Twist (2)
More than people live.
Rats will be difficult not to encounter.
It is a beast that is so common and closely intertwined with human life. With a small body, they make holes in houses, steal people’s food and ingredients, live hiding in the streets, and eat food waste that people throw away.
You can find it right away if you decide to look for it in various places, and it was not difficult to find it in the low garden of Jedo. No, the bigger the city and the more populous it was, the bigger the rats were.
In particular, the sewage system installed for convenience was a suitable environment for mice to live in, and Maiden was the same.
There were quite a few rats in the sewer here, and then abnormal growth occurred.
“Kyaaagh!”
“hurry! Inside the building!”
“Run away! Run away at once!”
Confusion was spreading.
Without further delay, I opened the bag and took out a bottle.
Then, little by little, it began to sprinkle around the inn.
“What is that?”
“It is a monster repellent. A weak monster will not be able to approach you easily. I don’t know of any other places, but this inn will be safe.”
“You’re carrying something strange.”
It was just one of the safety measures for Rize.
It was filled with practical items such as noise magic tools, monster repellents, attractants, and odor removers.
After completely spraying the area around the stable, when I returned to the road, I could see Rize and Irina over the people who were quickly evacuating.
“dad!”
As soon as she saw me, Irina held on to Rize who was about to call out and run to me, and I hurriedly approached her and bent my knees to bring her to eye level with Rize.
“I’m waiting patiently with Irina unnie inside the inn. Understand?”
“What about Dad? what happened now? Is it dangerous?”
Looking at Rize with a worried expression, I smiled and patted her head lightly to reassure her.
“Dad is going to help people. Rize knows the best thing about Dad, right?”
To Rize, who nodded, I held out my hand with my thumb and little finger up.
“Okay then, promise to stay quiet until Daddy returns.”
“Yes, promise. Do you have to come back safely too?”
After stamping my finger like that, I got up and looked at the surroundings and said to Irina.
“Mr. Douglas?”
“You just headed to the mercenary guild. Irvin-nim didn’t have any special words left.”
“You know how to move. I’ll ask Rize for now.”
“I will definitely keep it.”
Finally, with Rize in his eyes, he turned his head to see the now sparsely populated street.
Beyond that, I could see swarms of mice that were starting to look pitch black.
Needless to say, they were not ordinary rats.
crazy rat.
They were literally rats turned into monsters. It was rare for an animal to turn into a monster, but it was a phenomenon that definitely occurred.
The exact cause is not known, but it’s like being exposed to dark magic or changing an object that has lived for a long time.
In any case, it will become ferocious and strong. It is said that there is a very rare chance that a special ability will occur, but… … They just ate them.
Food, ingredients, trees, stones, and even people.
Because the population increased so rapidly, it was a swarm of crazy rats that were starving and starving and devouring everything.
but… … .
“This is a bit harsh.”
It was certainly true that this was a situation that would happen to Maiden.
I, too, have been through a few crazy rat swarms. However, it was about five years from now, and the number of rats did not exceed 200.
But what the heck is that huge number?
No, it wasn’t the time to think like this.
I left behind the rats that were getting closer and went back inside the inn.
“Master! Where are you!”
“What, what are you doing?”
The middle-aged man, trembling with an ax in both hands as if he were armed, let out a terrified voice.
I raised my voice as I put down a handful of money on the counter.
“Put whatever ingredients you have in your pocket. No, I’ll take it myself. Where is the storage?”
“This way, this way!”
Without delay, I went into the storage located in the back and stuffed ingredients into one pocket as I could get my hands on it.
Then, when I came out again, I saw a group of rats that were getting closer.
It was really dirty.
Plus, it was half the size of a normal rat. The fact that these guys rushed at me in a group that I couldn’t dare to count caused a visceral fear.
There were even individuals twice as large as the others.
Those guys didn’t even remember me. What’s wrong?
Leaving those doubts behind, I decided to start with what I had to do right away. Even Rize could be in danger if left alone.
Besides, didn’t he promise Rize that he would help people?
“Senpai must have gone to gather mercenaries, so what I have to do is… … It will buy time.”
Just because a rat became a monster doesn’t make it particularly strong. When there were only about 200 of them before, even the mercenaries here were enough to handle them.
But that number made it even possible to say that it was weak.
Since I don’t have the means to sort them out at once, it was best to delay them.
Douglas must have believed that I would and went first.
I opened the bag I had brought and tossed the potato into the street.
“Kiruk!”
“Kiaaagh!”
The leader, who was running with a scream that could not be believed to be the sound of a mouse, found the potato and rushed at it.
The other rats who saw it also rushed in and tried to eat the potatoes. Then they bumped into each other and started biting each other in excitement.
The sight of the rats devouring the flesh of their own people with red eyes was fear itself.
The mice rushed in like a wave and swallowed up those who had stopped and overflowed, and I started tossing ingredients one by one as I ran.
Kwadeuk! Kwajijik!
The groaning of the rats.
The sound of flesh breaking.
I lured them out while a terrible sound filled the air.
Captivated by the instinct of hunger, the rats move as the leader leads and wander in search of food.
The time they disperse is when they hit a dead end.
Until Douglas gathered the mercenaries, we had to lure them in to prevent damage.
The question is, can I buy time with just what I have in my pocket?
“I should have brought more.”
I couldn’t bring enough quantity because I was in a hurry.
If not, I would have to use the emergency food in my bag, but that wasn’t too much. Hopefully Douglas will come back soon.
