oh, thank you for your help, brother.
It's what you do.
I had to fight a monster.

　Maybe they thought they had defeated all the monsters, or maybe they thought they hadn't evacuated and were just watching from afar, but some old men living in the slums came up to them. I used to go to flea markets for a living, but these men smelled of social incompatibility, which made me nostalgic.
　They are wearing rags rather than clothes, and all of them are barefoot, even though it's going to be cold in the morning and evening.
　They ignored the other seven people who had been fighting and suddenly started to gather together and started to pick up the magical crystals that were scattered around me.
　These are from the goblins that I defeated. I'm supposed to be the owner .......

''Um, ...... that's mine,''

　It was quite difficult to talk to them, but I gathered my courage and tried to warn them.
　Even though we are dealing with weak goblins, we too risked our lives in the fight. You can't just get the spoils of war.
　However, the old men are very strong.
　I've had a vague feeling that they were.

Oh?　Whatever you can get in Luclaera belongs to everyone who lives here!

　I snapped at him.
　Then, without saying a word, he collected the demonic crystals.

''Seriously......''

　I didn't have the heart to get it back until I got into a grappling fight with the old men.
　At one point, I had declared to the local warriors who were fighting the goblins that I would help them but I would take the magic crystal, but it didn't seem to mean much.
　If it wasn't a formal contract, it was an ironclad slapper.
　Well, the monsters would still be springing up, and it's fine if they steal the goblin's magic crystal at least. It's not much of a damage.
　But there's also the feeling that I can't divide it, or perhaps I don't like it in general. Naturally.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work for you.

　But maybe ...... is not unreasonable.
　Demon crystals can be redeemed for cash.
　It's not as much as a spirit stone, but it's still a pretty good amount of money.
　Even the magic crystal I bought from the guild to break the spell on my sabi(...) sword cost me a gold coin. Well, the guild is an official organization, so the conversion rate must be high, but even so, it's not cheap.
　A single gold coin's demonic crystal is roughly the size of a kobold. It's about the same size as a spirit stone.

　The reason why it's so expensive is because demonic crystals, like spirit stones, have special powers.
　Strictly speaking, just like a spirit stone is a lump of 'spirit power'.
　Demon crystals are probably a lump of 'magic power' as well.

　The goblin's magic crystal is even smaller than the skeleton's, it's only a pebble, and the amount of money is probably not much, but it's still going to be about ten ells.
　And with ten ells, you can eat for a few days.
　If they were living in this slum, three of these stones would be enough to feed them for a month.

　In fact, the seven local warriors are also desperate to pick up the stones. In a case like this one, they wouldn't be counting how many goblins they've killed.
　Everyone knows that, so maybe they're picking up the pieces as soon as possible.
　In that case, it was my fault for standing there so carefree.
　It's another one of those "tuition

　[ ............ gaga, p ]

　The walkie-talkie is sensible.

This is Alpha Leader, this is Alpha Leader. Bravo Leader, this is Alpha Leader, come in.
Boss!　Can you hear me?　This is Etowah. We'll be arriving soon, how are you doing over there?'
Oh, is everything all right, Bravo Leader!　We're already here.
"A few Misses stand out, but it's no problem!
Okay. Let's just get together. Do you copy?
"Copy that!
I speak English!

　I get a call from Etowah on the walkie-talkie.
　They say they're almost there. We'll see what they do when they arrive.
　In the meantime, what we need to do here is to maintain the site, but if the local warriors and old men can handle it, there's probably no need for us to travel.
　The Demon Crystals have been stolen, and we're working for free.
　It's fine to fight as a knight squad, but I don't have the motivation to risk my life to work hard until I'm underestimated.
　I've lost my motivation to work on aspiration alone, gosh darn it.

　I tried to jokingly say the promise of walkie-talkie communication in English, and it didn't just go through normally, it replied in English: ....... It's automatically translated, so if I speak in English, I'll get an English translation, right?
　I'm speaking Japanese.
　I didn't think much about the automatic translation and the other person speaking in Japanese, but I wonder if this automatic translation will work perfectly whether I speak in English or Swahili.
　I guess it will. It's kind of weird that it only works for Japanese.

