The village where the hero Luke was born wasn't that far from the city. In fact, it was a mere 30 minutes walk from the city's gates.
Citizens of the city were required to tell the guards of the purpose of their visit outside the city. They must also say where they would go since that would make it easier for the search party in case the people don't come back after a certain given time.
"Am I imagining things or is the line in front of the gate longer than usual?" Lucri spoke after they managed to exit the gate after speaking with the guards.
"Many of the other villagers in the area decided to seek shelter at the city after hearing about the incident at our village. All the villages were built near the forest after all. Chances are that the same could happen to others." Norn explained briefly.
'I don't blame them. It's better to escape before it's too late.'
Since most of the women and the children had been captured, they may set their eyes on other villages. The lives of the denizens would be in danger.
'The children would be the livestock while the women would be the breeding tools for the goblins.'
Goblins were mentioned in many literary fantasy works. They were small but stronger than the average adult man. They could mature in as little as three weeks and had a high fertility rate. It was rare for their species to birth females so they kidnap and breed with other races to keep their race from extinction.
Goblins were the menace of villages that were built near forests.
"How long has it been since the attack on the village?"
"It's been half a day by now. They attacked us past midnight. It took them a few hours to leave after destroying most of our village. I hurried towards the city immediately after the goblins left. No one in the city was willing to help me up until I came to the Adventurer Guild. I would've gone to the Mercenary Guild if the adventurers also refused…"
"Word gets around fast, huh?" Arnold looked at the passing people who seemed to be villagers. "There are already this many."
"They seem disorderly because the village chiefs aren't here." Norn looked back as well at the passing villagers. "The village chiefs must be pleading to the fief lord to protect their villages."
'Besides a few other villages and farms, only the hero's village belongs to our household. The others are the property of one our vassals.'
Arnold unsheathed the sword Liumiala gave to him. It didn't look overly expensive but it was definitely better than the crude weapon he fished out of their castle's armory.
'I should've taken that sword I bought Luke. It's just borrowing so it would've been fine.'
Arnold looked around the entrance of the forest as he spoke. "We'll have to tread carefully. Even if the path through the forest isn't that long, it's best to stay alert. Lucri, you'll need to protect miss Norn from behind. I'll be the vanguard."
"Got it."
Lucri responded with a salute and grabbed his staff from behind his back.
"Remember to not use flame magic or anything that could burn the forest down. We don't want a hefty fine on our backs. This land belongs to a noble, after all."
"I don't have a lot of offensive magic that aren't fire attribute. Ah, but I can use something else." Lucri took out a magic sheet from his pocket.
'Is that a 5th rank spell?'
An astonished expression appeared on Arnold's face.
It was a known fact that not many people could use magic above the 4th rank. Even more so for adventurers who didn't have access to many of the necessities needed for learning magic.
"Where'd you get that? That's a magic sheet, right?" Arnold pointed at the paper that Lucri wrapped around the top of his staff.
"Oh, yes. I bought three of these with my share of the money. They are hard to come by even in a city like ours but I managed to get some."
"There shouldn't be any magician capable of installing such a magic spell on a magic sheet…"
A magic sheet was paper capable of holding any kind of spell one desired. There existed many types of magic sheets on the market. Grand wizards and owners of magic towers would personally install magic onto these paper sheets. They would then sell this to the public for profit.
"Oh, that? I did it myself using a magic book at the library." Lucri made a 'V' sign after taking out two other sheets that had different spells than the first one.
'Sixth and seventh rank!? How the hell did this kid manage to pull this off? Don't tell me he also has the potential to become an Archmage?'
There was only one Archmage in the game so far and that was Lauran. An Archmage was someone at the pinnacle of magic. They could even study all kinds of magic; even magic of the elves called elemental magic.
Even Liam's Supreme Sorcerer could barely outwit her in magical knowledge and arcane arts.
"H-How did you do this?"
As far as Arnold knew, Lucri was average when it came to being a magic user. He had never even seen Lucri cast anything remarkable.
"I'm not sure," Lucri shook his head. "I am able to somehow use magic that is above what I am able to cast. I can use any kind of magic as long as it is inscribed on a magic sheet. Doing it the traditional way is impossible but I am able to perform and control any spell."
'Wha….'
Arnold's eyes widened into saucers.
'Lucri had…a legendary class all along!?
Arnold had heard of classes such as these before. Such a person is able to use magic that they aren't able to cast themselves. The way they do this is quite simple: draw the magic circle of a spell onto the magic sheet, use mana to activate the spell and then use the magic.
He had never seen players capable of doing this but he had heard of it being seen in the game many times before.
A Legendary class was right below a Unique class. Liam's in-game character, Lufulur, had that kind of class; his class was "Supreme Sorcerer" which was one of its kind.
