"Arghh! This is completely stupid!!!"
"… *Pouuuuuuuut!* What are you talking about, Malthur? Come on! You have to help us in attracting the monster!"
"N-No way! This is truly embarrassing for me! I should lie down and take a break for a moment."
"Hoi, Mal-git! Stop your nonsensical whining and get to your duties! Seriously, do not tell me that you are already tired from shouting!"
"W-Who told you that I am easily tired?! I am definitely not!"
Inside the village of Mantleta.
An hour and a half have passed from our relentless shouting in hopes to attract the aberrant monster of the village. While doing it in the darkness of the night, Malthur grumbled a bit for his reason of wanting a rest.
"Oh yeah? If you are truly not a frail and sheltered boy that we thought you are, then prove it!" I sneered in front of him.
"Ha? Is that what you see in me?! How dare you look down on me like that, little smitha! I have been collectively reluctant from all of these happenings from the past days since I just became a Myrmidon for the city, but this-! You are stepping a line that shouldn't be crossed!"
Malthur shouted in me, visible irateness can be seen in his pale face.
Heh… he is easy to motivate in silly ways like this.
He then stood up vigorously and while walking in a stomping manner, he heaved a lot of air from his lungs-
…And shouted a sound that was unbelievably horrendous.
I-I do not even know how to replicate that sound he just made. Perhaps due to his aggression towards me in teasing him like that, Malthur's pent up rage was released in a one effort that resulted in a terrific sound.
"Kyyyaaaaaaaaah!"
After making a horrible sound, the surroundings of the village echoed a long and piercing shriek that belonged to a female.
"W-What was that?" agitated, Roy stopped his moving and asked us.
"I-It sounded from our far-left direction! Come on! Let us go!" I actively said.
Wah. You did not only cry a spine-chilling sound, but you also scared an innocent bystander here in the village!
Good job, Malthur!
While running as fast as we can to reach the origin of the scream, I looked at Malthur with disdainful glare.
"W-What? You told me to do my part, didn't you? If anything, it is your fault!"
Right. I apologize for teasing you like that…
We reached the woods where the sound originally came from and we individually looked around the person who shrilled in fear due to Malthur's chaotic shout.
"Look there! From the bushes!" Roy pointed in our right-side with his glowing Flamberge and gingerly, the three of us approached a terrified girl who was curled up in her position while her whole body is trembling.
Hey, Malthur! This is your fault! You tend to this girl!
I carefully placed my right hand to the shivering shoulders of the girl and tried to ease her fear.
The girl let out a whimper when my hand landed on her shoulder and she shrieked once more:
"AHHH! Please, monster! Spare me! I will not taste good!"
"Ah, it is fine! Everything is alright! We are not the monster!" I said in surprise from her childish astonishment.
After a lot of reassuring, the girl calmed down from her misdirected fear and talked to us. I did not immediately notice it since I spent the time in alleviating her worries but…
The girl is rather cute, befitting in her own youthful age.
She has a whitish complexion from her entire body as it is complemented well with her snow white dress. Her hair is blonde that gives an authentic beauty on her overall image, mixed with her gentle and surreal face. Anyone who will stare to her face might get immediately mesmerized by her eyes since her own are tinged in a shade of ocean blue that further adds to her modest and gentle aura.
Now that she is facing us formally like this, she gave an image of a demure and conservative beauty.
Truly, it is a type of image befitting her age.
When we she was ready to speak in front of us, she bowed diligently and said in a faint and little voice:
"Thank you for rescuing me, big sister and brothers. I apologize for startling you like that and giving you a trouble…."
Hearing her voice like that together with her words, it just proved how charming this girl was.
"T-That is not the case! We are just glad that you are safe! If you do not mind me asking, what were you doing here in the middle of the night?" Roy earnestly asked.
The girl fidgeted a bit by putting her index finger in her lips while thinking her next reply and said:
"I was just here outside since boss told us to help the three Myrmidons of Estocia that will come and aid us in subjugating the monster. Have you seen them already?"
