The Destruction Plot (1)
A few days after we finished the investigation mission, Beyond summoned us all together.
"While decrypting Talon's orders, I uncovered one of their schemes."
The next event was about to begin.
His words put tense looks on my companions' faces. The secret orders the dungeon's dark mage had been carrying — they were worried about what kind of plot those traitors to humanity were cooking up.
I was worried for a different reason.
Is the event where we reverse-trace the dark mage who issued those orders already starting?
The mid-level Talon officer who handed down secret directives to members scattered across the nation. Defeat him, and you could obtain every Talon plan currently underway around the world. That would spawn linked quests like weeds after rain, and from then on things would get truly hectic.
Half tense, half excited, I listened as Beyond continued.
"It's a sabotage operation against the Magic Workshop."
Wait, what?
An unexpected development.
Well... I suppose that makes sense?
Thinking about it, in the original scenario, eliminating the dark mage inside the dungeon triggered the mansion raid and the Magic Workshop's destruction at the same time. But because we'd taken out the dark mage ahead of schedule, the other incidents were only now due to occur.
But I've never experienced this one myself.
By the time we'd returned after defeating the dungeon boss, both the mansion and the workshop had already been completely wrecked — so I had zero information about this event.
Fortunately, Beyond had detailed intel.
"The route they've planned is as follows."
It was a bit complicated, but in summary: they would infiltrate the Magic Workshop from multiple directions and destroy it. The workshop itself was enormous and heavily guarded, so they were slipping in with small numbers.
"When is the operation scheduled?"
"Today. It's written that they'll execute the plan using the release of Dark Creatures at the mansion as their signal."
"So the mansion is under attack as well?"
"Indeed. However, the dark mage assigned to that task has already been dealt with by you lot, so we can set that concern aside."
As he said, the dark mage who was supposed to carry out that plan was already dead. There was a chance the Magic Workshop sabotage might be called off too — but Beyond wasn't the type to leave such an uncertainty hanging.
"I intend to turn this against them and draw the enemy out."
The plan he explained was straightforward: deliberately generate the magical waves that occur when channeling power through magic crystals, then intercept the saboteurs the moment they moved to execute their plan.
"The sabotage team is a combination of demonkin and dark mages. Ordinary soldiers won't be able to stop them."
Of course, the Agra family — with their abundance of magical tools and deep expertise in enchantment — was extremely strong in group combat. But mobilizing that many people would make the saboteurs suspicious and potentially scrap the plan altogether.
"We'll need to send elites of our own to face them, to keep the damage from getting out of hand."
After consulting with Kyle, the party's leader, Beyond settled on the following teams:
Kyle and Emily. Mela and Layla.
And me and Via.
"Hold on!"
The balance on that seemed a little off, didn't it?
"Is there a problem?"
Beyond's question left me speechless. How was I supposed to say something like I don't trust your daughter, swap the team members? And I couldn't exactly be honest and say I can't fight — stick the reliable Layla with me either.
"Could I ask what criteria you used to form the teams?"
At my words, Via shot me an uncomfortable look. She'd clearly picked up that I was unhappy about being teamed with her. But right now, changing teammates mattered more than her feelings.
Kyle was the one who explained.
"The Dark Creatures are those monsters that attacked Via last time. If large numbers of them appear, we need to distribute people accordingly…"
Among us, the ones capable of physical-type area attacks were Kyle with the Holy Sword, Layla with her telekinetic magic, and…
"Just you, Hex."
"W-well, yeah."
I couldn't use skills, but anyway — yes.
"Then we assigned the remaining members with defense, handling unexpected variables, civilian rescue, and so on in mind."
I looked at Via with uneasy eyes. I didn't know her character stats well, but judging by how she'd been chased during the attack and her performance on the investigation team, she was probably a support-oriented character rather than a combat one. In other words, a member who absolutely should not be on the same team as someone with virtually no combat ability — namely, me.
No choice. Time for Hex mode.
"Tch! I can't guarantee I'll protect this young lady when the fighting gets thick. Don't blame me if she gets hurt."
I'm the one who'll get hurt. At least stick me with Emily.
"What? You think I can't take care of myself?"
Via bristled and protested, but I wasn't buying it. This from someone who'd been chased around after getting ambushed.
"…"
Beyond was staring right at me. He wouldn't get mad just because I'd badmouthed his daughter, right? I fretted about getting punched by the daughter-obsessed Beyond — but unexpectedly, he spoke without any change in expression.
