The march that began immediately after roll call continued until the sun climbed to its zenith.
Mixed in with the drawn-out column of soldiers, Rena scanned Ashen's figure out of the corner of her eye.
'He seems different somehow?'
If she had to pinpoint it, she couldn't say exactly what had changed.
'If I had to be specific, has his atmosphere changed?'
The Ashen from right before they left had felt like a younger brother who needed looking after.
She had always taken care of him because of that, but now, for some reason, it felt like she shouldn't do that anymore.
'It feels exactly like a childhood friend returning as a werewolf.'
Surely he hadn't actually come back as a monster, right?
At an absurd thought even by her own standards, Rena let out a snorting laugh.
A monster? That Ashen would never do something like that.
'Still, I should at least talk to him.'
Naturally squeezing between the soldiers, Rena headed to Ashen's immediate side.
Whether he hadn't noticed yet, or was pretending not to notice.
Ashen kept his gaze fixed solely on the front, not on her.
To tease him, Rena poked him in the side.
"Hey, Ashen. Don't you have anything to say to noona?"
"Ah, Senior Rena. Thank you for what you did during roll call."
"Not that. Well, that was important too, though."
Honestly, she didn't want to deal with the Captain if she could help it.
Setting aside his uniquely arrogant and insolent attitude, he would stare at her with lecherous eyes whenever he had the chance.
Just thinking about those moments gave her goosebumps.
Perhaps unaware that Rena was thinking such thoughts, Ashen calmly continued speaking.
"Then what is it?"
"Did you finish that important matter? You said you had something important to do before we left."
"Ah, of course. It's worth looking forward to."
"What expectation?"
"That is... I think you'll be able to see for yourself very soon."
"Huh? What do you mean..."
Her doubts about Ashen's suddenly changed attitude lasted only a moment. Rena's expression stiffened at the fetid stench swirling at the tip of her nose.
A body odor clearly different from a beast's, one that made her feel like vomiting immediately.
There was only one type of creature that emitted this.
'Goblins!'
Shifting the bow on her back into her grip, Rena immediately shouted toward the Captain.
"Monsters spotted in the bushes to the left rear!"
"All hands, battle stations!"
At the Captain's shout in response to Rena's voice, the soldiers quickly formed a battle formation.
With shield-bearing soldiers at the fore, spear blades poised between them.
All of it, mixed with the soldiers' gazes, was directed toward the bushes Rena had indicated.
After about the time it took to draw a single breath.
Small creatures leaped out from the forest all at once.
"Goblins!"
Along with a soldier's shout, the goblins at the front rammed their bodies against the shields.
They weighed no more than a child of seven, but a monster was a monster. The shields forming the formation were seen shaking slightly.
'At that level, we can hold.'
Leaving the goblins before her to the soldiers, Rena's golden pupils rapidly swept across the trees near the bushes.
Goblins were intelligent monsters despite their appearance. They would never simply charge.
'Where are they?'
Pulling the bowstring taut so she could fire at any moment, she surveyed the leaves briefly.
Soon she found an area where the foliage was unnaturally thick.
'There!'
The moment she thought it, Rena released the bowstring.
"Kweek!"
A goblin holding a blowgun fell from the tree with a scream. In its hands were a blowgun and poison darts that could have been fired at any moment.
Perhaps startled, the flustered goblins flinched, and several spots in the foliage shook at once.
Rena buried arrows into every shaking leaf.
With this, she wouldn't have to worry about poison darts now.
It was the moment she was lowering her bow in relief.
Boom-!
A fireball crashed into the shields with an explosion.
Fortunately, they maintained the formation, but the soldiers' faces contorted—perhaps unable to block the heat with their shields alone.
'A Goblin Shaman!'
There was a monster like that too?
Quickly scanning the surroundings, her eyes caught a goblin perched atop a rocky hill.
Bone armor covering its entire body and a staff taller than itself.
'There it is!'
She immediately fired back with an arrow, but the distance was considerable, and it failed to pierce the Shaman's bone armor.
'Damn, do I have to climb up there?'
But could she climb up there while dodging all the Goblin Shaman's attacks?
Even with confidence in her footwork, it was an excessively reckless gamble.
As Rena hesitated like that, something suddenly brushed past her side.
A crimson flash followed by an intense explosion.
When Rena looked at the Goblin Shaman, she saw a spear wreathed in red light piercing through its torso.
"That was close."
From beside her, Ashen muttered in a calm voice.
"Y-you threw that?"
"Yes, I threw it."
"How on earth?"
"I just threw it, and it worked?"
"That's not what I mean right now...!"
The moment Rena tried to say something to Ashen, the Captain's horn sounded.
The signal for the end of battle. Once that sounded, veteran soldiers like Rena were obligated to assemble to assess the situation.
