I'm the Only Wizard Climbing the Tower - Chapter 131

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Chapter 131: 131

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“What the hell is that?”

“Probably monsters. You can barely make out their silhouettes through the dust. Judging by their size, they’re probably Ogres.”

As I muttered while looking at the distant crowd, Choi Yejin answered.

She continued her explanation.

“It’s hard to be sure with all that dust, but judging by their movements and size, they’re definitely Ogres. There are five of them. Ah, looking closer, three are big and two are smaller. It’s likely three Ogres and two Trolls.”

Maybe Choi Yejin had good eyesight because she was an archer.

Or maybe she was simply observant.

She looked at me and asked quietly.

“What are you going to do, Mr. Bus Driver? Are you going to save those people?”

“Of course.”

I picked up my staff and shouted.

“I have to save them. The Extreme Lunatic Hell Heaven Prophet Serial Savior Hunter cannot turn his back on people in danger!”

“You really do have a lot of personas.”

“It’s not a persona. Anyway, Iing Iing, let’s go!”

-Iing!

Pop!

Iing Iing activated Psychokinetic Flight.

We quickly approached the distant crowd, and I thought as we flew.

‘A lot of people are probably going to get hurt before we get there.’

Iing Iing’s Psychokinetic Flight was fast.

After growing again and again while climbing the Tower, she could now travel at nearly the speed of sound.

Still, the distance was simply too great.

The crowd had been near the horizon when viewed from atop a hundred-meter-high wall, so they were at least dozens of kilometers away.

Even for Iing Iing, it would take at least two minutes.

-Roooooar!

In contrast, the Ogres were already right in front of the crowd.

No matter how quickly we arrived, dozens of people could easily die in that time.

Then...

‘Do I really need to wait until we get there?’

I could just kill them while flying!

“It’s time for a Level 5 Electromagnetic Cannon, straight out of A Certain Scientific Railgun!”

I gripped my staff and drew up the blue motes within me.

‘Railgun. Multiple Manifestation.’

-Crack! Crackle! Crack!

Virtual rails formed in front of me, scattering brilliant blue sparks.

The projectiles I took from my Spatial Bag floated up and loaded themselves.

I aimed the virtual rails and muttered quietly.

“Aim for the center, then flip the switch.”

“You’ve got A Certain Scientific Railgun and Evangelion mixed together. What a mess.”

“You know all that? Yejin, are you perhaps...?”

“...”

Choi Yejin suddenly fell silent beside me.

It seemed she’d been caught as a hardcore otaku and forgot what to say.

Don’t be so embarrassed!

There’s nothing shameful about watching anime!

Anyway, I activated my magic.

-Kwaaaaaang!

Five metal projectiles shot out with a thunderous blast.

Blue trails tore across the vast distance.

Then...

-Thud! Crunch! Splat!

The five Railgun projectiles I fired crossed dozens of kilometers in an instant, cleanly piercing the heads of the Ogres and Trolls.

-Boom! Boom! Boom...!

The monsters that had been about to fall upon the crowd collapsed at once, their heads gone.

Their massive bodies struck the ground with deafening booms.

“W-What?! The Ogres and Trolls are dead!”

“Everyone, stop! The monsters are dead!”

“What the hell is going on-”

Murmur, murmur.

As the attacking monsters suddenly died, the fleeing people stopped and looked around in every direction.

We continued flying toward the crowd.

-Step.

After landing lightly on the ground, I slowly looked around.

I saw wrecked, crushed wagons and carts, and hundreds of people staring at us.

I could hear them talking.

“Did that person kill the Ogres and Trolls?!”

“No, how could anyone kill those monsters in one blow...?”

“Am I dreaming right now?”

“What kind of situation is this?!”

“Could that be a ‘wizard’ from the legends?”

“No way...”

Hundreds of people looked at us with confusion, relief, tension, and anxiety all mixed together.

I quietly muttered as I looked at them.

“They’re all dressed like beggars.”

They wore old, tattered clothes.

Men, women, children, and elderly people alike carried packs on their backs or pulled wagons and carts.

They were clearly refugees.

As I examined them...

-Step, step.

A middle-aged man in armor carefully walked out from the crowd.

His armor was dented all over, and one shoulder was soaked in blood.

Still, he seemed to be something like the leader of these refugees.

He looked at me and spoke.

“Did you... defeat those monsters?”

“That was me.”

“...?”

“I said I killed them.”

“Ah.”

The middle-aged knight nodded.

-Thud!

He planted his sword in the ground and dropped to one knee.

Then he bowed his head and spoke in a firm voice.

“Thank you for saving us. Please tell me your name. I am Valdemar von Rosenberg! I will keep my benefactor’s name in my heart and repay this debt someday!”

“It was nothing. Anyway... what happened to those people? They’re all dressed like beggars, and there seem to be a lot of injured people.”

Whether the knight was making a fuss or not, my gaze remained fixed on the people around us.

None of them looked well.

A man limping along.

An old man with a filthy bandage wrapped around his head.

Even a small child, covered in blood and lying in a cart.

The uninjured people were not in good shape either.

They were all so thin that their bones looked ready to poke through their skin.

Their eyes were sunken, and even the children did not cry. They only blankly clutched at the adults’ clothes.

