Yukitoshi Shimizu

(A/N)

Master? Goshujin-sama?

*****

After goofing around for two days in Brooke town, Alex and co were ready to set off.

Shea had already got gravity magic from the Reisen labyrinth before coming to the town. They had visited the Miledi after the trip to Haltina Woods. It was very much easier completing the labyrinth the second time. And the fact that the bunny girl peed in the labyrinth still held true. It was a pathetic sight.

*(A/N - Sorry I forgot to mention that Shea got that magic in the last chapter. So, I briefly mentioned it here.)*

The adventurer's guild had attempted to make contact with them but they were evaded every try. The materials they sold were just too good. The entire guild was turned upside down and there were now many rumors about them floating around.

"Alex-san, are we going to Ur next desu? Even the guild lady suggested we should go there saying that it's a beautiful place."

"Nn. Alex. Let's go."

Their faces were filled with expectations and there were stars shining in their eyes. What kind of special effects were these...

Faced with their anticipations, Alex... Didn't care at all and squashed their hopes of seeing the famous tourist attraction.

"No. It'll be very troublesome going there right now. We're skipping that one and heading to Fuhren Town."

The stars disappeared.

"B-But Alex-san, it's just in the way desu. To avoid it, we will have to take the longer road instead."

"No."

"It's okay. As long as I am with Alex, anywhere is fine." Saying so, a faint blush spread on Yue's cheeks a second later. Alex could only wonder about what dreams she was having.

Shea was shocked by Yue-sama's sudden unexpected attack. She too expressed her intention and grabbed onto his other hand.

Alex shook his head. Yue's attacks on Shea had decreased a lot and she had a lot of leeway now. He lightly punched her head and called out Steiff.

***

A week before the party of three reached Brooke town.

The Laketown of Ur.

Right now, tens of thousands of monsters completely surrounded the walls of the town. Not even a fly could find its way through the thick horde of monsters. Nobody was able to go out or come in. Ur was completely isolated from the outside world. Even magic transmissions were blocked using an artifact.

In the town, crowds of people formed outside the mayor's mansion. Children were crying, people were pushing each other, trying to break into the mansion while the guards desperately resisted. Overall, it was chaos. People screamed and cussed to throw the people responsible for the current situation out of the town, for the fickle hope of survival.

Inside the mansion, in a grand room with a long table covering the majority of the room, thirty or so people sat on the chairs. On the head seat was a middle-aged man with a moustache and goatee. He was the mayor of the town. On the left side of the table were important people of the town while on the other side were around a dozen of the summoned heroes. Behind each of them stood a templar knight of the Holy Church acting as their guards.

A fierce discussion had been going on for the past half an hour and now the energy of everyone was weirdly running out.

*Slam

"I-Is there really no way? I mean... I mean there's got to be something that can be done, right? The reinforcements from the nearby two towns must be coming... If we can just hold on until they arrive."

The petite woman with childlike features who just spoke was Aiko Hatayama. She was the teacher summoned with the high school students summoned to another world. Her face was teary and an expression that asked for a ray of hope was etched on her face.

She was a very responsible teacher who did all she could to have the students stay safe. But even so, she could not do anything as one of her dear students fell to death inside the labyrinth. Ridden with guilt, her heart was being crushed in despair. Even so, she steeled herself for the remaining children and asked the kingdom and the pope to exempt the students from fighting, even putting herself as leverage.

In the end, she managed to get the students that didn't want to fight away from bloodshed. She along with the few students came to this town to help this town in farming that was her job. Aiko, in herself, was a strategical weapon whose never seen job 'farmer' could be very important in a long-term war.

But she and her students still couldn't find peace before another of her students went missing. Yukitoshi Shimizu. He was one of the many students who were most shaken by the death of Alex.

Searching for days yielded no result as if he had vanished into thin air. Despair set again as Aiko failed again in the only goal she had. Protecting her students.

However, as if that wasn't enough to break her, after a few more days, Shimizu returned. It would have been a happy occasion if not for the army of tens of thousands of monsters under his command besieging the Laketown.

