"Another group is heading toward us!"

One of the lookouts stationed on the rooftop of the Crafters Guild shouted, catching the attention of everyone on the fifth floor and prompting them to peer outside through the small gaps in the barricaded windows.

Although it was dark outside, with only the faint glow of the crescent moon shining in the night sky, those with sharp eyes were able to identify the group approaching their location, fleeing from the Visages chasing them.

The group consisted of seven adventurers, four mage students, a knight and a valkyrie, along with a few cavalry soldiers from the Annual Caravan.

They were using the ice bridges Lynn had conjured earlier to run across the rooftops of adjacent buildings. And like Lynn and Arezu's group, they seemed to be planning to cross the hundred-meter-wide ice bridge to reach the Crafters Guild and take shelter.

However, that plan wouldn't work anymore, since the ice bridge connecting the Crafters Guild to the opposite building was swarming with countless Visages.

"That's the end of the line for them," Lynn said, looking at the group cornered by the Visages on the last rooftop before the ice bridge.

"So let's go and save them... Isn't that what you mean, Lynn?"

Lynn looked at Arezu in surprise upon hearing his remark, then a faint smile crossed her lips—one she thought she had masked with the surrounding darkness, hiding it from him.

"If that's what you want to do, Mr. Arezu."

"Sorry to break your flirting," Beatrix interrupted, "but with all the Visages at the ice bridge, we can't open the window where your group came in."

Opening the barricaded window directly in front of the ice bridge would risk letting the Visages waiting outside flood into the building. Unless—

"We eliminate them first."

Only Lynn and Arezu responded with anxious looks upon hearing this, which made Beatrix certain of her suspicions about the two of them.

Whether they refused to kill the Visages because of their morals or because they still hoped the townsfolk could be saved, whatever their reason, Beatrix could only warn them.

"You two know that the Visages of the townsfolk aren't human anymore, right? If you hesitate to cut them down, then you'll be the ones who die."

Lynn and Arezu both understood what Beatrix meant. They had already cut down Visages of adventurers who attacked them while they were hiding in the woodcarving store. But still, they couldn't let go of the hope that the locals might be saved.

"Fine, if that's what you want to do," Beatrix sighed, reading their silence. "Just make sure you two don't die."

"You don't have to worry about that."

"Who do you think we are?"

"A pair of weirdo."

Leaving Lynn and Arezu on their own, Beatrix gathered the crafters and adventurers to prepare what they would need to save the group outside.

Their plan was rather simple.

From the rooftop, the remaining adventurers of their group would jump down onto the ice bridge to eliminate the Visages and save the other group. Once the Visages' numbers had been reduced and everyone outside had retreated to the Crafters Guild, only then the crafters inside would open the barricaded third-floor window.

After a few minutes of preparation, they were ready to make their move.

On the rooftop of the Crafters Guild, a dozen adventurers—including Lynn, Arezu, and Beatrix—took their positions.

Each floor of the building was roughly four meters tall. Adding the roof's height made it more than a twelve-meter jump from the rooftop down to the ice bridge at the third floor. It seemed dangerously high to jump, but to a warrior adventurer like Arezu—

"This height should be a piece of cake, right, Mr. Arezu?" Lynn said, giving Arezu a slight push as he looked down near the edge of the roof.

"Oi… Didn't I tell you not to push me toward monsters again, Lynn?"

"It was just a light push though."

Seeing Arezu genuinely irritated, Lynn apologized, waving her hands in front of her while holding her baseball bat—or so Arezu thought.

"Hey… What's with that weird wooden club you're using?" Beatrix asked, curious about the bat she had seen Lynn and Arezu carrying since they arrived at the Crafters Guild.

"It's not a wooden club—it's a baseball bat."

"Baseball bat?"

"Mhm… Mr. Arezu crafted them."

Lynn swung her baseball bat to demonstrate—not only how it was used, but also her skill with it—to Beatrix.

—Swish!—

Hearing the sharp sound of the bat cutting through the air with each swing, Arezu distanced himself from Lynn as he stood at the roof's edge.

With such an unusual weapon in front of her, Beatrix, as a crafter, was bound to be interested.

"That's a design I've never seen before. Let me have a look, Lynn."

"This is mine, so you can't have it."

"It's not like I'm taking it. Besides, you've got two of them."

While Lynn and Beatrix bickered over the bat, Arezu preferred to watch the group they aimed to save and the Visages blocking their path rather than waste time on their squabble.

But as he took his eyes off her, Lynn began her planned mischief.

She let go of the bat, pretending to lose her grip and balance, and bumped into Arezu's back, pushing him off the roof.

"Ehh?..."

Arezu turned around as he was shoved off the roof, extending his right hand toward Lynn. At that distance, she could still grab his hand and pull him back up. But as their hands were about to touch, Lynn intentionally missed, flashing a mischievous smile at him.

"Lynn, you..."

"Be like a cat, Mr. Arezu!"

Arezu landed on his feet, crouching on the ice bridge. With the number of Visages surrounding him, defending with the baseball bat would be futile. So he strapped it to his back and grabbed his halberd-axe instead.

He swung immediately—not to cut down the Visages charging at him, but to push them off the bridge, hoping their bodies wouldn't shatter upon hitting the street below.

With his surroundings momentarily clear, Arezu charged ahead, gripping his weapon tightly with both hands. He blocked and shoved back the Visages in his path, then swung again to hurl them off the bridge whenever he could no longer advance.

But no matter how many he pushed off, more kept climbing up from the swarm below.

He alone wouldn't be enough to clear a path for the trapped group.

But it wasn't like he needed to do the task alone.

"Gust"

A strong blast of wind struck from above, knocking the Visages around Arezu off the bridge.

When he looked up to check the source, he saw Lynn floating down slowly, her descent cushioned by a gust of wind conjured with her mystic spell.

Arezu immediately averted his gaze, looking away even after she landed beside him.

"My, my… Did you happen to see what color it was, Mr. Arezu?"

"Of course not!"

Of course Lynn hadn't forgotten to hold her skirt to keep from being exposed during her fall. And with how dim it was, there was no way Arezu could have seen anything, probably—but that didn't stop her from teasing him just for looking.

"That should make us even for me 'accidentally' pushing you off the roof, right?"

"I'm telling you, I didn't see anything."

"So you do want to see it after all?"

"Seriously, Lynn… at least say sorry for pushing me off the roof."

"Stop flirting already!"

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