Chapter 73

I will only translate the main text, omitting the author's notes and technical issues at the end:

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Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

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In the wind, cherry blossoms danced as Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

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I decided to quickly blow away the enemies who were very close using magic and then start treating the adventurers, starting with those who seemed to be seriously injured. I want to save as much medicine as possible, so the treatment will be done manually with magic.

"Are you okay?"

"A, ah... Thank you. By the way, who are you?"

"I'm a reinforcement from the Photorenguild, and my name is Kaede."

"Photorenguild... Could you be one of the adventurers who fought in Decibattle?"

"Yes. The treatment is finished, so can I ask you to defend the gate? I will go and defeat the monsters."

From the battle I just saw, it seems that even if I fight together with the adventurers here, it won't add much to the fighting power. Considering the types of monsters, it's likely that the strong adventurers have already gone to other cities to find jobs that suit them.

"I would like to say that we will join, but we would just be a hindrance. I'm sorry, but I have to rely on you."

The adventurers seemed to understand this and left the outside to me.

"Understood."

After watching the adventurers start moving, I flew up to an appropriate height and began the battle with the monsters. However, the battle itself was extremely easy. First, the monsters were weak, and in the area around Decibattle, their attacks were only for intimidation, or even failed to intimidate, and the enemies died easily. The only troublesome thing was the number, but even that was about the same as during normal times in Decibattle. This wasn't even a battle; it was more like a routine task. As expected, the task of clearing the monsters that had gathered in the city was completed in about 30 minutes by just being careful not to hit the wrong targets and scattering small rock spears. For the outside of the city, I circled the wall and rained down rock spears.

With this, the adventurers should be able to handle the situation for a while. I decided to check with the guild about the monsters coming from the forest.

"I've mostly taken care of the monsters gathered outside. Can I ask you to continue the defense? I'll go and check with the guild about the response."

Ultimately, the situation was such that the presence of the adventurers who were originally protecting the town didn't make much of a difference, but there was nothing I could do about it. With monsters in the city, it was impossible to slow down to match the pace of ordinary adventurers. Moreover, the attack wasn't limited to this town, so it had to be resolved as quickly as possible.

When I entered the guild, the receptionist from before was still there, so I reported to her.

"I've mostly cleared the monsters in the city and the ones outside to a level where the current forces can defend for a while. However, monsters are still coming from the forest. What should we do?"

"Wh-What, already! ...I can't make that decision, so I'll ask the branch manager."

The receptionist disappeared into the back. Soon, she came out with an older man. From the context, he was probably the branch manager, but unlike other guilds, he didn't seem capable of fighting. He seemed like a good person, though.

"Ah, I'm the branch manager of the Fortima Guild. Is the town safe?"

"For now, it seems to be. However, new monsters are coming from the forest, so with the current forces..."

"Without you, it would be tough, right?"

"Yes."

It's not a level where recovery potions would help.

"Still, I can't keep you here indefinitely. We have to consider the other towns."

"The attack seems to have been coordinated among the towns..."

"Destroying the forest would be ideal, but that's almost impossible in the current situation and in a short time. We can only hope that D-rank or higher adventurers from other towns can be called, though it's probably impossible."

"Can the forest be destroyed? It seems easy if we set it on fire."

"If it were that easy, we would have done it already. But the trees need to be cut down and left for a while before they can burn."

"Is that so?"

"Using firewood might make it burn, but it's unlikely to spread, so cutting them down is still better."

I see. It seems I didn't need to worry about forest fires when using fire magic.

"Is it okay to destroy the forest?"

Monsters come from the forest, which is common knowledge. From what I saw of the mountains in Eleera, cutting down the trees shouldn't be too difficult. However, the fact that the forest has been left suggests there is a reason to keep it.

"It will affect the harvest of crops in the future. But it's better than the town being destroyed immediately, if possible."

"If I decide to do it, I can destroy it with magic, but I can also stay until other reinforcements arrive. It's not that urgent, right?"

"...That's not possible. The guilds in nearby towns don't have the spare adventurers to send."

"What about reinforcements from Photorenguild? It might take a few days for others to arrive, but they are sending many reinforcements."

Photorenguild is sending many reinforcements, including me. It might take time, but it's not impossible for them to come to this town.

