Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Volume 5 Chapter 22   Mizuki; Abnormal Situation

“Understood.”

Mizuki and her friends were touring the Sherlock Holmes Museum and strolling along Baker Street when they received a call from their mentor, Igami.

“Igami-san called, right?”

They didn’t know why Igami was summoned by Carter, the man they met at the airport. In fact, they weren’t even aware of Carter’s name.

But they understood that if Igami was involved, it must be something only he could handle. So, they accepted it as inevitable.

However, despite accepting it, they couldn’t help feeling disappointed. They had hoped to spend the day together as they had planned.

Yet, the unexpected call from Igami made them wonder if they might still have a chance to meet up later and continue their activities together. With this thought in mind, Kana’s voice had a slight hint of excitement as she asked Mizuki.

“That’s right. He wants us to come to the cathedral.”

“The cathedral? Why would he want us there? Where is it, anyway?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t specify…”

Mizuki paused and recalled her conversation with Igami, her neatly shaped eyebrows furrowing as she wore a troubled expression.

“He did seem apologetic about it, though.”

“Apologetic, huh… Could there be some kind of problem?”

Mizuki and her friends knew that Igami had put in a lot of effort to ensure they could enjoy their school trip. That’s why they went along with Carter and the others without much resistance, and even now, they were willing to listen to their requests.

However, the fact that Igami felt apologetic and still went out of his way to call them made Kana suspect that something might be amiss.

Though their speculation was somewhat random, Mizuki shared Kana’s thoughts, and both Haruka and Yuzu nodded in agreement.

While Igami might tell them to believe that nothing would happen, given their past experiences, it was natural to be cautious.

As it turned out, their instincts were right.

“Yeah, there was something.”

As the two discussed this, Haruka took out her phone and searched for the location of the cathedral. She then displayed the screen for the other three to see.

“It’s a bit far,” Yuzu murmured as she compared their current location with the destination on her phone. The cathedral that Igami mentioned was quite a distance away from where the four of them were standing. While it was possible to walk there, it would undoubtedly take some time.

“Should we walk?”

“But considering that Igami specifically called us, maybe we should hurry?” Kana suggested.

If they ran, they could reach the destination quickly, but that would also draw attention to themselves. Mizuki and her friends didn’t know Igami’s exact purpose for calling them, but they all sensed the possibility of some danger.

If they were indeed walking into a risky situation, there was no need to draw unnecessary attention, especially since Igami didn’t explicitly urge them to hurry.

Carter, who hoped they would come to the cathedral, had wanted them to hurry, but from Igami’s perspective, he didn’t want them to rush and potentially get involved in any troubles that might arise.

Because of this, Igami didn’t emphasize the need for speed, hoping to increase the chances of avoiding unnecessary complications. However, Mizuki and her friends were unaware of these circumstances.

Therefore, using some form of transportation to reach the destination would be a better option.

Haruka was about to suggest taking a bus or a taxi when her words came to an abrupt halt. Her expression changed from casual to alert, and she furrowed her eyebrows, carefully scanning their surroundings.

“Haruka, what’s wrong?”

Seeing Haruka suddenly stop talking and begin to scan their surroundings, the other three immediately understood that something was amiss. They followed suit and became vigilant, but there was nothing unusual in sight. Just the usual cityscape. Being in a foreign country, they might not notice anything strange, but at first glance, there was nothing seemingly unusual about the scenery.

“Hmmm strange?”

“What do you mean by ‘strange’?”

Even though there was nothing to be wary of around them, Haruka murmured in a cautious tone, and Yuzu asked for more details.

With hesitation in her voice, something quite uncommon for her usual straightforward self, Haruka opened her mouth to speak, realizing that it would be pointless to remain silent.

“…There’s no magical energy.”

This was something Haruka was able to notice precisely because of her unique ability. Regular mages can’t perceive magical energy that is far beyond their own reserves. Even if they could, it would only be to a limited extent.

But Haruka possessed a special talent that allowed her to perceive magical energy even at a distance from her own reserves.

It was thanks to this unusual talent that she noticed something was off.

“Magical energy? You mean yours is gone?” Kana asked.

“Yes. All the magical energy in the air seems to be gone.”

Kana had gained some ability to manipulate magic, but it was still limited to her own reserves and nearby objects. So, she asked Haruka about it, and the moment she heard Haruka’s response, Mizuki and Yuzu, who could use magic, widened their eyes in surprise.

