The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

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"Hurry to the shelters! The monsters are coming!"

A soldier was guiding the citizens.

The night in the royal capital echoed with the sound of alarm bells.

The Mataisa royal capital was experiencing its first stampede in 400 years.

Following the emergency manual, soldiers were going around issuing evacuation orders.

They had to hide as many civilians as possible in the shelters scattered throughout the area. Hurried shouts could be heard from all directions.

"Waaah! Mama~!"

Tanya, the receptionist at the adventurers' guild, turned at the sound of a small cry.

A young girl was sitting on the dark roadside, crying. She was curled up, hugging her knees, as if she had fallen.

There was no sign of her mother around.

Tanya rushed to the girl without hesitation.

"Are you alright, little one?"

"Hie! M-Mama~!"

"It's okay, don't cry. Big sister will take you to your mama, okay?"

"...R-Really?"

"Really. So let's go together."

When Tanya spoke gently, the girl nodded hesitantly and took her hand.

Of course, Tanya had no idea who the girl's mother was. But if they dawdled here, monsters might come. She wanted to avoid that at all costs.

Tanya took the girl to the nearest church.

The shelter at the boundary was crowded with people. Some were sitting and trembling, others were frantically searching for someone, and some were trying to encourage those around them. Everyone wore grim expressions.

"Excuse me! Does anyone know this child's mother? She seems to live nearby!"

Tanya called out as she walked between the people.

Then, near the sturdiest section where children were gathered,

"Nina-chan!"

"Mama!"

They managed to find her mother safely.

According to the story, the mother had gotten separated from her daughter and was looking around, but was stopped by soldiers and brought here. She had been searching for her daughter, hoping she might have evacuated with someone else.

"Thank you so much! I don't know how to express my gratitude..."

"It's fine. Well, I'll be going now."

Tanya told the tearful, bowing mother and left the shelter.

"...It's my fault."

She bit her lip as she ran, her expression clouding over.

There had been signs.

The reversal of an unknown floor boss. The appearance of unusual monsters. Besides that, she had heard about minor anomalies many times from the adventurers assigned to the dungeon.

She had reported everything to the Dungeon Management Department, but if she had insisted on a more careful investigation, they might have noticed earlier.

If they had noticed just before the stampede occurred, they could have evacuated more safely.

That's what frustrated her.

"I beseech thee, blessings of the earth, pierce my enemies—[Stone Bullet]!"

She shot down a small monster by the roadside as she rushed towards the dungeon.

The guild had probably issued emergency quests. All C-rank and above adventurers should be heading straight to the plaza.

Of course, a receptionist has no obligation to fight. Her job is support.

But Tanya was still a guild employee. She had done some leveling up.

Besides,

"I have a family I want to protect too!"

Her parents live in this Mataisa royal capital.

She really wanted to rush to her parents and evacuate with them. She was worried about them, and they were probably worried about her too.

But even her small strength might be of use to someone. When she thought that, her feet naturally turned towards the dungeon.

"Tanya-san!"

As she was running, a familiar face popped out from a nearby street.

"Lady Mamared!"

"I'm glad you're safe. Are you heading to the dungeon?"

"Of course. Lady Mamared, you should evacuate immediately. There's an escape route for royalty, right?"

"What are you saying? I'm an adventurer before I'm royalty, you know?"

You're the one who's talking nonsense. You're royalty before you're an adventurer.

She wanted to say that, but this stubborn third princess's selfishness was nothing new.

"Then let's go to the plaza together!"

"Of course. Fufufu, infinite monster dissection... I've always wanted to try it."

Mamared smiled ominously. She was still the same mad scientist.

When Tanya and Mamared arrived at the plaza in front of the dungeon, defeating monsters along the way, the area around the plaza had just been covered with earthen walls.

The defensive wall surrounding the plaza was high, making it difficult to jump out.

There must be a skilled earth magician here, Tanya thought—then she saw it was the shield-bearing Guildmaster Daisoma who had his hands on the ground in front of the plaza.

"Guildmaster!"

"Tanya, you've come too. I'm grateful. But Lady Mamared, please leave this to us—"

"I refuse, of course."

"...I see. Then, please be careful."

"So, Guildmaster, what's the situation?"

Tanya asked while checking her surroundings. Many adventurers were nearby, fighting monsters trying to leave the plaza.

Daisoma pointed to three entrances in the earthen wall.

