GILF Hunter

The soldiers looking out beyond the walls raised their heads.

Immediately after the faint silhouettes of monsters reflected in a few people’s eyes, countless monsters began pouring out from the entrance of the Labyrinth.

’They’re out!’

’Sound the alarm and relay it to the command post!’

With the shouts of the soldiers on guard, monsters emerging from the Labyrinth covered the plains. The once peaceful plains were instantly filled with the roars of monsters.

Soldiers and mercenaries waiting inside the walls hurried forward to take their positions.

’It looks like they’ll swarm soon.’

’Is there anything unusual? Monsters we haven’t seen before?’

’They’re just the usual, ordinary monsters.’

The soldier acting as a lookout reported as he scanned the distant entrance of the Labyrinth.

Since it was late afternoon with the sun high in the sky, other personnel on the walls could easily confirm the sight of the monsters swarming in.

This was because this particular invasion had started, rarely, in the late afternoon while the sun was still up.

’Gosh. It’s a bit of a late start. How troublesome.’

Rebecca, one of the commanders from the Mercenary Guild, watched the monsters from atop the wall, then looked up at the sun’s position and muttered with a troubled expression.

Starting while it was bright wasn’t bad in itself, but the time was too late. Considering how long invasions usually lasted, there was a high possibility the sun would set mid-battle.

’At this rate, it might not end until the sun goes down.’

’Isn’t it better than starting in the middle of the night?’

’Do you know how annoying it is if a few remaining monsters slip away at dawn? We have to sweep the entire surrounding area afterward.’

Hearing the mercenary beside her, Rebecca let out a small sigh.

It didn’t matter if things like goblins slipped away... but if a strong monster escaped elsewhere and settled near another city or a main road, it was quite a headache.

While such things rarely happened during the day, once the sun set and it became dark, there were cases where monsters wouldn’t charge toward the castle and would slip away down other paths.

There were monsters with poor night vision, or those whose aggressiveness decreased in the dark. Such monsters would slink away to other places instead of throwing themselves at the castle when the battle was nearing its end.

Like missing an aerial monster flying away, or a few monsters with habits of living deep in the forest leaking out...

Every single one was a situation that became a headache just thinking about it.

While the people in the command center who heard the news were scowling likewise.

On a section of the wall slightly further away, some mercenaries who weren’t particularly concerned with such worries were letting out exclamations of awe while looking down comfortably.

’Waaa...’

Watching the monsters covering the plains swarming toward Labyrinthos, the knights on the wall spoke to Ian, who was standing nearby.

’It’s incredible. It’s my first time seeing this many monsters. Are monster invasions always like this?’

’Mostly, yes... Though there have been some unusual occurrences recently, this is the norm.’

The knights were looking out beyond the walls with fascinated expressions.

Mercenaries seeing this sight for the first time—countless monsters covering the outside of the walls—usually felt fear, but perhaps because these knights had so much experience hunting monsters, none of them looked afraid at all.

Then again, they were knights who had recently returned from the Labyrinth. A mere pack of ordinary monsters might seem like nothing to them.

Watching the wave of monsters rising from the Labyrinth gradually approach the walls, one knight asked Ian.

’Then, around when should we head down?’

’I told you, there’s no reason to go down.’

Ian shook his head at the knights who were looking at him with expressions that said they were ready.

’Prioritize blocking those that climb up the walls. Protect the mages or archers who step out to snipe nearby... other than that, just stop them from crossing the walls and entering inside.’

’Ah... it was a siege defense?’

’Then what were you imagining...?’

’I thought we’d go out and fight a field battle... well, because these days there aren’t many places that specifically do siege warfare.... I suppose it makes sense if the opponent is monsters.’

Only then did the knights nod.

...Knights fighting a head-on battle against a swarm of monsters. It was a relief he could stop them in advance. Otherwise, he might have seen the knights charging out into the midst of the monsters.

However, come to think of it... since they were all Holy Knights, it might not have been very dangerous.

The majority of that mass consisted of weak monsters. Since the survivability of Holy Knights bunched together in a group needed no explanation, they would have been able to pull themselves out well enough on their own even when it seemed dangerous, without the help of other mercenaries.

