CH 60

Chapter 60: Highest-Tier Part 1

Henry: “HーHey! Ms. Lotte! What’s wrong all of a sudden!”

Charlotte: “Ohhh...well, well. It’ll be bothersome to explain twice, so let’s go see the Governor first.”

Ms. Lotte is walking quickly down the city streets, and my party is hurriedly following behind her.

……..just a moment ago, we were drinking tea at Teo’s house and talking with Ms. Lotte.

We were talking about expeditions in the Flowtier area, and Ms. Lotte was enjoying listening and nodding to our stories.

But when we got to the episode about the Giants, she paused to think for a moment and then asked, “So where’s the Governor right now?”

Cyril knew the Governor’s schedule and answered her, and with a “I’m going to go talk to him,” she left, and now we’re here.

Ms. Lotte is walking straight forward with a hard expression on her face.

Henry: “.....is it something that bad?”

Ms. Lotte: “Probably…….Henry, you didn’t…….ohhhh! You haven’t done any adventuring outside of Ligaleo, huh. That’s right. That’s why….”

I know it has something to do with the Giants, but that’s all I can tell.

But this is Ms. Lotte who has decades more experience than I do. She probably realized something that I wouldn't have.

Cyril: “I wonder what’s gotten into Ms. Charlotte. What do you think, Henry?”

Henry: “I don’t know…..I’m not sure either…….”

I reply to Cyril’s question.

But from looking at Ms. Lotte’s reaction, I have my guesses…...but it’ll be embarrassing if I’m wrong, so I keep my mouth shut.

Cyril: “Oh, Ms. Charlotte! It’s over there. During this time, the Governor will be inspecting the Flower Exhibition.”

Charlotte: “Yup, I see him.”

……...we’re still a good ways away. It’s too far to see people’s individual faces, but Ms. Lotte’s eyes captured where the Governor was.

She’s not even using binoculars or a scope…..her eyes are incredibly sharp.

Henry: “But wait, Ms. Lotte, how do you know what the Governor looks like….?” Charlotte: “I attended the Opening Ceremony for the Flower Festival.”

Oh yeah, she said she got here on the morning of the first day.

Charlotte: “It’s a pretty urgent matter, but will it be inappropriate to approach him directly?” Cyril: “Ohhhh, um...no. It should be okay. The inspection is also doubled as a break period for him.”

Charlotte: “Wow, Cyril. You’re so well informed.”

Cyril: “Well, I did have breakfast with the Governor this morning.”

Ms. Lotte was a little confused at the comment and tilted her head because she didn’t know that Cyril lived at the Governor’s mansion and was adored by him and his wife.

But she quickly moved on from the subject with a quick, “oh well.”

Charlotte: “Whelp, I’m gonna go have a chat with him then.”

Now we’re close enough that I can see where the Governor is.

He was with Lady Asteria, and they were both quietly observing the Flower Exhibition together.

And of course, there were also two soldiers nearby as guards.

……..but it’s pretty common for the Governor to come out to the city for inspections, so people are noticing, but there’s no one walking up to bother him.

As we get closer, the Governor recognizes us. He gently gestured for us to approach him, and our group stood in front of the Governor.

Alvare: “Hello everyone. Are you also enjoying the Flower Exhibition as a group?” Charlotte: “Oh, no. That is not why we are here. Sir Governor, we have a matter to speak to you about.”

Alvare: “?! You areーー....?!”

She lifts the hood from her face, and Ms. Lotte reveals her face to the Governor.

Of course, the Governor recognizes her identity and startles in surprise.

Asteria: “.....well, well. It is an honor to be able to meet the Princess of Songs. I am the wife of Alvare, my name is Asteria.”

Charlotte: “Thank you for your courteous greeting, your highness. I am Charlotte.”

Although she is just as surprised, Lady Asteria straightened up her posture and greeted Ms. Lotte, and Ms. Lotte returns the greeting in kind.

The Governor sends the guards away to kindly turn away any further guests, and turns around to face Ms. Lotte.

Alvare: “Well, hello Ms. Charlotte. I am the Governor of the Flowtier City, Alvare Flowtier.”

Charlotte: “I am Charlotte Fine, Sir Governor. It is a pleasure making your acquaintance.”

Alvare: “......I believe your arrival was supposed to be on a later date?”

Charlotte: “I wanted to personally enjoy the Flower Offering Festival. I did not want to cause you any further trouble, so my assistant told you a false date. I apologize for deceiving you.”

Although she is courteous, there’s not a hint of remorse in her voice. Then again, she really has kept herself out of trouble so I guess it’s expected of her.

