Chapter 80: The Banquet of Dragons

The next day — on which was two days before the Stampede attacked Uga'ol — Leon returned from his scouting. He gave the Security Team an announcement message from the Labyrinth Conquerors, and also information about the Stampede.

The message went: Uga'ol will most likely fall. After the Labyrinth Conquerors were done protecting all the people of Uga'ol they could, they would head to help defend Dungeon City. They also recommended Dungeon City to be on maximum caution.

It was all so straightforward. Arriving in addition to that was a detailed summary of the Stampede's fighting force.

First off, the size: roughly twice as big as the previous Stampede. Notable known monsters: Over a hundred Wyverns, six Fire Dragons. Unidentified monsters: three Dragons with blue breath attacks, two Dragons that breathed black flames, one Dragon capable of unleashing lightning strikes, and one landbound Dragon.

The scouting team before Leon had been wiped out by the lightning Dragon, which was why there had been no information brought back earlier. Its lightning struck in the blink of an eye, instantly killing those whose VIT ratings were C- or lower. Additionally, most targets would still be paralyzed after taking a hit, which would result in them being killed by one of the other Dragons.

The black Dragon's black flames seemed to be inextinguishable by water, and would continue burning until its victims died. It was yet unknown how one could extinguish those flames.

Leon, after passing the message and information, immediately returned to Uga'ol. He had been told by the Labyrinth Conquerors' Clan Leader that he did not have to go again, but having seen the Stampede's sheer force with his own eyes, he immediately headed off again, not even stopping to take a break.

As soon as the Security Team director received the information, he immediately issued a high alert order. The team evacuated the residents as far south as possible, and then publicly released all the Stampede information thus far.

For the first time, after hearing the Security Team's high alert order and the announcements, the people were bewildered; it seemed that they could not even imagine how much bigger the Stampede was this time. Explorers, on the other hand, were in total despair. Wyverns coming in the hundreds was on a whole different scale than what they had experienced previously. On top of that, most of them had never even fought a Fire Dragon, let alone six of them. The lower-leveled Explorers in particular were starting to panic.

Tsutomu, after getting his information from the newspapers, waded through the crowd on his way back to his room.

"Lightning Dragon, Earth Dragon, Black Dragon, Ice Dragon... and the classic Fire Dragon. What's this, the Banquet of Dragons?"

Tsutomu thought back to his time in Live Dungeon, specifically the 'Banquet of Dragons' in-game event, while pulling out the relevant information sheets and noting down the monsters' information on a blank sheet of paper.

Once that was done, he went over and packed the items he needed into his Magic Bag. He now has three more of them — one for food, one for daily necessities, and one for Magic Stones.

He held his new purse-like Magic Bags in his hands and carried his first Magic Bag on his back.

[Sure would be nice if I could put Magic Bags into a Magic Bag,] Tsutomu thought to himself, while also being thankful that Magic Bags were a thing in the first place, since without them, he would not have been able to keep all his food in one place.

After confirming that he could carry everything just fine, Tsutomu put his bags down and left the inn.

What he was focusing on now were his preparations to flee with his life. If all the information thus far was accurate, there was a good chance that Dungeon City would be destroyed by the Stampede. Moreover, so long as he did not have detailed knowledge about Dungeon City's defense systems, he could not place much faith in the nobility's defensive magic.

Fortunately, the escape routes were not crowded yet, since the residents have yet to start evacuating in full to the south. In this situation, it should be easy to escape from Dungeon City and head for one of the southern cities.

[...I wonder if any of those guys will follow me.]

Tsutomu wanted to escape Dungeon City with Garm, Amy, Camille, and the old lady from the Forest Apothecary if he could, his destination being a city to the south. He would like to bring the entirety of Silver Beast along if he could, too, but he was not so sure if there would be enough food to support their large numbers, so he had to make the difficult decision to not go to them.

If Tsutomu were to prioritize his survival, it would most likely be best that he went alone. That way, he would have plenty of food to himself, and would be able to go on his way quickly.

He was no longer in a position to do that, however — his relationships with some people here were not so shallow that he would just abandon them. Garm, Amy, Camille — these three, at the very least, he could not leave behind without a word first.

Tsutomu entered the Guild and waited for Garm's break from his gatekeeping duties; in the meantime, he talked to a receptionist to book an appointment with Camille, and then went to the Appraisal Office to call Amy.

Then, once lunch break time rolled around, the three went to meet up with Tsutomu in the Guild's conference room. While they stared at him, Tsutomu took a deep breath and proceeded to talk, his expression just as heavy as his thoughts,

"Hypothetically speaking, if I told you that I would be escaping from Dungeon City, would you follow me?"

