Changed Fate 6

District 7 or the sanctuary.

Where should I go?

Honestly, both were difficult choices.

[Depending on where you go, the person who dies will change.]

Go to District 7, and A dies. Go to the sanctuary, and B dies.

I didn’t know who A or B would be, but I was certain they would both be allies equally precious to me.

But…

That damn “elder” offered his advice through the wolf.

[That will be the choice that benefits you the most, Lion.]

He told me to let A die and save B instead.

So, he told me to go to District 7.

He even tried to justify it by comparing fate to some kind of card game.

Tadadadat—

After agonizing over it for a long time, I finally made my decision.

The place I had originally intended to go.

The sanctuary.

There wasn’t any grand reason.

There wasn’t any particular reason for my choice. I even agreed with him that reversed fate was still fate in the end.

But—

‘Benefits me, my ass.’

Auril Gavis wasn’t someone I could trust.

If I’m going to lose someone no matter which path I choose, I’d rather move forward on my own terms.

Even if I regretted it later, at least it would be my own regret, not something forced on me by someone else.

‘That old man still doesn’t know me.’

If he was going to give advice like that, he should’ve known I’ve always been a contrarian—

…Huh?

Did he actually predict that I’d react this way?

The thought crossed my mind briefly, but it didn’t make sense.

Even without his advice, I was still going to the sanctuary. There was no reason for him to come and pressure me into making the same choice.

‘Forget it, don’t think about it.’

The more I thought about it, the more distracted I became, so I cleared my head and focused solely on reaching my destination.

10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes…

After running for quite some time—

BOOOOM—! Crash!

A distant explosion rang out.

At the same time, violent tremors travelled along the wall I was running on.

Just what the hell was happening over there?

Tadadadat—!

 

I sped up and Soon, I spotted where the wall met the border of the sanctuary and ran toward the gate.

“…Huh?”

It was pure coincidence that I noticed him.

Even though the thick trees made it hard to see the ground.

“…Rotmiller?”

My first scout.

He was kneeling in front of a tree stump, looking battered and miserable.

I wondered for a moment what was going on before I noticed some random bastard approaching Rottmiller with a sword in hand.

I didn’t need to think.

I kicked off the wall with all my strength and leapt.

And—

KWA-A-A-A-A-BOOM—!!!

As if I had used Leap, the ground shook violently when I landed. The ones surrounding Rotmiller stared at me wide-eyed.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing to my scout?”

Rotmiller stared at me like he’d seen a ghost.

And in that instant, I realized.

“…Jandel?”

So A… was Rotmiller.

***

The fight ended quickly. With each swing of my hammer, another head flew, and that was the end of it.

Well, more than half escaped like cockroaches, but still.

“Are you alright, Rotmiller?”

“Ah…”

“Looks like you’re not.”

Ssssss—

“Ack!!”

He didn’t look well, so I splashed a potion over his wounds. Only then did he seem to come back to his senses.

However, the burst of energy was so strong that it took him a while to return to normal.

“Bjorn…”

“Looks like you’re finally awake.”

“…Th-thanks to you, I am alive.”

“How’s your body? I’ve got plenty of potions.”

“…I’m fine. I’m all healed up.”

Hmm. Good enough.

“By the way, Jandel… how did you end up here………………”

Ah, that.

I knew he was curious, but explaining everything would take way too long.

“We can talk about me later. First, tell me what the situation is.”

“Ah……………”

Rottmiller also seemed to realize that now wasn’t the time for questions. He quickly returned to his old, reliable self and briefed me on the situation.

To sum it up:

“The Noark bastards disabled the barrier first, then invaded. We were badly outnumbered and forced to retreat. During the chaos, our elites slipped through the expanded frontline to take the enemy commanders’ heads.”

“However, I don’t know if their plan succeeded or failed… This isn’t the time for that. You need to get over there and help…”

“…Huh?” He gasped

Rottmiller didn’t seem to understand why I was carrying him.

“Why are you carrying me…? Leave me. I’ll only slow you down.”

Coldly speaking, Rottmiller wasn’t wrong.

Although he was still the same, I had changed far too much since my days with Team Halfling.

He wouldn’t just be unhelpful; he’d be a hindrance.

But…

“You’re my scout, aren’t you?”

Leaving him alone just didn’t sit right with me. And there was no guarantee he’d be safe just because I saved him this once.

So…

“You should be the one to tell me where I need to go.”

When I spoke jokingly, Rottmiller froze for a moment before letting out a small chuckle.

“You really haven’t changed.”

