Volume 3 Chapter 1 Reality
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Milly, why are you in such a hurry?”
When I woke up in the morning, Milly suddenly came into the room and said we were going hunting, and without having breakfast or knowing what was going on, we were pushed into the prepared carriage.
And now, I was asking Milly about the details of the hunt inside the carriage, which was moving at full speed.
”An urgent quest has come in! It seems a monster has been appearing near the village on the outskirts of Abyss Vena. We’re rushing to the village to take care of it now!”
”Uh, Ms. Miriallia, isn’t patrol duty the job of the garrison? Why is a hunter getting such a quest? It feels suspicious.”
Despite being a clumsy girl, Feria has a surprisingly keen sense and seems to feel something shady about the quest Milly received.
Milly is also at a loss for words in response to Feria’s comment.
”Actually, this quest came through Uncle Arbalest. They specifically requested us. Apparently, it seems there’s a conflict with the garrison’ general, making it hard to ask them for patrol duty.”
Milly told us about the internal situation of the quest’s requester with a reluctant expression.
It seems that Lord Arbalest has command authority over the garrison, but it’s merely a formality; the actual operations are conventionally managed entirely by the general of the garrison, Milly explained.
In other words, the garrison general is reluctant to send out soldiers for patrols, and since negotiating with him is too much of a bother, he is planning to send his niece’s Hunting Group on errands to do the patrols.
”It was only yesterday that the infestation was confirmed and a message came from the village, so if we don’t get rid of it quickly, the worst case scenario could happen.”
Milly was impatient and irritated.
Suddenly, I remembered that I hadn’t had breakfast, so I asked Annabella for breakfast like a starving child, and she gave me a sandwich.
”Eat something, Milly. You can’t hunt on an empty stomach.”
I gave Milly a sandwich.
”Thanks, Kent, I’ll take it”
Aside from Aurelia, who was driving the carriage, we decided to have a light meal and check on the monsters that had been reported around the village.
The request for help came from Godard Village, which is said to be a cold village with a population of about a hundred, located further south than Abyss Vena.
After about 2 hours of being jostled in the carriage, the intended Godard Village came into view.
Compared to the impressive stone walls of Abyss Vena, Godard Village was surrounded only by a fence made of wooden structures and a waterway drawn from the river, which was not sufficient to ward off large monsters.
As we entered the village and looked at the buildings, it was apparent that due to a lack of stone materials, almost all the houses were wooden.
The villagers stared curiously at the hunting carriage, but soon they walked towards a place that seemed to be a field, carrying farming tools.
We stopped the carriage in front of a slightly larger house in the center of the village and visited the house of the village head, Akebus.
Since the village head’s house wasn’t large enough to accommodate all of us, I, Milly, and Annabella decided to listen to the village head’s story, while the other members stayed outside.
Entering the house, we looked toward Akebus to talk about work.
Village head Akebus was a middle-aged man in his late fifties, with short-cropped hair, a receding hairline, and salt-and-pepper hair, giving off a strong impression of fatigue.
”Thank you for coming all the way from Abyss Vena. I apologize that this is a poor cold village, so I cannot provide proper hospitality…”
”Hospitality is not necessary. What’s important is the quest. Is it true that monsters are appearing around the village?”
As Milly firmly declined Akebus’ hospitality, she immediately began discussing the details of the quest.
I’m not confident in my speaking skills to extract this kind of information, so I leave it to Milly.
Dang!
We were about to sit down when a man suddenly burst into the village head’s house and interrupted us.
”Village Head Akebus! What a disaster! A monster has appeared on the farm!”
”What?! Did you let everyone escape?”
”It was so sudden that I was so panic…”
The man who jumped in lay face down with his head on the floor.
”Village head! We’ll take care of the monsters, so please evacuate the villagers, village head. Kent, Ms. Annabella, let’s go!”
We quickly left the village head’s house, regrouped with the members, left Manon, Beatrice, and Lana to defend the village, and headed to the farm with the other members.
After running for about 5 minutes, when we arrived at the farm that had been cleared from the forest, what we saw was a gruesome scene where a black, large dog was chewing on what appeared to be a part of a person body, blood spraying from it.
”Ah, that’s a part of a person… the dog is carrying it… Ugh!”
Seeing this horrific sight of a monster preying on a person for the first time made me lose my stomach and vomit on the ground.
Further, as I looked closely at where the dogs were gathering, I saw a villager who had curiously watched us pass by on the wagon being torn apart, his intestines ravaged, and his eyes were vacant.
In the back, a man who seemed to have been caught was knocked down by a dog, his throat bitten through, dying before he could even let out a scream, blood splattering everywhere.
