After breakfast, Roy bid farewell to the two girls and left the Aozaki residence, heading to Fuyuki City Hall.
Today was the day for his security team mission.
The secretary of the mayor's office, a young woman from the Zenjou family, briefed the security team captain on the mission details before hastily departing.
The security team captain was also a magus, one of the many European maguses who had come to the city.
In addition to him, the team included over a dozen magi like Roy and thirty to forty armed soldiers.
Most of the magi's eyes lingered on Roy for a few moments.
Some looked at him with disdain, some greeted him warmly, while others observed indifferently.
Roy responded with a smile to each, engaging in cheerful conversation with those who greeted him.
He even promised, "I'll definitely introduce you to my family head."
Then promptly forgot about it.
The security team accepted their mission and soon left through Fuyuki City's gates.
Alongside the fully armed soldiers were miners like Aki Tomoya.
Though the world had been burning for a full year, rendering most land unusable, mines remained largely unaffected. Since resources were essential, Fuyuki City had quickly seized control of a nearby mine, sending miners to extract ore and stationing magi there for protection.
Several hours later, around noon, the security team arrived at the mine without major incident.
The miners were handed over to the site supervisor for accommodation, while the recently extracted ore was loaded for transport. The group of several dozen then began their return journey.
At this point, the security team's mission wasn't over yet.
Originally, their task was simply escorting miners and transporting resources. But starting last month, they had taken on an additional duty—patrolling the wilderness for potential refugees.
"Why do we have to care about those refugees? We can barely survive ourselves!"
"Don't say that. Refugees are a resource too. There might even be talented individuals among them who could help the city develop."
"I envy those magi. They get to pick refugees as attendants. If we could do the same, I'd be way more motivated!"
"Give it a rest. There are more security soldiers than refugees. How would that even work…?"
The armed soldiers huddled together in small groups, whispering among themselves.
Their words were filled with envy toward the magi.
In this era, magi—who could dispel farmland curses and fight demonic beasts—were the true elite.
"Split into three groups and search near the city walls. Don't go too far!"
The security captain issued his orders.
Monsters were rare near Fuyuki City. Even demonic beasts and curses seemed to have a survival instinct, recognizing the city as dangerous. They could afford to relax a little.
Roy followed orders, joining a group of magi and soldiers to search for refugees near the city.
Roy took the refugee search seriously—there might still be people he knew among them.
But after scouring the area until dusk, the entire security team hadn't found a single trace of refugees.
"Guess we'll have to regroup."
The group leader made the call.
The others were happy to oblige. Roy was disappointed but prepared to rejoin the main force.
"Wait—there's a massive magical energy signature approaching!"
Suddenly, Roy's expression hardened as he shouted a warning to the others.
"What?!"
The group was startled but reacted swiftly.
The armed soldiers immediately formed a protective circle around the magi, who began preparing their spells, all on high alert.
The magical energy signature moved fast. Soon, several magi also sensed the overflowing mana.
And the moment they did, their faces twisted in horror.
"What kind of energy is this?! It's unbelievably huge!"
"And there's an overwhelming mental corruption effect!"
"What the hell is this enemy?!"
"Fall back to the city walls—now!"
Without even consulting each other, the magi unanimously chose to flee.
Seeing this, some soldiers exchanged confused glances, while others turned pale with terror. Soon, the entire group was in chaotic retreat toward Fuyuki's walls.
Roy applied speed-enhancing runes to his legs and ran as well.
But unlike the others' desperate flight, he kept looking back to observe the situation.
"Scree…!"
"Screeeech—!"
Soon, a cacophony of shrill cries erupted from behind them—like the chaotic howls of mountain apes, piercing eardrums with their sharpness.
It sounded like a horde of monsters was closing in.
Roy glanced back.
What he saw was a swarm of grotesque, multicolored creatures.
Each stood about half a person's height, lacking facial features or limbs. Instead, they resembled sea creatures, propelling themselves with eight writhing tentacles. Where their faces should have been were starfish-like appendages spewing ink-like miasma. Their bodies were covered in blue, green, and red spots, disgusting to look at.
And at the center of these sea monsters was a single figure.
Cloaked in a wide robe, cradling a book, the figure exuded an overwhelming demonic aura. Their face was obscured, but their arms were spread wide as if in praise of God.
"Scree!"
The sea monsters had no legs, but their tentacles propelled them forward at terrifying speed.
The leading few let out sharp shrieks as they lunged at the soldiers at the rear, their starfish-like mouths splitting open to reveal rows upon rows of fangs—capable of shredding a person to pieces in one bite.
"Stay back!"
The rear soldiers screamed as they opened fire, gunshots ringing out continuously.
Bullets tore through the monsters' bodies, leaving bloody holes, but the creatures seemed unfazed. As if they felt no pain, they pounced like starving tigers.
"Ahhh—!"
Just as the soldiers were about to be devoured—
Roy swiftly drew in the air with one hand, completing four or five runes in under a second. They ignited into layers of flame, engulfing the monsters in a blazing tide.
"Run!"
"Y-Yes!"
The soldiers had no time to thank him, immediately sprinting for their lives.
When they looked ahead, they realized Roy was the only magus still with them—the others had long since vanished.
Some gritted their teeth in frustration, some took it in stride, while others were overcome with gratitude toward Roy.
The tentacled monsters were wary of the flames, hesitating to advance. Roy erected several more fire walls, successfully halting their pursuit and leading all the soldiers safely into the city.
"Hmm."
In the distance outside the city, the robed magus holding the grimoire let out an eerie murmur.
After lingering for a moment, he turned and left.
The tentacled monsters, as if guarding him, slowly retreated from the city walls, vanishing beyond the horizon.
Only once the danger had passed did the tense survivors finally relax, gasping for breath. Some even collapsed to the ground.
"I thought the walls were going to be breached…"
"That was terrifying! I almost thought Fuyuki City would be destroyed!"
"What kind of person was that? How could they control so many sea demons?!"
Panicked voices rose along the city walls as the shaken survivors processed their close brush with death.
Roy took several deep breaths before steadying himself.
Squinting into the distance, he watched the direction where the sea monsters had disappeared.
"There wasn't just one massive magical energy signature… There were five. And one of them was several times more terrifying than the other four combined."
Fuyuki City now faced its greatest crisis since the Cataclysm.
***
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