「Why, why, how come...! They are not your responsibility! Do not fall for that bastard's tricks!」

... Yeah, that's how you should react!!

* * *

CRASH!

"Uwaaah!! What are we going to do now!!"

"What do you mean, 'what do we do'? We just have to hold out like this..."

CRASH! Another massive sound of impact echoed, and the building shook violently.

CRACK. Along with the tremor, the powder fluttering down came from the cracked walls and ceiling.

They had no choice but to hold out. The Meister's mouth, which had been about to say that, clamped shut as if glued.

"... Will the building collapse before that?"

"Bullshit!! I refuse to be buried alive alone with you!?"

"You think I want to be buried with an idiot like you!? Normally, someone like you wouldn't even be allowed to pay respects at my grave!!"

They screamed at each other as if they were about to grab each other by the hair, but gritted their teeth as they watched the Gryphon ram into the building once again.

If they didn't want to be misunderstood as being close by sharing a grave in the same spot, there was only one option left.

"... We have no choice! We just have to kill that bastard and leave!"

"Great, but what about weapons!?"

"Hah, don't underestimate a Meister's workshop!"

The Meister's hands moved to his crafting tools. They were tools normally used for cutting metal, melting, or freezing things.

BANG! BANG!

"We're all going to die at this rate!!"

"Shut up!!"

CLATTER, CLATTER. The Meister urgently tightened clamps and attached a makeshift handle to create something. TAP, TAP. As he tapped it a few times, flames flickered from the front like a sigh.

"Alright, have a taste of fire!"

FWOOSH!

The Meister poured it straight onto the Gryphon. The intense heat poured over its beak and head feathers that had intruded into the building.

SCREEEECH!

"Did it work?"

The Gryphon's head briefly withdrew outside the building.

And then...

CRASH!

"Uwaaah! You just made it angrier!!"

"Damn it, the firepower is lacking because I rushed it...!"

As if telling them not to even dream of it, the Gryphon slammed its body against the building. It might no longer shove its head inside, but it was trying to bring down the very structure they were in.

The Meister was left speechless.

"Damn it, is there really nothing among your precious inventions that can help us right now!?"

"You're not even doing anything, so what are you— Ah!"

At that moment, the Meister's eyes lit up at Deathbringer's words. Caught at the edge of his vision was the mana battery.

"Uwaaack! Why are you just standing there spacing out again! If you don't want your skull cracked open, at least protect your head!!"

"Just shut your flapping mouth for a second!"

Deathbringer gasped and covered the Meister. CRUMBLE. Debris from the ceiling rained down on their heads.

If not for Deathbringer's protection, the Meister's crown would have been struck by a falling stone fragment.

"If that works... then..."

However, the Meister was not a man who had cultivated enough character to express gratitude for every little thing like that.

Instead of thanking Deathbringer, he muttered to himself while racking his brain.

Wouldn't it be thanks enough if he got them out of here alive? He wasn't entirely without such thoughts. It was an excellent decision that didn't bother to ask for the opinion of the person who actually deserved the thanks.

SKREEEEEK!!

"Damn it!"

Meanwhile, Deathbringer, who had been protecting the Meister from the stone fragments, spat a curse through his teeth and whipped his head around. The Gryphon, which had been slamming its massive bulk into the building, shoved its head inside once more.

The problem, however, was that a section of the wall had finally given way from the Gryphon's body slams. And the fact that the Gryphon kept ramming into it, determined to tear a hole right through the crumbled wall!

"Hey, what are we going to do about this?!"

If they kept letting it happen, either the building would collapse completely, or that wall alone would cave in and let the Gryphon inside.

And neither of those two endings held anything good for them.

Knowing this, Deathbringer grabbed the makeshift flamethrower again. He knew it lacked firepower, but he was desperate enough to use his gums if he had no teeth.

"Answer me, you crazy Mage son of a bitch!!!"

With a sound like a cawing crow, the Meister sprang to his feet.

"This goes here! And this goes here! Done?!"

"Yeah. It's done, you son of a bitch!"

"Then keep holding on!"

"What, you fucker?!"

"I'm going to blow that damn birdbrain away, so buy me some time until then!"

