Chapter 91
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: How Many?
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"Hoo..."
Ian sprawled out on the sofa in the lounge.
It was late evening, after wrapping up the meeting at the guild.
He couldn't even remember how many days it had been since his last return.
Tanya quietly approached Ian, who lay there like a corpse with his eyes closed.
"Are you okay?"
"No..."
At least the response meant he wasn't actually a corpse.
Ian, who had only shut his eyes for a moment, snapped back to awareness and lifted his head.
"Time's almost up, and it's still not done?"
"No. It seems mostly wrapped up."
With the monster invasion looming, the endless meetings had finally reached some closure.
This year's discussions had been even fiercer due to the agenda Ian had brought, especially with the intense backlash from those handling the walls.
You couldn't just make troops appear out of nowhere.
Eventually, they'd have to pull from somewhere else, and demanding they strip defenses from the walls for some baseless emergency was bound to provoke resistance.
It had been grueling, but being involved from the outset let him persuade them directly and hammer out a more solid plan.
Ian, head raised, addressed the members gathered around him.
Personnel assignments were finally locked in—it was time to let them know.
"Rin, Lia, Mika—you'll join the surface reserve unit."
It matched exactly what Ian had told them ahead of time.
From what Lia—who had reserve unit experience—had shared, it was usually just waiting around, true to the name.
Monsters were the wall defenders' job, with reserves and response teams deploying first where extra help was needed.
The emergency reserves were for true do-or-die crises, like walls collapsing and monsters flooding the streets en masse.
It sounded like a unit with nothing to do, just from the description.
But if Ian's hunch was right, monsters would likely breach into the city this time—meaning the reserves would see action.
The members, already briefed, all nodded.
"And Anne, Karen, Seria—to the underground sewer."
Their role here was much like last year's.
Ian's sewer defense tactics had proven so effective that they were reusing the exact same plan.
It stood out for allowing a sharp drop in required personnel without heavy reliance on members' combat skills.
Only this time, Ian had to stay topside, so he couldn't command the sewers personally like before.
On-site leadership went to another officer from last year, but they still needed someone with hands-on experience there.
"Tanya. I'm counting on you."
"Yes. Leave it to me."
In the end, Tanya—who had real field experience from last time—would head down with them.
With her around, even without Ian, nothing major should go wrong.
"Um... Leader."
Tanya glanced around furtively, sidled closer, and asked softly in a hushed voice.
"That thing... are we doing it again this time?"
Tanya's face lit up with eager anticipation as she asked in earnest.
She was probably talking about secretly stashing away pricey loot in the hidden room.
She must have found that little escapade kinda fun...
"The overseer's military this time, so no."
"...Okay."
"For real, no?"
"Ah, yes..."
Tanya slunk away, her face fallen.
With the monster invasion closing in, Labyrinth City plunged into war preparations.
Guards on the walls had multiplied several times over, every force on standby, primed for battle at a moment's notice.
The city, teetering on war's edge, hung under a pall of heavy tension.
Ian stepped into a temporary tent pitched along one street. It belonged to the reserve unit, sited comfortably to the rear.
Scanning the interior, he spotted his members clustered in a corner. Not the moment for chit-chat, so they just met eyes briefly and nodded greetings.
Chris followed Ian into the tent shortly after. The mercenaries' gazes all swung his way.
Chris took stock of the mercenaries inside.
A handful of melee fighters assigned to surface duty.
The rest were mostly archers, plus supporters to back them up from the flanks.
Hence the chorus of complaints everywhere.
After all, they'd yanked this much ranged firepower from the front lines.
Naturally, the mercenaries posted here weren't thrilled either.
They were the types who shone brightest racking up kills up front—now sidelined to reserves. It was like tossing gold coins into the dirt in real time.
"This for real?"
One mercenary shook the pre-issued ops plan.
This operation's blueprint.
Couldn't just drag them in blind, so it'd been handed out ahead with full briefings.
Chris nodded.
"Probably."
"Probably what..."
One mercenary let out an exasperated sigh at Chris's resolute reply.
No hard proof to show? This was the best reaction they could muster right now.
At least a few die-hards believed enough to sway the rest, letting them scrape together this much prep.
Still, the mercenaries here didn't kick up too much fuss.
No way they'd blow things up to this scale on a whim. With that in mind, they pored over the ops plan again.
One mercenary muttered offhand.
"Man... if we blow it here, we're done for."
"Work so we don't blow it."
Chris, fresh from final checks with Ian, shot back.
───
A massive bell toll soon boomed from outside the tent.
The frantic peal rang across the entire city. Invasion start signal.
"It's begun."
Chaos erupted everywhere in moments.
Ground-shaking tremors, people's yells. Explosions rocked the air.
"Let's gear up."
The tent's mercenaries nodded and rose as one.
Countless arrows and spells poured beyond the walls.
Shouts rang from every direction, mingling with the cacophony of monster roars from outside the walls.
Toward the rear, below the walls, hordes of people dashed about in frenzy.
"Send 'em this way—arrows?"
"Arriving any second!"
"Haul 'em up the moment they do!"
Soldiers and mercenaries lugging crates shuttled the streets without pause.
Supply crews hauling goods, reserves itching for rotation. Messengers sprinting every which way.
The supply line hunkered right behind the front, below the walls.
A tad removed from that battlefield hub.
A rear soldier mid-carry crumpled with a scream. Everyone whipped around in alarm, froze at the sight of the downed man.
"What happened?!"
"We're under attack!"
Blood pooled slowly beneath the fallen soldier.
Bad-luck overshot ranged strike? Or some aerial monster slipped the walls?
While they scrambled to figure it out, another nearby soldier dropped.
"Where's it coming from?! Take cover first!"
Soldiers toppling one by one in open space screamed "ranged fire incoming."
They snatched up shields or ducked behind crates to dodge whatever was flying in.
Meantime, a mercenary crouched by the fallen soldier, rushed over, and checked the wound.
Sharp blade gash. Backstabbed.
"The back...?"
A chill prickled him; the mercenary snapped his head up.
Glancing rearward, tiny footprints materialized in his view.
On the blood-slick ground, faint splashes marked each print.
Undeniably monstrous—not human.
Something lurked ahead. An unseen monster.
"Something's here! Can't see it!"
All heads turned at the mercenary's yell.
Even they saw footprints stamping into empty ground.
"Attack!"
Nearby soldiers and mercenaries brandished weapons, slashing at the invisible foe.
Most whiffed, but a few felt their blades snag flesh.
Hit... something!
A shrill squeal pierced the air.
The invisible, transparent thing recoiled fast at the blows.
The transparent monster didn't strike back at its assailants.
Instead, sensing discovery, it bolted on the spot.
The monster zipped rearward, scrambled up a nearby wall, vaulted a building, and vanished into the shadows.
Far too quick for pursuit.
Bloody prints showed its path, but scaling walls killed any chase.
Everyone gawked up at the building walls, voices laced with panic.
"I-it got away!"
"After it!"
"Onto the roof—how?!"
"Tch..."
The on-site commander scowled, eyes sweeping the area.
...How the hell did it get in?
Truth be told, its escape made it obvious—no pondering needed.
It hopped the walls.
In the battle's frenzy, the unseen pest slipped over easy.
"Messenger! Emergency dispatch to command! Monster breach!"
The commander summoned a runner, scribbling a hasty interim report.
Monster infiltration inside.
Type... unknown.
Enemy count...
His frantic pen screeched to a halt.
Just one?
Or.
The commander raised his stone-faced gaze, pivoted to eye the city.
The streets unrolled in suffocating silence.
How many of those... had slipped in?