Published at 9th of December 2020 02:11:52 PM
Chapter 66.1
Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
I didn’t think Iris’s base-building activities could raise such a racket . It would certainly make a lot of noise if she went at it like that . It’s quite possible that the adventurers who ventured deep into the Demon Forest would have been able to pick up on the noise .
Well, at least the noisy construction work has mostly settled down now, so they probably won’t be able to pick up on any more ‘strange’ rumbling sounds . At least, I hope so .
I had Iris investigate for me again, but there were no signs of a monster stampede just like I thought . It looks like the matter this time was just the Guild totally getting it wrong .
I did plan on having the drones clean up the monsters if ever a stampede did occur, but it looks like it’s just some needless worries .
But just in case, I still had Iris stay on alert and told her to immediately report to me once she picks up on something that seems abnormal .
But with this, we’ve ended up in a strange situation of working to thin out monster numbers even though there’s actually no risk of a stampede .
Well, we did decide to suspend bandit hunting for the time being, so I guess the Clan could focus on this request instead . Once they determine that the monster numbers won’t suddenly increase, the guild would probably call off the culling activities anyway .
After dinner, I invited my party members and the leaders of each sub-party to the Clan office once more .
“Recently, it seems there have been rumors of strange happenings within the depths of the Great Demon Forest . The Adventurer’s Guild is worried these incidents might be precursors to a stampede . ”
“A stampede!?”
It looks like the stampede phenomenon really was viewed as highly dangerous . The gathered sub-party leaders all became agitated .
“But this still hasn’t been confirmed . Or rather, according to the information I received, the danger of a monster stampede occurring is actually quite low . ”
“If Alan-sama says so, then I’m sure there is no problem then . ”
Aren’t Captain Dalshim and the rest trusting me a bit too much? There wasn’t a trace of their earlier panic, and now they were all quite calm .
“But even so, the guild still imposed a request on all major Clans . They want each Clan to work on thinning out monster numbers in order to prevent or lessen the impact of the stampede . They assigned each Clan an area where we would be responsible for hunting down monsters . Our Clan was assigned to this area in particular . ”
I showed them the area assigned to us by using the map I spread out on the table earlier . Everyone checked the area out .
“They assigned us quite a large area, didn’t they?”
“Our Clan has a lot of members and all of you are quite skilled as well, so that’s why the guild was confident in assigning us such a large area . ”
“…If that’s the case, then we definitely have to live up to their expectations, don’t we?”
“Yeah, that’s right . Once they determine that the number of monsters won’t increase further, this request would probably be called off . We’ll do our best in hunting monsters at our assigned area starting tomorrow . ”
“Understood . Do we split into the A and B Teams this time as well?”
“No . Having fifty or so people hunting monsters together is too inefficient, don’t you think? I plan to divide the Clan into five teams composed of two squads each . The leaders for each team will be me, Sharon, Selena, Elna, and Cleria . ”
“Oooh!”
The sub-party leaders expressed surprise when they heard that Cleria would be leading one team . Cleria nodded vigorously with a motivated expression on her face .
“These ladies already have extensive experience when it comes to monster hunting deep in the forest . They’re probably even more experienced than I am, to be honest . I’m counting exactly on that experience of theirs to see things through . ”
“Alan-sama, forgive my presumptuousness, but what about the assignment of personnel for each team?”
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“Oh, right . There’s that too huh . If it’s alright, can you handle that among yourselves?”
I’m sure Captain Dalshim will choose to join Cleria’s team anyway . Uh, but I guess all of the other leaders are thinking the same . And before I knew it, an intense argument erupted between the sub-party leaders .
By the way, even though the area assigned to us was fairly large, there weren’t that many monsters lurking within it . A majority were Gray Hounds, with only a few Orcs and Goblins scattered around here and there . Twenty skilled C-rank adventurers would be more than enough to deal with them .
Since this was a pretty good opportunity, I’ll have Cleria and Elna lead their own teams as well . I’m sure they’ll learn a lot from the experience . Of course, I won’t let them take any unnecessary risks, so I already arranged some support .
Elna unexpectedly didn’t have any complaints about being separated from Cleria though . It looks like she really trusts her fellow Royal Guards . No . Maybe she’s also thinking that this will be beneficial to Cleria just like me .
It looks like they finally settled the assignment of personnel . Cleria’s team had Captain Dalshim and his Satellite Squad 1 included just like I thought .
“Yosh . We’ll depart at seven tomorrow morning then . We’ll move separately once we enter the forest, but we’ll depart and return together, alright? Let’s make this our standard procedure . ”
The meeting’s over, but my four party members wanted to continue discussing the arrangements for our deployment to the sea of trees with the sub-party leaders at the dining hall . I thought it would be better if I didn’t participate and declined to join .
