Chapter 96: Be Grateful I'm Leading the Way As the car began to roll from the sudden impact, Akito immediately moved to protect Shiori and Angelica.
Inside the chaotically shaking vehicle, Kurumi quickly regained her balance and snatched up the tumbling Emma, while Ailee grabbed the agents who had been knocked unconscious by the initial attack.
Even as the floor shifted beneath their feet in real-time, the three of them maintained their balance with practiced ease. Soon, the car came to a halt with a heavy thud.
While the agents groaned after being slammed against the interior walls, Akito set the two girls down and leaped outside, drawing his sword.
"… …"
They must have rolled quite a distance; the sounds of battle drifted in from afar.
"Lord Akito…"
"Kurumi, I'm leaving things here to you for a moment."
"No, you can't. We don't know how many monsters there are. Shiori and Angelica need someone to protect them to perform at their best, and it's impossible for me to cover everyone alone."
Akito, who had intended to rush off and help his attacked comrades, snapped back to his senses at Kurumi's cold assessment and stopped in his tracks.
As she said, now was the time to get the team back in order.
Fortunately, none of the team members were injured.
The agents had taken quite a hit since they were near the point of impact, but they were alive, and Shiori was already treating them.
They might have moved away from the main monster ambush, but they were still outside the Barrier.
Nowhere was safe.
Because they were in a dense forest with poor visibility, Kurumi stayed on high alert, casting detection magic repeatedly. However, since they didn't know what lay ahead, it was better to conserve mana.
Only after Shiori stopped her did Kurumi cease her casting, though she kept her hand on her weapon, glaring into the suspiciously quiet woods.
"Didn't they say the road was safe? Why…?"
"Get a grip. There's no such thing as safety outside the Barrier."
As Emma stammered in confusion, Kurumi spoke coldly, then turned her gaze toward Ailee after sensing her stare.
"What?"
"When you were talking to Akito just now, you left me out, didn't you?"
"Did I?"
"'Did I?' Ha! You said you couldn't cover everyone alone? I guess I'm just non-combat personnel to you?"
"Why are you picking a fight?"
Ailee did not get along with Akito's early followers, including Shiori and Kurumi.
It was natural since they were competing over the same man, but there was still lingering resentment from the Deserted Island Exam, where the two had joined Akito's team as they pleased and acted as if the spots were rightfully theirs.
While the two were locked in a war of nerves, Akito finished checking on the rescued agents and stood up.
"Let's approach slowly."
"Don't you think they've all been taken out already?"
"Chika won't die."
Shiori snapped back at Ailee's remark.
Since Chika and Shiori had spent a lot of time with Akito even before coming to Yggdrasil, Chika was practically an older sister to her.
"Yeah, Yeon-woo is there too, so I'm sure they're fine. In fact, they might be in a situation where they need our help."
When Akito showed his trust in Yeon-woo, the followers who disliked the man sighed inwardly.
Only Angelica worried for Yeon-woo and hoped Akito would help him quickly. The group began moving toward the site of the ambush, each carrying one of the unconscious agents.
Approaching cautiously while guarding their surroundings, Akito's group was left speechless by the gruesome sight.
The armored vehicle was mangled as if it had been put through a compactor, and the driver's seat of the vehicle Yeon-woo's team had occupied was covered in blood.
"Don't tell me everyone…"
"I don't see any bodies."
As Emma recoiled in horror, Kurumi shook her head.
"The monsters probably took the bodies as food."
"Do you want Chika to be dead?!"
"Who said I wanted that? I'm just looking at the situation objectively."
Ailee and Kurumi began to bicker, and Shiori, who would usually mediate between them, just stood there blankly, seemingly shocked by Chika's absence.
As the argument grew louder, Angelica noticed something and picked it up with trembling hands.
"Akito, this…"
In Angelica's hand was the blood-stained Etiquette Infuser.