“…Normally, magical energy exists in the air, so its absence is definitely abnormal.”

“What do you mean by ‘gone’? Haruka-chan.”

When someone says that magical energy is missing from the air, there can be multiple processes leading to that result. Did someone erase it, expel it, or consume it? There are several possibilities, and depending on the process, the intentions of the person responsible and the appropriate countermeasures can vary.

“…It’s not that someone erased it. But… well, is it gathering?”

In response to Yuzu’s question, Haruka continued to observe the surroundings. She noticed that a bit farther away, near the boundary between the area with the abnormal absence of magical energy and the area without the anomaly, magical energy was flowing in.

It was like scooping water and having more water flow in from the surroundings—it wasn’t entirely unusual. Slowly, the air was returning to its normal state, where magical energy is present. If left alone, it would eventually return to normal.

However, the inflowing magical energy should have stayed in that area, yet it was all moving in a certain direction.

In other words, someone was deliberately manipulating the flow of magical energy.

“When you say ‘gathering,’ do you mean someone is intentionally collecting magical energy? If they gathered the magical energy from the entire surrounding area, it would be a significant amount.”

“But why? For what purpose?” Yuzu asked, expressing the confusion shared by all four of them.

“What should we do? It feels like something is about to happen.”

“Well, I do want to investigate. Ignoring it might lead to harm. Besides, I believe Igami-san called us for this reason. However, I wonder if it’s okay for us to act on our own…”

“Then, I’ll make the call.”

Deciding to seek answers rather than hesitate, Kana called Igami.

“Hey? What’s up?”

“Oh, Igami-san? Well, actually—”

In a matter of seconds after the call connected, Kana conveyed the current situation and their thoughts to Igami.

“What should we do? You called us for this reason, right?”

“Well… Hold on a sec.”

Hearing this, Igami clicked his tongue, frustrated that they got involved despite not rushing them to their location earlier to avoid any complications. He quickly shared the information with Carter, who was nearby, discussing the course of action.

Sieg, who had been waiting at the headquarters, also joined Igami, listening to the conversation, but no conclusive decision was reached. An abnormal situation occurred before they could reach a resolution.

As Kana waited on the phone, Igamii’s group was discussing the response. Suddenly, from the other end of the call, a sound reminiscent of shattering glass and someone’s angry voice could be heard.

“Wait, wait! What’s going on!?”

Startled by the sudden sound from the other end of the phone, Kana anxiously asked Igami, but there was no response.

“Darn it! Carter, Sieg! What’s—”

Instead, they heard Igami’s voice speaking to the companions nearby, but that voice was drowned out by an explosion.

“Kyaa!”

“What’s happening!?”

Shocked by the sudden explosion near her ears, Kana let out a scream reflexively and pulled the phone away from her ear.

The explosion sound was not just coming from the phone but was audible from multiple directions, and black smoke was rising from those locations.

“Hey! What’s going on? Are you okay?”

Hearing the explosions and seeing the rising black smoke, Kana quickly assumed that actual explosions had occurred where Igami was and shouted into the phone.

However, by that time, the call had already been disconnected.

Concerned about the ominous way the call ended, Kana tried calling again, but either because they were handling the emergency situation or because they couldn’t answer the phone, Igami did not pick up.

“What happened? I heard a loud noise, but…”

“I heard an explosion-like sound and Igami’s panicked voice.”

“An explosion sound… that must be related to what we’re witnessing here. It likely caused a reaction over there too.”

It was certain that Igami was dealing with some kind of abnormal situation, and it was highly likely that he had called them to seek their help.

If that was the case, then their course of action was clear.

Thinking this, the four of them exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

“Even though it’s supposed to be our long-awaited school trip, could it be that he’s cursed or something?”

“Well, sometimes it’s not so bad to be on the receiving end of favors.”

“Repaying a favor… But I’m not sure if we can fully repay it with just this.”

However, even if they decided to take action, the question was how to proceed. That was the problem they faced.

Their current situation was suspicious, but nothing concrete was happening.

Well, that’s not entirely true.

The abnormality of the disappearing magical energy was happening, but it hadn’t caused any clear harm yet, so it should be more accurate to say that no visible damage had occurred.

So, the question was whether to deal with the abnormality in their current location first, head to the place with the black smoke, or go to the cathedral as Igami had suggested.