Chapter 121

Outside the Dresden castle walls, South District. A command tent had been pitched at one of the main street intersections.

Currently, this location served as the frontline base for the new dungeon containment operation.

The entirety of the Royal Capital City Guard and the Royal Guard Regiment had been mobilized, standing on high alert at various sectors, but so far, no major chaos could be seen.

Though a trace of nervousness hung over the city, the activities of the citizens going about their daily lives proceeded as normal.

The entrance to the new dungeon was scheduled to open at midnight tonight.

In terms of time, there were roughly eight hours left.

As the first wave, we had already gathered at the royal palace, waiting for the hour to strike.

Each member of the hero’s party had been allocated an individual room.

As a mere extra, I too was given a spacious room, allowing me to take it easy.

Our schedule going forward was to have a light dinner at 17:00, bathe at 19:00, and then pack into the target site by 20:00.

Waiting around is a rather torturous affair.

Since all our preparations were already fully completed, there was nothing left to do at this stage.

I thought about reading a book to distract myself from the boredom, but considering the battle ahead, I couldn’t settle down enough to read.

Even though everyone, starting with Gary, possessed more than enough combat power, the shadow of death inevitably flickered in the back of my mind.

Just imagining Lady Clara getting hurt sent a wave of terrifying shivers through me.

I wondered how everyone else was faring.

While staying alone made me anxious, I also didn’t want to get in anyone else’s way, so I decided to take a stroll around the royal palace.

The inside of the palace was filled with splendid paintings, crafts, and murals, making it an endless feast for the eyes.

For some reason, I felt inclined to head toward the chapel.

When you’re in a pinch, there’s nothing better than turning to the gods.

I decided to pray to the God of Space-Time and Mr. Handsome for our safety.

When I arrived at the chapel, an early visitor was already kneeling before the square pyramid that served as the symbol of Nordicism, praying with all her might.

It was Rosetta, who belonged to the same party.

Given that she belonged to the Knights Templar, her piety must have been exceptionally deep.

Intending to slip out quietly so as not to disturb her, Rosetta suddenly turned around, and our eyes locked.

“Please do not hesitate, come inside.”

Her face was gentle, and her voice was equally calm and soothing.

It was truly a marvel that someone like her could turn out to be terrifyingly strong once actual combat began.

“Did you come to offer your prayers as well, Mr. Hinoharu?”

“Yeah. It’s a bit embarrassing, but I felt like I was about to be crushed by anxiety.”

“I see… But that actually brings me a sense of relief. It means I wasn’t the only one feeling anxious before the battle.”

With a slightly bashful expression, Rosetta smiled.

“You too, Rosetta?”

“Yes. As a temple knight, I held my heart firm, believing I had to remain composed in front of everyone. But as time ticked away, I found myself growing more and more helpless. That is why I was praying like this. We are comrades, aren’t we?”

Saying so, Rosetta offered a bright smile.

…She was unfairly cute.

The ultimate healing type.

Let’s just throw caution to the wind and make a confession.

While I was currently operating as Lady Clara’s dog with my submissive traits on full display, by nature, I absolutely adored the healing type.

The fact that she carried a composed aura despite being twenty-five was also wonderful.

That was a close call.

If the order of our meetings had been different, I would have locked onto her and fallen for her without a doubt.

Furthermore, if by some absolute miracle I had ended up dating Rosetta and then met Lady Clara afterward, my feelings might have been torn to shreds between the two of them, leaving me in agonizing torment.

Fortunately, I met Lady Clara first.

There was no room for my eyes to wander!

No matter how wonderful Rosetta was, Lady Clara was number one.

Dear God, thank you for bringing me to Lady Clara.

I knelt down and offered a prayer of gratitude.

…Though, realistically, I didn’t think someone like me would have stood a chance at dating Rosetta anyway.

Even the fact that I managed to connect my heart with Lady Clara’s felt like an absolute miracle.

Could this also be thanks to the God of Space-Time?

Let’s offer another prayer of gratitude just in case.

Suddenly, Emi’s face flashed across my mind.

I turned over the thought that perhaps Emi had met someone who was to her what Lady Clara was to me.

If that were the case…

If we ever were to meet again, I felt like I wanted to tell her, “It’s okay now.”

