"It's Lilith. Not Meredith. Please do remember my name right even if I am just a servant."
She said as she appeared from behind Juri, seemingly offended with a smile.
I had noticed her make her entrance for a while now but it seems like it was only Juri who was unable to see her coming as she talked about Lilith.
She a demon of timing.
"J-Just in time! We were just talking about how you would like to accompany me to assist the search team your Lord had sent out."
"No."
It was just a brutal rejection. I already told her no but it was not just about the trust.
It was about Jai's identity of being a beastmen.
She was hiding it, and thus why would I take a risk of someone directly connected to a Kingdom that believes in human supremacy?
Even Lilith knew what she was doing. Letting Juri help her in that area would just be more troublesome.
"More importantly, Lord Grantt must attend to his duties. He cannot fight nor leave this town. For now, that is."
Lilith suddenly placed a stop to our conversation with Old Man Jay, pulling me by the arm towards the exit.
How could she just do that? I couldn't let just Marcus be. He might be skilled enough but he was just a kid. He was just 16, the same age as I am physically now.
"What? Lilith, Marcus is out there! I just can't stand by and—"
I brushed her hand off, shouting atop my lungs. But just as she turned around, a loud slap echoed in the large room.
"Do you distrust Jai?"
"..."
"Do you distrust her?!"
"No!"
"Then, let her do her job. You have one as well and that is barely unimportant like those two. This town is relying on you and you must decide the direction it will take!"
"..."
"You're wasting your energy on something you don't have control of. I need you to focus, Grantt."
From a scold to an audible concern, her voice softened as she held the very cheek she slapped.
It was visibly red but I didn't think that my fortified body would still react to such a weak slap.
Although, she was right. If I were to just weigh on one problem, I wouldn't have time to see the other important things.
I should keep my cool. This isn't like me.
Grantt Maximilian. Is this a part of you merging into me? Your vulnerability to such situations? I won't let you change parts of me. Not like this.
"You're right. I should... just wait."
Waiting for Jai to return would be the best choice for now.
I shouldn't act too hasty with that. Jai had said she had friends and so, maybe she had a way to commune with her fellow beastmen.
"Old Man Jay, thanks for the information. Sorry for bothering your business."
"No worries, young Lord. Marcus is one of our finest soldiers in this town, we'd be more than happy to oblige to recover him."
I made such a scene of even planning to head out myself. What a useless act I did there.
Anyways, there is almost no work for me to do in the mansion already. Why would Lilith go here and fetch me?
"Why did you need me though? There must be a reason why you had to fetch me yourself here."
She slowly lets go of my arm, walking two paces forward as she turns around just before the exit.
"Monsters are approaching us from the west. It's a horde."
"What?!"
"W-What?!"
I had another voice from behind react the same yet stutter. It was Juri, her eyes were widened as her voice rose with shock.
"That's impossible! Hordes only appear from the upper countries. They can't cross the rivers!"
A horde. I've read this from a book in the Mansion's library.
It is a group of monsters that will keep on running and destroying everything in its path. If they continue to travel, they can gather more making it harder to defeat.
I've never seen a monster ever since I've transmigrated here. This will be the first I will have to face one.
But considering what Juri had said if Hordes only appear in the upper countries where they are connected to the Demon Kingdom unless the Hordes had learned to swim, then the Kingdoms before us had failed to stop them.
"This could be the work of Khan, redirecting them here! Those bastards never stop at it!"
Juri from behind shouted as she dashed up to both of us.
"Allow me to help you! I might be just a councilor of the Kingdom but I can fight."
If there is a Horde incoming, I can't be picky about who will help.
I could only gather my strength and contemplate these regrets some other time.
For now, we need to face this problem we have!
"Alright. Old Man Jay, have everyone evacuate to the west side of town! I'm counting on you."
He only nods at me before breathing in and out slowly.
Juri seemed to be at first confused as to why did I assign him that important task.
