Winsley

The next morning.

Having finished all my preparations, I left the lodging I’d grown rather attached to.

“You have to be careful.”

“I value my life too, so don’t worry. You be careful too, Veronica. I’ll see you over there.”

“Yes! I’ll come find you right away.”

For the first time, I said goodbye to Veronica, who had been with me throughout my stay in Tedumaya.

“What, you’re leaving already?”

“Yeah. You’re not going?”

“Mugi seems to have been pretty shaken after watching your match. She said she needs time to think about a lot of things, so we’re planning to leave tomorrow.”

“Wh-why would you say something embarrassing like that!”

“What’s the big deal? It’s not like we hide that sort of thing from each other. Anyway, see you later.”

“Yeah. See you later too, Emily.”

“Yes. I’ll come get the map data.”

I also promised to meet Emily’s group again.

“Hm? Are you allowed to be here?”

“Hehe… The Royal Guard under my command is not so lax. Seeing someone off for a short while is no issue.”

“Then what about these people?”

“Haha! I brought them along. Shouldn’t proper courtesy to the victor be paid to the end?”

“Wait, is there no courtesy for us?”

“Sorry, but I don’t listen to those weaker than myself.”

“You lost too, you know!”

“That’s precisely why you all had to come as well. Wahaha!”

Lastly, I ended up parting ways with Ravana, Sankaka, and Damar, who had fought against me.

The northern gate of Tedumaya.

I shook Ravana’s hand one last time.

“Thanks to you, I had a great deal of fun. If the opportunity arises, I would like to cross blades with you again.”

“I might beat you overwhelmingly next time, you know?”

“Would that not be its own kind of enjoyment? Then, please have a safe journey.”

“Yes. Let’s meet again.”

And so, my journey in Tedumaya came to an end.

Now it was time to move on to a new world.

Following the tropical rainforest I had grown used to, I continued heading north.

“It’s quiet.”

There were no companions, and no monsters either.

All that existed were the dense plants I had spent nearly a month with.

All I could do was keep walking endlessly.

How long had I walked?

Before I knew it, the sun had drawn close to the horizon.

“Don’t tell me I’m going to have to sleep outdoors at this rate?”

Fortunately, there still didn’t seem to be any monsters, but just in case, should I look for a safe zone?

Just as I was thinking that—

The scenery around me began to change.

The towering trees gradually thinned out, and the damp, soaked ground began to harden.

By the time the glow of sunset dyed the sky, I was finally able to leave the tropical rainforest, Rimbahitam.

And then I saw it.

“So this is Winsley…”

A vast grassland swaying gently in the cool breeze.

At the sight, which gave me a pleasant sense of liberation, I took a deep breath.

That was when it happened.

Boom, boom, boom!

The earth shook with a thunderous roar.

Wondering if it could be an earthquake, I looked around and saw the figure of a young child in the distance.

“Why is a kid in a place like this…”

Before I could even wonder, monsters appeared behind the child.

[Lv. 21 Blood-horn Bull]

Five bulls with sharp, blood-red horns were chasing the child.

‘I wonder if Rian is doing well.’

Seeing the child reminded me of Rian, the son of Ms. Kate, who had helped me back in Area 1.

He was cute and followed me around well.

I hope he hasn’t gotten a little older and started ignoring his mother.

Shaking my head to clear away the stray thoughts, I looked at the child again.

No matter how fast the child ran, the opponents were bull-type monsters.

At this rate, the child would definitely become monster feed.

Honestly, I could ignore it.

The kid was an NPC, and we had never met, so ignoring him probably wouldn’t cause any major problem.

But he reminded me of Rian.

Even if that weren’t the case, I didn’t particularly want to watch a child die right in front of me.

And you never know.

This situation might be a quest event.

If so, as a gamer, I couldn’t just pass it by.

“Shall I warm up a little?”

I ran toward the pack of monsters.

***

Ron, the youngest son of a hunter from Winsley Village, ran with all his might to escape the monsters chasing him.

Ron regretted it.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have left the village!’

This was the period when the monster waves grew quiet, and the boy, who had received hunting lessons since he was young, had been confident he could take down at least one monster.

That was why he had recklessly run outside to prove to his parents that he was no longer a child, but…

The dagger he had trusted snapped without even scratching the monster’s tough hide.

The traps he had painstakingly dug and the skills he had learned were all useless before overwhelming power.

In the end, Ron became the one being hunted.

“Hah, hah…”

But even though Ron was among the fastest of the village children, before a bull, he was nothing but a turtle.

Even though he ran with all his strength, the distance between them closed rapidly.

The boy prayed inwardly.

‘Please save me. I’ll listen to Mom and Dad from now on. I’ll practice hard too. So please, just save me this once!’

At that moment—

Thud!

“Aaah!”

The boy tripped over a stone hidden among the bushes and fell.

Normally, he would not have lost his balance over something like that, but Ron was exhausted to his limit and rolled across the ground.

The boy gritted his teeth.

“I have to get up…”

But just as he tried to rise in a panic, a pain like being stabbed with a knife surged through his ankle.

It was because the fall just now had sprained the ligaments in his ankle.

Ron’s face turned pale.

“I-I don’t want to die…”

He was scared.

He was terrified of the pack of monsters thundering toward him even now, and he was afraid of death.

