As the searchers who had defeated the rampaging dragon returned to the rear, basking in the afterglow of their victory, the security team and the treatment team were treating the aftermath. They transported numerous corpses and the seriously injured to the collapsed buildings for treatment. This was the first time Tsutomu knew that there were so many casualties.

　The bodies laid out on the white cloth were mostly first- and mid-level searchers who had not responded to the evacuation. Some of them were high level searchers who were unlucky enough to be repeatedly hit by weapons that flew into their heads and other parts of their body that had little VIT (sturdiness) protection and died. Since their VIT is higher than that of normal people and their bodies are less vulnerable to damage, they are forced to lie down with their faces exposed so that their identities can be easily identified.

　But the people who did not evacuate are different. Many of them were knocked into buildings with such force that their bodies popped off, while many others were crushed and mangled by the collapsed buildings. If their heads were still intact, they were the lucky ones; most of the bodies were covered with a white cloth to hide them due to the heavy damage.

　Underneath, only hands, feet, torso and heads lay haphazardly. Miraculously, the little girl who survived is trying to find a part of her mother in its dismembered parts. Tsutomu frowned when he saw the many parts of the thing that was a human being placed there.

　But while the unlucky high level searchers were still unlucky, the others wouldn't have lost their lives if they had taken shelter beforehand. They deserved it. They deserved to die. Tsutomu thought about that, but he couldn't shake the stabbing pain in his chest. All that came to mind was the regret that he could have done better.

　The treatment team treated the severely injured, who seemed almost certain to die, without being frightened by the roar of the tyrannical dragon. That quick decision would have saved many lives. However, the number of clean bodies with little damage alone was easily over a hundred. It's not so much that we can rejoice that we were able to limit the damage to this extent against the tyrannical dragon.


''Hey, make momma come alive!
I can't do that.
'What?　Why?　Hey, mommy, can somebody bring me back? Aren't they all so fabulous?　I know!　I know because I see you with your mother all the time!
I'm sorry. I can't do this. I'm sorry.
Bullshit!　They're all liars!


　A girl finds her mother's head in a pile of corpses and screams at the healing team to cling to it with both hands. Those who die in God's dungeon can be brought back to life with a raise, but they can't use that skill outside. The people in the healing squad have their faces down. No one wants to look at them.

　And when they realized that they couldn't bring their mother back to life, the girl broke down crying with her head in her arms. The high-pitched cries characteristic of a child echo around the area. She was in no condition to let go and be happy at all.

　Tsutomu and the others, who were happy to defeat the rampaging dragon, dejectedly helped in the post-treatment of the battlefield. They cleared the collapsed buildings and sorted through the rubble to make sure there were no people inside. Rarely did they find anyone still alive in the pile, but the majority of them were left for dead.

　Once the debris pile was checked for people, the shell club, recovered by heels, lifted up the debris with huge forceps, like heavy machinery, and sorted out more and more of it. The fire dragon also carried the debris in its mouth one after another.

　Tsutomu was able to see the faces of the searchers who had died while the work was being done. And he was relieved to see that no one he knew was there, fortunately. But Garum and Amy were quietly weeping as familiar faces and friends seemed to be among them.

　In a solemn atmosphere, the after-effects of the battlefield were proceeding, and the sky, which had been reddish, was already beginning to darken. But as soon as the corpses were left unattended, flies would spring up and lay their eggs, causing a massive outbreak of maggots. The stench of decomposition also lingers in the air, which will lead to secondary damage such as infection, so we can't afford to stop our work.

　Flashes of lighting were burned around the area to ensure a clear view, illuminating the darkened area. After that, Tsutomu held his black cane for a while while he helped with the aftermath.


''Give it back!


　Then suddenly such a screeching voice was heard, and Tsutomu was startled and stopped clearing the debris. At the end of the voice, Alma, who was being held down by Weiss, was crying out in a rage.


'Give it back!　Thief!　You've got to be kidding me!　It's mine!　Come back!　Come back!


　Alma flailed about with a tremendous form and was being held down by Weiss. His form was uncanny, and Tsutomu stared at the black cane in amazement at its appearance. The black cane that was originally his own, a black cane for white mages only.


''Give it back!　Come back!
I'm sorry.
No. Come in.


　But the black cane had already been sold by himself and officially purchased by the Red Devil Gang. It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with them. Then, when Weiss let go of him, Alma crouched down on the ground holding the black staff.


''My........this is my........''


　Alma felt relieved when she took the black cane in her hands, and she stopped moving as she crouched down and rasped with tears in her eyes. When Tsutomu was dong Alma's unusual obsession with the black cane, Weiss came up to him and spoke in a low voice.


