Chapter 5
“Citizens! Head to the shelters, quickly!”
As we left the dessert café, we saw police officers directing citizens toward the shelters.
“Let's go where everyone else is going.”
“Did you bring an escort?”
“No, I didn't. I came out to meet my fiancée, Miss Seol-a. There's no need for an unwanted third party to get in the way, is there?”
Then what was he thinking when he pulled out that black card earlier?
Was he just clueless?
“Did you bring an escort, Miss Seol-a?”
“No. I moved out of the main house because I wanted to live a normal life until I awakened. I live separately, with only one personal maid by my side for now.”
“Then I suppose we have no choice but to go to a shelter after all. If I'd known this would happen, maybe I should've had an escort wait nearby even on a date. Haha….”
I thought that from now on, I should have Yura wait nearby whenever possible.
“You two there! Please follow our directions!”
A police officer who had noticed us standing still came over and urged us to head to a shelter at once.
Looking around, I saw that Kim Hye-seong and I were the only people left here; there wasn't another soul in sight except the police.
“Ah, sorry. We were worried about getting swept up in the crowd and falling, so we waited a moment. I'm wearing shoes like these….”
“Those are high heels. Even so, please move along together as much as possible. The longer you wait, the more likely the monsters are to spot you.”
I nodded at the officer's words.
Then we immediately started toward the shelter.
On our way to a shelter that wasn't too far away—
I flinched!
I felt a strange chill.
“Stop for a moment.”
“Yes?”
I stopped Kim Hye-seong because of that ominous feeling.
And at the same time, it happened.
“Kia! Kikuak!”
“Damn it! Monsters! Fire to keep them at bay, and fall back!”
The ominous feeling I'd sensed was the presence of monsters nearby.
The monsters, which looked like large lizards, walked on two legs like humans and made cries that sounded almost like speech.
Lizardmen.
That was the name of the monsters attacking us now.
If they were carrying weapons, their names would be followed by titles like Soldier or Warrior, but since these ones weren't holding any weapons, they were definitely ordinary Lizardmen.
In the current situation, that was at least a little better.
After all—
“Aim for their eyes! Blind them so we can escape more easily!”
“Yes, sir!”
Bang, bang!
Even ordinary Lizardmen could be driven back with guns.
Of course, the pistols the police used weren't very powerful, so shooting them in the eyes could only temporarily impair their vision.
“Kirr! Kituak!”
“Krru! Kirirak!”
When the bullets hit them squarely in the eyes, the two Lizardmen rubbed at them with their hands and staggered backward.
The police weren't about to let that chance slip by.
“Run!!”
With me and Kim Hye-seong, ordinary civilians, in the middle, the four police officers formed a protective formation and started running toward a different shelter from the one we'd originally been heading for.
Since monsters had appeared in the direction of our original destination, that area would be swarming with them.
In the end, our only option was to head for a shelter in the opposite direction.
Beep. Crackle.
As we ran to put as much distance between us and the monsters as possible, a sound came from the radio of the most senior of the four officers.
Perhaps we'd already put enough distance between us and the monsters, because the officer holding the radio raised a hand and stopped everyone.
“Hold on a moment. The two civilians, please wait here as well.”
Kim Hye-seong, the other officers, and I nodded at his words.
Then the officer picked up his radio and began transmitting.
“This is Sergeant Song Hyeon-su. Please state the reason for the transmission.”
[It's Inspector Jang. Where are you now?]
“I'm at Point B with two civilians, having avoided the monsters.”
[Phew. That's a relief. I hear monsters have invaded the shelter Sergeant Song was heading for. Abandon that shelter.]
“What!? What about the civilians sheltering there?!”
[The Hunter Association has dispatched Hunters in an emergency. We'll have to look into why the shelter was breached later, but first, I'm glad you're safe.]
From their conversation, it seemed the shelter we'd been heading for had been breached by monsters.
The story had used things like this to convey the urgency of the situation, but it was strange that a shelter had been breached by nothing more than ordinary Lizardmen.
A shelter was sturdy enough that an A-rank Hunter had to attack it in earnest to break through.
Unless someone deliberately opened the shelter's doors, there was no way monsters could break in.
Not unless the newly appeared Gate was A-rank.
[You said you're currently with two civilians, right?]
“I'm with my three teammates as well.”
[Then you should have enough bullets for your pistols.]
“We used about four bullets in the attack earlier. One per person. So there are currently five rounds loaded in each pistol. The Gate appeared suddenly, so we don't have any spare ammunition….”
[Come to think of it, the four of you were on patrol, right? This is bad. First, get inside somewhere you can hide as well as possible, and stay hidden. Keep your radio volume as low as possible, too.]
