20
The late dinner was over and Sophie’s family returned to their home.
In the room the old couple gave him, Dojin took off his robe.
“Phew.”
As I took off my outerwear, the cold mountain breeze coming in through the window felt cool on my skin.
Dojin leaned against the window and looked outside.
Above the fence surrounding the village, the sky was beginning to become overcast.
The moon was covered by clouds, and it was a total darkness.
The smell of rain hung in the air, so it looked like it was going to rain.
Well, since we were indoors right now, the rain wasn’t a problem.
Dojin found peace of mind by looking at the sky that was like a black sheet of paper.
At that moment, something jarring struck Dojin’s senses.
‘Mana Wave?’
As I am still lacking in my abilities as a magician, I cannot tell exactly how far away and how much of a ripple effect was created, but it was clearly an artificial ripple effect.
At this time and place, the mana wavelength was heterogeneous, so Dojin activated his magic circuit to increase his mana sensitivity.
‘Wait a minute. It wasn’t just once?’
The mana waves that I had just felt were repeating at a certain cycle and intensity.
Dojin concentrated on identifying the source of the mana waves.
however.
‘It’s disconnected?’
The response suddenly stopped, as if nothing had happened.
‘I don’t know what it is, but something is happening.’
Dojin quickly put on the robe he had taken off and jumped out the window, using a telekinesis wave just before he hit the ground to reduce the impact of his fall.
thud.
Even though a considerable amount of shock was transmitted to his body, it wasn’t too much trouble for Dojin, who was a sturdy wizard.
《Implication》
A faint light flashed in Dojin’s eyes and then disappeared.
It was a magic that could pierce through darkness, and was one of the magics learned by pouring in the gold earned from clearing dungeons.
Dojin, who was moving his gaze here and there, discovered a watchtower installed on the fence and ran toward it.
As I climbed the log steps clumsily stuck into the fence, the view opened up and, unlike other directions where there were a few trees, I could see a particularly barren rock ridge wriggling.
“shit…….”
Considering that the place you come out of when you cross that rocky ridge is the Gulag Wasteland, it was obvious what was wriggling there.
“Gulag Ant.”
The outlaws of the Gulag Wasteland are pouring in over the low ridge towards us.
[Quest]
The crisis in the Gulag village
Rating: Destiny
[Tonight, a village is in danger of being wiped out by one man’s ugly greed.
[Save as many villagers as possible.]
Objective: Survival of the Gulag Villagers
Rewards: Experience, Gold, ???
At that moment, a message appeared before Dojin’s eyes.
Destiny rank quest.
Beyond Hidden, it was practically the highest-level quest in LOST.
Destiny level quests are more difficult to find than hidden quests.
Because you have to be there when an event, big or small, that could affect the world of Rostania itself happens.
That such a quest has appeared.
‘I guess that’s what happened when those bug cubs wiped out this town.’
But is the disappearance of a village with a population of only a few dozen people really something that would trigger a destiny quest?
That can’t be true.
There is another reason.
What is that?
The hint was in the quest content.
It says not to protect the village, but to save as many ‘village people’ as possible.
‘That is, among the villagers, there are people who must not die, or rather, who would benefit this world if they survived.’
I figured out an answer to the given problem, but it didn’t really mean anything.
Because if we can’t overcome the crisis at hand, it’s just a guess and an answer that’s useless.
There is no way to know who needs to be saved.
There’s no guarantee that there will be exactly one person who needs to be saved.
Then we have no choice but to try to save them all.
After finishing his thoughts, Dojin rang the rusty bell installed on the watchtower.
I wonder why they installed this if they were going to leave it like this without anyone monitoring it.
Ding ding ding.
The village, which had been as quiet as a mouse, became noisy due to the loud noise.
“Wh, what are you talking about?”
“Maurice, you punk! Didn’t I say that if I ever rang a bell in the middle of the night again for fun, I’d hang you upside down?”
People sticking their heads out of the windows in bewilderment.
Some people were annoyed, thinking it was a prank by a neighborhood kid.
——————
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But that was until Dojin shouted.
“There are monsters coming outside right now!”
The townspeople’s eyes widened at the word ‘monster’.
“Mom, it’s a monster!”
Someone shouted, and several people ran towards the fence.
I wanted to see it with my own eyes.
“Whoaaah!”
“Oh, you idiot. Didn’t I tell you to lose some weight? Get out of my way!”
A fat man who was climbing a watchtower installed in a different direction from where Dojin was standing fell over, and instead a very thin man quickly climbed up the watchtower.
And then he looks into the distance, and his face turns pale.
It was dark, but Hans, a village youth accustomed to the mountains, managed to see through the darkness with difficulty.
The ridge that shouldn’t be moving is moving in a black silhouette.
“There’s a monster! There’s a monster coming over the ridge towards the wasteland! Damn it! There’s more than one!”
The townspeople also turned pale at Hans’ shout.
But, like people from a harsh world, they were not afraid and did nothing.
“Jenny! Take Sophie down to the basement! Don’t forget to bring some food with you! Don’t come out until it’s completely quiet!”
“Hannolds, you! You hide too!”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Then who will protect the village?”