''If Alma is going to come at you after this, call me. If you tell him in advance that you'll confiscate the black cane, he won't get involved with you...
'Oh, yes. I see. You're going to be in a lot of trouble.
"...sometimes I wish I hadn't bought that black cane.


　Weiss turned his face down a little sadly and then walked away with Alma. Tsutomu also looked at Weiss as if he couldn't do anything about it, but he looked away from it.

　After that, the post-processing continued, but the searchers were allowed to return to the depths of the labyrinth city.


''You guys can rest a little longer.
Yes, sir.
Tsutomu, you did your best. Don't be so hard on yourself.
Yes.


　Tsutomu returns to the labyrinth city with Bruno's encouragement, while the guard and the nobleman's private army are left to deal with the aftermath. The searchers return to the labyrinth city as if they were defeated in the war. It is unprecedented that the Stampede, when the Babenberg family was ruling the labyrinth city, had caused so much damage to the city, and the explorers, devastated by the damage, return in silence.

　Amy and Garum, Camille and the guild members walking next to Tsutomu are also silent. The joy of having defeated the tyrannical dragon is already gone. Seeing the explorers with such faces returning to the center of the labyrinth city, the people who had taken refuge in the city were talking to them while looking anxious.

　There was no information coming in from the front lines, and the barrier magic that had surrounded the labyrinth city disappeared. More roars and frightening roars could be heard, and the evacuated populace retreated to their homes and buildings in fear.


''Camille-san!　What the hell happened to you!
'Guild Master!　The barriers are gone, and you know what?!


　They flocked to Camille, who was known to them as the head of the guild, and were hungry for information. Camille gestured to the others to go ahead of her and told them what had happened.


'Then we'll go this way.
Yes, sir.


　The guild members went back to the guild quarters individually, and Tsutomu also trudged to the inn. Then, with a sunken face, he finished the reception and entered his room, laid down on his bed and fell asleep.


　--~~.


　After that, the cleanup and reconstruction of the damage caused by the Stampede continued to take place one after another. Most of the rubble had been removed, the blood was washed away, and the battered corpse of the rampaging dragon had been recovered. The Labyrinth Conqueror Squad, which had been reduced in numbers a bit from the north, had also returned to the Labyrinth City.

　After the bodies were returned to the families of the deceased and a large funeral service was held, the blame game began to be played. The first to bear the brunt of this was the Babenberg family. They had to apologize for the breach of the barriers, and they had to guarantee the families of the deceased money and housing. They also called for a summons to the royal capital, where the matter was known.

　The people of the Maze City responded to the press reports and criticized the Babenberg family. There was also a minor uprising by the bereaved families and the few surviving residents. But there were no casualties among those who had been evacuated under a strict order, or among those who had followed the last-minute evacuation instructions, or among searchers. Those who died were those who did not follow the two evacuation orders.

　And those who died were found by the searchers, who were disgusted by the fact that they had disregarded the orders issued by the security forces and the subsequent evacuation instructions. With that, the bereaved families and the people who had rioted and ridden the rioters were criticized by their surroundings and quieted down easily.

　Although the Babenberg family had been criticized a lot in the Maze City, they were surprisingly not criticized as much as they had been in King's Landing. That's how much trust the Babenberg family has in barrier magic, and the nobles who protect the royal city with barrier magic do not benefit from undermining the Babenberg family.

　That nobleman took pride in defending the royal city, so he didn't want to be entrusted with defending the labyrinth city instead of the Babenberg family. There are other nobles who deal with barrier magic, but the Babenberg family is overwhelmingly more skilled in barrier magic.

　The aristocrats guarding the royal city and the Babenberg family's barrier magic is almost a 50/50 split. But the Babenberg family is more versatile in its ability to change the nature of its magic, and furthermore, it has never been broken in the thirty years since the current head of the family took over. They have been defending the labyrinth city for thirty years, and their known abilities have not wavered. Therefore, the Babenberg family didn't receive that much criticism in the King's City, but rather were sympathetic to the fact that such a monster had come out and attacked them.

　And King's Landing offered to lend them some G and the manpower they needed to rebuild the city for free as a help.

　Next to the Babenberg family, the next most criticized were the Maze Conquerors and the private armies of the nobility. Criticism was rife that the reason the stampede had intensified to this point was because those two groups had neglected to thin out the dungeons in advance.

　But the Labyrinth Conqueror Squad and the nobleman's private army alone couldn't thin out the dungeons around the Labyrinth City. In the past, besides those two groups, searchers would naturally thin out the dungeons in the vicinity. So until now, the Stampede had only been small-scale.

　But after the creation of God's Dungeon, most of the explorers stopped hiding in the outer dungeons and the monsters were not thinned out. Until now, the two groups had been thinning out the dungeons that were not popular with the searchers, but now that the God's Dungeon had taken over the searchers, they had to thin out the nearby dungeons as well.