"Wait? Why him?! You have to inform everyone! You can't expect him to handle it on his own!"
Juri was truly left in the dark. Everyone else was already moving while she was there only trying to wonder why.
I didn't have to explain it to her.
Since Old Man Jay's got it covered.
"EVERYONE EVACUATE TO THE EAST SIDE OF TOWN NOW! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! ALL ADVENTURERS PLEASE PROCEED TO THE EAST GATE! THEY WILL BE REWARDED ACCORDING TO THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS!"
He shouts out as a small magic circle appears in front of his mouth. It was as loud as it can get, resounding even in the skies above us.
Juri's eyes were widened from that effect, it was like listening to someone shouting at a mic at the concert, covering the whole town with it.
In this town of almost a thousand residents, everyone recognizes that voice when they hear it.
There will be questions, but there will be no hesitation for them to follow that voice.
"Amplification Magic?! I thought only the lineage of royal town criers in the Kingdom has that kind of Unique Magic?!"
We were already running outside towards the west gate of Hellsburg. Juri was behind us, only looking back repeatedly as she continues to wonder about such unimportant things.
"You said you'll help us. Then fight!"
Lilith whistles with her finger, calling the other servants who carried an extra weapon for Juri.
I handed it to her, but she immediately stuck out her hand, refusing to take it.
"What? I thought you were going to help us?!"
I asked as the ground begins to rumble slightly. I could see the Horde from afar as they trample unto the drylands, causing dirt and smoke to appear.
It was a huge number, maybe over a hundred, it was.
"I don't need that. I have my own."
She said that but, I don't see any.
However, she places her hand at her waist as if there was a sword sheathed beside it.
Abruptly pulling as it suddenly materializes right in front of our eyes.
A blue blade that was longer than any of our blades, reflective and shiny.
It was not only that but the sheath that appeared along with it had been garnished with a golden pattern that resembled a dragon, climbing into the opening where the blade goes.
"I might be inferior to you in magic, but I am also a titled magic swordsman. Perks of serving under the King directly."
She chuckles, standing herself as we prepare for battle.
Against the horde was I, Lilith, Juri, and the other maids that could fight.
Almost every maid I had were capable of fighting, however, I needed them to guide the residents and protect them.
"I care less about being of use to the King. You lot had abandoned us once, and I fail to see that the Kingdom will never do that again."
I expressed this town's anguish. I will never hold back even if she is a direct councilor to the King.
"I'll just pretend that I never heard that."
Juri only smiled at me.
She wasn't just holding in nor keeping her composure. There was just no sign of resistance from the way she accept my words.
A sad smile that she possessed, without a choice but to accept the reality we are all in.
I see now.
She had no choice. She was just following orders.
"I'll be damned if you don't."
I could only chuckle right back at her, remembering the fading past that I had.
The feeling of forgotten nostalgia.
Just how long did I isolate myself as the top in my past world?
"They're getting closer!"
Lilith shouts after casting red magic circles that appeared in front of her.
"Aren't you going to wield your blade?! They're getting closer now!"
Juri shouted at me as I stood still.
I completely forgot that I had this at my waist when I don't have the experience that the old Grant Maximilian had other than his memories.
He makes it looks so easy to do but for me to take the wheels is just, unbelievable!
I could just say an outright "No!" but Lilith is here! I can't do that.
"D-Don't let them get close to the walls!"
I took the step forward, running towards the Horde. I just had to make sure that I can eliminate the incoming monsters before they reach me.
However... why do I feel like I can see a transparent text from the distance.
It's getting clearer but numbers had begun to appear as well.
That's not important for now! I must cast something!
"Intermediate Earth Magic: Excavate!"
Imagine a seven feet deep, seven feet wide chasm that stretches out for one kilometer horizontally!
Just as I thought of that, the ground right in front of me collapsed, forming that exact visualization that I just did.
It was like a square canal that had been cut cleanly yet there was sand that began to fill it in from the sides as the upper land collapses.
