The excitement in the Adventurers Guild hall did not last long. As Kōichi stepped down from the round table, reality quickly splashed cold water over some of the people there.
Led by Dust, a few veteran adventurers were huddled in a corner, clutching their mugs with grim looks as they whispered among themselves.
"Hey, Kōichi! Stop feeding us empty promises!" Dust shot to his feet, a tremor in his voice. "That's the Destroyer! I heard the rumors back when I was in the Royal Capital. That thing can flatten an entire village with one stomp, and even a national-level knight order can't do anything to it! Mount Eris? Sounds more like a mass grave to me! Listen to me, everyone. We've still got three days, so packing up and taking shelter in the next city is the only sensible choice!"
The adventurers, who had only just been fired up, immediately broke into a stir. Quite a few of them began to waver.
Kōichi gave Dust a cold glance and ignored his shouting. Instead, he turned and murmured a few instructions to Luna, then led Kazuma, Aqua, and Megumin back to Wiz's Magical Item Shoppe.
What they needed now was accurate intelligence, not a pointless shouting match.
...
When he pushed open the shop door again, Wiz was still trembling behind the counter, clutching that [Good Luck Spray], while Vanir sat nearby, leisurely playing with tarot cards.
"Wiz, stop shaking. It's me." Kōichi walked up to the counter and lightly tapped the tabletop. "About the Destroyer. As a former General of the Demon King's Army, you should know some inside information that isn't in the Adventurers Guild records, right? Like who built it, or what the hell is going on with that magic shield."
Wiz raised her head, her face so pale it was almost translucent. "Hayashi-san… that thing wasn't built for combat at all. Long ago, a mad Reincarnator from a Fantasy World created it as an experiment, just for fun. It has an extremely terrifying random-reflection shield. Any magic that hits it may be reflected back several times stronger…"
"Reflected back?" Megumin cried, clutching her staff tightly. "Then my Explosion Magic…"
"If you fire directly at the shield, Axel may be leveled by your Explosion Magic before the Destroyer even steps on it." Vanir elegantly flipped over a Death card, his tone teasing. "And its power source is Coronatite, a massive energy body so unstable it could cause a nuclear explosion at any moment. Even if you defeat it, mishandle the power source and the result is the same. Boom. Everyone goes to meet the Goddess Eris together."
Kazuma's face had already gone bluish-white. "Hey, hey, hey! That's basically a self-destruct truck! Bro, Dust is right. Let's run! Becoming refugees in the next city is still better than getting blasted into ash here!"
Kōichi paid no attention to Kazuma's near-despairing wails. Instead, he slowly turned his head and fixed his gaze on Aqua, who was trying to quietly tuck a bottle of premium Holy Dew wine from Wiz's counter into her arms.
"Aqua."
Kōichi's tone was calm, but it carried a pressure that sent a chill down the spine.
"Huh? Y-yes! I wasn't stealing a drink, okay? I was just helping Wiz check whether the bottle was sealed properly!" Aqua's hand shook in fright, and the bottle nearly dropped onto her foot. She hurriedly put on the dignified bearing of a Goddess. "Why are you suddenly looking at me like that? Is it because I failed to purify that masked bastard earlier? Are you going to cut my beef allowance?"
Kōichi stepped in front of her, placed both hands on her shoulders, and looked straight into those aqua-blue eyes, so clear you could see straight to the bottom, and even glimpse her remaining IQ.
"As the Goddess of Water, your understanding of barriers and magical circuits should be world-class, right? Wiz said the Destroyer is covered in a random-reflection shield, a mess left behind by ancient Reincarnator. Since it's a magical construct, you should have some way to peel it off like an onion, shouldn't you?"
Aqua froze for a second. Then, as if she had been deeply insulted, she puffed up her cheeks and planted her hands on her hips, her ample chest heaving dramatically.
"Hah?! Kōichi, are you doubting me? I am Arch Priest Aqua! A barrier of that level is no different from a child's scribble before my divine power! Once I get serious, whether it's a reflective barrier or some defensive circuit, I can dismantle all of it in an instant! After all, I am the Goddess in charge of purifying and dispelling evil things!"
"Really? Even national-level archmages are helpless against it."
Kōichi deliberately raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying a trace of doubt.
"Really! Absolutely really! More real than pure gold!" Aqua took the bait exactly as expected, waving her fists excitedly. "As long as I have enough magical support, plus just a tiny bit… um, a tiny bit of premium sparkling wine as a medium to inspire me, I can make that big can's outer shell thinner than paper! Then Megumin can blast it however she wants!"
Kōichi nodded in satisfaction and turned to Wiz and Vanir.
"Good. The rough plan is set. Aqua will forcibly dismantle the outer barrier, Megumin will perform a precision blast on the power room the instant the barrier vanishes, and Wiz…" Kōichi paused, his gaze sharpening. "You'll teleport the Coronatite to an empty wilderness before the power source goes out of control. As for me and Kazuma, we'll deal with the self-defense mechanical monsters that crawl out of the Destroyer's belly."
"Hahaha. The plan sounds perfect, but Kōichi Hayashi-dono, you appear to have missed the most crucial issue."
Vanir tapped the table elegantly, the eyes behind his mask gleaming strangely. "The Destroyer can move. How do you plan to make this group of adventurers, all with their own motives, some of whom are even trying to flee, coordinate with you precisely enough to pull off this complicated chain of moves before it flattens Axel?"
A meaningful curve appeared at the corner of Kōichi's mouth. He unhurriedly let go of Aqua's shoulders and pointed toward the Adventurers Guild outside the window, where the clamor still echoed.
"Vanir, you're underestimating what humans can do when greed and survival are on the line. Especially people who've managed to survive this long in a freak-filled place like Axel."
Kōichi turned and gestured for Kazuma and Megumin to follow. "Since some of them want to run and some want to fight, we'll give them a reason they have no choice but to fight. Kazuma, get your Lurk and Enemy Detection ready. We're going to put on a show at the Adventurers Guild. Megumin, how's your Explosion Magic chant coming along? At the critical moment, I need you to give those wavering people a serious visual shock."
"So long as you do not make me unleash it now, I can chant a requiem of the end powerful enough to shake the soul at any time!"
Megumin's face was still somewhat pale, but the chuuni fervor in her eyes had already blazed to its peak.
...
When they pushed open the Adventurers Guild doors again, the atmosphere in the hall was even heavier than before.
Dust was standing on a table, waving his arms and shouting, "Everyone! Listen to me! That Kōichi is trying to send us to our deaths! He's protected by a Goddess, so of course he's not afraid. But ordinary adventurers like us would just be snacks stuck between the Destroyer's teeth! Before the alarm reaches the neighboring city, we should hurry and…"
"Hurry and what? Rush to the neighboring city to become hobos so pathetic even our underwear gets looked down on?"
Kōichi's voice was not loud, but it cut cleanly through Dust's roar.
The Adventurers Guild fell silent in an instant, and every gaze turned back to Kōichi.
...
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