Chapter 311: Escalating Sideshow

>>> 10 Days forward >>>

———Wiina———

<9: 12 am>

Looking from above, it’s like seeing rice flooding out of a bag, numerous and small, little grains rolling on the ground, which are quite a pain to clean up.

The area under our jurisdiction is covered in a barrier to prevent any pest from even getting close.

The flat land that surrounds the town is completely flooded with these unpleasant little dots from where I am observing. The quantity is so comical for the situation that it’s no doubt hard to believe for anyone who is going about their days peacefully. All of them aim to break into the town to fulfill nothing more than a cry of an animal waiting to be slaughtered.

The only one not affiliated with this group of over eight thousand men strong is one lone young lady with a blue dress. Walking forward towards this massive army, staring down the gun barrels without even so much as a hint of fear in her eyes.

The wind flutters strongly, causing a bit of noise in this tense yet silent scene.

>>> Present Time <<<

———Lerim———

<10: 03 am>

“Another city has fallen to a takeover. How many times has it been this week?” Evari said with her eyes glued to the TV screen. “Things have been getting more and more chaotic. I’m surprised these news stations haven't been taken down yet, or reporters being killed.”

“They’re probably not on the priority list for a number of reasons.” I think these takeovers take a lot of resources and time as is. They need to refocus on repairing damage done to the city as well, killing people that cause a bit of annoyance isn’t going to be high on the list. “The logistics behind fixing everything are a nightmare to deal with, petty killings won’t get you far.”

“I guess that makes sense… How do they even get supplies?” Evari asked.

“Last I checked, they made sure to spare anyone with business dealings with corporations that peddle out supplies so they don’t need to start everything up from scratch. Not every place has the foresight to deliberately spare them, but that’s not our problem.” In the first place they shouldn’t be so eager to kill people, there’s really no reason to use a method that has no way of reversing. I think intimidation and a little bit of torture is more than enough.

“Right…” Evari said, her tone a little bit strained. I guess the topic is way more sensitive to people who don’t really have the confidence that it won’t happen to them. Considering it’s affecting the entire world and not just the States, it’s obviously quite a terrifying prospect that can come out of nowhere, no matter where you live. With me here, I find that unlikely.

“Come on, with both me and the boss, we don’t need to worry about a violent uprising.”

“I know… Anyone in here probably owes you a crap ton, they’re not gonna try anything.” Evari said before taking a long sigh. “You remember that one time you responded to a distress call in less than a minute?”

“You have to be way more specific than that.” When I’m on standby I have always been quick on my feet.

“Uh… When someone accidentally dropped multiple floors down because of a trap.” She clarified… Ah, that one.

“Right, quite miraculous for her to survive, if it weren’t for those weird space-related anomalies when it comes to dungeons she probably would’ve died from the fall alone. I checked it afterward and she fell over fifty floors down.” Thanks to that we found a shortcut from floor twelve down to the much harder part of the dungeon. If you have any way to mitigate fall damage. “I think the exact floor was… sixty five. At that point it’s still too dangerous for most people to deal with. What’s your record now?”

“Like… sixty-something? I haven’t been keeping count.” She sheepishly replied. “If I go seventy-something I’d die from exhaustion. How the hell do you have the stamina to go over a hundred?”

“A big enough mana pool can get you a long way.” When you have a ton of this ethereal substance that can be converted into anything you can fix any stamina issue really easily. “Mind you, it’s probably best to also increase your baseline stamina as well. Even mundane exercise can help up to a point.”

“Easy for you to say. Why do you even grow so much faster than me anyway? I don’t think our starting point was that far off.” She complained.

“What am I supposed to say? There are simply too many factors that can affect a person’s growth. Talent, mindset, methodology, opponents, luck, there are too many things to bring up.” It’s not really worth talking about. If anything all it’ll do is brew up unproductive resentment.

“...You’re saying you got all of that over me? Seriously?” She said while looking a bit irritated.

“That is what I’m saying, yes.” If she wants an honest answer then that’s what she’ll get. “It happens. Not like you can really complain with how other parts of the world are dealing with this nonsense. You’re coasting along just fine, right?”

“...I guess.” She begrudgingly replied. This neighborhood has been peaceful for a long while now, so no one here has the right to complain. Just go fight and keep on fighting if you’re that mad about strength discrepancy. “But back on topic, you think anything bad is gonna happen around here?”

“Unlikely. Like I said, they are busy with internal struggle to try anything here. I think the neighboring towns already know by now what will happen if they even think about trying anything funny.” I’m not so charitable as to spare anyone trying any funny business.

“Yeah. Stuff of nightmares.” She sarcastically said. “How was it, fighting over a hundred people?”

