The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 220 Leaflet - The Case of Adventurer Miss B The smell of blood wafting from everywhere. And sobbing and agonized moans seeping out while being suppressed. Looking at the village scene deeply shrouded in the shadow of death, adventurer Ralph spat out curses. "What a fucking mess." It started as nothing more than a simple extermination quest. Goblins were spotted lurking around near the village. We can't live in peace like this, so please deal with those things. From the Adventurer's Guild's perspective, it was a quest as common as bread and soup appearing on the table every meal. Due to their excellent reproductive ability and adaptability that doesn't discriminate against environments, goblins were such common monsters that there was even a saying they pop out of thin air. It was a quest that didn't quite suit Ralph and his party of mid-level adventurers, but they accepted the request. Because they thought that occasionally handling such light quests and taking it easy was the trick to surviving long in this industry. Since the village that posted the quest happened to be famous for its traditional beer, their plan was to quickly complete the quest and then drink themselves silly. ...It was also a plan that went straight to the trash the moment they learned that the extermination targets weren't just simple goblin groups, but very dangerous ones that included 'mutants'. Mutants. Individuals who have gained abilities quite different from the average specs of their original species due to various external factors. The moment a goblin mage appeared holding a staff in one hand and firing off intermediate spells, the possibility of an ordinary adventurer party resolving this incident vanished forever. 'Damn it, what the hell is conscience anyway.' When they first realized that the goblins' abilities were not ordinary, Ralph and his companions had the chance to flee. Since the enemy's scale was much larger and more powerful than the information they heard when taking the quest, they could have canceled such a quest and escaped. But the village left behind would definitely be smashed to pieces by the goblin horde. Ralph's group, who couldn't bear to abandon the villagers who had welcomed them warmly, chose to stay instead of fleeing, and as a result, most of the members were now lying in the village's sickbeds. Ralph spoke to his companion who was keeping watch with him on top of the wooden watchtower. "I'm sorry. I should have made a proper judgment as the leader." "What? ...Ah. Hey, why are you saying that? It wasn't something you decided alone, captain. We all cheered together and decided to stay here." The fellow adventurer's words were true. The decision to stay in the village and participate in the defensive battle was not Ralph's unilateral decision but the consensus of the entire party. However, Ralph didn't take that to mean he was without fault. After all, if Ralph himself had firmly insisted they should withdraw from here, his party members would have eventually pretended to be persuaded and followed along. "And we also requested support from the guild. If we just hold out, reinforcements will come to help." "...Right." While nodding his head on the surface, Ralph didn't expect reinforcements to come in his heart. After all, wasn't it common knowledge that the Adventurer's Guild had fallen into a manpower shortage since the lich incident? Ralph had heard voices cursing that the Guild Master had made a foolish judgment, causing damage to the guild by interfering due to unnecessary sense of justice. Would the guild, which had become much more self-preserving than in the past, really send proper reinforcements for a mission where no significant reward could be expected? Even if they did send reinforcements by some chance, could they hold out until the reinforcements arrived? -Kieeeeek! As if giving a definitive answer to that futile hope, before long the goblin horde's main force began approaching the village. "How can there be so many mutants...!" Beyond the fence. The moment he realized that the number of goblin mages visible among the goblin horde exceeded ten, Ralph fell into despair. Mutants are as rare as they are powerful. No matter how much goblins are a species where mutants are easily born due to their unique reproductive abilities, normally there's no way such individuals would be gathered in a swarm in one group. Did the goblin horde nest in some kind of ley line and mutate as a group due to the influence of that mana? Or did some insane mage conduct bizarre experiments somewhere? Or perhaps it's a disaster released by another country with the purpose of keeping Birka Kingdom in check? There were many possibilities that came to mind, but whatever the truth was, it held no particular meaning for Ralph and the people of this village. Just dealing with the advance guard had caused considerable casualties among Ralph's party and the village's young men. If they had to face the main force with its overwhelming military strength, victory or defeat wasn't even worth discussing. "Huh? Huh? C-Captain! There's a commotion