I screwed it up! I didn't consider that the ground below was still sand!
"Grantt! Watch out!"
Just as I turned my head up looking from the ground I had cast, there was a huge shadow that was cast on me.
"A-Ah."
I had assumed that monsters in a Horde were just a massive number of small ones but...
There was a five-foot-tall worm that had its teeth sticking out from its circular mouth. It had many sets of teeth, rotating in different directions as I inspect it slowly.
My feet were planted on the ground, and my head went blank.
I was scared for the first time in this world.
I stood there frozen with fear.
This was not like the monsters depicted in fiction.
They were huge, slimy, and dangerously disgusting.
Its heartbeat was loud and close enough for me to hear, but it stretched out its body upwards as I could only watch it do so.
"..."
Like a beating drum, its heartbeat resounds to mine. There were text and numbers that were slowly fading in and out as I faced the worm.
A subtle indication.
[Mirage Worm: 479/500]
"G...!"
The second phase begins, my eyes were being forced to roll back but I stood. I wonder why do I still stand. I'm beginning to see things.
"Grantt!"
I heard their voices, shouting from behind, with an explosion happening right above me, stopping the worm from proceeding any closer.
Everything felt soft and slow, and even the ground was wobbly.
I was just then suddenly swept away by my feet, carried by someone.
My eyes wouldn't properly, they couldn't make out the face of this person that held me but I could tell that it was Lilith from the way she held me.
This is tiring.
"What are you doing?!"
She asked me with a loud voice. It rang to my ears, tinnitus that pierced my eardrums.
It repeated loudly in my head, yet I could somehow think clearer, and my thoughts were slowly becoming more united than clouded.
"H-Huh?"
I rubbed my eyes and shook my head. The wobbly feeling was gone and the thought that I had earlier was something that had shouldn't be there.
"You can't get close to the Mirage Worms! They can shroud minds and make their prey lower their guards!"
Lilith banters as I was brought back to the back of the small forces we had.
Some adventurers had joined the fray as well, only in for the materials they can get from it.
It seems like it was the other servant's doing, giving them a chance at gathering achievements here.
I didn't know much about monsters but to think that I was afraid of them is now a fact.
It was true that I was afraid, and even now, I struggle to force myself to fight on the frontlines. Moreover...
"You can just stay here! Just use magic if you will, we'll hold them back!"
She said while running back to join the others.
I will only become a hindrance to them if I force myself to fight with them.
I'll just do whatever I can do for now!
"I've never been in combat in the last year because I didn't have to but now this is very stressing for me to do!"
I extended both of my arms aiming at the worm that I had once faced earlier.
Lilith and the others were attacking it with blasts and piercing attacks as the worm digs down and reappears on the surface to attack.
I was here but I haven't done anything yet.
I can't bear being a Lord without achievements. I had to force myself to combat!
"Now, visualize water, Grantt!"
I shouted to myself as I began to think.
From a trickle of water, they shall become huge icicles.
The process was simple, manipulate the molecules of the combined hydrogen and oxygen and make them slow down until they become a still and solid state of the matter!
Just as I open my eyes once again, seven icicles appeared right behind me.
I was successful in summoning them without using mana but there was one problem.
I tried to imagine ten, and only seven icicles were able to materialize.
"What?!"
Did they fail to materialize? Is it my visualization? Was it lacking?
In any case, I need to help them, now!
"Shoot through!"
I threw my hand out as I could only use a bit of mana to launch them out as fast to the worm but it would only be left on its skin, spurting out green blood.
It's not enough to stop a horde of monsters!
"Grantt! It would be great if you do the flashy ones now!"
Lilith was struggling to keep the monster on the other side of the trench I had made, slowly being flattened as the battle ensues.
I couldn't cast a large area of magic except for the storm but it would be too dangerous as there were too many people.
I can't design the spell to only target monsters without the verbal incantations of the real spell.
I had never belonged on the battlefield.
I was just a businessman.
I was...