　Well, the translation is okay.
　There's no way to find out, and I'm not bilingual either.
　It's amazing how well it can be translated even when communicating with a transceiver.

　More importantly, it's magical crystal.
　Rebecca and the others will be arriving soon, but I don't want to be fighting here anymore.
　You're on your own!　I just want to go home and yell, "Hey!

...... Um. If the magic crystal is stolen, I won't fight any more monsters even if they appear, are you sure you want to?　We're going to die a lot, aren't we?

　I asked the old men who had finished picking up the Demon Crystals all of them.

'A monster?　There's already a lot of them. There ain't no more, are there?　Look at the sky. It's not even a Himalayan crane or an arrowhead yet.

'I asked if I didn't have to fight. It's not about whether or not I'm going to fight, it's about if I do. I mean, it's still a real show to come, seriously.

　I mean, I'll even give you the information that it's still totally out there.
　From their common sense, it would be impossible for monsters to spring up in succession without any warning, because it would be impossible.

　However, the old men are insistent that there are no more monsters, and they are unlikely to return the magic crystal to you.
　It's not that the goblin's magic crystal itself is so spare, but .......

　For now, I went back to the grand master and Aeon, with the old men beside me with happy faces after getting a lot of magic crystals.
　The grand master seemed to explain the situation to the locals, but he didn't seem to understand much, and there were still more than a few people left who were not running away, led by the old men who had just left.

''How is it?''
'No. You can't tell them, but they won't understand.
No?
'If you're going to do it, you might as well beat him to death and make him do what you say, or else you might not be able to do it unless you're being chased by a monster.
I, too, was robbed of the magic crystal that I defeated: ......

　From the beginning, I knew it wouldn't be straightforward.
　It's a slum. It's a complete blowhole.
　I was initially thinking of having Deanna play the role of evacuation persuader, because I foresaw this.
　...... But I didn't think it was possible, even for the grand master, the local tough guy.
　I'm not sure if he thinks he's going to miss out on some kind of lucrative opportunity if he leaves this place. In fact, there are a lot of old men who have made a lot of money from the magic crystals.
　It's not that they're self-conscious about getting killed by monsters, but...

　While I was looking at them, hoping that they would be satisfied and evacuate if I left them alone, the remaining residents suddenly began to gather.
　They start arguing about something, which gradually turns into a shout, and eventually they start beating each other up.
　It seems that they are fighting over the magic crystal that they found earlier.
　Since it was originally a found object, its ownership is fuzzy. That might be why it was decided that the person who finally gets it by force of arms can win or something like that.
　It's mine!　That's mine! I can hear him screaming at me.
　It's called a bone marrow battle.
　Hmm. It's full of helplessness.



"Oh, Lord, what a discovery!　Marina, my eyes are good!

　I heard a voice that was somewhat soothing.
　Oh, it's like a wispy heart is being cleansed .......

　When I looked back at the direction of the voice, I saw that everyone was about to come up.
　There didn't seem to be any problems, Deanna, Marina, Rebecca-san, Elepippi, and Etowah are all there.
　The guide, as I mentioned earlier, seemed to have been taken care of by the current master of the blacksmith shop, and the group of dwarves leading them up the hill was actually quite remarkable.
　I think you can see why Etowah is so conspicuous.
　Not only us, but even the locals who had been engaged in a bone marrow battle were looking in that direction.

Good night, everyone. The monsters are in a lull at the moment, the locals can manage to get rid of the monsters pretty well, so we may not have a job.

　We all joined up to defeat the monsters and evacuate the residents.
　The evacuation is subtly failing, but so far the monsters haven't come out and there's no problem.

''Master, I'm glad you're safe. I never thought that such a monster could spring up ...... me, I never thought that ......
Well, that's a surprise.

　If the monster is a zombie, you can make a zombie panic movie with compelling visuals.

I knew it was time for Marina to go with the Lord!　The guards must stay together.
I asked you to protect Deanna.
"And yet ............ Marina wants to protect the Lord, which is ......
It's a nice touch.

