The square through the gates was in a state of commotion.

　People rushed into the city, frightened that they might be attacked by a beast just a few moments ago.
　They were a bunch of helpless humans who couldn't leave the chaos behind, just ranting in the dark.

'Thanks for the help. If it wasn't for your help, the damage would have been done, no doubt.

　As the first captain said, although there were many injured, no one was killed, neither the residents nor the soldiers.

''Due to the urgency of the situation, we'll have to thank you again.

　After confirming the names of Ted and his men and their lodgings, the captain led his soldiers to the royal castle.

''Well, ....... Anyway, what happened and--

Mr. Aldis!

　Just as Ted looks around at the members and opens his mouth, he hears the voice of a boy who hasn't yet welcomed a change of voice from the crowd of people in the jumble.

'Kirill?'

　The voice is Kirill, a merchant apprentice in the Rovell Trading Company. He is the boy who inspired Aldis to come to Leytin.
　The boy, who was small for his age of twelve, was still weaving his way through the adults around him, weaving his way through the crowd to get to Aldis.

''Aldis-san, are you alright? I heard you left in the morning after receiving a request to take out, so I was worried about you.''

As you can see, I'm in good hands. But Kirill, what the hell is going on?　It sounds like things have gotten a lot messier since I've been away from Laitin for half a day.

'That's ......, I'm not quite sure. I didn't see anything unusual until after lunch, and then I realized that this was .......

　Kirill's anxiety appeared as a flicker in his dark blue eyes.

'Aldis-san, do you know what's going on outside?　Rumor has it that a large number of beasts are coming towards Leytin?

'Yeah. There seems to be a herd of beasts - and an unusually large number of them surrounding Leytin. When I saw the east gate, there were only a few more than a thousand of them ......, but now there may be more.

A thousand bodies: ......!

　Kirill exclaimed at the sheer number of them, more than he had imagined.

'That's more than ......, that's more than the regular soldiers of Leytin ......!

　Of course, most of the enemies are insignificant beasts like the Glass Wolf.
　But just like Ted defeated earlier, even a regular soldier would have a heavy burden when it comes to the 'Beast King' class.
　In addition, although it was only seen from a distance, Ardis had also confirmed the existence of demons.

''Is it too much for Leytin's army to handle: ......

I'm sure they'll ask us to join the mercenaries.

　Ted anticipates Aldis's thoughts and speaks up.

Anyway, let's go back to the inn. Whether or not you're asked to join us, we should be as prepared as possible.

Well, Norris is right.

　Next to Ted and the others talking about the future, Kirill opens his mouth, as if remembering.

'Ah!　Yes, Mr. Aldis!　Marida has been looking for you. You can go to the Litte Chamber of Commerce when you get back to the inn.

'...... Marida?'　Yeah, okay. I'll come by. What about Kirill?

I'm going to go to the 'burial place' now.

　In these times of turmoil, it is easy for fire robbers to come out, taking advantage of the lack of soldiers' attention in dealing with foreign enemies.
　In the worst of times, ordinary people can become mobs and start looting.

　Therefore, each merchant's association would immediately dispatch skilled men to their warehouses and unloading areas to secure and protect their goods. It is said that this is called "cargo restraint" among the merchants.
　If you look, there are several strong men standing behind Kirill. It is probably Kirill's role to guide them.

''I see. I'm sorry we've been held up, sorry. If that's the case, we'd better hurry up.'

Yes, we're done for the night. Don't forget, we're going to the Litte Chamber of Commerce.

　After saying this, Kirill ran with the men towards the unloading area.

''Okay, then let's hurry back to the inn, too. What about Aldis?

I'm going to the Ritte Company first and then back to the inn.

All right, I'll see you later.

　Aldis leaves Ted and the others and turns to the Litte Trading Company.

　Normally you can hear the peaceful buzzing of the main street, but today is different.
　It's not as bad as the square in front of the west gate, where piercing shouts of rage fly, but the usual vivacity is missing in the voices that spill out of people's mouths.

'Is Marida there?'

　What Aldis saw as she stepped into the ground floor store of the Litte Chamber of Commerce was a flurry of activity like a field treatment center.

''--I don't need that information!　It's more important to find out what the higher-ups think right now!　You know, this is what you get for sucking the royal family's sweet juice, isn't it?　How can you not use that pipe now?　--We need to secure oil, coal and wood.　Food!　The government is going to start controlling that kind of trade soon!　If you blatantly buy all of them, you'll attract attention!　First of all, it's a lame ploy to get the residents to hate you for it!　--What?　Why isn't there a cargo hold for the warehouse?　The Lovell Chamber of Commerce has already sent people out!　Why are you so tender?　Go get a couple of mercenaries!　--Oh, Mr. Aldis. You've come to the right place!

　Marida, who had been giving instructions to the right and left continuously, noticed Aldis' arrival and called out to her.

''I just wanted a skilled mercenary!　I'll give you one gold coin a day, why don't you play our bouncer?

"No.

He didn't even show any signs of thinking.

Is that all you have to do?　Then I'm leaving now.

Hey, hey, hey!　Wait a minute!　No, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about something else.　In the back for now!

　Marida let the middle-aged man take care of the situation, and then pulled Aldis upstairs.

Hey, you sure you want to do this?　As an outsider, I don't think it's a good idea to lose the person in charge in an emergency like this.

No, it's not okay. I just didn't want to share my story with you.

