The watchtower over the main gate of the Chainlink port city was full of guards huddling together. Only up to three days prior, such an occurrence would be unthinkable and would earn them severe repercussions from their commander, but since the sudden start of the freak storm, that wasn't the case anymore.
People were almost exclusively leaving the city en mass, and no one could blame them, while barely anyone was arriving - most likely turning back after listening to the stories of the refugees. That made the guards' behavior somewhat excusable, not to mention that their commander was right there with them, chattering his teeth like the rest.
The sudden storm, sightings of a giant on the ocean chasing the storm away for a moment, then the humongous winged serpent's appearance and subsequent self–destruction that caused mind-boggling amounts of damage and loss in the destroyed goods...
And then the uncanny-looking man with a suspiciously similar ability walking out of the city in the morning...
Truly…
Chainlink might have become cursed, and even if not, it was on its way to becoming a doomed city.
Only a miracle could help.
"Captain, I request permission to leave to the chapel to pray for goddess Perserevance's mercy."
One of the guards raised his hand like a student in a classroom and voiced a question.
"Gregory…"
The guard in charge of that particular watchtower breathed out the subordinate's name with a tired expression before straightening his back and looking him in the eye.
"You know what? If you go on the walls and do one round in this blasted storm, I will be able to sign it in as a completion of a life-threatening duty and give you a whole week off. You could pray or do whatever else you would like then."
The man declared with a somber expression.
"Watch your steps, and don't slip out there. And when you will be praying, make sure to pray enough for all of us."
"Captain…!"
The commander added with a tired smile, and the touched guard cried out while grabbing one of the halberds leaning against the wall where everyone had left them at the beginning of the day.
Although with the weather as it was, there was only minimal difference between night and day…
Either way, the pious guard got his gear in order and opened the door, bravely taking a step on the dangerous passage on top of the city wall.
"!!!"
Then, without even managing to close the door, with his face turned towards the road leading to the city's gate, the guard became pale as a ghost and dropped to his knees as if his legs had given out.
"Gregory?!"
The commander and a few of his colleagues called out, rushing to help the fallen guard.
"Gregory! What the hell happened?! Are you alright?!"
The captain called out, giving the pale guard a few smacks in the face as he wasn't responding to anything else.
"C-captain… I… I don't want to be a city guard anymore…"
"?!?!"
The man on the verge of tears uttered with his chin trembling, shocking his superior.
"What are you talking about?! You are the one always talking about the importance of our duty!"
The commander called out, grabbing his shoulders and giving him a shake.
"This… this whole city is doomed…"
"Wha…?! No, it is not! Not until there are people like us around and…!"
Gregory cried out, and his commander tried to reassure him… until he noticed that his underling wasn't even looking at him, but past him, on something approaching the city.
*rumble*
The slight vibration of the walls was the thing that helped the guard commander realize that something was off…
"...we're doomed… how… how are we supposed to fight something like that…?"
"!!!"
Gregory broke down into a pitiful sobby mess and raised his hand, pointing at something over his commander's shoulder, and when all the guards turned to look, they all froze in place, overwhelmed by the sight.
From the forest surrounding the Chainlink port city, a giant was making his way toward them.
With a bag big enough to easily stuff the city hall inside thrown over his shoulder, the nightmarish, slender giant, both human and inhuman-looking, approached the city without a care in the world.
With the treetops barely reaching his shoulders, stepping over the city's walls wasn't the slightest bit of a problem.
"Good evening, gentlemen."
"..."
The monstrous giant nodded his head and waved at the guards clustered together on the wall and wasn't bothered by the lack of response in the slightest.
Only thanks to his inhuman proportions could the giant easily walk on the main street without crushing any of the scattering humans, although some of them seemed to lose their minds to the point of trying to run right under his feet.
"Dear Perseverance…!'
As the giant made his way past the adventurers' guild, the guild master, the serious receptionist, and the two strongest adventurers rushed outside, letting out distraught cries while straining their necks to see the giant's full height through the pouring rain.
"WATCH OUT!"
"!!!"
The green-eyed receptionist cried out and pulled the guild master back at the last second.
*tack*
It turns out something dropped from the giant's shoulder...! That something turned out to be a person, a brown-haired maid who plummeted down and, at the very last second, shook her skirt, creating a shockwave that stopped her descent and allowed her to land lightly while curtsying towards the distraught guildmembers.
"My lady wishes to donate more monster materials for the cause of the city reconstruction. Unfortunately, the area around the guild is too small and we will be borrowing the city square. Please allow with me."
"...y-you…!"
The brown-haired maid politely informed the guildmembers before taking a few steps and looking back at them meaningfully, prompting the flabbergasted receptionist to let out a gasp.
"The corpses need to be carved, and the materials procured are to be redistributed to where they are needed most. Let's not waste time."
"...!"
The maid beckoned the guildmembers and walked off.
"..."
"...we… we should at least check… shouldn't we…?"
They looked at each other in silence until the black-haired guild master muttered.
"I… I'll bring the registering plate…"
The receptionist shook her head to chase off the useless anxiety and declared, rushing back to the building.