YM778.TV (376) Town in chaos
Chapter (376) Town in chaos
A huge commotion was going on in front of the main gate.
The gate was about to be broken - and it was from the inside.
Curses and angry shouts flew about. I could hardly hear the voices of the guards. The only things I could hear were the voices of the citizens.
“Let us out of here!”
“How can we stay in a town like this!”
“Tie up the guards!”
It was a civil war - No, it was mayhem.
The tipping point was when the frenzy curse was activated in the middle of town and even the city officials were found to have been cursed. There was no knowing when the person next to you or your family would turn into a berserker. That fear turned the people into a mob.
That was what Carol anticipated. And it was not something I could stop alone.
I ran up a deserted wall, jumped onto a tree branch and up the wall.
“Who are you!”
“I am Ichinojo, a quasi-baron.”
The guards saluted me when I showed the quasi-baron badge.
Most guards were commoners. There were no knights with peerage there.
“But why did quasi-baron-sama come to such a place?”
“To monitor the details of this commotion - If nothing happens - if the worst does not happen, then it is fine.”
“As long as the worst does not happen? - But the gate is about to be broken, it’s already the worst scenario.”
The guard replied. Was he serious?
Riot. Confusion. Escaping from town.
None of those was the worst outcome. It was not the situation where Carol hoped it was needless worry on end or the worst-case scenario that I feared.
I looked at the distance from the wall. The royal army was still in position surrounding the town. They had not made any moves.
That was extremely ominous.
“Quasi-baron-sama, it is dangerous to look out from the edge.”
The guard on duty cautioned me.
“ … Are there no soldiers manning the walls? Even though the town is surrounded?”
“Although we are surrounded, they are not the enemy. They are soldiers who fight for the same country - our brethren.”
“So you still consider them as brethren even though they are pointing their blades at you …”
Is that what they call trust?
To me, I can’t think of it other than that they have been abandoned.
Just assuming the worst was tiring on its own.
I thought to myself as I wiped the sweat off my brow.
On top of the tropical climate of the southern continent, the fervor from the citizens below was causing a palpable heatwave.
“I’ll prepare something cool to drink.”
“No, there’s no need to.”
At that moment, cheers came from the citizens.
It looked like they broke through the gate.
The citizens rushed to be the first to exit the gate - then.
“ ─ !”
The royal army fired arrows at once at the citizens that went out.
The worst scenario had happened - the royal army would not allow anybody to leave town.
It had turned into a show of force.
They didn’t expect the soldiers who should be protecting them would fire arrows at them instead. The citizens who left the gate screamed.
I jumped off the walls and stood in front of the citizens.
“Boost Mega Ice!”
I created a huge chunk of ice facing forward and temporarily blocked all the arrows.
At the same time, I cooled down the palpable heat like it was an illusion - or rather, I froze it.
“Everyone, return to the gate now! The royal army truly intends to kill us if we leave!”
My shout was a failure in a way.
The people who were targeted by the arrows rushed to enter the gate but the people from inside who didn’t know the situation were trying to exit.
The gate was not narrow but it was panic within the gate. There was no telling how many people would get trampled to death.
At that moment.
I heard a song coming from somewhere.
That gentle voice entered my ears naturally.
By the time I realized, the people outside and inside the gate started entering the gate after listening to the song.
Then, the singing voice suddenly stopped and the guards who returned to their senses quickly closed the gate and barred it.
What happened?
Also, that song - it felt like I’ve heard it before.
I looked around my surroundings and then looked in the direction I heard the song from.
I saw two shadows move on top of a roof a distance away.
I quickly moved to those shadows.
“I knew it - ”
Haru and Carol were there. Carol was in her adult form.
The song I heard just now - was similar to the song that summoned me to Carol when I first met her.
“Sorry, Ichino-sama. I made an arbitrary decision.”
Carol said and returned to her usual appearance.
“It was a great help. But that song was?”
“A skill from Succubus Queen - Siren Song. A skill to hypnotize people who hear the song and allure them.
“Siren huh?”
Sirens appear in Greek mythology as sea monsters who use beautiful songs to allure ships and sink them.
In this world, they might not be monsters but demi-humans.
My image of them was something like mermaids with wings.
I see, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the song just now was a siren song judging from the effects.
“But I’m surprised you could transmit your voice from here to the gate. Was that an effect of the Siren Song as well?”
“It was thanks to the Loudspeaker Talisman that Ichino-sama gave me.”
Carol said and showed me the piece of torn talisman paper that had lost its effect.
“Master was able to anticipate this situation and gave Carol the Loudspeaker Talisman. I am full of admiration.”
Haru was impressed but I had purely mistaken it as the Communication Talisman.
I didn’t even know about the Siren Song skill.
“Are there Sirens in this world?”
“Like the Centaurs, they are a race that once existed. There remain legends about them in various lands but there is no evidence of their current existence. Perhaps they are a sea race with the same power as Carol but can create illusions to hide their appearances.”
“That might be true.”
I agreed and nodded.
Then, I looked at the citizens.
The news that the royal army fired arrows at them spread among the citizens. Nobody tried to leave the town anymore. Well, there might be people who try to slip out through places apart from the main gate that I am not aware of and died.
“Do you think the riots would subside with this?”
“The number of people who try to leave town would decrease. But the public safety in town will deteriorate.”
“Carol thinks so too. Moreover, most people would distrust others and withdraw into their homes. There’s also the concern of food shortages. The only salvation might be the increased activity of monsters living in the beginner’s dungeon compared to previous years.”
So the monsters in the beginner’s dungeon were spawning at a rapid rate as well.
It was said that most of the monsters in the beginner’s dungeon were plant-type monsters that drop food ingredients.
Thankfully, there have not been any appearances of monsters with an incomparable rank that we encountered in the intermediate dungeon. At most only rare monsters appeared.
However, this large monster spawning event, the frenzy curse, and the merciless attacks from the royal army.
What was going on with this town?