　As soon as she enters the parlor and closes the door, Marida cuts her off as if she didn't have time to sit down.

'How much do you know about the situation?

"All I know is that there's a bunch of beasts surrounding Laitin: ....... I just got back a while ago. I'm sure you'll be able to find the best way to get the best out of it. In the first place, why did they all of a sudden attack in groups?

　Unusually, Marida nodded her head in a mysterious way.

''That's the thing: ....... You don't think it's because of that sword, do you?

You mean the red sword that Kirill brought back?

The only thing you and I have in common is the common sword that you and I have in common, right?

'Well, ......, I know very little about that sword either.

This is an unusual situation as soon as that sword became like a cocoon. It's hard to believe that they are unrelated.

　It was true that he had been haunted by a deformed humanoid every night since he had obtained it in the Caucasus Forest. I have an idea in terms of suspiciousness.
　As Marida pointed out, the timing was also too good to be true, since the sword had been wrapped in a cocoon.

'What's going on in your dream?'

As I told you before, if you know everything in your dreams, you won't have a problem.

　Marida adds that she didn't expect this time to happen at all, either.

'It's ...... a vaguely unusable force.

Nuh-heh!　No way I'm certified as a bimbo!

　Aldis's true intentions, which leaked out as a blur, were damaging to Marida in a sober way.

''If it bothers you, let's check it out, shall we?　If it's because of that sword, then just dump it in the middle of nowhere. If that would solve this situation, then we can talk about it quickly.

'What?　Ah, ....... I wonder if that's okay ......?　But as far as you're concerned, Aldis, it's okay for you to do so: ......?

　Marida was hesitant at first, but aside from not throwing it away, she agreed on the condition that she would only check to see if the pack of beasts would react to the sword.

''Well then, I'm going to borrow it. Don't worry about it, they'll come back for you properly.''

　But that's not the case if it's clear that this is the cause, though. And with those words that stirred up Marida's anxiety, Aldis left the Litte Chamber of Commerce with the sword wrapped in a cocoon in his hand.




''Well, and ....... If there aren't too many sentinels, we can go outside the walls .......

　Stepping out onto the main street, Aldis looked around at the ramparts that surrounded the city of Leytin from all sides.

　Bonfires filled the tops of the city walls without gaps, and furthermore, the flames of small torches were passing by them.
　Even in normal times, there would be warning lights and personnel deployed at night, but now that the state of emergency is in place, the number of them is incomparably greater.

''Do you want to just fly ...... swords?''

　If you can fly, it's easy for Ardis to climb over the walls of Laitin.
　However, now that the vigilance against flying beasts is also becoming stricter, even though night is spreading in the sky, the possibility of being seen flying is high.
　In fact, it could be seen here and there sporadically intercepting flying beasts with bows and arrows.

　Aldis ascended to the clock tower, one of the tallest in Leytin, and peered outside the walls.

''There's more of them.

　What I saw in their eyes was a herd of beasts that were still swarming to the walls of Leytin.
　When Aldis and the others had seen them before they returned to Leytin, they felt there were more than a thousand of them, but now their numbers had swelled even more.

　The city walls aren't so vulnerable that they can be broken by a beast's body blow.
　However, if they were under load for a long period of time, there's no telling what would happen. And even more so when powerful demons are mixed in with them.

　I'm not going to be the only one who can do this.
　After changing directions, changing heights, and manipulating the sword for a while to watch for any changes in the movements of the beasts, Aldis let out a short sigh.

'No?'

　The beasts showed no reaction to the movement of their swords, just rushing towards the city walls towards the city of Leytin. I tried moving my sword into the midst of the flock, but there was no reaction.

　Eventually the expanse of night reached the horizon, and Aldis called his sword back and descended to the ground.




'How did it go?'

　As I walked to the Ritte Chamber of Commerce, Marida asked me as she waited for me.

''The sword is probably unrelated to the herd of beasts. Those guys didn't have any reaction to this.''

　When Aldis replied, showing the red sword wrapped in a cocoon, the young merchant chairman looked unusually difficult.

''See, I'll return it to you as I promised.

No, you can keep it, Aldis.

　To Ardis, who held out his sword, Marida waved her palm from side to side.

'What?　Are you afraid to keep it with you now?

It's not like that, but... I was going to give it to Aldis-kun anyway.

　Aldis squinted his dark eyes at Marida, who looked sullen.

'That's right on schedule, you say?

'I'm not sure when, though. That's something you should keep, Aldis, maybe.

　Because Marida says so, there was probably a scene in her dream where Aldis was holding this sword.

...... I see. If that's the case, I'll keep it for you. However, if something strange comes out of the cocoon, I won't hesitate to throw it away.

Come in.

　It was Marida who replied with two smiling faces.



　With the sword in hand, Aldis left the Litte Trading Company.

　It's a good thing that you have a good body and feel like you've been forced into a troublesome situation, but it's clear that Aldis himself was curious about the sword.
　It was partly because he himself had brought it back from the ruins in the Caucasian forest, and partly because he was offering Nere's hair.

　He had stayed in Leitin for the past few days to see how the sword was doing, but he didn't need to do that if he was going to carry it himself.
　Every day of hunting with Ted and the others was not a bad idea, of course. But it's time to go home.

'Let's get the herd out of the way and go home.

　Muttering in a light tone, as if he were beginning to clean the garden, Aldis walked down the noisy main street to the inn where Ted and his friends were waiting for him.