District 7(1)

After locking Subordinate G in the basement and drawing all the curtains to make the living room completely dark, we gathered to share our thoughts.

“…The situation doesn’t look good.”

It was Versil who first broke the silence.

“Soon enough, they’ll realize that the patrol unit who spotted us has gone missing. When that happens, the real search will begin. It’s only a matter of time before they find out we’re here.”

It was true; staying in this house any longer would be dangerous.

Even for us, if we got surrounded, there’d be no way out.

During the Ice Rock expedition, I’d already sensed that Noark’s high-ranking plunderers, including Orcules, were no easy opponents.

And since they continued to clear the eighth floor afterward, they must have grown much stronger.

I nodded at Versil’s opinion and continued,

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of hiding here forever. We need to find a way to escape as quickly as possible.”

“That’s a relief.”

Our goal was clear: escape District 7, which was now under Noark’s control.

Once that objective was set, the conversation naturally flowed around it.

“They’re occupying both Districts 7 and 13 at the same time, right? It’d be difficult for them to secure that wide castle wall with just their forces.”

“So, we find a gap and break through?”

“Exactly! Once we get past the wall, our allies will be waiting on the other side!”

Erwin’s Plan: Forceful Breakthrough.

“What about using the sewers…? The paths are narrow, so even if we’re spotted, we can handle it…”

Misha’s Plan: Stealthy Detour.

“…Why bother with all this trouble? Why not just hide and wait? The royal army will probably come to rescue us in a few days…”

With her Aggression levels lower, Aynar recommended the wait and see strategy.

And then…

“Auyen, why don’t you say something too? Don’t just sit there.”

“Eh? You mean me?”

“You don’t have to give a perfect answer. Just say what you’d do if it were up to you. No pressure.”

“If I had the power… I’d go save the people.”

“People…?”

“Yes… Most of the explorers in District 7 have been taken hostage…”

Auyen’s Unexpected Opinion: Rescue the Hostages.

“O-Of course, I’m not a hero…! It’s just something I thought of, so please don’t mind me!”

As everyone’s eyes turned to him, Auven got flustered and babbled.

But…

“Not bad.”

Amused by Auyen’s suggestion, Amelia looked at me and spoke.

“Jandel, maybe now is our chance. They don’t know we’re here, so they’ll only be on guard against the Royal Army outside the walls.”

“You mean hit them from the inside while they’re distracted.”

“Exactly. If we succeed, it’ll be a huge achievement. Two cities of Lavigion falling to external enemies is unprecedented. You might even be recognized like the nobles who stopped the Heretical Duke during the Iron Wall Rebellion.”

Amelia had a point.

In all of Raphdonia’s long history, such incidents could be counted on one hand.

If we succeeded, there’d be countless rewards, maybe even a rank promotion.

And within Melbes, the multiracial noble alliance to which I belonged, my position would rise considerably.

“…We’d better hear more before deciding. Auyen, go fetch the guy in the basement.”

I fell deep into thought.
***
After being locked in the basement for a while, Subordinate G was released and answered our questions as if he’d genuinely switched sides.

Thanks to him, we had a much clearer picture of the situation in District 7.

“The explorers are being held in multiple locations.”

Given their combat prowess, explorers usually served as the city’s standing army. The places they were imprisoned could be broadly divided into three categories:

The underground prison of the Explorer’s Guild (where I had once been locked up).

The underground prisons of the Three Churches’s temples.

And the underground prison of District 7’s Public Safety Office.

Those three pretty much covered the key areas, but in reality, they were being held in dozens of other places.

District 7 alone had multiple temples and Explorer’s Guild branches, and the Public Safety Office had several sub-branches as well.

“There were so many hostages that they had to split them up like this…”

Still, it was hard to say whether this was good or bad for us.

‘On one hand, their forces are spread thin, making it easier to carry out rescue operations…’

But on the other hand, hitting even a few locations would expose our presence. No matter how fast we moved, the distance between prisons made it inevitable.

“Still, strengthening our forces with each location we hit is a positive.”

“Pardon…? A-Are you seriously planning to rescue them…?” Subordinate G mumbled.

“Why are you so curious about that?”