Rena clicked her tongue softly and looked straight into Ashen's eyes.
"You have to explain to noona later. Definitely."
"Of course."
"Somehow I don't think so."
Grumbling as if she didn't believe him, Rena withdrew her gaze from him.
However, the corpse of the Goblin Shaman on the hill came into view.
She hadn't noticed earlier because of the urgency, but thinking about it now, she felt a sense of incongruity.
'Why is a Shaman here?'
Shamans usually inhabited only deep forests.
'Something's off.'
Despite the joy of victory, Rena felt only disquiet at the series of problems.
**
After Rena left, some of the soldiers approached me.
They showed interest in me after seeing the spear throw from earlier.
They chattered about something, but I responded lightly while recalling Senior Rena's expression from earlier.
'As expected, did Senior Rena notice?'
Goblin Shamans themselves were rare, so it seemed the others hadn't noticed, but the earlier situation was a bad omen.
A Shaman that should have been in the deep forest had appeared on the outskirts.
There were only two possibilities in a case like this.
Either a higher species than a Goblin Shaman had been born and assigned it a scouting mission.
Or a monster far more powerful than something like a Goblin Shaman had established itself in the forest.
'Should I tell Senior?'
Even if Senior knew, the future wouldn't change.
That human called the Captain was far too egotistical to abandon the mission even knowing the danger ahead.
'But still, if Senior knows, it might become a little easier to protect the soldiers.'
Finishing my deliberation, I immediately approached Senior as she exited the Captain's tent.
"You came out earlier than I expected, Senior Rena."
"Well, yeah. There are wounded, but no fatalities. More importantly, Ashen. Were you thinking of continuing our conversation from earlier?"
"I'll do that later. More importantly, there's something I want to talk about right now."
"What is it?"
I met Senior Rena's golden eyes directly and asked her as calmly as possible.
"Senior, your expression wasn't good earlier. Is there some kind of problem?"
"Huh? Ahh. You were worried about noona because of that? Oh my, how commendable. That's right. There's something a bit unsettling."
"About the Shaman, right?"
"You noticed too?"
A touch of surprise entered Senior Rena's eyes.
"You know I've been studying to become a knight, right?"
"I didn't know you'd know about this though... You're right. As you know, Shamans absolutely,"
"don't reveal themselves in outer regions like this."
"Right. But the fact that this happened is an ominous sign. Either way, it means there's a monster far stronger than a Shaman. So I tried telling the Captain."
"How did it go?"
"How do you think?"
At Senior Rena's deeply furrowed face, I shook my head.
"That bastard. Seems he'll be moving his residence inside the castle if this mission ends properly. That's why he's throwing himself at it so desperately."
"Still, if he knows his life is in danger, wouldn't he change?"
"He wouldn't. He actually got angry at me. Said if things went wrong, was I going to shake my hips in the Baron's bedroom or something."
Hearing what the Captain had said to Senior Rena, my fist clenched involuntarily.
"...That man said that to you?"
Seeing that, Senior Rena let out a sigh and grabbed my arm.
"I'm thankful you're angry for me, but hold it in."
"But..."
"You already got on the Captain's bad side because of the roll call, remember? Don't do anything that'll make him resent you for no reason. That's actually helping noona more."
"...I understand."
When I relaxed my hand, Rena finally showed me a beaming smile.
"We might get lucky and nothing will happen, right? Let's just keep marching."
"Yes, Senior."
But Senior. Nothing will definitely not happen.
I swallowed a sigh inwardly and fell back into line with the soldiers.
By the time the sun had passed its zenith and began dipping toward the west.
We, who had continued marching, reached the heart of the forest.
What awaited us there was a silent forest.
"Why can't I hear any bugs or birds?"
Starting with someone's muttering, anxiety spread among the soldiers.
The surroundings probably seemed strange because of the utter absence of anything.
But in my eyes, which had become able to see life force, the monster's form was clearly visible.
About 100 paces from this spot.
A massive red flame lifted its body.
It must have realized something had invaded its territory.
Soon it rose from its place and slowly approached us.
Thud-.
With each step the creature took, a thunderous rumble echoed out.
The soldiers murmured upon hearing this, but the Captain still said nothing.
He was probably still contemplating whether he had to retreat even at this point.
Unfortunately, it arrived faster than the Captain could make his decision.
The rumble, which had sounded slow, gradually grew faster.
Eventually, the bushes began to shake.
"Everyone, retreat...!"
The moment the Captain, who had finally made his decision, tried to do something.
"Kraaaaah!"
A thunderous roar completely drowned out his words.
Everyone's gazes turned toward the direction the roar came from.
A dark green giant revealed itself, tearing through the dense undergrowth.
Green skin, yellowed teeth. A massive body covered entirely in muscle.
The King of the Forest, Troll-.
It had arrived.