108 - Beast
Inside the jewel.
While casting my gaze around, I simultaneously used skills to process multiple streams of information.
A blinking blue point of light—there was only one, but it seemed to change its location instantly.
In reality, that wasn't the case; it was simply that I couldn't keep track of it—.
The surrounding scenery consisted of a blue sky and a single road that stretched on forever.
"There!"
I swung my saber, and sparks flew.
But in the next instant, pain shot through my left flank.
Dual-wielding short swords.
It was the same style as Miranda's, but the one who excelled at it was the Fourth Generation, Marks Walt.
The Fourth Generation's skill, [Speed], was a skill that increased movement speed.
It was a skill that had manifested when the Third Generation was on the verge of death on the battlefield, born from the desperate urge to rush to their side.
The skill [Up-Down] was born as an application of that. It was a skill that increased one's own movement speed while decreasing the movement speed of the enemy.
And—.
"Isn't [Over Speed] just cheating!"
The saber I was swinging wildly around me repeatedly met impact and scattered sparks.
There were times when I could see the Fourth Generation's figure, and times when I swung because I thought he was there due to the use of a skill.
Occasionally, the Fourth Generation's figure appeared as two or three people.
My saber was knocked away, flying from my right arm into the air. Immediately after, I felt a sharp pain in my chest and was blown back, my back slamming into a nearby tree.
Looking down, the Fourth Generation had thrust a short sword into my chest as if performing a tackle.
"Calling it cheating is a compliment. And as for me, I find it nothing but delightful to make my opponent say that."
The Fourth Generation pulled out the short sword with a smirk.
A large amount of blood sprayed from my chest. As I shifted my gaze away from the Fourth Generation to look into the distance, I saw the saber that had fallen, stabbing into the ground.
As I watched the saber vanish, the pain receded and my body returned to normal. The sprayed blood disappeared, and I stood up while wiping away cold sweat.
Leaning against the tree, I looked at the Fourth Generation, who was skillfully handling the short sword in his right hand.
"You defend with the short sword in your left hand and slash with the one in your right. Was a larger weapon not an option?"
The Fourth Generation, who excelled in combat methods that utilized speed, thought for a moment but shook his head.
"If it were any heavier, I wouldn't have been able to swing it freely. At the same time, since my speed increases, the power increases as well. I've tried it, but two short swords were the most convenient. I can slide them into the gaps of armor and such."
The Fourth Generation slid the short swords into the sheaths hanging at the small of his back, then immediately lifted his glasses once with his index finger to adjust their position.
The glasses glinted, and I took a deep breath.
"Can you actually maintain those while moving at that speed?"
"It's tough. But with the First Generation's Full Over, I can somehow endure it. Besides, I use the Second Generation's skill, All, to sense the enemy. And if I use the Third Generation's Mind to shake the opponent's resolve, it becomes quite easy."
It seemed the Fourth Generation's final stage skill was predicated on the simultaneous use of the First and Second Generations' skills.
Then, the Fourth Generation looked at my face seriously.
"...If Lyell becomes able to use my skills, he might actually surpass me. No, he must surpass me."
The Fourth Generation began to explain, recalling Celes, whom I had encountered in Central.
"Even if I had fought, I probably couldn't have won against that girl... Celes. That speed and power, even when she wasn't serious. If there really is only one personality inside that jewel, then it's a formidable skill. However, my skill is built upon the simultaneous use of other skills. Do you understand the meaning of this?"
In terms of skill performance, it meant I could not win against Celes.
Furthermore, neither I nor the previous heads of the house had a firm grasp of exactly what skill Celes possessed.
"I understand that the opponent is definitely stronger than I am."
"It means that as you are now, you cannot win even against a Celes who isn't trying. I don't know how far her true power goes, but it's unthinkable that she would be weaker now than when you first met."
From the moment I decided to stop Celes, I had simply given up on winning against her through individual strength.
The reason I was building my strength now was to create a situation where I could fight Celes.
Preparing an army of thousands or tens of thousands was a daunting task, but the bigger problem was the moment of delivering the finishing blow to Celes.
