Arthur: a man from Brazil with special circumstances. He and his party appeared back in chapter 15 and 16.
Julia: Arthur’s girlfriend and a member of his party. An archer. Of Spanish descent.
Paul: a man who joined Arthur’s party. Has an impressive mustache. From Germany.
Emilia: Paul’s younger sister. Also in Arthur’s party. A mage. She’s actually around the same age as Kyotaro.
POV: Arthur Santos
“Haa…haaa…!”
After sweeping the legs of a Skeleton and turning back, I trampled on it as I panted. I then swung my sword at its skull. By the 3rd blow, the skull was destroyed.
“OOOOHh!!”
When I raised my head up, I saw Julia let loose an arrow at the Skeleton whose sword Paul had just pushed aside with his mace. The arrow hit the Skeleton’s skull and made it lose its balance. Paul swiftly followed up with a full swing of his mace and completely destroyed that Skeleton’s skull.
“Duck! All of you!”
Emilia raised her staff and launched a spell at 2 Skeletons approaching us.
“[Fireball]!!”
When the fist-sized fireball she cast reached the space between the 2 Skeletons, it suddenly and violently exploded. It covered the Skeletons’ upper bodies completely in fire.
Skeletons didn’t feel any pain, but based on the way the 2 stopped and writhed to presumably put out the fire, it probably could sense danger to its continued existence. Regardless, Paul and I moved in to deal the finishing blow.
“Danggit….!”
“Emilia!”
Julia moved to support Emilia who was just about to collapse. When we hurried over, I noticed her face was drained of color and full of sweat. She must have been out of magic power, I thought. If so, she couldn’t fight anymore.
“…it’s time for us to retreat. We’ll join other people trying to escape.”
“But Yajima-san is still here”
“I know, but we’re all at our limits already. You’re out of magic power, right?”
“Well…”
Yajima Kotaro, the head of the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency’s Magical Equipment Research Division.
It was supposed to be our day off today, but since he wanted us to act as his assistants for his research, we headed to a certain base. Along the way though, we got caught up in this dungeon overflow. To make matters worse, we lost sight of him and his guard Yamazaki. We were in the middle of searching for them.
We couldn’t afford to let him die. After all, to us who couldn’t go back to our homelands anymore, his help was vital to living in this country. That was why we were fighting so hard. But if we were to die while trying to push past our limits, what good would his help be?
“Besides, there’s the possibility that he has already escaped. I think there’s something called tsunami culture in this country.”
“That’s certainly possible…”
As though Paul was convinced, he nodded his head, albeit reluctantly.
“Alright, let’s withdraw. Julia, keep an eye out on our surroundings. Paul, you go support Emilia. I’ll act as our guard.”
“Okay.”
“Leave it to me.”
And so, Paul carried a languid Emilia on his back, while Julia kept an eye out as she nocked an arrow.
Still, this whole thing’s just so horrible!
I scanned the city again and felt dizzy at the sight. There were Skeletons wandering everywhere, and the roads were littered with blood and entrails. It was as though the gates of hell had been opened.
That was dizzying enough to be sure, but what made me felt dizzier was something else.
“Get out of the way, you!!”
“Granny, are you alright?”
“Argh, I’ve had it with you!”
Without any sense of cooperation between them, the Japanese Awakened Ones were in a state of frenzy. Moreover, as though they weren’t used to fighting, most of them weren’t putting their backs into the swings of their swords and axes. Despite that and acting independently of each other though, they were mowing down monsters with great speed and ferocity. One youngster even had an old woman in their back as they sent Skeletons flying out of the way merely with a kick.
Honestly, I was having trouble figuring out which between the Skeletons and the Japanese Awakened Ones were the real monsters.
“Arthur! A group of Skeletons are coming!”
“Crap, run for it!”
Julia’s warning made me hurry up but fatigue had already set in my legs, causing me to run slower than I wanted. Meanwhile, rattling sounds continued to grow closer from behind me. From the sound, there were about 10 of them.
“My god…!”
Damn it. We took too long to retreat! And there’s so many! Damn it all!
“[Ice Fang]”
However, before we knew it, the Skeletons had all been frozen solid. A chill had suddenly torn through the sultry air and made its way even under my helm.
When my mind began working again, I noticed two people coming our way.
“What the heck’s with you? Why are you all moving so slowly?”
At the front was a fat, fair-skinned young man with a spear on his shoulder, and 3 steps behind him was a kimono-clad beautiful girl who seemed to be in junior high school. From their appearance, they looked to be Japanese. But that girl…I wondered if she was one of those Yuki-onna.
“Master. Those Awakened Ones look like they’re from abroad.”
“Huh? Ohh. So they’re just weak? I thought they were hurt or something.”
Hearing him speak of us with such disinterest made me grind my teeth under the helm. Still, I tried my best to calm myself. Despite still not being able to speak Japanese well, I spoke while bowing my head.
