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 42   Cause and speech

“What should we do from here?”

“I’m not sure. For now, we should probably stay put and wait until things settle down…”

Although we managed to eliminate the monsters coming out of the gate here, it’s only a temporary solution. As long as the gate’s core remains intact, the monsters will keep spawning.

And those newly spawned monsters will come over to our side.

This place isn’t entirely devoid of surroundings. Staying here could potentially lead to unnecessary damage if something were to happen, so it’s best to quickly destroy the gate.

Normally, we should at least conduct a brief investigation—before deciding anything.

However, for now, it’s probably best not to venture to the other side of the gate.

After all, this is a school. There should be reports about the recent abnormal events caused by the gates, and they might even have established protocols for dealing with gate occurrences on school grounds.

If that’s the case, it would be natural for them to handle the students going into the gate on their own. It would also be unwise for us to rush in without knowing their plans.

Nevertheless, even if we don’t go into the gate, it would be helpful to gather some information—like the school’s approach in handling this situation, the available resources in case of emergencies, and such.

“Ah, maybe I’ll ask that person too.”

Scanning the surroundings, I couldn’t spot any familiar teachers, but I did notice an acquaintance. So, I decided to leave Miyano and the others for a moment and approached that person to inquire.

“Kudo, do you know anything? About the school’s policies and such?”

“Well, that’s sudden. Unfortunately, I don’t have any information either.”

“I see. Well, that’s fine. If anything comes up, can you let me know?”

“Yes, understood. Please do the same if you learn anything.”

I thought they might know something even if I didn’t, but there wasn’t any significant gain from talking to them. So, I returned to Miyano’s group.

“In the end, I couldn’t find any information.”

“Saeki-san, does that person know anything?”

“Even if we ask, they aren’t involved in monitoring or handling gates. They are a researcher with a different specialty. Despite being a sudden occurrence, it’s not that rare. I doubt they know anything about the response to the gate that appeared here.”

However, considering the recent increase in spontaneous gates, there’s a possibility of something abnormal. They might have received special instructions or have knowledge related to these occurrences.

“Whoa!… Wait, it’s just an earthquake alert.”

So, as Miyano suggested, I thought of making a call, but just as I took out my phone and opened the contact screen, a sense of urgency surged through me when the phone vibrated with an alarming sound.

“At a time like this, an earthquake feels like something’s about to happen, doesn’t it?”

“Something like a natural disaster?”

“If there were one, I’m sure we’d be directly affected by it.”

Ignoring the earthquake warning, I tried calling Saeki-san, but there was no answer. It wasn’t like the line was busy; it just wouldn’t connect.

“…Strange. No response. They should be free at this time.”

Normally, despite being the head of the research institute, Saeki-san tends to slack off somewhere, often smoking. Even if they weren’t doing that, they should be free during this time, which overlaps with the lunch break.

Yet, they weren’t answering the phone.

…Strange. Did something happen again?

“Huh? The earthquake warning went off, but there’s no shaking.”

As I wondered about the lack of response, suddenly, Abe mentioned that.

But now that it was pointed out, it was true. The earthquake warning had come, but there was no shaking. In our vigilant state, not noticing the shaking was impossible.

Then why? A false alarm, perhaps?

“Come to think of it…”

“But even with an earthquake warning, there are cases where there’s no shaking, depending on the location.”

“Take a look at this.”

As if realizing the same thing from Abe’s words, Asada muttered, seemingly answering that question, but Abe stopped her mid-sentence.

Abe took out her phone and showed us the screen.

“What’s this?”

As we huddled together, peering at the screen that had been presented to us, there were only a few concise and straightforward words written on it:

“Multiple spontaneous gates appearing worldwide. Minimum observed count: 200. Possibility of further increase, so evacuation to emergency shelters is recommended.”

“Huh?”

“What is this…?”

For a moment, we were all left bewildered, but perhaps that was understandable.

However, for some reason, as soon as we saw that message, a strange sense of understanding washed over us, like, “Ah, I see. The recent earthquake warning was actually meant to show us this,” and it strangely made sense.

After all, while spontaneous gates had opened before, we had never received such a warning message, nor had we ever heard of using an earthquake warning system for widespread information dissemination, especially concerning gates.

Yet, here it was, this sudden warning message.

And right in front of us now, a spontaneous gate had appeared, seemingly affirming the content of the warning.

Knowing in advance that a major anomaly might occur, witnessing the sudden appearance of a spontaneous gate, and immediately being prompted by the earthquake warning’s sense of urgency, all while this warning message appeared…

It would be difficult to think that they were unrelated.

However, even so, I’m just as bewildered by this unprecedented event.

Throughout my experiences, I’ve encountered various problems, but they were all somewhat imaginable scenarios. Facing a high-ranked monster in a dungeon, dealing with attacks from new heroes affiliated with certain factions, or even fighting against individuals similar to young girls who sought cooperation – while not entirely predictable, they were within the realm of possibility.

However, this… I never could have imagined something on this scale. I mean, it’s happening worldwide!

One or two… even ten or twenty simultaneous occurrences might be somewhat understandable. It deviates from the norm, but it’s not entirely beyond reason.

But to have multiple gates appearing all at once, and in the hundreds… it’s a whole different story. Especially if they’re expected to increase further, it becomes clearly abnormal.

Therefore, while I can understand the connection between the gates and the emergency alerts and warnings for such an unbelievable anomaly, I’m at a loss as to why this has happened and how we should react to it.

In that moment, for no particular reason, I glance up and see Abe’s face, who had shown us the message on the phone. She, too, looks bewildered, just like the rest of us.