“……”

Anyway, after that, we questioned him about the patrol squads’ routes and the distribution of forces along the walls. As a low-ranking soldier, of course, he couldn’t provide precise details, but…

“A-And the civilians are gathered near the walls. I heard they’re managing by releasing a few at a time whenever the palace’s pressure gets too intense…..”

Even rough information was better than nothing.

“Good. Then go back home.”

“…Home?”

“Auyen will guide you.”

After locking Subordinate G back in the basement, we held one final meeting.

“Judging by your expression, you’ve already made a decision.”

“…You can tell?”

“To some extent. So, what’s the plan?”

Since I could tell it was a rhetorical question, I answered without hesitation.

“We’ll free the hostages and escape the city together.”

“How?”

Amelia asked shortly, and I replied instantly.

“We’ll figure that out now.”

“……”

“Together.”

I had decided to go for it because it seemed feasible, but we still needed to work out the details.

Besides, meticulous planning was better done as a group rather than by one person.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

We discussed which prison to target first, the routes between them, and whether to escape over the wall or through the sewers. If we chose to escape over the wall, which point would be best.

Gradually, the plan started coming together.

“But…”

During a brief break, Misha spoke cautiously.

“Doesn’t something feel… strange?”

An ambiguous mutter.

“What’s strange?” Erwin frowned and asked,

“I mean… What exactly do the Noark people want? There are parts that just don’t make sense.”

“Isn’t it obvious? They want to take what’s ours and rule the world.”

“Sure, but… This is way too reckless.”

Misha continued quickly.

“They must know that taking hostages is only buying time. So why attack like this?”
Even Erwin didn’t argue, and, honestly, we all had the same question in the back of our minds.

In this situation, Noark could never win.

Even if they had ten times more hostages, the Royal Army wouldn’t hesitate to draw blood.

And…

There’s no way Noark doesn’t know that.

An invasion with a predetermined defeat.

So why attempt such a foolish act? Did they not think that far ahead?

No, that was impossible.

“It’s strange that they targeted two districts simultaneously, given how unstable they are. Even maintaining control over one would be challenging.”

“Not to mention, Bifron is between District 7 and 13, making it even more difficult to defend their territories.”

“…Right. Why would they do that? Do they have some goal in Bifron?”

“I don’t know, but one thing’s certain, this is a purposeful move.”

By now, it was reasonable to assume they had a hidden plan.

“Then the hostage situation is just…”

“A way to buy time for their next move.”‘

“Then we need to move as quickly as possible. The longer they have, the more unpredictable things will get.”

Really, many hands make light work.

By discussing things together, we also realized we were on a time limit.

Though we didn’t know how much time we had left.

Still, it was clear that we had to move quickly.

“…Then the route is set. Everyone clear on the plan?”

“Ah, I’m still—”

“It’s fine, Aynar. Just stay next to Versil.”

“Oh! Really?!”

Yeah, I never expected her to memorize it anyway.

Aynar was best kept next to someone smarter.

“Then we’re ready. Let’s head out.”

Just as we were about to leave after final preparations…

“Bjoorn! What about the guy in the basement?! You swore to spare him!”

Ugh. Why is she so good at remembering useless things like this? Maybe she had some genetic quirk that made her cling to oaths while forgetting everything else.

Since Aynar didn’t know I was a Player, I couldn’t casually break an oath in front of her. But it wasn’t a big deal either.

“What’s the problem? I did spare him.”

“…Huh?”

“Do I have to feed him, carry him around, and take care of him forever?”

“Well… no, but…”

“Then it’s settled. Leave him be. He’ll figure it out. If he starves, that’s his fate.”

“Oh… I guess?”

“Aynar! Stop wasting time and get next to Versil! That’s your spot!”

“Got it!!”

Okay, Aynar has been taken care of.

Creak — Thud!

Let’s go.
***

 

We left the ruins of our old building and moved as stealthily as possible to avoid the patrols.
Judging by their movements, they hadn’t yet realized we were there.

“This way.”

I left the role of guide to Amelia.

She was practically an expert in stealth and infiltration.

We stopped when she signaled and moved when she did. Eventually, we reached our destination right on time.

“Looks like that guy was right, there aren’t many guards here.”

It was the Grand Temple of Leatras, a place I had often visited before.

And today, it was the starting point of our escape plan.

After scouting the area from the second floor of the building opposite it on the street, we officially put our plan into action.