Still, even if there was only one unique ranker, there existed a few hundred legendary class players in the game. Alecs was one of those players.
'This…means the kid is capable of becoming a monster like our Guild master?'
The rank of a class didn't necessarily convey how strong someone was. For example, even though Liam was a unique ranker, he could never beat a level 100 legendary ranker. That only applied if the other person was a warrior and he had no star-class equipment on him. Or any equipment for that matter.
Lucri's class was perhaps a [Magic Manipulator] who is capable of using magic far above the limits they possessed.
'This kid's value just increased exponentially. I'm not letting you go, kid. You're definitely staying with me.'
Arnold chuckled.
"I never knew you were that amazing." Arnold grinned.
"M-Me, amazing? Really…?"
"Yeah. I've never heard anyone capable of doing something so bizarre with spells above their magical prowess limits(lie). You're really amazing. Not only can you cook but you're this capable in magic as well. Ah, I'm really lucky to have found you."
Arnold noticed a red flush on Lucri's face. His eyes were swimming all over the place.
"T-T-Thank you…" He lowered his head. Arnold could see a smile on Lucri's face.
He looked at Norn and realized said person was looking between the two of them with a clueless expression.
"Uh, are the two of you boyfriends?"
"What!?" Arnold nearly fell when he heard that.
"Sorry, you two look like a couple in love. I won't judge. My mom told me that love can even bloom between two men—"
"Ah, I see the village!" Before Norn could finish, Lucri ran ahead and shouted.
"Oh. We're here. Let's go to the village chief's house quickly!"
Norn took both of their hands and hurried them to follow her.
◇
Lilia was a simple village girl who had never gone further than the forest. She had never seen the city since she would work in the village daily.
She had long black hair that was tied into one ponytail and swung over her shoulder. She had big blue eyes and a round face that was a little stout from childhood.
After returning from her usual routine of tending to the horses and livestock in their backyard, the girl put down her bucket of goat milk. She washed her hands which were filthy from picking up dung.
'I think I broke a nail.' She groaned when she rinsed her hands under the sink. 'I should've cut my nails like mother told me to.'
Since she was a girl, she was obviously concerned about her appearance. That was the most important thing when proposing to a boy. Once she turned 15 then someone might come up to their house and propose.
Her face turned beet red.
"W-Who will it be..?"
She closed her eyes and imagined the face of a certain boy with blonde hair and green eyes.
'If only he looked at me at least once…'
Lost in her daydream, Lilia finished washing her hands. She looked out of the kitchen's window and noticed three individuals entering the gate.
One was an extremely handsome and tall young man with silver hair wearing a black coat. The shorter one was wearing a mage robe and carrying a staff.
"Norn…?" The girl noticed a familiar person among the trio. She hurriedly left the house.
"Norn is back everyone!"
The girl ran towards the three of them and hurriedly spoke to Norn.
"We have to tell the others you're back! They are planning on leaving soon!!"
"C-Calm down, Lilia."
"But!"
"Are you the only girl besides Norn left in the village?" The tall man stood behind Norn and spoke.
"These two are…?" Lilia looked at Norn in confusion.
"Ah, let me introduce you to them. This is the help I managed to get in the city. They are A-rankers from the Adventurer's Guild."
"A-rankers…?" The girl's most hung open. It was obvious why.
A-rankers and higher were classified as the strongest adventurers among the masses. They were only requested if a city issued a subjugation quest on the scale of a dungeon raid.
A-rankers wouldn't come to a small village such as this unless there was a hefty reward.
'But we don't possess enough money to pay them…' Lilia thought as she led the three of them to the village chief's house. Many of the villagers were too busy fixing their houses to notice the two adventurers.
She looked back while walking with Norn side by side. She whispered to Norn:
"How did you manage to get two A-rankers to help us?"
Norn grinned proudly:
"Obviously because I'm cute and I asked nicely~"
Lilia rolled her eyes.
"What's the real reason? I thought you would go to Luke to have him bring knights to help us."
"Most of the duke's knights have left the city. You must not have known that since you weren't in the city last week when he went to the empire."
"Huh? His Grace isn't in the city?"
"Yes. Even if he was here, I doubt he would help out some backwater village like ours."
"But last time…"
"That's because Luke was here. I don't think he would save us just because he cares. Now that Luke isn't here, he wouldn't care now."
"You seem upset about something…."
'Is she mad that miss Claudia got to go to the city but she was left to look after the house?'
Norn's sister, Teresa worked in the small town near the village in a bar. She wasn't home on most nights, most likely due to the fact that she slept at the houses of many men in the past. Norn would be the only one left to look after the house and tend to the fields.
Norn pouted at Lilia's question.
"I'm not mad…Anyway, what did you say about everyone being in a hurry?"
