Chapter 137: Stampede

Dread filled Lawrence, one of the B-ranked adventurers.

Hundreds of monsters drew closer to the city of Gareth, which was under his protection.

It was a stampede, a calamitous event where many different species of monsters gathered together to wreak havoc and destroy everything in their path.

Lawrence had repelled small-scale stampedes in the past by commanding four parties of adventurers, so he was dispatched to this city under the order of the Adventurer’s Guild, to be the commander in charge of defense.

However, the scale of the current stampede was a far cry from the previous stampede made up of thirty or so C-rank monsters that he had repelled previously .

He could identify several monsters that had already passed B-ranked among the wave of monsters. Those high-level monsters' presence meant that it was not a naturally-occuring stampede.

In fact, there was a culprit behind this.

It was the warlocks, the ones who brought harm to people.

However, the adventurers, Lawrence included, hadn’t confirmed the existence of warlocks yet at this point of time.

The stampede was advancing towards the west side of the protective wall, so the people started preparing to take refuge in the east.

“Sorry ‘bout this. You really shouldn’t have accepted the commission, huh.”

“What are you saying so late in the game. If it was the usual you, you would’ve already commanded everyone to retreat as soon as you confirmed that there are hundreds of monsters, right.”

The brunette archer drawled as she checked the bow and arrow on her hand.

“Well, it had been tough staying in the city for more than a month, regardless of how good the pay from the guild is.”

The grim-faced, tanned guy equipped with a gigantic shield and lance replied self-deprecatingly.

“True, all the residents here and the vigilante corps treated us well, so there’s no way we’re gonna run off by ourselves.”

It was the priestess who said it. She was also a member of Lawrence’s party, same as the other two who spoke earlier.

Lawrence and his comrades, as well as the city’s vigilante corps, took their battle positions in front of the protective wall’s west side so that they could fight and keep the monsters at bay in order to buy some time so that the residents could escape.

The adventurers were free-living people. Even if the Guild instructed them to protect the city, many adventurers chose to flee when their lives were in jeopardy.

However, Lawrence and his party chose not to escape. It had been a month since they were dispatched to this town, where the stampede was predicted to occur soon, and yet they didn’t leave. That was because the residents had treated them, the guys who were supposed to protect the town, hospitably to the best that they could.

In order to strengthen their cooperation with the vigilante corps, they became friends with them, hunting monsters around the city and drinking alcohol together.

Just as the archer pointed out, if it was the usual Lawrence, he would have already commanded them to withdraw if he found out that they would be fighting against more than a hundred monsters, with B-ranked monsters among them, to boot.

However, his wrist was adorned with a bracelet that a child of this town gifted to him. That radiant smile — he wanted to protect that no matter what.

That was why he didn’t retreat.

“Lawrence, I’m really sorry for involving you all….”

The chief of Gareth’s vigilante corps bowed his head towards Lawrence. He had wanted Lawrence and his party to leave when he learned about the immensity of the stampede and how it already exceeded their expectations.

However, the four-member party of adventurers chose to remain in this town.

It would be impossible for the military force of this town to block that stampede. Nevertheless, the vigilante corps were here in order to buy time for their families and friends to escape.

It was a fact that they would all die in a few moments if they remained here — but notwithstanding that fact, they still remained here, even if they did not know anyone from this town.

The chief was filled with gratitude, but he felt remorse at the same time.

“Don’t spout nonsense, Chief. We’re just doing our job. We finally got a proper job, you know. Rather than that, Yuuka will be sad if you die here, so you’re absolutely not allowed to die, got it.”

Lawrence was patrolling the town borders when Yuuka, the vigilante corps chief’s daughter, was attacked by a monster.

He managed to save her, and in return, she made a bracelet out of the Hope Stones that she had treasured for so long, and gave it to him as a token of her gratitude.

“Lawrence, you too. My daughter will be miserable if you die here.”

“Yeah, got it. … So, our plan is to ‘cherish your life’, alright? Never force yourselves. Alright, let’s protect our families, our friends, our comrades and this town!!!”

“Yeaaahhhhh!!!!!”

Lawrence borrowed the phrase that the Hero from another world frequently said to his comrades, and he cheered his party members and the vigilante corps.

It’s fine even if I’m the only one to overdo it.

That was Lawrence’s thoughts.

Even if he fought single-handedly, he was still a B-ranked adventurer, and he was confident in his ability. Besides, the only one who could defeat the B-rank monsters among the stampede was him.

His comrades and the corps could block the C-rank monsters and below while he slew the B-ranked monsters who would destroy their defense line.

Of course, it would be extremely difficult to continue fighting with the B-rank monsters on his own. However, if he didn’t force himself, they wouldn’t be able to protect this town.

Lawrence was already prepared to die, contrary to the words he uttered to his comrades.

