roundings either.

The whole occurrence was a complete mystery.

The people who were assigned to the monitoring job jotted down the details of what they saw in the report. It was written as detailed as possible, even though the amount of sentences were few. It was not possible to report it any further, as they didn’t have much information.

The spies of the other countries in the vicinity whom they exchanged information with and of whom they should be wary of, understood the disordered state of the site well. It was that crazy.

However, they didn’t want to go back without understanding anything. Even though Tsuki no Hokora did not belong to Bayreuth Kingdom, it was almost next to them. They took pride in having a more intimate relation with the shop than any other country.

“Do you know what happened to Raizar-dono?”

“No, however the second princess, Rionne-sama has reported that she came into contact with her in the Wraith Plains. Because of the considerable distance, it is the only place to think of when Tsuki no Hokora disappeared.”

“I see. There’s no mistake if Rionne said so, but..as long as Raizar-dono does not have some problem, she will at least show up for the distribution of the spoils of war several days later, because if Raizar-dono is healthy, it should spread to the many countries.”

Even if Tsuki no Hokora disappeared, if Schnee Raizar was alive and well, it should not become a lethal problem. The important one was not the building, but the person who lived there.

“Tell Rionne that when Raizar-dono appears, she is to report it with Mind Chat immediately. That’s an order!”

“Roger!”

He passed on an order to one of the soldiers who was standing guard, and left. There were a few of the old generation who served the king, and every one of them was currently in the midst of gathering information by Mind Chat. Jeon had to change his plan, as there was no other way, even though it put a strain on his information network.

And then, because the disappearance of Tsuki no Hokora had never happened before, he ordered an investigation.

~~

Let’s rewind back the time a little to the previous day.

While Shin and the others who left the kingdom were jolted about in a wagon, they confirmed each other’s hands. They confirmed what they were able to do and what they couldn’t do, because it might cause a delay in judgement in the case of an emergency. It was mainly confirming each others job and rank, also whether having the ability to use magic or not. The level and way of fighting could be understood roughly with this. Since there was the danger of revealing level and trump cards during the first meeting, it might be concealed somehow or another.

“As you can see, I am a samurai. Adventurer rank is A. I can use charms to some extent, but I don’t not want to rely on it very much.” (Note: Gaien uses “sessha” to refer to himself)

It was Gaien who gave information about himself first. It seemed he was an A-rank adventurer after all. His equipment itself was unrelated to his job. So when he said “As you can see” with his current state of not wearing a kimono, no one could have guessed it without 【Analyze】. Samurai was a vanguard job, it was natural that they didn’t use much magic as they didn’t get an occupation bonus for that. As for expecting a proper magic attack, the rear guard jobs that get an occupation bonus (in INT/WIS) commonly used those.

“I am a fist fighter. Rank is E. I can use a little support magic to raise agility.”

The next one who opened her mouth was Tsubaki. Her level seemed to be befitting of a rank D, but it appeared that she had only newly joined the guild. Incidentally, he was told that she was going to be rank D very soon.

“I am more or less an alchemist, but I can use a bow and dagger..if I have to.. I just registered to become an adventurer, so my rank is G. I can use water and wind magic arts and create simple recovery medicines, if necessary, please call out to me..”

Tiera, who almost spoke in formal lines, did so partly because it was their first meeting. Though it was a great difference from when she met Shin in Tsuki no Hokora for the first time.

It was Gaien who suggested first to speak casually, so they didn’t have to pay attention to their wording. Since they had to entrust their lives to each other, and there was no objections, which lead to the present.

Even though she was worried about having a low-level and rank, her recovery medicine was reassuring, Gaien and Tsubaki encouraged Tiera who was feeling a little small.

In reality, it was very difficult to consume a potion during a battle. Though the story was different when there are a lot of people, there were many situations where there was only a little bit of time when hunting a dangerous monster. For the few adventurers who fight regularly, having an ally who could cast recovery magic could make a big difference in the survival rate.

“I am similar to Gaien, a samurai. Rank E. I can use a little fire and lightning magic. And this is Yuzuha. Even though it might appear this way, this is an excellent monster.”

Shin told them about himself and Yuzuha. Including Tiera, he didn’t forget to inform them that they did a guarding-type job for the first time, too. This was because experience could be the factor which makes the difference between life or death. He was not asked for his level this time, but if he was, he ought to pretend that it was low. Because he didn’t know what surprise it would cause, if he carelessly said that his level exceeded 200. When one thinks of Shin’s age, it was indeed too abnormal.

