When I opened the door, a rain-soaked merchant stood there, his face urgent.
Before I could even open my mouth, he shouted.
"The village is... I think it's being attacked!"
"What? What did you say?"
Sairun, Valdik, and I all opened our eyes at the same time.
His eyes were wide as he continued.
"I heard screams from downstairs just now, so I went down, and some strange monster had broken in! Fortunately, we managed to take it down together, but... one of the villagers and my servant were injured."
"...A villager?"
When I asked again, he quickly nodded.
"Yes. A man covered in blood ran into the inn. The moment he came in, a monster chased in after him... We barely managed to stop it. He's downstairs now, in the dining hall."
He pointed behind him with a trembling hand.
"The innkeeper dragged him in through the door and was treating him... I didn't get the details either. But according to that man, the village was attacked. I don't know if it's true, but... something feels terribly wrong."
Valdik kicked off his blanket and sprang to his feet.
"...He doesn't look like the type to lie about something like this."
I nodded.
This was definitely not an ordinary situation.
"Damn it... What the hell is this chaos in the middle of the night?"
Valdik muttered as he began looking for his weapon.
Sairun also kicked off his blanket and got up, grabbing his quiver.
"Let's go downstairs first."
"Yes!"
"Ah, and—"
The merchant stood at the threshold, caught his breath for a moment, then spoke cautiously.
"Is there anyone who has healing methods or medical knowledge?"
At those words, the three of us turned almost simultaneously to look at Valdik.
Sairun snickered and gave him a look, while I shrugged.
"Well, you can handle basic treatment, can't you?"
Valdik frowned slightly, uncrossed his arms, and grumbled.
"What, am I a doctor? Why does everyone look at me only at times like this?"
Even at that, we gave no reply and merely nodded, and in the end, Valdik clicked his tongue lightly and nodded to the merchant.
Receiving that look, the merchant immediately lowered himself and spoke urgently.
"Ah, thank you very much. The wounds aren't severe, but there's quite a bit of bleeding."
"Got it. Let's look at their condition first and talk after."
We hurriedly gathered our weapons and stepped out into the corridor.
A damp, wet floor. Candlelight trembling uneasily.
Behind me, Sairun muttered, "Is it really an attack?" while Valdik, dagger already drawn, was heading toward the stairs.
When we descended to the first floor, the scene before us was clearly different from yesterday.
The inn's door was tightly shut, and long tables and chairs had been pushed in front of it to block it.
A hastily made barricade. Crude, but steeped in desperation.
The legs of the old tables creaked as they held on with difficulty, and wet coats and buckets were messily piled on top of them.
In one corner, someone was sitting at one of the few tables still left, wrapping a bandage.
It was the merchant's servant whom I had seen yesterday.
Surprisingly, his hands moved smoothly.
There was familiarity in the way he tied the bandage. As expected, he likely wasn't just a mere servant.
Valdik quietly approached, examined his arm, then placed his hand on it and infused it with divine power.
White light rose softly and spread over the wound.
At the sight, the merchant and the servant both widened their eyes.
"With this much, the wound shouldn't fester."
Once the bleeding had stopped, the servant silently bowed his head.
He nodded over and over again, conveying his gratitude.
Across the empty inn floor were long streaks of blood and traces of battle.
And at the end of those bloodstains, in the corner inside the barricade, a bizarre form lay crumpled.
A mass of flesh stained black. It was already dead, but from its shape alone, one could roughly guess what it had looked like in life.
The form was close to a four-legged beast, but overall it was crudely shaped with flaccid, muscular flesh, and it had as many as four eyeballs.
'...That must be the monster he mentioned earlier.'
It was hard to see it as a creature born naturally.
Though it had been caught and killed, a feeling that we could not let our guard down washed over me.
It was not merely a monster; it strongly gave off the sense that it had been artificially made somehow.
Deeper inside, near the kitchen corner, the innkeeper was examining something.
In front of him, a man covered in blood was leaning against the wall, gasping for breath.
"Here, were there more bandages... Damn it, these bastards really—"
"What happened?"
When I approached, the innkeeper lifted his head.
"You lot—this fellow ran in while escaping. Hear the details directly from him."
At those words, the blood-covered man barely raised his head.
The area beneath his eyes was red and swollen, and dried streaks of blood covered the corners of his mouth.
"...I was moving cargo. But... then, all of a sudden... people started screaming... and something strange came out. It doesn't make sense. It was like a horned beast... but it walked on two legs, and its eyes... they weren't human."
"How many—"
"I don't know. Of the ones who were with me... only I... kuh, got out."
The man's hands were trembling violently.
His breathing still carried a metallic smell, as if blood and rain were mixed together in it.