"You should have said that from the start! You think you're so smart, leaving out all the fucking context, you son of a bitch!"

Still, it seemed a new method to overcome this situation had appeared. Deathbringer gained at least a glimmer of hope from the remark about blowing the birdbrain away.

CRASH!

... Even if it was unknown whether that damn ink-spiller would blow the birdbrain away faster, or if that birdbrain would break through the wall and shove them into its mouth first.

"Eat shit, you demon bastard!"

However, they were already in the same boat (by force). With the threat of sinking right in front of them, he had no choice but to cooperate to survive, even if he didn't trust him.

Not wanting to die on the same day at the same time as the Meister, Deathbringer sprayed the flames just as he had been instructed.

SCREEEEEK!!

The Gryphon, which had been shoving its head and front paws through the gap like a cat trying to catch a mouse, let out a shriek.

The reaction was even better thanks to Deathbringer aiming the fire specifically at the softer-looking flesh.

CRASH! BANG!

But even with its feathers scorched and soft flesh burned, the Gryphon had no thought of giving up.

No, rather, it lunged even more aggressively. After nearly having its eyeballs cooked, it seemed beyond irritated and driven by pure spite. Its long, yellow toes, resembling a falcon's talons, fiercely raised their black claws.

BANG! BANG!

Meanwhile, the partially cracked and holed wall shattered further under the beast's rampage, doubling the size of the gap.

If the Meister hadn't embedded steel rebar inside the walls to increase his workshop's security, it would have been breached long ago by those impacts.

Fwoosh, sputter, click.

"What is this!? Why did it stop!?"

However, something went wrong, and the hunk of scrap metal spraying the flames completely died. Deathbringer smacked its surface a few times, but that was it.

After spewing flames a few more times, it sputtered out as if it had fulfilled its duty. "Uwaaaack!!" Deathbringer, now without a weapon, screamed.

BANG! BANG!

On the other hand, the Gryphon's momentum grew even fiercer. With the heat that had been blasting from inside gone, it began tearing at the hole even more tenaciously.

THWACK!

"F-Fuck, fine! Let's see who dies first, you or me, you birdbrain bastard!!"

Narrowly dodging the Gryphon's claws, Deathbringer grabbed his impure sword, ready to fight to the death. "Even if I die, I'll tear your throat out first!!" Whether his roar of pure grit had some effect, the Gryphon backed away.

SLASH.

Perhaps it was due to the damage caused when its swinging claws collided with the impure sword. The Gryphon grew wary of the sharp wound on its front paw and kicked the wall with its hind legs.

"Master Craftsman Boss! Are you still not done!?"

"Almost done!"

While Deathbringer was mobilizing everything he had to frantically block the entrance like that...

The Meister wasn't just sitting around playing either.

CLACK, CLACK.

He was in the middle of gathering all the scrap metal and equipment in the workshop to build a single device.

"What is that!?"

"A single-use item with a market price of 610 million gals."

If the purchase prices of the equipment used for this were combined, it would come out to roughly 610 million. And if this functioned exactly as he theorized, that Gryphon's head would be blown off, and this pile of equipment would melt away as well.

"Fuck, that's absurdly expensive..."

"It's cheaper than my life."

However, this trivial equipment was nothing compared to the many things he would accomplish in the future.

The Meister used all the items he had steadily gathered over a dozen years without any lingering regrets. Peeling off exterior panels to extract parts or using the casings as mounts, he had somehow created something incredible.

CLANK.

"Alright, done."

"Is it ready?"

"When I give the signal, get flat on the ground. It's the exact same thing we fired from the castle walls earlier."

"Fuck, you said it costs 30 million gals to make that thing."

"Plus one year of labor. In that year, we'd be eaten a thousand times over, so do you want to wait?"

"No."

People in the world didn't know it well, but being able to replace time with money was also a type of good fortune. Normally, there was nothing more precious than time.

"Alright, you parentless blockhead birdbrain. Since you made me melt down my equipment that's like my own children, I'll melt down your neck."

Saying that, the Meister inserted the mana battery into the final circuit. The mana battery, which he had been shaking vigorously since earlier, was glowing more brightly than ever.

CRASH!