Maiden’s map was in his head, so it wasn’t too difficult to induce.
Since Maiden was such a large city, it was possible as long as it was directed towards the main road. Unless you run out of food to lure.
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Still, if we continued like this, the number could be reduced to some extent, so there was nothing wrong with it.
I thought I had reduced it quite a bit, but seeing it the same, I wondered how much I had to do.
After halfway through the village, a person landed next to me with the sound of something cutting through the wind.
“Irvin, are you okay?”
“It is still worth doing.”
Douglas jumped in sync with me and watched me pick up and toss the carrot. It seems that they didn’t bring reinforcements right away, but came to check the situation.
Then he put his hand on the sword and closed his eyes coldly.
“Can you help me a little?”
“No, don’t attack hastily.”
“hmm? Wouldn’t it be better to reduce the number a bit while doing this?”
“Once the ranks are broken, they will scatter in all directions. That will cause more damage.”
At my words, Douglas looked back and frowned.
If the numbers were small, it would have been a problem after that if the rats of that size were scattered.
Even if they were a bit bigger than normal rats, they were still small, so if they were determined to infiltrate everywhere, it was close to impossible to cleanly deal with them with only the mercenaries here.
“It’s fine if you can handle everything at once.”
“No country can do that. I wonder if it’s a wizard.”
“Then, gather some mercenaries first. Gather some ingredients and throw them at me.”
“Is there a way?”
He nodded at Douglas’ question and tossed the apple behind him.
“Perhaps Square 2 is a good place to gather them. Except for the southern road, we block other places, lock them up, and drive them.”
“You really know a lot. Once upon a time with my daughter… … .”
“Ah, stop talking nonsense and go quickly. It’s kind of hard.”
I pushed back Douglas, who was about to start talking nonsense, and returned my attention to the rats.
I told Douglas confidently, but in fact, I wasn’t sure how long he would follow my guidance. It was because of the instinct of hunger now, but I didn’t know when it would get out of control.
So the mercenaries had to finish the job as quickly as possible. Still, the mercenary king is directing it, so it won’t be too late.
As I kept doing judo, I was back to the starting position before I knew it.
While glancing at the inn, Rize threw food at them again, hoping that they would stay calm.
I think my pockets will be empty soon.
“Take this!”
At that moment, someone shouted that from the building over there and a heavy bag flew in.
Aww, give me a good throw.
After hurriedly moving my body to receive it, I threw an almost empty bag, and they ate the whole bag.
I had a bit of free time and looked around, and I saw people opening the windows one by one to see if I was relieved.
I felt a little strange because I felt like I had become a spectacle, but I was rather fortunate that I didn’t get the attention of the rats by shouting.
Indulge a little more like this and go to the second plaza… … .
“Keuk! What are those rats afraid of and run away like that?!”
“You crazy bastard, if you want to die, search carefully!”
A drunken mercenary suddenly jumped out from the side and bluffed with a sword, so I grabbed him by the back and threw him.
He was thrown into the building with the sound of breaking windows, but he probably didn’t die.
Anyway, when things are going to go well, crazy people always fire a candle.
It seems that I was desperately trying to judo, but it seemed to others that I was just running away.
Come to think of it, how many people have ever encountered a swarm of rats like that?
I clicked my tongue briefly, paying attention not only to the rats, but also to those around me to see if anyone would intervene like before.
Fortunately, there was only one madman, so there was no interference until he came near the plaza.
It was a bit of a mess, but it can be said that the situation was easily resolved.
“It’s a flame.”
That moment.
“Gather to me and become a force that burns the things that stand in my way.”
The feeling that time has slowed down.
I turned my head and looked up on the roof of a building and saw a young wizard holding a wand.
“Hey, you crazy bastard!”
And a fireball was stuck in the middle of the mad rats.
* * *
Rize, clinging to the window, was restless as if she would run out at any moment.
Of course, if that was the case, Irina wouldn’t stay still.
“It will be fine. Seeing him running earlier, he had plenty of room.”
Irina spoke to comfort her, but Rize was still staring out the window.
What do you see?
With that thought in mind, we stuck our heads out the window together, but we could see nothing but a faint sound.
When I lowered my gaze slightly, I saw Rize’s face full of worries, and I felt sad for some reason.
Along with him, I heard a little bit of resentment towards Irvin who couldn’t solve it quickly.
Although there are a lot of them, there are only a handful of rats, so there is no need to worry… … .
Kwaaang!
“dad!”
“miss!”
At that moment, fireworks and explosions were heard in the distance, and Irina hurriedly grabbed Rize’s body.
What happened?
No, it may have simply been that the eradication operation had begun in earnest.
I wish I had, but… … .
There was a small scream that seemed to indicate that something was wrong.
And it wasn’t long before the cause came into view.
“Sister, over there!”
I followed Rize’s hand, which I found first, and saw a group of rats running through the alley.
A significantly smaller number than before.
That meant that the swarm of rats Irvin had been chasing had split.
Something went wrong.
Rize’s voice awoke Irina, whose expression hardened at that thought.
“I have to help Daddy!”
“Absolutely not. Didn’t Irvin tell you to stay calm?”
What else can I help you with?
Irina thought that she should stop Rize at least by knocking her out, but right after that, Rize’s unbelievable words continued.
“You don’t have to go out. So, sister, help me a little.”
After saying that, Rize took out the bag she had received from her father.