　As a result, there was a shortage of manpower, and every year, the stampede had begun to gradually intensify. It was a problem that had already been mentioned a few years after the creation of God's Dungeon, but it had come to this point on the sly, unimproved by the people's movement and the nobles. Those lazy years have accumulated and happened, and this outbreak of the violent dragon is what happened.

　Therefore, everyone who had neglected the Stampede is responsible for it. The same is true for the people who have been tying up explorers in God's dungeon because of the entertainment value of the monitored images in God's dungeon. The same is true for the people who once opposed a law issued by the nobility to direct explorers to the outer dungeons, and had that law thrown out of order.

　This also silenced criticism of the Maze Conquerors and the private armies of the nobility. Then a new law was promulgated, with an official apology and ceremony by the Babenberg family.

　Explorers are now responsible for thinning out monsters in the dungeons outside. However, the information on dungeons held by the Labyrinth Conqueror's team will be matched with the searcher's level of difficulty to make it as easy as possible for them to reach the dungeons. If you pay a certain amount of G, you will be exempted from this responsibility. However, the G required for this exemption has been set quite high, and the big clans with the money will be responsible for thinning out the monsters because the public will be watching.

　The people's criticism of the city had largely stopped, and the reconstruction of the labyrinth city was steadily underway. Finally, the Stampede's scars began to heal.

　Then the nobles gathered the groups that had been active in the Stampede and held a small victory party. It was about a month after the Stampede.

　During that time, the mood was solemn, that each group gladly accepted the invitation to join the Stampede. Tsutomu was to participate in the victory party within the framework of the guild.

　Tsutomu wore his usual neatly cleaned white robe and headed to the nobleman's residence.

　Seeing Camille in her black dress and Garum and Amy in their guild uniforms made Tsutomu feel a little put off, but he was relieved to see that most of the other searchers were dressed as usual. Then they entered the nobleman's mansion and were ushered into the hall.

　There were representatives of major clans and security groups gathered there, and they were already talking and eating like a standing party. The atmosphere inside was so loose that it was hard to believe it was hosted by a nobleman, and it was a bit noisy.

　Amy dashed over to the fish dishes, and Garum walked quickly over to the whole shell crab. Camille was also apparently going to have a little chat with the nobleman, so Tsutomu, who was left alone, stopped by the shell crab that had been roasted whole and looked up at it.

　The shell crab smelled very tasty and was popular with everyone who was hungry gathered around it. Tsutomu also looked down at the shellcrab meat that had been cut up by the nobleman's servant and placed on his plate.


(The end of the biggest contributor, huh?)


　The Shell Crab does a decent job in dragon defeating battles, and also plays a great role as a decoy during the time of the tyrannical dragon. They are also able to use their large forceps and inexhaustible physical strength to play a part in the reconstruction process. Although there is a restriction of having to give a colorless magic stone every day, the shell club was the longest summoned monster to be summoned.

　However, when most of the recovery work was finished, the Shell Crab was no longer supplied with magical stones, and in the end it was like a machine that had run out of power. The summoner who summoned the shell crab is still crying and eating the shell crab. Even Tsutomu took a bite of its white roasted flesh, and it was so good that his cheeks naturally lifted. The shell crab did a great job with everything. Tsutomu ate with gratitude.


'Oh, Master Tsutomu,'
Yeah, that's right.


　While Tsutomu was eating shell crab while feeling somewhat sentimental, Eunice, who was wearing a red dress as well as Stephanie, who was wearing a yellow dress, came up to him. Stephanie always wears a dress, so I didn't mind, but I had never seen Eunice in a dress before, so it was new to me.


(I wonder how the dress was constructed?)


　As Tsutomu looked at Eunice with that thought in mind when he saw the big fox's tail, she fluttered and spun around and then turned into a scowl.


''Hm. Have you been admiring me?''
"...Stephanie. Do you have anything to do with this?
'Yes. I've heard that Mr. Eunice is Master Tutom's number one disciple, so I've been talking to him.
'Is this about me?　Don't be silly!
''I mean, in the first place, my number one disciple is Lorena, the Silver Beast, so I need you to stop spreading lies. You're number two, and in terms of ability, you're number three. Use respectful language for Miss Stephanie and Miss Lorena, respectful language.
What are you talking about?　Get out there, sir!


　Stephanie put her hand over her mouth and let out a wry smile as Eunice yelled at her for bleeping. After that, Tsutomu exchanged a few words with Stephanie while still treating Eunice.


''I'm sorry to have missed your performance at the Stampede. I am ashamed to say that I misjudged Tsutomu-sama's abilities on my own.''
'What?　Oh, yes.
Your true strength is something that can be shown outside. But in God's dungeon, I will surpass you. Please watch. I'll live up to your expectations.
Oh, yes.