"Oh, right. The men are prepared to head out soon if you weren't back by sunset. Another one of our pigs went missing earlier. We suspect it was a goblin that snuck in when we weren't looking,"
The pig actually belonged to their house. Lilia saw footprints that led to the forest. It was far too wide to be a human's foot and had four toes.
"We'll have to hear what the chief thinks about this," Lilia said as she walked up to the balcony of the village chief's residence. She knocked three times.
The street was empty except for a few people who were carrying logs needed to fix houses. The goblins didn't just kidnap women and children, they killed cattle and broke down some of the buildings as well. Take the warehouse for example, it was raided by a dozen of those monsters.
If it wasn't fixed before winter then the village would starve since there wouldn't be a place they could store their crops.
When Lilia was about to approach the door, someone else opened it up.
"Huh? Norn's back?"
Beyond that door stood every able-fighter in the village.
The Hunters.
They wore crude equipment and had chipped swords and spears but since there wasn't a blacksmith in the village, there was no helping it. They always had to buy second-hand weapons in large quantities for cheap.
The price obviously meant that the weapons and equipment was crude.
The man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward.
"Norn, are these the only people you brought?"
His name was Gut and he was a retired knight who sought refuge in the village. He started the band of hunters five years ago and made it his job to protect the people.
"There isn't any time for full introductions. My name is Nova and this is my companion Lucri. We are from the city's Adventurer Guild."
Multiple sounds of awe rang out when the hunters saw the plate around his neck that had an 'A' carved into it.
"I failed to bring other adventurers since they wouldn't help us out." Norn said with a pout.
"Well, this is better than nothing," Gut said with a wry smile. "We were just about to leave since Norn was taking too long."
--Let those people in.
A hoarse voice spoke from inside the house. The man named Gut stepped back inside and beckoned the four of them to follow.
"Excuse us."
The house was full of people who seemed to be refugees or hunters from other villages. None of them were willing to look Nova and Lucri in the eyes.
It was like they had no hope whatsoever.
'It's kind of depressing. We were celebrating Luke becoming the next duke just a few days ago.' Lilia could spot her father among those same people as well. He was also part of the hunter unit but he looked incapable of fighting things like goblins.
After arriving inside a spacious room of the house, the four of them could see an old man sitting on a chair, with children playing on the mat around him.
"Elder, I have brought help." Norn got down on both her knees and bowed. Lilia did the same.
"Hmm…" The man had long white hair and a beard that reached all the way until his navel. He was short, his skin was rough and his limbs were skinny.
He wetted his mouth before pointing at Nova.
"A warrior such as you…came to save our village…?"
"Huh? Me?"
"Yes…you are the dragon slayer, right?" The old man smiled, showing his gums.
"The dragon slayer!?" The gloomy mood inside the room suddenly changed when they heard the old man's words.
"That's the dragon slayer? But he looks like any ordinary bumpkin from the countryside."
"Maybe the chief's gone senile and isn't as wise as they say?"
"Ssh, quiet."
The people quieted down when the old man raised his hand.
"I was a warrior back in my prime. There is no way I cannot tell a strong person from my eyes alone. I can see it. The power equal to the gods…"
"I think you've said enough, old man. I am indeed the one who battled the dragon but I am no dragon slayer. That is a title given to someone who slayed a dragon singlehandedly. I, however, had help."
Nova looked at his companion who smiled at him.
Lilia could see hope fill the eyes of the people. If they were truly the ones who fought a dragon then perhaps they could save the village too…?
The old man smiled again.
"My name is Rod and I am the village elder. You may sit." The old man named Rod looked at the people. "Will you truly save our village?"
Everyone looked intently at the silver-haired swordsman.
"If I meet an adversary I cannot handle then I and my companion will escape. We only wish to make money, not fight something out of our league."
The man nodded.
"That is fair. An army of goblins will be too much to handle even for dragon slayers."
Nova smiled wryly.
"Are you really intending on charging a goblin den?"
"We must do what is required to protect our people." Gut was the one who answered. All the hunters agreed.
"When there is a goblin infestation, it is important for the village chief to personally seek help from the lord of the land. Why did you not seek help from the duchess instead?"
"That is…"
"Or better yet, why did you not rely on that kid who became the duke's heir and is having the time of his life?" Nova looked at Norn. "You must not have gone there yet, have you? Well, it matters not. I am only doing this for my own personal gain. I could care less about all of you."
The old man nodded.
"…I see. I would've been suspicious…if you had some other reason. You adventurers only think about money and plundering, after all…"
The old man's words made Nova laugh.
"You probably mean those mercenaries. Don't compare us with scum."
"Haha. Fair enough." The old man looked at Gut. "I think it is better to wait a few more hours before heading out."
"Why!? Our people are in danger!"
"The worst thing those monster could do is still to come. We will eventually save them but me and my comrade need to rest first."
"Of course, mister adventurer. Lilia."