Charlotte: “But I would like to add that I have thoroughly enjoyed the festival thus far.”

Alvare: “IーI see....if that was your goal, then I am delighted to hear that you’re enjoying the festival…”

The Governor seems confused.

And rightly so. Ms. Lotte is a famous singing celebrity, but she’s also spent long years as an Adventurer and over her career, she’s developed many connections and many people owe her favors.

You can’t count on one hand the number of times she saved entire cities and lands from peril… There are countless tales of her heroics.

She is not a noble, but she also has political sway and power. …….although it’s hard to imagine that from her wild, drunken image from last night.

Alvare: “Ms. Charlotte. You do not have to be so formal. I would be ashamed to have a Hero of Legend as yourself be so humble towards a small city Governor as myself.”

Charlotte: “.......then let us speak frankly.”

Ms. Lotte smiles and laughs.

Charlotte: “Then～ I’ll be speaking as I usually do, Sir Governor.”

Alvare: “Yes, and what is it that you wanted to speak about?”

Charlotte: “Yes. I heard that Henry here defeated some Giants who descended the mountains and were trying to make a Corrupted Magic Territory.”

Alvare: “Oh, it is about that incident. Yes, that was a critical danger that approached our city. Because of Mr. Henry, we were very fortunate to overcome it without any casualties.”

I’m a little embarrassed by the recognition.

I received the proper reward, and for me, I was only doing my job.

Charlotte: “.........my guess is that not all dangers have passed. That is what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Alvare: “........you have my full attention.”

So it was about that.

I made sure to kill every Giant, so there shouldn’t be any remaining Giants from that incident.

Charlotte: “Henry has been an Adventurer in Ligaleo where the entire area is one giant Corrupted Magic Territory and so he may not be aware of this but…...it is actually very rare for Demonic Creatures to willfully choose to move to an area of low Magic Corruption and try and expand their territory that way.”

…….is that so?

Charlotte: “Especially for Demonic Creatures with a certain level of intelligence like the Giants, they do not underestimate human beings. They would normally never ruffle the feathers of human cities if it can be helped and live quietly among themselves.”

That’s true.

Even if I wasn’t here, the City Military would have stopped them in their tracks, and while they held the Giants back, they could call for reinforcements from Adventurers and Knight Organizations to take them down completely. Of course, that would come at a high cost and casualties to the Flowtier citizens.

Alvare: “So what is it that you suspect?” Charlotte: “The Giants must have calculated that even if they step outside their territory, that they should be able to win.”

Alvare: “.....are there perhaps more Giants at the mountain top?”

Charlotte: “That is one possibility. But I think the situation is much worse than that.”

A situation worse than a mountain full of Giants……..there can only be one other possibility.

Charlotte: “The Highest-Tier Demonic Creature. ……..at the mountain top, there is a high possibility that one is nesting there now.”

<<<<>>>>

The Highest-Tier.

Between the Upper-Tier, Middle-Tier, and Lower-Tier, within each tier, they are divided into Upper-Class, Middle-Class, and Lower-Class to accurately represent the dangers a Demonic Creature presents. The Highest-Tier is beyond all 9 of those classification.

These guys are nothing less of a natural disaster.

A small country could be easily destroyed by one of these creatures. They are biological calamities. Even if 100 Upper-Tier, Upper-Class Demonic Creatures gathered together, they would not come close to comparing to the dangers posed by one of the Highest-Tier Demonic Creatures.

For an Adventurer, if you can defeat one, you can earn enough rewards to immediately retire, and any country would give you a standing ovation for your accomplishment and fame.

……...but this was all before the Demon King appeared. In Ligaleo, they see at least one a week, and the strongest and most capable men and women team up to take them down, so the drops and merit of taking one down have plummeted drastically.

…….but even so, it doesn’t mean that they got weaker. All Highest-Tier Demonic Creatures are considered on par with natural disasters, and as a rule, anyone who is not at least a Heroic Warrior-class or higher is not allowed to engage with them.

Cyrili: “......is there something THAT scary up on top of Altohern right now?”

Ms. Lotte received temporary permission to enter the Altohern Mountain, and she will be investigating the Altohern upper regions to mitigate and neutralize all threats.

She is speaking candidly to everyoneーーwell, everyone except me about what it’s like to face a Highest-Tier Demonic Creature.

And being cautioned so strictly, Cyril and the rest of the group is hesitant on facing this danger.

Charlotte: “Well, for now, it’s just a maybe～ But when I poked around more, I found out that no one has patrolled the mountain top for decades. I would say the chances that the Magical Corruption worsened enough for a Highest-Tier to come out is about……...maybe 30%.”