Just in case, he had already arranged beforehand to tell the same story as Tiera. Of course, he had already forbidden Celica, who knew the circumstances, from speaking about it, too.

For Yuzuha, he talked about it being contracted by the tamer contract, and informed them that there was no danger.

“Oh, you can use magic while being a samurai, huh? I didn’t hear about it in detail, but it seemed that doing so requires extraordinary training. It is also unusual to have tamed a monster.”

“Well, that’s that. I’d be troubled if you expect me to be at the magician level. I only use it for diversions and surprise attacks to a certain degree. Yuzuha, by the way, is unexpectedly strong, right?”

“Kuu!”

Although these diversions were a far cry from the instant kills he could produce if he was serious, it seemed to be moderate for a rank E.

Since for a vanguard to use magic was enough, Gaien and Tsubaki should not have high expectations, like magician level, either.

“Are you people coming from Hinomoto?”

“We’re not, but why do you think so?”

“Almost all people from Hinomoto are samurais. This is the first time that I’ve met a samurai other than Gaien.”

Shin looked puzzled at Tsubaki’s question, but understood it after hearing the reason. Even though Shin had also collected information via the 【Analyze】 and【Listen】skills, finding a person who had the samurai job was nearly impossible. That was probably why Tsubaki said that it was unusual. But, it didn’t mean that Shin had never seen one. When he was walking toward the guild for the first time, the Dragnil he saw wearing a long sword at his waist was actually Gaien.

“Usually it is a warrior or knight one sees in this country. And then there is the job specialization. A lot of the people who are aiming to be a samurai are oddballs.”

“Oddballs!? That’s absurd.. because it is a job that is excellent for raids..”

In a basic strategy, it is a hit and run job that deals out a heavy blow while playing around with speed, but the samurai could also tank if equipped with warrior armor.

The job that was popular in the game era regardless of generation seems to be different in this world.

“That is probably because the prerequisite is the necessity to master both the knight and berserker jobs.”

“Ah.. I see.”

Shin consented to Gaien after hearing the reason.

In the game specification, one needed to have two jobs, knight and berserker, to become a samurai. The requirements seemed to be identical in this world.

On one hand, a knight put emphasis on defence, and on the other hand, a berserker put emphasis on attack. Mastering two contradicting jobs was the reason that samurai were known to be able fight versatile. That was the reason a samurai was easy to use. Although there was high compensation, Tsubaki seemingly found it difficult to understand somehow or other.

“I understand it, but to put it bluntly, it’s strong?”

“I agree on that point, but it’s strange after all.”

Then Gaien interrupted the conversing Tsubaki and Shin.

“Either way, it’s the difference in cultures. Hinomoto is an island country that was formed by a natural disaster. There are some bases of the guild where people with jobs like samurai and shinobi gathered at that time. Those people played a key role and made it possible for the country to be established. For that reason, the people who now use their body to fight for Hinomoto have a strong admiration for samurai. The country is regarded as a curiosity, even though it is quite small compared to the countries on the continent, so only a few people come near it. I, personally, was often puzzled in various ways after I left the island.”

The guild that Gaien talked about appeared to be different from the current adventurers’ guild. Hearing the story, it seemed to be the one from the game age.

Shin felt like it was too good to be true when he heard about an island country filled with samurai.

“By the way, what are the names of the guilds that founded the country?”

“Hmm, what is generally known as their pursuit of natural beauty, the ‘Dark Child Shrine’.”

“H-Heh, it that so?”

Shin showed understanding with an ‘I see’, without putting it into words.

The guild that Gaien mentioned, with a Japanese style name, represented by samurai and shinobi, was formed by people who liked the Japanese clothes, such as the shrine maiden clothing. In that guild, the samurai, shinobi, and miko(shrine maiden), ordered sequentially by the highest number, were competing for power. The guild house was a castle, needless to say a Shinto shrine, and consisted of many eccentric players. Because the armed forces that protected the guild house consisted of only support characters, they might have been able to repel monsters even if the players disappeared. Shin thought that if they cooperated, they should have the ability to govern a small country.

“In addition, there seemed to be some small guilds, too, but I don’t remember it well.”

“I understand it well, thank you.”

He didn’t know that the country had originally been a guild in the game era. Possibly, there might be a lot of surprises there.

~~

They exchanged various information while being jolted around in the wagon for a few days. The party advanced smoothly without being attacked by monsters, and because it was a Grimm horse, a demon beast, that pulled the wagon, their speed was twice as fast as normal. By the way, this Grimm horse was the one that Shin saw at the gate, when he had visited Bayreuth for the first time. The Tamer, who he caught a glimpse of when entering the gate at that time, was Nack who was doing this request. A merchant with the sub-job Tamer could pull a wagon in the same way as players did in the game era.