Since Yeon-woo was the only person in Yggdrasil who used a bat as a mage's weapon, everyone stared at it in silence.
A weapon dropped at a gruesome scene splattered with blood and flesh—it pointed to only one conclusion, and the same thought crossed everyone's mind.
"No."
Shiori spoke firmly.
"It's not proof that they're safe… but if that man had been defeated by a monster and dropped his weapon, the others' weapons should be here too."
"… …"
"Monsters only take bodies for food; they don't take weapons. So, at the very least, the people whose weapons are missing succeeded in escaping."
There was a possibility they were taken down elsewhere, but Shiori didn't bother mentioning that.
It might have been a desperate hope for Chika's survival, but since Shiori spoke with such conviction, Akito agreed and pushed aside his worries.
"Yeah, Shiori's right. Everyone will be fine. Yeon-woo and Chika are there, and Yukina too. All three of them are strong; they won't go down easily."
"There are burn marks leading that way. It's likely Ms. Yukina's Ghost Fire."
Following Akito's lead, Shiori spoke calmly. Only then did the others feel relieved, beginning to survey the situation and look for anything they could salvage.
"Unfortunately, the radio is broken."
"Still, Adrian isn't far, so it'll be okay. I'll protect you."
"Yes, I believe you will, Brother."
After gathering supplies, Akito brought the group together to discuss their next move.
"We have two choices. Join up with Yeon-woo's team, or reach Adrian as quickly as possible to report the situation and send a rescue team. What do you think is best?"
Though he was the team leader, Akito wanted to hear his teammates' opinions before deciding.
While everyone was contemplating, one of the agents who had regained consciousness spoke first.
"Obviously, we should choose the latter. This isn't a game of heroes."
"I see the true colors of a man only concerned with his own skin," Kurumi sneered.
"There are high-level mages in Adrian, so we can save your friends too! Didn't you learn how dangerous it is to stray from the path?!"
Contrary to Yeon-woo's expectations, Akito's team had also been having trouble with the agents traveling with them.
"I don't turn my back on my comrades. If I carried such shame, I wouldn't be worthy of holding a blade. Let's regroup with Chika."
"I—I also think we should regroup with Yeon-woo."
As soon as Kurumi voiced her support for regrouping, Angelica quickly agreed.
With two people favoring regrouping, Emma spoke up while gauging the atmosphere.
"I think we should go to Adrian."
"You…"
"Listen to me. I'm worried about them too. But how are we supposed to find them in this vast place without any support? It'll be even worse if we waste time trying to find each other."
Under Kurumi's glare, Emma answered quickly as if making an excuse.
With the agent, that made two votes for Adrian. All eyes turned to Shiori and Ailee.
"Adrian for me too. Don't look at me like that. I'm not afraid of some monsters. I just think it's more efficient."
"Tch… Shiori, what about you?"
Clicking her tongue at Ailee's words, Kurumi looked at Shiori, fully expecting her to agree with the regrouping plan.
However, Shiori's answer was different.
"Let's go to Adrian."
"Shiori!"
"It's the right call. Most of the monsters probably chased after Chika as she escaped."
"Then we should go save them even more!"
"No. Ever since that loud noise earlier, I've been using detection magic to its limit, and I haven't heard any sounds of battle. If they had been caught, the sound of monsters eating their prey wouldn't be this quiet. We have to assume they escaped."
Having regained her composure, Shiori judged the situation coldly.
"It's dangerous to stray from the path without preparation, and since their priority was escaping, there's a high chance they're lost in the forest."
"… …"
"Can't you tell just by the fact that Brother is asking for our opinions here at the ambush site despite the danger? If they were in a position to return, enough time has passed that it wouldn't be strange if they were already here."
Since they had seen Akito's group leave the battlefield during the first attack, they surely would have returned if they had escaped and found a moment of respite.
However, despite waiting for a while, there was no sign of Yeon-woo's team. They were either wiped out or in no position to return.
