Deep in the night.
An outpost of the dark elf scout unit located in western Durigarda.
Kalinia, the one in charge there and captain of the scout unit, was organizing documents inside a tent suffused with a faint glow.
Truthfully, it was not work she particularly enjoyed.
Even now that she had become captain of the scouts, she preferred going out into the field herself over giving commands.
However, if she did not do this paperwork, she could not maintain the unit.
To keep timid garrison troops and supply corps from stealing away her manpower, she needed to secure as much support from central command as possible.
Of course, despite all her efforts, the scout unit always suffered from a chronic shortage of personnel.
Unlike other regions, western Durigarda, where the scout unit was stationed, was frequently visited by dangerous monsters, and there were even elite monsters known as the Four Great Monsters.
The Executor of Thornvines dwelling in the north, Juggernaut.
The Flower of the Sun located in the south, Solar Bloom.
The Silent Assassin settled in the east, Silent Orchid.
And the Bewitcher drifting through the west, Alraune.
When her thoughts reached that point, Kalinia recalled the human woman she had met during the day.
‘Was her name Ian?’
Kalinia was not the type to remember even a name unless it belonged to one of her own unit members, but perhaps because of what had happened in the tent, Ian’s face and name were both etched clearly in her mind.
But she soon shook her head.
‘She must be dead by now anyway.’
From what Kalinia had seen from a distance when Ian faced her unit members, she was certainly quite strong for a human.
However, the monster Kalinia had told her to hunt was none other than that Alraune.
It was considered one of the most dangerous monsters even within the scout unit.
An ordinary will could not withstand Alraune’s charm.
The moment its voice rang out inside one’s head, it was no exaggeration to say the battle was already decided.
Moreover, unlike the other elites, Alraune did not remain in one place.
As if declaring the entirety of the west to be its territory, it had an unpredictable pattern of movement.
Because of this special ability and its trait of ranging across such a vast domain, countless scouts had been reduced to Alraune’s puppets.
Of course, there had once been an attempt to subjugate it.
But what came back was a horrific defeat.
Thanks to the sacrifice of the previous scout captain, they had been able to minimize the damage, but in exchange for saving his unit members, he lost his life.
Because such a history existed, Kalinia had no expectations of Ian.
Her purpose from the beginning had been to get rid of a troublesome outsider.
She thought it would be a miracle if Ian returned alive at all.
Until a commotion broke out outside.
“Aaagh! Wh-what is that?”
“A human? Is she even alive?”
“Sh-she’s coming this way!”
‘What is going on?’
Kalinia put down the documents and rose from her seat.
Calming a disturbance was also the captain’s duty.
Just as she was about to move.
Flap!
The flap of Kalinia’s tent was thrown aside.
And a human woman, drenched head to toe in blood, stepped inside.
“You are…”
Ian.
Unlike when they had first met, she was in utter tatters, and she was glaring at Kalinia.
“Hey. Take this.”
Kalinia caught the object Ian threw.
The moment she confirmed what it was, her pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
“I kept my promise.”
Thud!
Having exhausted herself beyond her limits, Ian fell asleep as if she had fainted the moment she finished saying those words.
A unit member who entered belatedly looked at the collapsed Ian and asked,
“What should we do?”
Kalinia, clutching the item Ian had handed over—the essence of Alraune—gave an order.
“Move her to an empty tent.”
***
“Ugh, uuuugh…”
A headache like needles stabbing into her skull.
A body as heavy as a cotton blanket soaked through with water.
Feeling an exhaustion that had yet to fade, Ian barely opened her eyes.
“Where…”
She looked around with eyes clouded by fatigue.
A hard cot, a small wardrobe that looked like a locker, and a dreary view.
From her experience entering Kalinia’s tent, she could easily tell that this place was also a tent.
But who on earth had carried her here?
Just as that question arose, the tent opened and someone entered.
“You’re awake.”
“Kalinia?”
Scout Captain Kalinia.
She handed Ian a cup filled with warm soup.
“Drink.”
Ian stared for a moment at the cup, steam rising from it, then blushed at the growl that echoed from her stomach and drank the soup.
“Mm? This is better than I expected.”
“It is the highest-quality item available here. It is precious, so drink it gratefully.”
However, now that her stomach was a little filled, Ian belatedly realized that she was not wearing a single piece of underwear.
She hurriedly pulled the blanket up to her neck, and Kalinia tilted her head at the sight.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, well… I’m just a little cold. But why am I naked?”
“If we had laid you on the bed in that state, the bed would have become filthy. We wiped your body down, but you should still bathe.”
“Eh… Y-you wiped me down?”
“Hmm… You get embarrassed over the strangest things.”
But thinking that perhaps human women were simply like that, Kalinia did not ask further.