"Y-Yes!"
Lilia, who was blankly listening to their conversation, hurriedly replied.
"These young men will rest in your house. Is that fine?"
"Ah… Okay."
"And Norn. You will help Lilia look after them. Serve them what you must. They are the saviors of our village."
Norn sighed loudly like a little child before saluting.
"Sir, yes, sir!"
◇
'The village is in shambles…Did goblins really do this?' Arnold thought as he gazed at the destroyed crops and the corpses of cattle.
He sniffed the air but only smelled the rotting corpses.
'If goblins really were here then I would've been able to still smell them using my aura to enhance my senses.'
Aura wasn't just useful for combat. It could allow a person to keep in their breath for longer underwater, enhance eyesight and improve metabolism. That was why warriors needed a big meal after a fight.
Smell would've been effective if there were really goblins here. He would've been able to pinpoint their location as well. They had a unique smell that no other animal or monster had.
'We can only wait for the scouts to come back…If not then our only choice is to set bait.'
Goblins lived human women. The prettier the better. They were like men but a hundred times worse. It didn't matter if it was consensual or not, their instincts told them to mate.
"I couldn't make anything good with the ingredients we had so I made porridge…"
While Arnold was lost in thought, the girl named Lilia entered the room and brought two bowls of wheat porridge.
"It's fine. It doesn't matter as long as it keeps our energy levels up."
'Even I would need to be full power when facing hordes of goblins.'
He was currently level 32 so he wasn't confident in fighting against a swarm of goblins which could number in the hundreds.
"Where is the young boy who was with you?" Lilia noticed Lucri was gone.
"Oh, he went to the river to bathe. Apparently, he hadn't bathed in three days."
"R-Really? He could've told me then I would have brought water…"
"Don't worry about him. Part of the reason he went out alone is because he wants to see if the goblins would take the chance to attack during the day. If not then we must be vigilant for another night attack."
"Ah, that makes sense. They raided our village at night, after all."
Lilia put the bowls of porridge down.
"Would you like me to do anything else, sir?"
"No. It's fine if you come back later."
"Okay."
After bowing, Lilia left the room.
Arnold looked over at Lucri's bag which was on the other bed that was inside the room. This room was apparently where Lilia and her father slept.
'I want to see something.'
He was curious about the magic sheets and if he was able to read the rune as he was now. Even if he wasn't a sorcerer anymore, he had been able to efficiently identify any sort of magic circle.
After looking out the window to see if Lucri was coming back yet, Arnold headed towards Lucri's bag.
"The hell…How can he walk around with this giant bag?" He rummaged inside the bag. "Where did he put it…?"
He suddenly felt something between the camping supplies. It was the same material as paper.
"Did I find it?" He pulled it out and noticed that it was actually a paper bag. "Ah… Huh? What's inside here?"
He knew it was wrong of him to go through the things of others but he was too curious. He felt a piece of cloth after putting his hand inside the bag.
He pulled it out and then his mouth gaped.
"…A sanitary cloth…?" The small cloth gave off a scent of flowers.
'Why would Lucri need these?'
He looked inside the bag and noticed something else.
It was women underwear.
"…."
'…Is he one of those guys who likes to dress up…? I mean he does look like a girl if you looked closely but…'
Arnold shook his head.
"Maybe he's one of those weird people who likes to steal women's underwear for their perverted fetishes?"
But the boy was much too nice of a person to do something like that. Arnold was convinced that none of his guesses were right.
"Uh, sir Nova?"
Arnold's entire body trembled when he heard a familiar voice.
His back was facing the doorway so the person shouldn't be able to see what was in his hands.
"….What are you doing in my bag?"
Lucri, with his hair wet and his skin shining from bathing, came into the room.
"Is, is this yours?"
Arnold showed the sanitary cloth in his hands. He managed to put the underwear away before Lucri saw.
Instantly a red flush appeared on Lucri's face.
"That is…!" Lucri hurriedly grabbed the paper bag and the cloth in Arnold's hands before he could even blink. "T-These are things my sister asked me to buy… H-Hehehe…"
He held the bag behind his back and smiled wryly. Arnold wanted to know why his sister would ask such a thing of him but he remained silent.
"I-Is that so...? In any case, did you see anything suspicious?" In an effort to change the subject, Arnold asked.
Lucri closed his bag after putting his things inside. He shook his head at Arnold's question.
"Just a few stray critters. Besides that, I saw a lot of corpses on my way back to the village."
"Corpses?"
The word made Arnold frown.
"It was the dead carcasses of many different animals and monsters. All of them weren't even killed to be prey, most were only killed and left there."
"So the goblins are killing for sport?"
"I don't think those things were goblins…"
"Why do you say that?" Arnold gulped. He suddenly had a bad premonition.
