“Oh my…”
“What on earth is happening?”
Rudell and his companions sprinted toward the direction of the flames, speechless at the sight before them.
“Save me!!”
“Waaaaaaah! Mooooommmmy-!!”
“Kyaaaaaaaak!!”
What they saw was a village being attacked by monsters.
Giant wolf monsters known as Wolf Monsters, along with orcs, goblins, and ogres swinging crude weapons at the fleeing villagers.
The residents were running for their lives, and many were already down, bleeding out.
“Everyone scatter and save the villagers!!”
“Got it!!”
“Understood!”
“Le, leave it to me…!!”
With Rudell’s shout, the group dispersed, and Rudell reached out toward the nearest orc.
His shadow, illuminated by the flames, stretched out and transformed into the Spear of Shadow, piercing through the orc’s body.
“Kwaroaack!?”
With its dying gasp, the orc’s mouth gushed blood from the Spear of Shadow.
As the Spear of Shadow vanished, the staggering orc collapsed.
“Ah…!! Aah…!!”
“Hurry and get to safety!”
A woman who had nearly been killed by the orc lay covered in its blood, groaning.
Rudell approached her, extending his hand and shouting.
“Th, thank you…!!”
Finally coming to her senses, the woman bowed her head to Rudell and fled the village.
Meanwhile…
“These damned monsters!!”
Guh! Ugh…!!
As Leje and Kurt’s swords and axes carved arcs through the air, monster blood splattered everywhere.
“E, ehh…!!”
Kyaaaak-!!
“Kyieeek!!”
Silphier’s concoctions poisoned or literally melted the monsters, while Rudell’s magic pierced through them mercilessly.
“Kwoooor!!”
“Kikrik!! Kirrik!!”
And finally, realizing they were being counterattacked, the monsters began to swarm together and charge at Rudell and his comrades.
Of course, Rudell and the others cut them down with ease.
“Kouuuur!!”
Kuek!! Kueeek!!
“Kieeeng!!”
“In, humans!! So, so strong!! They’re monsters!! We’re running away!!”
A short time later, seeming to realize they stood no chance, the surviving monsters began fleeing into the forest.
Leaving behind countless victims and debris, the monsters retreated entirely, and one by one, the remaining villagers began to gather toward Rudell and his group.
“The monsters have retreated! Everyone is safe!!”
“If you need treatment, please come this way… I can at least provide first aid…”
At Rudell’s shout, people sank to the ground, and some helped the injured toward Silphier.
Silphier pulled potions and salves from her bag to distribute, while Leje and Kurt handed out water and bandages.
As Rudell surveyed the scene, an elderly man, appearing to be the village chief, approached him.
“Th-thank you so much… if it weren’t for you, what would have happened to our poor Prun Village…”
The man was clearly quite old, bandages wrapped around his forehead as if he’d sustained an injury.
“It was the least we could do. More importantly, how’s your head?”
“How can you be this kind…!! It’s just a little cut, you needn’t worry about it…!!”
Touched by Rudell’s concern, the elder bowed his head with tears in his eyes.
Considering that Rudell and his party had saved the village, it wasn’t surprising to see such an emotional response.
“We are truly grateful for saving our village. I feel like we must repay you somehow… but as you can see, the village is in shambles…”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. No compensation is needed.”
From the start, monetary compensation held no meaning for Rudell and Leje.
Silphier also made a little pocket money by selling her inventions, so she wasn’t exactly in dire need of cash either.
“R-really?!”
The elder’s face brightened at Rudell’s words.
“However, I’d like to ask one thing. Is that alright?”
“Of course! If there’s anything I can answer, I’ll be glad to!”
The elder nodded at Rudell’s inquiry.
“I recently heard that priests dispatched from the temple passed through this area. Do you happen to know where they went?”
And as Rudell watched the elder, he asked that question.
*
Some time later…
“Am, am I really okay…?”
Most of the buildings had been destroyed by the monster attack, but a couple were still standing.
One of them was the village hall.
There, Rudell and his companions lay on makeshift beds trying to sleep.
“It can’t be helped, with that being said.”
Rudell answered Silphier with a low groan.
Just earlier…
“Please, I beg you! Don’t make us ungrateful people who cannot repay our benefactors!!”
It was the chief’s words as he held onto Rudell, not letting him leave for their campsite.
Rudell wasn’t so heartless as to shake off someone pleading so earnestly.
In the end, accepting their invitation, Rudell and his party decided to stay in the remaining intact building, the village hall.
“Ugh…”
Even now, there were dozens who had lost their homes in the village.
If they huddled together to sleep, they’d all fit comfortably in the spacious village hall.
For that reason, Rudell couldn’t just take this situation lightly.
“You don’t have to worry too much, you know?”
Just then, Leje, watching Rudell, chuckled softly.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Think about it, why do you think the chief was so insistent on keeping us here?”
“To repay us?”
“Sigh… so naive.”
After pondering for a moment, Rudell answered, and Leje squinted at him, as if finding him absurd.
“Those villagers would feel reassured just having us around.”
“Ah…”
Rudell finally understood the chief’s intentions and let out a low hmm.
Monsters that had already attacked once weren’t likely to avoid a second strike.
For the villagers, who had no power to resist, another attack would mean death or being taken as slaves.
In such a situation, having Rudell and his party stay in the village would be a huge comfort.
“Seriously, when you’re usually so sharp, you can be an absolute fool at times…”
“Cough… What does it matter! If us being here is better for the people, then we should do it.”
Clearing his throat, Rudell changed the topic and pulled out a map from his bag.
“That aside, let’s think about what we’ll do tomorrow.”
“Got it, our naive leader.”
Ignoring Leje’s teasing tone, Rudell placed a lantern over the map.
The lantern’s light illuminated the map, which detailed the surrounding geography as described by the chief.
“According to the chief, this is where Eleor and the Holy Knights headed.”
As he spoke, Rudell pointed to a spot on the map, labeled [Old Ruins].
“Old Ruins, huh… sounds like a dungeon name.”
“W-will there be monsters?”
“Probably so.”
Silphier, shaking with a timid voice, was nodded at by Kurt.
The ruins in the forest were a perfect habitat for monsters with lesser intelligence than humans.
Combat would likely be unavoidable.
“What we need to do is, first, find traces of Eleor and the Holy Knights; second, confirm whether the Church of the Eaters of Death is really there; and lastly, if their presence is confirmed, annihilate them.”
“It looks like I’ll be getting some exercise for the first time in a while.”
“I-I’ll work hard…”
“Well…”
It was understandable to be scared, but Leje instead seemed fired up.
Silphier and Kurt also steadied their resolve in response, and a smile came to Rudell’s lips as he watched them.
With this group, everything would surely be fine.
“So, anyone have more questions?”
As Rudell asked that, no one replied.
Nodding in satisfaction, he extinguished the lantern, and darkness and silence enveloped the area.
“Well then, goodnight everyone.”
“Goodnight.”
“A-an goodnight…!!”
“See you tomorrow.”
As they exchanged goodnights, they settled in for sleep…
And as the clouds drifted over the moon, the surroundings turned pitch black.
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