"Good grief, what in the world is going on?"
"If that spreads all the way here, won't we be in trouble?"
"This is no time for talk. Men, let's go fetch water!"
Fortunately, the fire had broken out not inside the village, but a little way outside it.
It was in the completely opposite direction from the shop where Hio was, far enough that they would have to run quite a distance.
"Let's hurry over before the fire reaches the village!"
"Quickly! You there, young Hio, lend us a hand too!"
"Ah, yes."
At Bill the farmer's gesture, Hio found himself following along in confusion, but he could not stop a question from quietly rising in his mind.
'A fire...? All of a sudden?'
This was not modern society, and there were hardly any reasons for a fire that large to break out outside the village.
At most, it would be a case of travelers accidentally starting one... or else.
'A skill user.'
A fire caused by a flame-type skill user like Claire.
But Claire had been with him until just a moment ago.
'I should go see for now.'
Had skill users gotten into a fight with each other?
Or was it truly just a simple accident?
Whatever the case, if the fire grew any larger, it seemed certain it would spread to the village, so they had to go and put it out first.
* * *
"What the hell!"
"There's no one here?"
When he arrived at the scene with the relatively young men from the village, there was no one there.
Only a large fire crackled and burned, slowly growing in size.
"Those damned travelers must have started the fire and run off!"
"Despicable bastards."
"It has to be those rough-looking fellows who came a few days ago!"
There was a fire, but the culprit who had started it was nowhere to be seen, and the villagers were furious.
But if they only stood there raging, the situation would only get worse. They had to move.
"Let's get moving first!"
"Still, it isn't spreading all that fast."
"And the stream isn't too far. Hurry!"
Even as he moved with the village men, Hio was still wrapped in doubt.
There was a fire, but no sign that anyone had made one.
And yet, to say a skill had been used...
'There are no traces of mana.'
Hio's main trait, "Genius of Mana Sensitivity," was a far more excellent trait than he had first thought.
Mana was absolutely necessary to use skills.
Since his trait was top-tier when it came to handling and sensing it, if a skill had been used, he would definitely be able to notice it from the traces of mana left behind.
But there were no traces of mana to be felt here at all.
That meant it was a fire started by natural means.
Yet there were no traces of camping or of a fire being lit either.
It felt unnatural, as if someone had deliberately set it.
Hio's footsteps, which had been running toward the stream, slowly began to slow.
Wasn't the situation itself far too awkward?
A fire that had suddenly broken out. Yet no traces left behind at all.
A place far away from the village, and from the shop where Hio had been.
Everyone's attention focused here.
If one added a single assumption to this unnatural situation, it became very natural.
Someone had deliberately set the fire to divert Hio's attention.
'...Their objective?'
It was obvious.
'Claire.'
Had they coveted Claire so much that they had come back even after that level of threat?
...He had made a mistake.
Hio, who had come to a complete stop, turned his head back toward the road he had come from.
And at that moment.
Kwaaaang!
An explosion rang out from far inside the village.
At that strangely familiar noise, Hio threw aside the basket he was carrying and sprinted toward the village.
* * *
"That monster... he's definitely gone, right?"
Doris asked again, and Haman nodded once more.
"Yes, hyung-nim. I clearly saw him run toward the fire."
Only after hearing that answer did the four of them begin walking toward the chaotic village.
It was Doris and his group.
"H-Hyung-nim, are you sure the people from Black Fang can beat that monster...?"
"O-Of course they can, you bastard! Can't you tell just by looking? Have you ever seen anyone move like a ghost like that? No matter how strong that guy is, in the end, he probably only has one skill. Black Fang will win for sure."
Even as he said that, he could not stop sweat from gathering in his palms.
Because the thunder and lightning that had rung deafeningly in his ears felt as if it might come crashing down at any moment.
"Then, I'm calling them. Everyone, get ready."
Doris took a black bell from his robe and began to shake it.
Jingle—
Once.
Jingle—
Twice.
Jingle—
He shook it at regular intervals up to three times, and the sound of the bell spread far with a strange resonance.
And after a short while.
"......!"
"Y-You have arrived!"