"There were corpses of orcs and ogres as well…"
The village where the hero Luke was born wasn't that far from the city. In fact, it was a mere 30 minutes walk from the city's gates.
Citizens of the city were required to tell the guards of the purpose of their visit outside the city. They must also say where they would go since that would make it easier for the search party in case the people don't come back after a certain given time.
"Am I imagining things or is the line in front of the gate longer than usual?" Lucri spoke after they managed to exit the gate after speaking with the guards.
"Many of the other villagers in the area decided to seek shelter at the city after hearing about the incident at our village. All the villages were built near the forest after all. Chances are that the same could happen to others." Norn explained briefly.
'I don't blame them. It's better to escape before it's too late.'
Since most of the women and the children had been captured, they may set their eyes on other villages. The lives of the denizens would be in danger.
'The children would be the livestock while the women would be the breeding tools for the goblins.'
Goblins were mentioned in many literary fantasy works. They were small but stronger than the average adult man. They could mature in as little as three weeks and had a high fertility rate. It was rare for their species to birth females so they kidnap and breed with other races to keep their race from extinction.
Goblins were the menace of villages that were built near forests.
"How long has it been since the attack on the village?"
"It's been half a day by now. They attacked us past midnight. It took them a few hours to leave after destroying most of our village. I hurried towards the city immediately after the goblins left. No one in the city was willing to help me up until I came to the Adventurer Guild. I would've gone to the Mercenary Guild if the adventurers also refused…"
"Word gets around fast, huh?" Arnold looked at the passing people who seemed to be villagers. "There are already this many."
"They seem disorderly because the village chiefs aren't here." Norn looked back as well at the passing villagers. "The village chiefs must be pleading to the fief lord to protect their villages."
'Besides a few other villages and farms, only the hero's village belongs to our household. The others are the property of one our vassals.'
Arnold unsheathed the sword Liumiala gave to him. It didn't look overly expensive but it was definitely better than the crude weapon he fished out of their castle's armory.
'I should've taken that sword I bought Luke. It's just borrowing so it would've been fine.'
Arnold looked around the entrance of the forest as he spoke. "We'll have to tread carefully. Even if the path through the forest isn't that long, it's best to stay alert. Lucri, you'll need to protect miss Norn from behind. I'll be the vanguard."
"Got it."
Lucri responded with a salute and grabbed his staff from behind his back.
"Remember to not use flame magic or anything that could burn the forest down. We don't want a hefty fine on our backs. This land belongs to a noble, after all."
"I don't have a lot of offensive magic that aren't fire attribute. Ah, but I can use something else." Lucri took out a magic sheet from his pocket.
'Is that a 5th rank spell?'
An astonished expression appeared on Arnold's face.
It was a known fact that not many people could use magic above the 4th rank. Even more so for adventurers who didn't have access to many of the necessities needed for learning magic.
"Where'd you get that? That's a magic sheet, right?" Arnold pointed at the paper that Lucri wrapped around the top of his staff.
"Oh, yes. I bought three of these with my share of the money. They are hard to come by even in a city like ours but I managed to get some."
"There shouldn't be any magician capable of installing such a magic spell on a magic sheet…"
A magic sheet was paper capable of holding any kind of spell one desired. There existed many types of magic sheets on the market. Grand wizards and owners of magic towers would personally install magic onto these paper sheets. They would then sell this to the public for profit.
"Oh, that? I did it myself using a magic book at the library." Lucri made a 'V' sign after taking out two other sheets that had different spells than the first one.
'Sixth and seventh rank!? How the hell did this kid manage to pull this off? Don't tell me he also has the potential to become an Archmage?'
There was only one Archmage in the game so far and that was Lauran. An Archmage was someone at the pinnacle of magic. They could even study all kinds of magic; even magic of the elves called elemental magic.
Even Liam's Supreme Sorcerer could barely outwit her in magical knowledge and arcane arts.
"H-How did you do this?"
As far as Arnold knew, Lucri was average when it came to being a magic user. He had never even seen Lucri cast anything remarkable.
"I'm not sure," Lucri shook his head. "I am able to somehow use magic that is above what I am able to cast. I can use any kind of magic as long as it is inscribed on a magic sheet. Doing it the traditional way is impossible but I am able to perform and control any spell."
'Wha….'
Arnold's eyes widened into saucers.
'Lucri had…a legendary class all along!?
Arnold had heard of classes such as these before. Such a person is able to use magic that they aren't able to cast themselves. The way they do this is quite simple: draw the magic circle of a spell onto the magic sheet, use mana to activate the spell and then use the magic.
He had never seen players capable of doing this but he had heard of it being seen in the game many times before.
A Legendary class was right below a Unique class. Liam's in-game character, Lufulur, had that kind of class; his class was "Supreme Sorcerer" which was one of its kind.
