Chapter 160
Chapter 160
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: Herding Hunt (1)
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It wasn't like he'd blown up a person—just some fiends—and yet receiving this kind of treatment felt a bit unfair, but Galen decided to let it slide with a generous heart.
The frontier zone paid well but was so grueling that high-class talent rarely showed up. Mages, in particular, were harder to find than silver-rankers.
After only seeing mages hurl little fireballs here and there, witnessing one obliterate hundreds of fiends at once would naturally scare the hell out of anyone.
And of all his spells, Vanity Inferno happened to have top-tier destructive power, top-tier audiovisual impact, and thanks to its no-residue effect, it lingered twice as long—making it even more impressive.
"Couldn't you have gone a little easier on them?!"
Lilia burst into laughter. She seemed thrilled at the chance to tease Galen, who didn't come around often.
"If I'd gone easy, I'd have had to pop even more of them."
"Oh, right? But you have other spells too!"
"True, but... eh."
All his other spells were at level 69 with 100% progress, so the only ones he could grind experience with on the side were Vanity Inferno and Territorial Advance... He couldn't exactly ramble on with excuses like that.
At any rate, he'd leveled up once, so it wasn't a bad outcome. And Lilia was happy, so that was enough.
Fortunately, no one had come rushing out in the end, so he hadn't needed to blast the gates open to get in.
As they drew closer, presences entered his sensory range—people were there after all.
They hadn't actually fled in terror; they were just hunkered down on the walls, cautiously peering out at the surroundings.
"Hello!"
Lilia noticed it too. Upon reaching the gates, she called out softly.
"Is anyone there?"
A moment later, someone poked their head out from atop the gate wall—a middle-aged man. Spotting Lilia's face, his eyes went wide.
"Sister Lilia? Ah, no—Your Excellency the Bishop!"
"Long time no see!"
Lilia waved cheerfully at the priest dispatched to the church in the first village. Being from the same Abaca parish, they naturally knew each other.
"Could you open the gate for us?"
"Y-Yes! Please wait just a moment!"
Clergy already had trust on their side, and this was a priest she knew.
The once-silent walls suddenly buzzed with activity. People who'd been prone began rising one by one.
"Mages sure have it rough."
"I'm here with you!"
Galen grumbled, and Lilia beamed back at him.
After a bit of commotion, the gates finally swung open.
The priest came sprinting out first to greet Lilia warmly.
"Your Excellency! Have you returned to the parish?"
"Just stopping by. I had no idea this mess would be waiting."
"With so many fiends out there, how could..."
"But they're dead now, right? I didn't kill them myself, but still."
"Th-That's true, but..."
Around them, people who'd recognized Lilia murmured in clusters.
It had been nearly two years since she'd left the frontier, but forgetting a priestess who was pretty, kind, and powerful wasn't easy.
"Anyway, could I meet someone who can discuss the situation? I'm here as the lead on this."
"We'll prepare right away."
A deacon escorted the two to the village hall—the de facto town hall, given the settlement's city-like size.
While they chatted idly in the meeting room, people began filing in. Galen's flashy fireworks display had everyone on high alert, so assembling was quick.
The priest from the church who'd greeted them first, the village chief who was basically the mayor, the guard captain, and—due to the grounded regular flight—the representatives of the stranded merchants and mercenaries.
Among them, amusingly, was a familiar face to Galen.
"Oh, Doni, isn't it?"
"You remember me? Thank you, Lord Galen!"
The merchant who'd once rescued a silver-rank rookie Galen from bandits on the road from Nijerte to Abaca.
Doni, a mid-level fixture at Doris Trading Company—Abaca's mainstay—was representing the merchants.
"Didn't expect to see you here. Did you always come out to the frontier?"
"My position in the company improved a bit. That led to taking charge of the regular flights occasionally. Didn't expect this on the first go, though."
"Don't worry. It'll be fine. That's why we're here."
He hadn't even introduced himself yet, but no one in the room was oblivious enough to miss that Galen was a mage.
All eyes naturally turned to him. Galen pulled his mercenary tag from his pocket and set it on the table.
"Quick introduction: Galen, gem-rank mercenary mage from Chroma."
"G-Gem?! Gah!"
The mercenary rep blurted it out before clapping a hand over his mouth. The others barely kept theirs shut, but their eyes looked ready to pop.
"And this is—most of you seem to know her, though your info might not be up to date—Newly ordained Archbishop Lilia."
"Ar-Archbishop...?"
The priest couldn't hold back. Lilia nodded with a bright smile.
Galen, anticipating the chaos, lightly rapped the table a few times.