Now then, we’ll depart early tomorrow, so I guess I’d better get some shut-eye now .
We departed early as planned when morning came . Mobilizing with a hundred-plus people would normally make us stand out quite a bit, but other adventurer parties and Clans were also starting to make their move at this time, so we didn’t end up causing a lot of commotion . We blended in with the rest of the adventurers who were heading out of the city gates . All of them were probably going to take the same request as us .
Our assigned area was still a fair distance away, so we continued traveling as a single group . After walking for about two hours, we finally reached the area assigned to us .
“Yosh . Separate into your respective teams as planned and begin the operation . When it’s time to return, I, Selena, and Sharon’s teams will make sure to group up with Cleria and Elna’s teams again, so we’ll go back to Gantz together . ”
I roughly designated each team to different portions of our assigned area and told them what types of monsters they would probably encounter in each .
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I made it so Cleria and Elna’s teams as well as my, Selena, and Sharon’s teams were positioned to quickly perform a pincer formation with at least two teams if the situation requires . This would allow us to easily assist each other in case of an emergency .
Cleria, Elna, Selena, and Sharon all nodded with tense expressions on their faces . They then split up in different directions with each of their teams in tow .
“Yosh . Let’s get going as well, Walter . ”
“Yes, Alan-sama . ”
A portion of my team included Walter and his squad . Another portion was made up of some more of the late earl’s forces .
After roughly twenty minutes of walking, we finally encountered a group of five Gray Hounds . They seem to have already noticed us . I informed the others via hand signs .
Eight magic casters immediately formed up and started activating their spells . Their preparations were long finished when the monsters appeared from the bushes, and they were felled one after another with spells . Everyone commonly used Wind Cutter and Fire Ball as their offensive spell .
“It really is easy to finish them off quickly when you know they’re coming in advance . ”
“Yeah . Gray Hounds are fairly quick on their feet, so having our guys prep their spells beforehand is really advantageous . ”
“Can you let us deal with them with our swords next, leader? It feels a bit unfair if our men who can’t use magic don’t get a chance to act . ”
Walter suggested as such to me while we were in the middle of recovering magic stones from the corpses .
Hm . There’s actually no practical reason to purposely engage them with swords, I think… However, I do feel a bit curious as to how well everyone would deal with the monsters using their swords .
“Yosh, let’s do it then . Let’s head over there next . ”
My magic sensor just caught the presence of ten Gray Hounds . After walking a short distance, the Gray Hounds finally noticed us .
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I gave out orders using hand signs once more . Everyone became alert when they learned there were ten monsters approaching . They then pulled out their swords . I also drew mine .
Everyone then formed a semi-circle formation and surrounded me . I’m glad you guys are trying to prioritize my safety, but with this, I won’t even get the chance to swing my sword, won’t I?
The Gray Hounds leaped from the bushes one after another . They hesitated for a moment when they saw our team’s numbers, but they chose to fight it out with us in the end . They started prowling around in circles and gradually surrounded us . One of them got impatient and suddenly made a jump for Walter .
Walter swung his sword and easily split the Gray Hound’s head from its neck . One hit, one kill, huh . The rest of the monsters attacked one after another but were calmly and efficiently defeated by the team with their swords . Most of the monsters got taken down in one blow as well .
I ended up finishing off the one remaining Gray Hound that tried to escape with a Light Arrow spell .
As expected of military elites . They made fighting Gray Hounds look extremely easy . With this, Cleria and Elna’s teams would probably be fine .
I checked up on Cleria and Elna’s teams via the drone’s image feed just to be sure and found that there were no problems . By the way, I had Iris deploy three drones for today’s operation . At this rate, they might not even be necessary .
We continued hunting monsters and exterminated 19 Gray Hounds, 5 Orcs, and 12 Goblins . Everyone fought calmly and methodically, and we didn’t encounter any problems whatsoever .
At two in the afternoon, we finally joined up with Cleria’s team . It’s about time to return to Gantz .
Cleria seems to have made a big impression on her team with her magic, and was being praised left and right . She was trying really hard to hold herself back from smirking .
We took a short break, and Sharon, Selena, and Elna’s teams rejoined us as well .
“Is there anyone who got injured? None? Yosh . Let’s get back to Gantz then . ”
Along the way, Elna, Selena, and Sharon told me they faced no problems on their ends . They actually would have wanted more monsters to appear .
Well, twenty people in each team might have been a bit overkill for these monster numbers after all . However, there wasn’t any particular rush to exterminate monsters right now, and the demerits of splitting up exceeded the merits, so we’ll keep the current arrangements .