episode_0021

A new morning dawned in Dyna Village.

The incident of monsters attacking the graveyard last night became the talk of the town among the villagers.

“Did you see that? The adventurer from the extermination squad who stayed in the village yesterday single-handedly wiped out the monsters that swarmed the graveyard.”

“Oh… I was sleeping, so I missed it.”

“I heard that every time he swung his sword, a fiery flame burst out.”

“He flew up into the sky and struck the ground with his sword, creating a huge hole.”

Wait, who exactly is spreading these rumors?

As the rumors spread among the villagers, they became exaggerated and distorted, gaining traction and becoming more and more outlandish.

Well, I don’t really mind, so I’ll just leave it be for now.

Anyway, I successfully defeated all the undead that appeared in the graveyard that day.

The path from the village where the battle took place to the graveyard was a complete mess.

The graveyard was completely destroyed, logs and rocks were rolling around, and smoke rose from the charred areas until morning.

There were charcoal fragments in the pit traps, and the remains of the skeletons I had destroyed were scattered messily at the village entrance.

“Oh! Isn’t this the hero of the village!”

“Haha….”

As I walked around the village, pondering the events of the previous night, a villager approached me and greeted me warmly.

Perhaps due to the exaggerated and widespread rumors, everyone who saw me referred to me as a hero, making me feel both proud and embarrassed.

“Indeed, the extermination squad sent by the guild handled the situation well! Thanks to leaving such a strong adventurer in the village in case of an attack, we survived! May I ask for your name?”

“I’m Yuno… haha…. ahaha….”

“I heard you wiped out half of the undead horde with a single swing of your Flame Sword! Ah, I wish I had seen that!”

In reality, I am still just a novice adventurer who has not even received an official adventurer rank.

Why did the rumors spread so wildly like this?

Is it really okay to just leave it like this…?

But now, there was no way to correct it.

Surely there were dozens of people who saw my fight last night with their own eyes.

All they saw was me destroying the skeletons with a magic-infused sword and the burning pit traps.

Rumors are truly a terrifying thing.

“Undead were burning!” becomes “Flames were coming out of the sword!” after a few people.

“Holes were in the ground!” becomes “He struck the ground with his sword and created holes!” after a few more.

It kept snowballing, becoming uncontrollable and embarrassing to the point where even I couldn’t manage it.

What will happen when the extermination squad returns and finds out the truth?

They will surely praise me for saving the village.

But if the villagers thank the extermination squad and bring up this exaggerated hero tale…

Three words flashed through my mind in an instant.

Dark history.

It was nice that the villagers embraced me as a hero and expressed their gratitude.

But to the extermination squad, who knows that I am just a novice adventurer, calling me the wielder of the Flame Sword or the one who ‘sliced the sky and ground’…

What will the other adventurers of the extermination squad think?

Surely they won’t make fun of me for a long time, right?

At that moment, a commotion started as people gathered at the northern entrance of the village.

It turned out that the 12-member extermination squad that had set out to eradicate the monster lair was returning.

Already back from the extermination mission.

I thought it would take at least two days.

I naturally mingled among the villagers and watched the return of the expedition.

The battle seemed quite intense as some adventurers were seen injured.

Some had their arms wrapped in bandages, while others limped on their legs.

But just like when they set off, Milaia, who led the expedition, remained pristine without a single hair out of place.

As the expedition was welcomed by the villagers upon entering the village, I looked for Oren.

Oren, the bronze adventurer, was the only person in the expedition whom I could call an acquaintance, so I wanted to thank him for his hard work.

He had helped me in various ways up until now.

However, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find Oren.

One, two, three… I counted the returning members of the expedition again.

…Eleven.

One person was missing.

Oren did not return.

* * *

The expedition returned to Daina Village.

The expedition was said to be successful.

But Oren did not return.

I remembered his gesture of reaching out his hand to help me get on the carriage easily.

He had taught me the basics of magic conversion for adventurers and we had become somewhat friendly, sharing various stories.

I had planned to tell him about the time he fought alone against the monsters in the graveyard when he returned.

And when we returned to Kuber, I wanted to eat a meal together as fellow bronze adventurers.

It may have been my one-sided thinking, but I thought we could become friends.

But he did not return.

Oren, a bronze adventurer, was relatively safe in the rear guard.

However, it seemed that there was a particularly strong monster among those that the vanguard had not been able to handle.

Most of the rear guard, made up of bronze adventurers, fought fiercely against the monster.

Some were injured, and the monster was defeated, but Oren fell victim.

I couldn’t understand it.

It was a punitive expedition led by a gold-ranked adventurer, not even a silver one.

If they had evenly distributed their forces a bit more in the rear guard, couldn’t the tragedy have been prevented?

Just looking at the returning expedition to the village, it seemed so.

The adventurers in the rear guard were covered in wounds.

But Milaia, especially, who led the expedition, was so clean that it was almost suspicious if she had fought at all.

The punitive strategy itself was extremely simple.

Dividing the expedition into strong and weak groups and attacking head-on was the entire strategy.

Even if the intention was to quickly subdue with overwhelming force, isn’t it meaningless if there are casualties?

Are bronze adventurers just disposable?

Or is this the handling style of the so-called ‘gold’ adventurer Milaia?

“Hey, you! Are you Yunoa?”

At that moment, a man approached me and asked abruptly.

He was one of the silver adventurers in the vanguard.

I narrowed my eyes and nodded at the man.

“The expedition leader is looking for you. Go towards the graveyard.”

He must have something to ask about the undead attack that happened last night.

The story of me defending the village against the undead had already spread to the expedition through the villagers.

Whether it was exaggerated or not, I don’t know.

“Tsk, Novice is already causing trouble.”

As I turned towards the graveyard to meet Milaia, the man who called me muttered in a half-audible voice.

Causing trouble?

I had only defended the village.

The atmosphere was strange.

Somehow, I didn’t think good news was coming.

* * *

Milaia was waiting for me on a hill overlooking the graveyard.

Her long black hair fluttered in the breeze.

The skirted armor I was wearing was as clean as an exhibit, without a single scratch.

“…Yunoa.”

Her lips uttered my name in a calm voice.

There was no emotion in her gaze as she looked at me.

“Yes, you called?”

“Is it really all your doing, this mess?”

Mireia turned her head towards the graveyard and asked.

I feel like I’m being interrogated for no reason.

Maybe it’s because of Oren’s business, but I wasn’t feeling too good.

“Yes, but…”

“I heard you’re a novice rank. It hasn’t been long since you joined the guild.”

“That’s true.”

“Yet you fought all these monsters alone to protect this village?”

“Yes.”

“You can wield flames on your sword and split the ground.”

It seems like the villagers have heard the inflated rumors.

It’s probably better to be honest here.

“That’s…”

“Of course, that’s not possible.”

Before I could answer, she interrupted.

“…”

“You can tell by the traces.”

Mireia continued in a calm voice, looking at me.

“You set traps along the road from the graveyard to the village to reduce the number of monsters. And in the end, you finished them off with your own strength.”

Adventurers’ eyes cannot be deceived.

Since I had no intention of lying, it was a relief to skip the explanation.

But I felt puzzled.

Why did she bring me here just to say this?

It was definitely not a congratulatory atmosphere.

Moreover, she showed no emotion in her voice and face, so I couldn’t tell what she was thinking at all.

“…Yes, well.”

“Then I’ll ask.”

Suddenly, a chill crept into Mireia’s voice.

Swish-

When I came to my senses, I realized that a sharp blade was pointed at my nose.

“How did you know the monsters would attack?”