inside the village!! Could it be that reinforcements have arrived?" It was then that the sound made by his companion reached Ralph's ears as he was spacing out blankly. With the feeling of grasping at any straw, Ralph hurriedly climbed down from the watchtower and ran to the village center, only to realize that at the center of the commotion was not dozens of elite soldiers, but just one person, and he was overcome with a sense of emptiness. The villagers seemed to have similar feelings as Ralph, clinging to her who had entered through the village's back gate and asking desperately. "D-Did you come alone? What about the others?" "There are more troops, right? They'll arrive soon, right? Right?" To their questions, the woman quietly shook her head. "Reinforcements have departed from other places too, but it will take at least one more day for them to arrive here." "Ah, ahh...!" The village chief who had asked the question to the sky-blue haired woman collapsed on the spot as if he had lost all strength. The other people also clearly showed signs of disappointment. Ralph examined the woman's appearance. 'She's a complete mess.' Her clothes were covered in dirt and dust, and sweat was trickling down her forehead. The horse she rode was also foaming at the mouth, clearly showing how much effort she had put in to arrive here quickly. That's why it was regrettable. She was a precious reinforcement, but at this rate, wouldn't they just be adding one more corpse for no reason? After letting out a short sigh, Ralph approached the woman. "I'm called Ralph. The situation is urgent, so I'll skip pleasantries and ask. Did you happen to see any goblins while coming through the back road?" "I'm called Blanca. I didn't see any goblins on the way here." "Then, please take the villagers and escape through the route you came from. I'll stay here and buy time." At Ralph's suggestion, the woman who had been expressionless all along, Blanca's eyebrows slightly furrowed. The reason was understandable. It wasn't for nothing that the villagers hadn't fled as a group long ago and instead attempted to hold out using the fence as a stronghold. If they attempted a siege, there was at least some chance of holding out, but if they attempted a half-hearted escape, the risk was greater of being attacked on the way and dying without being able to properly resist. But what could they do? Now even if they held out, they were all going to die anyway. "I know it sounds reckless. But since we're all going to die at this rate anyway, at least we should take a gamble—" "No, it's fine. I'll manage somehow." Ralph understood those words as 'I'll take responsibility and make the escape successful.' That's why when he saw Blanca immediately run past Ralph and dash out, he was completely stunned. "What?" Tap, tap, tak! Before he could even try to stop her, she sprinted straight toward the village's front gate and leaped over the fence. Ralph, who had been frozen for about 3 seconds, immediately after snapping out of his stunned state, widened his eyes and climbed up the watchtower. And he saw. Blanca charging toward the goblin horde while gripping long swords in both hands. "Hey, hey! Are you crazy!? Come back right now!!" Without paying any heed to Ralph's attempts to stop her, she continued running forward. Finally, commotion broke out on the goblin horde's side as they spotted Blanca, and just as Ralph gritted his teeth at the terrible disaster that would follow. Whoosh! In front of Blanca. A fireball the size of a fist blazed up and was fired straight ahead. Poof! The targeted goblin couldn't even let out a scream. The moment after the goblin visually recognized the fireball, that fireball had already blown the goblin's head off. And by the time flames spread to that goblin's torso, the head of the goblin next to it had already been blown away. Puh-buh-buh-buh-buhk!! Firing, no, rapid fire continued. The sight of dozens of flame orbs being fired consecutively without even a moment's breathing room resembled a machine gun that had not yet appeared in the world. "W-Wood-Burning Magic? Even if it's a low-level spell, how can she rapid-fire it like that?" The party member who played the role of spellcaster in Ralph's party opened his mouth in shock. He was so surprised that his jaw looked like it might drop. -Kieeeeeeek! The goblins also seemed to recognize the threat, as they tried to somehow close the distance and assault Blanca. Ralph expected Blanca to increase the distance, but the reality was the opposite. Rather than retreating against the approaching goblins, Blanca actually dove into their midst. Every time the sword she drew flashed, goblins' heads flew off, and even while doing this, the fireballs never stopped for a single moment. Neither her movement speed nor her physical ability to slice through goblin necks in one stroke matched Blanca's slender frame. Moreover, in the midst of the chaotic battle, small wounds were constantly appearing on Blanca's body, but all of them were being perfectly healed before the blood could even properly flow. One. Physical enhancement. Two. Self-healing. Three. Fire attacks. When