Five men in black, wearing those same black robes and black masks, appeared abruptly without making the slightest presence known.
Doris and his group immediately dropped to their knees before them.
"We're ready! We can begin the proof right away!"
The one who seemed to be the leader of the black-clad men looked Doris over once, then turned his gaze toward the village.
"Begin."
"Yes!"
Doris and his group sprang to their feet and ran toward the village, while the five black-clad men followed behind them like ghosts.
"We move as planned! Get to your positions, quickly!"
"Yes, hyung-nim!"
Black Fang was watching.
If they succeeded in their proof, they could belong to Black Fang and live proudly. If they failed, they would immediately lose their lives at the hands of those black-clad men.
That was why Doris and his group were, in their own way, desperate.
"As expected, they've gathered together! Set the fires and gather them up!"
It was a plan they had racked their brains to devise over the past two days.
If they set a fire outside the village, many of the men, including that monster, would head there, and with that commotion, it was obvious the villagers would gather in one place and make a fuss.
In the monster's absence, they would set the prepared fires, surround the powerless elderly, women, and children as if encircling them, and deal with them all at once.
If Claire, the skill user, was among them, they would deal with her quickly as well.
Everything was proceeding exactly according to Doris's plan.
"F-Fire!"
"What are you—! Kuaak!"
They mercilessly cut down the villagers they encountered one by one, and though that sight was reflected in the eyes of the people gathered in the center, it was already too late.
"Kyaaak!"
"Bandits! Bandits!"
Because fires were blazing fiercely at the village's main roads, and Doris's group was closing in from every direction with bloodstained swords in hand.
There were only four of them.
But all four were mercenaries with ample experience killing people.
The young men had all happened to leave to put out the fire.
And not a single decent weapon was in the hands of those who remained.
All those factors combined to create a difference in combat power that made numbers meaningless.
"Kill them all and find the wench before that monster comes back!"
The old men, women, and children, who did not even have wooden clubs in their hands, could do nothing but scream, squeeze their eyes shut, or collapse to the ground as strength left their legs.
But even for them, there was a variable.
"Y-You bad people came again!"
Among the people gathered in the village center was Claire.
Normally, Claire would not have come out even amid this much commotion, but she had seen Hio rush out through the window and followed after him, ending up in the center of the village.
"Everyone, stay still! These guys are really bad people!"
Claire pushed past the villagers and stepped forward fearlessly.
"C-Claire..."
"Just come back here......!"
The villagers, who did not know Claire was a skill user, tried to stop her in small voices, but they could not do anything more than that.
The flames blazing on all sides and the four men approaching with bloodstained swords were far too terrifying.
Claire had not expected more from them either, and ignoring the people's quiet cries, she stepped even farther forward.
As if telling them to look only at her.
And that strategy proved quite useful, as the gazes of Doris and his group all fixed on Claire.
"The wench!"
"Catch her first!"
"That's one of the skill users we told you about."
Doris spoke to the black-clad men silently following behind them, but there was no response.
Since it was not two but only one, it meant they should handle her themselves.
For Doris, who was anxious because he did not know when the monster who had left might return, it was unfortunate.
But he could not show weakness in front of Black Fang, either, so the only option was to deal with her as quickly as possible.
"If you come over here quietly, I'll spare the villagers behind you."
Doris spoke while keeping his gaze fixed on Claire.
"You only need to come. If you do, all those poor bastards trembling behind you can live."
He drew her attention from the front, while Haman and Polke, who were quietly approaching, would strike from behind.
His words had the added effect of driving a wedge between Claire and the villagers.
"As if I'd fall for that!"
But Claire's instincts were not those of an ordinary girl either.
With blazing flames floating above both hands, she instead charged at Doris.
Doris's group would definitely chase her first.
If so, she would draw their attention with all her might, and during that time, evacuate the villagers.
And she would break through one side first so that she would not be surrounded.
That was the judgment Claire made in that brief instant, and it was the decision closest to the correct answer.
"Everyone, run!"
Claire shouted as she hurled flames at Doris, larger than they had been two days ago.
"Hurry! Run!"
But despite Claire's efforts, the villagers huddled together did not budge.