“We'll do that. More importantly, when do you think the Hunters will put an end to this?”
[I don't know. The Association doesn't have many Hunters available right now.]
“Isn't the civilian guild doing anything?”
[They're short-staffed, since they have people out raiding a Gate in another area. Apart from the personnel on guard duty.]
“So this might not be over by the end of today. Haa….”
[Anyway, stay well hidden. Understand? Don't die.]
“I'll do my best, Inspector Jang.”
Click.
The transmission ended.
Then the officer who'd been using the radio looked at us.
“As you heard, the situation seems quite bad. For now, let's find somewhere to hide instead of going to a shelter. We'll protect you with our lives, so please don't worry.”
He told us not to worry too much, but I could tell.
The police officer in front of me was also extremely tense and frightened.
Since we couldn't even get to a shelter, we'd have to make our way through a battlefield without any protection. Even a police officer would have every reason to be afraid.
Honestly, I was pretty tense, too.
I'd trained as an aspiring Hunter, but until I awakened, I was just an ordinary person with a lot of mana.
“Don't worry too much, Miss Seol-a. I'm always carrying an artifact my father told me to keep with me, so I'll step in if we're in danger.”
Perhaps sensing my unease, Kim Hye-seong tapped the ring on his finger and tried to reassure me.
It seemed to be an artifact.
That made me feel a little relieved.
It was an artifact given to his son by the Guild Master of Myeongun, one of South Korea's leading private guilds. It had to be quite powerful.
Following the advice of Inspector Jang, the police officer we'd heard over the radio, we set out to find somewhere suitable to hide.
Perhaps because the monsters were concentrated around the shelters, I didn't feel the same ominous chill as before while we searched for a place to hide.
About ten minutes later, we found a suitable place.
“This should do. It's far from the shelters, and it has drinking water and food.”
The place we'd chosen was a house.
It looked like a family had lived there, but no one was home. Perhaps they'd evacuated.
“We'll compensate the owners properly later, so let's go inside and rest for now.”
Since this was an emergency, we had no choice but to use the house as a temporary shelter.
I felt sorry for the residents, though.
We went inside the house, firmly shut the doors and windows, left the lights off, and stayed perfectly still without making a sound.
We had to hide our presence from the monsters as much as possible.
We stayed like that, waiting for quite a long time.
While the Hunters exterminated the monsters that had emerged from the Gate.
—But our wait didn't last very long.
“Kirr. Kiaak.”
“Krruk. Kituk.”
The Lizardmen had already made it to the area around the house where we were hiding.
“Shh….”
The senior officer among the police gestured for everyone to be quiet.
Everyone nodded, but—
“Squeak?”
The sound that broke the silence rang out.
It was the squeak of a mouse living somewhere in the house.
KWAANG!!
At the same time, a wall of the house was smashed in.
By a huge double-headed axe.
“Damn it! Protect the civilians!!”
The police officer shouted at the top of his lungs.
At the same time, he drew the revolver from his holster.
But there was nothing the gun could do this time.
Because this Lizardman was armed.
“Open fire!”
Bang! Bang-bang!
The revolver flashed and spat bullets.
The police officers were excellent shots and hit the Lizardman who'd smashed through the wall with every bullet, but it barely affected the monster.
“Kraaa—!!”
If anything, it only made it angrier.
The dust kicked up when the wall broke began to clear as it roared.
And we could finally see the Lizardman clearly.
“Damn, it isn't a Soldier—it's a Warrior…!”
Its leather armor was the standard appearance of a Lizardman Warrior as described in the story.
“Officer Na, take the civilians and run.”
“Sergeant Song, what are you saying!?”
“Our primary duty is to protect civilians, Officer Na! We'll hold this place somehow, so take the civilians and run! Now!!”
At the senior officer's shout, the youngest-looking female officer, who also had the lowest rank, looked once at Kim Hye-seong and me, then turned back to her superior and nodded.
“Understood! I'll make sure the civilians are safe!”
“Good answer. …Now go!”
What was this?
This overwhelming helplessness.
Was I really unable to do anything just because I hadn't awakened yet?
“Civilians, follow me, quickly! We have to get out of here!”
If this had happened on January 1, the day Yoo Seol-a was supposed to awaken, when I first possessed her, would things have been different?
Or was I simply too scared to do anything?
—I was so helpless right now.
[In answer to your fervent wish, I will awaken the power you ought to possess, if only temporarily. Our dear princess.]
At that moment, a voice echoed in my head.
Along with the very familiar words, ‘our princess.’
At the same time, a familiar window appeared before my eyes.
【The ‘Dokkaebi Princess’ ability has been temporarily awakened.】