Uh… this is rather awkward.
Also, that is what the boss meant about the villagers trying to help us in our quest.
But really though, boss… you didn't have to do all of these!
I indeed notice that she was holding an odd-looking mask alike to what we are wearing as she hid it in her side pocket. Furthermore, what peeked my interest beside the mask was a thick chunk of rock in her chest as she wore it like an amulet. It is tied with a small chains of metal and I would imagine how heavy would they be while wearing it.
When she noticed that we did not answer her innocent-sounding query, she got up and said that she is about to go.
"I would like to thank you again for your efforts in consoling me. I will go to gran-gran now! She sleeps in the center of the village so if you have the time, come visit us!"
Wha- isn't she so pure?
Before the girl is about to go, I stared at the reason on why she was actually terrified in the first place.
Malthur looked at the girl with eyes of sheer admiration when I lightly elbowed him in his arm.
"OW! What's the idea, Smitha?! That startled me a bit, you know?!"
"You apologize to the girl first!" I said to him while shifting my line of sight to him, then to her.
In response to my sound order, Malthur sighed heavily and called the girl who was about to move away from us.
"W-Wait!!!" he shouted anxiously.
"Hmmmm?" the girl swiftly turned around and tilted her head in front of Malthur's sudden calling.
"I-I would l-like to apologize if I-I startled you earlier… y-you heard it, didn't you? T-That terrifying sound? T-That was me… I did it!"
Hearing him talk like this, it looked like Malthur was about to confess his unrequited love in a thirteen-year-old girl.
"Hmmmm-mmmm! It is fine, mister! I am fine now! Please do not feel bad for my sake, okay?" she said while giving him a reassuring smile.
"AH-… ACK…"
Look at this guy. Is he attracted to little girls?
"If that is all, I will return now… Good bye! I hope we will meet again soon!" she ran away while waving her left hand.
There she goes…
"Hey, Malthur? A-Are you alright there? What is the matter?" suddenly while I was watching her run away, Roy asked.
I then turned around and saw Malthur. His eyes were twitching and his face is completely red.
Hoi! Snap out of it!
***
We have been patrolling around the village for two and a half hours now.
Indeed… it is already past the midnight!
Uncharacteristically for everyone, neither of us are showing any sign of fatigue or even boredom. Look, even Malthur is behaving well as of late. I guess that is just the effect of your will in your overall body once you got past of your sleepiness in the first hour of the midnight.
In the end, even though we have the drive in us to complete the quest by finally finding the monster, we just realized that the monster will not appear in this specific night.
Even if Roy was still pushing us in searching harder, both Malthur and I agreed that perhaps, we should sit this one out.
Ah… I guess we just have to try again for another time? Huh, so this is the feeling of failing in a quest on the second time…
While feeling the taste of bitterness and frustration for our fruitless efforts in finding the concealed monster, we decided to head back to the boss' headquarters and announce that we will take a raincheck for the quest momentarily.
Indeed, we will not reach our duties and desires in this directionless manner of questing. Perhaps if we take another request in the guild tomorrow, we will get lucky? Either way, I am not saying that we must abandon this quest, of course. I just think that we must take a break…
Besides, I have to talk to this deranged boss regarding the matter of sending children in the middle of the night in order to look for an invisible and vicious monster. He is not being logical about this at all!
When we reached him in his headquarters, surprisingly enough, he is still awake while fancily slurping his honey-glazed tea in his table.
Though, he looks and behaves unlike his old self…
In his response to my irate query regarding the children, he replied:
"…Eh? B-But I only told the villagers to *hic* survey the area tonight and when the ninth hour comes, I specifically *hic* told them that they should head home already! Believe me! *slurp* Haahh… Even though our village is just quite small, we are also imposing a curfew hour on the evenings!"
A-Are you drunk or something? That beverage is just tea!