Faced with the horrifying sight of a monster devouring its prey, chills ran down my spine, and even though it wasn’t cold, my body was shaking uncontrollably.
Seeing my state, Milly hugged me and started to speak.
”Kent, this is the reality of the southern part of the True Demon Kingdom, where monsters roam. It’s a world you didn’t know because you were protected by the walls of Abyss Vena. Kent, are you scared? Do you want to run away? Do you want to pretend you didn’t see this and go back to the mansion? You can decide what we do.”
As Milly held me, she explained the reality of the southern region where monsters roamed, pressing me to make a decision.
I processed the facts unfolding before me and decided what I could do.
”…I’m scared and I want to run away if I can, but I’m a hunter who has to hunt them down, so I can’t return to the mansion until I’ve wiped out those dogs! Everyone, please lend me your strength! If there are any survivors, you must protect them!”
I decided to hunt monsters.
I have the power to defeat them.
If I’m going to call myself a Monster Hunter, I have to take the lives of the monsters that roam before me.
”Got it. Everyone, the enemy is the Black Dog. They’re not that strong individually, but they attack in groups. Plus, they’re fast, so be careful not to get knocked down. Also, their howls signal for reinforcements, so it’s best to take them down before they can howl.”
The warning about the monsters was relayed to the members by Milly.
We started running towards the Black Dogs that were strutting around the farm.
Woooaahn.
One of them noticed us and sent a warning howl to its companions.
Fifteen Black Dogs in the farm all turned to face us at once.
Grrr.
The closest one came running toward us.
”Sir Kent! Please step back; we’ll be surrounded!”
Annabella shielded me and slammed the nose of the approaching Black Dog with her shield, stunning it.
Feeling their companion was attacked, the Black Dogs all started rushing towards us.
Lina reacted immediately and successfully fired a Fire Arrow at the rushing Black Dogs, stopping two of them in their tracks.
Milly followed Lina and managed to stop one of them with a Fire Arrow as well.
”Here they come! Don’t let your rearguards down. If someone gets knocked down, make sure you’re ready to follow up. If they bite your throat, you’ll die in one hit. Feria! You have to be especially careful.”
”Hmm, I will firmly protest as a Maid Warrior against the words of Ms. Miriallia, who is a burden to me!”
Feria used his Twin Battle Axe to slash at a black dog that was rushing towards him to surround him, successfully cutting off its front legs in half.
The enemy this time seems soft, so Feria’s attack should be effective.
The moment I felt relieved at Feria’s situation, she was tackled by a black dog and fell on her backside.
”Kyaaah!”
In an instant, another one jumped at Feria, who was on her backside.
Grrr.
Feria managed to block the fangs of the black dog with her Twin Battle Axe just in time.
”Feria!”
I quickly rushed over to Feria and activated the combat skill [Flash Thrust].
Thanks to the Magician and Healer’s buffs, the magic power had only decreased by about one-tenth.
”[Flash Thrust]! Only I am allowed to ride on Feria! You stupid dogs!”
The spear was enveloped in a green light as if it were cloaked in wind.
I thrust the spear at high speed toward the head of the black dog.
Thud!
As the spear pierced, the black dog’s head exploded.
”Mr. Kent…thank you for saving me, but…my maid uniform is all sticky with magic element!”
I quickly helped Feria to her feet and patted her head.
”Feria, there are still black dogs around. Don’t let your guard down!”
”Ah, yes! I’m so sorry!”
Feria quickly readied her weapon and rushed to support the other members.
The Black Dogs had already surrounded them and it had become a melee situation, and the rearguards Talia and Lina were also under attack from the Black Dogs.
”Talia, Lina! Come closer to me! If we fight too far apart, we’ll be attacked separately. Lina and Talia, get behind me.”
”I understand. I’ll focus on healing behind Sir Kent.”
Talia dodged the attack of the Black Dog she was facing and ran behind me.
”Kent, I’m on my way! Wait for me!”
Lina also avoids the attack of the Black Dog, and fires No Chant’s Fire Arrow and runs off.
”Annabella! I’m counting on you to back me up!”
”Yes! Leave it to me! I’ll protect you with my life on the line”
Lina and Talia, who are weak against physical attacks, are protected by me and Annabella forming a defensive position, and the black dogs surrounding us could only scratch at my shield without being able to attack Talia or Lina.
I took some damage, but Talia was right behind me, healing my wounds immediately.
Then, Lina calmly dealt with the black dogs that were staggered by attacks from me and Annabella.
Before long, all the black dogs surrounding us were hunted down.
”Milly! Is it almost over on your side?”
”Yeah. There are only 2 left. Oh, just finished!”
Looking over, Aurelia’s sword was shining golden, and she simultaneously severed the heads of 2 black dogs standing in a line.