But before he knew it, the monsters had reached Ron’s side.

And just as the snorting, enraged bull was about to pierce his small body with the blood-red horn on its head—

Slash!

With a fierce gust of wind, something hot dyed Ron’s entire body.

The boy cautiously opened his eyes and soon realized what had touched him.

“Blood?”

A sticky red liquid trickled down.

It was unmistakably someone’s blood.

Ron slowly lifted his head, eyes filled with shock.

It was a woman.

A woman with long black hair flowing down and a pure white coat fluttering around her.

“Hey, kid. You okay?”

In front of the monster that had been split in half, she shook the blood from her sword.

Staring blankly at that sight, Ron murmured in a daze.

“A-an angel?”

At the boy’s voice, Ian’s eyes trembled slightly.

***

‘What the hell is this kid talking about?’

An angel? What, is he seeing things?

Well, he’d been on the verge of death, so I could understand him saying nonsense.

But an angel was seriously cringe.

Ugh, I’m getting goosebumps.

However, my thoughts didn’t last long.

I had taken down one, but the remaining four monsters were still charging wildly toward us.

Of course, I didn’t feel like I was in danger.

With the finals reward included, my current level was 27.

A level 21 monster was nothing more than a warm-up.

“Kid, stay right there.”

I stomped my foot.

My sword took on a blue light.

The charge skill, Sword Rush.

My sword clashed head-on with the monster and split the enraged bull in one stroke.

At that moment, another bull came rushing toward my side.

“Not a chance.”

Right now, I could probably endure it even if I got hit head-on, but I grabbed the blood-red horn with my bare hand and slammed the monster down hard onto the ground.

Groooan!

Then I cast the slashing skill Smash at the next monster charging in.

After splitting it in half and killing it, I drove my sword into the head of the monster stuck in the ground before it could get back up.

In an instant, four monsters were reduced to pitiful amounts of experience.

Only then did the last one begin to gauge the situation and flee.

But what can I say? I had no intention of letting it go.

Catching it wouldn’t give me even a speck of experience, but it would raise my proficiency normally.

Of course, even that would be an extremely tiny amount, but right now, even a small amount of proficiency was precious to me.

So there was no way I could let it escape.

I aimed my staff at the fleeing monster.

First Circle wind magic, Wind Cutter.

A blade of wind shot out from the staff and tore into the monster.

Mooooo!

The bull screamed.

Since my Magic stat was low, I couldn’t kill it in one blow, but the bull’s movements had definitely slowed compared to before.

And that was exactly what I had been aiming for.

Immediately drawing my sword, I stepped hard against the ground.

Slash!

The last bull, split apart by my sword, poured out blood.

I stepped back to avoid the blood scattering in every direction, shook the blood from my sword, and sheathed it.

After finishing things up, I approached the boy, who was still sitting there in a daze.

“Kid, you okay?”

“Uh, uh…”

“Tsk. This one’s completely broken. Kid, try to get a hold of yourself.”

I tapped the boy’s cheek.

Only then did the boy finally come to his senses and slowly open his mouth.

“Are you really an angel?”

“Do I look like one?”

Seeing as he was still spouting nonsense, he didn’t seem to be in his right mind yet.

Still, I couldn’t just leave him like this.

“Forget that. Kid, can you stand?”

“Well…”

The boy glanced toward his ankle, and after checking it, I let out a hollow laugh.

“You sure are a handful, kid.”

No wonder he hadn’t been able to get up earlier. His ankle was swollen badly.

Judging by its condition, he probably wouldn’t be able to walk properly for several days.

The boy said to me with a sullen face,

“I-I’m not a kid.”

“Kids always deny they’re kids. Anyway. Kid, what’s your name?”

“Ron. It’s Ron.”

That was a really easy name to remember.

I called the boy by his name at once.

“All right, Ron. Let me ask you one thing. Do you live around here?”

“Yes…”

The boy nodded.

It looked like he had come out here for some reason or another, but that actually worked out perfectly.

“Good. Then I’ll carry you, so just guide me.”

“I can walk by myse—aaah!”

“With that ankle, how are you going to walk? Just stay still and let me carry you.”

My Strength stat was now at a level where I could easily lift a grown man.

The weight of a child this size was nothing but a feather.

Easily hoisting Ron over my shoulder, I asked him,

“Now, which way to the village?”

“That way. If you go just a little, you’ll see it right away.”

I began walking in the direction the boy pointed.

That was when—

“By the way, Angel, what’s your name?”

“Ian. And I’m not an angel. I’m human, just like you.”

“Then can I call you Big Sis Ian?”

“…Sure.”

At first, I hadn’t particularly liked it when Rian called me big sis either.

But seeing as I had gotten somewhat used to it now, it seemed people really were creatures of adaptation.

At this rate, someone calling me big brother might start feeling awkward someday.

“But what do you do, Big Sis?”

“I’m just a traveler.”

“Are travelers always that strong?”

“That depends on the traveler.”

“Can I become strong too?”

“That depends on what you do.”

After walking while exchanging such idle chatter for a while, a fence appeared beyond the grassland.

And Ron pointed at it and said,

“That’s it. The village where I live.”

“So that’s Winsley’s residential area…”

I looked at the village scenery for a moment and thought.

Maybe I could just sleep in Tedumaya.