Chapter 95
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Not Yet
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Right after the invasion ended, a peculiar tension blanketed the city, unlike any ordinary day.
It was because of the emergency alarm that had blared during the battle.
The signal that monsters had breached the city interior.
It wasn't the sort of thing that rang by mistake, and the follow-up reports confirmed the monster intrusion beyond doubt.
In order to verify the exact situation, countless people were rushing around inside the city.
Thanks to that, even after the monster invasion alert was lifted, the soldiers and mercenaries hadn't left the walls and were still vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
Soon, a crowd gathered in the northern plaza where the final battle had taken place.
The mayor, administrative officials, commanders, and even the city council members.
It was a time when everyone should have been swamped right after the invasion, but they had all come out to the plaza in person to check the situation.
Because it was something they had to see with their own eyes.
"What in the world is this...?"
The people gathered in the plaza muttered as they surveyed the gruesome scene. Monster corpses lay strewn about, their invisibility undone in death.
The plaza, carpeted with the bodies of countless monsters, clearly showed that an intense battle had unfolded here.
It wasn't just one or two that had gotten in—it was a horde numerous enough to easily raze an entire street.
"How did this many get inside?!"
The mayor shouted as he looked around the site. Reports would have gone up, of course, but it was hard to accept easily.
An officer managing the scene responded to the murmuring crowd. He was one of the firsthand witnesses who had seen it during the battle.
"...These monsters are completely invisible to the eye when alive."
Gasps echoed from here and there.
Some had already heard the report beforehand, but quite a few seemed to be hearing it for the first time.
The officer organized and shared everything he'd learned during the fight.
"They leap over walls and have strong evasion instincts, so they ignored the wall defenses and just bounded straight inside. By the time we detected them, they were already in the city..."
Everyone's faces paled at his words.
Invisible monsters leaping into the city walls.
A similar thought flashed through everyone's minds.
"Then that means there could still be more inside right now?"
It was a perfectly reasonable suspicion.
As confusion began to spread among the gathered crowd, Major Leona, arriving late, spoke up.
"You don't need to worry about the monsters."
The commander of the emergency squad that had handled this incident.
All eyes turned to Leona.
Leona calmly explained to the people in the plaza.
"Fortunately, we responded immediately and prevented them from spreading further inside the city. There are no monsters left in the city now."
If the initial response hadn't been proper, the city would still be in chaos.
One of the council members questioned Leona's certainty.
"How do you know that? You said they can't be seen."
"Lucky timing. We had a potion that works perfectly for situations like this."
Leona pulled out a red potion and showed it to everyone.
It was the crisis detection potion that had resolved this crisis.
"It's a potion that lets you see the invisible."
"A potion like that exists?"
"It's a new product from an alchemist I know who was preparing to sell it. It was a godsend that we had something so helpful."
Leona slowly scanned the crowd with a meaningful expression.
"Especially since the emergency squad's forces were so depleted this year—we nearly couldn't respond properly."
Council members and citizens alike were gathered in significant numbers.
The mayor's face grew slightly pale at her remark.
Ian headed straight to the mercenary guild.
Normally, right after an invasion like this, the guild would be at its busiest time of the year.
Everything else got pushed back until postwar processing was done, but this time there was an exception.
Something that would normally take time was being handled at unprecedented speed as top priority.
However, the vice guild master in charge was away at an emergency meeting at city hall.
Instead, Camilla was the one who gave Ian the update.
"The monster report has gone all the way up. Including the part about the potion you developed."
The new type of monster, the Stalker, that had appeared out of nowhere.
With its highly threatening abilities, countermeasures needed to be established as quickly as possible.
It was being prioritized over postwar cleanup across every organization related to city defense.
"Right now, there's no other option, so your potion looks like it'll be officially adopted as the countermeasure."
Congratulations.
Camilla added those words of celebration.
Being adopted as the official countermeasure against monsters meant that crisis detection potions would henceforth be mandatory for handling Stalkers.
It would be designated as standard military supplies for the defense forces to keep on hand.