Still, even if there was only one unique ranker, there existed a few hundred legendary class players in the game. Alecs was one of those players.
'This…means the kid is capable of becoming a monster like our Guild master?'
The rank of a class didn't necessarily convey how strong someone was. For example, even though Liam was a unique ranker, he could never beat a level 100 legendary ranker. That only applied if the other person was a warrior and he had no star-class equipment on him. Or any equipment for that matter.
Lucri's class was perhaps a [Magic Manipulator] who is capable of using magic far above the limits they possessed.
'This kid's value just increased exponentially. I'm not letting you go, kid. You're definitely staying with me.'
Arnold chuckled.
"I never knew you were that amazing." Arnold grinned.
"M-Me, amazing? Really…?"
"Yeah. I've never heard anyone capable of doing something so bizarre with spells above their magical prowess limits(lie). You're really amazing. Not only can you cook but you're this capable in magic as well. Ah, I'm really lucky to have found you."
Arnold noticed a red flush on Lucri's face. His eyes were swimming all over the place.
"T-T-Thank you…" He lowered his head. Arnold could see a smile on Lucri's face.
He looked at Norn and realized said person was looking between the two of them with a clueless expression.
"Uh, are the two of you boyfriends?"
"What!?" Arnold nearly fell when he heard that.
"Sorry, you two look like a couple in love. I won't judge. My mom told me that love can even bloom between two men—"
"Ah, I see the village!" Before Norn could finish, Lucri ran ahead and shouted.
"Oh. We're here. Let's go to the village chief's house quickly!"
Norn took both of their hands and hurried them to follow her.
◇
Lilia was a simple village girl who had never gone further than the forest. She had never seen the city since she would work in the village daily.
She had long black hair that was tied into one ponytail and swung over her shoulder. She had big blue eyes and a round face that was a little stout from childhood.
After returning from her usual routine of tending to the horses and livestock in their backyard, the girl put down her bucket of goat milk. She washed her hands which were filthy from picking up dung.
'I think I broke a nail.' She groaned when she rinsed her hands under the sink. 'I should've cut my nails like mother told me to.'
Since she was a girl, she was obviously concerned about her appearance. That was the most important thing when proposing to a boy. Once she turned 15 then someone might come up to their house and propose.
Her face turned beet red.
"W-Who will it be..?"
She closed her eyes and imagined the face of a certain boy with blonde hair and green eyes.
'If only he looked at me at least once…'
Lost in her daydream, Lilia finished washing her hands. She looked out of the kitchen's window and noticed three individuals entering the gate.
One was an extremely handsome and tall young man with silver hair wearing a black coat. The shorter one was wearing a mage robe and carrying a staff.
"Norn…?" The girl noticed a familiar person among the trio. She hurriedly left the house.
"Norn is back everyone!"
The girl ran towards the three of them and hurriedly spoke to Norn.
"We have to tell the others you're back! They are planning on leaving soon!!"
"C-Calm down, Lilia."
"But!"
"Are you the only girl besides Norn left in the village?" The tall man stood behind Norn and spoke.
"These two are…?" Lilia looked at Norn in confusion.
"Ah, let me introduce you to them. This is the help I managed to get in the city. They are A-rankers from the Adventurer's Guild."
"A-rankers…?" The girl's most hung open. It was obvious why.
A-rankers and higher were classified as the strongest adventurers among the masses. They were only requested if a city issued a subjugation quest on the scale of a dungeon raid.
A-rankers wouldn't come to a small village such as this unless there was a hefty reward.
'But we don't possess enough money to pay them…' Lilia thought as she led the three of them to the village chief's house. Many of the villagers were too busy fixing their houses to notice the two adventurers.
She looked back while walking with Norn side by side. She whispered to Norn:
"How did you manage to get two A-rankers to help us?"
Norn grinned proudly:
"Obviously because I'm cute and I asked nicely~"
Lilia rolled her eyes.
"What's the real reason? I thought you would go to Luke to have him bring knights to help us."
"Most of the duke's knights have left the city. You must not have known that since you weren't in the city last week when he went to the empire."
"Huh? His Grace isn't in the city?"
"Yes. Even if he was here, I doubt he would help out some backwater village like ours."
"But last time…"
"That's because Luke was here. I don't think he would save us just because he cares. Now that Luke isn't here, he wouldn't care now."
"You seem upset about something…."
'Is she mad that miss Claudia got to go to the city but she was left to look after the house?'
Norn's sister, Teresa worked in the small town near the village in a bar. She wasn't home on most nights, most likely due to the fact that she slept at the houses of many men in the past. Norn would be the only one left to look after the house and tend to the fields.
Norn pouted at Lilia's question.
"I'm not mad…Anyway, what did you say about everyone being in a hurry?"