They had been pushed to the limit by hunger and exhaustion.

Not one of the hundreds of people looked healthy.

Had some war broken out and made them hightail it?

The knight explained.

“We have been fleeing for ten days already...”

To summarize his story, they had originally lived in a fortress city far to the south.

Then one day, a large horde of monsters rampaged and attacked the city.

The walls were completely destroyed, countless people died, and they fled north in a panic.

“On the way, we joined up with survivors from other villages. One by one, more people joined us until our group grew this large.”

“What’s in the north?”

“The last human stronghold. It has not fallen yet. If we can just reach it...”

The problem was that the journey to that stronghold was not easy.

Large Monsters were scattered throughout the wasteland, the refugee procession was slow, and the monsters could smell them and relentlessly chase after them.

“We have been attacked five times over the past ten days. Each time, we lost people.”

“How many people died?”

“When we first set out, there were more than a thousand of us. But now...”

The man’s expression darkened.

“As you can see, not even half survived. They died, fell behind, or were taken by monsters...”

“Hmm.”

The knight, who had been lamenting their plight, suddenly bowed his head.

“Thank you, benefactor. If you had not been here, we would all have died.”

“...”

“Many people sacrificed themselves to save us. Some stayed behind to buy us time. That is why we must reach the stronghold alive. Otherwise, their lives will have been wasted.”

“Is that so?”

Not a single person in the refugee procession was unscathed after such a grueling escape.

This was really pitiful.

At this rate, most of them would die within a few days...

It couldn’t be helped!

“Can you make it to your destination like this? You said you still have several days to go.”

“That is...”

“It’ll be difficult, right? You’re exhausted, and there are a lot of injured people. Wait a moment. I’ll heal you.”

“?”

“One-click divine magic.”

I picked up my staff and activated divine magic.

I burned a large amount of mana to cast Blessing magic, an AoE buff that also doubled as healing magic!

Then...

-Hummmmmm...

A low hum began to ring from my staff.

I drew up and arranged the blue motes within my body.

I changed their phase and reversed their direction of rotation, drawing out their divine attribute.

The blue motes gradually turned golden.

-Flaaaaash!

A brilliant golden radiance burst forth.

It was as though a small sun had risen from the ground.

The dry earth of the wasteland was dyed gold.

Then...

-Fssssssss...

The golden radiance slowly began to scatter.

The scattered light gently seeped into the people of the refugee procession.

Men and women, young and old.

Those walking, those lying in carts, even the middle-aged knight before me.

It seeped into every one of them without exception.

Then the changes began.

“Uh... what is this? My wound...”

“I feel like I’m getting my strength back-”

“I’m not dizzy anymore...?”

People began to speak one by one, their faces filled with surprise and wonder as they felt their conditions improve.

They gradually regained color in their faces.

Just as their murmuring grew louder...

-Rattle.

A cart parked nearby shook.

It was the cart carrying the bloodied child I had seen earlier.

A young girl slowly raised herself up.

“Huh...?”

The little girl touched her body.

The torn wound in her side had completely healed.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“Mom!”

The child jumped up and ran toward her mother.

She threw herself into her mother’s arms.

“Mom! I don’t hurt anymore! Really! You don’t have to worry anymore!”

“...That’s right. You don’t seem to be hurting anymore. What a relief. I’m truly relieved...”

Tears streamed down the mother’s face as she held her child.

The people around them, who had confirmed that their families were safe, began embracing one another.

One by one, they recovered from their small wounds, regained their strength, and forgot their exhaustion.

It was just like when I cast an AoE heal on the Academy Floor!

This time, though, I lowered the intensity for mana efficiency.

The healing and buff effects were not immediate, but...

This should still be enough for them to last several more days, right?

I brushed beneath my nose.

‘Hmm. Today, I have once again s a v e d the common masses!’

I felt good!

It was not especially moving or anything.

It was just...

Seeing people who had been on the verge of death get back up, crying their eyes out...

It gave me a bit of a satisfying feeling.

As I continued healing them, all kinds of reactions poured in from the people around me.

“W-What is this...?! Could you be...!”

First, the middle-aged knight.

No, everyone in the crowd stared at me with their mouths hanging open.

“You can use that healing on this many people at once?”

“That was me.”

“...That’s seriously broken. Even if half a raid party got wrecked, with you around, you could get them all back on their feet.”

“That was me.”

Choi Yejin was amazed by my healing ability, which had exceeded even her expectations.

“Jiho, why are you responding so indifferently? On the High Floors, you made such a huge fuss about being a Prophet and all that.”

“I already had enough fun playing Prophet, leader of a fake church, on the High Floors, so I’m getting tired of it now... Haa. Isn’t there some fun new persona? I’ve s a v e d too many people. Saving only a few hundred people doesn’t even feel that special anymore. I think I’d need to save at least a continent before I could feel a little satisfied...”

“Good grief.”

Hyeji took pointless jabs at my sacred deeds.

-Iing iing iing!

And Iing Iing was still ridiculously adorable.

As golden radiance spread and the people gradually recovered...

“Gasp!”

The middle-aged knight let out a shocked cry while looking over my head.

He was staring at the top of my head with a stunned expression.

It was a strangely familiar reaction.

‘Don’t tell me?’

I looked up just in case.

And there it was.