Ian felt slightly tempted.

...In that case, wasn’t letting the knights just go out a pretty decent strategy?

’You have the expression of someone thinking useless thoughts.’

’...Rebecca.’

As Ian was having those thoughts, someone who had approached from the side spoke to him.

It was Rebecca, who was in charge of commanding the mercenaries in the northern wall section.

Since it was the beginning of the wave, monsters hadn’t started pouring out in earnest yet. The wall’s defense was well within capacity, so it seemed she was making a quick round in the meantime.

’I’m telling you, I get anxious every time you make that face.’

’I wasn’t thinking anything in particular. It’s just that the offensive doesn’t look that strong.’

’Offensive... Right. I wonder if significantly increasing the bounties this time was that effective.’

Rebecca spoke as she peeked slightly over the wall.

Lucia becoming the next mayor was already considered almost certain.

Mayors had a specific demographic they used as their main support base. Like the merchants who were the current mayor’s support base.

What Lucia, the mayor-elect, intended to draw in was the mercenary groups.

Specifically, the high-ranking mercenary groups that went on Labyrinth expeditions.

Targeting such mercenary groups, Lucia directly pushed for this deep-floor expedition while simultaneously carrying out various attempts regarding the Labyrinth at once.

Increasing the bounties placed on the Labyrinth’s Sources was one of them.

Of course, Labyrinth expeditions didn’t increase simply due to an increase in the monetary amount. More precisely, it was the impact of the Labyrinth-related policies Lucia had announced in advance.

She made an announcement that she would calculate the contribution for subjugated Sources so they could receive official city support for future Labyrinth expeditions.

Strictly speaking, these were policies that could only be properly carried out after she became mayor, so they felt a bit premature, but it seemed she wanted to draw as much response as possible while attention was gathered due to the success of the deep-floor expedition.

The mercenaries’ response was also significant. Equipment, supplies, and information needed for Labyrinth exploration were difficult to obtain with money alone.

Ultimately, they had to receive support or sponsorship from somewhere, so if it was support provided by Lucia, who had successfully completed a deep-floor expedition in cooperation with the temple, it was enough to garner the interest of other Labyrinth explorers.

’It seems that really was effective.’

’Right. If the mayor designed a strategy to directly weaken the invasion like that, it’s a good thing for us too.’

Rebecca spoke to Ian as if she liked that trend as well. To be a bit more precise, it was actually close to a complaint.

’When the mayor is this type, support comes out well and it’s quite good for blocking monsters. Conversely, if a person trying to somehow reduce military costs is elected, it’s a real headache every year. It’s not like the monsters decrease because of that.’

’The budget was reduced a lot during this mayor’s term, wasn’t it?’

’Yeah. We couldn’t let the monsters in though, so we blocked them somehow, but that just proved it could be operated sufficiently with a smaller budget, so it ended up staying reduced. We managed somehow by increasing the ratio mercenaries receive from material sales.’

Well, whatever happened until now. Since things turned out this way, they’d be able to live a bit more comfortably for the next few years.

Rebecca, who was muttering that, looked at Ian with a slightly puzzled face.

Ian’s interest seemed to be elsewhere. Rather than being bored with the conversation, he seemed to be captivated by something.

’Why the long face?’

’...Was my expression strange?’

’Yes. As if you have some kind of worry.’

He must have reflexively worn a stiff expression. Ian shook his head belatedly as if it were nothing.

Rebecca turned her gaze in the direction Ian had been looking.

There was the entrance of the Labyrinth, pouring out monsters.

Until just now, Ian had been looking at that place with an expression as if he were guarding against something.

’Is there something there? A new monster for this year scheduled to appear or something.’

’No. There’s nothing in particular this time. We’ll probably block it without much trouble this year.’

’Really? Well, that’s a relief then. I should start looking around other places, so I’ll leave this side to you.’

Having said that, Rebecca glanced at the Knights behind them.

Since she had actually come to this section to check if the Knights were causing trouble. It seemed Ian was handling them well enough, so her business was done.

Rebecca spoke like that and waved her hand while walking away to look around elsewhere.

...But.

Did he say... ’this time’ just now?

The walking Rebecca turned back to Ian with a slightly curious face.

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