The next day, as soon as the sun rose and it started to get bright, we set off immediately. We started on the last of our portable food we had received initially. We nibbled on it while preparing.
“That’s the end of our seven portable food rations. It’s good we got extras from Nishina and the others.”
“Yes… It would be nice if we could meet up with the people making that smoke today.”
“Yeah. But well, we don’t know if they’ll have extra food to spare, so we might still need to eat our reserves.”
“Hehe, that’s true.”
If we head towards where we saw the smoke yesterday, we might meet people. Just thinking about it makes me want to go right away. However, there are still monsters on the way there. We need to proceed cautiously.
We can’t see the smoke now, but we remember the direction clearly. We should be able to arrive without problems. We’re not sure about the distance, but there’s something that looks like the remains of a town in between. It should serve as a landmark.
We continue along the cracked road. With the downhill path, our pace naturally quickens.
Perhaps because we’re feeling more at ease, there’s something I can’t help but think about as we walk.
It’s Kimijima’s ranking. I’m curious about how much her level has risen again. But I’m afraid to ask. I’ve gone up three ranks to 5 million. Kimijima was at 1.5 million after going up one level. This time, he’ll probably go up by another digit.
Kimijima probably thinks I’ll be in a bad mood, so he doesn’t bring it up. …Maybe it’s best if I, as the adult, ask him. I decide to take a short break and talk to Kimijima.
“Uh, well… Kimijima.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“How’s it going with your level increase? Do you feel any different?”
“Well, I didn’t get tired at all on yesterday’s uphill climb. I think a lot has changed.”
“I see…”
“Yes…”
“…What about… your ranking?”
“…My ranking?”
“Y-Yeah, it’s fun to watch young people climb up rapidly, you know.”
“Come on, don’t talk like an old man.”
“Hm? Well, I suppose I’m an uncle to you guys?”
“…That’s not true.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes, not at all.”
“Huh? Not at all…?”
“It’s… around 300,000…”
“Hm? Oh, right. That’s great, your potential is really growing!”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Y-Yeah…”
That’s right. I was one of the younger teachers at school. Yeah. I’ve even received a decent gift in this world. I should stop treating myself like an old man.
I was overwhelmed by Kimijima’s words before hearing the ranking.
Eventually, the city walls came into view. Though they weren’t as high as the ones that used to surround the farm. As we got closer, we could see that these walls had also been severely damaged.
“Doesn’t look like a city where people live,” I said.
“You’re right,”
However, we could sense some presence of life from inside. We cautiously approached the city, blending into the forest by the roadside.
That’s…
It looked similar to the wart boar monsters we saw in Gallar Blue, but… somewhat sleeker? No horns. Monsters with boar-like faces had formed a settlement and were living there. There seemed to be quite a few of them. They were using abandoned houses for their own living, creating a bizarre landscape.
Beside me, Kimijima held her breath in surprise. Of course she would – monsters using a human-built city to live in. We quietly backed away from this eerie sight.
“This is no good. Let’s go around,”
“Yes…”
Until now, we had mostly encountered lone monsters, with wolf monsters occasionally hunting in packs. That’s why we could sometimes take risks to level up by targeting them.
But with a group this large, it would be impossible. We’d be chased by the entire group if discovered.
Perhaps gathering in such large numbers meant they were weaker compared to other monsters, but their sheer number was undoubtedly a threat.
“Sensei… that smoke we saw earlier… was it from these monsters?” Kimijima asked.
“I don’t know. They seem to have some intelligence, but… whether they can make fire…”
“I see.”
“Don’t give up hope yet.”
“Yes…”
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After seeing so many monsters, we couldn’t help but move more cautiously. We even started to doubt if the smoke we saw earlier was from humans. The two of us walked quietly, hiding among the forest leaves.
The city didn’t seem too large, but from the outside, the outer wall seemed to stretch on for quite a while. We were moving at a distance where we could barely see the wall through gaps in the trees.
Just as we were about to reach the end of the wall, we saw two boar-faced monsters, similar to the ones we saw earlier, limping towards the village. They looked injured all over.
Surprisingly, one of them was carrying a primitive axe-like weapon.
A weapon… They seemed to be a fairly developed tribe. They had said this was originally a world of monsters, so perhaps these were the native inhabitants.
