Chapter 83

This time, "The Healer Who Was Kicked Out of the Party, Turns Out to Be the Strongest" has been nominated for BookWalker's new work general election!

Also, the second volume is now on sale, so please look forward to it!

(This time, it will be from Narusena's perspective.)

"…I wonder if he's okay, Onii-san."

I muttered these words, barely audible amidst the bustling noise of the labyrinth city, from atop the hill where I had earlier confirmed the presence of a group of orcs.

While my consciousness was directed towards the labyrinth deep within the grasslands before my eyes, I had nothing else to do and was passing the time, so I continued to speak.

"Onii-san can't say no to Ralma's unreasonable requests, no matter what. …No, I need to focus on my own tasks now."

My consciousness was about to shift to Onii-san, but I shook my head to refocus.

It's Ralma and Onii-san.

It's unlikely that they would be in danger, no matter who they're up against.

I decided that I needed to focus on my own duties rather than on them, and I refocused on the grasslands.

Currently, I was keeping watch to detect any monsters that might emerge from the labyrinth as quickly as possible.

Naturally, it might make more sense to rely on lower-ranked adventurers for this task and have me, one of the city's top fighters, rest to be ready for battle at any time.

But the current labyrinth city was not in a situation where such a thing could be said.

For some reason, this labyrinth city lacks a defensive wall.

Despite the fact that most labyrinth cities, which have the risk of a labyrinth rampage, not only have defensive walls to protect against the labyrinth but also have walls around the nearby towns.

The only buildings in the labyrinth city are four structures made of some white, unknown material, which surround the city.

Apart from these unknown structures, the labyrinth city has no large buildings.

In other words, this labyrinth city is a defective city that cannot use defensive walls as a shield to exterminate monsters and is in a critical situation as soon as a group of monsters approaches the labyrinth city.

"…This labyrinth city is the one that needs a defensive wall the most."

I couldn't help but mutter this complaint to the unknown city planner.

In any case, the current labyrinth city was in danger of being wiped out if the monsters approached the labyrinth before they could be exterminated.

That's why it was necessary for someone with a powerful physical enhancement skill, who could enhance their vision and detect monsters early, to stand watch.

"…We can't let something like a group of orcs happen again."

I recalled the group of liches and orcs from earlier.

Thanks to Ralma and Ronaldo, two top-notch adventurers, we were saved that time, but it was a stroke of luck.

If Ronaldo's response had been a little slower, the labyrinth city would have been destroyed by now.

We must avoid at all costs the monsters getting that close again.

"Especially, I can't trust the adventurers other than Sieg and Marnele…"

My face naturally turned bitter as I muttered these words.

After the leader of the War God's Great Sword was easily crushed by Onii-san, the adventurers seemed to be behaving themselves.

However, I noticed that something was off.

"This situation calls for cooperation."

I instinctively understood that this labyrinth rampage was no ordinary event, which is why I felt a strong sense of dissatisfaction with the adventurers' attitude.

There are over 1,500 adventurers in the labyrinth city, but it's unlikely that we can expect the full number of them to be effective as they are now.

While the adventurers here are quite strong individually, their strength is only at the party level.

In a group battle, these adventurers might not follow orders and could go berserk.

"I'm enduring being with Onii-san because of this situation…!"

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching, I puffed out my cheeks on the hill.

Honestly, I wanted to go with Onii-san to meet the guild branch manager.

Some of the adventurers, thinking that Onii-san was gone, looked at me with lecherous eyes and even tried to talk to me.

It was simply unpleasant, and in such a situation, I wanted to be by Onii-san's side even more.

I was restraining that desire and keeping watch here because it was an emergency.

Despite this, the adventurers who remained in this place were constantly complaining.

Each adventurer was only thinking about their own survival.

In a labyrinth rampage, that kind of thinking only hastens their demise.

"Ha… At least, I hope they fight properly when the monsters attack."

I muttered these words while continuing to look towards the grasslands.

To ensure I wouldn't miss any changes and could respond immediately.

However, that vigilance would end up delaying my actions.

"…!"

Suddenly, my enhanced hearing picked up the sound of multiple people shouting in anger or fear.

Instinctively, I stood up, sensing that something was wrong.

However, my actions stopped there.

I didn't know what to do, or even what had happened, and I looked around the grasslands in a daze.

"The monsters haven't come, right?"

This confusion was due to my strict adherence to my duties.

Because I was always on high alert for the grasslands, when I heard the commotion, I reflexively assumed it was caused by the monsters.

I had forgotten that the adventurers behind me couldn't possibly detect the monsters before me.

But the confusion lasted only a moment.

I quickly realized that no one else could detect the monsters.

"Maybe I was on edge because Onii-san isn't here…"

While thinking of Onii-san, who I assumed was still talking to the branch manager, I muttered these words and turned my gaze from the grasslands to behind me.

And I saw an unbelievable sight.

"…No way!"

There, I saw a group of people running with all their might, using their physical enhancement skills to the fullest.

A moment later, I understood what was happening.

—The adventurers were trying to escape from the labyrinth city.

Adventurers, including those who couldn't use physical enhancement skills or magic items, such as mages and healers, were running.

Seeing this, I muttered in disbelief.

"What are they thinking!?"

In their desperation to save themselves, the adventurers were trying to escape from the labyrinth city.

They didn't want to protect the people in the city.

However, because I knew that fleeing was the worst possible option, I doubted the adventurers' sanity.