"Grant Maximilian. You fail to exert strength. Why do you fail to fight?"
Before I could even realize it. I was trapped in a world of nothing.
The floor was water, yet I didn't sink. I could see my reflection from it, yet it was different from what I was supposed to look like.
"Ah. That's me. That's how I looked in the old world."
With short black hair, and brown eyes.
A 25-year-old man that had the world in the palm of his hands. He had it all, yet all he did was sit and wait.
"Will you remain to where you are? Or will you move?"
Again, that same voice. It spoke out to me.
"Right now, you might be as intelligent as me but you lack the resolve to fight."
It was me—No, it was the Grantt Maximilian of this world. The respectful owner of the body I assumed to control.
"You are no different from a parasite, feeding on the fate that I chose myself."
A parasite? That might be true, but I had no choice but to accept this fate you put upon yourself.
"A fate that could have led to death if it wasn't for me!"
How dare he belittle the hardships I've overcome.
The effort that I and the others had done for the sake of this town he left to rot after him.
"You are just as responsible and a parasite to fate! Leaving for the chances to go merry on your way!"
I will not let him say what he wants. I am the current owner of this body, and I shall do what I want.
"You can just vanish into the depths of our minds."
I had no time to cower and scramble with the previous soul that inhabited this body.
"You're going back there and then what? Cower in fear just like you had then?"
A mocking voice that keeps buggering me. He's stubborn and entitled nature that annoys me is the worst of all.
I've finally known him truly for who he is. Just an idiot with brawns and no brains.
But just as much as I hated hearing it, he was right.
I cowered in fear before the monsters.
They were large creatures that had never existed on Earth and the fiction back there had been holding back on projecting their appearances.
They were nightmares that will haunt you forever.
"You carry a blade, but you don't use it. You can freely use magic and has specific knowledge of it, yet you fail."
He said as he pulled out a blade that was aimed at my throat. Its tip was an inch away and one wrong move would make me drown in my own blood.
It was not real, however, his words were.
I have everything I need, yet I still fail.
Why so? If I must ask. I failed to see the reason why.
Is it fear?
Doubt?
Anxiety?
Indecisiveness?
If not, then what was it?
"You never experienced great loss, have you?"
"..."
"You only gained, and gained, and gained."
"I—"
"If you ever had lost something, it was something you expected and deem something unimportant... You fail to see the value in protecting something without reason."
He took a step closer, stabbing me through the chest with the blade he had.
"—!"
To my surprise, there was resistance. I could feel the cold blade and the hot blood that dripped to the crevises of my clothes.
It hurt so much.
"You never felt extreme pain. You never felt what it means to be broken."
I never had to. All I had back then was anxiety. Worrying about myself, thinking about the profit of my actions.
Even every kind of action I took was waiting for a result that will greatly benefit me.
A sociopath of the society I once lived in.
A man full of lies.
I was full of it.
The blood that was dripping away had let that man's life waste away, nearing its end.
"However, you began to change with the influence of my memories. So, I will offer you one thing."
The blade was still lodged in my side as he lets go of it.
It was hot and cold at the same time, yet the pain vanished as he extends his fist into my chest.
"Use my strength and I'll use your intellect. We'll merge and become one, so none of us will have to vanish!"
The knife that was lodged in my side was gone. It was on my chest already.
The wound had moved along with the knife.
More blood had dripped down, yet there was no pain.
"If we become one, you shall no longer be afraid nor weak. You will have the motivation I have."
"If we become one, you shall no longer be reckless and naive. You will have the ideas I have."
If there is truly no other way to escape out of this deadlock, then I shall take upon his offer.
It was just a matter of time as I decided, shortly followed by a surge of wind that came.
In unison, our thoughts were beginning to align.
I, the Grantt Maximilian of Earth accepts.
"And I, the Grant Maximilian of Arte accepts."
Without knowing of who will be the dominant persona, we both played our luck.
With that, a slow stir to my overwritten mind had been evoked.
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