episode_0002

Early morning.

It was still early in the morning, but the bakery’s lights were brightly lit.

“Hoo… Is this enough?”

Before we knew it, the store’s shelves were filled with freshly baked bread from the oven.

The sweet smell of bread tickled Hilda’s nose.

Gulp.

‘Ha.. Should I just eat one? I can just eat it instead of breakfast.’

He picked up a piece of misshapen, unfit for sale, loaf of bread and put it in his mouth.

‘Mmm~ I made it and it’s so delicious!’

Hilda, who was still hungry, picked up another piece of bread, put it in her mouth, and left the house.

Well then, shall we start our day today?

In the front yard, Hilda began her morning stretching.

As my body began to relax, I felt a presence behind me.

“Huh? Good morning, village chief. What brings you here at this hour..?”

“… Helia, I have a favor to ask you. Yesterday afternoon, my son went to the river to do his laundry, and what did he see? I heard it was a deer carcass… It felt like something huge had torn it apart. When I first heard it, I thought it was a bear or some other wild animal… What do you think? ”

“Hmm… That’s definitely strange. The only things that would show up here are goblins or wild animals, and I don’t think such corpses would appear naturally.”

“I think so too. Excuse me, but could you take a look at it?”

“Okay, I have nothing to do, so I’ll check and come back.”

“Thank you. Aren’t you a gold-plated adventurer? It’s really fortunate that there’s a dependable person like you in the village.”

“Oh, right! The deer corpse is said to be near the place where the villagers do their laundry, so you should be able to find it quickly. And just in case, I’ll tell Millia too. She’s also a former Silver Badge adventurer, so she’ll be able to help you out a lot.”

After saying everything he wanted to say, the village chief headed to Milia’s house.

Hilda, who was watching this, went straight into the house and took out a sword that she had not used for a long time.

It wasn’t his favorite sword that he used during his days in the warrior party.

The sword was too conspicuous, and if someone recognized it, Hilda might be exposed, so she kept it in subspace.

The sword I’m holding now is a long sword that can be easily found nearby, and was made by purchasing it at the village blacksmith shop.

Hilda swung her sword horizontally for the first time in a long time.

Ss …

The sound of the blade cutting through the wind reached her ears. Hilda moved to the riverside with a satisfied expression on her face.

* * *

Thud thud.

After walking for about 20 minutes, I started to hear the sound of water flowing in front of me.

‘You said it was around here…?’

Wheein. Wheein.

‘Ugh… the smell… there it is, a corpse.’

Fortunately, the body was found quickly. It was a place with a clear view, but the smell was so overwhelming that it was impossible not to notice.

Hilda approached the deer corpse and examined its condition. It seemed to have decomposed considerably, with flies and maggots swarming around it, and Hilda’s face was also wrinkled.

Next, I looked at the upper half of the deer. To be exact, the lower half of the body had completely disappeared, leaving only the front legs and head.

“Huh?”

It was definitely suspicious. If it was a goblin, they wouldn’t have hunted like this, and if it was a bear or some other wild beast, their corpse wouldn’t have been left in this way.

I looked around just in case, but I couldn’t see any hunting footprints.

Whether it’s a bear or a goblin, hunting requires stepping on the ground. This leaves footprints, but if they’re invisible, it means the opponent is intelligent enough to erase their tracks.

“Is there really something?”

After that, we searched the forest along the river for over 6 hours, but we found no trace.

‘Let’s stop for today and go back and come back tomorrow.’

So Hilda returned to the village.

* * *

Hilda headed straight to the village chief’s house. Since the chief was at home, she was able to meet him right away, and told him about her thoughts and the dangers she felt while searching the forest.

“Okay, I understand. Can I ask you to search tomorrow too?”

“Yes. Well, if there’s something dangerous like that near the village, it’s better to catch it quickly. No one should get hurt.”

“You worked hard today. See you tomorrow.”

Hilda also greeted the village chief and headed home. When she returned home, she checked the time. It was already past 4 o’clock.

‘I didn’t do anything and the day has already passed… I should go give Arthur some bread.’