　Maybe Marina regrets that she put me in danger. That's what it means to be away from the guards. Even though in this case it was necessary.
　But I can still fight a little, and I don't need to be overly protective of myself.
　It would be good for Marina to find a better job in addition to guarding her. It's a good idea to find a better job than just escorting your master, because that's what Marina's identity as a slave is.

'So, Jiro. What are you going to do? And Rebecca.
　She is equipped with a two-handed sword borrowed from her master's place and a shield of the type fixed to her arm.
　I suppose it's a shame to just be bonging around after having gone to all this trouble to arm yourself.

''Yeah. I think there are still monsters out there, but for the time being it's about preserving this place. The demon tribe we were meeting with just now is the one who uses magic to seal off the entrance, and he's currently going around to the other tunnels, so I hope he can buy some time for that.

　The only thing we can do now is maintain the site, or rather, see to it that we can deal with the suddenness of the situation. The sociopathic local old man is pissing me off, but I can't just leave because I'm sure Mr. Shamash will come to seal this place up sooner or later.

　And if the ...... monster springs up, we'll eventually have to deal with it with our members .......
　I'm not savvy enough to stand by and watch the old guys get killed because they had it coming, and I didn't come here for the money in the first place.
　It would be better if the local warriors could be relied upon a little more, but from the way they were fighting just now, I don't think they can be counted on to do much.

　It's not as if the old men are curious about us, they just keep on glancing at us.
　However, they don't actively talk to me, perhaps because they were stealing my magic crystal.
　Well, they're all properly armed and stand out .......

　I've been waiting for it while we chit-chatted, and then the grand master tapped me on the shoulder.

''Hmm?　What's going on?
Hey, hey mister. I think it's time you introduced him to Aeon. I'm sorry to hear that you've been unable to stay for a while now.
............

　Mr. Ion, hiding his face behind his grand master's back, is very tiny.
　Perhaps she is shy, or perhaps she is a prisoner of honor, but her expression is unpredictable as she wears her hood over her eyes.
　Certainly, it would be better to introduce this prison girl to you first--

Move!　Get out of the way!

　Just as I was about to introduce Mr. Aeon to him, a young boy runs past me as he runs up the hill through the crowds.
　Sweating profusely, he doesn't give us a second glance as he heads for the tunnel entrance.

　Oh, that's the boy from this morning. That's the boy from this morning. His name is Marco, I think.

　White shirt and cropped pants. The cloth around his waist is fluttering.
　He is a boy selling souvenirs. He might be a resident of the slum.

　He is stopped at the entrance of the tunnel by a group of warriors.
　He wants to go inside, but he is reckless. The monsters are still out there in large numbers. If you go in alone, you're going to die.

　Hmm?　But I thought they didn't think there would be any more monsters, did they?
　Then maybe I'll let that Marco through.
　Maybe I should go and stop him. ......

'My sister!　Is Linn safe?　Mr. Doug?　You're bringing me here!

　The boy Marco screams and bites at the local warrior.
　He has a sister?
　Come to think of it, the guild members also said that guy is a nice guy who is family oriented.

　Looking around, the scene is in an uproar because Marco's sister is not there.
　A clear color of impatience appears on Marco's face.
　From the way he was impatient, he must have heard about a large number of monsters springing up from somewhere.
　They seem to be more aware of the current state of affairs than the old men who stole the demon crystals.

''Hey, my sister can't walk!　You said you'd be there for me if you needed anything while I was gone!

　Marco grabs the local warrior by the collar and shouts.

　Oh, that's what I mean .......
　Monsters have already sprung up from this tunnel.
　The monsters, by their nature, come towards the biggest source of magic or rather life forms nearby.
　Marco's house is probably in the tunnel. The Kayentau Tunnel is an abandoned road, and it's wide inside, and it's said that a slum has been built there, and there's no doubt about it.
　The fact that monsters are gushing out of those tunnels means that the magic source that was in the middle of those tunnels has already been eliminated.

'I'm sorry Marco. It was so sudden and unexpected that I couldn't even think about your sister. There was a whole bunch of monsters in here. I was afraid for my life. You weren't even here, so I don't have any reason to complain.