"So open your fucking maw! I'll shoot more light than you'd see in a lifetime right past your uvula!"

And at the exact same time, the wall gave way, and the Gryphon finally shoved its head right in front of them.

"Die."

The moment the Meister pulled the trigger, a massive wave of mana pierced through the Gryphon's mouth.

A beam of light that melted everything in a straight line shot forth from the ground toward the sky.

.

.

.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

"Hah, it's done."

"God, damn. Is it finally over?"

Because one side of the wall had been torn down by the Gryphon, and the beam of light had spewed forth, the resulting shockwave caused the ground to shake once more.

As a result, the fragile building finally caved in its ceiling, and Deathbringer and the Meister, who had been flattened under the collapsing ceiling, barely managed to crawl out from the rubble.

"Phew. For my next workshop, I'll definitely design the foundation myself."

"Please do. So this never happens again."

It was truly fortunate that the entire structure hadn't sunk, but only the ceiling had been torn off and fallen. If it hadn't been for that, they wouldn't have even been able to crawl out like this.

"Damn it."

Well, even so, it was only on the level of finding a silver lining in a tragedy; it wasn't exactly pure luck itself.

The Meister contorted his face as he looked at the inside of the workshop, which had become even more of a mess due to the collapsed ceiling. He wondered if anything would be left even after he salvaged the damage.

"Whoa..."

On the other hand, Deathbringer was marveling at something else. It was because the moment they uncovered the rubble and came out, what he saw was the Gryphon's corpse with a gaping hole blown straight through it.

"It punched a clean hole right through..."

It looked similar to a circular mold pressed into bread dough. The head had completely evaporated, and a round mark was left on the remaining torso.

It wasn't just the Gryphon's corpse; the building was the same. Though it had been too blinding to observe directly with their own eyes, a trench had been carved out following the exact trajectory of the beam.

Not just the Meister's workshop, but the building across the street, and the building across from that too!

"... Wouldn't this be effective even against a Great Demon?"

"I don't know. It hasn't been tested to see if this is stronger than what we fired from the castle walls, and I've never properly measured the power of that one to begin with."

How could he measure its power when firing it poured money down the drain every time? But it did seem like this one was stronger than the one fired from the castle wall.

Because he felt the mana inside the mana battery wouldn't be enough, he had slammed in seven incredibly precious mana amplification devices—which altogether would be worth at least 300 million gals.

"... They're still alive?"

"What, fuck!?"

"Not the Gryphon, this."

"You scared the shit out of me!"

While Deathbringer, who had been about to poke the Gryphon, jumped back in shock, the Meister fished something out from the bubbling molten iron.

Although most of the device had melted away as the price of firing the mana cannon, there was thankfully still something worth salvaging.

"Five of them... this is pretty..."

Three of the mana amplification devices looked like they were about to die soon, and two were reasonably intact. Two had melted down completely.

Still, wasn't this an absolute luxury? He had been prepared for all seven to melt.

"This one is fine... this one too..."

Squatting down pitifully and rummaging through the pile of metal a bit more, surprisingly, the core parts had all survived.

Their condition was... quite terrible, but they could still be used right now, at least.

"If I do this right, I might be able to fire it one more time."

Of course, that was strictly 'if he did it right'. He didn't know if he could actually fire it.

Because magic engineering was a field where a formula for flying with wings in theory would end up spinning its neck wildly to take off in actual practice.

"... Is that true?"

"I'm not certain. There's too much equipment where it wouldn't be strange if the circuits melted away at any second."

Rather than risking his life on such uncertainty, it was better to just give up with peace of mind. He certainly couldn't lug all this around and join up with the city forces, after all.

The Meister prepared to leave after grabbing only his original target, the purification device, and a weapon for emergencies—a poker.

"What are you doing? If you plan on living there—"

"Then, could you make that and give it to me?"

"What?"

"You said it could be fired one more time."

"I clearly said I wasn't sure, didn't I? And even setting that aside, why should I give it to you?"

Even for mostly ruined products, if he put in the time to fix them, they could be used again. Did he know how much that would be worth?

The Meister's mouth, which had been about to say that, clamped shut in the next second.

"Because I want to land a hit on that demon."

