Chapter 102
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The weather continues to be bad, and people in the city are worried that if the rain keeps falling, all the crops will be destroyed. There’s also talk about the risk of landslides.
Echoing their concerns, the Fog continues to increase, making our burden more severe.
Although gradual, the deterioration is certain. Everyone involved in the extermination feels a sense of crisis, as if being slowly strangled.
Once again today, the news Anon delivers at the information sharing session is bad.
「Fog Slimes have finally appeared in Arrogance and Virtuous as well. Of course, they’re accompanied by ghouls with the same properties.」
From our experience so far, it seems that what happens here occurs in those places after a slight delay.
「In addition to the increasing frequency of appearances, the difficulty of extermination has risen, putting a strain on everyone. But if we can get through this, the dungeon will appear. So I want you to hang in there until then.」
Anon insists that the dungeon’s appearance is imminent, but he must have had no other way to put it now.
While not exactly exponential, the current rate of Fog appearances is abnormal. Add to that the emergence of mutant species unknown even to Sensei’s memory.
Berserga, Vienetta, the lord’s private soldiers, and the numerous adventurer parties added later are all exhausted.
The battle line won’t collapse immediately. But that also means that if this continues, that time will come before long.
Anon consistently tries to keep things from getting too gloomy as he finishes his report.
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Anon collapses onto the sofa in my room.
Even the tough Anon can’t hide his fatigue. That’s why I want him to relax and let his guard down, at least here.
「Ichiro, we’ve finally exceeded the number of Fog we were originally scheduled to exterminate based on calculations.」
Apparently, this was the predicted number derived from Sensei’s stories and legends about how many monsters would be defeated in this incident.
The fact that it shows no signs of weakening even after exceeding that number shows just how dangerous the Sealed Domain is.
For me too, countless enemies appearing anywhere at any time might be even more difficult to deal with than the boss of the Newly Constructed Most Challenging Dungeon.
I sigh, wondering if it might be better to face a single, incredibly tough enemy instead.
And in my line of sight is Sensei — she’s lying on my bed.
「Nnnnnn!」
She stretches her body, arching her back and pointing her toes, reminding me of a relaxed cat.
This is a secret, but I’m secretly nervous as her kimono looks like it might come undone.
However, she frowns at Anon’s words.
「The Sealed Dungeon might be growing too.」
「Sensei…」
A dungeon that creates irregularities to surpass our countermeasures based on previous experiences.
If there was some kind of will behind it…
— That would be the worst-case scenario.
「Still, we acted quickly this time, so we’ve avoided the ‘worst-case scenario.’ Besides, last time we were just unlucky.」
「Unlucky?」
As I ask, she sits up with effort, hugging a pillow.
「Yes. When the Sealed Domain appeared before, death was everywhere due to famine from crop failures and epidemics. In such circumstances, gathering the necessary supplies to fight and calling in sufficient personnel was extremely difficult. No, it was actually impossible.」
I wonder how it could have been impossible if Sensei was there, but if Sensei says so, it must be true (blind faith).
But I see. Indeed, they must have given up on conquering the dungeon and the wise of that era sealed the dungeon itself to neutralize the Sealed Domain.
「I’ve seen it in documents too. The nation itself was in a terrible state to begin with.」
Anon also straightens his back.
「Last time, even before the Sealed Domain started causing trouble, there were already countless graves. And then came the monster army. There were so many bodies that couldn’t even be buried and had to be burned.」
The land was completely covered with graves.
Emaciated people wept, setting fire to bodies that were too numerous to bury.
And from beneath the feet of those mourning people, countless rotting arms reached out, grabbing the feet of those trying to flee, dragging them into the depths of the earth — such a scene involuntarily came to mind. I felt a shiver run down my spine.
This moment was supposed to be a brief respite to recharge, but once the image appeared, it lingered in the corner of my mind, refusing to disappear.
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The next day and the day after, we were forced to continue extermination under adverse conditions.
Whether aware of our impatience or not, the Fog’s rate of multiplication remained unchecked.
And finally, it reached the limit of our extermination speed.
From here on, we would only be worn down, and like the tilt of a seesaw, the situation could quickly tip in the wrong direction with just one mistake — that was the tangible feeling we all had.
The members of Berserga and Vienetta didn’t voice it, but the fatigue was clearly visible on their faces.
If even they were like this, it must be even worse for the general adventurers added by the lord.
I couldn’t help but feel grateful that they were somehow holding on without running away.
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And three days later.
— The rain finally stopped.
The sky was blue, without a single cloud.
It was on the night of that day when we finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as we were about to go to sleep, the air trembled.
With a rumbling so intense it was difficult to stand, the Sealed Dungeon finally revealed itself.
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