Volume 2 - CH 220

W-what’s going on?

The noise I thought I heard earlier was not due to the arrival of the Knights, but the return of the evacuated citizens!

No, no, no, no!

What the hell is going on!

“Why are they here!”

“I don’t know! Those are the ones who live around here. ……”

“Let’s go hear what they know!”

“That’s given!”

Houen flies over and lands on the ground like normal.

As for me, if I fall from such a height, I’ll end up with more than just a broken bone, so I use the stairs to descend normally.

Houen doesn’t wait for me and immediately goes to talk to the residents and adventurers.

“Hey! What is the meaning of this!”

“Ho- Houen-san! Something’s wrong with these guys!”

“What is this!”

“Please listen to me!!”

While the adventurer and Houen were talking, I managed to catch up with them.

Since I ran as fast as I could, it was tiring. ……

I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep up with the rest of the crowd, but I’m sure I’ll be able to recover soon.

“You there! Why did you come back! You were evacuating, weren’t you?

“What are you talking about ……?”

“What …… am I tallking about you say? There are hordes of monsters coming!　You are in danger if you stay here!”

“Eh, is that so?”

“It is!!!”

…… eh?

Whoa, hold your horses, will you?

“Houen! His memory must be missing. ……!”

“!! I see! Ouren! Maybe we shouldn’t have let that lump on the floor get away!”

“I’ve got a feeling about that, too!”

That sucks, dude!

Combine this with what Houen just speculated, and we have some idea of the skills of that lump on the floor!

But it is not yet confirmed!

“Hey! Is the other guys are like this too!”

“Uh-oh! Yes! They are! We are trying to persuade them all to evacuate!”

“How many people are we dealing with?!!”

“Hey, we need some help with all the adventurers who were in there!”

“That’s going to cause a breach in the line of defense. …… What’s the estimated time of approach of the monster?”

“About an hour, sir!”

An hour. ……

That’s a tricky decision.

It will also take a lot of time to persuade the public to evacuate and explain the situation.

On top of that, they have to re-position themselves.

It is doubtful that an sufficient defense system will be in place.

Come to think of it, Houen came back while setting traps. ……

He noticed that they were increasing in number and were trying to reduce their numbers as much as possible before they arrived, so he had to get his feet on the ground.

That is why there is no time to spare!

Damn it!

“Ouren! Don’t you have the skills to make a big sound! I want their attention on me!”

“There’s a skill called air compression, but it takes a while! And it’s pretty powerful!”

“Launch it into the sky! I’ll fly after that, no problem!”

“Alright! Give me five minutes!”

I move in accordance with Houen’s instructions and use air compression.

After seeing a fuzzy, transparent ball of air appear, I tossed it upward.

It will stay anywhere in the air, so long as it’s in the air.

Then I can make it burst at will.

Right now it is charging.

It’s like a compressor, sort of.

“Thanks!”

“No prob! Still, let’s go over it once! We need to know about that thing’s skills!”

“I was thinking about that too. ……”

The people who should have been evacuated should certainly have taken refuge in the church, or in the large space of the central district, because of the monsters that are coming.

That is what we know.

The adventurers led the evacuation.

I’m sure of it, because I saw them do it with my own eyes.

However, the people came back.

Why is that?

Because they had forgotten that the monsters were coming.

To be precise, you could say that their memories were erased.

And the person who did that was …….

“Perhaps the blob that was slumped on the floor …….”

The content of what they were talking about was something that could manipulate the memories of more than one person.

This too had been speculation, but this time it became clear.

That guy can manipulate the memories of many people.

So the guard who went to report could not even go talk to the prince, who had the authority to control the knights.

Then they would erase the memory of the person who made the report and send them back home.

They then followed them and clouded the memories of those who asked them to report …….

“No, that would be inefficient …….”

“…… mmm. Maybe they use some kind of skill against the person whose memory they have erased and those around them lose their memory as well.”

“The heck is that, a virus?”

But otherwise, it’s impossible to manipulate the memories of this many people. ……

That means!

That means! All of the Knights must have been done too ……!”

“Aaah! I see! What a bunch of worthless clunkers!”

We don’t have enough time to call them in now and get them ready.

I doubt they’ll send enough forces to help us. ……

Even if they could prepare, they’d only be gatekeepers or something. ……

Ah, but what about us?

If they’re in contact with the people, aren’t we adventurers being harmed too!

I look around, but the adventurers are the same as usual.

They are once again guiding the people to evacuate.

There seems to be nothing suspicious about their movements.

“So why ……?”

“…… perhaps,…… but if one is firmly aware that the monsters are attacking, the brainwashing isn’t working ……? But it’s called memory manipulation……?　That would be less likely to work, wouldn’t it?”

“Is that so?”

Then it’s no wonder adventurers haven’t been affected.

I’m sure we don’t need to worry about adventurers for now.

What a troublesome skill!

But we know their weaknesses.

It seems that if we show them the monsters, they will believe us for the time being.

But we don’t have time to show them one by one. ……

“What about the current available Knights?”

“We have no time to wait for that! If they hear a sound, they’ll come this way!”

Well, that’s right!

We don’t have time to go explain this to those two!

“In the meantime, I’m going to find that butler!”

“Sure! Just come back when the time is ready! And ……, please the signal!”

“Okay! Detonate!”

I released the compressed air.

Bang!

A loud sound was heard, but it was not …… loud enough to be heard to the whole country.

“Sorry it didn’t make much noise …….”

But it seemed to be enough.

The eyes of the public and adventurers were drawn to Houen in the air.