"Th-they aren't just beasts. They were definitely targeting people. Even when I was running... it felt like they were deliberately blocking the path..."
I looked around.
Everyone inside the inn was watching him in silence.
Amid that strangely quiet atmosphere, only the sound of raindrops struck the roof.
"...Damn it."
Sairun cursed under his breath.
It was an ominous night, and this village did not seem likely to promise us any ordinary sleep.
'...This won't do. I should at least check first.'
Without a word, I gripped my staff.
The moisture I could feel from the damp wooden floor.
In the trembling air, raindrops continued to fall, tap, tap, in an unforgettable rhythm.
'At this distance, I should be able to sense it.'
I quietly closed my eyes.
[Blue Eye]
A cold energy spread beyond my retinas.
It was as though I had opened my eyes, and the world had been dyed the color of water; neither darkness nor walls nor the solid wooden door served as any obstacle to my sight.
Instead, it was a transparent world where only "moisture" could be sensed.
The first things I saw were the people inside the inn.
Moderately damp skin, bodily fluids flowing at a steady rhythm.
That uniquely soft ripple told me they were human.
But outside was different.
'...What is that?'
Beyond the tables blocking the door.
Along the streaks of rain, small traces of moisture were distorted into broken trajectories.
It was a mass similar to a person, but its texture was different.
As if... something were moving by force, a lump of water continuing an unnatural pulse.
'Is that... the monster?'
The monster was standing still outside the door.
Like a hunter peering inside, watching for an opening.
And within the range I could sense, there were a total of four similar forms.
This was not a simple threat.
It truly was a situation worthy of being called an attack.
'...Still, there are people alive.'
Fortunately, there were still a few signs of life inside buildings, in distant rooms or somewhere beneath roofs.
Unstable, but still continuing flows of life.
Keeping my mouth shut, I quietly dispelled Blue Eye and closed my eyes.
The senses that had been dyed the color of water returned to reality, slowly cooling.
"...One. It's right outside."
At the words I muttered low while clutching my head against the dizziness, everyone's eyes focused on me.
"It's just beyond the door. It's holding its breath and standing there... It is definitely not human."
Silence flowed.
Those aside from my companions looked at me suspiciously, but soon, when they saw the faint blue afterglow lingering in my eyes, they swallowed quietly.
Sairun wiped away cold sweat and muttered in a low voice.
"Damn it, it was already here."
Valdik silently and slowly placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"There are no others nearby. At least, not right now. Just one. Very quietly, crouched in front of the door. Its movement is... almost nonexistent."
At my words, the air in the room sank heavily.
Everyone seemed to be wondering how I knew such a thing, but seeing the attitude of my companions, they seemed to decide to believe me for the time being.
Then, the innkeeper let out a long sigh and opened his mouth.
"Is it watching us...?"
I nodded.
"If we open the door, it'll come in immediately. It's not a simple beast. It's waiting for an opportunity."
At that moment, the air inside the inn tightened with tension.
"Damn it. So it really wasn't just an ordinary beast."
Valdik spat the words low and glanced toward the barricade.
Outside the window, the rain still poured down, and beyond the darkness, a watery silhouette swayed irregularly.
In the afterimage of Blue Eye, it existed dimly, yet clearly.
"What do we do, then? Are we supposed to stay trapped inside forever?"
Sairun asked, looking around with visible discomfort.
No matter how armed we were, this cramped inn was an unfavorable structure for battle.
On top of that, the number of people who could truly be called combatants could be counted on one hand.
"...Is this all the personnel we have?"
I was certain there had been a few more guests staying here as recently as dinner earlier.
At my question, the innkeeper needlessly stuck his head out belatedly, then answered quietly while gauging our reactions.
"...A few bastards ran away. As soon as the commotion started, they packed their things and bolted without a word."
Sairun and Valdik frowned at the same time.
In other words, only the ones who hadn't woken up from the disturbance were left here.
Ultimately, the only people in here who could fight were us.
I glanced at the bandage wrapped around the servant's arm.
Judging from the blood spreading through the bandage, not yet dried, it was certainly a trace of a fight that had happened only moments ago.
I did not know how skilled he was, but he had surely cut down a monster.
And that fact meant that, at the very least, "that thing" was not a monster that couldn't be dealt with.
"There are three more on the outskirts."
"Three more...?"
"The problem is that that isn't all of them. If more keep coming after we kill one, it's over."
Without a word, I walked toward the barricade and listened closely.
Between the sounds of rain, I could hear an irregular sound from somewhere.
A sound of water dripping, drop by drop, caught on some alien "something" subtly off from the steady rhythm.
...What I had seen with Blue Eye was not wrong.