Well, for me, it was just a matter of waiting.

“I’ll be back.”

Amelia and Misha, who had stealth skills.

And Erwin, capable of long-range assassinations.

This three-person strike team moved out separately, and soon, their signal came.

As we headed down from the building toward the main gate, I saw that the guards had already been taken out.

After using Amelia’s exploration tools, we erased all traces before entering the Temple.

Then—

Thud! — Crunch! — Swoosh!

We followed Amelia and kept going with the plan. But a long tail is bound to get caught.

“Looks like… we’ve been spotted?”

At Erwin’s muttering, Amelia frowned and nodded.

“Seems so. It’s getting noisy.”

I couldn’t hear anything, but I trusted their judgment.

“How did they even notice us?”

“Who knows? There are plenty of ways. People with strange abilities are everywhere. Save the questions for later—we need to speed up.”

“Right.”

Tch. I had hoped to finish this quietly and buy some time.

“The royal army! The royal army is attacking!”

By the time we reached the staircase leading to the underground prison, the stationed forces began attacking us.

Killing them all and then going down was one option, but it was not time-efficient.

“Jandel, we’ll hold them off here. You go down.”

“Alright.”

Leaving the ground floor to my allies, I hurried below.

The underground prison was more spacious than the building above.

Only one guard was on duty, likely due to shift rotations.

“D-Don’t come any closer!”

Having heard the commotion above, the guard stood ready with his weapon drawn.

Crunch!

—Only for his skull to be crushed by my hammer. The imprisoned explorers quickly grasped the situation.

“Rescue…?”

“Why just one person…?”

“Wait… he looks familiar…”

“Baron Jandel! It’s Baron Jandel!”

“The giant has come!!!”

The cheers echoing through the underground were deafening, but I took it as a good sign.

At least they had the energy to shout.

Might as well increase my favorability while I’m at it.

“Wait! I, Bjorn, son of Jandel, have come to save you!!”

“Wooooah!!”

After proclaiming myself their savior, I searched the dead guard’s waistband for the keys.

…No keys?

An unexpected situation, but I didn’t panic.

There was no problem in this world that couldn’t be solved.

Not if you had enough strength.

Creeeak—!

With a bit of force, the iron bars bent like spoons.

“T-Thank you! Thank you!”

“Did the royal family send you, my lord?”

“We heard you’d gone missing…”

The explorers bombarded me with questions, but I had no time for answers.

“Alright, enough talking. Give me your hands.”

“Ah… Yes!”

First, I crushed the restraints on their wrists. Since they were magic-sealing artifacts, their physical durability was low.

“Once you’re free, head upstairs and help out. Don’t block the way.”

“Um… do you know where our equipment is…?”

“Ask upstairs. I don’t know either.”

“Yes!”

Skipping the hassle of finding keys and solving everything with brute strength made the rescue much faster than expected.

But then…

“Below! The priests and mages are on the second underground floor!”

Oh, there’s a second underground floor too. I did find it strange that there were only ordinary explorers around.

“I, Bjorn, son of Jandel, have come to save you!!”

After that, I went down to the second floor and repeated the favourability increase routine while continuing the rescue.

By the time I finished and returned upstairs, the cleanup was already done.

“Good work, Mister.”

“You’re the ones who did the hard work! Anyway, priests! Are there any bishops or higher-ups here? The more, the better!”

I singled out the priests from the normal explorers and gathered them in one place.

Fortunately, given this was a temple, there were over ten bishop-level priests…

“…Are you injured somewhere?”

“No, nothing like that. I need your help for the next phase of the plan.”

“Ah, I see! We’ll assist with all our might. But… what exactly do you need us to do?”

“Pray for us.”

“Pray… you say…?”

Their reactions were as if I’d said something completely absurd. I grinned and continued.

“I want the essence removed.”

“……”

“Right now.”

Well, if you’re going to do something big, you’ve gotta buff up first.

「[Orc Hero’s Essence] infused in the character’s soul has been removed.」

「Strength has decreased by -70.」

「Agility has decreased by -35.」

「Fighting Spirit has decreased by -40.」

「Physical Resistance has decreased by -20…」

「……」

「……」

.
.
.

「[????’s Essence] seeps into the character’s soul.」

 

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