Low-level Mob, and [That Person]

Located a couple of meters below the ground, the hidden shelter beneath the Sandy Fish inn is one of the many underground facilities built by the townspeople to use during emergency situations.

This one shelter, in particular, has the same size as the establishment directly above it and can hold up to a hundred people, and is lit by the light stones scattered on the upper walls and the ceiling. As for the supplies themselves, this shelter is fortunate enough to have an access to fresh, hot meals coming from the surface while also having a cache of dried rations stored inside.

Many people have commented that the inn's underground shelter is one of the most well maintained ones out there, and Saku—acting as its caretaker—couldn't be any more proud for it.

However, while it is great to have a place to go to in times of great danger, not one soul in this part of the town wished to have a reason for them to use it.

"Hrgh. What's taking those people so long..."

Saku, the proprietor of the inn and the 'caretaker' of this one shelter room, walked in circles while also grumbling repeatedly to himself.

After a bomb was found embedded in one of their customers' body, he made the decision to bring all of their customers who were inside the inn at that time down to the shelter, while Lerish called for the guards' help. However, while he's busy keeping everything in order the little girls went outside the inn to check up on Ren, who went outside to deal with the bomb threat. Vernon and Milla couldn't do anything either, as they were too startled to experience something like this in their first day working as official employees.

"Although the bomb had been already dealt with by Ren, they're not here yet. Does that mean we're dealing with an even greater situation? Argh, my head hurts just by thinking about it..."

"Um, Manager...I think you should rest already," Milla spoke, holding Saku's left shoulder. "You've been circling around for more than ten minutes...please calm down and take a deep breath, alright?"

"Milla's right, Manager," Vernon agreed, positioning himself on Saku's opposite side. "Even Milla and I are worried about them too, but stressing ourselves too much about it won't make things better either."

With his two employees urging him to take a seat, Saku reluctantly obliged and sat on the floor between them.

"But I can't help it, no? I myself have witnessed what those people can do countless times already, and yet, I just can't bring myself to think of those things as 'normal'. Especially when my sister also exposes herself in danger, such a thing is very difficult for me."

Meanwhile—

"Big Bro, I'm back—"

"SAKIIIIIIIIII!!!!!"

""M-Manager!!!"" Vernon and Milla exclaimed.

Hearing his little sister's voice, Saku—as if possessed by a speed demon—instantly stood up and leaped towards Saki, tightly hugging her.

"Saki, Saki! Are you alright? Were you not hurt? You don't look like you're in pain, but still, you greatly worried me! Please don't do something as reckless as that ever again...!"

"Geez, Big Bro, I'm all fine so let me go already! There's too many people looking at us right now, it's embarrassing!"

Having calmed down a minute later, Saku let go of her and asked:

"Oh, right! What about Ren and the others?!"

"Right now they're all fine, but..."

"B-But...?"

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

While they were talking they heard a very loud explosion coming from the surface, sending long and powerful tremors around the underground shelter which caused the evacuees to immediately duck and place their hands above their heads for fear of falling debris coming from the shelter's ceiling.

"W-What's that? Another bomb exploded?!" one evacuee asked.

"Almost..." Saki nodded in response. "Before I came back here, I saw a glimpse of it: a monster, taking over that dead person's body. That person, he turned into a 'living' bomb!"

"""Isn't that...an undead person?!""" the people exclaimed in unison.

"Nn, but not only that..."

She then explained what happened to everyone inside the shelter, especially to those who evacuated first, about the strange giant egg of darkness floating in the sky and the enemies that suddenly appeared, trying to prevent Ren from destroying the egg. The people listening to her story were skeptical at first, but as the ground above them continues to tremble, they all end up believing what she said.

"That said, the worst thing in all of this is that they are the only ones who are still outside in all of Plate Town right now to confront those things. Even the adventurers here in Plate Town have also retreated into the shelters. How frustrating."

When Saki said that, about half of the evacuees, who are also adventurers, lowered their heads in shame. Leaving aside the fact that they all sullied the image of the Guild by hiding underground, having a little girl comment on their inadequacies made the injury to their self-esteem far worse.

"T-That can't be...what about the guards? Haven't we also got plenty of them in this town?!" Milla asked.