"Then how would you explain a blonde-haired girl that we just met earlier on our patrol? That poor girl said that she was just doing this unreasonable request of yours because you promised them that there is a reward from helping us! She even told us that she will help her uh… gran-gran if she took the reward!" I angrily said, holding myself back from wanting to hit him in his head.
"*Sluuuuurrrppp* Haaahhh. Hah? A blonde-haired girl? Hoi. I am half-way sure that I know every faces of the villagers here and none of them… and I mean NONE OF THEM… *hic* do not have the hair that you describe! Perhaps you just encountered a ghost or something…" he rebutted in a varied emotion.
G-Ghost?! Hoi… do not scare me like that, boss!
Hold on a minute… d-did you just say that there are no blonde-hair girls in this city?
Huh…
Now that I think about it, indeed… people who are gifted with golden hair are either part of a nobility or have an ethereal power or divine lineage in their lives.
So… that means, we just encountered a rare sight of a person in our quest!
Who is that girl anyway? I do not think that she gave us her name…
"Huh… Is that so. So she is a rare case, then?"
Out of nowhere, while using his deep and man-imitating voice once again, Malthur asked boss in a serious manner while putting his left hand in his jaws.
Look at this guy, it seems like he was just thrusted in his new world of fetish. He looked like extremely stimulated about the matter and he couldn't help it but to ask about her.
"Hoi, the three of you! I have been thinking this for a while now regarding the events that unfolded from your quest these couple of days…"
Instead of replying from that question of Malthur, Boss instead slammed the teacup that he has been holding to for a while and faced us with a serious expression.
The three of us flinched from that sudden and uncharacteristic portrayal of his question.
"You three… are not playing around the village, right?" he antagonistically said, his face further facing us while his eyes were enlarged.
"N-NOT AT ALL, BOSS!!!" x3
WHA! He was scary at that instant!!!
Suddenly…
I heard sounds of rustling in the back followed by a familiar sound:
"Awoooooooooooooo!!!"
That was the same sound that we heard yesterday!
There is no mistaking about it! That is the piercing howl that stopped the Iron Hedgemole in its tracks to attack us!
C-Could it be?
"The two of you, let us go!" Roy hastily said.
It seems like I was not the only one who heard that sound.
The three of us stood swiftly and excused ourselves to Boss.
"Boss! Something came up! We will go to the-…"
Huh?
While we were busy in relocating that piercing howl, we laid our eyes on the boss- sleeping idly like a log.
I-Is he sleeping? Does that mean… he was just talking with us while he was asleep?!
Argh! This man is hopeless!
We hurriedly ran to the probable place where we heard the origin of the sound and eventually, we found ourselves standing in the familiar pastures of the field that burned down due to the terrific display of boss' powers yesterday. The field is now devoid of rich greeneries as it is now covered in ashes and puddles of water.
It is here! I am positive!
We stood still on the pastures while listening on the unnatural silence of the field as the gentle winds are touching our skins ever-so softly.
We held our guard up while Roy unsheathed his Flamberge in his scabbard.
He called yet again:
"I beckon thee: Gugurang! The fang of volcano!!!"
After his calling, his Flamberge was once again covered in a swiveling volumes of crimson flames. The sword illuminated our line of sight in our surroundings and made us stand in defense.
Where are you hiding…?
"Stick to the plan!!!" Roy shouted to the two of us.
"You do not have to tell us that thrice!" in his fit, Malthur shot up while walking.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…"
When I heard the two in their silly arguing, I noticed a growling noise near the huge puddle of water.
"Oh no! It is here! Hey you two, be on your guard!" I suddenly shouted.
"Seriously, smitha. It is pretty obvious that you need to be calm and collected in events like- FWA!!!"
While spewing his obnoxious spiel, Malthur was knocked back by an unseen force.
It is right there!
Malthur lost his balance and his face landed head-first in the ground.
"GRRRRRR!!!" the growling sound grew more intense.