"Oh, right. The men are prepared to head out soon if you weren't back by sunset. Another one of our pigs went missing earlier. We suspect it was a goblin that snuck in when we weren't looking,"
The pig actually belonged to their house. Lilia saw footprints that led to the forest. It was far too wide to be a human's foot and had four toes.
"We'll have to hear what the chief thinks about this," Lilia said as she walked up to the balcony of the village chief's residence. She knocked three times.
The street was empty except for a few people who were carrying logs needed to fix houses. The goblins didn't just kidnap women and children, they killed cattle and broke down some of the buildings as well. Take the warehouse for example, it was raided by a dozen of those monsters.
If it wasn't fixed before winter then the village would starve since there wouldn't be a place they could store their crops.
When Lilia was about to approach the door, someone else opened it up.
"Huh? Norn's back?"
Beyond that door stood every able-fighter in the village.
The Hunters.
They wore crude equipment and had chipped swords and spears but since there wasn't a blacksmith in the village, there was no helping it. They always had to buy second-hand weapons in large quantities for cheap.
The price obviously meant that the weapons and equipment was crude.
The man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward.
"Norn, are these the only people you brought?"
His name was Gut and he was a retired knight who sought refuge in the village. He started the band of hunters five years ago and made it his job to protect the people.
"There isn't any time for full introductions. My name is Nova and this is my companion Lucri. We are from the city's Adventurer Guild."
Multiple sounds of awe rang out when the hunters saw the plate around his neck that had an 'A' carved into it.
"I failed to bring other adventurers since they wouldn't help us out." Norn said with a pout.
"Well, this is better than nothing," Gut said with a wry smile. "We were just about to leave since Norn was taking too long."
--Let those people in.
A hoarse voice spoke from inside the house. The man named Gut stepped back inside and beckoned the four of them to follow.
"Excuse us."
The house was full of people who seemed to be refugees or hunters from other villages. None of them were willing to look Nova and Lucri in the eyes.
It was like they had no hope whatsoever.
'It's kind of depressing. We were celebrating Luke becoming the next duke just a few days ago.' Lilia could spot her father among those same people as well. He was also part of the hunter unit but he looked incapable of fighting things like goblins.
After arriving inside a spacious room of the house, the four of them could see an old man sitting on a chair, with children playing on the mat around him.
"Elder, I have brought help." Norn got down on both her knees and bowed. Lilia did the same.
"Hmm…" The man had long white hair and a beard that reached all the way until his navel. He was short, his skin was rough and his limbs were skinny.
He wetted his mouth before pointing at Nova.
"A warrior such as you…came to save our village…?"
"Huh? Me?"
"Yes…you are the dragon slayer, right?" The old man smiled, showing his gums.
"The dragon slayer!?" The gloomy mood inside the room suddenly changed when they heard the old man's words.
"That's the dragon slayer? But he looks like any ordinary bumpkin from the countryside."
"Maybe the chief's gone senile and isn't as wise as they say?"
"Ssh, quiet."
The people quieted down when the old man raised his hand.
"I was a warrior back in my prime. There is no way I cannot tell a strong person from my eyes alone. I can see it. The power equal to the gods…"
"I think you've said enough, old man. I am indeed the one who battled the dragon but I am no dragon slayer. That is a title given to someone who slayed a dragon singlehandedly. I, however, had help."
Nova looked at his companion who smiled at him.
Lilia could see hope fill the eyes of the people. If they were truly the ones who fought a dragon then perhaps they could save the village too…?
The old man smiled again.
"My name is Rod and I am the village elder. You may sit." The old man named Rod looked at the people. "Will you truly save our village?"
Everyone looked intently at the silver-haired swordsman.
"If I meet an adversary I cannot handle then I and my companion will escape. We only wish to make money, not fight something out of our league."
The man nodded.
"That is fair. An army of goblins will be too much to handle even for dragon slayers."
Nova smiled wryly.
"Are you really intending on charging a goblin den?"
"We must do what is required to protect our people." Gut was the one who answered. All the hunters agreed.
"When there is a goblin infestation, it is important for the village chief to personally seek help from the lord of the land. Why did you not seek help from the duchess instead?"
"That is…"
"Or better yet, why did you not rely on that kid who became the duke's heir and is having the time of his life?" Nova looked at Norn. "You must not have gone there yet, have you? Well, it matters not. I am only doing this for my own personal gain. I could care less about all of you."
The old man nodded.
"…I see. I would've been suspicious…if you had some other reason. You adventurers only think about money and plundering, after all…"
The old man's words made Nova laugh.
"You probably mean those mercenaries. Don't compare us with scum."
"Haha. Fair enough." The old man looked at Gut. "I think it is better to wait a few more hours before heading out."
"Why!? Our people are in danger!"
"The worst thing those monster could do is still to come. We will eventually save them but me and my comrade need to rest first."
"Of course, mister adventurer. Lilia."