"With this, we've completely surrounded the plaza. Currently, knights and A-rank or higher adventurers are fighting inside the barrier. I've just instructed them to defeat the monsters coming out of the three exits we've left in the wall. However, one barrier isn't enough. I'm going to create another wall in cooperation with other magicians, so I'd like you to participate in defending the exit of this second barrier."

"Understood."

Daisoma spoke loud enough for the surrounding adventurers and soldiers to hear.

The strength of the earthen wall is proportional to the level of magical skill, so Daisoma, the most skilled earth magician in this guild, will lead the creation of another wall.

The second barrier will have only one hole. B-rank and lower adventurers and soldiers were fortifying that spot.

Tanya and the others were to stand by outside the exit.

"Everyone, I will set up the final defense line. As you know the current situation, the knight order has contacted us saying they will strengthen the castle's defenses, so don't expect reinforcements. We must defend this place at all costs with just us!"

"""OOOOH!"""

The adventurers and soldiers psyched themselves up.

Tanya and Mamared mixed in with the crowd, exuding tension.

It's unknown how long the stampede will last.

At best, it might end in about a day, but it could go on for several days. The longest record was during the First Stampede that occurred in Stoania long ago, which reportedly lasted for nearly a month.

"...I'm not scared, I'm not scared..."

"It's alright."

Mamared tightly grasped Tanya's hand, which had started trembling.

"There's no need to push yourself. Once they've fought a bit and assessed our strength, the Guildmaster will probably organize rotations. It seems holy magicians from the church are coming to help too, and the S-rank adventurers who were out on quests should return soon."

"Y-You're right... Yeah, I know."

"Besides, we have him."

"...Him?"

Tanya looked puzzled.

Mamared said casually:

"Don't you think Ruruk-sama could easily scatter a mere stampede?"

"Ah!"

The image that flashed through Tanya's mind was of him instantly turning a pack of saber-toothed tigers into materials.

The trembling in her hands had completely stopped.

That's right, there's no need to be afraid of a mere stampede.

Tanya's face lit up with determination.

"Dance, twirl, with grace!"

Several hours after the stampede began, the sky was already starting to brighten.

[Undersea] and [Sword Dance], who had captured the Maguu Empire's assassins at the border and rescued the second princess, flew to the royal capital in a hurry after receiving news of the stampede while sleeping at the border fortress.

Rusty, the leader of [Undersea], and Lucario, the pure magician of [Sword Dance], were both disciples of Marchioness Cardel. Therefore, they could both use [Meteora], allowing them to return to the royal capital in about two hours.

As soon as they arrived at the dungeon plaza, Maclagen, the leader of [Sword Dance], began dominating the monsters using four swords. His four swords were the legendary-grade weapon [Free Sword]. It's a high-performance weapon that can be controlled by thought alone, without needing to be held.

Of course, it's useless without the brains to manipulate them simultaneously.

"Standing in my way is the height of folly!"

Monsters were continuously overflowing from the dungeon. Maclagen was defeating almost all of them single-handedly.

"As expected of our leader! There's nothing left for me to do."

"Indeed."

"We mustn't let our guard down. But certainly, Maclagen alone seems sufficient."

The members of [Sword Dance] spoke casually.

However, Rusty's judgment was different.

"...Looks like this is gonna be a long one."

Several hours had already passed since the stampede began.

The monsters coming out were still at most C-rank. It's unclear how the monsters are reaching the surface, but the internal maze structure has probably changed. The speed at which the monsters spawned inside are reaching here is abnormally fast.

At this rate, it's only a matter of time before high-rank monsters usually found in the lower layers start appearing.

One of his companions, Mitsuki, a girl dressed as a boy who uses a bow, picked up on his muttering.

"Rusty, what do you mean?"

"From what I can see, only low-rank monsters are coming out, right? Of course, that's natural since the upper floor monsters come out first, but even after several hours, we're still only seeing up to C-rank. Considering the numbers and ranks, at this pace, C-ranks will be the main force for a few more hours, then B-ranks will start becoming the main force. By that time, most adventurers will become useless. That's when the real challenge begins."

"I see. So, there's no role for us right now?"

"That's right. Let's leave it to them and rest for a while."

Rusty said this as he exited through the hole in the first barrier.

His companions followed behind him, so he reported to the Guildmaster while yawning.

"I see. Then [Undersea], you all stand by for now. I'll call you when it's your turn."

"Gotcha."

Rusty waved his hand lazily as he and his team left the defense line.

A few nearby adventurers shot glaring looks at them.

One of his companions, a beautiful young man dressed as a woman who uses a spear, grabbed Rusty's clothes with teary eyes.