"Don't worry. I'll give Via a family treasure. She won't be a burden."
"Dad…?"
Even her own father doubting her abilities left Via looking like she might cry. Various conversations followed after that, but in the end, things proceeded exactly as planned.
Via walked through the city streets, surveying this and that.
"We can't let civilian casualties get too high."
She was pre-checking for anything that might block escape routes in an emergency. Ideally we'd evacuate people in advance, but the enemies might notice, so that wasn't an option. That was why Via's expression was full of worry.
"I'd love to station soldiers too, if I could…"
I agreed. The Dark Creatures weren't individually that strong, so regular soldiers could handle them fine. But we couldn't mobilize troops when we needed to lure the enemies in. The best we had was keeping soldiers on standby after Via's recent attack.
"Yeah. It'd be reassuring if we could."
I knew nothing about this event either, so I couldn't relax. The one silver lining was that Via's magical tools were all excellent pieces, which largely eased my combat concerns.
"So are we just going to keep wandering around like this?"
Currently we were pretending to be out on a natural outing so as not to raise the enemy's suspicions. Kyle and Emily were a couple, and Mela and Layla got along well too. But Via and I had no connection whatsoever, which worried me.
"You're right. Shall we take a look around the market?"
Fortunately, Via's personality was so good that things never got awkward.
I thought being on the same team would make things uncomfortable since she didn't like it, but…
Via was so optimistic that she seemed to have already put the whole thing behind her. Contrary to my expectations, walking the market streets with her was actually pretty fun. The shops selling all sorts of magical tools, and the merchants who'd come to buy them, meant the quality and variety of goods on display was impressive.
So this is what the atmosphere was originally like.
When I'd played the game, the attack on Via and the mansion being razed meant I'd never gotten a proper chance to look around. This was something that had changed because of my intervention, so it felt rewarding.
Via bought a stylish brooch and smiled with satisfaction.
"Thanks for helping me shop."
Hearing actual gratitude left me feeling oddly bashful. Via kept smiling as she spoke.
"I figured you'd be helpful, Hex."
"That so?"
"Yeah! You're the most middle-aged-guy-like person I know."
"…That so."
"And your scary face helps with haggling too."
This brat?
"When I try to buy things alone, they never give me a good discount."
Even as the lord's daughter, if they treated her like that, she must look like a real pushover.
"But that brooch doesn't seem like it'd suit you."
The color and design were too old-fashioned for a young lady like Via. She smiled and said,
"This is for my dad."
"For Lord Beyond?"
"Yeah. His birthday is coming up soon."
"Wait."
"Once this plan is over, I'm going to give him this along with an apology for all the trouble I've caused."
"Stop planting death flags."
That was not the kind of thing a character who was originally supposed to die should be saying.
"And take this."
"This is…?"
"A thank-you for helping. I told you the Agra family never forgets a debt of gratitude."
"You're a more decent human being than I expected."
"…What kind of human did you take me for?"
Obviously I thought you were a typical noble young lady who completely forgets any help she receives and only remembers what's good for her.
"I'm a little touched, actually."
"Hey, answer me?"
With a pleased smile, I unwrapped it — and a strange ornament greeted me.
"…What is this?"
"A wall-hanging decoration. Pretty, right?"
It wasn't pretty and it wasn't useful. Giving a wall decoration as a gift to an adventurer like me? Her sense of gift-giving was hopeless. So that's why she'd asked me to help pick out gifts.
"Well, I'll put it to good use."
It was a trash gift, but I didn't feel all that bad about it.
That was when it happened.
"Hey, do you see those two people carrying luggage?"
Via said it so naturally, without any change in expression, as if she'd been talking about it all along. I didn't have the confidence to act like her, so I just looked at Via — and she held up a magical tool for me to see.
The magic detector was indicating enemies nearby.
"I think we found them."
The saboteurs were moving as planned.
"Time to get ready."
I might not be confident on the combat side, but a gamer has a gamer's methods.
When the time came, a massive wave of magical power rolled out from the mansion. Even ordinary people felt the strange energy and turned to look that way. And at the same moment, the Talon operatives disguised as merchants unleashed their demonic energy.
Kwaaaaa—
Their eyes blackened with the distinctive glow of demonkin as they charged toward the workshop.
The operation had begun.