Shin and the others decided to take turns watching the surrounding, and those who could take the position of coachman took over for Nack alternately as they continued traveling.

It was when Nack had just taken his turn to be the coachman that the sign for enemies was displayed in Shin’s perception range.

“Something is coming. And it’s fast.”

“What? Tell me in detail.”

“There are 12 bodies ahead. Judging from the number and speed, it might be a wolf pack, but..”

Though Shin knew the full details, he simply told them some speculation, because it would be troublesome if he told them too much.

“That alone is plenty of notice. You guys! It’s time to work!”

When Nack heard about the situation from Shin, he immediately raised his loud voice, before Shin had finished talking. As expected from a former adventurer, his courage resounded through the air. It was so loud that if a person was asleep, they would jump up to their feet. However, his words sounded more like that of a bandit than a merchant.

When his voice rose, Gaien and Tsubaki were already finished preparing. Tiera too was holding her bow, and confirming the quiver position. Apparently Gaien had also perceived the signs.

“It’s a wolf group as Shin said. I’m worried about there being no movement from the 2 animals at the rear, but first, let’s take care of the 10 animals in the lead.”

“I’m thinking the same thing. If they are willing to approach a Grimm horse pulling a wagon, then I know that they are not ordinary beasts.”

Shin, who heard Gaien and Nack exchange opinions, looked at the monsters’ details that were coming up.

The monsters’ name was Jag Wolf. It was twice as big as a normal wolf, an extremely aggressive monster. Their movement speed was in a different league compared to ordinary wolves. Ten of them were coming toward Shin and the others. Their average level was around 100, with one of them at level 120. This one was probably the leader of the pack. As for the two that were staying behind, their level didn’t even reach level 10. They might have been left behind because of the danger.

3 out of 10 Jag Wolves went ahead of the pack. The rest of them divided into two to go to the right and left, scattering between the trees successively, while the leading three, including the leader, were getting closer approaching.

The road where the wagon was on right now was caught within in the forest. They seemed to intend to perform a surprise attack using the forest as cover. Gaien appeared to grasp the position of the approaching enemy, immediately deciding the arrangement without Shin having to suggest it.

“Split into the left and right. I will hold the front. Shin to the right, Tsubaki to the left. Tiera, give support from the top of the wagon. Nack-dono, stay near the horse. I think it won’t go wild if a tamer is nearby.”

“There’s no turning back in this situation. Come on!!”

Nack stopped the wagon at a relatively wide section, and each of them was given a position to hold. Yuzuha stayed beside the Grimm horse, just in case.

“Here we go!!”

Gaien’s shout was the signal as the three leading wolves showed movement. The center one sprang forward from the front and the remaining two went to his left and right.

Gaien, with a longsword in his right hand and the sheath in his left, charged to the front.

“Nuun!!”

Something like a light blue aura covered Gaien’s body as the Jag Wolf approached, flicking away the large beast.

Delayed with a short pause, the other two Jag Wolves approached. Without Gaien panicking, he sliced at the jaw of the beast on the right by brandishing a large swing and jumped to his left, where the one on that side received a hit on its mouth and thereby silenced.

The remaining Jag Wolf, which had been pushed off, saw its companions get defeated in an instant, and was disheartened.

“Mu, it’s somewhat easy.”

He scowled at the lightness of the resistance, but he didn’t need to go all out if the opponent was weak, so Gaien concentrated his attention on the approaching leader.

“As expected. By the way, there are some coming here, too.”

“The left side is quick. Do you see it from above?”

To Shin’s warning, which perceived the Jag Wolf approaching from the forest, Tsubaki answered and asked Tiera.

“I caught it!”

Tiera was already aiming at the fastest one and shot the arrow into the forest.

A howl of pain was heard from the point that the arrow landed at, and one of the markers displayed on Shin’s map disappeared.

“Did you actually kill it?”

As Tiera was relieved, Tsubaki voiced some admiration.

“I did.”

Shin thought she couldn’t kill it in one shot when he thought about the level differences, but the Jag Wolf seemed to have run out of energy unexpectedly. It might have hit a vital point.

Was it because they received an unexpected counterattack on the left side? The Jag Wolves turned back to where the leader was.

“It went back, huh? Tsubaki, please go support Gaien. Tiera and I are enough to hold this position.”