'So ...... but also ......'

Why don't you go for help? There ain't no more monsters in here. ............ I'm not going in.

　Marko breaks his knees as he is mercilessly informed.
　Then, after a few moments of distress, he gets up and walks into the tunnels.
　Oh, God.

...... Lord, will you not help him?

　Earwaxing. Marina is a child lover.

A knight's job is to guard the grass. It's not certain that the boy's sister is dead yet. The boy is not safe as is.

　There's certainly no chance of that happening though: .......
　Looking back, not only Marina, but also Rebecca-san and Elepippi seem to be full of intentions to fight bravely.
　I see, a knight's true intentions may be in this situation.
　Elepippi is still so weak, though. It's true.

　It's true that only goblins are still rising up.
　If Marco's sister is well hidden, there's a chance she might be alive. On the other hand, if she doesn't hurry, there's a chance she may not survive.
　It's also possible that my sister's life is in the wind ...... right now.
　It's even possible that Marco could successfully save her and come back.
　But none of this is a remote possibility. The world is not that kind.

　Well, I'm fed up with those old guys, but I'm told that Marco still has that weird ore, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to sell him a favor .......
　You can't afford to fall behind the monsters with these guys.

Then I'll play for a while. Don't die on .......



　◇◆◆◆◇



　The men going inside are Marina, Rebecca, Elepippi, and me.
　Deanna and Etowah are on standby. Deanna is a recovering officer and Etowah can't fight.

"I'd like to go in and retrieve the boy from earlier, okay?　You're not going to close this place down anytime soon, are you?

　He was arguing with a boy, talking to a local warrior.
　I think they call him Doug or something.

You're the ...... from earlier. I thought you were joking when you said the word "knights," but ...... you're telling me they're knights?

　Doug looks at Marina and the others with a scowl.
　Oh well. You can't get away with this if you're a woman and call yourself a knight.

Hahahaha. If you want to go get Marco, well, that's good for you, but my gut tells me the monsters are still out there. The monsters are still the same as they were in Awasezukis.

I know. That's why I'm going to help him. And I have a bit of a connection with him.

'Well ....... From the way you were fighting earlier, you must be confident in your skills. I don't want to waste time doing this. I don't need anyone's permission to do that, just go. You can go to .......

　When I talked to him, he said he's not such a bad guy.
　He'd like to go and help himself if he could, but he's not sure of his skills. He used to be an adventurer, but he got an arrow in his knee. Then he had no choice.

　And so we entered the tunnels.
　Entering a dungeon with a weapon is like exploring a dungeon in an RPG.
　Marko is already ahead of us. Anyway, if we're going to find his sister, we need a guide, so let's just grab her and let her lead us.

"Lord!　I want Marina to fight the first monster, and I want Marina to fight the first one!
Why?
'It is your guidance, sir. We want to accomplish this before it becomes a melee.

　Speaking of which, Marina said that she had some sort of "let's defeat the monster" guidance.

It's okay. It's just that when the monster comes out, it comes out of nowhere. I'll follow up with you. I'll follow you too, Rebecca. Elepippi is ...... and I brought her along with me, but is she okay?

　This time, they all borrowed their weapons from the blacksmith's shop.
　Marina has her original halberd, so that's good, while Rebecca and Elepippi both carry swords and shields.

...... I'm not too sure, but I'm with my seniors. Don't worry, I won't fail on stage.
Don't go overboard. Just take care of the little guys and let them take care of themselves.
......

　Elepippi has only been training for a short time. He has not trained in combat since he was given the vocation of a knight, so he is like an amateur.
　I'm sure he's not a complete stranger to exercise, as he says he's been running every day during his actor's training: ......

　We ran through a surprisingly wide, single track tunnel.
　It's a tunnel, or rather a slum.
　Barracks were lined up on either side of the tunnel, and it was dirty and littered with garbage.
　It's a good thing all the residents have been evacuated, but it's a place you wouldn't want to go near under normal circumstances.

Oh, there they are!　They are attacking you, sir!

