Welcome to the Special-Grade Guild! ~ The Beloved Elf Poster Girl Soothes Everyone’s Hearts ~
Chapter 124

124. Side Story: Eugene 2 (Part 1)

“But we’re not just gonna barge in and attack. Wait a bit. We’ll exploit the chaos that’s about to occur.”

Ash, overwhelmed by anger, losing control. So basically, it’s going to be like that nightmare from 200 years ago. It’s troublesome, but it can also be useful. It’s already happening, and I’m the only one who can stop Ash. I’ll make use of this situation for a while. …Though I’m worried about Meg. Gil’ll just have to endure. He has Nika and Kron with him, but still.

“The question is, what will the High Elves do…? It seems like they’re not hostile.”

“Could you ask Meg about that? It’s not like we can rush over there even if we knew, but it’ll be good to be prepared.”

“Understood,” Schlie said, immediately giving instructions to his spirit. It was a pain that they could only exchange short messages, but it was still a valuable tool in this world, as there are only a limited number of ways to communicate quickly. And Schlie was an Elf who specialized in wind, apparently the fastest among spirits. There’s a delay with Meg, but messages from Schlie are quite fast.

We waited patiently. Schlie, having finished the exchange, gave his report, his tone surprised.

“Apparently the residents of the village are cooperative. It seems like it’s only Schelmelhorn who’s hostile, the one who’s embodying that negative image of High Elves. This is a good miscalculation.”

That’s a surprising fact. We’d been expecting to have to fight both Nemo and the High Elves, so this makes things a lot easier. …No, wait. Ash is rampaging. It’s actually worse, when you consider that he might cause monsters to go berserk, attacking everything in sight, just like 200 years ago.

“And… it seems that Yennaliearl is indeed gone.”

“…I see.”

I had a shred of hope. But I figured that was the most likely outcome. But don’t tell me that’s why Ash lost it?

“Schelmelhorn insulted Yennaliearl, and then he destroyed her grave, and that’s what caused the Demon King to lose control.”

I see. Well, it’s only natural, considering he just found out about her death. He’s always been emotional. It’s both a good and bad trait.

That means his anger is currently directed at Schelmelhorn, I guess. We have to get there before he completely loses control and starts attacking indiscriminately. It’ll be a nightmare if it gets to that point.

“By the way… it’s amazing how you can get so much detail from these short exchanges.”

Kei said this to Schlie, seemingly impressed. It was true. I think they’d only exchanged messages about three times.

“Meg’s good at conveying information. It’s also thanks to the Voice Spirit. Apparently it can convert what Meg wants to say into spirit language.”

“Wow, that’s a cheat. So that means she’s also good at using nature magic, huh.”

“Fufu, Meg-chan’s a valuable asset. How amazing.”

I’d heard from Yenna that spirits are difficult to handle. High Elves are better at handling high-ranking spirits than Elves, but they face the same difficulties in actually using them. Because they live long lives, they just get used to handling them, but that’s about it. Of course, being able to wield that much power is already a threat.

And yet, Meg, so young, had easily overcome the hurdle that everyone else struggles with. It’s both exciting and scary, thinking about how she’ll grow.

“! There it is.”

It seemed like the “time” had finally come.

“…The protective wall isn’t doing much. Centrei truly is a country with poor security.”

“Hmm, they’re so focused on making money that they don’t bother investing in things like this. Even though the damage would be immense if something were to happen. My condolences.”

He was right. The other countries, remembering what happened 200 years ago, had built sturdy walls around their cities, walls that wouldn’t be easily breached. At least, they could withstand attacks until guild members and adventurers arrived. But this country only had decorative walls. Well, I guess that’s why it’s easy to commit crimes here, and why the security’s so poor.

So what does that mean?

“The monsters are entering the city. Shall we wait a little longer?”

“Yeah, let’s wait until things are chaotic inside the guild.”

The monsters, enraged by Ash, were attacking the city, a place they usually wouldn’t even approach. They could sense life forms by the magic power they emanated, and would attack. With their instincts heightened, they acted without reason, solely on instinct.

“Hmm, I can hear screams and the sounds of battle coming from the center of the city too.”

Chaos was imminent. But we had no obligation to save those who lived here. It might sound heartless, but we had other objectives. And those who lived in this country, filled with thugs, would have at least some means of self-defense. It was their responsibility if they underestimated the monsters or overestimated their own abilities and ended up dead. Those who understood their limitations would have already fled. And there was enough time to do so.

“They’re moving. Their reaction time is slow, considering they’re a Special-grade guild.”

More than anything, there was Special-grade Guild Nemo here. It was their job to rescue the citizens. And while they were rescuing people, their base would be ravaged by monsters, or something, and they wouldn’t be able to do anything but prioritize the rescue. I couldn’t help but to grin.

“Don, you’ve got a completely evil look on your face.”

“That’s rude, talking to the hero who saved the world like that.”

Kei chuckled, and Schlie smiled wryly. And so did I.

We were all excited by the feeling of monsters rampaging, by this air.

I loved peace. I’d rather spend my life taking it easy.

But maybe this excitement I felt on battlefields, it was our instinct, as demi-humans and elves.

Me? Don’t be stupid, I’m just a human. The fact that I’m getting excited like this must be because of that half-soul I exchanged with Ash.

We continued to observe Special-grade Guild Nemo, hiding in the shadows, stretching a little, ready to jump out at any moment.

“They’re coming out. Rescue and monster subjugation teams, I’m sure. Now’s our chance, the guild is lightly guarded.”

“…It would have been easier to gather information if we’d infiltrated earlier.”

“You idiot, if we did that, we’d have to worry about the monsters attacking us too.”

“Hmm, you’re right.”

I caught a glimpse of a monster in my peripheral vision, as we were bantering. Those who protected the guild were engaging it. But the monsters kept coming, wave after wave, heading straight for the guild. Of course they would, sensing that strong magic power. I bet this was a tactic. A decoy, to keep them away from the city. It’s not a bad idea. That is, if you had the skills to pull it off.

“Don, when?”

Schlie, impatient, asked this, as it seemed like they were starting to be overwhelmed. Oh, how unusual.

“Okay. Let’s go save the pitiful Nemo, struggling to hold their own. Some accidents might occur, like buildings collapsing and personnel fleeing, but be careful.”

““Understood.””

We immediately jumped out. Maybe I was the one who wanted to rampage the most?