“I understand.”

As Tsubaki moved according to Shin’s instruction, a Jag Wolf jumped out from the forest on the right. The claw attack of the Jag Wolf passed through next to Shin, and moved toward where Nack was. The attack towards Shin appeared to have been a feint.

But, it was too careless to have thought that it was able to outwit Shin to that degree.

Shin twisted his body to dodge the Jag wolf’s claw and at the same time, pulled out a katana to parry. The one he pulled out from the scabbard hanging at his waist was the longsword katana which he had forged in Tsuki no Hokora before. A single attack from a sword that was at a similar level to an average Magic Sword; it traced a white line in the air and the Jag Wolf’s neck was cut into two.

As the body fell over, Shin thought that his physical ability rose proportional to his kinetic vision, but he only had time to observe the Jag Wolf. And then he felt that something was wrong.

While thinking about the source of that uncomfortable feeling, Shin perceived another Jag Wolf approaching. The Jag Wolf probably didn’t want to waste an ally’s sacrifice, as its fangs were already out when Shin turned his eyes. It was at a close enough of a distance for Shin to quickly counterattack with his sword.

But an arrow pierced the forehead of the Jag Wolf before he could swing the katana. Seeing the wolf receive a mortal wound, Shin dodged with a sway as the Jag Wolf fell past him due to the momentum from its leap, and then he turned toward Tiera.

“Nice follow-up!”

“It’s not nice, geez.”

Tiera, who shot the arrow, breathed out as she was relieved, and nocked the next arrow.

Instant sniping was quite a sight to behold. No matter how one looked at it, that was not a move a newly fledged adventurer should know. Schnee training her was really not just for show.

“If you can do that kind of movement, you would have no problem at rank E. Go cover the other side quickly!”

“Tsubaki also said something similar. Well, I got it.”

They shifted their attention forward as Gaien and Tsubaki fought against five of the wolves, including the leader. Did Tsubaki use magic to raise her agility, as she mentioned earlier? Her body was enveloped with a thin white aura while she was trifling with the Jag Wolves.

“Haa!!”

One of the wolves was unable to keep up with her pace and received a direct hit from her fist and vanished.

Tsubaki’s radiant blunt gauntlet sunk into its body, and it was thrown off at the tree while bending back and forth, without moving. It was a scene that would make one question where that power came from, with such a thin arm.

Tsubaki’s level was 133. There was nearly a 30 level difference compared to the Jag Wolf; even so, she gave off a feeling of power.

“This is strange. These fellows’ movements are rather slow.”

“Agreed. Their reactions are pretty mild.”

Tsubaki and Gaien

While Gaien muttered that while throwing an enemy down into the ground, Tsubaki also agreed. Apparently everyone seemed to have felt that something was wrong.

Shin joined in and it became 3 against the remaining 3 members of the pack, including the leader. They didn’t show any behavior of turning their backs at all. Normally, they should have already tried to run away.

“Hey, don’t these fellows look a bit thin?”

Shin said as he noticed it when the other two people spoke of a sense of incongruity. The Jag Wolf appeared to show its ribs if one looked closely, even the leader as well.

“It’s like the demon essence affected these monsters somehow or another. They probably aimed for the Grimm horse because of its meat and demon essence. That certainly explains the lack of resistance I felt a while ago.”

Gaien nodded when he understood it, without dropping his guard against the Jag Wolf.

There were monsters that were born from the demon essence’s influence, and wild beasts that became monsters due to the demon essence. The former could live on demon essence alone, but the latter was different. They had to eat meat and could not just absorb demon essence to maintain their bodies. The majority of these latter types often attacked people and domestic animals, but it didn’t get much public attention, because the former have such a strong demon essence. Gaien explained the situation on the way. As for Shin, since he didn’t remember in detail how the monsters spawned during the game, he memorized it for future reference.

“It is prepared for death as there’s nowhere for it to go.”

Tsubaki said it plainly. Even for the monsters in this world, they had to be strong to exist. Before the rule of the survival of the fittest, all living things were equal. There was no line dividing the humans and monsters here.

It must be remembered that Shin’s and the others’ request was to guard the wagon. If it ran away, they would not chase after the wolf, but they could not help but kill it if it continued to attack.

The choices left for the Jag Wolves was either to die starving or to die fighting.

“We are also risking our life for this. Shin, it’s useless to hold back.”

“I understand.”

Shin answered him briefly, as this was not the first time he fought a monster to live.

However, he had never met such a desperate opponent prior to this time.