"Stay back, Malthur! You too, Tori!" Roy shouted in both of us when he ran forward to the direction of the limping Malthur.
When both of us retreated in a distance, Roy intensified the flames of his sword and started slashing left and right without a real target. With his very swift strokes, the crimson flames swiveled majestically with its respective sound.
"Hyah! Grah! Haah! Hyyya!!!" he grunted while moving in a wide area of his range.
"Stop that, Redhead! You do not even know where the monster is hiding! Soon enough, your Essence will be depleted completely before even landing a hit in the monster!!!" Malthur, while tending to his face, shouted at Roy.
True. That is a sound judgement.
He may not look like it, but this git thinks logically when the time requires him to it.
Alright! Like he said, now is not the time to be panicking and instead, we should be calm and collected! This monster is invisible- that is its one and only edge in this encounter of ours and once we find a way in unveiling its physicality or even track down its movements, we will easily win against it!
Think, Astoria!
Amidst the sound of the swirling flames made by Roy, I focused my sense of hearing in order to hear the irregular sounds of the monster!
…
…
Right there! –
"EH? What the- WHAAAAAAAA!!!"
When I sensed the swift movement of the monster, I was too late since it dragged Malthur on its way and took him away from us.
Malthur was moving horizontally across the village as he was being pulled by an invisible force which is undoubtedly the monster.
"AHHHHH!!! IT HURTS!!! HELP ME, LADY ASTORIA!!!" he cried as he was being dragged away.
Ignoring the fact that he just called me in a respectful manner just now, I ran at Malthur in order to catch up on his moving body. I swiftly focused in his feet and when I had the appropriate chance, I forcefully latched on his right foot and tried to pull him back on the force.
"T-THAT IS RIGHT, LADY TORI! WHAT THE- HEY! IT HURTS!!! THIS THING IS BITING MY OTHER LEG!!!"
Oh no!
I haven't noticed it when he was being dragged by the monster, but apparently, Malthur is being bitten by the monster. I tried pulling Malthur back but since he was crying from pain, I was about to let go on his left… when…
"HYAHH!!!"
Roy stood in my left as he slashed the invisible force with his flaming Flamberge and though he just did it without properly seeing the monster, Malthur's leg was freed from being chewed by the monster.
Screeching whimper rang in our surroundings as I heard the monster flee momentarily from being slashed by the sword of Roy. I saw a glimpse of its part that caught by the crimson flames, but when it moved away, the flames flickered and disappeared.
"Malthur! Are you alright? Answer me!"
Roy tended to the collapsed Malthur as he squirmed restlessly due to his wounded leg.
"AH! IT HURTS! IT EXCRUCIATINGLY HURTS!" he cried pathetically.
Though I wouldn't blame him if I was in his situation. If I had that kind of wound in my leg, I would probably faint due to the pain.
Amidst his crying, he looked at me with his teary-eyes and with a face of a child, crying for forgiveness, Malthur said:
"Lady Astoria, please heal meee!!!"
I can laugh in front of him right now but due to the direness of the situation, I graciously gave his request and wordlessly retrieved my sword.
Seeing my sword right now, in a night like this, I noticed that the blade is glowing faintly.
I laid the blade to the wounded leg of Roy, and with an effort, I bellowed in my mind the words that I wanted to imply in the situation:
Heal him!
Heal him!
Pha! He looks pathetic in his crying face!
Heal him!!!
…
While sorting out my best thoughts, the sword illuminated in a tinge of the ever-familiar azure and flowed its own glow in the wounds of Malthur.
…
Heal him!
Heal the pathetic leg of this git!
…
While praying intently for his recovery, I heard yet another commotion of the monster in our nearby area.
"Roy! Give me some time to fully heal this git! Defend us for a minute until then!"
"Leave it to me!!!" agreeing to my request, Roy intensified his guard even further in front of us.
"HOI! Why are you calling me a git, huh?!" in response to my calling to him, Malthur leered at me.
