Reincarnation into the Barrier Master

The first snow fell in the capital of Agartha. The mornings and evenings have been getting colder recently, and we were expecting it to snow in a while. Although it is only November, winter seems to come early this year.

I was sitting in my office, watching the snow fluttering outside the window and lost in thought, when suddenly I received a reminder. It was from Tarma, who is stationed in the country of Miedai. He wanted me to come to Miedai, and wanted to know my schedule. The chiefs of the five towns to which I had delivered the salt wanted to thank me. I declined, but they insisted and told me that it might jeopardize Doki's position. I had no choice but to call Ferris and Ruara, adjust my schedule, and told them that I would be there tomorrow evening.

The next evening, Zenhai came to pick me up and we were transferred to the country of Miedai. There, Doki was waiting for me with an apologetic look on his face, as usual, and bowed repeatedly when I arrived.

"That's enough, Dawki. You're going to hurt your back, aren't you?"

"I'm really ...... really sorry."

"You want to thank me, don't you?　That's fine. It's not like I'm going to get mad at you."

And we smile at each other.

Doki takes the lead and leads me to a meeting in a warehouse near the store. Doki takes the lead in leading me to the meeting, which is just a stone's throw away from the store, but he is walking with his guard up. I have a map, as well as presence and magic detection, so I can almost always tell who is around me, but in a way, this kind of cautiousness is necessary. In a sense, this kind of vigilance is necessary. Doki's figure is something we should learn from.

While I was thinking about such a thing, we arrived at the warehouse in no time. Once inside, we immediately went down the stairs leading to the basement. Then, I saw a light in the back. As I moved toward it, I saw about 50 men and women sitting in a circle. These people seemed to be representatives of the local community.

"Sorry I'm late."

Doki bows to them quickly, and they all look at us. In the twilight, the people look diverse. Some of them have shaved heads, some are women with well-defined eyes, noses, and faces. Some are beasts. And the ...... costumes are also diverse, from those wearing dresses to those who are almost naked. I can't help but mutter in a small voice.

"Anything goes ....... I guess there's at least one guy wearing a haori hakama.

"What?　What is it?"

"No, it's nothing. ......"

The atmosphere was so bizarre that I was honestly taken in. Without paying any attention to the situation, one of the biggest women in the group opened her mouth.

"Are you the one who gave me the salt?"

"Yes. I am the merchant ...... Linos."

"Ha ha ha!　Doki, you mustn't lie in front of Ate. I know what you're talking about. You are the king of Agartha, aren't you?

"......!"

The woman smiles at Doki, who is absolutely mortified.

"Doki, you are an honest man, and I like you. I like you. My name is Shogetsu, and I am the head of Kamimachi. Thank you very much for giving us the salt. We are very grateful.

No, no, no, no. I would be more than happy to be of service to you all.

No, thank you very much. I am Tokiwa from downtown. You have no idea how much you have helped me.

"This is Kamega from Minamimachi. I'm grateful to you, too.

"This is Ryokua from Higashi-machi. I, too, would like to thank you.

"I'm Kaishido from Nishimachi. Thank you so much for your help.

Representatives of each township expressed their thanks in their own words. All of them have quite a punchy appearance, but it is hard to remember them when they introduce themselves so many times in a row. And their minions?　Even the "Mere Old Man" says hello. Seriously, my head is getting all messed up.

"Well, gentlemen, that's enough.

Shogetsu's one voice brought a hush to the room. She turned to me, shaking her large body.

"Actually, I came here to thank Linos-san, but the situation has changed. Before I left home, I heard a disturbing story ....... Will you all listen to me?"

Everyone looked at each other to see what was going on, and then turned their attention to Shogetsu. She looks at them all and opens her mouth gravely.

It seems that the neighboring kingdom of Tana is gathering an army. It seems that they want to attack us.

Wait a minute!　An army from the Kingdom of Tana is ...... such a story ......."

"You've never heard of it. I heard they're secretly collecting them, Mr. Dawki."

"Why ......"

Everyone there, including Doki, is stunned. Then, Shogetsu opened his mouth further.

"The Kingdom of Tana has been neglecting Ate and the others ever since they threw out the people of Klimiana. But I don't understand why they are suddenly attacking us now. If there is, it must be the soul spirit stone that the emperor has, but if that's what they want, there's no need to gather an army. It would be more efficient to infiltrate a few skilled men. Nevertheless, Tana is gathering an army to attack. ....... I'm wondering what's going to happen. I would thank the king of Agartha, but the matter is urgent. I'm sorry to bother you here, but King Agartha, Doki, would you do me a favor?

"I'm ...... if that's okay with you."

Doki opens his mouth in confusion. I, for one, am at a loss as to what to say to him. So far there has been no response to my map, to my presence detection, or to my magic detection. What in the world does this woman have to say about all this? But it doesn't look like she's lying. While I was thinking about this, Shogetsu looked at us and opened his mouth gravely.

"I'd love to tell you the details, but we're on the clock. Dokiban, you can use the transfer, can't you?　Evacuate the emperor and the others immediately. King Agartha, I'm sorry, but could you hide the emperor in Agartha?

"E......A......"

Dawki slowly turned his gaze on me. I was about to ask him why he was in such a hurry to move the emperor, when the map suddenly opened. There, I could see that the area around me had turned a bright red. At the same time, the presence detection and magic detection reacted. I sense a great deal of magical power. I knew in an instant that there were quite a few wizards in the area.

"We seem to be surrounded by enemies!"

"d*mn... ......?"

The ground shook at the moment when Shogetsu let out a voice that could neither be described as surprise nor resignation.

"What?"

Everyone stands up. Immediately after that, everyone was running toward the outside.

"Whoa!　Ouch!"

As soon as I stepped outside, a stone fell on my head. When I looked up to the sky, I saw that there was no sky, and black grains filled the sky above me.

"Look out!　Whoa!"

One after another, huge stones were falling from the sky. Everyone was frantically trying to escape into the warehouse. Among them, Doki and Shogetsu are clearly turning their bodies in a different direction from everyone else.

"Teishou-sama!"

"Tei ohoh!"

"Come back here, you idiot!　Watch out!"

They saw a huge stone, more than 3 meters in size, falling on their heads. They tried their best to avoid it, but it was obvious to everyone that they would never be able to escape. Almost unconsciously, I was activating my warding skill with all my might.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

My voice and the stone falling on the heads of the dorks were almost simultaneous. Immediately after that, a great number of stones of all sizes rained down on the country of Miedai.

A few minutes later, the Mideast was buried under stones and disappeared.