I suppose Emi had suffered in her own way.

Well, given how faint-hearted I am, I probably would have kept my distance before getting deeply involved anyway…

Cheating just wasn’t in my nature.

There was no point in cluttering my head with these thoughts here.

After all, I might be dead in a few hours.

“You have quite a serious look on your face.”

Ah, damn it.

I had completely forgotten Rosetta was right there.

I must have been making a highly complicated expression.

“I’m alright. I wasn’t worrying about the battle; I was just looking back on my past and reflecting on a few things.”

As I scratched my head, Rosetta displayed a smile brimming with deep affection.

“Let us pray together.”

Yeah.

She really was unfairly cute.

In the end, I spent the remaining time right up until our departure with Lady Clara.

We didn’t particularly do anything.

We just stayed together.

The two of us were intimate enough that such a state had already become entirely natural.

Befitting those heading into battle, I think both Lady Clara and I carried a slight air of grim resolve.

That was true for Gary, and it was the same for Rosetta, Ria, and Yoshioka.

Which was precisely why we were currently experiencing a staggering sense of utter anticlimax.

The hero’s party descended into the underground aqueducts, armed with dead-or-alive determination to seal off the labyrinth.

Exactly at midnight, just as the oracle foretold, the entrance to the dungeon manifested.

As if a night parade of a hundred demons had broken loose, monsters came spilling out from the labyrinth into the aqueduct.

Following our prior coordination, we had decided to hold nothing back from the very start, striking with full-force attacks.

“Ria, perform the summons!”

“Yes!”

Ria deployed her magic formula and summoned Yoshioka.

It looked as though Yoshioka had instantaneously teleported a mere two meters, appearing directly in front of Ria.

“Everyone, stand back. First, Ria and I will unleash a large-scale spell.”

At Yoshioka’s voice, Gary and the others firmed up their defenses.

“Akito, the preparations for the mana circulation are complete.”

“Alright, let’s do this! Here it comes… Magic Needle!!”

There was a spell known as Magic Arrow.

It was a type of magic generally classified as non-attributed.

It was a highly foundational spell that materialized mana to fire it off like an arrow.

Yoshioka’s Magic Needle was identical to it in principle.

The only thing Yoshioka and Ria had done was swap out the arrows for needles.

However, we weren’t talking about a count of a hundred or a thousand.

An astronomical number of needles were unleashed by the force of magic, swarming over the monsters.

The monsters, numbering in the hundreds, came rushing toward us like a torrential wave, but just a fraction of a distance before they could reach us, they collapsed into piles of dust like sawdust, one after another.

Since the pathway was narrow and their numbers were so dense, dodging seemed entirely impossible for them.

This spell appeared to have an effective range of only slightly over ten meters, so it didn’t cause any damage to the structures further behind.

Yoshioka must have devised this spell after doing his own thinking, but the sheer destructive power left everyone else standing there completely dumbfounded.

In less than five minutes, the monsters had been utterly annihilated.

“……”

The entire group was wrapped in dead silence.

I suppose I should speak up on behalf of everyone.

“Yoshioka. What on earth was that magic just now?”

“Magic Needle is a new spell I created by using the needle guns from American pulp fiction sci-fi as a reference. I thought it might be bad if they closed the distance, but I’m actually shocked by how much more destructive power it had than my own expectations.”

The ones who were shocked were us.

“Um… does this mean the first phase of our strategy is… already… finished?” Rosetta asked hesitantly.

“It would appear so. Though the only ones who actually worked were Akito and Ria…” Lady Clara replied, equally stunned.

“This is Gary. Safety at the entrance has been secured. Send in the follow-up forces. Eh? Too fast? But Akito wiped them all out…” Gary was reporting via his magical communication slate.

“Erm… How about Rosetta casts a barrier over the hall with holy magic, and Lady Clara seals off the rear pathway with ice?”

I tried tossing some tasks to the two of them, since they looked a bit unfulfilled.

“Right… let’s go with that.”

“Yes… that is… part of our duty as well, isn’t it?”

The two of them busily set to work.

At least having something to do made it better.

As for me, I was in a state of being truly useless.

At any rate, everyone was just completely dumbfounded.