"Planning to sell the recipe? Or supply it yourself?"
"I'll supply it directly."
Regulations would require filling warehouse stockpiles first.
Since it was a completely new development, everything produced until all warehouses were stocked would go straight into military storage.
Even considering just the military's needs, it was massive. The total demand was on a scale beyond imagination.
This city was filthy rich, with heaps of amassed fortunes, but at this rate, Ian would soon crack the top ranks.
"Supplying directly is going to be a huge headache."
Well, judging by what he's done so far, he won't get scammed or tank his business. Still, it wasn't something a mercenary leader should juggle.
Camilla asked Ian.
"You sure you can handle it? It'll pile on way too much work."
"I'm planning to outsource production to a merchant house I know."
Camilla thought of the officer close to Ian. That connection could probably arrange a merchant house big enough to handle production.
"Did you get an intro from that guy? Better to avoid getting tangled with them if possible."
Camilla shook her head as she spoke.
"He's military, but way too deep in politics. I get the circumstances, but..."
Leona, who had been quietly biding her time, seemed to think her chance had come and was starting full-scale maneuvers.
"It might feel profitable now, but come next election season, you'll get dragged into a massive headache."
Camilla sighed, glancing at the stack of papers on her desk as she said that.
"Then again, what could be more headache-inducing than this mess? Handle it your way."
This incident had caused a huge uproar inside the city.
The current mayor's central policy was demilitarization. A monster breach under those conditions was an irreparable blow to him.
The fact that it was such a special monster—something regular troops couldn't have handled even with more numbers—meant nothing right now.
Regardless, he'd reduced the military size, and the breach happened. It was undeniably the mayor's responsibility.
After all, the city mayor's greatest duty was to keep the city safe.
Of course, shifting resources from the military to commerce had brought massive gains to the city too.
If the timing had been different, he'd have gone down as a capable, wise mayor.
But apparently, his luck wasn't that good. To become mayor right at this moment of all times.
No investigation needed—the mayor's approval among citizens was toast. Anyone eyeing the next election wouldn't miss that opening.
"Anyway, best not to take their calls for a while. The backroom fights have probably already started. Hard to turn down annoying requests once they come."
Camilla finished signing a few documents and looked at Ian as she spoke.
"If things feel off, just take a long-term mission and bail. They won't push a mercenary too hard."
"Thank you for the concern."
Camilla's advice was the sensible thing to follow in general.
Unfortunately, to achieve his goals, Ian was fated to stay entangled with them, like it or not.
Back at the outpost, Ian slumped down in exhaustion.
From preparations to invasion day and postwar cleanup—too much had happened.
Not just Ian; the other members sprawled out in the break room, utterly drained.
"Everyone, good work."
"The invasion's really over, right?"
"Yeah... We held it off."
Only then did they finally relax.
Labyrinth-related stuff always led to absurd nonsense, so they'd been on edge, wondering if something else lingered.
"Haa... Monsters are so damn tiresome now."
They muttered things like that, sinking into the sofas.
Ann and her friends, who had first experienced a monster invasion in the underground sewers, lit up as they chatted.
"The underground was insane too..."
"Never seen that many slimes before."
"Heh... That's nothing. Up top, we had..."
Slimes in the sewers? What a joke.
Rin smirked meaningfully and gathered the sewer team to start recounting.
Ian watched them and let out a deep sigh.
There had been anxious moments wondering if they'd make it in time, but fortunately, the city had survived.
All their efforts so far hadn't been in vain.
Rin, who had glanced at Ian and noticed his utter lack of a smile, approached him curiously.
"Captain, aren't you happy? The labyrinth issues you were worried about are all resolved now, aren't they?"
"Huh? Not yet..."
Rin's expression hardened at Ian's reply.
The members listening nearby turned to stare at Ian and Rin.
"We caught all the monsters sealed in the labyrinth, didn't we?"
"This was just the first one... There's still more below the labyrinth."
"......"
The party's mood chilled a bit.