Cyril: “Oh, is that so? That’s pretty low odds, no?” Whoa, whoa, Cyril. Those are actually terrible odds for us.

Yes, we see them a lot in Ligaleo, but in other territories, the Highest-Tiers only pop out once every 10 years or so.

Jend: “But besides Henry, is it really alright for us to come too? Won’t we, you know, be more a burden than help?”

Charlotte: “Oh, don’t worry about that. Just leave that part to me. Jend, you guys wanted to go to the front lines one day, right? Then it’ll be good for you to at least see one Highest-Tier before you head off.”

……...well, that’s true.

If you unfortunately encounter one before you gain the proper strength and experience, then if you’ve seen one before, it’ll help keep you from panicking or losing your mind so you can run away or at least lower the chances of the worst possible outcome from happening.

Charlotte: “Well, I say that, but Henry～ How’s it look from your perspective? How are these fellas? Do you think fighting a Highest-Tier will be too tough even with my Magic?”

Ms. Lotte’s unique Magic Spell, “The Rainbow Battle March.”

It is a Spell that buffs your abilities even more than the ability enhancing potions I chugged during the fight with the Giants. As long as you’re in ear-reach of the song, you’ll continue to receive the buff………..in short, it is nothing less than a monstrous, terrifying Spell.

But of course, you will accumulate equivalent fatigue and stress in your body, so for places where you fight every day like the front lines, it is actually not so compatible.

But even so….

If Cyril and the rest receive Ms. Lotte’s buff………….hmmmmmmmmm….

Henry: “I don’t think they’ll drag us down, but I would have them focus on the lesser Demonic Creatures that will be surrounding the Highest-Tier just to be safe. I would only recommend Cyril to stay at a distance and use her Spell against the Highest-Tier, and it should be fairly effective.”

Charlotte: “Then let’s do that.”

Teo: “........that’s too bad. I wanted to see how much the Cloud Plains Style would work against a Highest-Tier…..”

Teo, you really are a battle-junky. It’s in these moments that I see how closely related she is to Ageha.

Ferris: “For myself…...I’ll be fighting in the farthest back lines just to be safe. Ms. Charlotte, I can take care of injuries, so leave that to me.” Charlotte: “Ohhh, that’s right. Ferris, you’re a Healer, huh? I’ll be counting on you.”

Healing for Ms. Lotte……...I really don’t think she’ll need it…….I highly doubt it～

Henry: “Whoops...there’s an Ogre.”

In order to reach the top of the mountain, we are taking the route with the least amount of Demonic Creatures, but unfortunately, we’re not lucky enough to not run into any.

Three Ogres appear from the shadows of trees.

Jend and the group get into formation, but Ms. Lotte stops them with a hand sign.

Charlotte: “Oh, I’ll take care of them. It’s your first time fighting a Highest-Tier so save your energy as much as possible.”

And as if to take a leisurely walk, Ms. Lotte turns and head towards the Ogres.

Jend: “HーHey, Henry. Is she going to be okay? I know she’s a Hero of Legend and all and she must be strong, but you know…..judging from her looks....”

Henry: “Oh, yeah, no worries. Just watch.” Jend who has never seen Ms. Lotte fight is worried, but honestly, he still has a long way to go before he can start worrying about her. You can spend a lifetime training and fighting, and you still may never reach her level.

The Ogres grin mockingly at the unarmed Halfling walking their way, and they raise their clubs to meet her but….

Jend: “.......huh?”

It was just one move.

In just one sweeping move, she passes by all the Ogres side and walks past them.

…….in the next moment, the three Ogres awkwardly fell over.

If you look closely, their chests have giant gaping holes where their hearts used to be.

Cyril: “Uh, um….what did Ms. Charlotte just do just now?”

Henry: “I couldn’t see it either.”

I saw her up to the point where she dodged the Ogre’s attack. I saw that much.

…...but I didn’t see at all when she struck the Ogre’s chest. I’m sure she used her arms like spears, but there’s not a single dot of blood on her arms or clothes.

Charlotte: “C’mon～ Let’s keep going～!”

And although she just performed an unbelievable feat, Ms. Charlotte shows no sign of change in her manner and calls out for us to hurry after her.

……...really…..her and Sir Ezeal…...it’s impossible to measure their skill and strength at their Level…..

It was almost refreshing re-experiencing the frightening difference of strength between her and I.

We hurried to follow after Ms. Lotte.

<<<<>>>>

Charlotte: “.......there he is.”

Henry: “Yes.”

And as we reached the top of the mountain where snow fell year-round….

We discovered and observed a single, giant majestic wolf that was gracefully sleeping…….a Highest-Tier Demonic Creature, Fenrir.