An unskilled person would be charmed, and even if she were surrounded by tens of thousands of soldiers, Celes would likely escape. Or, she would simply be defeated by raw power—.
As I shuddered, the Fourth Generation looked at me with exasperation.
"Don't be so afraid. I will give you advice to create a situation where you can fight, and I'll push you that far. However, there is no point if Lyell dies. Please do not forget that."
When I nodded, the surrounding scenery turned gray and vanished.
Gradually, my consciousness was pulled back to reality. When I woke up, I was in the hut in the village. The sun had appeared, and it was gradually getting brighter.
Some villagers had already started moving, and I could hear voices in the distance. The barking of dogs and the sounds of daily life reached my ears.
I touched my chest, but I wasn't injured.
However, I was drenched in sweat. Once I got up, I took a towel and went outside the building.
After stepping outside, stretching, washing my face, and rinsing my mouth, I confirmed that the village chief was coming.
As I watched the path to the hut, the village chief, who had been in a bad mood since early morning, approached me.
"Sorry about yesterday. When I checked last night, some of the village brats were trying to rummage through your luggage."
The reason for his bad mood was apparently that some boys had attempted to steal while only Shannon and Monica were present.
After being told by Shannon, I had gone straight to the village chief's house to report it upon returning from the monster subjugation.
He had told me he would look into it, and I had only provided the characteristics of the boys yesterday.
(He handled it quickly.)
Thinking this, I spoke with the village chief.
"Second and third sons can't inherit the house, after all. It seems they thought they'd become adventurers."
Hearing that, the Third Generation spoke up from within the jewel.
"It's a good thing it ended as an attempt. That way, neither side has to make a scene. But it's the same in every era, isn't it?"
I had decided that as long as they didn't do it again, I wouldn't interfere further.
"They wanted to get equipment for that? Well, there was no damage on our end, so it's not a problem. And you had the watchtower removed for us."
I had also reported the observation deck, and the village chief looked exhausted.
"I was saved by the fact that you're a mild-mannered lot. If you were hot-headed people, you wouldn't realize you'd have been retaliated against. Sigh, I don't want to be a village chief."
I gave a wry smile.
"Why didn't you refuse to become the chief?"
The village chief looked grumpy.
"My hometown was far, and I didn't feel like going back that far. Do you think I could refuse when I'd just moved here? It's hard to fit in in the countryside. There are many tedious things, like socializing and, furthermore, customs. You push those things onto the village newcomer, and after a few years, you're finally accepted. If you plan to spend your old age relaxing in the countryside, I recommend you earn more than I did and buy a mansion in some big city."
The Third Generation agreed within the jewel.
"It really is difficult to be accepted as a comrade of the village. I really struggled when we accepted migrants."
—Though that no longer concerned me.
"I'll do that if I can earn enough. Well, surviving will probably be the harder part."
"That's true! Well, I have a feeling you'll make it far. Just a hunch."
I discussed the situation of the Grey Wolves and the state of the forest with the village chief and then parted ways.
We entered the forest with fewer people than yesterday.
Following Shannon and Monica, I decided to let Novem and Clara rest this time.
With Eva in the lead, the four of us—myself, Aria, and Miranda—challenged the forest.
This time, the objective was to increase our movement speed and move around to crush the small packs scattered throughout the forest.
Eva, who was leading the way, said,
"Watch out for the tree roots."
She moved ahead of us and called out whenever there was something to note.
The three of us, following Eva's lead through the forest, were sluggish, partly due to yesterday's fatigue.
Aria, for instance,
"I have muscle pain in the weirdest places; it's miserable."
While complaining, she drew her short sword and proceeded by cutting through branches and grass.
Miranda looked around.
"Traps are everywhere. Tree roots, stones, mud... I wonder if this was chosen as a test because it's such a tedious request."
Then, Eva, walking in front, signaled us to stop with her hand, crouched down, took an arrow from her quiver, and readied her bow.
We also lowered our stances and drew our weapons as a rustling sound reached us.
The sound of breathing, and the scent of a beast.
I understood they were Grey Wolves, but Aria and Miranda did not.
"I wonder what's coming."
Aria shifted her gaze around.
"I want to finish off the Grey Wolves and go back quickly. I don't want to fight in the forest."
