A night when the stars and the wind played in harmony.
Ian, who had entered the village with Ron, encountered a group of hunters.
The moment they saw Ian, they leveled their weapons at her.
“Stop! What is your purpose in coming here?”
“Well… I brought a lost child with me.”
“Wait! Isn’t that Ron?”
“What? Ron?”
“William! We found him, we found Ron!”
At first, they looked at her with wary eyes, but when they saw Ron riding on her shoulder, they lowered their weapons.
Then the largest man among them, one with a bushy beard, strode over and clasped Ian’s hand tightly.
“Thank you, truly. I will never forget this kindness for as long as I live.”
“I only did what anyone should have done.”
“No. You are my benefactor. Thank you, truly.”
He was William, Ron’s father.
After bowing his head to Ian again and again, he made her an offer.
“I would like to treat my benefactor to a meal. Could you spare the time?”
“Hmm… yes. Then I’ll impose on you.”
As she happened to be hungry, Ian accepted William’s offer and followed him to a shabby cabin in a corner of the village.
Along the way, William had to wrestle with his son to get Ron down from Ian’s shoulder, and at the sight of Ron stubbornly refusing, Ian had to do her very best not to laugh.
And so Ian ended up sharing a meal with Ron’s family.
William’s wife, Ron’s mother Nora, who had a plump figure, also thanked Ian repeatedly and piled a heaping portion of food onto her plate.
“Please try this as well. It’s nice and fatty, so it should be delicious.”
“I think this is a bit too much.”
“Oh my, if you want to become a fine hunter, you have to eat plenty. Don’t hold back, eat up.”
I don’t have any intention of becoming a hunter, though.
The words rose all the way to the tip of her tongue, but unable to bring herself to say them, Ian had no choice but to eat everything Nora had given her.
Fortunately, Nora was a good cook, so it was tasty.
‘Still, the atmosphere is nice.’
The dinner table was lively, fitting for a household of six.
Ron, starving after going hungry all day, was busy wolfing down food, while the twins, Liam and Owen, growled at each other over the tastiest pieces, and the eldest daughter, Dorothy, scolded her younger siblings for it.
Amid that warm scene, William, the head of the household, poured wine into Ian’s cup and said,
“You said you were a traveler, benefactor?”
“Yes. Until yesterday, I was in the rainforest over there.”
“Oh. In the territory of the dark elves? You must be quite skilled, benefactor.”
At that moment, Ron, who had been inhaling his food, looked at me with sparkling eyes and said,
“That’s right, Angel is incredibly strong! She killed five bulls in an instant!”
“Ron, you promised you wouldn’t call me that.”
“Oh, right. Hehe.”
Ron scratched the back of his neck with an awkward smile.
However, awe flashed through William’s eyes.
“Five bulls, all by yourself… You were far stronger than I thought. But now is not a very good time to travel.”
“Why?”
“It is nearly time for the Monster Wave to begin again.”
The Monster Wave.
An assault by monster armies that had continued for ten years.
Even those who lived on this land had not been able to discover what caused it.
But one thing was certain: the Wave began around summer and continued until spring.
“During that period, we must fend off an enormous army. So I recommend that you leave this place while it is still even a little safe.”
Every place the monster army trampled over was reduced to ruins.
Even in Winsley, this was the only village that had survived; the other villages had long since vanished.
However.
‘As if I wouldn’t leave if I could.’
In order to leave this place, she had to subjugate the boss hidden somewhere and find the path to the next area.
No matter how earnestly he begged her to leave, Ian could not do so.
So Ian asked a question.
“Does that happen every day?”
“It occurs about once every four days. Even so, it is dangerous, so while it is safe, you should—”
But William could not finish speaking.
—Dang, dang, dang!
Because the sound of a bell suddenly rang out.
In that instant, everyone’s faces, except Ian’s, hardened.
Ian tilted her head and asked,
“What’s going on?”
William answered.
“It is the signal that the Monster Wave is approaching.”
“Right now?”
“It is not yet time for that, so why…”
But William immediately came to his senses, rose from the table, gathered his equipment, and shouted to his family,
“Do not come outside under any circumstances! Benefactor, you should stay inside as well.”
Ian shook her head.
Then she stood up and lightly lifted her sword.
“No. I’ll help too. Sitting still doesn’t suit me.”
“…Thank you.”
The two hurried out of the cabin and headed toward the outskirts of the village.
There, like William, the men of the village had gathered to oppose the Monster Wave.
Tension filled every pair of eyes.
In that situation, Ian passed William, who was giving the people instructions, and climbed up the watchtower.
And there, she saw it.
“Wow, those are all monsters?”
The monster army was rushing toward the village like an endless tide.