They were panicking in fear and confusion, unable to make proper decisions.
Amid that, Doris dodged Claire's flames and bit down on his lip.
Kwaaang!
"You... wench......!"
It had only been two days, yet her power seemed stronger than before.
If they had come three days later instead of two, she would have been that much stronger.
Now, even her pretty face no longer entered his eyes.
He had realized it.
That was a little monster.
She was not a clumsy skill user who had only just awakened.
In just a few weeks, no, even a few days, he would likely not be able to face her at all.
"We have to kill her no matter what!"
But not now.
For now, she still showed many openings, and all she knew how to do was launch flames.
If the four of them attacked together, they could win easily.
Kwaang!
An explosion erupted where he had barely rolled away from, flames soaring high.
If he had failed to dodge, the attack clearly would have caused great damage.
But that was a mistake born of Claire's lack of combat experience, and for Doris's group, it was an opportunity.
"Now!"
"Get her!"
The fact that she had evolved to that level of power in only two days was certainly remarkable, but in exchange, there was only one flame, and Doris had just evaded it.
Then the remaining three began attacking from three directions at once.
"Tch!"
Claire immediately realized her mistake and widened the distance, creating two small flames at a time and firing them.
"Spread out!"
Polke and Paulo, realizing they had been targeted, widened the distance, evaded the flames, and then Doris and Haman charged in again.
Claire created flames once more and fired them at Doris and Haman, and Doris and Haman, who had seemed to charge in fearlessly, widened the distance as if they had been waiting for it and dodged.
Then Polke and Paulo came running in from the opposite side.
Claire created flames and fired them.
Polke and Paulo pretended to rush in, then dodged, and Doris and Haman charged again.
From their previous experience, they knew.
Claire did not have that much mana.
If they took just a little time to attack her, she was an easy opponent.
That monster who would eventually return weighed on their minds, but even so, they could not ignore Claire.
And if things went on like this, they would be able to kill that little monster well before he returned.
"Y-You... cowards!"
Claire had no choice but to fall into a dilemma.
If she did not attack, she would be struck down immediately.
If she did attack, her opponents would not get hit.
She could feel only her own mana being carved away in chunks.
She did not have many shots left.
She had increased the power and speed, but the mana consumption had grown just as much.
'What... what should I do......!'
No matter how hard she racked her brain, no method came to mind.
Even if she stalled for time, there was no one to help her, and the strongest person in the village was herself.
She had to somehow resolve it on her own, but no method came to mind at all.
On top of that, they had even brought new people with them.
Just looking at the five black-clad men standing behind them like ghosts sent chills down her spine.
She could tell instinctively.
That the four before her were terrible beings beyond comparison.
Her mind went blank, and her limbs felt faint.
Her mana was gradually depleting, yet her thoughts grew ever more tangled.
How could she shake off these four figures clinging to her like leeches?
What on earth were those spine-chilling, ghost-like bastards behind them?
Would Selly, who should be at the store, be alright?
Why were the people gathered in the center standing there instead of fleeing?
And······.
'Is Hio... coming?'
Why did that coward come to mind in this situation?
Was it because two days ago, in a similar despair, the last thing she had seen was Hio?
'He shouldn't come······.'
True to his timid nature, he should have fled upon seeing the flames rising in the village.
With those thoughts, Claire's staggering body slowly began to tilt.
The same symptoms she had experienced two days ago.
It was mana depletion.
The sighing villagers and Doris's group cheering.
"Kukukuk···. You're nothing special."
"If that monster hadn't been there that day, you would have died."
Listening to the footsteps of the four approaching with laughter, Claire harbored a question.
'That monster?'
But she quickly set aside such questions and raised her focus again.
'This is··· just as expected.'
It was true she felt dizzy due to the abruptly depleted mana, but it wasn't complete mana exhaustion.
This was bait.
Luring the four of them in with herself as the bait.
"Heh heh heh··· Girl. Too bad, but we can't let you live this time, so don't get your hopes up."
She raised the last remaining mana to its limit.
What she envisioned was surging flames.
A wall of fire surrounding her on all sides.
The kind flames granted her request with nothing more than her earnest desire.