“… Okay. But you mustn’t die! No, don’t get hurt. If you get hurt, you’ll die.”
The heads of each household made their wives and children hide in holes dug underground, while they came out carrying crude weapons.
“Hans, when you say not one or two, how many are there? Up until now, there have been very few cases of damage from beasts or monsters, even because of the fence.”
Hans came down from the watchtower and spoke with a tired face in response to the village chief’s question.
“I don’t know. It’s so dark that I can only see them wriggling on the ridge… You know, how far away is that rocky ridge? Judging from how far away the ridge looks like it’s wriggling, there must be at least a few dozen, or maybe even a few hundred.”
At Hans’ words, all the village men gathered together looked frightened.
The debate continued for a while.
People were saying things like, “Let’s abandon the village and run away. How are we going to survive in the winter?” and “It’s better than dying right now.” They were saying things like, “If we go outside the fence at this hour, there’s a high chance of death anyway.”
“I can protect you.”
Dojin, who had been observing the situation from the watchtower, came down.
The village men’s gaze turned to Dojin at the unfamiliar voice.
Their reactions were divided.
“You were the first one to shout that a monster had appeared? It seems like the first time I’ve seen it. Who on earth are you-”
First, the village chief was on guard and tried to ask for his identity.
“Oh, my lord!”
Hanolds and his friends greeted Dojin, interrupting the village chief’s words.
I was so surprised by the sudden appearance of the monster that I forgot about it, but now I remembered that there was a wizard staying in the village.
In the eyes of those who witnessed Dojin use magic with their own eyes, Dojin was seen as a savior.
“Wow, you’re a wizard? What do you mean?”
The village chief was surprised at the word wizard and asked.
“He is a good wizard who saved me from being in trouble at the checkpoint.”
“That’s right, that’s right! That person used magic to unload the firewood in an instant!”
Hanolds, who had rushed forward through the villagers, spoke to Dojin in an earnest tone.
“Ma, Wizard, I know it’s really shameless to ask you this, but you’re the only one we can rely on right now. Please help us. If you do that, we’ll work together with the villagers to somehow repay you.”
Please save my wife and daughter, Hanolds said, almost crying.
It seemed as if the fear that had been suppressed due to a sense of responsibility as the eldest son was welling up.
Dojin patted his shoulder.
“Calm down, Mr. Hanolds. If you give up your strength already, will you still have the strength to protect the village?”
Tears welled up in Hanolds’ eyes.
Tears from a bear-like man. It wouldn’t normally be a pleasant sight, but if you think of it as tears coming from love for one’s family, it wasn’t something uncommon to see.
“Let’s only take questions from those who want to be ant food.”
At Dojin’s words, those who were about to ask or say something flinched.
“There’s no time. I’ve checked from the watchtower and no more ants have crossed the ridge, but there must be a considerable number of those who have.”
Frightened curses could be heard here and there.
Dojin ignored that reaction and spoke bluntly.
“But you can stop it if you just follow my instructions.”
“Yes, I will fight hard!”
Hanolds answered with a shout. And those who witnessed Dojin’s magic also felt their fighting spirit burn.
“I will fight with my life on the line too! I may not know it, but I cannot turn my wife and children into food for ants!”
But Dojin shook his head.
“I’m trying to save you. I’m not trying to throw you into the ant food. I don’t want you to fight with such crude weapons, unless the ants climb over the fence and storm into the village.”
“… … .”
The village men looked at the crude spears they held, which were nothing more than iron clubs tied to poles.
As Dojin said, their weapons were not only inadequate but also embarrassing when dealing with those so-called lawbreakers of the wasteland.
But is there anything they can do other than hold on to this and fight? Their eyes, as big as bells, turned to Dojin.
Dojin said to them.
“Instead, I wish you could help me in some other way.”
“Ma, just speak!”
This time again, it was Hanolds who answered first, something close to a spinal reflex.
“Considering the distance to the ridge and the speed at which the ants move, there is still some time before they arrive. In the meantime, please move all flammable items to the front of the village.”
“Are you talking about something to ride? Don’t worry!”
Hanolds nodded vigorously and looked at the other townspeople.
“What are you guys doing? The wizard told me to gather things that burn well!”
Those who had not seen Dojin’s magic directly hesitated.
Hanolds screamed at the sight.
“Oh, Chief! I told you I saw him use magic! So let’s trust him and move forward.”
Then Hanolds said to Hans.
“Hans, you take the children and go get all the firewood. And you guys, follow me. We have to find something to burn in each house. And the village chief. Since you have the key to the community center, I’ll ask you to take care of the community center.”
Those who witnessed Dojin’s magic directly took active action.
Urging other people was a bonus.
The cold night air of the highlands was burning hot.
They gathered all the firewood they had bought to survive the winter, as well as anything that looked like it would burn, and moved it to the front of the village.
“I’m going to freeze to death this winter.”
“You have to hold on.”
“Can you hold out?”
“I don’t know. But still… I have to survive now and at least try to hold on. If I really can’t do it, maybe I should all live in the dorm this winter.”
It was while the village men were having a bitter conversation and breaking wooden tables.
“Get into the fence! Get into the fence!”
The ants are approaching.
