The Bartender Skirmish – The Shot Heard Around the Town

I am but a bartender…

Huh? So I’m still alive then.

…

Maybe ‘alive’ isn’t the best word, but I am living.

Dust obscured my vision, billowing around the wooden beam lying straight in the center. The morning sun scattered through the tiny gaps in the debris surrounding me. My body… well, it wasn’t in the best condition; however, it was barely a hindrance. I just had to more finely control the mana to make up for anything broken.

“Is everyone all right? Sound out how many are injured!” A quiet yet far-reaching command echoed through the rubble. Judging by the voice, it seemed to be Brennan.

“All good here!”

“Only a few nicks, but no wounds!”

“Same here!”

Unsurprisingly, the adventurers immediately answered his call. His presence was much more imposing than our rather squirrely guildmaster. I couldn’t hear him without enhancing the nearby mana, but since everyone was still alive, it looked like my gambit worked.

Controlling wind magic precisely was a pain, especially when under a time limit. Still, I was a cloud, and wind was my next door neighbor. Precisely controlling all the falling debris to miss every single person only required a lot of effort. And I didn’t mean only the guild building. I was talking about the entire town.

Whatever that bombardment was fell over Vazio without discrimination. Guards, adventurers, civilians – none were immune from the wanton destruction. Did I care? Not really. People killed other people all the time. Still, after living here for quite a while, I would be the tiniest bit disappointed if everyone I knew up and died.

Enough of that. The spell was a massive surprise. It didn’t use the mana of a person. Instead, it was more similar to my own. That probably meant that so-called god was to blame. What was her name again? Actually, did I even know her name? Oh well, it wasn’t that important. Regardless, I was likely the cause of her rage.

“Use your spells to make it out of the building. Prioritize low power ones to avoid injuring others. Then, head towards the South Gate! The guard likely needs our support!” Oh? Brennan managed to deduce the spell’s origin. I spread mana in that direction as well.

There were a hundred and one intruders about a five minute walk from the gate. While this town had at least triple the amount of fighters (mainly because of me), their strength was mediocre. Meanwhile, the outside force all had at least a proficient level of training. Two of them were A-rank adventurers, though with that swordswoman being a god, both of them could be considered gods.

It sounded like something interesting was about to go down. It wasn’t on the scale of a war. No, this would be a skirmish at best. If that detestable chairman was here, it wouldn’t be even that. Still, this soon-to-be battle had its own charms compared to the repetitive routine of a bartender.

Using the mana once again, I cut a pathway out of the debris, leading me into the blinding sun. There were quite a number of buildings destroyed, but luckily, none of them were on fire. From what I could see, my spell was working perfectly.

Meanwhile, adventurers continued to burst out of the wood and stone, dusting themselves off before running towards the South Gate. I couldn’t sense Brennan’s mana around, so he was probably already on the front line. As for the others–

“Melora! There you are! Are you okay?! No injuries or anything?!” Lisa yelled in a panic, wrapping in a bear hug. She seemed to be organizing the adventurers from a slab of stone, sending the strong to the front lines and everyone else to rescue the other residents.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Well, for a cloud anyway.

“I’m glad. So so glad.”

“Do you know what’s going on?”

“From what I’ve heard, the Adventurer God has staged a massacre with the help of beastmen. Brennan and the others are doing their best to hold them off. I saw the God’s party head out not too long ago as well.” Lisa grabbed my hand bringing me to a nearby adventurer. “Take her to the shelter with the other civilians. I’ll see you later Melora.”

“Sure…” Before I could get my words out, Lisa had already scampered off to another adventurer, giving them precise orders.

“Well, come along little missy. Can’t betray the receptionist now, can we?” The man started to walk away at a brisk pace. I followed along, making sure to keep the mana on the entertainment unfolding outside. Brennan was fighting one of the A-ranks while the swordswoman’s party “handled” the other. The remaining adventurers and guards fought the intruders weapon-to-weapon. It should’ve been an overwhelming defeat, but it felt like the intruders were hesitant for some reason, as if this was all some sort of stalling tactic. For what though?

I had to find out.