Adventurers are contracted with the guild and are obligated to cooperate in emergencies like a labyrinth rampage.

Especially in a disaster like this, if they fled, they would be wanted criminals for sure.

Moreover, fleeing during a labyrinth rampage was sheer folly.

If the monsters overflowed from the labyrinth while they were fleeing to the neighboring town, the adventurers would be attacked by a horde of monsters.

The extent of the damage would be unimaginable.

Even if some lucky adventurers managed to escape to the neighboring town, they would only drag the labyrinth rampage into that town.

…In that case, the death penalty would be certain.

I was shocked by the sight of the adventurers, who were acting recklessly without understanding this.

"Damn it! Stop!"

My consciousness was snapped back by the angry shouts of Marnele and the others, who were chasing the adventurers.

Seeing them, I finally realized that I had no time to be confused.

I needed to stop as many adventurers as possible.

At that moment, I activated my physical enhancement and jumped down from the hill.

I landed right in front of the running adventurers.

The adventurers, who were running at full speed, were shocked to see me suddenly appear and their faces twisted in disgust.

"…! It's the blue-haired martial artist from the defective healer's place!"

At that moment, I realized that the adventurer leading the group was from the War God's Great Sword.

Realizing that this escape was the work of the War God's Great Sword, I glared at them with anger.

"…How much more are you going to trouble Onii-san!"

At that moment, I ran towards the adventurers, driven by my emotions.

My first target was a young warrior from the War God's Great Sword who had jumped in front to protect their leader.

Without hesitation, I punched the warrior from the War God's Great Sword.

The young warrior held a short dagger, presumably for easy movement while running, but the movement was too sluggish.

I easily knocked the dagger out of his hand.

"Ah!"

Then, I punched the warrior's abdomen.

The warrior was wearing light equipment, but my skill-activated punch penetrated the equipment and delivered a shock.

In the next moment, the warrior's body, now powerless, collapsed on the spot.

The healer he was carrying was also thrown to the ground and let out a high-pitched scream, apparently having landed badly.

With two people suddenly collapsing, the feet of some of the fleeing adventurers slowed down.

Seizing this opportunity, I targeted the nearest unknown adventurer and punched them.

"Ugh!"

In the process, I stepped on the healer who had fallen to the ground, causing a muffled scream.

But I ignored it and punched the targeted adventurer, knocking them unconscious.

With the unconscious adventurers acting as obstacles, the movement of the other adventurers slowed even more.

From then on, it was my show.

Perhaps because they were focused on fleeing, or because my skills had improved, few of the adventurers could react to my movements.

Moreover, most of the adventurers were lightly equipped for fleeing and were carrying non-combatants.

Occasionally, some would attack in desperation, but dealing with them was easy for me.

As a result, I incapacitated five, ten, twenty adventurers one after another.

…But my face was filled with unmistakable anxiety.

"Too many…!"

No matter how many adventurers I incapacitated, the number of fleeing adventurers didn't decrease.

It even felt like their numbers were increasing.

…By then, I had also noticed that among the non-combatants the adventurers were carrying were guild staff.

This indicated that the mass escape of the adventurers was being assisted by the guild staff.

The thought of how many adventurers had fled with the help of the guild staff brought a strong sense of anxiety to my heart.

Still, I tried to calm my anxious heart and continued to punch the adventurers.

I judged that I needed to knock them unconscious and stop them.

However, I was overwhelmed by the wave of adventurers and, before I knew it, the group of adventurers had passed me by.

Marnele and the others were trying to stop the adventurers from behind, but it was like pouring water on a hot stone.

Most of the adventurers had already passed the labyrinth city.

"I won't let you escape!"

Even in that situation, I hadn't given up.

Breathing heavily, I ran to the rear of the adventurers, punching and kicking them to reduce their numbers.

Catching up to the group of adventurers running in a cluster was not difficult for me.

"I can do this!"

Hope appeared on my face, and fear appeared on the faces of the adventurers who were desperately trying to escape while looking at me.

However, the next moment, when I realized what was ahead of the fleeing adventurers, anxiety appeared on my face.

"Grasslands!?"

—The direction the adventurers were fleeing in led to the depths of the grasslands where the labyrinth was located.

I understood that their plan was more well-thought-out than I had imagined.

If I continued, I would be caught up in the situation when the monsters emerged from the labyrinth.

After wreaking havoc to stop the adventurers, I was now out of breath, and being caught up in such a situation would be the worst.

My running speed slowed, and doubt crept into my mind.

Should I continue chasing the adventurers, or should I give up?

Looking behind me, I saw the numerous adventurers who had lost consciousness and fallen to the ground.

But compared to the number of adventurers still running ahead, it seemed like a small number.

After a moment's hesitation, I was about to run after the adventurers.

"Narusena, fall back!"

"…!"

—Ronaldo's stern command echoed at that moment.

"You're more important than those guys! Give up and come back!"

Ronaldo's words were logical.

Still, I was about to chase after the adventurers… but I stopped.

The backs of the fleeing adventurers were getting farther and farther away.

…All I could do was clench my lips and watch them go.

As I mentioned in the preface, the healer has been nominated for the new work general election! Thank you very much!

Regarding the response to the comments, I intend to continue writing the healer.

The new work is honestly a short story, at best a medium-length one, so I don't plan to focus on it.

The reason the healer's updates have been delayed is that my motivation was so high that I tried to improve the quality (which didn't work out), so I hope to increase the update frequency in the future!

I apologize for any misunderstandings about my motivation and update frequency!