"Unfortunately...the guards around these parts of Narashel are ill-equipped to deal with that kind of threat," Saku also remarked. "Ever wondered why most of them are stationed at the border near the desert? It's because their tools can only deal with the threat of huge desert worms at the worst case scenario. An undead bomb maniac is certainly out of the question with all those in mind!"

Moreover, the lack of capable mages in the ranks of the town's guards also exacerbates the problem. Many of the country's mages, especially the best ones, chose to stay either at the capital or abroad to further their study, leaving the inexperienced ones to serve at the countryside. This in turn has created much pressure for the Guild, who had to constantly persuade the adventurer mages under their roll to lend their abilities to the guards in times of great need while promising huge rewards for them, with varying levels of success.

"So you're saying that...we have no choice but to rely on our chief to solve this problem?!"

"Seems like it," Saku replied. "Whether the entire Plate Town gets destroyed or not, whether more lives will be lost or not—it all rest now in their hands."

"Brother Ren, Big Sis Lerish, Aoi...I hope you'll come back to us safe and sound," Saki muttered, as she prayed for her friends' safety.

-----

"Please...in exchange for my survival...I will have you detained here."

"W-What...?!"

At that moment, I couldn't help but feel so, so confused. Her life, in exchange of mine? What does she mean by that? Is she telling me that all of these is done against her will, and she's just being forced by whoever is the person who hired her?

"I understand...you won't believe it...but I'm not lying. I have no intention...to hurt anybody..."

"I'm not sure. With everything as it is right now, I really find it hard to believe everything that you're saying..."

I mean, right now—she's my enemy. I have to be extremely careful taking in everything she's saying, as I don't have any way to verify what's fact from blatant lie at the moment. Based from my preliminary judgment, though, it does seem that she's the type of person who prefers peace than creating chaos. It didn't seem that she's adept in combat either, but it could all be just a facade for all I know, we'll see.

"I'm telling you, please believe me!" she shouted again. "Please...all I want is to live my life in peace...I don't want to do things like this any...—"

"H-Hey? What's wrong?! Hey—"

"No way...already..."

"Hm?"

When she said that, I instinctively looked at the sky. The giant egg in the sky, which until now remained inactive, has started to glow into a bright red color, emitting fierce streaks of flashing light like hot coals. Then—completely uncharacteristic for an egg—it slowly opened from its tip in five equal portions, which revealed to me that the object above us isn't exactly an egg per se, but more like a bud waiting to bloom into a flower.

Seeing the girl's sudden change in behavior in response to that phenomenon...made me immediately think that it's not a good sign.

"It's...all your fault."

"Eh?"

Yanking the chain that's still connected to my arm, she said, "You...if only you believed me sooner...that thing wouldn't have awoken already. Because of you taking too much time doubting me...this entire place will be destroyed!"

"Wait, wait, wait a sec, are you putting all the blame onto me?!"

"Yes."

"N-No hesitation?!" I gasped at the incredulity of her statement.

Her slurred way of speaking aside, it's also difficult to understand her true intentions. Isn't she the terrorist here? If so, why did our roles suddenly reversed?!

Ugh, I can't deal with this matter anymore.

"W-Woah—?!"

Tugging the chain with my hand, I pulled the girl towards me, catching her off guard. Then, grabbing the other end of the chain away from her possession, I tied her body on a concrete pole. Based from what I experienced until now I know that that chain is very durable, but as a precautionary measure I set up a curse on the chains, which will activate the moment she manages to escape.

"L-Let me go, you monster...!"

"A monster?" I frowned at her. "You're unbelievable, you know? You brought that thing here, caused huge trouble to everyone, and now you're trying to put me in a bad light? Have you got no shame? Have you forgotten the times I saved you from being beaten up and killed by the townspeople?"

"..."

"That said, it doesn't seem like you have some tricks up your sleeve other than that information-cancelling power you have, so it's better for you to stay here. Once I've dealt with both your (undead) comrade and that giant egg flower in the sky, I'll come back to check on you. Do you understand?"

In response, she defiantly stuck her tongue out. I expected her halfway to spit on my face, but this is way cuter.