(The resolution is different from the previous guys. Though that’s the only difference, it couldn’t have done that so easily.)

It was not about challenging a strong opponent, nor the hunt or fight.

It fought to live.

To the extent that the pressure they received was remarkably different.

(Moreover, the two of them that are behind it are still pups.)

The two that were approaching little by little were still children with the shapes of puppies.

Was it because he was a Japanese person, that his blade was getting blunt?

“I will kill the leader. Tsubaki on the right, Shin on the left.”

“Understood.”

“Roger that.”

“Then..let’s go!!”

The timing was matched to each other.

Tsubaki and Shin were the first to begin.

Tsubaki stepped into the fight with her aura continuing as it was. Judging from the Jag Wolf’s point of view, it felt like there was a chance of being cut down if it blinked. To the opponent, which froze by reflex, Tsubaki swung down her fist without mercy.

The Jag Wolf slammed into the ground with a cracking sound, and then twitched a few times before it stopped moving.

Shin also took a stance and raising his sword above his head, stepped in with a speed superior to Tsubaki’s. The katana swung down as he stepped forward. The Jag Wolf didn’t move. No, it was not possible for it to move.

At the same time as the arc in the air disappeared, its body slipped diagonally. The eyes of the Jag Wolf blinked a few times as it turned toward Shin. It might not even have noticed the cut.

“Then after you.”

“Umu, agreed.”

Gaien stepped forward between Shin and Tsubaki. The reason why the leader didn’t attack Shin and Tsubaki was because Gaien had overpowered it.

There was no longer a chance of winning. Still, the Jag Wolf leader didn’t back down. It raised a short howl and put its strength into its limb. Its intention to live was straightforward. Even if he thought it was hopeless, Shin felt a sense of respect for that figure.

The leader exerted its power for a few seconds. In its last dash, it squeezed out all of its strength, aiming at Gaien. The speed was as expected from the alpha of a pack; powerful.

“Magnificent.”

It was Gaien who spoke words of praise. He prepared his longsword while facing the oncoming leader.

For the leader, which was approaching straight, Gaien moved calmly. The figure of Gaien wavering, with his feet side-stepping.

The moment of their clash. In the next moment, along with Gaien’s swung down sword, there was the figure of the leader split in two.

While waving the blood off of his blade, Gaien turned his eyes toward the last, small Jag Wolves ahead.

“What should we do?”

How would a person of this world make such a decision at this time. To find out the answer to that question, Shin called out to Gaien.

“I will kill them if they attack, but I won’t give chase if they decide to leave. Our work is to guard, not to hunt monsters. In any case, I don’t know whether it’s possible for those two children to survive on their own.”

In case they survived, they might get attacked by someone else. However, that was for another story. If they appeared outside a village in this world, it was a common sense to employ a bodyguard or to learn some self-defense. They might get attacked by other monsters or even by bandits in either case. Even if they killed the Jag Wolf children here, the possibility of someone else attacking the wagon, as well as themselves, didn’t decrease.

The children might have understood that their parents had died. They disappeared into the forest to escape.

“Somehow, it leaves a bad aftertaste in the mouth.”

“It was different from a fight against common monsters, huh.”

Shin nodded to Tiera’s words.

“I share your sympathy. I’ve never experienced such a fight before.”

Gaien consented.

“But it’s not good to mind it too much either.”

What Tsubaki said was right; if they worried about it too much and thereby let it dull their blades, a companion might be sacrificed next. They had to be practical.

“Is it over? Then let’s hurry up and leave.”

Nack, who was near the Grimm horse, called out to the four people. As expected from an elderly former adventurer, he changed gears quickly. He was not shaken to see the scene from a little while ago either.

“Still, for them not to eat to get thinner, there must be something in the forest, right?”

Gaien then answered Shin’s question.

“Well, there’s nothing I can add. Jag Wolves are smart monsters. It’s hard to think that they failed at hunting until they reached such a condition.”

“Even if the food supply diminished?”

“These guys also eat goblins. It unreasonable to think that the goblins were swept away, right?”

“I agree. If one of them was found, 30 of them would come out.”

Tsubaki said it in a way that was like saying a G* was lurking in the house. After all, the goblins’ reproductive power didn’t seem to have changed, just like in the game era. (Note: G = cockroaches, ‘cause Goblins are like cockroaches)

“I heard a story that said Skull Faces were appearing in large numbers in the Wraith Plains. Wouldn’t that have an influence?”

When Tsubaki said that, Shin opened his mouth as he suddenly remembered.

“Ah, that re-->>

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