"Shut it! You wouldn't be dragged by the monster if you are not dozing around while searching for it! I do not want to hear your complaining so hold still so that I can heal you fully!"
"Y-Yes… stupid smitha…" he said faintly.
"HA?! What was that?!!"
"I meant y-yes! L-Lady Astoria!"
That's better.
After a lot of minutes, it seemed that the healing was a success and it let Malthur stand up on his own footing again.
"AH! T-The wound! I-It is gone!" he said, about to cry yet again.
"There, all better now. You be careful now, alright? Be on your guard!" I said to him with an intent of nagging.
We stood together and went to the moving Roy in the pastures.
"All better now, huh? Really Malthur, you have to be on-guard for most of the times especially in an event such as this!" he said when we caught up with him.
"S-Shut it!"
"This monster is fearsome! After taking a hit from my Flamberge, it did not even flee or tried to escape! It is still here!" he said, his face looking elsewhere.
"Well now, let us-"
EH?
When I was about to say something, a sharp thing landed on my right leg and bit me.
Before I even knew it…
"POMPH!!!"
The sound of my body upon meeting the ground rang faintly as it was now my turn to be the victim of this monster's vicious attack!
I-It hurts!
While feeling the excruciating pain from the bite, I noticed that I am also now being dragged by the monster.
"WAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" I shrieked in pain.
"Oh no! It got Tori!" Roy shouted in a surprise.
"WHA-! Smitha? Well, look who is not being attentive of their own surroundings!" Malthur shot up obnoxiously.
Insolent git! I will make you pay for your thoughtless words later!
My squirming body was travelling in a fast pace as I moved away from my running comrades who are trying to reach for me. I was having a hard time to track down my path as the monster viciously dragged me about in a painful manner.
Before I even knew it, my body was then thrown away from a lake-like puddle in our far-away side. My quivering body was soaked in water as I laid down in order to prevent the bleeding of my wounded leg. Malthur and Roy ran away for my sake but when they were so close in approaching me, they were also blown away by the invisible monster.
"You two!!!" I screamed in pure worry.
T-This is bad! If we are powerless enough to combat this monster, our legs will not be the only wounded part that we will have to deal with! We might be slaughtered at this point!
Come on, Astoria! This is not the time to act like you are gravely hurt!
Even if my wounded leg was throbbing in pain, I exerted my fullest effort to motivate my body in standing up. Due to the pain, my whole body quivered in an unexplainable manner when I managed to get up while gingerly moving my other leg. In the distance I helplessly watched afar as I saw the determined faces of my comrades in hopes to fight back against the unpredictable monster.
Out of nowhere…
A shot of blue exploded in my side as I saw the soaking image of my own sword- uncannily caught in an aura of blue waves.
Seriously, this sword tends to do flashy explosions like this in an unwelcomed time!
However, even I will have to agree that this time, my sword became perfect in timings like this.
I gingerly handled my glowing sword that is throbbing with azure aura and when it softly landed in my grip…
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!! IT IS HUGE!"
I squealed in sheer terror.
"Hoi! What are you screaming there for?! Hurry up and help us here, dumb smitha!"
I-I… HA…
I just ignored the rude calling of Malthur.
Because, what is in front of me, or should I say, in front of us…
Is a gigantic and terrifying monster!!!
What beheld in front of me is a giant and ferocious animal that towers in a 20 meters (66 feet) high! In a first glance, you can immediately see that this humongous animal is a dog, or at least connected to the same species. The animal is covered in a golden locks of fur and from this distance, I can agree in a sound observation that those unnatural coats of fur are thick. Its eyes are dyed in a light blue color as it mirrors the connected tinge of my own sword.
However, just like the recent Iron Hedgemole that we came across, those aforementioned qualities are not the only ones that make this gargantuan creature legendarily rare-
The creature that was violently trashing in front of my comrades moved about on its massive size with its equally-wide and huge wings.
Indeed. I think I have to repeat that in my inner head- this creature, which is a dog, has wings!
