In this world, everything is resolved with mana, but the ones over there are completely different types of ability users.
“My ability is to manipulate matter freely.”
“I’ve never seen someone with that ability.”
“In this world, my ability is quite insignificant. It’s not inherently strong either.”
Three hundred years ago, when ability users first appeared in the world, there was a time when their powers were ranked.
Psychokinesis-type ability users were not particularly highly regarded.
This was because they were not very useful in combat.
With monsters bursting out from the gate, immediate firepower was needed, and levitating stones next to them wouldn’t help much.
“So, I learned swordsmanship and spear techniques.”
“What about archery?”
“I had some talent for that from the start.”
Tenji demonstrated by levitating several arrows in the air.
The arrows floated in the air, darting toward the targets Tenji desired before returning again.
“You don’t seem like an archer.”
“If I attack from a distance, I’m essentially an archer, aren’t I?”
“But you also use swords and spears.”
“If I don’t have arrows, my spear can substitute.”
He was quite the free thinker.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sharp ringing sound of a bell echoed through the village.
Upon hearing the noise, Tenji immediately reacted and dashed toward the village entrance.
“What’s happening?”
“It’s an alarm!”
As I hurriedly followed behind, I found the village men all armed at the entrance.
“There’s no need for so many against a horde of goblins.”
“Then I guess I’ll go tend to the fields.”
It wasn’t a crisis, but monsters were approaching the outskirts of the village, announcing their presence.
Seeing it as a good training opportunity, I decided to join Tenji in the goblin takedown.
Several other members of the raid team participated alongside me.
The castle gates opened, and beyond them, goblins with glaring red eyes were visible.
“Are they normally like this?”
“No, they’re not usually like this. In fact, they’re weak enough to run away when they see a strong person.”
Contrary to Tenji’s words about them being weak, the goblins were in decent shape.
They had a muscular, child-like build.
In their hands, they wielded small hatchets and spears.
The villagers, including the raid team, grabbed their weapons and rushed out of the village.
CLANG- CLANG- CLANG!
In an instant, the village entrance resembled a battlefield.
The knights of the raid team leisurely slashed at the goblins, while the mercenaries ruthlessly battered them.
I swung my dagger at one goblin.
Its weapon was a spear!
Although I was at a disadvantage, I needed to overcome this challenge.
The goblin took a stance and thrust its spear.
For a monster, it was quite a sharp attack.
But I had practiced slashing and stabbing with a sword thousands of times.
The only difference was the length of the weapon; the principles were similar.
Deflecting the goblin’s spear with my dagger was impossible, so I had to dive in.
THUNK!
I couldn’t dig in deeply, but that was okay.
In that position, I harnessed my mana and threw my dagger!
The dagger shot out from close range and easily pierced the goblin’s torso.
I snatched the spear from the downed goblin and readied to throw it at another goblin.
WHAM!
The spear tore through the air, piercing two goblins at once and embedding itself in a tree.
“You look young, but you’re quite experienced in combat!”
“Just a bit.”
Tenji was surprised when he saw me handle the goblin.
Just as I thought the goblin takedown was coming to an end, a horde of orcs appeared.
“No way. That can’t be!”
“Our orcs. We want to pass through. Show us the way.”
It was a surprising sight.
The orcs were communicating with humans to request passage through the village.
“Aren’t orcs monsters?”
“Some orcs can interact with humans.”
Jere, who had joined us, explained.
“If they can talk, they can resolve things through conversation.”
“Not all of them are like that. Some try to deceive humans, but that’s not the case for orcs; it’s for other monsters.”
Among the monsters, there are races that can communicate using human language.
The most representative of these is the dragon.
Though extinct, dragons were highly intelligent beings capable of sophisticated conversations with humans.
Jere mentioned that the wider the world, the more mutations there would be.
“There are orcs with exceptional magical knowledge as well.”
“Do they use magic?”
“Oh, I know that orc. Its name was Chae-chi.”
Sometimes, among intelligent monsters, there are particularly smart ones who learn magic on their own.
I naturally assumed that orc would live in Roran, but surprisingly, it lived in Latnia.
“Just because they’re from Latnia, what could they possibly do against an orc that can talk?”
Ordinary orcs are much larger than robust men.
Even if an orc primarily learned magic, its physical attributes would far surpass those of humans.
The leader of the orc horde finished communicating and quietly moved with its subordinates along the castle walls surrounding the village.
On the way, they handled miscellaneous monsters as a bonus.
The village gate opened again, and the people who finished the takedown headed back inside.
“Let’s go too.”
Jere and Tenji were already nowhere to be found.
“Why didn’t you say you were leaving?”
Once back at the lodging, I headed straight to the bathroom.
Rolling on the ground and moving around diligently, I was drenched in sweat.
When I opened the bathroom door, there was no one inside.
Since it was a small bathroom, it was customary to announce beforehand and place a sign saying it was in use.