"Y-Yes!"
Lilia, who was blankly listening to their conversation, hurriedly replied.
"These young men will rest in your house. Is that fine?"
"Ah… Okay."
"And Norn. You will help Lilia look after them. Serve them what you must. They are the saviors of our village."
Norn sighed loudly like a little child before saluting.
"Sir, yes, sir!"
◇
'The village is in shambles…Did goblins really do this?' Arnold thought as he gazed at the destroyed crops and the corpses of cattle.
He sniffed the air but only smelled the rotting corpses.
'If goblins really were here then I would've been able to still smell them using my aura to enhance my senses.'
Aura wasn't just useful for combat. It could allow a person to keep in their breath for longer underwater, enhance eyesight and improve metabolism. That was why warriors needed a big meal after a fight.
Smell would've been effective if there were really goblins here. He would've been able to pinpoint their location as well. They had a unique smell that no other animal or monster had.
'We can only wait for the scouts to come back…If not then our only choice is to set bait.'
Goblins lived human women. The prettier the better. They were like men but a hundred times worse. It didn't matter if it was consensual or not, their instincts told them to mate.
"I couldn't make anything good with the ingredients we had so I made porridge…"
While Arnold was lost in thought, the girl named Lilia entered the room and brought two bowls of wheat porridge.
"It's fine. It doesn't matter as long as it keeps our energy levels up."
'Even I would need to be full power when facing hordes of goblins.'
He was currently level 32 so he wasn't confident in fighting against a swarm of goblins which could number in the hundreds.
"Where is the young boy who was with you?" Lilia noticed Lucri was gone.
"Oh, he went to the river to bathe. Apparently, he hadn't bathed in three days."
"R-Really? He could've told me then I would have brought water…"
"Don't worry about him. Part of the reason he went out alone is because he wants to see if the goblins would take the chance to attack during the day. If not then we must be vigilant for another night attack."
"Ah, that makes sense. They raided our village at night, after all."
Lilia put the bowls of porridge down.
"Would you like me to do anything else, sir?"
"No. It's fine if you come back later."
"Okay."
After bowing, Lilia left the room.
Arnold looked over at Lucri's bag which was on the other bed that was inside the room. This room was apparently where Lilia and her father slept.
'I want to see something.'
He was curious about the magic sheets and if he was able to read the rune as he was now. Even if he wasn't a sorcerer anymore, he had been able to efficiently identify any sort of magic circle.
After looking out the window to see if Lucri was coming back yet, Arnold headed towards Lucri's bag.
"The hell…How can he walk around with this giant bag?" He rummaged inside the bag. "Where did he put it…?"
He suddenly felt something between the camping supplies. It was the same material as paper.
"Did I find it?" He pulled it out and noticed that it was actually a paper bag. "Ah… Huh? What's inside here?"
He knew it was wrong of him to go through the things of others but he was too curious. He felt a piece of cloth after putting his hand inside the bag.
He pulled it out and then his mouth gaped.
"…A sanitary cloth…?" The small cloth gave off a scent of flowers.
'Why would Lucri need these?'
He looked inside the bag and noticed something else.
It was women underwear.
"…."
'…Is he one of those guys who likes to dress up…? I mean he does look like a girl if you looked closely but…'
Arnold shook his head.
"Maybe he's one of those weird people who likes to steal women's underwear for their perverted fetishes?"
But the boy was much too nice of a person to do something like that. Arnold was convinced that none of his guesses were right.
"Uh, sir Nova?"
Arnold's entire body trembled when he heard a familiar voice.
His back was facing the doorway so the person shouldn't be able to see what was in his hands.
"….What are you doing in my bag?"
Lucri, with his hair wet and his skin shining from bathing, came into the room.
"Is, is this yours?"
Arnold showed the sanitary cloth in his hands. He managed to put the underwear away before Lucri saw.
Instantly a red flush appeared on Lucri's face.
"That is…!" Lucri hurriedly grabbed the paper bag and the cloth in Arnold's hands before he could even blink. "T-These are things my sister asked me to buy… H-Hehehe…"
He held the bag behind his back and smiled wryly. Arnold wanted to know why his sister would ask such a thing of him but he remained silent.
"I-Is that so...? In any case, did you see anything suspicious?" In an effort to change the subject, Arnold asked.
Lucri closed his bag after putting his things inside. He shook his head at Arnold's question.
"Just a few stray critters. Besides that, I saw a lot of corpses on my way back to the village."
"Corpses?"
The word made Arnold frown.
"It was the dead carcasses of many different animals and monsters. All of them weren't even killed to be prey, most were only killed and left there."
"So the goblins are killing for sport?"
"I don't think those things were goblins…"
"Why do you say that?" Arnold gulped. He suddenly had a bad premonition.
"There were corpses of orcs and ogres as well…"