Looking toward the direction of the enemy, she held short swords in both hands in a ready stance.
Then, a low growl was heard.
(Did they find us?)
Being wolves, their sense of smell seemed sharp.
From within the jewel, the Fifth Generation spoke.
"Sigh, this is somehow painful."
Perhaps because they resembled wolves, it seemed painful for him to watch us defeat them. Thinking "this animal lover," I looked at the Grey Wolf that leaped out from the brush.
The first Grey Wolf to leap out was shot by an arrow fired by Eva and collapsed as it jumped.
The second one was about to pounce on Aria, whose reaction was delayed, so I stepped forward, swung my saber from the bottom diagonally upward to slash one down, and then swung it back diagonally downward to cut down a Grey Wolf that was trying to bite my leg.
Miranda threw a short sword and took down one Grey Wolf, and as Aria, holding a short spear, stepped forward, she used a skill to thrust and kill the Grey Wolves emerging one after another from the brush.
The pack of seven in total was thus crushed.
"There were twenty to thirty at the forest entrance. There must still be more if we go deeper."
Leaving the perimeter watch to Aria, I wiped the blood off my saber and put the weapon away. Since Miranda and Eva were collecting materials and magic stones from the Grey Wolves, I also joined the perimeter watch.
As I looked around—.
(They're watching again.)
Expanding the range of my skill to scout the surroundings, I confirmed a Kirin blinking in blue, yellow, and red.
Once discovered, it retreated to the absolute limit of its distance and watched us... no, watched me.
Then, Eva, having finished collecting the materials, said,
"Oops, don't interfere."
As she said that to us, the scent of a beast drifted over once again. However, this time it wasn't a monster.
It was a real wolf.
Several were observing us from the brush, and the presence of females and cubs could be confirmed nearby.
Beasts that live in forests where monsters dwell are, frankly speaking, troublesome.
They are strong. Simply strong.
Because they live in harsh lands, unlike monsters that just spawn, the things they have accumulated are different.
Eva took meat from the bag hanging at her waist and threw it.
One wolf emerged from the brush, smelled the meat, and grabbed it in its mouth. After glancing at the slain Grey Wolves, it returned to the brush.
In the meantime, the other wolves had moved to a position to attack us, but once their comrade returned safely, they withdrew.
Aria took a deep breath and wiped away sweat.
"I can't tell the difference. I mean, if they attack, it's okay to fight, right?"
Eva disagreed.
"Make sure that doesn't happen. Because those little ones are there, monsters don't overflow from the forest. Besides, unlike these things, they're truly troublesome."
Eva pointed to the blood-stained lump of meat that had been stripped of its materials.
Miranda looked around.
"I heard that people bring lumps of meat, but it was to offer them so they'd let us pass. I totally thought they put poison in them to make them traps."
...Typical of Miranda? I think.
"Stop that. Doing things like that is why the wolves are wary. Well, they were smelling it, so maybe someone did that here."
Aria tilted her head.
"Did that?"
Eva stood up and took off her blood-stained gloves.
"They used traps to kill wolves and bears instead of monsters. They're intelligent and were quite wary of us. Could that village be the cause? If there were kin here, there wouldn't be this many monsters."
If elves were present, we probably wouldn't have been called in the first place.
Miranda looked convinced.
"I was told that leaving traps is strictly forbidden, but I see... the forest has its own circumstances."
Eva nodded.
"Well, there are times when you get attacked. When that happens, be prepared to fight a battle-hardened veteran."
However, Aria said,
"I might actually want to fight one at least once."
...She started saying things like this.
(These people are scary.)
The beasts were one thing, but my allies were also scary.
I decided in my heart never to make enemies of wolves, bears, or my comrades, but in the first place, there were no comrades I could afford to make enemies of.
I realized that angering even one person would put me in a dangerous situation.
(Wait... am I in a very dangerous position...?)
Shaking my head, I pushed the thought aside, took the water bottle from the bag hanging at my waist, and drank some water.
And then—.
(...What should I do. I can't have them following me forever.)
Looking in the direction where Mei the Kirin was likely to be, I wiped my mouth.