The three only stared back blankly, but then changed their expressions upon seeing that he was actually serious.

"Am I correct in assuming that you will be running away from the Stampede?" Garm asked.

"Yes."

"...I have many people I must protect here in Dungeon City. I can't simply make an escape with you," Garm said with a straight face, without a moment's hesitation.

Following Garm, Camille spoke, cracking a somewhat troubled smile,

"...It's quite an appealing invitation, but I won't go. As the Guild Master, there are many responsibilities I must fulfill."

Garm and Camille were firm in their decision to stay. Garm intended to defend the orphanage and protect the people, while Camille would be defending the Guild as its Master. Amy looked at both of them to her sides and groaned before giving her answer,

"I'm... alright with that. If you decide to run, I'll run with you," Amy said as she looked up at Tsutomu.

Seeing Amy like that, Camille shrugged in good humor, prompting the former to turn away in embarrassment.

Tsutomu did not lighten up his expression, however. If he had to leave even one of the four behind — be it Garm, Amy, Camille, or the old lady — he would not be able to bring himself to escape.

...Or so he felt, if only vaguely. In fact, he had already known that someone like Garm would never agree to abandon the people, and that Camille would not turn away from her responsibilities. Amy's response was somewhat unexpected, but then again, he could not leave with just her.

Besides, the real question was whatever would happen if Dungeon City were to be destroyed. The city would most likely be occupied by monsters, after which it would take quite a long time to reclaim. Moreover, Tsutomu's future party members might even die in the process. If he wanted the best results, he should stay and fight off the Stampede here instead.

[...Yeah, right...]

At this point, all that was just a front he put up. All Tsutomu wanted out of this was to help at least those four, even if it meant risking his life. That was all there was to it, and he felt embarrassed to admit that outright.

When Tsutomu first arrived in this world, he had gained infamy as the 'Lucky Boy' and had not been able to party up with anyone as a result. That was what made him hate the people of this world wholeheartedly; it did not matter to him whether the bad Explorers or the general populate lived or died. After all, they were all someone else — it was no different to him from hearing news reports of people's deaths overseas.

But then, thanks to the Guild's suggestions, he had met Garm and Amy, partying up with them. And during the following fake news incident, he had been saved by Camille. The Forest Apothecary lady, the Deputy Guild Master, the folks over at Silver Beast — they all had helped him at some point. Back in his original world, Tsutomu had not been very good at interpersonal relationships, but after getting involved with the people here, he had started to see some change.

Tsutomu heaved a deep sigh and held his head with one hand, then promptly raised his face up, making no effort to hide his annoyance. Seeing Tsutomu's true reaction, Camille nodded in satisfaction, while Amy alternated her sights between the former two, confused.

"...All right, I understand. Thank you for talking with me, everyone — even though this must be a busy time for you all. I'll excuse myself now."

"...Huh!? You mean we're not actually running away!?"

"Oh, Amy, you... Well, go on, Tsutomu. I'll take care of this little princess for you," Camille said as she grabbed Amy in place.

"Thank you. Again, sorry for asking a weird question, everyone," Tsutomu said and promptly exited the Guild building. After he was gone, Camille let go of Amy.

Tsutomu had made the decision to help out — first by sending information on the Dragons to the northern city. Once he got back to his room, he checked the documents he had written in the morning and picked up his three Magic Bags, passing them over to the supply convoy heading to Uga'ol.

Tsutomu talked to the coachman, asking if he could bring those items straight to the Labyrinth Conquerors and offering to pay a lucrative amount of G for it. The coachman was surprised by how much pay was being put forward, but nevertheless agreed.

――▽▽――

And then, two days later, the Stampede clashed against the defenses of Uga'ol. The quadrupedal Earth Dragon was in the lead, charging at the city wall. Unfazed by cannon fire, it eventually broke through the wall, after which the other monsters poured inside through the newly opened hole. The airborne Dragons unleashed black flames and lightning bolts as they flew by, causing utter chaos inside the city.

Information that had been sent beforehand suggested that the black flames could be extinguished with Holy-elemental attacks; thanks to that knowledge, the defenders could prevent the city from burning to the ground. The airborne Dragons flew straight for Dungeon City, while the monsters on the ground continued to raid this city in search of food.

The Labyrinth Conquerors had anticipated the influx of monsters, however, and had scattered food and Magic Stones all over the city, luring the invaders into carefully chosen paths. Relying on the lure locations and instructions from allies hovering above using <<Fly>>, the Clan members evacuated the city residents to avoid contact with the monsters.

Still, avoiding detection by all monsters proved to be difficult, so the Uga'ol soldiers and the Labyrinth Conquerors also moved all over the city, eliminating monsters that were closing in on the residents.