”Lord Kent! The hunt has been completed!”
Having obtained the [Sword Master] job, Aurelia was showing off increasingly monstrous sword techniques.
After that, while confirming that there were no black dogs left in the area, we gathered the bodies of the fallen villagers and placed them into body bags.
Except for Milly, the veteran hunter, everyone else, like me, was vomiting up what they had in their stomachs, while also collecting decapitated corpses, bodies ravaged in the abdomen, and remains with only parts left.
Everyone went about their tasks silently, without a word, when suddenly a pile of straw nearby moved.
”There are still some left!”
I quickly readied my backup weapon, a sword.
”Waaah! Mommm! Daddd!”
The voice heard from inside the straw bundle was that of a child.
I ran to the straw bundle where the voice came from and searched inside, where I found a child around ten years old hiding.
”Who are you brother? Where are my mom and dad?”
”There’s a survivor! Hey, Talia, come here for a second!”
I called Talia to check if she was hurt.
The child who was hiding appears to be unharmed.
The child repeatedly asked me about his parents, and judging from the situation, I had a feeling that the child’s parents might have been among the victims of the Black Dog.
For now, I’ve decided to hide the truth from the kids to protect them.
I think it’s best for the village head to tell them once the victim identification is finished.
It’s too cruel for them, and I don’t have the courage to tell this child the truth.
”Kent, let’s take this child and return to inform the village head that the hunt is over. We’ll have the Villagers transport the bodies, but just to be safe, let’s leave Ms. Annabella and the others to keep watch so they won’t be devoured by any other monsters.”
After Milly’s suggestion, I began giving instructions to everyone.
”Annabella, I’m sorry, but could you keep watch over the bodies until the Villagers arrive?”
”Understood. Aurelia, Feria, Ines, and I will keep watch.”
Annabella bowed to me and went to call Aurelia and the others.
We entrusted the watch over the bodies to Annabella and the others and returned to the village head’s house with the surviving child.
* * *
”Reinhardt! You made it back safely!”
When we arrived at the village head Akebus’ house, he rushed over and embraced the surviving child he saw.
When he heard the situation, he learned that the surviving child was his grandchild.
”Grandpa, Mom and Dad are gone. While I was helping with the harvest, my mom suddenly told me to hide in the straw and when I was hiding, I heard something running around, and after a while, this big brother pulled me out.”
Upon hearing Reinhardt’s words, the village head Akebus slumped down, looking defeated.
We had to tell the village head Akebus that there had been casualties, but since it was not something that young Reinhardt should have to hear, we decided to take the village head outside.
* * *
”So how many people were killed? According to my grandson Reinhard, at least my daughter and son-in-law were not killed.”
The head Village Akebus always looked tired and old, but after this death, he seems even older.
”By the time we rushed over, there were already victims. However, rest assured that all the black dogs on the scene have been eradicated. We did manage to recover the bodies, but I think at least 4 people have fallen victim. Additionally, there were some whose remains we could only partially recover, so I would like to ask the village head and the villagers to confirm and transport the bodies…”
As I listened to Milly’s story, the village head, Akebus, gradually turned more pale.
”Lady Miriallia, thank you for your kindness. We will send out personnel for the transport right away, so please wait a moment.”
The village head, Akebus, bravely carried on, bowing to us, and walked towards the villagers who were gathering in the village square to secure personnel for the transport of the bodies.
Watching his back, the face of a villager with hollow eyes, having their entrails devoured, flashed back in my mind.
And then, the face of that villager, hollow-eyed and devoured from within, instantaneously transformed into my own reflection.
My heart raced with a throb, and suddenly, my body temperature rose, causing me to feel dizzy.
”Kent… are you okay?”
Worried about me as I knelt down, Milly supported me.
”Ah, yeah. I’m fine, Milly. I just remembered what happened back then. It scared me because it was the first time I saw a dead person. My parents and grandparents are all gone, but I never witnessed the moment of death, and I didn’t know persons could die so easily.”
I had thought of this world as a game where my strength was determined by the Grimoire’s jobs and skills, but what stood before me was the harsh reality faced by powerless individuals.
If I hadn’t met Milly soon after coming to this world, I would have been killed by Silver Mantis and suffered the same fate as today’s victims.
But I have been given the power to grow infinitely if I make an effort, and I can choose to pretend I never saw what happened today, stay inside the castle walls, and live a lewd life with the woman I love.
With this quest, having been shown reality, I felt that the time to decide my ambiguous position has come.
Should I, for once, aim to become strong through continuous effort on this thorny path, or should I rely on power and privilege to cover up the unpleasant and maintain my comfortable life?
It seems that I must choose one of the two if I want to live in Grimoire.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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