“Isn’t there a saying that people die when they change? I plan on living a long time.”

It took him a moment to respond “……..I don’t know how their plan went, but let’s head toward the main gate for now.”

With that, I ran quickly towards the gate with Rottmiller on my back.

Naturally, the path to the gate was crawling with Noark bastards.

Not that they were much of a hindrance, though.

Koong—! Koong—!

Although it was a soldier’s duty to block an enemy charge, the Noarkans hastily rolled out of the way when they saw me barreling in like a tank.

Thanks to them—always so kind in the face of the strong—it wasn’t long before I passed through the forest path and arrived at the battle-scarred gate.

…A lot of people died.’

The area in front of the gate was littered with corpses.

There were many Noarkians, but just as many allies.

Most of them were Barbarian warriors.

Among the countless bodies, I spotted a few familiar faces.

Among the corpses, I recognized warriors I had grown familiar with during my time as a barbarian.

The guy who bought the very first house when the real estate market opened.

The one I smacked on the head after he complained about the improved equipment at the coming-of-age ceremony and asked me for one.

The moment I saw their faces, my jaw clenched involuntarily, but I finished scanning the area first.

For some reason, whenever our eyes met, those Noark bastards would avert their gaze or back away…

‘Not important, ignore them.’

There were only two things worth paying attention to.

Where the gate should have been, there was nothing but rubble. Even the wall had crumbled, and the debris sealed off the only path between the sanctuary and District 7.

And…

“Huh? Isn’t that Bjorn?”

“What did you say? Mister? It’s Mister! Misteeeer!!”

For some unknown reason, my allies were peering down at me from the top of the wall.

As soon as our eyes met, I started counting:

Aynar, Versil, Misha, Erwin, James Carla…

Excluding Amelia, Auyen, Parab, and Marone, all members were there and unharmed.

“Misteeeer!!”

Then, Erwin gracefully leapt from the high wall and flew towards me.

With Erwin’s physical abilities, she wouldn’t get hurt falling from that height, but I instinctively caught her in my arms as she fell.

“Where have you been!! I was so worried!!”

“I’ll tell you the story later; tell me the situation first.”

Even though there were plenty of Noarkans around, I had no problem starting the conversation..

Perhaps due to my reputation, they all just kept their distance and watched, not daring to approach.

“I heard from Rotmiller that the plan was to strike the Noark leadership. Did that succeed?”

“Ah… that… we failed.”

But from what she explained, the outcome was actually better than failure.

They didn’t capture the leadership, but they lured Noark’s elites outside the wall and collapsed it behind them.

“Now we’re occupying the top of the wall and blocking their reinforcements from entering the sanctuary!”

Hmm… so that’s why they were up there.

If I hadn’t run into Rotmiller, I probably would’ve met them on the wall too.

“Anyway, Ms. Gowland…” Maybe because I’d been gone so long, Erwin kept rambling just to keep the conversation going, even in the middle of a war.

I cut her off with a smirk.

“That’s enough. It’s obvious what the next step in the plan is.”

“…Huh?”

‘Huh?’ what.

As long as we hold the line at the wall, the enemy’s numbers inside the sanctuary won’t increase.

In other words, the enemies already inside the sanctuary are isolated from the main force.

So there’s only one thing to do.

“We just have to wipe them out, right?”

“…Ah! You really are smart!”

I was used to Erwin’s mindless praise, so I let it slide and scanned the area once more.

Whether they had heard that the gate had collapsed or because I had drawn so much attention while running, more and more Noarkans were gathering in the clearing in front of the gate.

One, two, three, four…

There were so many Noarkans that counting them was meaningless.

It would take quite a while to kill them all with a hammer, one by one.

Therefore…

“Erwin, get ready.”

“…Huh?”

“It’s been a while since we did ‘that’.”

Without me having to say anything, she understood and activated her skill.

「Erwin Fornacci di Tersia has cast [Spiritization].」

「A wind spirit dwells within the character’s body.」

「Evasion bonus applied to all damage.」

「Magic damage received is doubled.」

「Strong bonus against piercing and slashing attacks.」

「Agility greatly increased………………」

Well, for mowing down mobs, nothing beats this.

[The ranges of all attacks are tripled.]

[The character has cast [Swing]

My hammer grew like the Monkey King’s staff, stretching toward my enemies.

Booooom!

A crisp sound echoed across the battlefield, but it was drowned out by the noise of my racing thoughts.

A was Rotmiller.

And because I came to the sanctuary,

A survived.

Then…

KWA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-ANG—!!!

Just who the hell is B?

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