The ground rumbled.

It was the signal that the 300 monsters were headed towards them.

The stampede was coming closer.

“....Did you contact that guy?”

“Yes. I already sent a postal Bird to the guild. I informed them that the Stampede has started, and also about the scale. They probably already contacted that person.”

“Problem is, there were rumors floating around that a stampede also occurred in another continent. If those rumors are true, then he probably went there.”

“Really.”

‘He will probably come’ — that hope vanished, and Lawrence was filled with dread, but he couldn’t let them see his despair.

It was because everyone here realized that they could only rely on themselves now, not on ‘him’.

The stampede was already within range.

“Magic unit! Archery unit! Go attack ‘em with all you got!!!”

At Lawrence’s signal, the twelve magicians and thirty archers stationed above the protective wall started to fire magic and arrows.

The monsters in the front line were bombarded with their attacks, but the ones behind them just trampled over their dead bodies, and they continued to charge towards the town.

The stampede wasn’t stopped, but they should have killed around 50 monsters already. So there were around 250 monsters left.

Afterward, the archers and magicians continued their barrage, shifting their focus towards the rear monsters to lessen them further.

“Let’s go!!!!” \

“Ooohhhh!!!”

The ground unit finally began the battle, and they were led by Lawrence.

They had a favorable start. The team of magicians and archers succeeded in killing the momentum of the monsters, so Lawrence comrades and the corps managed to slay dozens of monsters.

In the midst of that —

“— Ugh!”

Lawrence was enduring the fierce attacks of three B-ranked monsters. Even he didn’t manage to defeat them, and he was already giving his all just to prevent them from going to the corps.

Her archer comrade was covering for him from above the protective wall, but she could only prevent the C-rank monsters around him from going closer.

“$@#%!^!”

Lawrence let the Dark Wolf bite his left hand so he could lop it’s head off. He then slayed the remaining two B-ranked monsters one after the other.

It was a high-handed move, but he managed to kill the three monsters who would have demolished their line of defense otherwise. However, the blood wouldn’t stop flowing from his bitten left hand.

“Tsk…this is bad.”

Just as he muttered those words —

“Lawrence!!”

The priestess ran towards Lawrence’s side, surrounded by a few members of the corps. She started to cast recovery magic on him. The corps who came with her restrained the monsters so she could focus on healing him.

“I-idiot!! You shouldn’t come here!!”

“You-you said that we should cherish our lives!! And yet… and yet, this way of fighting is too dangerous !!!”

“T-that’s — !? Watch out!!”

“Kyahhh!!”

Lawrence grabbed the priestess and he jumped to the side with her in his arms.

Immediately afterward, an ominous-looking sword was swung down with a tremendous roar right on the spot where they had been standing.

The corps who had been trying to keep the monsters in check were all blasted away. An Orc Fighter glared at Lawrence and the priestess, before charging towards them.

Five Orc Fighters appeared, and they were superior even than the other B-ranked monsters.

Five superior B-ranked monsters — there was absolute zero chance that Lawrence could win against them.

“This is the end, huh….”

Lawrence hugged the priestess tightly, and he bowed down to cover her body with his own.

It was impossible to block the sword of an Orc Fighter with his body, so in that case, just slash him off with the priestess. If that happened, then his beloved woman would never be defiled by the orcs.

His head was filled with these thoughts. In order to relieve the priestess’ fear even just for a bit, he embraced her trembling body with all his might.

The Orc Fighter swung his blade towards Lawrence’s back —

Blood rained down on them, splattering ostentatiously everywhere.

It wasn’t Lawrence’s.

The Orc Fighter’s hands were cut off, and a massive amount of blood spurted out his arms.

“Whew, I made it on time.”

Lawrence raised his head —

A raven-haired youth was swinging his slightly curved sword, and had slashed all five Orc Fighters within a blink of an eye.

“No way…Y-you, aren’t you supposed to be on a different continent!?”

“Yup! That’s why I flew real fast!!”

That lad was smearing something on the corps that had been blasted away by the Orc Fighters as he talked.

Their wounds were severe, but they were gradually disappearing.

“Alright, I’ll leave these guys to you.”

The lad just willy-nilly handed the unconscious guys to Lawrence.

“Whoa! A Hope Stone bracelet, huh. Maybe that’s the reason why I made it on time.”

He commented while staring at the bracelet on Lawrence’s wrist.

Hope Stones served as protective charms when worn. Moreover, they were created with strong desires, so they glowed with a color that corresponded to that wish.

The bracelet Lawrence wore was glowing brightly in yellow, which was the color for the prayer for safety.

“Leave the rest to me.”

The raven-haired youth — Haruto turned his back on Lawrence, and gripped the sword as he left these words.

“Let me protect this town.”