****(POV)

The mage I sent inside still hasn't come out.

The more this goes on the more I curse the lord.

I'm just an assistant.

Why is this shit my problem?

That captain guy comes nearby.

"Sir, we should be good to go soon. Our reinforcement should come any minute now."

Wait a minute!

"What do you mean soon? The mage already went in!"

"A mage, Sir? Ah, I see. Must have been that guy. That's not who we were waiting for."

"Then who?!"

He comes closer and starts whispering.

"This brother of mine that is leaving the town soon happens to have a rank 4 friend. Well, his rank is unknown, but he's killed a rank 4 barehanded in the past."

What?!

That's impossible!

There is no way that…

What is happening to the world?

The guards awaiting a rank 4 expert.

Quite possibly a monk.

For them, weapons are pointless.

Being unharmed not a disadvantage.

Then on the other hand there is the tamer's guild.

They are searching for that rank 4 of theirs.

One we know nothing about.

Hearing this I'm starting to wonder if I should simply run.

Get as far away as this city as possible.

One powerhouse visiting may be a coincidence.

Two at the same time and it is a precursor to war.

At least in my experience.

For a rank 4 has a huge tactical value for a faction.

They are the strongest at the moment.

Plus these guys are all old monsters for the most part.

They have experience.

Beating them with raw power is close to impossible.

Tricking them can prove even more troublesome.

There will be champions eventually reaching rank 5 for sure.

But that is a concern for the future.

This shit is definitely above my pay grade.

Now there are already two of them that will likely be involved.

The good thing is that they seem to be allies.

This is reassuring.

I feel like this is overkill.

I can't help but chuckle imagining two rank 4 helping settle a hostage situation.

It would obviously be using excessive force haha.

Still, I'm sure these guys would have many ways to do so.

One doesn't become that strong without a few secret techniques.

Well, hopefully the mage we sent inside will….

I can see the library door opening.

Comes out that guy.

Clearly visible.

He doesn't seem to be injured in any way.

This is good news.

There is just one thing.

Why is he alone?

Where is the hostage?

I can't see any trace of a fight on him.

Almost as if he only went inside for a talk with a friend.

I guess I'll know soon.

He stops in front of me.

"Here, this is for you!"

A folded piece of paper.

It's …. a list of demands…again.

For some reason, it includes a palanquin now.

One carried by servants that are muscular and bare-chested.

What the actual fuck.

Who the hell is making these random demands?!

"What is going on?! What happened inside?"

He thinks for a few moments before answering.

"I truly suggest you cooperate with him. I can fool any rank 3 with my invisibility spell. I couldn't fool him. I couldn't even fool his pet."

"Wait, you are telling me that there is a culprit in there that is at least rank 4?! One that has a pet that is also rank 4?!"

"*Sigh* Something like that. Oh yeah, most of the demands are bullshit, however. The so-called hostage is the one writing those on a whim. A teenage girl. From my understanding, he seems to be an enemy of the tamer's guild."

Oh crap.

What did I just say about an upcoming war?!

What are the chances of so many rank 4 randomly showing up at once?

Close to 0.

I guess these 2 ally rank 4 are chasing that new guy.

There is one thing that terrifies me.

He is not running in the slightest.

He is simply waiting for their arrival.

What kind of history do they have together?

He also isn't bothered by the many small fries crowding over.

He probably has the power to end us all in a heartbeat.

Oh my god.

This town is about to become a warzone.

Will it even remain standing afterward?

The worst being we can't do anything about it.

Should I try and send a missive to the diplomatic city?

No, they won't help.

This situation is way too murky.

Even they would likely have huge losses by joining the fray.

"What about that one demand that is asking for safe passage out of the city? That one is always there no matter what."

"Yeah, that one is clearly a joke. If he wants to leave not a soul here will be able to stop him."

Figures.

I understand.

He doesn't want anything at all.

We should simply leave him alone.

At this point, we made such a ruckus.

Only to shoot ourselves in the foot.

Staying here a second more is simply going to increase our losses.

Welp, screw that shit.

I take a deep breath.

"THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING TO THIS HOSTAGE SITUATION SIMULATION! Good job overall, but there are a few points to improve for sure. I'll tell you guys at training. Now disperse!"

Everyone is confused and unsure how to react.

Then they slowly proceed to follow my order.

I know this is just an excuse and they can feel it too.

Whatever, I am not losing all my soldiers here.

Some will say there is the possibility this is all the mage misunderstanding.

Perhaps even him having betrayed us.

Yeah, it is possible.

Still, I'll go with my instinct on that one.

That's when I see someone I know running over.

It's the guy that got fired.

The slime one.

"Bad news I couldn't find him. This sucks it would have made all of this easy. You guys didn't get a report of a donkey getting sighted or a small white wolf, right?"

"Y-you, did you say a small white wolf?!"

What is happening?

Why is the mage reacting so strongly?