Hilda went into the kitchen, took out a basket, filled it with some bread she had baked that morning, and headed to Milia’s house.

dripping.

“Are you there?”

Footsteps were heard, and after a while the door opened with a bang.

However, contrary to expectations that Arthur would appear, Millia appeared.

“Ms. Hilia? You’re back.”

“Yes, I just got back. But where is Arthur?”

“Probably playing in the village. 30 minutes ago? I went out with Alice then.”

“Oh, I see. Then, did you happen to bring some bread…”

“Oh my, you always treat me like this… I’m sorry for treating you so often, but would you like to eat dinner at my house tonight?”

“Really? Then I’m so happy. It’s been a long time since we ate together.”

After hearing Hilda’s words, Milia called Jade.

“Jade? I’m going to have dinner with Hillia today, so make more than usual!”

To Millia’s words, Jade was heard saying that she understood from inside the house.

“Ah! Right, Jade? Did you hear where Aris said she was going today?”

“I heard Arthur and I went out with a net to catch fish? I think he went to the river. It’s almost night, so shouldn’t he be back within an hour?”

Hearing that, Hilda and Milia both looked at each other with surprised eyes. Hilda was the first to speak.

“Ms. Milia, I’ll go first. Grab your weapons and come straight to the river. If you find the kids first, don’t worry about me and go home first.”

Millia nodded and hurried into the house. Hilda, who confirmed this, immediately took out the long sword from its scabbard, held it in her hand, and began to run quickly toward the river.

* * *

There was a girl and a boy on the riverbank. What was so funny, their laughter echoed through the riverbank.

“Hehehe~”

“Aris, I’ll drive the fish over there!”

“Let me know!”

At Arthur’s words, Alice picked up the net and moved to a good position to catch fish.

“Arthur!! Now! Now!”

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Arthur kicked the water with his feet at Alice’s signal and drove the fish towards Alice.

Crunch!

“Hehehe!! Arthur! I got it!! Look at this. It’s much bigger than the one I caught last time!”

“Amazing! As expected, Alice is the best!!”

“Heh! Of course! Next time I’ll catch a bigger one and give it to you.”

“Really? I’ll look forward to it, Alice!!”

Alice was coming out of the river to take home the fish she had caught.

“Arthur! Let’s go home now.”

“Can’t I just splash around a little more before I go?”

“Ugh~ Okay. I’ll stay here and dry my clothes!”

Boom! Boom!

Bam.

“Oops! I accidentally dropped it. Hehe.”

As Alice bent down and reached down to pick up the fish that had fallen to the ground, Arthur called out to her in an urgent voice.

“Ah..Aris!! In front! Look ahead!!”

At Arthur’s words, Alice raised her head and looked ahead without thinking.

“…Huh?”

A large black wolf appeared in front of Alice.

It looked to be about 3 meters tall, but fortunately, it was still about 200 meters away and the wolf didn’t seem to have spotted Alice yet.

‘That… that’s right! From now on, you can just quietly step aside. Then, hold Arthur’s hand and run to the village.’

Arthur’s urgent voice came from beside me.

“Aris, hurry…! We have to go right now!”

But strangely, Alice’s body did not move.

“Huh…Huh? Wait a minute Arthur… I don’t…I feel weird. My legs won’t move.”

-Swaying.

‘Ouch.. I almost fell because my legs gave out.. If I had fallen, the wolf would have definitely found me because of the noise..’

But when Alice looked back, the wolf was looking at Alice. Perhaps sensing the presence of people by the river, the wolf was moving slowly and stealthily, approaching Alice.

As she watched the wolf getting closer and closer, Alice’s mind turned blank with fear.

‘Uh… why? The only animals that showed up here were deer! There were hardly any wild beasts. The adults didn’t say anything either! I… don’t want to die!! Please! Someone save me. Mom and Dad…’

Before she knew it, the distance between Alice and the wolf was less than 50 meters. If the wolf had rushed at Alice, she would have been killed without being able to put up any resistance.

“Eek!!! Mom!! Dad… Sob. ”

Eventually, Alice burst into tears.

If it was a nightmare, I should have woken up from the dream by now, but unfortunately, it was reality, so the wolf just kept moving towards Alice.