Then, the innkeeper cautiously spoke.
"...Wouldn't it be best to wait inside until other people come?"
His words were full of anxiety.
Hoping someone would come to rescue us.
But considering this was an isolated, remote village, that was nothing more than a hope-tinged suggestion.
I shook my head.
"Even if we wait, there's no guarantee anyone will come."
"Then, are you seriously saying we should go outside?"
Sairun asked as if he found it absurd, but at those words, I nodded clearly.
"At the very least, we need to confirm where they're coming from. If we stay holed up inside like this, they'll eventually push their way in."
"...Ha."
Valdik let out a short sigh.
Then he turned his eyes and looked at the servant sitting leaned against the wall.
"You there. You said you fought one. How strong was it?"
"..."
If he had encountered one directly, he should have been able to estimate that much.
But the servant showed no reaction.
His lips pressed tightly together, he merely stared at Valdik.
"What, are your ears plugged? Why aren't you answering?"
Just as Valdik was about to get angry, the merchant hurriedly cut in.
"J-just a moment! That fellow... seems to still be in great shock. He isn't in a state where he can speak properly."
Valdik glared at the merchant.
His hand made a worried gesture as if shielding the servant, but his eyes were looking elsewhere. Something about it felt fishy.
For someone in shock, the servant was far too quiet and composed.
'He's definitely hiding something... but it probably isn't important right now.'
Perhaps Valdik had thought something similar, because he clicked his tongue briefly and turned his head.
"Then, in the end, it seems like we're the only ones who can go out... Do we go right now?"
Sairun said cautiously.
"Hmm. Wouldn't it be better to watch the situation a bit longer for now?"
Valdik muttered, rubbing his chin.
"No. If we only sit still here, we'll be driven further into a corner. It would be better to at least take down that monster first and then—"
Thud!
Clatter!
No sooner had the words left my mouth than the barricade shook violently.
The makeshift tables and chairs twisted, clattering with metallic sounds.
It was clearly a reaction to force being applied from outside.
I immediately opened my Azure Eye.
A cold sensation wrapped around my vision, and the scene beyond the door emerged in watery outlines.
Beyond the dark-blue sight, monsters were slamming their shoulders against the door.
‘Three…?’
There had definitely been only one at first.
At some point, two more had joined it in front of the door.
“Damn it, what’s going on!?”
“Two more showed up!”
“…Two more?”
The air inside the inn grew heavy in an instant.
The faces of those who had seen the monster in person all stiffened, and unmistakable fear flickered in their eyes.
“W-what do we do? If we go out through the windows now—”
“What kind of bullshit is that!”
Baldik cut him off firmly.
“Cramped or not, we need to fight somewhere we can use the structure like this! If we go outside, do you have any guarantee we’ll all make it out alive?”
“Of course I don’t. But are you saying we should face those monsters head-on?”
The merchant’s face already seemed filled with thoughts of escape rather than battle.
Those were the eyes of a man calculating who could run away first.
One glance was enough to tell me—yeah, he really was a merchant.
But on our side, we were at least people who had gone through combat in our own ways, something close to veterans.
For now, the option of “trying to fight” existed.
“W-wouldn’t it be better to run away?”
“…”
Ah, right. Sa-illeon was here.
Why the hell was that guy even working as a mercenary?
No one even pretended to listen to Sa-illeon’s opinion in the first place.
Tacitly, all at once, we began preparing for battle.
We flipped over the nearest tables to make a makeshift barrier, and I drew in a deep breath, starting to raise my mana.
The air changed subtly.
Instead of screams, only the feeling of an imminent collision filled the room.
The merchant, watching us take the battle seriously, seemed to be agonizing over whether to run or not.
If he wanted to run, let him.
For us, it would actually be helpful if the aggro was split.
Then, at that moment, the barricade began shaking more and more violently.
Kwaaang!
With an ear-splitting, heavy crash, the entire barricade warped violently.
Wet coats and chairs went flying in every direction, and one leg of the creaking old table snapped clean off.
“They’re coming in!!”
Baldik shouted and charged forward, and I immediately condensed my mana and drew up a spell.
Through the now-empty doorway, black shapes came howling in.
Woof! Woof woof!
A grotesque form, as though a beast’s upper body had been attached to human legs.
Two pairs of eyes, dark and black with no whites to be seen.
And the most striking thing of all was the horns that had grown awkwardly from their heads.
Curled inward like a ram’s horns, they added a strange sense of completion to that deformed appearance.
What should I call them?
Neither human nor beast, but an artificial combination with an alien sense of wrongness.
Only one word came to mind.
‘Chimaera!’
Yes. These were chimaeras.