We waited silently until they disappeared behind the wall before starting to walk again.
“So they do… use tools,”
“…Indeed,”
It seemed Kimijima was also concerned about this.
Still, we had no choice but to move forward. Whether there were humans ahead or not. The fact remained that if we followed the road, we would eventually reach human settlements. As we continued walking with our backs to the city, suddenly…
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Wooooo! Wooooo!
The sound of drums and monster roars echoed from the city behind us.
“W-What’s that?!”
We hurriedly ducked down. Kimijima grew leaf-like tents to hide us. Inside the walls, the monsters’ cries and the sound of stomping feet grew even more intense. A group of over ten wart boars rushed out of the city gates, heading in the direction we were going.
Perhaps the two we saw earlier had been attacked by other monsters. The group ran like a mad crowd burning with anger, each shouting something and carrying various weapons.
“Let’s not get involved,”
“Yes… but… what if their opponents are humans?”
“That’s possible. But we’ve come this far. Maybe it’s the army hunting monsters…”
“I hope so…”
Damn it. We really didn’t know what was happening ahead. We decided to move forward, being careful not to be spotted by the monsters.
We didn’t know where the monsters’ opponents were – they could be quite far ahead. The distance between us and the rapidly moving monster group quickly widened, and soon we couldn’t hear their roars anymore.
As we moved on, we started hearing loud booming sounds from ahead. What was happening? Since we were moving through the forest to avoid the road, we couldn’t see far ahead. It was frustrating, but there might be other monsters around. We inched forward cautiously.
After a while, we could hear sounds of conflict in the distance. It sounded like groups fighting each other. The battle seemed intense. Occasionally, there were loud noises accompanied by flashes of red light. Was that magic? As we got closer, it became clear that one side was indeed human. I could hear shouts in a language I understood.
“Focal! The buff’s worn off!”
“Got it!”
“You guys just keep firing magic even if it’s not effective! Don’t stop!”
“Carton! You’re using us as shiel- Argh!”
We finally reached the battle scene. As I thought, humans were fighting monsters. Just as I was about to help, a shocking scene unfolded before us. An unusually large man was swinging a great sword down on another human.
Kimijima and I quickly hid in the bushes. Looking around, it seemed the humans were gaining the upper hand. The monster army that had been so numerous was now greatly reduced. Among them, two men stood out. One was the guy who had just swung his sword at his supposed comrade. This muscular giant, rivaling the monsters in size, was swinging a huge sword and fighting multiple monsters with ease. The other was a hooded mage. Every time he pointed his staff at the monsters, a massive fireball would burn them.
While other warriors were fighting desperately, none could defeat monsters as easily as these two. The others seemed to lack magical power; their desperate attacks could wound the monsters but rarely dealt fatal blows. The mages at the rear were also firing spells frantically, but couldn’t inflict effective damage. That’s probably why the warriors were focused on defense, enduring until the two men could finish off the monsters.
Still… the man’s appearance was disturbing. Maybe it was his race, but he looked more like a bandit than anything else. And we had just witnessed him silently swing his sword at a warrior who had been yelling complaints at him.
The ground was littered with many monster corpses, and quite a few humans too. However, looking closely, only warriors in matching, albeit shabby, armor lay on the ground. The man who was cut down while shouting “using us as shields” also wore the same armor. Those still alive wore mismatched armor like Carton.
…I had a bad feeling about this.
I looked at Kimijima, who returned my gaze with a troubled expression. She also seemed unsure whether these people were good or not.
“These guys… seem dangerous,”
“…Yes,”
Finally, the last monster fell to the giant’s blow. It was incredible how they had defeated so many monsters. We remained still, observing the situation.
Suddenly, the mage turned towards us.
“How long are you going to hide there? I’ll burn you out.”
We had been noticed? Caught off guard, we froze in the bushes, unsure what to do.
“Hey, hey, we’re not that patient. Come out in three seconds. Three!”
As the man shouted, a large fireball appeared in his palm.
“Two!”
This is bad. He’s serious…
“Wait!”
I signaled Kimijima to stay put as I showed my face.
“Where’s the other one?”
Damn. He knew. As I hesitated to answer, there was a rustling sound, and Kimijima came up next to me. The mage’s eyes widened when he saw her.
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