“Not much. They all go down in one hit anyway. Even using the blunt side of my sword tends to cause them to violently explode on impact.” It’s not an exaggeration to say they are more like cardboard than people to me. Genuinely quite a struggle to keep them alive. Even using my bare hands there is a bit of struggle. I thought they’d be a bit tougher since they seem so confident in their ability to invade another territory. Turns out they were just a bunch of weaklings not worth my time. “Honestly you guys could’ve probably handled them, but I suppose giving you all a heads up would’ve wasted too much time, best for me to just deal with it myself.”

“Can anyone strong just… go in and kill that many people so easily?” She asked, remaining skeptical.

“Obviously not. Here’s the thing you need to know about fighting a large squad of enemies. You need to expend a lot more energy during the fight, usually two to three times more than normal just to stay in an active combat state.” I began to explain. “As you know, during a battle a portion of your mana pool is allocated to increase your physical abilities, and also increase your defense as well. It’s something you begin to do subconsciously when in a dangerous situation, but usually this unnatural level of defense is deliberately not perfect. Your front side is much more protected than your back, able to absorb more damage from attacks that would’ve torn you to shreds. It’s a necessary compromise to make sure you have enough mana for other stuff, like stronger attacks or spells. If you cover yourself completely with this defensive measure, you would burn through mana at an absurd rate that is not worth it if you’re only fighting one or a few people. Against a massive group it’s nearly impossible to not get struck in the back at least once or twice. I think you get the gist of it.”

“I see…” She muttered.

“Mind you, those guys were so weak I don’t actually need to bolster my defense and burn through it quickly, but for you guys you probably need to do it.” I said that and her face quickly turned sour. “What? It’s not like in the normal combat state the other areas are undefended. It’s just way less, maybe like… ten to twenty percent the effectiveness? Something like that.”

“...Can there even be a perfect fighting form? Like, no heavy burnout.” Evari asked.

“From what I have gathered, it exists, but only a few people can really achieve something like that. I’m certainly not one of them.” That is a topic that is way beyond what I am capable of for… at least a few centuries, if I’m being generous to myself. “I think you should focus on clearing out that Titayrant on the outskirts of town before thinking about anything that ambitious.”

“...You mean the giant tree monster roaming around? That thing?” She said, clearly not liking the idea of fighting that massive thing. “...Why were you even fighting that thing anyway? People always get startled, sensing you going to the outskirts and killing it.”

“The wood from its corpse is quite good and I sell those, and the rest I can use as fertilizers for my plants.” I explained.

“Ah, right…” She said with a flat face before the expression quickly changed under a second. “Wait… you can seriously harvest wood from that thing?”

“Why not? It’s a treant, it’s literally made of wood.” I said it like it’s the most logical thing in the world. “Sell for a pretty penny too. It’s a high quality material. Unlike the meat and bones of most monsters, its body is mostly valuable. Quite a good deal if I say so myself.”

“Damn… Really makes me wonder why you are still so stingy.” She bluntly remarked.

“If you want to complain, go fight that thing. If you die, then that’s it. It’s far from weak, the only thing that can make me work up a sweat around these parts.” I suggest it with a dose of warning.

“...Maybe later.” She sheepishly said. “How do monsters outside even respawn anyway? What’s the time?”

“No idea, but for that giant tree it was… two days. After that it’ll respawn.” Considering the value I get out of that thing it’s a good source of revenue. Maybe I shouldn’t mention that fact, but it’s not like anyone here is ballsy enough, or even have the channel to sell the materials outside of the guild which obviously take a large cut. I don’t even think the staff are trained well enough to understand the quality behind this treant wood.

“Huh… How much do you even get out of that?” Evari asked.

“Can’t tell you. I also wasn’t kidding about it being strong. Best for you to steer clear of it at your current level.” I said decisively. She would get killed quickly, and the others inside the guild? Even quicker. “I really need all of you to get stronger quickly so I can be more relaxed around these parts. I want some actual free time and not just being on standby.”

“Yeah yeah… By the way, you got any food on you? I haven’t eaten breakfast today.” She suddenly and shamelessly asked.

“...Here.” I said while pulling out a lunchbox from the bag.

“Thanks.” She then starts digging in quickly while the others in the guild look on with envy. It’s not like the food is even that good, you know? It’s just simply stuff made with exotic ingredients.

“All of you, stop staring, I still have plenty.” I said before pulling out more lunchboxes. It’s not even lunch time yet and these guys are already starving. Did any of them even do a dungeon run yet?

Many of them walk over to grab a box with only a quiet thank you or a smile in return. Whatever, it has been a tradition for the guild at this point. It’s at least a pretty comfy atmosphere in this guild. It’s probably a lot less relaxing in most places.

…How does that even work in the place Karra is at?