Turning my gaze to those around us, I see that they, too, are staring at their phones in astonishment, or having conversations nearby while still in a state of disbelief.

“To have multiple occurrences worldwide… Why on earth…”

As I vocalize my thoughts to sort them out, a sudden realization hits me – or rather, it’s more like a strong conviction.

The Savior’s Army. They must have obtained the technology to open gates.

Due to their actions, we faced hardships during the school trip about half a year ago, and even the city suffered damage. If they used the same method on a global scale this time, we can tentatively provide an explanation for the cause.

But it’s still unbelievable… No, I can understand what they are trying to achieve. They claim to be saving or purifying the world. This incident is probably part of their grand plan. And I think this falls under what I discussed with Saeki-san as their “last resort.”

“Huh?”

In that case, how should we respond? As I pondered over this, Miyano’s voice expressed puzzlement.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, look at this. The screen…”

Miyano pointed with confusion.

In front of us, Abe’s phone was still held out, but the screen had changed from the previous text to some kind of video.

“What is this… a live broadcast?”

In the center of the video, there was a person wearing a mask, and the overall atmosphere seemed like that of a speech by a high-ranking official. Essentially, that’s all there was to it.

But it was the presence of that one individual at the center that exuded an eerie feeling throughout the video.

And since it was a video, it naturally had motion, and the person in the video began to speak just as I focused on it.

“To all of humanity living in this world. We are the Savior’s Army. You must be questioning why we are doing this. Some of you may despise us for threatening your way of life and pushing the world towards destruction. But let me make it clear. We are the ones with justice on our side. It is you who are leading the world towards destruction, and we are here to prevent that.”

Just from hearing those words, we already knew who sent out this video. It wasn’t just because they introduced themselves, but the way they earnestly spoke about the world’s destruction and justice made it unmistakably them.

Is this the leader of the Savior’s Army, delivering their intentions? No… that’s not quite right.

This broadcast is being conducted in Japanese. Considering it’s aimed at the entire human race, it does seem odd to broadcast it in a relatively minor language like Japanese. Wouldn’t it be more common to use subtitles in English or another widely spoken language?

However, in reality, I believe that each language sphere probably streams different videos tailored to their audience. That being said, the top language choice is likely to be English, given its vast number of speakers. So, the mask this video wears by broadcasting in Japanese might not be leader.

Nevertheless, it’s likely that the leaders of the Savior Army or those higher up are involved in this, I think.

“Why do you think phenomena like the Gate appeared in this world? Was it merely because some foolish country played a foolish trick? Oh, that’s part of it, indeed. However, it’s just the trigger for the underlying problem that has always been present but unseen.”

I had thought that they might have the ability to create Gates at will, but do these people actually know the true reason behind the Gate’s appearance?

“The unseen problem—the true nature of the Gate. It is a fragment that has detached from the soul. …I understand that some of you may not comprehend what a ‘soul’ is. But have you heard of the theory that ‘the weight of a human soul is 21 grams’? While the existence of the soul has been debated, no one has ever observed it; it’s a mysterious form of energy. However, let’s assume that the soul is an energy entity. Do you realize how extraordinary it is for that entity to weigh 21 grams? For instance, take electricity or light. What force must be compressed to give them weight? Some might argue that electricity represents the state of electrons and doesn’t have any weight on its own. Let’s switch to magic, then. We believe magic utilizes the energy of the soul, but does magic have weight? It doesn’t, right? However, the soul, the source of magic, does have weight. This means that it is compressed to a point where its weight can be measured. So, this absurd mass of energy is what the soul is. And when it becomes fragmented, you can’t simply ignore it, as those fragments can accumulate into an immense amount of energy.”

…Fragments of the soul? What is this person talking about?

As strange as it sounded, it was a concept I could grasp.

Indeed, I have heard of experiments involving the weight of the soul, and there have been discussions about the source of magic being the soul. Some curses and divinations even involve using sacrifices, implying that they harness the energy of souls after death. If that’s the case, it’s not entirely far-fetched to think that souls might be connected to magical energy.

“It is believed that the soul is purified when a person dies, but where does that purification and the filth separated from the soul go? Does it vanish? Nonsense. Such a thing is impossible. It’s like any other substance. Even if you burn it, it won’t completely disappear. It turns into ashes and continues to exist, albeit in a different form. The Gates, the Dungeons, they are the manifestation of the impurities from the souls that peeled off and gathered on the other side of the world, forming stagnant entities. That’s why beyond the Gates, creatures like Goblins and Dragons, beings straight out of fairy tales, exist and all of them equally attack humans. Their origin lies in human emotions, deemed unnecessary and discarded negativity.”

In the Dungeon, monsters do not fight amongst themselves. That’s the common knowledge.

Sure, their attacks might have a wide range and inadvertently involve others, but generally, monsters don’t actively attack other monsters of different species.

But humans are different; they come at us with open hostility.

Just like the enigma behind the Gate’s appearance, this fact remained a mystery. Though society acknowledged it as a truth, and I too had accepted it as such.

However, if it’s built upon human’s negative emotions, then it’s understandable why they harbor hatred and attack.

After all, the ones humans hate the most are other humans.

“The current society is causing too much harm to this planet. Environmental destruction is one aspect, but even more critical is the anomaly affecting the world due to the mentioned stagnation. If humanity continues to inhabit this planet as it is, Earth will eventually meet its demise. That’s why we have risen! To reclaim the vision of the world that should be. To protect this planet and bring forth true peace!”

With a final declaration from the masked figure in the video, the transmission came to an end.

Then, as the echoes of the voice faded away, only silence remained.