22 – Overwhelming

Leaving the sudden potato behind, I began to wander around the village, lost in thought.

I did catch some glances from time to time… but it wasn’t too uncomfortable.

‘Of course, this world is fascinating.’

The medieval era, which I was seeing for the first time.

It was a fantasy medieval era, so how could it not be fascinating?

But right now, there were more important things.

‘First, there are two things I need to do.’

The first, of course, was to find Kaede and Fallen, the other two.

The second was to figure out exactly what this world was and what situation I was in.

Honestly, there wasn’t much I could do about the first thing right now.

Just like I came here in my original form, the other two probably did as well.

All I could do was put up posters with their descriptions and ask people to look for them.

The problem was the second thing.

‘I have a severe lack of information about this world.’

All I knew about this place was that it was a fantasy world set in the medieval era, and that I was the Knight Commander of a village ruled by some lord.

If I had to guess, judging by the power I possessed, I was probably at least a high-ranking noble.

“The village seems quite large too.”

It was already too big to be called a village; it should be called a city.

After looking around the village to some extent, Ha-yeon caressed the Immortal Longsword hanging at her waist and looked at the Knight Order’s headquarters and the lord’s mansion next to it in the distance.

The mansion looked quite small for a high-ranking noble’s residence.

But it wasn’t because they didn’t have money.

‘It’s incredibly antique.’

I didn’t know much about the architectural style of this world, but the small mansion had elegance, sophistication, and even strength, all in one ‘complete package.’

“I should go to the Knight Order’s building first.”

I thought that my residence, and what people commonly call my office, would be there.

Having roughly come to a conclusion, she immediately began walking towards the Knight Order’s building.

And not long after.

“Knight Commander!”

“…..?”

A voice reached my ears as I approached the building.

A high-pitched, delicate voice, but with a hint of strength.

Turning my head towards the source of the sound, I saw a black-haired woman with a rather beautiful figure.

She was wearing a uniform similar to mine.

I was momentarily questioning the woman I had suddenly met.

[You have encountered someone close to you.]

[Displaying the target’s information window for smooth clearing.]

‘….Huh?’

+++

Name: Claire Reinartz

Age: 25, Gender: Female

Rank: A+~S-

Affinity: 72

Description: The daughter of the Reinartz family, a baronial family serving the Marquis of Seilun, who currently rules this territory.

However, she has an outstanding talent for swordsmanship and joined the White Rune Knight Order, Seilun’s exclusive knight order.

She quickly rose to become an elite knight and is quite close to the White Rune Knight Commander (you).

-If the target dies, the Dungeon’s clear grade will increase dramatically.

+++

System windows that suddenly popped up.

It seemed to be information about that woman.

Claire Reinartz was her name, and her combat rank seemed quite high.

‘The name of the family that rules this territory is Seilun.’

The Marquis of Seilun, with the family name Seilun.

And she seemed to be the daughter of the Reinartz family, a baronial family serving that marquis.

It felt like a full-fledged fantasy world.

“The subjugation is about to begin. How could you suddenly leave your post!?”

“Ah, sorry. I had somewhere to go for a moment.”

Snapping out of my thoughts about the information window, I calmly replied to Claire’s words.

“Let’s go quickly. At this rate, the Monster will attack first.”

Claire said that and ran off.

I started following her.

I didn’t know where I was supposed to go yet, so it wouldn’t be bad to memorize it while I was at it.

The back of the Knight Order’s building.

As we headed towards the few gates in the massive and majestic fortress walls that surrounded and protected this territory, I saw the Knight Order members standing in perfect formation.

Wearing the Knight Order uniforms that Claire was wearing, they had scabbards on their left waists and potions on their right waists.

And they were wearing gloves on their hands, showing their readiness for battle.

Armor? Armor was probably just scrap metal in this world.

These were people who had absorbed the powerful flow of mana since they were born, so would scrap metal be of any help?

As I arrived, Claire, who was in front of me, found her place and stood there, and Ha-yeon couldn’t help but take a breath.

‘I’ve never been in charge of such an important position.’