"Okay, okay. Hard to believe, I get it—but if you don't, we can't move forward. Leaving that aside, we did punch through those fiends blocking the road, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"That vouches for our skill at minimum... And right now, Archbishop Daimus is in Abaca too."
"Gasp! His Eminence?!"
"Not exactly—he didn't know about this and come—but end result's the same."
To be precise, he was probably hiking mountains right now looking for a wyvern to carry them over the great range, but no need to mention that.
At any rate, Daimus's name carried weight, easing the tension in the room.
"He entrusted the frontier to us. To resolve this, we need your cooperation. Will you help?"
"Anything you need!"
The response came loud and unified.
Galen nodded and cut straight to it.
"When did this start?"
"Less than ten days ago. Right after the latest regular flight arrived from Abaca."
Doni answered. The mercenary rep added hesitantly,
"To be exact, the fiends swarmed just as it was nearly here. Luckily, no major battle broke out, and they made it inside quickly... but."
"After that, they sealed the frontier entrance. No flights could leave. It's been days like that."
The guard captain picked up. Galen nodded—it matched expectations.
"Any word from the other villages?"
"That's... the problem. Too much."
The chief sighed heavily at Lilia's question.
As the historical and largest hub, all frontier intel flowed here.
Thankfully, with the blockade only on the south road, outside contact held. Unfortunate news was all that came through.
"The day fiends plugged the entrance, similar groups popped up in other villages. One or two, we could've rallied for—but six spots..."
"Avoiding fights?"
"We have no choice."
"No, that's right. Skip unwinnable battles. Evacuations ongoing?"
"Yes. But... maybe it's just a feeling, the fiend packs are advancing slowly, like giving time to flee."
"Handy, then. Sucks for the fields, but lives first. Got a map?"
"Here."
The chief placed a prepped paper on the table.
Five lines marked paths on the village map. No need to ask—fiend routes.
Starting at clock positions 12, 2, 4, 8, 10, curving inward. The sixth was at 6—south of the first village, the entrance.
No military scholar needed; any sensible person could see it.
"They're herding prey south. Specifically toward the first village."
"We think so too. Explains the pack at the basin mouth."
"Any plans in place?"
"Gather forces, punch south, evacuate everyone. Road to Abaca's risky, but waiting for six packs to converge is death. Good thing you cleared one—"
"We gotta clear the rest too!"
"Evacuation will be much... Huh?"
The chief blinked at Lilia's bold words. Galen chuckled.
"Took out one of six—can't leave five. One day might be tight, though."
"O-One... day?"
"Tell folks to hold a few more days, push evac harder. Just prevent fiends speeding up and hitting refugees. We'll finish before then."
"Y-Yes."
"Not lip service—this is from the lead. Make it happen."
"U-Understood!"
The chief stammered, then shouted energetically after Galen's warning.
"And, Doni."
"Yes!"
"Lend us a carriage. We'll return it in good shape."
"The best one's ready now!"
"Thanks. We're off to eat. Starving after all night on the road."
Galen stood casually, ignoring the stunned faces.
"Have it prepped by the time we're done."
The sixth flew through the skies.
Sirens couldn't fly, but she could command flying beasts.
The one she rode was a wyvern.
Aside from the jagged spines on its back being a minor annoyance, it was ideal transport—fast and strong enough that her weight was negligible.
The basin was annoyingly vast; walking to meet sisters took forever.
Vicon was fine, but she preferred wyverns. Some sisters called it risky, but skies suited her taste more.
She couldn't see what was risky anyway.
Wyverns were near-top sky beasts; dominate anything stronger.
No dozing off mid-flight or overtaxing mana, and it was risk-free.
Or so the sixth thought.
"Hm?"
Patrolling casually en route from the fifth, something caught her eye.
A single carriage.
Nothing special about a human cart, but its direction was off.
Locals were all fleeing east from her legions.
This one headed boldly west—straight toward her pack soon.
Not lost, so either ballsy... or confident? But after endless flight, now?
"Slow down. Drop a bit."
She adjusted speed and altitude to observe.
"...!"
Spotting her, the driver yelled faintly. He panicked, halting the carriage—way overreacting. She had no intent to approach.
The door opened; two humans emerged. The man was unclear, but the woman's white robes screamed minion.
The woman glanced up, conferred with the man.
Too far for words, but gestures suggested he was encouraging her.
Soon, the minion woman gazed skyward from the ground. She bent her knees, kicked off hard.
"...What the?"
One leap to her—no such nonsense happened.
Of course. No matter how strong, jumping dozens of body lengths? Even bugs that far couldn't reach.
...That's what she'd thought.
"Huh?"
The minion in white, peaking then due to fall... didn't.
She jumped again.
Off empty air.
"Wha? Wh-what?!"
The white-robed priestess.
Was sprinting through the sky.