It was truly worthy of being called a disaster.
***
Another monster fell to my sword.
I caught my rough breath and looked around.
“When the hell is this going to end?”
How much time had passed since the Monster Wave began?
All this time, my sword had not once stopped cutting and piercing through monster flesh.
And yet the monsters were still roaming the village, turning one place after another into a mess.
As the one in charge of defending the inside of the village, I had no choice but to throw myself at the monsters that kept flooding in.
The one fortunate thing was that the monsters’ levels were not very high.
The levels of the monsters attacking the village ranged from 19 to 23.
For me, who was level 27, there was no enemy that posed a threat.
Of course, that was only true for me.
Screams continued to erupt all over the village.
Because despite the efforts of countless people, they could not prevent some monsters from getting inside.
I immediately ran toward the source of a scream.
There, a level 22 bison with blood-red hide was drooling as it threatened the people.
I stamped my foot at once and swung my sword.
A charge skill, Sword Rush.
The bison, having allowed my blow to land while defenseless, bled out and died on the spot.
At that moment, the woman who had just been threatened by the monster pointed behind me with trembling hands.
“B-behind you…”
[Lv 23. Shadow Stallion]
Because the fierce charge of a black horse with a pitch-black mane like shadow had already reached right beside me.
But my sword, already aware of that fact, was already moving from my waist.
A two-hit combo, Double Axel.
The sword cut through the charging horse’s neck and split its body.
I spoke to the dazed woman.
“You’re not hurt, are you?”
“Ah, no.”
“Then hurry and get somewhere safe.”
After that, I continued running all over the village, killing monsters and evacuating people to safe places.
Perhaps the people blocking the monsters on the outskirts were also giving it their all, because at some point, the frequency of monsters entering the village clearly decreased.
I raised my head and looked at the sky.
The pitch-black night sky was already being driven back by the light of dawn.
I let out a long breath.
“We have to do this once every four days?”
No matter how low the monsters’ levels were, I had to keep running all over the village, so the fatigue was no less than from a boss battle.
Right now, I felt like I could fall asleep at once even if I lay down in the middle of the road.
Of course, it might have been even harder because the others hadn’t arrived yet.
If Emily and the others had been beside me, the area I had to defend would have been reduced.
And if the others were here too, we could have defended the outskirts from the start.
But right now, there was no one.
And I had been running around the village all throughout the night.
“Whew, let’s rest for just a bit.”
Judging by the situation, it seemed the Monster Wave was slowly coming to an end.
I leaned against a nearby cabin and closed my eyes for a moment.
That was when it happened.
—Kwaaang!
At the thunderous roar coming from the outskirts of the village, I opened my eyes and immediately moved my legs toward the source of the sound.
There, a giant with the head of a bull was swinging an axe wildly at the people.
[Lv 24. Minotauros]
A level 24 Minotauros.
The fence that had been holding him back was completely smashed, and the people struck down by him were screaming and groaning.
And behind him, the remaining monsters were moving to enter the village.
‘I have to kill it before the damage gets worse.’
I ran toward the Minotauros and blocked its axe.
—Kagagak!
“Urgh!”
A groan escaped me at the weight pressing down hard on my sword.
It felt as though a massive boulder were on top of me.
But after blocking the axe with all my strength, I slashed my sword across the Minotauros’s ankle.
—Shwaak!
Blood spurted.
The enraged Minotauros roared and brought its axe down toward me.
But.
“Too slow.”
Who was it that I had fought before?
Compared to that person, the Minotauros’s axe was slow, and also dull.
Besides.
“You’re too big, too.”
Lightly dodging the approaching axe, I swung my sword at its other ankle as well.
—Guuoooh!
With the tendons in both its ankles severed, the Minotauros fell to its knees.
In that opening, I leaped high above the Minotauros’s head.
Its arms were still perfectly fine, so if I gave it time to struggle, the damage would only grow greater.
Then I would end it in one blow.
Gripping the handle with both hands, I drew the sword far back behind my back.
A blue trajectory was drawn vertically.
“Slash!”
A slash that began at the head and encompassed the entire body.
The moment I landed on the ground, the Minotauros’s body toppled over, and blackish droplets of blood scattered in every direction.
When the Minotauros collapsed, the movements of the monsters waiting for an opportunity beyond the broken fence stopped for an instant.
Then, after glancing around for a moment, they—
—Kugugugu!
Perhaps frightened, began to flee far away beyond the village.
But I no longer had the strength left to chase the monsters like before.
Because I had overdone it, and right now, it was all I could do just to stand.
Still.
“We stopped it, right?”
“Whew… It seems so.”
The Monster Wave that had continued all through the night ended in our victory.