Another world, Celeste

Chapter Twelve

"Ah! Being in a room with four old men made me feel stuffy."

Once we're out of the guild, I stretch my body and whine loudly, garnering the stare of the merchants. Mint and Erissa have been waiting for us near the guild's building. After we find a bench to sit, I retrieve bread with fruit jam filling that I prepare beforehand and share it with everyone. It's still fresh and hot. Since we left in the middle of lunch and being made to do things when I'm feeling sluggish drains my energy, this gives me the chance to look around the street without being disturbed. Despite yesterday's unexpected turn of event, the town's residents don't seem to be affected by it too much. The guards are collecting remnants of the fiery hail while the dwarves are using earth magic to separate the soot from the common dirt and pile them up in large metallic carts.

"Where's Jilko?" I ask.

Erissa replies, "Jilko left to join Rimi and Nil when we ran into Master Kif earlier. They're helping with the cleaning up of the town as well. He says half of the town is in a mess, but not as bad as the forest."

"The forest. I heard there are casualties every time a fiery hail comes. I suspect the monsters are fleeing from the forest as well." Syl says with concern.

"I've no doubt they'll target the townspeople."

"True, but shouldn't the local guards know how to handle this kind of situations by now. This is not their first time."

"Mint is right."

Erissa agrees with Mint's observation of the residents' liveliness.

"I agree as well. Nevertheless, there will still be casualties on their side."

I can't stand seeing them being restless. It's affecting me too. As rangers, their duty is to protect the forest and its inhabitants. Even though they would sometimes complain about how exhausting their day is, they take pride in their field of work. The three elves contemplate over their next course of action as I inhale the last piece of bread and jump on my feet.

"You want to ask one of the guards here or go directly to the gatehouse?" I ask them.

"Sorry Iris," Syl apologises. "This affects our journey back as well. I will go to the Adventurer's Guild and ask for information. It's faster that way."

Syl goes to the Adventurer's Guild on her own while we wait for her outside the building. I expand the map on the screen to the forest. Although I could differentiate between humans and monsters, there are too many to count. I relay the information to the other two what I found out from the map alone. Syl returns much sooner with some news. The guards stationed at the gate are dealing with the monsters and the adventurers are assisting them under the guild master's orders.

"The receptionist told me the gate should be open after they confirm there are no more threats in the nearby forest, but it could take some time."

The situation is even more serious than we thought.