Most raid team members went to the large public bath together, so this bathroom was practically just for me, Aila, and Isabel.
After finishing my shower, I returned to my room and lay down on the bed.
I found myself thinking about meeting that speaking orc wizard at least once.
Unfortunately, they lived in Latnia, making it rather inconvenient to visit.
“Ririan, let’s go hang out.”
“What do you mean?”
Suddenly, Isabel appeared in my room and suggested going out.
“Monster takedown.”
“We’ve already dealt with the goblins.”
“Not that. They’re recruiting people to hunt large monsters in the vicinity.”
Hearing that, I shot up from my bed like lightning.
“Where? In front of the plaza angel statue.”
True to Isabel’s word, several people had gathered in front of the plaza angel statue.
“A large monster has been spotted near the village, everyone!”
It seemed fewer people had gathered than I expected.
A few raid team members, Tenji, and Jere, who inadvertently joined since it was a familiar place.
The one who planned the large monster takedown was none other than Isaac.
The reason was that if we took out just one monster, it would be much easier to protect the village from monsters.
While small to medium-sized monsters might not attract many, those gathering to hunt large ones were quite rare.
“Is it really okay to kill it this time?”
“Ririan-chan, no magic allowed.”
Isaac decisively prevented me from doing what I was about to do.
In the end, the final group gathered was just the raid team and Jere.
“So, we’re going to hunt a large monster with this group?”
“If you don’t like it, you can drop out now.”
I thought Jere would definitely want to go, even just to study the large monster.
“You look like you really don’t want to go.”
“Of course! We have to kill a monster!”
“Just kill it, right?”
“That’s a hassle. I prefer sitting quietly and doing research. I can use a specimen brought in by someone else.”
Claiming we were heading out of the village to hunt a large monster, we ended up at the village castle walls.
“Why are we here?”
“I’ll guide the way.”
Tenji started walking along the walls, claiming he would show us the way.
A makeshift rope bridge had been set up between the walls and a tree in front.
“This is a path used by the village’s defense force.”
A method of travel over the trees instead of on the ground.
“Why go through the trouble of moving like this?”
“If something’s needed when there are a lot of monsters, we have to go out of the village.”
While most supplies can be self-sufficient within the village, going out is necessary when selling them for money.
The forest itself is an area where monsters tend to gather, which is why ordinary residents must venture outside the woods.
The bridge made of wooden planks placed between two ropes was surprisingly sturdy.
As we gradually crossed the wooden bridge, we reached a fork in the path.
“The large monster is this way.”
The direction Isaac pointed towards was close to the edge of the forest.
One would expect to see a large monster from this distance, but there was nothing visible beyond the trees.
More terrifying than what is seen is the unseen danger.
Seeing that not a single person could spot the large monster, everyone seemed tense.
Ku-gugu-gugu!
With a sensation of the ground shaking, something emerged from the forest.
A gigantic rock—no, a small mountain was moving sluggishly.
“What is that?”
A mercenary exclaimed in surprise.
“Isn’t it a monster?”
“Are we really going to capture that?”
It looked like it couldn’t even be harmed by weapons or magic.
“If you’re going to try to capture that, you might as well give up.”
Tenji persuaded Isaac to give up on capturing the monster.
“If that thing goes rampaging with the other monsters, your village will be in danger!”
“I’ve never seen something like this before. If it’s a threat, we should capture it, but it would be tough with this group.”
We were barely ten strong.
It seemed we’d need at least an army to take it down.
“Ririan-chan, if we can lure it to the plains, can you use that?”
“I can.”
Fortunately, the creature was located at the edge of the forest.
If we could lure it out to the plains, I could use great magic.
“Are you a magician, Ririan?”
“A fine magician.”
Because my appearance was human, Isaac probably thought I was just a human magician who lived in Roran.
Tenji still had a worried look on his face and was lost in thought.
“However, it seems dangerous. No matter how strong a magician is…”
“There’s not just one magician?”
Jere slowly raised his hand, indicating that he was a magician as well.
“What difference does it make if there’s one magician or two?”
“You’re more negative than I thought.”
“Because I know I’m weaker!”
Tenji valued thoroughness in planning because he recognized his abilities were inferior to others.
But each member of the raid team assembled here had considerable strength.
A flock among flocks.
Tenji was like the chicken among many geese.
“You all are really crazy.”
“We are all normal. I can’t tolerate belittling my subordinates and the raid team.”
“Ugh… After crossing this bridge, take the right path at the fork.”
With a big sigh, Tenji explained the direction to the monster.
While standing at the back of the line, Tenji was debating whether he should follow us or not.
“Are you not going?”
“I have to value my life.”
“You can trust these people’s abilities.”
They were skilled enough to easily handle small to medium monsters.
No one had sustained serious injuries in battles against demons.
“If it gets dangerous, I’ll head back to inform the village.”
“Sure.”
Having made up his mind, Tenji crossed the bridge and followed us.