　Marina, with her good eye, found it.
　Another monster in the house.

'Hey Jiro. Do you mind if I take command from here?

　Rebecca-san makes such a suggestion.

''Yes, Rebecca-san is the captain of the knights. Please, please.''

　Well, I'm the owner.
　Otherwise, I think we should let Rebecca do the real work.
　If I do this, it's just a matter of time before we start fighting each other.

So this is the first task of the Knights of the Round Table, then? ...... Marina, I want you to take down all the monsters in that boy's path by yourself.

　Captain Rebecca's orders fly.

"Yes, sir!

　Marina shouts and starts running with her halberd at the top.

'What?　Marina, you're going to do this alone!

　I was flustered. Since there are so many of us, why don't we all do it together?
　It's true that the monsters that are springing up are goblins, and I think we can handle them.

'Because Jirou is too kind. That's why I'm in charge. A commander who can't tell his men to go die is bound to fail in the grand scheme of things. ...... I don't know if I can say it either, but I'm better than Giraud.

'Eh. Then Marina can go to .......

'Don't make that face!　With a monster like that, it's better to have just one Marina. And since the weapons are that thing, it's not ideal for fighting in a tight group!

　What the hell, I was creeped out for a moment, wondering if they'd discarded Marina as a pawn.
　It seems like all the goblins are still out there, but the numbers are the numbers.
　There's no guarantee that nothing will go wrong.
　There is no such thing as a "never" in battle.

　Marco has managed to fight the goblins with his dagger.
　But he is completely defenseless. At any rate, there are too many of them. And he is too unreliable to be armed with a dagger.
　That's when Marina arrives.
　The target of the goblins' attack shifts from Marco's boy to Marina.

　However, such matters were a minor matter.
　Marina's Keshi Murasaki halberd, which was somehow always by her side for nearly half a year, roared.
　A single flash in the horizontal cleave.
　The goblin that was in the line, it was doubtful that it could even recognize death.
　In an instant, the figure is transformed into a magical crystal.
　Doh, at the same time, it seems to have achieved guidance. Marina's eyes come into focus in the air, and a stone the size of a cobbler is held in her hand.
　Marina quickly put the stone in her pocket and resumed the battle.
　She would be happy with the accomplishment of her guidance, but she had to defeat the goblins first.

　Marina's attacks were flowing, stagnant and powerful.
　She deftly handled the halberd, which should have been reasonably heavy, and blasted the goblins into the air like a tornado.

　It was not even a fight.
　The goblins turned their forms into black stones, as if they had encountered a natural disaster.
　Finally, he stabbed the goblins that had gathered around the boy Marco with the spear part.
　It's an easy victory without any danger at all.

''...... Marina was that strong, wasn't she?''
I'm strong. I'm just trying to protect Jirou. It's not pretty.
I'm happy, but I'm feeling a little mixed: ......

　Having a girl to protect you is a good idea: ....... Well, Marina is also Deanna's bodyguard, so it's good for her to be strong.
　Of course, it's also largely due to Rebecca's trained skills, I guess.

　I run up to the Marco boy.
　The boy was looking up at Marina, dumbfounded on his butt.
　Well, you're dressed like your life was saved. Don't fall in love with my Marina, okay?

Hello, boy. You're a lifesaver. I don't mind talking to ...... about it uncomfortably, but I know your sister might be in danger. Are you at home?　Where is it, get on with it.

　I'm going to roll it up because it's a waste of time.

"Yeah, yeah. Ah, the house over there.

　Marco points to the destination.
　About 20 meters away, there's a stone hut with a couple of goblins cowering in it.

I'm gonna go check it out.

　I walked up to the hut and cut down the goblins that were trying to kill me.

'Oi!　You're alive!

　I call out to them.

　The fact that the goblins were out to get us means that the people inside are safe.
　It's probably for the best that the hut was made of stone.
　The wooden door to the hut was damaged by the goblin's hatchet, and is battered and bruised in some places, but the people inside are probably safe and sound.
　They should be safe.

'Ah, yes!　I'm fine!　Please help!

　He was safe.