How many creatures like these in our world are roaming freely right now?!
"Hoi! Snap out of it!!!" out of nowhere, Malthur tugged my arms and shook me in a violent manner as he was pointing at the direction of the monster.
You are not pointing at it correctly, hoi!
Suddenly, I noticed that the wounds from my bitten leg are now gone.
Huh, so I am still handling this sword in my possession and in the process, it mended me without me thinking…
Okay…
…
I will stop staring now!
This is for my comrades!!!
Thoughtlessly, I ran my whole body in the direction of the humongous monster in front of the exhausted Roy and with the fury in my voice, I raised my sword in its direction, about to hit it with my blade.
The monster was busy in attacking Roy so due to it being distracted, I registered a clean hit at the back of its flailing body.
However, the monster did not even bleed with blood or any gruesome fluids.
Instead, when I impaled the whole blade in the monster, the whole body of it glowed entirely in azure!
What in the forgotten heroes is happening right now???
I gingerly closed my eyes as the light rays of the explosive color reached in our direction and as we are listening to the cries of the monster, I only managed to cover my face with my hands.
"Rrrrrrrawwrrrrrrrrooaaaaaa-riiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" it said…
…
…
A silence.
I-Is it over now? Did we kill it?
When I slowly opened my eyes, both of the boys shouted in surprise:
"THIS IS THE MONSTER?!" x2
We laid our eyes in a sleeping wolf that is curled up in a cute manner while being asleep. Sure, its characteristics were still the same from its original form from body fur, to its wings, and to its other features- however…
It became incredibly tiny, unlike its original, gigantic self.
The dog (or wolf) was soundly asleep as it shrunk in a cute size of 0.71 meters (2 feet).
While the two boys are shocked in staring the puppy, I carefully retrieved my glowing sword rested in its side, still glowing in the azure aura it emanates.
I do not even know how impaling my sword at the monster resulted in shrinking its size, but hey! I do not want to complain right now.
Also, yeah. Swords are still scary.
While the creature is still sleeping soundly, I healed my beaten comrades and let them cool down a bit.
"What do you want to do with this creature now?" I said when we finally calmed down and rested from the fight with the creature.
"HYAHHH! I am going to kill it! It made me embarrassed in the process and it needs to pay dearly!" Malthur said irately while unsheathing his wooden sword.
"C-Calm down, Malthur! We cannot kill this creature without even knowing its true identity or specie!" with his fast reflexes, Roy managed to stop Malthur in slashing the sleeping animal.
"Hah? What are you trying to imply here, Redhead? This monster terrorized the village and we three were specifically ordered by the boss to extinguish it… now you will stop me?"
"Calm down, you two! We need to carry this creature first to the boss so that we can see what he thinks about it!" I calmly said, while trying to stop their childish flailing to each other.
After all, killing an extremely rare creature is forbidden.
In this world, it is a common belief that seeing an unnatural animal or creature is a sign of a blessing to those who will behold them. It is stated in our mythology that these rare creatures are thought to be divine and ethereal as they were sent by the Heroes above to aid humans.
If an ethereal creature is killed or even injured by a human, it is said that terrible curse and suffering will come unto them and its nation for centuries filled by plague, war, and other famine.
Yes, your typical 'thou shall not' line from a tradition.
Personally, I do not believe these claims myself, but I do not have it in me when it comes on slashing down a cute and defenseless creature…
So shut it, Mal-Git! I will side for Roy for this one.
After a lot of bantering, Malthur finally agreed to us and we went back to Boss' headquarters.
While walking, the three of us finally realized just now since we were completely immersed from the fight that…
It is already dawn.
When we were about to approach the door of the headquarters, I heard a familiar voice that prevented me in laying my hands in the doorknob….
"Lady-Smith??? Uh, is that you? ..."
It was a childish voice that I haven't heard from these past days and as a result, I missed it.
Amidst the illuminated light of the sun rays, there stood a raggedly-dressed Nada.