Once Shiori explained Akito's underlying intent, Kurumi, who had been opposing the idea, frowned and lowered her head. The decision was made to head for Adrian.
Outside the roads connecting the cities lay untamed nature, making straying from the path a dangerous endeavor.
There were magical tools installed along the roads as a countermeasure against monsters, but since they had already been ambushed once, even the road wasn't safe.
Akito's group moved toward Adrian along the road, staying as far from it as possible while keeping it in sight.
Nature, teeming with monsters, was never on humanity's side, and a grueling march lay ahead of them.
After a full day of marching, Akito's group…
"…Isn't it a bit too quiet?"
When Emma asked, clutching Akito's arm in fear, the agent also looked around suspiciously.
"It is strange. It shouldn't be this quiet."
"It's not exactly quiet. We can still hear the cries of monsters in the distance."
As Shiori said, the occasional distant roar could be heard, but other than that, it wasn't as dangerous as they had been taught.
Poisonous or aggressive plants appeared occasionally, but they weren't enough to threaten Akito's group. Contrary to their initial expectations, they were making pleasant progress toward Adrian.
"Found another one."
Shiori pointed out a mana trace on the ground to Akito.
It was a trace they had discovered several times already.
It could have belonged to a monster, but seeing as they appeared along their path every time, it indicated that someone was ahead of them.
"Could it be… Chika?"
"Maybe it's like breadcrumbs. And we're the children being lured by them."
Ailee chuckled and made a joke, causing Akito to smile as well.
"I don't know who it is, but they're a helpful person."
"As long as they don't eat us at the end."
Akito, who enjoyed Ailee's cynical humor, laughed and encouraged the group. The now-calm team members followed his lead without overreacting to her joke.
"Kyahhh!"
"Shut up, your breath stinks!"
While I took the monster's attack head-on and held my ground, Chika's right hook slammed into its flank, and Takeo's greatsword came crashing down on its head.
The final killing blow was Yukina's sword, thrusting up from under its armpit.
Frey had told me that move was designed to bypass bone and strike the internal organs, but I couldn't replicate it even if I watched.
With me acting as the tank and drawing all the aggro while the three top-tier damage dealers ganged up on it, the monster didn't last long before collapsing.
"Are you really okay?"
"I'm fine. My Mana Barrier is the strongest in the world."
The former thug-kun worried about me, but my Mana Barrier wasn't that flimsy.
Calling it the "strongest in the world" was a bit of a stretch, but it wouldn't even get a scratch from most attacks.
When I looked over, Rio, who had already used magic dozens of times, let out a haggard sigh.
"Why do we have to hide the monster carcasses?"
"Because monster corpses attract other monsters."
"But we're the only ones here."
"I told you, we don't know if Akito's team is ahead of us or behind us."
"If they're ahead, we're just getting further away by wasting time like this."
Rio grumbled as he used magic to bury the monster's corpse underground.
I'm glad he has a high affinity for the earth attribute.
You're finally pulling your weight, even if it's just cleanup instead of combat.
"You guys are quite used to combat."
"It's because Yeon-woo holds the monsters down from the front."
At Yukina's answer, Den and the Rank 9 agent named Radosta looked at me with exhausted expressions.
I suppose they're exhausted by how amazing my Mana Barrier is.
I told Rio I didn't know where Akito's group was, but they were definitely behind us.
They probably wasted time poking around the ambush site.
At this point, I'm practically an expert on Akito's behavior; I can predict everything he'll do.
My job is to stay ahead and clear out anything that might be a threat.
Akito, you'd better be grateful I'm leading the way for you.
Though you won't have a clue until we reach Adrian.
"There was a faint mana reaction nearby."
Yukina, who was running detection magic at set intervals, approached and told me.
Finally, we've arrived.
We're going to ignore the mana reaction and keep moving forward.
And then, Akito will discover the demon girl according to the scenario and go after the loli.
I've spoon-fed you this much, so don't mess it up.
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