Should our mixed group of four men and women really share one room?... it seemed Kazane was the only one thinking that, since Emily had asked for one room for four people at the Toitoi inn in Crimiona city.
Originally, Naoki and the others were a three person party, and while they weren't destitute, they were careful with their money... as was quite proper for an adventurer life. They didn't have an excessively high standard of living like Kazane and the others and didn't pointlessly spend money.
Kazane thought that was ridiculous, but that was normal. As a matter of fact, that was completely normal. But if one were to ask if that was the correct choice, that would depend on the situation.
And sure enough, there was a sudden noise in the middle of the night, and Kazane jumped to her feet.
「Aneki?」
Naoki noticed the noise first, then Lyle and Emily successively rose from their beds, but Kazane already understood what had happened due to connecting to Tatsuyoshi-kun Dragoon with『Information Link』and she opened the window, then looked outside.
(Hmm, should we have stayed in a slightly nicer inn?)
Kazane looked out the window with an exasperated expression. She could see some people running away.
「What happened?」
Kazane nodded after Emily asked.
「Horse thieves. It happened once in Minshiana as well.」
Apparently, the true identity of the noise was the horse thieves. It seemed their aim was Hippomaru-kun, High Hippo-kun, or Hippo-kun Clear. Those horses stood out even without the Thunder Chariot. Hippo-kun Clear in particular had the radiance granted by a Dragon Heart and was like a running gem, so it inevitably attracted human eyes. It was unavoidable that Kazane thought they should have stayed in a higher class inn with better stable security.
Thinking about the security of one's private property was a matter of course. Luxury wasn't the only reason nobles avoided staying at cheap accommodations. It was natural for them to choose well-equipped expensive facilities, given the need for them to protect themselves. By doing so, the occurrence of disturbances like this one could be prevented. There was no need to expressly create criminals.
...There were such things to reflect on, but for now they would have to deal with the situation in front of them.
「Are we going to follow them?」
Naoki asked Kazane. After Kazane thought for a bit, she shook her head.
「No. Dragoon defeated three people, so only capturing them is fine.」
So saying, Kazane headed to the stables with Naoki, and Lyle and Emily decided to contact the innkeeper. Then they handed the three people over to the guards, and the end of the night approached.
As a matter of fact, Kazane thought they weren't the ones who were tailing them yesterday, but there was no pretext for them to capture those people. So she decided to put the matter on hold for the time being. There were limited means of transportation that could catch up with Hippomaru-kun. Once they left the city, they wouldn't be able to catch up.
Then in the morning, Kazane and the others left Crimiona City without any more incidents and arrived at their destination Blue Rifon Fort at noon, but when Kazane and the others arrived, the place had turned into a battlefield with a large number of advancing monsters.
◎ Blue Rifon Fort, Entrance
That day, Bluesea Geybok watched the horde of monsters that suddenly appeared in mute amazement.
Spring cleaning of the demons that settled in Blue Rifon Fort took place three or four times a year, and he had come for that quest half a month ago. However, the situation was very different from what Bluesea and the others had originally expected. That was because the appearance of a Baby Core, the precursor of a Heart Orb, was sensed.
As a result, the cleanup was briefly suspended. If the country wanted to turn this place into a dungeon, it was necessary for it be managed to allow the Baby Core to grow. They couldn't carelessly allow people to enter and possibly destroy the Baby Core.
Then one week after the discovery of the Baby Core, the country and the guild decided that Blue Rifon Fort was to be recaptured. There was another dungeon in the area, so the generation of surface monsters was already suppressed. It seemed the judgement was that a new dungeon in this spot wasn't necessary to manage the generation of monsters.
Also, if this place became a dungeon, it would absorb a large amount of magical power from the Naga Line, which might make this area's soil infertile. If that happened, it would cause serious harm to the surrounding farming villages.
Although such circumstances had nothing to do with the adventurers like Bluesea. The only important question for them was whether it would be allowed to become a dungeon or not, and now that the『not』choice was made, the adventurers would dive into Blue Rifon Fortress as quickly as possible to obtain the Baby Core. Blue Sea and the others had been waiting here for that purpose.
Also, it seemed the Adventurers Guild had sent requests to the surrounding cities to gather adventurers for the recapture of Blue Rifon Fort. If we don't hurry, we might lose our share… at first, everyone had the same thought, but there was a larger number of demons than they had imagined, and the dungeonification of the inside of the fort had considerably progressed.
There were 50 adventurers here, but for some reason monsters emerged independent of the dungeon level, so strangely powerful monsters frequently appeared, and as a result, the situation had reached a standstill due to the war potential at that time. After a week passed, rank B adventurers and the like arrived, and more importantly, the rank A leader of the party『O-ring』Ori Haruda arrived, so the capture of Blue Rifon Fort finally started progressing. And right when they were thinking the recapture of Blue Rifon Fort would be completed soon, a large amount of monsters suddenly emerged from the depths of the fort.
