“By any chance... what kind of materials are you talking about?”
“Oh, I have a note here listing the remaining materials. Would you like to see it?”
“Yes. Let me take a look.”
GM handed over the notebook, and Lilis Marone, who had raised her hand earlier, took it and read for a while before nodding.
“If this is the case, we don’t have to worry about materials.”
“Really? Is that true?”
“Yes. We knew in advance that the magic circle was damaged, so we brought as much as possible when we left. The only missing item on the list is Pomplura spores... If the spores are needed because of mana stabilization properties, we can substitute them with Rapion’s Wind Crystals, right?”
“Yes, yes! That’s right! The Wind Crystals will do!”
Oh? That was unexpected. Judging by this, it seems we can start repairing the magic circle immediately.
The problem is... “What should we do?”
Though our options increased, deciding which to choose is not easy.
After all, the city doesn’t feel completely safe. I know why Ibaekho tried so hard to return to the city as soon as possible.
[Once the preparations on the Noark side are done, we will advance to Zod Karnon and kill King Lafdonia.]
Whether Ibaekho is in the city or not, some kind of ‘event’ will occur. ‘He said it would happen a year from nine months ago...’
So now there’s about three months left, maybe? Anyway, because of those things, even if we can return, choosing to go back to the city is not easy.
But... ‘Staying here also feels uncomfortable.’ In some ways, outside the walls feels more dangerous than the city.
Because a monster so dangerous that Noark’s forces couldn’t do anything and lost thousands could appear. Should I stay outside the walls?
Or enter the city? Eventually, I have to choose between these two.
“Havelion, if we start repairing the magic circle immediately, how long will it take?”
“It won’t take long. A lot of time has already passed, and natural restoration has proceeded considerably.”
“Give me an exact time.”
“We can finish within a week.”
Hmm, I see.
“Then start immediately. If you need help from Bersil or Marone, call on them anytime.”
“Yes, understood.”
Still, I ordered the repair work to start immediately. Whether we head for the city or stay outside the walls, repairing the magic circle first was the right call.
“Then today’s meeting will end here. Everyone, rest freely!”
Though earlier than expected, I hurriedly ended the meeting. After all, our options had narrowed to two.
Before deciding which to choose, there was someone I needed to talk to first.
“Sven Parav.”
A paladin from the Reatlas Church, and the goblin mask.
“Eh...? I didn’t do anything.”
As soon as I ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) called his name and approached, he habitually began defending himself. Looking at this, one might wonder what kind of guy he is...
Surprisingly, he has a very unique talent.
“Don’t worry, I’m not here to blame you.”
“Then... is it because of ‘that’?”
“Yes. Has that ‘sense’ not come yet?”
Sven Parav has a ‘precognition’-like ‘intuition ability.’ But it’s not unconditional.
Only for ‘future crises’ he experiences can he detect with near-divine accuracy. So, how about this time?
“Well... I’m not sure yet. Nothing has activated so far...”
“...I see.”
“If I get any feeling like that, I’ll come running to tell you immediately.”
“Alright, understood.”
I felt both regret and slight relief that we couldn’t rely on intuition for this choice. ‘At least not yet...’
Yes, at least not yet—the time when the events in that record will occur.***
One day, two days, three days, four days... time passed quickly until it was exactly the seventh day.
“All done. Now, once the magic circle is activated, we can return to the city immediately.”
GM delivered the news that the magic circle repair was complete. By the way, GM’s expression was very agitated when delivering this news.
It seemed he was deeply moved that this long journey had finally come to an end and we could return...
“Eh...? What do you mean by that?”
“Just as you heard. We will not return to the city immediately.”
“...What?”
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sorry for dragging the reclusive GM out beyond the walls. But there was nothing to be done.
“If you’re not returning... then what are you planning?”
“We will stay here and wait.”
“May I ask why?”
“I can’t say yet. I’ll tell you when it’s more certain.”
Without explaining the reason properly, I continued to stay in ‘wait’ mode. One day, two days, three days... one week, two weeks, three weeks... boring time doing nothing but waiting.
But to me, that time felt like the calm before the storm. Even if not as accurate as Sven Parav, I sensed intuitively.
Thump Like something could happen tomorrow. Whoooooosh! An ominous feeling that something is about to occur.
One month passed in that state, then the second month.
Whooooooshhhhh! The gentle wind suddenly turned fierce. At the same time, the sky darkened. Whoooosh!
Like the day of apocalypse, storm clouds gathered forming massive clouds.
“Do you think it’s going to rain?”
“...I don’t think so...”
“Is there anyone who knows about this climate change?”
Suddenly the surroundings became chaotic. I looked among the members who came out of the barracks and found Sven Parav.
It wasn’t hard to find him. Opening the barracks door, I saw him trembling under a blanket as if he had caught a cold.
I knew immediately.
“Baron...”
Finally, Sven Parav’s intuition had activated. But the problem was...
“We have to get out of here...! N-no, if we leave here, where do we go...? Th-there’s nowhere to run...!”
I think this is the first time I’ve seen him mentally break like this.
“Calm down and explain. What do you mean by ‘nowhere to run’?”
“W-we’ll die! Even if we stay here...! Or leave here and head to the city...!"