"Keeping you here until then could cause other nearby towns to fall. I want to prioritize my own town, but you are the strongest force, and I can't keep you here indefinitely."

Being C-rank and the strongest force... I can feel the gap with the area around Photorenguild.

"Then, should I destroy the forest with magic?"

"If you can, I would ask you to. Is your magic power sufficient?"

"Plenty. I'll go right away."

Magic power doesn't really decrease.

"Please hurry, but don't overdo it."

"Understood. I'll be back."

After leaving the guild and raising my altitude, I could see the forest. I approached to check if anyone was there, but it was full of monsters, and there was no sign of people. I had my explosive magic ready, so I just needed to use it. No time was needed. However, I hadn't tried it on a normal forest before. I needed to adjust the output, but the trees in Decibattle were tough, so half the power should be enough for normal trees.

So, I tried it with about half the density used in Decibattle. The moment it hit, the magic exploded with a loud noise, blowing away the trees and sending pieces of wood and trunks high into the air. It was clearly overkill.

...I made a mistake by treating the normal trees as if they were the tough ones in Decibattle. Reflecting on this, I reduced the power to one-tenth of what I used in Decibattle and tried again. The sound was still loud, but the trees only bounced a little. There were no stumps left, so it seemed to work well. It might be a bit too strong, but it's better than leaving stumps.

I moved straight into the forest from the town and scattered explosive magic as I went. After a short distance, the forest ended. It was so easy that it felt anticlimactic, but it was better to finish quickly.

When I returned to the guild, the branch manager was still near the window, so I reported directly. It seemed that the safety of the town hadn't been confirmed yet, and the evacuees were still staying in the guild.

"I've mostly destroyed the nearby forest. I don't think any more monsters will come from there."

"...Already? Isn't that too fast?"

"This is about it. The trees are much softer than those in Decibattle, and the area isn't that large."

"Even for a mage from Decibattle, that seems too fast..."

"Technology advances. Thanks to it, we were able to push the front line back to Broken."

In reality, it was mostly due to magic power and INT.

"...It's a world I can't imagine. I don't know much about Decibattle, so if you say so, it must be true."

"That's right. By the way, what should I do next?"

Move to another town?

"If this town is safe... I can't be sure, but Fortema is probably the most dangerous. Can you go there tomorrow? We'll prepare a place for you to stay tonight."

"Isn't it an emergency in other towns? Is it okay to sleep?"

"It's already night, and it would be too difficult to move. Even adventurers need rest."

That's strange...

The ordinary adventurers I know would continue fighting for several days without sleeping during an emergency. They would run for two hours to cover a half-day walk and naturally cut through the forest at night. That's what adventurers do, by Decibattle standards.

"No, it's fine. The night here is much safer than the day in Decibattle, and I'm not tired enough to need sleep."

"Even if you're young, you're an adventurer from Decibattle, so you must be a monster... If your magic power is fine, I would like to ask you to move now."

Calling me a monster is rude.

If my past self from Earth saw my current self, he would probably have the same reaction.

"Understood. Which way should I go?"

"Go straight left from the guild, and you'll find the gate. The door will be closed, but... should I have someone with a key show you the way?"

"No, I can jump over the gate. Is it straight from there?"

"Yes, go straight down that road, and the first place you reach will be Fortema."

"Got it. I'll be back."

I left the guild again and went outside the gate. It was busy, but the town could be destroyed while I was idle. I couldn't afford to rest.

I flew along the road, but the distance that would take half a day on foot was much closer than I expected. It took less than 10 minutes, I think. The streets of Fortema were similar to those of Fortima. I looked around, and the situation seemed similar to Fortima. Monsters had entered the city, but the places where people were barricaded were probably safe. I was probably sent to Fortima first because it was the most urgent, and it might have been dangerous if I had been sleeping.

When I went to the guild, I was asked to do the same thing as in Fortema, so I handled it appropriately. The quality of the adventurers was similar to Fortima, and the monsters were also similar. In the end, I had to destroy the forest again, and I was worried about my magic power. I was offered a place to stay and treated like a monster, just like in Fortima. It seemed like a manual.

The work here took about two and a half hours, and I flew to the next town. At this rate, I might end up saving nearly 10 towns in a day. By the way, the next town is called Fortete. Confusing.

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I will not translate the author's notes and technical issues at the end.