Knock! Knock!

At that moment, a stone flew towards the wolf. The wolf looked at where the stone had come from.

Alice also turned her head in the direction the wolf was looking and looked at the place where the stone had come from.

There Arthur was seen throwing a pebble with his left hand to attract the wolf’s attention.

“Profit! Get away from Alice!! I told you to go away!”

‘Arthur! You should have run away too.. What are you doing! You’ll die if you do that!!’

Although Aris wanted to shout at Arthur to run away quickly because she wanted to save him, her mouth was trembling due to fear and she couldn’t say a word.

puck-!

Unfortunately, the stone Arthur threw succeeded in hitting the wolf. The wolf, which was approaching Alice, suddenly changed direction and started running towards Arthur as if to retaliate against Arthur’s actions. Alice, who was surprised, succeeded in shouting at Arthur in a hurry.

“Arthur!! Run away!!!”

But Arthur was already lying on the ground, pinned down by the wolf’s front paws. Arthur began to struggle to get free, but the wolf gradually gained strength and pressed hard on Arthur’s chest.

“It hurts!! It hurts-!!!”

“Hehehe!! Die!! I’m dying-!! Alice!!! Help me-!!”

Huh? What the heck? Arthur is dying in front of me. What am I doing? Why isn’t my body moving?

“Ugh… Aaaahhh!!! It hurts!! It hurts so much!!!”

I have to go and stop it right now? How? By what means?

“Aris!! Sob.. Save me!! Please, shut up.. Heek.. Heuk… Huh.. Huh??”

Arthur felt the pressure that had been pressing down on him disappear, and looked up in surprise to see the wolf raising its forepaw.

‘Why…?’

Arthur thought, maybe he could survive.

‘Yeah, get up and run away right now-‘

Phew!

With the sound of leather tearing, Arthur felt something pierce his flesh and enter his chest.

“Huh? …Kkaaah-!!!!”

Alice couldn’t believe the reality of her current situation. Arthur continued to scream in agony, but she only looked at the wolf. The wolf was also looking at Alice.

The wolf’s gaze seemed to be asking Alice, what can you do to stop me, if you continue on like this, your friend will die.

Even at this moment, the wolf’s claws were slowly digging into Arthur’s body.

“Eeeek-!!!”

A moment that seemed like eternity passed,

“… … … ”

“Ah…Arthur?”

Arthur’s screams could no longer be heard. Alice looked at Arthur.

Arthur, who was not yet dead, was bleeding, and his body was seen to continue to flinch and tremble.

The wolf slowly pulled out the claw that was stuck in Arthur while looking at Alice. Blood continued to flow out from the hole where the claw had been stuck, but the wolf paid no attention and raised its front paw.

Alice looked into the wolf’s eyes. The eyes were drawing subtle lines, and it felt as if they were mocking her helplessness.

At the same time, Alice realized why the wolf had raised its paw. It was about to bring its paw down and crush Arthur, and then Arthur would really die.

Perhaps because Arthur thought he was really dying, Alice’s body began to move again.

“Ah…No!! Stop! I said stop!!!”

But the wolf saw that Alice was moving and swung his forepaw at Arthur,

Crunch! Crunch!

Just before the wolf’s forepaw touches Arthur.

A longsword engulfed in red flames cut off the wolf’s forelegs and neck almost simultaneously.

When Alice looked at the person who killed the wolf, she saw red hair. As far as Alice knew, there was only one person with red hair in the village.

Alice, who had moved her gaze to Hilda’s face, met Hilda’s eyes. She tried to say something to Hilda, but her mouth wouldn’t move, so she couldn’t say anything.

Hilda also glanced at Alice, then without paying any more attention, she immediately hugged Arthur and started running as fast as she could towards the village.

Alice, who had been quietly watching the scene, continued to look in that direction even after Hilda disappeared. For several minutes.

As time passed, Alice naturally relaxed and sat down on the spot, crying as a sense of relief and guilt washed over her.

“Ugh… oh… Arthur… I’m sorry… sob… haaang-!!!”

So Aris just kept crying until Milia arrived.