'So··· please, this time too······!'
With eyes closed, she listened to the four sets of footsteps drawing near.
Just a little···.
Just a little more······.
And now.
"······Die!"
Flames erupted violently around Claire, who snapped her eyes open, like an explosion.
Flames soaring as high as a house and scorching heat billowing out with a whoosh.
Claire thought her final plan had succeeded with such fierce flames, but······.
"······Wow, this crazy bitch."
"The real monster is a monster indeed. This girl thinks like the ones we met on the battlefield···."
"Just as you said, Boss."
A voice now familiar, heard from beyond the wall of flames.
Doris and his group likewise acknowledged Claire and hadn't let their guard down until the very end.
It was because the Awakened always knew from experience that one last hidden move was always kept in reserve.
"Ha, this persistent bitch. Now it's really over."
The last flames, fueled by scant mana, disappeared with such vain ease and speed, and all that remained was blurred vision and the four approaching figures.
And.
"Keep that child alive."
A gloomy voice that sent chills down her spine even amid the dizziness.
"······What?"
"Don't make me say it twice. That child looks useful, so we take her with us."
Not a sound made by a human, but a gloomy echo as if resounding from hell.
The moment she heard it, Claire completely lost the will to resist.
She realized that was a truly insurmountable existence.
A being impossible to compare to herself, who had Awakened so clumsily.
An overwhelming gap in level was felt instinctively.
'With monsters··· like that crawling around······ what could someone like me be so special for······.'
She had thought that just because she wielded fire, and hadn't properly learned yet, she would surely become someone incredible if she did.
The presence of the black-clad figure loomed so massively that such foolish delusions collapsed in an instant.
And only then did she understand why the villagers had been unable to move at all.
'They couldn't··· move.'
This too must have been the doing of the black-clad figure, who appeared to do nothing.
The thudding footsteps of the four drew near.
Claire gave up even on opening her eyes and collapsed, sprawling flat on the ground.
Now it was all over.
"No need to make the fire even bigger while dragging this bitch away. Kill every last remaining villager!"
"Yes, Boss!"
Even while hearing that horrific order, there was nothing Claire could do.
She merely lay there helplessly.
She had no strength to move, nor did she feel like moving.
The villagers would soon be torn apart by blades and die one by one, and she would be dragged off to who knows where.
Even though her thoughts reached that point, she didn't feel like doing anything.
The overwhelming disparity she felt instinctively had completely erased her will to resist.
'······If I meet Hio again······ I'll have to apologize.'
Hadn't she been the one calling him pathetic every day, telling him to at least try to resist?
But now that she was in that very position, she realized how futile resistance was.
"I'm not a coward, I'm a pacifist, okay?"
A faint smile touched Claire's lips.
'Pacifism my foot. That's something only the strong······ only those black ghost-like bastards can say.'
"But still. Claire. Violence isn't the answer, but······."
Why did Hio's words, spoken sometime in the past, come to mind now of all times?
"Maybe the day will come when I have to resort to violence too?"
Why did those words, which she had heard with one ear and let flow out the other during everyday chatter, come to mind only now?
At this rate, it was almost as if she were relying on Hio.
"Well, if that day comes, I'd have to give up everything and start over from scratch."
······And why.
"······."
Was everything around her enveloped in silence?
Had she fainted without realizing it······ she briefly wondered, but the crackling sound of burning flames was too vivid for that.
But why was it so quiet?
The villagers' screams, the mercenaries' rough voices, the threatening footsteps—none of it could be heard at all.
Feeling as if time itself had stopped, Claire slowly opened her closed eyes.
And what she saw.
"Whoa, it's here!"
Black storm clouds filling the sky.
"M-monster! It's come!"
Lightning flashing between them.
"H-help! That guy is······ truly beyond common sense!"
*Rumble—* A low, beast-like thunder, barely suppressed rage.
That same voice of the black-clad figure that made one lose all fighting spirit.
"······Stay out of this."
Where everyone's gaze was directed.
There, a familiar silhouette approached.
A voice so familiar it was almost strange.
"You fucking bastards."
It was the arrival of a violentist.