There was something more important to discuss right now than such trivial matters.
“So, is it true that you defeated Alraune?”
Ian, who had been drinking the remaining soup, nodded.
“I brought you proof, didn’t I?”
“You did. I certainly received it.”
Her memories from before she collapsed were hazy, but she remembered giving the essence of Alraune to Kalinia.
Kalinia knew that as well, so she nodded.
However.
“I do not understand. It does not seem you received anyone’s help…”
Alraune was a monster countless unit members had attempted to subjugate, only to fail.
And yet she had subjugated it alone?
Kalinia could accept it with her head, but her heart refused to.
“What method did you use?”
Ian shrugged.
“I just burned it. The charm was kind of dangerous, but I managed to break free somehow.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“That’s really all there is to it.”
Of course, there had been many steps along the way, and at the end she had nearly crossed the River Jordan, but Ian’s words themselves were not wrong.
At least in the battle against Alraune, she had been able to overcome the crisis with magic rather than the sword.
“…I see.”
It felt unsettling, but Ian’s expression showed no sign that she was lying.
She truly had accomplished a feat no one else had managed.
Kalinia bowed her head to Ian.
“Very well. As captain of the scout unit, I offer you my thanks. And I apologize for my rudeness until now.”
Only then did Ian smile.
“Then I can wander around as I please now, right?”
“Yes. Not only that, but I hereby appoint you, Ian, as an honorary scout. On the honor of myself, Kalinia, and the scout unit, no one will be able to look down on you anywhere in Limbahitam, let alone Durigarda.”
The moment Kalinia finished speaking, a window appeared before Ian’s eyes.
[The Scout Captain’s Trial]
[Quest complete!]
-You have subjugated Alraune, the longtime archenemy of the dark elves in western Durigarda. That great achievement has earned the recognition of the dark elves.
[You have acquired a reward.]
[Notice: You have leveled up!]
[You have acquired stat points.]
Ian opened her status window.
Name: IAN
Gender: Female
Level: 20
Stats: Strength 20ㅣAgility 23+2ㅣStamina 17ㅣMagic 15
(SP 6 available for distribution!)
Proficiencies Held: Basic Swordsmanship (253/1000), Basic Magic (151/1000)
‘Level 20… I rose more than I expected.’
If she had not faced an elite monster and had not received a quest, would her level have gone up?
No, in that case, her level would probably have stayed the same.
Ian shook her head inwardly.
At the same time, she thought,
‘As expected, quests are the best way to level up.’
Especially since the more difficult a quest was, the more explosively the experience gained increased.
From the point she surpassed the monsters’ level, quests were what granted the most experience.
However.
‘I don’t know whether to call this good luck or not.’
This time, she had nearly died while carrying out that quest.
If her proficiency had not just happened to reach 150, and if she had had less accumulated experience, then the full-dive machine—the device connecting reality and Arcadia—would have ordered her death.
Ian let out a deep breath.
‘No. Let’s not think too deeply about it.’
From the moment she entered the battlefield, she had decided not to think about death.
She had resolved to focus only on becoming stronger.
So as long as she had grown stronger, that was enough.
Deciding to ponder her stats slowly later, she closed the window.
Perhaps because the tension had left her, a yawn burst out.
“Haaah…”
“Are you very tired?”
“A little. My head still feels foggy.”
Her body had recovered, but her mind had not yet recovered from the aftermath of the fierce battle.
Even at this very moment as she was talking with Kalinia, she had to put in quite a bit of effort to keep her eyes from closing.
Kalinia nodded.
“How inconsiderate of me. Rest.”
Ian stopped Kalinia as she was about to leave the tent.
“Ah, but do you happen to have any spare clothes? As you can see, mine are… like that.”
Ian spoke while pointing at her own clothes, now reduced to rags, hanging on a clothes rack.
The cloak she had favored had long since been burned away, her upper garment was filthy with blood and stains and had a gaping hole in it, and her lower garment was so badly worn that her underwear would be plainly visible.
Thinking back on it now, it was a wonder she had made it here wearing that. Her clothes had lost their function as clothes.
She had grown somewhat attached to them, but she needed a proper new set.
However, this was a dark elf outpost.
She did not expect to be able to wear good clothes in such a harsh environment.
She thought she would be fortunate if there were at least something she could throw on.
“You worry about the most pointless things. Did I not say so? You are an honorary member of our scout unit.”
What did that have to do with clothes?
Just as Ian thought that, Kalinia smiled at her for the first time.
“If you wait, I will have a unit uniform brought to you.”
“A-a unit uniform?”
“You should be proud. You are the only human to wear those clothes. Then rest.”
With those words, Kalinia left the tent.
And Ian stared for a long while at the spot where she had disappeared before muttering,
“Should I run away?”