“…saving us, thank you”
“It’s nothing. More importantly though, you’re in the way here, so you should just withdraw. Even if you small fries involve yourselves, you would be no help.”
“…escaping, in the middle of”
“Right. Then, we’re off”
“Yes, master”
I watched the two leave. Julia was glaring at their backs, so I patted her on the shoulder and shook my head a little.
He likely meant no malice. He probably thought he was only stating the truth. That said, he was rather harsh about it.
“Let’s go. Emilia is our top priority right now.”
“…I understand”
After that, we finally met up with a group of other escapees. We undid our Magical Attires, mixed in with the crowd, and eventually exited the black dome. A JSDF member approached us out of concern for the magically-exhausted Emilia. Taking the chance, I asked about Yajima. I was told he had already escaped. Furthermore, he was apparently rescued by a bucket-headed Awakened One.
Hearing that description, I was reminded of a ‘real monster’, one more monstrous than the ones I had seen in this dungeon overflow. I was well aware that thinking of my benefactor as such was nothing but disrespectful, but between his overwhelmingly exceptional fighting capabilities and the eerie way he acted like he was your run-of-the-mill person, I just couldn’t help it.
But I chose to push that resurfaced trauma aside for now. Before long, I found Yajima standing at the edge of a JSDF tent.
“Yajima-san. Are you, alright?”
“…Ahh, Arthur-kun. I was just wondering if you guys were safe. Thank goodness, thank goodness.”
Yajima looked up from the notes he was zealously writing and turned our way.
He…he seemed odd this time. He usually was so excited that I would often wonder if he was on some kind of drug, yet now, he was oddly so calm.
“Ahm, Yamazaki-san?”
“Ahh. If you mean Sergeant First Class Yamazaki, then he has been already transported to a hospital via an ambulance. There’s no need to worry though. His life is not in danger.”
“I, see. That good to hear”
“If any of you are hurt, best to get yourself examined by a doctor. Things are about to get busy from now.”
“From now?”
Is he asking us to help with the search and rescue operation?
Again, we were already at our limits. We just weren’t as tough as Japanese Awakened Ones. Unless we got some proper rest in, it would be hard for us to fight again.
“We, can’t fight, anymore. Too tired.”
“Ahh, no. You’ve done enough here. Help is already on the way, and since we belong in a different line of command, us meddling will only result in disorder.”
It was then that I finally noticed. His eyes, visible through his glasses, were unusually bloodshot.
“So, by ‘from now on’, I meant in the near future. Truly, we will be busy. Ahh, I want to punch my past self so badly! I feel like I’ve been in a deep sleep and I’ve only just woken up!”
He suddenly began shouting, which caught the attention of those around us.
“Indeed! Indeed!! All this time, I really thought deep down inside that no matter what we do, we couldn’t affect with our own powers this world where the supernatural has become commonplace! But! But that is just me giving up! That is just me insulting our ancestors!”
“Yajima-san. Please, calm down”
“How can I calm myself down!? Let’s do this! Let’s make history! Change society! Downgrade monsters into beasts!! And then, we’ll smash their skulls open with lead bullets and scrape their brains out!”
Has he finally gone mad?
Not even realizing that we overtly distanced ourselves away from him, he continued on.
“This realization is all thanks to him! Certainly, humanity has and will continue to develop! In the previous age of myths, only a handful of heroes could defeat these monsters! But now, in this new age of myths, things are very different! It is time for humanity to put all the knowledge we have accumulated into good use!”
With his eyes still very much bloodshot, he placed a hand on my shoulder. His grip was tight enough that even I, an Awakened One, felt pain. Combined with his smile steeped with madness, I felt scared.
“Even if we had to do it without those ‘legendary heroes’, we will succeed in driving monsters extinct! With metals, electricity, and soldiers! So, Arthur-kun, come and help me achieve this goal!”
“S-sure”
I was overwhelmed by it all. But as though no longer paying me any mind, Yajima began writing something down on his notes.
“Ahh, I want to hurry back to the lab and do these calculations…my smartphone just isn’t enough. I better file for permission to use the supercomputer too.”
“Yajima-san.”
At that moment, another person came near and tapped him on the shoulder. The one to do so was a JSDF member with an armband that has a cross pattern on it. Even though she was smiling rather sweetly, there was also a vein bulging above her brow.
“Please quiet down. Otherwise, your noise might make the civilians refugees feel anxious.”
“I-I understand…”
And just like that, it would seem his sanity returned to him.
TL note: the translation for military ranks is weird. Or at least not consistent. 二等陸曹 is listed as Sergeant First Class in jisho.org but in some wikis and translations, it is given the equivalent of Staff Sergeant or something. I am not interested enough to look more into this, so I’m just going to leave this disclaimer here.
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