The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

No matter how different the events of this world were from the common sense I knew from the world I came from, honestly, I couldn’t quite grasp the situation at hand.

“Claire, cover the rear!”

“Got it!”

With Leo’s shout, Claire immediately rushed to the back. It seemed like, with Rottie using firearms and Mia using magic, the rear could get a little unstable in close-quarters combat.

And the ones charging at us were—

“Keheh!”

With a swift swing of her sword, Claire’s strike left deep gouges in the floor and walls of the ruins. At that moment, several of the approaching dogs let out their signature howls—like animals in pain—before being sent flying into the air.

“Glas Esta!”

I heard Mia’s shout just as the sound of a gunshot rang out.

Of the two dogs that had been lifted into the air, one was impaled by an ice spear, while the other took a bullet to the head, blood spraying as it fell to the ground. If an animal rights organization from the world I came from saw this, they’d probably be horrified.

But we didn’t have time to be horrified by such scenes.

Click.

From beside me, I heard the sound of a magazine being inserted into a pistol.

Rena calmly swapped out the empty magazine, then fired two shots straight ahead. In front of her, a massive wolf with blue fur, bigger than the combined weight of Rena and me, received the two shots from her gun.

In an instant, smoke billowed from the wolf’s face, followed by a furious, guttural howl—one that made it clear just how angry the beast was.

The wolf leapt forward—

Bang!

It crashed to the ground, struck by my rifle shot.

It wasn’t a Marmaros round. I had modified the ammunition to increase the charge to match the barrel’s durability, but it was enough to penetrate the wolf’s skull.

“This is never going to end!”

Alice shouted.

If the path had been a little narrower, we might have placed those who could wield swords at the front and back, with fire support and support groups in the middle. But this ruin was too large.

Even with ten people positioned in a circle, there was still space left, and with beasts attacking from all directions, the six swordsmen couldn’t protect everyone—me, Rena, Mia, and Rottie—effectively.

I had no problem, though, since I could still rewind time and I had two pistols. Rena, armed with a pistol and submachine gun, wouldn’t have trouble in close combat either.

But Rottie’s rifle was a bolt-action, and Mia needed time to cast. While the two of them had been able to shoot and drop the incoming beasts before they got too close, it wasn’t enough to let our guard down.

“How the heck are there so many beasts in the underground of Lutetia!?”

“Sorry, Princess, but I don’t think they’re living here.”

Charlotte, swinging her rapier, spoke with a hint of sarcasm, and Jake, nearby, also chimed in.

As Jake pointed out, the beasts had collars on them, resembling dog collars. They even had identification tags attached.

In the original game, similar beasts appeared later in the dungeon, making it easier to acquire Marmaros—but back then, they were part of the Emperor’s plan to use them as weapons.

But now, if this situation were really like that...

I shot a few more of the approaching dogs, quickly loading my rifle with the speedloader, then glanced over at Sophia.

Even while wielding a glowing sword, Sophia wore a complicated expression.

She probably couldn’t understand why so many beasts were swarming in a place her own country had set up.

“Let’s take a break for a moment.”

I spoke up.

“If we go further, we should reach a room that’s empty. Even if there are other soldiers inside, we should be able to deal with them and close the door to rest for a while.”

In the original game, there weren’t even autosave features, so players had to manually save whenever they felt uneasy. But with the new world, autosave sections appeared, usually in areas with key dialogue events or recovery stations.

The recovery stations we saw in the Northwood ruins...

...Now that I think about it, I’ve only been to one ruin in this world. Surely there are more relics than what I’ve seen.

It felt like I was experiencing the entire series in one go, and some parts of the story seemed to be missing in the process... Well, not every ruin appeared in the original, and the relics weren’t all gathered into one, but...

That’s not something to think about right now.

What I needed to focus on was the current situation.

As we got closer to the cathedral, stronger beasts would definitely start showing up.

I wasn’t sure if it would be worth rethinking the plan, but at least we needed some time to rest. The swordsmen were already getting soaked in sweat.

A few of the people I locked eyes with nodded.

The ones who didn’t nod would catch up as we moved.

“This way!”

I shouted, turning and running ahead.

“Huff...”

Claire let out a long breath as she stood in front of the recovery station. She watched as the small cuts on her body healed instantly.

Not just Claire, but everyone who had entered the room was healing.

“What is this...?”

Charlotte muttered as she watched the wounds on her hands disappear.

“......”

Sophia didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure whether she knew about these devices and was silent because of it, or if she was truly unaware since she was still a low-ranking member of the kingdom.

“Rottie, are you okay?”

“Yes, there are no injuries. But I’m concerned about how many bullets we have left.”

“I have extra ammo.”

I shrugged off my coat, revealing the exosuit beneath. It looked like something from an SF novel, though it was made with a lot of brass rather than steel, and the gears were constantly whirring. Some of the glass covering the gears had small cracks.

It was a prototype, but quite functional.

Maybe in a sequel, this suit would be more widely used, though it still wasn’t mass-produced.

I set down the metal box I had strapped to my back.

“Rottie, Rena, if you need anything, take it.”

“Thank you.”

Rena responded immediately. Rottie hesitated for a moment before saying,

“Well then, I won’t turn it down.”

She walked over to me.

Luckily, I had prepared various types of ammunition, just in case. Though I had only debated whether to use the submachine gun, I never expected it to come in handy.

In truth, I hadn’t bothered to dig out every single item. I’d just loaded up the train with all the supplies.

I was already heavily armed, with an elephant-hunting rifle strapped to my back and ammunition hanging from every part of my body, including my waist, stomach, and thighs, so I was a bit weighed down, even with these special gear.

“...The beasts we’ve faced so far.”

As Rottie and Rena chose their ammunition, Alice, who had taken a breath, spoke up.

“Those things... they were all bred by someone, right?”

“Yes.”

They might have even been created, I thought.

There’s magic for that. More specifically, artifacts that make it possible to open gates to entirely different worlds, corrupt “beasts,” turning them into monstrous forms, and even summon creatures from beyond to command them.

In the original game, this magic was used by the Emperor in the later stages. That’s when beasts and monsters infused with Marmaros would flood the dungeon, and players would complete the final setups by looping through certain areas.

But here, Marmaros wouldn’t just drop to the floor when we captured a beast or monster, and right now, it was of no use.

The ancient artifact that allowed this magic had been secured and hidden by the Holy Kingdom. The Emperor would eventually steal it for his own purposes, but... the Holy Kingdom would likely treat this magic as a curse.

Because it goes against the perfect world the goddess created.

If that’s the case, then the Emperor...?

No.

That can’t be. If the Emperor had taken control of this underground place, the Holy Kingdom wouldn’t be so quiet about it.

And there would be no reason for him to use this magic here. If he wanted to use it, he could have done so in the Holy Kingdom, where it could deal a significant blow to his enemies without starting a world war.

So, it seems this magic was used by the Holy Kingdom.

“...Have you figured something out?”

I looked up at Alice’s voice.

Looking around, all of my friends were staring at me with anxious expressions.

“......”

Yeah, at this point, hiding what I was thinking might cause problems for us later. Emotional confusion could seriously disrupt our battle plans.

“I think the Holy Kingdom was preparing for war.”

I decided to speak plainly, saying what had been on my mind.