As the group of humans continued to make their way through the relatively peaceful grassland in the direction of the town that had its guardian barrier activated, the B Rank Adventurers in charge of guarding everyone couldn’t help feeling a bit uneasy.
It was far too quiet, with not a single monster appearing during their journey. Not even a single big forest rabbit appeared, as every single monster seemed to have evaporated into thin air.
"I hope this isn’t a sign of an A Rank Monster settling down nearby..." Having some guess about the possible reason behind this, the leading adventurer could not help muttering this to himself as his expression became increasingly worried the closer, they got to the town that had its guardian formation activated.
Not too different from him, the rest of the B Rank Adventurers also understood that something was wrong as they similarly heightened their guard. Ready to deal with any unexpected attack.
However, as the battlefield that had been left behind by the ancient dire wolves fight with the humans from the town came into view along with the town, the group began to breathe out a sigh of relief as there was no monster lying in wait close to town.
But more importantly than that, they had clearly spotted the limb that had been cut off by the branch leader on the ground where the battle with the monster behind the activation of the guardian barrier had taken place.
Given that the branch leader who was also a B Rank Adventurer had managed to cut off one of the monster’s limbs, it was obvious that it shouldn’t be an A Rank Monster, but instead just a really powerful B Rank Monster. Meaning that their initial worry of encountering an A Rank Monster could be put aside for now, as it looked like they would instead be dealing with a powerful B Rank Monster that had already lost one of its limbs.
Although this was still a dangerous situation considering that the monster had still managed to activate the guardian barrier of the town, it was far better than having to deal with an A Rank Monster-
"S-someone’s dead ov-"
Blargh!
"I-I can’t-"
Blargh~!
"Hm? Oh... I guess the young ones aren’t used to such things yet..." Suddenly hearing the sound of the apprentice mages starting to throw up at the sight of the mangled bodies that were still laying around on the flat grassland, the B Rank Adventurer in charge of the group came to a stop as he signaled for the rest of the people present to help out the young apprentices.
Due to the circumstances and being too focused on the monster behind the activation of the guardian formation, he had momentarily forgotten that the apprentice mages in charge of the guardian barriers were normally inexperienced and had never really dwelled into dungeons before.
Thinking about it, the current result was something that these apprentice mages would normally go through upon entering the first floor of the dungeon where they would normally get more accustomed to death with time.
"Everyone, keep an eye out on the young ones and the forest over there, I will go and ask the people in the town for information about what happened."
In the end, knowing that they weren’t dealing with an A Rank Monster, he decided to leave the group and go ask for more information from the people in the town, while the apprentice mages calmed down and got ready to examine the guardian barrier.
...
"Look! Someone is here! The people from the guild are here! We are saved!"
"Haha, indeed! Good thing the guardian barrier was around, or we would all have died to those wolves...!"
At the same time that the group of adventurers appeared at the flat grassland outside the town, the people stationed on top of the wall instantly noticed them and began calling out to the people below filled with join. Knowing that they would be safe now that the people from outside the dungeon had appeared.
"What!? They have already appeared!?"
However, different from the happy reactions of the rest of the people in the town, the branch leader wasn’t the slightest bit happy and instead began panicking as he had not yet managed to destroy all the evidence, he had left behind of his shady dealings that ended up resulting in the appearance of the ancient dire wolves.
"Damnit! You two continue trying to erase those things, I will go and meet the people from the guild...!" In the end, he could only instruct the other two people involved to continue destroying the evidence of what they had done, as he himself headed out to meet with the people from the guild to buy more time.
"Oh no... Why did that old man have to come..."
However, upon reaching the wall and seeing the person approaching, the branch guild leader could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine as he recognized him as none other than the person in charge of the guild stationed outside the Howling Cavern and in turn, he was the one in charge of the entire Howling Cavern and everything inside of it.
Although he wasn’t an A Rank Adventurer, it would have been better if he was, as it would be close to impossible to fool the person in control of almost everything inside the Howling Caverns. Even the slightest mess up in the records would draw his attention and he would instantly figure out something was wrong.
Not just that, but although he wasn’t an A Rank Adventurer, it was well known that his strength wasn’t much weaker than one and he was even rumored to be only a single step away from becoming an A Rank Adventurer.
In more simple words, he was the worst possible person who could show up to investigate the activation of the guardian barrier.
"Even if it’s a bit risky, it looks like I can only do that to buy a bit more time..." Knowing that it would be impossible to fool the other party, the branch leader could only go with another way to buy more time for himself.
...
"Hm? Where is the branch leader?"
Arriving at the gate that had been opened up on the other side of the guardian barrier, the guild leader in charge of the smooth operation of the Howling Caverns could not help frowning as he asked this after not spotting the branch leader in charge of the town anywhere among the people that had come out to greet him.
"I-I’m sorry, the branch leader is already on his way, but he was severely injured during the battle that took place and takes a bit more time to move. Even with the priest present, his situation is still rather bad, and it will take some time before he can move around properly again."
"I understand, let’s wait for him until we begin discussing what happened here." Hearing what one of the adventurers said in response, the guild leader nodded his head in understanding.
Although the monster was in the B Rank and not A Rannk, it was clear that it was far more powerful than a normal B Rank Monster for it to be capable of activating the guardian barrier.
On the other hand, he would be far more suspicious if the branch leader hadn’t been injured, as that would mean he had left all of the people now dead outside the town on their own without trying to hold back the monster and wait for them to retreat.
Considering the operation of the guild normally relied on the branch guild leaders who were dispatched inside the dungeons to serve as a last defense in case something like a powerful monster appeared. Holding them back while the adventurers outside retreated into the safety of the town where the guardian barrier could protect them, it would be bad if the branch leaders didn’t properly do their job and news of that ended up spreading.
The only way a branch leader was valid in not going out to hold back the monster would be if the monster that appeared was too powerful, something that was clearly not the case here considering that the monster had one of its limbs cut off by what he guessed to be the branch leader in charge of this town.
"Hm? You are... The branch leader?"
However, when he saw the branch leader being slowly pushed forward in a wooden wheelchair, he could not help showing a somewhat shocked expression on his face as the person that appeared in front of him looked no different from a cripple.
"Yes... Unfortunately, I’m not able to get up due to my injures, so I apologies for the delay in my arrival..."
"No, no need, it’s fine, I just want to know what happened here and what kind of monster appeared." Seeing the clear look of sadness in the eyes of the branch guild leader, the guild leader quickly reassured him that everything was fine as he decided to cut to case and ask about the demon beasts that had attacked the town.