「Damn it. What the hell is going on!?」
Bluesea finally shook off his shock and shouted as he started running toward the fort, fully clothed in armor with bastard sword in hand. That place was now a battlefield.
Ogres, Orcs, Trolls, and other power-type demons were running amok, along with Barrow Tigers and Earth Dragon Modokis.
「Hey, what happened to O-ring? Isn't that group here for times like this?」
A man to the side called out to Bluesea, and he answered「I don't know」while running toward the foe he decided to aim at.
Then Bluesea, along with the companions that emerged from their tents, started assaulting the Barrow Tigers. Barrow Tigers had less stamina than Ogres, but they were nimble and had high offensive power. If they weren't defeated quickly, it would have an effect on the battle in the future.
「Or perhaps I should say, why are the monsters only attacking humans without fighting each other. That's not normal.」
Bluesea's complaint was understandable. Monsters that were not of the same species generally didn't work together. It was possible for a short time when a Monster House occured, but this wasn't inside a dungeon in the first place. But the reality was that monsters that shouldn't be cooperating were only attacking human beings. It was obviously a strange situation.
「Tsuu」
A Barrow Tiger's claws tore off Bluesea's worn out shoulder armor and sliced his shoulder.
「That hurt!」
However, Blue Sea also pushed his sword into the Barrow Tiger's throat as a counter and immediately pierced it. Then the Barrow Tiger died instantly.
「Bastard.」
Bluesea cursed it, but he couldn't afford to worry about his shoulder injury. There were still enemies. They were about equal in terms of fighting strength, but it would be extremely dangerous if more monsters came from the dungeon.
(Come to think of it, if I remember right, O-ring was supposed to return yesterday)
Bluesea remembered. If he remembered right, Bluesea had heard that the capture would only take a bit more time. Bluesea was wondering if perhaps they had reached the lowest level (up to level 10 had been confirmed) and failed when he heard an increase in screams.
「What is it?」
When Bluesea looked towards the screams, his eyes opened wide in surprise.
「Impossible, an Earth Core Dragon!?」
It was understandable that Bluesea was surprised. Earth Core Dragons were boss-like monsters that led the herds of Earth Dragons throughout Hyvern. They reached 8 meters in length, and their power was comparable to an intermediate class dragon.
「Can we do this without O-ring?」
Bluesea's voice roughened. Originally, the monsters in this region weren't very strong. There were still many of the adventurers that had gathered at the beginning, but most of them were rank C or D, with a few rank C adventurers like Bluesea who were on the verge of being promoted to rank B. There was already a large amount of monsters, and then this powerful monster appeared. He believed the word annihilation might become reality, and Bluesea was thinking about withdrawing.
「Over there, move out of the way!」
「A big attack is coming!!」
It was at that time. A boy on a white stone horse and a girl on a crystal horse ran through the battlefield.
First Bluesea, then the other adventurers who doubtfully glanced at the boy and girl that suddenly appeared were struck dumb by the appearance of the horses they were riding. However, they saw the magic swords flying around the boy, the girl fighting back with a black magic bow, and the adventurers struggling to repel the monsters along the path to the Earth Core Dragon at the fort entrance and started moving out of the way one by one to open up the path to the Earth Core Dragon.
「Hey, I think that's the Magic Sword Operator Naoki.」
And that voice was heard. Bluesea had also heard the rumors of the boy Naoki who was nicknamed『Magic Sword Operator.』He was still young and had only been an adventurer for three years, but he was a promising stock, and it was rumored that he would soon reach rank A. Bluesea had never met him, but the more surprising thing was what came after.
「What is that?」
He saw a light. He could see something like purple lightning moving toward the entrance of the Blue Rifon Fort. Bluesea was wondering what in the world that was as he saw the light moving at an incredible speed straight toward the Earth Core Dragon at the fort entrance, and it collided with the Earth Core Dragon.
Then the scream of the Earth Core Dragon resounded.
Name: Yuihama Kazane
Occupation: Magic Swordswoman
Title: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner
Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Adhesion Sword『Gum』, Spell Dagger, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Ogre Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Accumulator, White Magic Accumulator
Level : 30
Health: 107
Magic Power: 181+420
Strength: 52+10
Agility: 43+4
Endurance: 29
Wisdom : 57
Dexterity : 38
Spell : 『Fly』 『Torch』 『Fire』 『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』
Skill : 『Warrior's Memory』 『Night Vision』 『Crushing Blow』 『Dog’s Sense of Smell』 『Golem Maker: Lv3』 『Rush』 『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』 『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』 『Air Jump: Lv2』 『Killing Leg: Lv3』 『Fear Voice』 『Invisible』 『Tiger Eye』 『Wall Walking』 『Intuition』 『Cheat Death』 『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield』『Information Link』『Optical Camouflage』『Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Placement』『Thunder Chariot』『Sturdy Teeth』『Crystallization』
Yumika:「If I remember right, didn't the Crystal Dragon we defeated the other day originate from an Earth Core Dragon?」
Kazane:「That's right. A Crystal Dragon's form depends on the dragon it came from, so it seems there are also ones that can fly.」