The soldiers, having no experience fighting the types of monsters that had invaded the city — or any large monster, for that matter — could only help with long-ranged attacks from the safety of the wall-tops. Because of that, their performance was poor, resulting in several casualties.

The Labyrinth Conquerors, on the other hand, had experience with many unforeseen situations and were able to work quickly. The Clan Leader, the silver-haired Elf, gave precise commands to her subordinates to protect the city's inhabitants, while the Deputy Clan Leader fought one-on-one with the Earth Dragon.

Amid all this, there had been a few people who had not responded to the evacuation order, mistaking it for the easy Stampedes of the past. They had packed their things and rushed out to evacuate upon hearing that the wall had been broken through, but not knowing their escape routes, they had ended up wandering around and killed by the monsters. Apart from that, the defenders were able to keep casualties to a minimum.

Overall, the Labyrinth Conquerors were doing a good job — their evacuation direction was precise, and the Earth Dragon was successfully stalled. Leon, temporarily working under the Labyrinth Conquerors' commands, was also a great help. Working in conjunction with the Clan Leader, who levitated with <<Fly>> to get a clear view of everything and give out precise orders, Leon moved quickly by hopping from roof to roof, assisting the ground combatants wherever they were struggling with monsters. Thanks to his efforts, casualties and injuries among the residents were kept considerably low.

And thanks to the food scattered along the chosen paths, a large portion of the monsters were moving through the designated areas. The residents watched on, trembling with fear as the monsters ravaged the city.

But then, at one point, a child cried, attracting a group of monsters and causing chaos to break loose. One of the Labyrinth Conquerers used <<Combat Cry>> to draw the monsters to them instead, managing to keep the people out of harm's way... but the Explorer died, swallowed up by the wave of monsters.

After most of the monsters had passed through the city, the soldiers and the residents started to feel relieved, but were promptly warned by the Labyrinth Conquerors. There were still some monsters left in the city, so they could not let their guard down until those creatures were all eliminated.

The extermination of the few monsters within the city was left to the soldiers, while the Labyrinth Conquerors went to intercept the Earth Dragon. Joining up with the Deputy Clan Leader, who had been fighting it alone all this time, they eventually managed to slay the Dragon, albeit with some casualties on their side.

After that, the people began to work on restoring the ravaged city. Buildings had been burnt, roads destroyed, the wall broken through — not to mention many had died, eaten by the monsters, their remains left a mess. Corpses, both the people and the monsters', had to be cleaned up quickly, otherwise they could become the source of an epidemic.

Flies, sensing the decay of flesh, had already sprung up to lay their eggs on the corpses. Soldiers and members of the Labyrinth Conquerors led the way in disposing of the corpses; they unrolled large Magic Bags, put ice into them to help slow down the decomposition process, and then threw the corpses in.

Creatures with consciousness could not be put into Magic Bags, so living humans could not be put into them — but corpses were a different story. The residents watched on in horror as one body after another was put into the seemingly bottomless bags.

Once the human corpses were taken care of, the following step was the collection of monster corpses. Magic Stones, furs, and other materials extracted from the monsters would go toward funding the city's rebuilding efforts. For the time being, the corpses were put into Magic Bags; their resources would be extracted at a later time. The Earth Dragon, on the other hand, was being harvested right away — eventually, all that was left of it were bones with bits of flesh stuck to them.

The work went on all night, but everything ended without further issues. The Labyrinth Conquerors Clan Leader sat down in a chair and closed her eyes. She had been going without a wink of sleep, directing her subordinates and processing their reports; now she could finally relax.

[...I can't imagine what would have happened if we hadn't received all this information.]

Tsutomu's compilation of information had safely been delivered to the Labyrinth Conquerors, and it included things such as the hardness of the Earth Dragon's shell and how to extinguish the Black Dragon's flames, which had been the keys to defending the city. The Clan Leader had already expected the Earth Dragon to break through the wall with its tackle attack, but Leon's reports and Tsutomu's information were the things that had made her a hundred percent sure.

Moreover, ways to extinguish black flames had not been known to her before, so the delivered information had been a lifesaver. If not for it, the buildings would have burned to the ground, and the people who had been burned by the black flames would have been all dead.

[Those damned fools...]

She thought back to the accidents during the evacuations, in which the combatants had to put their lives on the line, using <<Combat Cry>> and <<Warrior Howl>> to pull monsters away from the people. If she had kept on top of things, she would have cast <<Fly>> for them to make their work safer. While raising her face up and rubbing the inner corners of her eyes, she bit her lower lip in frustration.