"R-Rusty-san..."

"Don't worry about it. Resting is part of the job too."

"Yes."

When Rusty patted his head, the beautiful young man nodded with a reddened face.

"Konana, you're such a scaredy-cat."

"I-I'm not as strong as big sister..."

"What? Are you saying I'm not feminine?"

"...I-I didn't go that far..."

"Both of you, fighting will only trouble Rusty-sama."

The one who calmed the quarreling siblings was an elderly butler-like man.

"That's right. If you trouble brother, you'll be punished."

An adventurer who looked like a young lady, holding a parasol despite it being night, agreed.

"Eek! I'm sorry!"

"I'll pass on sis's punishment too~"

Saying this, Rusty and his team entered an inn outside the plaza.

Due to the emergency, the guild has rented this place as a rest area. Both soldiers and adventurers are free to use it when it's their turn to rest.

They weren't very tired since they hadn't worked much during the previous day's princess rescue quest. The same goes for [Sword Dance], which is why they're rampaging so energetically now.

Yesterday's opponents were high-level assassins. Moreover, they thought it would be a quite difficult mission since they had taken Princess Hani hostage.

But it ended unexpectedly quickly because the knight on our side—the 'Flash Knight' Lalahaine—was too excellent.

Lalahaine, who outmaneuvered the assassins who should have been higher level, using light magic. His sword skills were quite something too, but above all, his way of fighting was intelligent.

In a straight fight, he should be weaker than Rusty due to the status difference, but his performance didn't look that way. In our party, probably only Rusty could win against him one-on-one.

As expected of the top disciple of 'Phantom' Verugana, the leader of the legendary party [Holy Night]. It was good to see.

Anyway, thanks to that, they weren't tired at all, so they weren't very sleepy. That's why his companions were making such a racket.

However, Rusty's specialty was sleeping. No matter the situation, if he closed his eyes in bed, he'd be in dreamland within seconds. Zzzz.

He was woken up several hours later.

"Rusty-sama, it seems it's your turn."

"Gotcha."

Karmandi's low voice was pleasant. Rusty's eyes opened immediately.

As soon as he left the room, his companions were already assembled.

Their armament and preparations were perfect.

"Alright, shall we go?"

""""Yes!""""

When the five members of [Undersea] returned to the dungeon entrance, it had become quite a melee.

B-rank monsters were already overflowing, and large monsters were starting to appear here and there at the second barrier. The members of [Sword Dance] seemed quite exhausted and were receiving treatment near the exit of the second barrier.

"Sorry, Rusty. I'm counting on you."

"Got it."

Accepting Daisoma's words, Rusty slowly walked towards the first barrier while kneading his magical power.

Of course, monsters attacked Rusty, who was full of openings.

However, his companions' arrows, spears, poison needles, and parasol pierced the monsters, not letting them get near Rusty.

After carefully observing inside the second and first barriers, Rusty began his chant.

"I command thee, eternal life overflowing from the merciful mother, embrace in thine arms only the evil that wrongs us—[Womb Sea]."

Instantly, endless water gushed out from Rusty's hands.

The force was so strong that approaching monsters were swept away.

However, it avoided all companions and adventurers, not a single drop wetting them. The water didn't leak outside the barrier or into the dungeon, and the water level rose visibly from feet to waist, from waist to neck.

In no time, the water rose to the top of the barrier surrounding the plaza, then stopped as if it had hit an invisible ceiling.

The inside of the barrier was filled with Rusty's water, and the monsters were submerged.

This is the strategic-class formula—the extreme-grade magic [Womb Sea] that traps only those Rusty designates as enemies in ultra-high water pressure.

All the monsters in the plaza were annihilated.

When Rusty dispelled the magic, the water disappeared, leaving the corpses of drowned monsters scattered about.

To the surrounding adventurers who were staring in amazement, he said in a leisurely voice:

"Well, let's do our best in moderation."

Afterword Tips ~ Rusty ~

> Level 99 human, 36-year-old male.

>> Former orphan. An adventurer with the talent to master all weapons and excel in water magic.

>>> He was spotted by Cardel in his youth and trained. While helping a betrayed butler, a fallen noble lady, and gender-swapped siblings, he unknowingly made a name for himself as an adventurer. His hobby and special skill is sleeping. Usually unmotivated, but gets serious when his companions are in danger. His individual combat ability is inferior to Luna, but he's rumored to be the closest to SS-rank adventurers due to his intelligence.