CH 88

[Oya, it’s you again. Things are a bit dangerous lately, you know? Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I can feel something moving under the ground. Earthquakes are becoming strangely frequent, so I hope it’s not an omen that something bad is about to happen. Hohoho.]

After the routine talk with Granny Hohoho, we were discussing future work at the Guild when “it” happened.

With a bang, the Guild door burst open and a man came tumbling into the Guild.

He didn’t seem to notice the strange stares from those around him and spoke with a ghastly expression on his face.

[O- Outside! Outside, a- a- a- a- a……]

The man, perhaps because he was quite agitated, repeated his cryptic words as he pointed outside, and taking a deep breath, he exclaimed.

[Ants!!!]

The noisy Guild instantly quieted down at the simple and unintelligible cry.

While everyone stopped moving in confusion……

[So, they’ve arrived!]

As my lips twisted to a grin, I quickly darted out of the Guild, passing by the man’s side.

As I stumbled out of the building, the scene was exactly as I had imagined it would be.

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The streets of Frelia were full of energy.

Holes could be seen here and there, and from those holes was something black…… A large number of huge ants, with a total length of 1m including their antennae, were crawling out.

Upon witnessing their appearance, the townspeople screamed and ran for cover.

However, that wasn’t all.

The ants that emerged from the ground bent over and pointed their butts at the buildings and people in the city, shooting yellow mucus from their bodies.

Those who failed to flee simply watched in amazement as the liquid flew in parabolas.

Then, with a swoosh, it hit the buildings and the ground where people were hiding.

[What is that? The ants’ bodily fluids?]

[Uwahh! Acid…… They’re aciiiiiid!!!]

The scene felt like a picturesque depiction of hell.

That’s why, I must first seize control of the situation before panic sets in.

[————-<Fire Rain>!]

As the name of the magic suggests, fireballs began raining down on the ants from my hand.

These ants, <Killer Ants>, are fearsome monsters to the average person, but they’re only Lvl 10.

They aren’t tough opponents for Adventurers with some experience, and they’re no match for an A-Rank Adventurer like Rex.

Waiting until all eyes were on me, I quickly shouted.

[Calm down! Those who can’t fight, get inside the building! Adventurers, join me in exterminating the bugs! Even though they aren’t powerful monsters, there are still a lot of them! It’s time to earn money!]

With the realization that the ants aren’t opponents that they can’t defeat, and with a direction given to their actions, a bit of order is restored to the chaotic situation.

Among them were people murmuring things like  “It’s Rex!”, “So he’s……”, etc.

And as if to support everyone from that situation, the door to the Adventurers’ Guild was opened with a bang, and a familiar figure bursts out of the door.

[This is Verteran of the Adventurers’ Guild!!! We Adventurers will take care of the ants! Everyone, get them!]

He shouted like some bandit leader about to loot some village, but in this case, the clarity of his words paid off.

Perhaps unable to ignore his shout, the Killer Ants all simultaneously turned to Verteran.

Thereupon, with a savage outcry, the Adventurers rushed out, opening the battle between the Adventurers and the Killer Ants.

※　※　※

[Mast…… Old man!]

It was a dozen or so minutes later that I met up with Radd and the others who had returned from outside the town.

The ants that had overflowed into the city had been roughly cleared away.

[Yo. You’re back early.]

As I lifted one hand in welcome, Radd began to talk in an agitated tone.

[Yo, your face! What the heck is going on here!?]

[As you can see, it’s an ant attack. ……Well, don’t worry. We’re way past the turning point.]

There are still a fair number of ants on the walls around the town, but there are only a few of them left in the town.

They will soon be exterminated by the hands of the enthusiastic Adventurers.

(However, there’s no doubt about it now.)

Unlike the interception team back in the game, the quality of Frelia’s Adventurers has improved.

Maybe it’s because the NPCs are actual humans now and their judgment of the situation is more reliable, or perhaps because I provided them with information related to Classes and Manual Arts.

Whatever the case, the situation seems to be coming to an end at a speed unmatched by the game.

(Well, I did prepare a lot of things beforehand.)

When I knew that Frelia would be attacked by ants, the best spawn point they could have would be a certain abandoned house on the outskirts of town.

So, I took steps in advance, bought the abandoned house, and put a lid on it so that holes couldn’t drill out of it.

The ants may have dispersed to other holes as a result of this, but the situation should have been much improved by not having so many ants in one place at one time. 

In addition, I had placed boxes throughout the city with <Scented Satchels> that would disable low-level monsters for a few seconds, which also worked well.

Thanks in part to this, there have been no casualties so far, although there have been some minor injuries among the townspeople.

Looking at me with a complicated expression on his face, Radd asks.

[I- In that case, does that mean the town has been taken care of?]

[So far, that is.]

Radd’s face tightened at my words.

[That means……]

[There’s no way that this many monsters could come out of nowhere for no reason at all. Behind all these, there should be a “Queen” who is responsible for giving birth to so many ants.]

As I said this, the memories of the game came to mind.

—————-World Event: <The Ants’ Grand Raid>

This is an Event that occurs during the Second Era, and depending on how the game progresses, either this or the <The Bee’s Grand Raid>, in which bees will come to raid the city, will occur.

The condition in which one would occur would be the subjugation of the species hostile to them.

Simply put, subjugating the ants will cause an increase in the number of bees, and subjugating the bees will cause an increase in the number of ants, and when the scales tip to a certain point, this event will occur.

Although it’s possible to delay the outbreak to some extent by defeating ants and bees equally, the count rises as time passes, and a raid from either species will inevitably come.

And so, my intention was to control the occurrence of the raid by defeating the target species with all my might.

Furthermore, if I could complete this event to the end, and even defeat the “Queen” with my own hands……

(————-I might even be able to find the “Hero”!)

I’m not sure if Radd sensed something from my appearance, but when I patted his shoulder, he backed away.

[Rejoice, Radd. Fortunately, I’ve already figured out where the “Queen” is and how to get there first.]

Well, we’ll have to be a little reckless for that, but I guess it’s a little too late to be worrying about things like that now.

In other words……

[————-Now, it’s time for the “adventure” you’ve been waiting for!]