"Well then—I'll be going. See you later, whoever you are..."

However, as I'm about to leave—

"It seems...that I have failed again."

"Excuse me...?"

With a faint smile, she continued, saying: "I...I am not good with fighting other people. I can't use magic either...and I'm not bright enough to think of a good solution to a problem. All I am good at...is to run. You were lucky to have encountered someone like me as your opponent...but I can't say the same for myself."

"Um...are you sure you're alright?"

Okay, this is getting wilder and wilder. All I did was just tie her on a pole and she's feeling defeated already, that it did made me feel like I'm in the wrong for a moment.

I don't want to say it, but this opponent of mine...has some real issues going on. Like, why is she even here in the first place? Whoever that person behind all of this is, they must have made a very bad decision in hiring her for the job.

"N-Nice try, but I won't fall for those tricks of yours. Bye—"

"W-Wait! Please listen to me...—"

"AREN'T YOU JUST PULLING A DELAYING TACTIC ON ME?!?"

"Hiiiihhhh?!" she shrieked when I inadvertently raised my voice at her.

Ah, no good, I'm starting to lose it as well.

"Ugh...listen here, young miss. I don't know who your name, or what your circumstances are, but right now we're enemies. So please, whatever you want to say to me, just keep it to yourself, because I won't listen to it anyway."

Without waiting for her response I hurriedly left, and headed towards the gigantic sky egg flower. If I stay there for a little bit longer, it might be too late for me to act if that huge thing finally begin causing trouble.

Man...is it really okay for me to leave her there alone? That girl, even though we didn't actually fight physically, she did cause a lot of mental damage to me.

I say, she's already one of the 'strongest' opponents I've faced to date.

-----

"That young man...he did left me here in this place all by myself..."

Still tied on a concrete pole with the sturdy chain that she herself have used, imbued with a magic that will instantly activate if ever she tries to escape, the girl helplessly expressed her discontent with a long sigh. Helplessly, she stared at the young man from afar, leaping to and fro in midair, carrying in his hands what seem to be a black blade that seem to be more like a flame than a real blade. Witnessing that, she felt pathetic for herself, thinking how foolish it was to engage him in combat without realizing the great difference in their fighting abilities, even going as far as to think that the reason why she's still alive, is because the young man felt pity for her.

"To end up like this...I can't deny anymore that I really am a disappointment."

"That's not true. You tried your best, nano."

"H-Huh?!"

Suddenly, she saw the shadow underneath her feet darken and turned like liquid, until a being with no definite shape appeared in front of her—the same being that tracked her down several days ago.

However, unlike the last time, this entity is speaking in front of her, in a way that completely different from what she imagined. The voice she's hearing, is that of a lady, and a very coquettish tone at that.

There's no doubt, she thought, that that voice, belongs to 'her'.

"You...you're saying that...but I'm sure you said before that you'll immediately dispatch me if ever I failed...and I did."

"My, did I really said those words to you? I'm sorry, but that was a misunderstanding, nano. What I meant by 'dispatch' isn't to 'kill', but to 'send you to a faraway place', away from your family. You should really study that place's language a little more, nano."

"Hmph."

"Hmmm...anyway, that thing in front of you is there not to punish you for your overwhelming defeat, but to give you your reward. You have made an excellent job, if I say so myself, nano."

"W-What? I...I don't understand...is it true that I made a good job?"

"Yes. You have served your purpose well—you and that other man who, sadly, had to die while doing his job, nano."

The girl then suddenly remembered her partner, who went the other way when they entered the town again, telling her to take care of herself. At first, she had no clue as to why the tone of his voice sounded like he's going somewhere far away; it was only upon hearing the news that she finally understood the reason why.

"So our purpose all this time...is just to bide time for you to get ready...?"

"Exactly! After all, aside from running around, it's the only other thing you're good at. Your pitiful self has made it possible for me to fully set things up, nano."

When the lady behind the voice said those words, the girl's face showed a conflicted expression, as she tried to digest what's happening. 'Am I really that weak?' she asked herself. Even though she's aware of her shortcomings, it would still hurt to hear it from other people.

"Now, behold—the fruits of your labor. Witness how that young man opens the gift that you yourself have prepared, nano!"