... That was a slightly baffling statement. Going back to the castle wall was pointless since this weapon wouldn't work on that monster, which was already... Wait. Don't tell me?

"... You want to go to where that giant of fire is?"

"Yeah."

Deathbringer slowly gathered the equipment the Meister had left behind. Leaving aside his rough handling that could ruin the items, it was completely absurd.

"You're going to a place to die? Are you crazy?"

"Even if someone dies, it's me who'll die, not you, right? I'm going alone, so just make it for me."

"You crazy bastard..."

Did this idiot forget that the labor and materials to make it all came from him? Of course, he was saying that he would take on all the risk of bringing it to the demon once it was built, but...

"Why the hell would you go there?"

"Because the softie, no, the Hero went there."

Just watching him was so frustrating that he didn't want the guy touching anything. The Meister stomped back inside the building and snatched away what Deathbringer was holding.

Perhaps deciding that handing it over to him was better than a layman like himself messing with it, the guy surrendered it willingly.

"The Fighter Boss is agile, so I have faith she can pull back if things get really dangerous... but the Hero has none of that."

There were times when he was surprisingly agile for someone wearing heavy armor... but that was strictly by the standards of ordinary people. If the Demon Knight or the Berserker were the points of comparison, the Inquisitor ultimately became a slowpoke.

"Besides... I don't know the reason, but the fact that a demon came to us means demons have spread within the city. In that case, rather than the Hero being tied down over there, it's best for him to finish it quickly and join the city forces."

Moreover, the Inquisitor had the ability to protect many people with an omnidirectional defensive barrier.

It wasn't that he wanted to say 'the Berserker is less worth helping than the Inquisitor', but realistically, the Inquisitor could help more people right now than the Berserker could.

"So please hurry up and make it. So I can shoot the Great Demon in the head and bring the Hero back."

Because he was weak, he had no choice but to prioritize who to help, and finishing his words, Deathbringer despised himself for it.

The Meister's eyes darkened.

"Crazy bastard."

"Fuck, is that for you to say?"

"Do you think you can even fire it if I make it for you?"

"You can just teach me!"

"Do you know how high the chances are of it breaking on the way? What are you going to do then? Don't tell me you want me to teach you how to fix it step by step?"

"No, then what am I supposed to do..."

"I'd rather shoot it myself than try to hammer that into your stupid head."

The Meister thought with his rational mind.

This was madness.

"And if you really want to help, you should do something more efficient, you idiot! Crack open the safe inside! We're blowing up the waterways to flood that area!"

It was truly madness.

* * *

There seemed to be some misunderstanding.

I don't feel a sense of responsibility toward them like one of the voices said. I am absolutely not stepping up because I think I have to take responsibility.

Indeed, me being strong and me having to save them were two entirely different stories.

「Then why...!」

So if I had to strictly categorize it, it would be something roughly akin to morality. Or goodwill, or a favor.

My morals, which make me think this is the right thing to do and make it impossible for me to turn a blind eye to them.

「That is...」

Hah, practically a saint. Well, I guess it's a good thing for now.

「But...!」

Ah, but that doesn't mean I have nothing to say to you. I'm a bit relieved to hear there's a way to go home, but... that doesn't mean I have any reason to let you guys off the hook for putting me through all this suffering.

「...!」

Brace yourselves. Once this urgent fire is put out, I'm going to wring everything out of you—who you are, why I ended up here, and all your hidden circumstances.

So don't even think about hiding anything anymore.

Hah, or whatever.

「You, why are you...」

Pushing aside the sarcastic voice and focusing on the tearful one, I smiled faintly.

I know it's foolish. But if it's a home I can return to eventually, then even if it's hard right now, pushing myself more to save people is the right thing to do. That's the right thing.

There are so many people I can save if I just try a little harder.

「Sob...」

As I awkwardly murmured those words, teardrops pattered down my cheeks. It was quite a comforting thing.

I didn't know why you had stubbornly maintained your silence, but I realized that at least you were someone who would cry for me.

「We shouldn't have brought you here... You, we shouldn't have...」

Because there was someone advocating the sorrow that I couldn't bear to let out myself...

That, truly, brought me comfort.