　Tsutomu felt that he and Stephanie had somehow misunderstood each other's intentions when she said and did not grasp his intentions, but it was a good thing that she seemed to be giving it some kind of motivation. It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with your friends and family. So I had no intention of being easily crossed by Stephanie, but I didn't want to say it, because I felt it would be wild to say it.


''Ta, indeed, that was, I'm going to admit that it was awesome.
Okay.
'....It's discrimination. I'm going to sue you for discrimination against the beasts!
'I remember Lorena was a rabbit person too, I think, but...'
"...it's discrimination against foxes. I'm going to sue you for discrimination against the foxes.


　Eunice is being salted by Tsutomu and comforted by Stephanie patting her on the head. Tsutomu left Eunice in charge of Stephanie and headed off to another place.

　In addition, Tsutomu also went around to greet Leon, Luke, Weiss, and others. All of the clans seemed to be coming back to life, and Tsutomu found out from each of them that in another month or so, they would begin to dive into the dungeons of the gods. This past month the major clans were thinning out the monsters in the dungeons outside, but it was expected to take another month or so.

　And as they ate their fish dishes, Amy was in the midst of the Golden Research Clan, which seemed to be getting quite a bit of girl talk. Garum was mingling with those in the tank position, but also kicking off Weiss who had come to recruit him again. While Tsutomu was taking a break from watching such a scene, three members of the Babenberg family approached him.


''Lord Tsutomu,''
Yes.


　Tsutomu replied to the head of the Babenberg family, who had clearly smelled the atmosphere that he would be speaking to him, while giving a deep eye bow.


''I would like to thank you again for protecting my people on our behalf.


　With that, the three members of the Babenberg family bowed deeply to Tsutomu.

　The Babenberg family had already apologized to their people and other organizations in an official capacity. Tsutomu, who had been recommended by those around him as having made the greatest contribution to the Stampede, had also already received an apology and gratitude in an official capacity. However, the head of the company was also making the rounds to thank the various organizations for their support on this occasion.

　While the head of the family has a solid face that does not show any signs of fatigue, his son and daughter are still young and inexperienced, and their faces have become very tired over the past month. Tsutomu had accepted the head of the family's words with a slightly sympathetic gaze.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of this opportunity. When Tsutomu made eye contact with him, his eyes widened in admiration.


"...I believe Lord Tsutomu was with Luke at the time,
'Well ... ah, yes. That's when you tried to get out of the barrier, right?


　At Tsutomu's reply, the eldest son of the Babenberg family stepped forward and bowed his head while gritting his teeth in frustration. The regret was not for Tsutomu, but for his inexperience.


'I'm sorry. If I hadn't stopped you then, you could have contained the damage. And thank you. Thank you for saving my people instead of me, who was unworthy.
''No... Thank you, too, for preventing the attack of the tyrannical dragon.


　The eldest son's fists are trembling as he purrs, perhaps regretting his own actions. But even for Tsutomu, he feels that he couldn't have prevented that tyrannical dragon's magic cannon even if he had prepared for it beforehand, and it's clear that he himself would have been in danger if it weren't for the nobleman's barrier.

　In the past month, Tsutomu had learned that the barriers of the Babenberg family had limitations. A surgeon must share his senses with the barriers. It is said that this can be alleviated to some extent by training, but Tsutomu sees his eldest son covered in blood with his own eyes.

　On top of that, his eldest son offers a sincere apology and thanks. That attack by the Violent Dragon was as powerful as Tsutomu had expected. ''Live Dungeon!'' Unlike the other two, there is no limit to the number of monsters that can be eaten, so the violent dragon that was hit by the dungeon and the stampede stored up a huge amount of magical stones and released them into the air. There was no way they could completely block such a ridiculous attack. But the eldest son of the Babenberg family admitted his own lack of strength and honestly apologized.

　The distrust that Tsutomu had for his eldest son was gone. He thanked the three men as they walked away from him.

　From now on, the Babenberg family would have to spend many years trying to regain the trust of their eldest son. It is obvious that that road will be difficult.


(......something I'd like to help you with.


　It's not so much that he didn't want to go directly to the outside dungeon to thin out the monsters, but he thought as he received the acknowledgement that he would try to help as much as possible. To be honest, the G given to him as a reward was too much for him to handle, so he was thinking about returning it.


'Tutum!　What are you doing!
Wow!


　Perhaps trying to cheer up Tsutomu, who was making a mysterious face, Amy jumped on his back at the right time. Garum, who had been watching the two ramblers, approached with a dumbfounded look on his face.


'What are you doing?'
No, no, I want to hear this.


　Tsutomu turned his troubled gaze to Garum even as he piggybacked Amy, who was on his back with his hand on her shoulder. The celebration continued for the next two hours.