I didn’t know what to do in this situation, but I pulled myself together and headed to the place where I thought I should be.

Then, the soldiers next to me opened the gates of the fortress, and after watching them for a moment, she thought based on the virtue she had built up… or rather.

[The Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash,’ tells you to do as they advise.]

A word created by the advice of the Constellation.

I shouted this one word, which I really didn’t want to do but was secretly looking forward to, with all my might.

“Let’s go chop off some Monster heads!”

“Waaaaah!!!”

The Knight Order members shouted in response, as if the Constellation’s advice was correct.

I was momentarily overwhelmed by their momentum, but I didn’t show it on the outside and headed towards the open gates.

‘Winter? Or is it autumn?’

The weather was neither winter nor autumn.

The degree of cold was definitely autumn, but the scenery outside was clearly after a snowfall.

I was flustered by the contradictory situation, but it didn’t hinder me, so I walked forward.

‘More importantly… where should I go?’

I’m not the Knight Commander.

Well, I wasn’t.

I didn’t know where to go to subjugate the Monsters.

If I were just a Knight Order member, I would have just followed along, but now I was the one in charge.

There was no one in front of me.

[Providing a System for the Hunter’s smooth clearing.]

[The route will be displayed during the Monster subjugation time.]

‘….Yes!’

The System, as if knowing my predicament, was helping me.

As expected of the System! I believed in you!

Anyway, as soon as the System’s message disappeared, arrows that I hadn’t seen before appeared.

I started following these arrows that led to the snowy mountains.

‘More than that… the mana concentration is quite high.’

The surroundings were full of mana.

Just as I was about to let out a hollow laugh at the fact that something that could never happen in reality was happening,

-Kwaaaaaa!!

A monster revealed itself.

‘As expected, it’s a beast.’

These guys will flow out of the gate.

According to scholars, the reverse flow is not caused by the Monsters being full, but when the Monsters in the gate and their power become a threat to the world, they are automatically discharged.

In short, it’s like the Dungeon, the world itself, trying to protect itself by spitting out the malignant substances in its body.

But enough about that.

The monster’s appearance was that of a bear itself.

The only special thing was that its size was slightly larger than that of two adult men.

The fur with patterns on its upper body contained a lot of mana and emitted a blue light.

And if there was one more thing, it would be the sharp and very hard claws on the monster’s front paws.

“Draw.”

But there was nothing to worry about.

Muttering to myself, I drew the long sword from my waist and swung it horizontally once.

Swish!

Then, the abdomen was slightly torn, and blood splattered upwards.

I guess this isn’t enough.

The monster, enraged by the pain, charged at me, and I easily blocked the attack with the Immortal Longsword. After thinking for a moment, I ordered the Knight Order members behind me.

“Everyone! Form groups of three and search the area! If you encounter a Monster, request support and fight at the same time!”

As soon as I finished speaking, I dodged the monster’s attack that came again and swung my sword while spinning around, and the monster’s right forepaw was cut off.

I could hear the sound of orderly movement from behind, but most of it was drowned out by the monster’s roar.

-Kuaaaaaaa!!

“Shut up!”

As I said that, I grabbed the dark long sword with both hands and raised it high above my head, then swung it with all my mana, and the slash flew towards the defenseless monster.

The monster must have seen it, because it tried to block the incoming blade with its remaining forepaw, not the severed right paw.

But how could it block the blade that was trying to kill it with all its might, even though the forepaw that had been cut off by the weak attack earlier?

Slice.

Along with that forepaw.

The monster’s body was completely sliced.

The monster, which had been cleanly cut from its right shoulder to its left leg, fell and died before it could even let out its last roar.

Ah, was I too excited?

[You have defeated the S-rank Monster ‘Offspring of Divine Beast’.]

Ha-yeon, satisfied with the fallen monster’s corpse and the System window that popped up as if acknowledging that I had killed it, turned her head and looked behind her.

And there.

“You’re so cool, Knight Commander!”

“You’re so awesome!”

There were two people clapping and cheering.

One was Claire.

The other one was… a black-haired young man.

Wait, what are they doing here?