you really looked at it, Blanca was only using three types of spells. And apart from occasionally firing intermediate flame spells at long range, they were all low-level spells. However, when these seemingly insignificant spells meshed together perfectly like gears, over three hundred goblins were struggling against Blanca alone. No, beyond just struggling. "...This is complete massacre." Ralph, who had years of experience as an adventurer, had even fought alongside 4th rank high-level adventurers, but even they couldn't display such overwhelmingly dominant performance. "Oh, oh! No!!" At that moment, his companion next to him let out a scream. Ralph also looked where that gaze was directed and nearly let out a scream himself. The moment Blanca sliced off the neck of one of the mutants with her sword, the other mutants all simultaneously began chanting spells directed at her. They didn't care whether other goblins got caught in the crossfire. No, it was a movement that seemed to intuitively sense that it would be dangerous if they couldn't kill Blanca here, even knowing others would be caught up. 'Th-This idiot!! I shouldn't have just been watching, I should have immediately gone out to support her!!' Ralph regretted it, but it was far too late for regret. More than ten intermediate spells came flying, targeting only Blanca. Blanca seemed to try to counter them by intercepting each spell with flame orbs, but the size of those flames was clearly smaller than the mutants' attacks. -Whoooooosh! But for some reason. The flame orbs that seemed like they would simply be extinguished like candles before a strong wind did not go out easily. No, far from being extinguished, the more they collided with the opponents' spells, the more their size increased, becoming intense flames that blazed fiercely. And finally, the extra-large flame orbs that had completely overwhelmed the opponents' spells exploded throughout the battlefield. KWAAAAAAANG! Explosive sound. Light. Hot wind. After the billowing sand smoke disappeared, there wasn't a single living goblin left on the battlefield. Step. Step. Blanca calmly approached the fence and spoke to Ralph and the others who were standing there dazed. "Support mission accomplished. Could you open the gate now?" *** The village festival could not take place. The villagers had been clamoring that they should hold a thanksgiving ceremony with tears of joy after confirming the goblins had disappeared, but when the sun actually set, most of them had fallen into deep sleep. Since they hadn't been able to rest properly while in a state of tension for a while, it was in some sense a natural outcome. And that night. "...Really, are you planning to leave like this? The villagers will be very disappointed." Ralph tried to dissuade Blanca, who was trying to leave without any rest. His tone of speech had become much more polite than before upon learning that Blanca was a 5th rank adventurer. In response to Ralph's attempts to dissuade her, she calmly shook her head. "I have a separate main mission, and this time I just stopped by briefly to handle some backlogged work for the guild. I'll gratefully accept your sentiments. Please give my regards to the villagers instead." She wasn't just declining, but saying she was busy and needed to go quickly - what could he say to that? "But I heard you declined the additional compensation the village offered. Why is that? The village isn't that small, so I don't think they couldn't afford to pay if they wanted to." Ralph flinched and trembled. Because Blanca's words sounded exactly like an interrogation. But thinking it was better to take the beating first, he answered with a sigh. "We managed to hold out somehow, but there were people who died in the village and others who were injured. Thinking about the future, I thought it would be better for them to have some leeway." "I see." "W-Well, if it's about compensation, we'll somehow manage to pay from our side, so couldn't you please show mercy?" "......" At Ralph's words, Blanca, mounted on her horse, stared down at him silently. The moment he met those eyes that held the characteristic detachment of someone who had lost someone precious, yet were simultaneously filled with a strange intensity, Ralph found himself involuntarily shrinking back. Just as he became frightened, wondering if he should change his words even now, Blanca's expression, which had been expressionless all along, softened for the first time. "─It's nice that there's an adventurer's romance. I hope you don't change in the future." "What?" "I think a certain adventurer I know would have evaluated it that way." "???" Without giving an answer to Ralph who didn't understand, Blanca gripped the reins of the new horse she had received from the village. Was it just his imagination that her face, which had been lifeless all along, seemed to have regained a bit of color? "I don't need compensation. I get paid well by my bad-tempered villain employer. Well then, farewell." Hyah! With the command, the horse Blanca was riding kicked off the ground. Ralph stared blankly at the receding figure of the sky-blue haired adventurer.