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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Kabur & Silavin
Feeling all the eyes on him, Kousuke spoke up with a simple statement.
“There are signs of a major flood.”
When those words reached all those present, the place fell silent.
“… Huh?”
Although it was impossible to confirm who the mutter was, the distracted words immediately brought those present to their senses, and they began to make a commotion.
Even so, their voices were kept to a minimum, as if they knew that their voices should not leak out of the tent.
A flood was a monster outbreak that had been confirmed many times before.
In the Central Continent, the Great Flood was recognized as one of its disasters.
In the history of the region, there have been more than one or two villages or towns that have been destroyed because of this catastrophic event.
No wonder it was so noisy.
After watching everyone panic for a few minutes, Carl clapped his hands.
After making sure everyone was quiet and focused on him, he asked Kousuke again.
“Can you explain in detail?”
Kousuke explained the situation to Carl, while mentioning Collete.
“She is a spirit user, and when she asked the spirits to check the situation, she confirmed that different kinds of monsters were gathering in one place.”
“That’s… … “So that’s what this bad feeling is about, damn it!” … Bart, what do you mean?”
Carl was about to ask Kousuke again, but changed his attention when he heard Bart’s words.
Bart replied with a bitter look on his face.
“We were lured in.”
It had already been two days since they left the previous village.
On both of those days, they had been attacked, but the attacks had been very minor.
It was a questionable state, as Carl’s common sense would now tell him.
Monsters have a basic instinct not to attack those who were stronger than they were.
Of course, that instinct could not be found during their encounters.
For example, they would aim at Nana, whom they could never defeat.
They would even attack high ranking adventurers, recognizing despite being weaker.
Such exceptions aside, when a large-scale trading party was attacked, as was the case this time, the monsters were to be expected to come in large groups or be of a higher rank.
However, the two attacks this time did not happen in any of the previous attacks.
That’s what had given Bart a strange feeling.
Absolutely… notably, they were coming toward a group of people that they were no match for, but It would be a different story if it was not an action based on hunger, but rather an instruction by a higher being.
“So it’s possible that a leader species is being born?”
Bart asked Kousuke, setting aside Carl’s question.
Kousuke nodded when asked.
Hearing this, those present gulped.
A leader species was known to be the very cause of a flood.
In other continents where the number of monsters were small, it was not a major issue, but not for those born and raised in the Central Continent.
Simply put, when a leader species was born, monsters that would normally only group together with the same species, begin to act together with other species.
The very first ones were said to be the same species as the leader species, but as they develop, they become a king species, which would make the number of groups become much larger.
According to some records, the largest group even observed was more than 1,000 in a group.
At that time, adventurers gathered from all over the continent and managed to defeat them, albeit at great cost.
Naturally, the adventurers who defeated the king species at that time were still being told of as heroes.
“That is indeed… the worst.”
Bart had heard about the situation from Kousuke and had some idea of what was going on.
“So we were lured in, you think?”
“Probably so.”
If there was no monster attack, they would have moved on normally.
On the other hand, if a group of monsters continued attacking them, they would have been alarmed and returned to town.
By having a very small number of monsters attack them, it was possible that they were planning when the right timing attack was.
“But that’s absurd… Monsters don’t have that kind of wisdom…”
One of the merchants muttered.
Bart glanced at the merchant and shrugged.
“No, you idiot. It is not about wisdom, you know? Monsters do things based on their own intuition and instincts. That’s why they’re even more terrifying than people.”
He was not saying that monsters didn’t have wisdom, because there were examples like Nana and Wanri around.
But many of them, as Bart said, do this only with their innate senses.
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“… So? Do you have any idea of the scale or anything?”
Bart had already switched his mind and started thinking about how to deal with the monsters.
The fact that the monsters were going to attack them was now a definite matter for Bart.
“All we know from the spirits is that there are multiple species of monsters gathered together and that the stronger monsters are at the center of it all.”
Collete, who had been listening in silence until now, interjected.
“…I see. Hey, ask them about the location, so we can send out some good scouts. Tell the scouts to be very careful.”
Bart instructed Layla, who was standing nearby.
If they knew the size and type of monster, the way to deal with it would change drastically.
“Oh, wait a minute, I want you to bring Peach with you.”
Kousuke offered.
The fact that he called her by her real name instead of her fake name was intentional.
Considering that there would be battles in the future, there was a possibility of mistakes being made if they continued calling each other by their fake name.
Besides, Peach’s name was not a well known name, and Kousuke also didn’t think that her name was enough to show any connection to the true identity of Kousuke and the others.
“What?”
“Peach is also a scout, you see.”
“… I understand. Fine.”
Bart agreed, not knowing what Peach could do, but at least she wouldn’t be a liability.
At Bart’s direction, Layla took Collete and Peach out of the tent.
“Can we win?”
Carl asked, and Bart shrugged.
“Depends on what the scouts discover. Well, I’d say if there were only at least a hundred, and not more.”
It was known that if a leader species was born and a swarm would form, and at least around a hundred would be put together.
“Considering that, I have to admit that it will still be a tough match.”
“Hundreds…”
Carl frowned at the thought of a swarm of more than a hundred monsters.
Some of the merchants were clearly terrified.
“I think the peddlers are using this road, as well, and they…”
One of the merchants muttered something like that.
Just because a large merchant group was passing through did not mean that other peddlers did not pass through at all.
If those peddlers were attacked by a monster group of that size, they would be utterly helpless.
“… If they had found us as soon as they entered the road, it was possible that they were not attacked during that time.”
Even monsters need food when they are in a group.
It was only natural that they would choose the ones that would feed them better, regardless if they were monsters outside the swarm or merchants.
If that was the case, it was possible that they were targeting this large trading group from the start because of their number.
“You think they were monitoring us from the moment we left town?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
Bart’s reply made Carl realize that he was going off.
The question now was how this trading caravan would survive.
There was no doubt that a pack of monsters was already targeting them after all.
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“Let me ask you something… is there a way that we can get in touch with headquarters?”
Carl asked Kousuke.
Knowing the meaning of the letter that Kousuke had brought, not to mention the audit.
“Of course there is.”
Kousuke’s reply brought a look of relief to the merchants.
They probably hoped that reinforcements would arrive in time.
However, Kousuke mercilessly betrayed their expectations.
“Well, even if we can contact them, it is more likely that the reinforcements will not arrive in time.”
“….I guess so.”
Bart agreed before the merchant could raise his voice, “What do you mean?”
It was hard to believe that a group of monsters showing such good coordination would wait for reinforcements to arrive.
Above all, whether they were going back or forward, they did not want to be followed by a large group of monsters while on the move.
If they knew that they were going to be attacked anyway, it would be better to take a defensive post at a good location.
Even if they moved as fast as they could, it was impossible to escape.
Even though the speed of progress was increased by the Magic Tool, there were still limits.
Bart had at least decided that he would need to intercept them here and now, although he would have to wait for the results of the scouting.