Aiko had been so shaken when Shimizu declared that he was here to kill her, the hope of humans, that Aiko had fainted on the spot. Even when Ayako, Atsushi, Nobura, Hajime, and his other classmates had attempted to talk with him, he had shaken them off saying that he was the only hero and the other summoned heroes were unneeded in this world. He wasn't right in the head. The students and the teacher were forced to accept the bitter pill that one of their fellow classmates was trying to kill them.

They had no idea how he got such powerful monsters but they did not have a chance of winning against his army. There was even a black dragon that had annihilated half of Ur town's army in one breath.

They didn't know why but Shimizu had declared to the townspeople to hand over the summoned heroes present in the town and not immediately started attacking.

Left with no other way of survival, the people they interacted and bonded with for weeks turned their backs against them and demanded they hand themselves over. The high schoolers could not even blame them for the choice.

"The messages could not go through. We suspect the involvement of demons."

The one who voiced his thoughts was David Zahler. He was one of the Templar Knights of the Holy Church and a bodyguard of Aiko in her trip to Ur. He and the other guards had time and time again tried to pull Aiko into the faith of their god. But instead, they were the ones who had been influenced by her kindness and became devoted to Aiko.

"Even so, we still have a little power. M-Maybe we can help this town survive."

Nagumo Hajime spoke his mind too. He was perhaps the one who felt the most pressure and guilt in his heart. After all, it was while Alex was protecting him that he fell down the bridge. The topic of who fired the fireball was dropped, otherwise whatever unity was left in their class would've been shattered.

*Thud

It was weirdly quiet. Looking ahead, all the important people of the town were sleeping peacefully with their heads on the table. Even a few students were the same.

"No, you won't."

The voice of David that used to be so polite and friendly seemed so cold and hurting right now.

Aiko opened her eyes as she fought the drowsiness she didn't even notice creeping up to her.

"David..." She muttered as she too fell into a dream.

"We will be taking them away. Will you come with us?"

The mayor who had been silent the whole time bitterly smiled as he shook his head.

"You know I can't, Mister Knight."

He stood up and bowed 90 degrees.

"Thank you for trying to protect this little town of ours."

David bowed a little in response and muttered an apology in his heart.

He and the knights picked up all the unconscious students and Aiko and exited the room and headed to the secret escape tunnel in the basement. As the last, David stopped for a moment before going out.

He looked at the mayor straight in the eyes but did not say anything.

The mayor showed a sincere smile in response.

***

Two days later.

The fierce flames died down as smoke polluted the once clean and fresh air. Looking everywhere, it was a scene of carnage. Not a single structure in the town was intact.

The once famous restaurant widely known throughout the human community was in rubbles. The skilled chef was most probably dead, holding the dainty hands of his wife till the last moment.

The barn that stored all the food and the people's livelihood was burned to ashes.

The lake had turned red with blood. Even the fishes did not survive the stampede of monsters. The wide-open farms were no longer fertile.

It was destroyed. Not one person was left alive. It was the cruelty and madness of war.

Sitting on the destroyed shambles of the mayor of the town was a majestic black dragon with muddled eyes that held conflicting thoughts deep within them.

On the back of the dragon stood a lanky figure with dishevelled black hair. Bloodshot eyes with deep bags under them. The person's skin was a little pale and he seemed to be a little out of breath.

He looked at the sky and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Where the fuck are you? You told me to wait but now they got away. What the hell do you want me to do?"

A wyvern like monster flew to him. The monster did not land and it wasn't possible to see the figure standing on top of it.

"Don't worry about it. You are definitely the chosen one. They must have run off to Horaud Town where the Orcus labyrinth is located. You would have needed to go there anyway."

"That place huh. Just you wait Kouki. I'm gonna show you who the real hero is. Hahaha..."

The other person quietly left as the maniacal laughter echoed in the empty town.

*****

"Wars are always madness: all is lost in war, all is to be gained in war"

-Pope Francis