The head of the monster, which was currently charging straight ahead, was suddenly severed from its body and flung to the side. The monster, who had the body of a four-legged beast and a mangled looking head, died without even knowing what had severed its head from its body.
There was now a total of five remaining monsters. As the other monsters had all died in an instant, those remaining no longer attacked, even if they still had higher numbers. The reason they no longer attacked was because they had learned that the number of opponents had no effect on the foe they were facing.
Elaine casually counted the number of monsters remaining.
‘Twice should be enough.’
The moment she had made her decision, she leapt toward the monsters. It took the same amount of time for the monsters to all fall as it took for her to swing her sword twice.
Elaine lightly waved her sword into the air, shaking off any blood remining on the blade, then walked out from among the corpses. There was monster blood smeared all over her body.
“It’s never ending…”
Elaine sighed and after muttering a small complaint, hurried on toward her destination.
In the place she was leaving, there were over a hundred monster corpses that had been piled high like a mountain.
***
Killiard was a territory near a valley. It was formed by the meeting of the Rasmus Mountains, which ran vertically across the eastern portion of the kingdom, and the smaller Solv Mountains. Because of the rivers created by the streams that ran down from the mountains, the land was very fertile, making it an ideal place for people to live.
If it weren’t for the ‘monsters’ nest’ where a large number of monsters resided.
“Every day I’m on guard I get so anxious with the Ramsus Mountain so close.”
A large guard with a round face lamented as he looked at the huge mountain in front of him, dyed red with the setting sun.
“You’re as big as a bear and still scared of monsters?”
A gaunt-looking guard who was also standing guard on top of the watch tower outside the castle, clicked his tongue and scolded his fellow guard. The large guard spoke in protest.
“Hey, how could you not be scared when a monster could come out at any time? The day a high-level monster does, that will be the end for the both of us.”
“Well, Ramsus isn’t called the monsters nest for nothing. In terms of the number of monsters inhabiting its ranges, and in size, it trumps all others.”
There were three major mountain ranges on the continent, and compared to the others, the Ramsus Mountain in the east had an extremely large population of monsters. Enough to be called the monsters nest. In the south there was also the Phleia Sea, which shared the same notoriety as the Ramsus Mountains. This sea was known as the ‘Swamp of Demons’.
Even within the dangerous Ramsus Mountain range, there was a place that should be avoided at all costs. A place inhabited by the most vicious monsters, with a number that could never even be counted.
The term ‘monster nest’ was used not only to refer to the Ramsus mountains, but was also generally used when speaking of the land surrounding Killiard as well.
“But even if a high monster does appear, there is magic cast on the castle wall anyways. And above all, there are the Knights of Philres as well. What are you so worried about?”
The skinny guard shrugged his shoulders and said. The large guard sighed in frustration.
“Did you forget? Not long ago, a large number of the Knights were dispatched to a request for support. There aren’t many of them left in the territory now.”
“Oh, now that I’m thinking of it, wasn’t it Marensa that requested the support this time?”
“Yes, there was a large scale attack this time. It was to the extent that most of Philres was dispatched.”
Knights of Philres. They were the symbol of Killiard and different than other knightly orders. The were not always stationed in the territory at all times. The true value of this order of knights was demonstrated when they were outside of their own territory.
When an extremely strong monster or one that was difficult to deal with appeared in another territory, if you requested rescue from Killiard, the Philres Knights would be dispatched, with the Lords permission. In return for exterminating the monster, they then received a large reward. It was similar to the job of a mercenary.
However, it was also different from a mercenary. The Philres Knights were an elite unit, so skilled that they had a reputation throughout the kingdom.
The skinny guard said, putting his hand on his colleague’s shoulder.
“Well, even if that’s the case, there’s nothing to worry about. They say everyone in Philres is a master. You know how strong a master is right?”
“…”
“And do you know how uncommon it is for all of the knights to be masters? Aside from the Royal Knights, Philres is the only one on the continent, therefore…”
“It really appeared…”
At that time the large guard who could not take is eyes off the mountain outside of the castle muttered absently. The skinny guard stopped and looked back at him confused.
“Huh? What?”
“It’s a high-level monster! There! Over there!”
The large guard shouted, pointing in the distance.
“That’s crazy. There’s no way one would show up now.”
The skinny guard hurriedly leaned over the railing to look in the direction he was pointing. Immediately, his eyes opened wide.
In the distance, a human figure was walking out of the forest beyond the castle. But there was no way a human could emerge from the monsters nest. The only possibility was that it was a monster imitating the form of a human. Among the high-level monster, this was possible for some.
“We have to report it to our superiors quickly!”
Just as the large guard was about to ring the emergency bell, the skinny guard caught him.
“Wait a moment.”
“Why?! This is urgent!”
“Well, uhh… Doesn’t it look like… a person?”
“What nonsense are you spewing?”
The eyes of the large guard widened as he looked down at the figure the skinny guard was pointing to.
No matter how well a high-level monster can imitate a human, they are still a monster in the end. It was not completely identical to the appearance of a human. This meant that there would always be something that wasn’t quite right when looking at them.
The being they had thought was originally a monster was still walking toward the castle. When it got close enough that they could observe its appearance, he had no choice but to agree with his companion.
The skinny guard was correct, it was a human.
Their hair was covered in a thick liquid, but it was still clearly silver. It was a woman, with skin as white as her hair. She was wielding a sword, but her height and frame still made it clear that she was a woman.
The woman who had now reached the gate, raised her head. The soldier who was looking down from the top of the watch tower made eye contact, startled he took half a step back. Then she smiled slightly awkwardly.
“Could you please open the gate?”
The alarm was sounded at Killiard’s western watchtower.
The report of a person walking out of the monsters’ nest was a much bigger event that the appearance of a high-level monster.
***
“…You said you did it because you were… in a hurry?”
“Yes.”
“Huh… I never though I would meet someone who took a shortcut through a place full of monsters to save time.”
“Is that so? Haha…”
“That’s all you have to say? Are you laughing now! Didn’t you ever think that instead of saving time, you would be wasting your life?!”
Lord Killiard’s lieutenant, Lowell, who was currently sitting across form Elaine, laid his head in his hands in frustration.
The place they were currently talking was a small reception room attached to the 2nd Knights’ headquarters building. After they had sat down in the room, Elaine had told Lowell that she had traveled through the Solv Mountains. The Solv Mountain bordered the Rasmus Mountain and the number of monsters may be relatively smaller than that of the Rasmus, but this was still unheard of.
It was normal for Lowell to be so shocked upon hearing her words.
“What’s more, there’s a monster nest right next to it! What would have happened if you had taken the wrong turn and ended up in the nest?!”
As Lowell continued speaking, he noticed something strange and raised his eyebrows. Elaine smiled awkwardly. He pressed on his temples as his eyebrows scrunched together.
“Come to think of it… why did you come from ‘there’?”
It was obvious what ‘there’ referred to. The place where the soldiers had seen her emerge was not the Solv Mountains, but the monsters’ nest.
“Well, I was almost here but… got a bit confused about the path towards the end.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Lowell’s eyes bulged, as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. He was even more surprised when he heard that she had stepped into the monster nest, albeit briefly, than when he had heard she crossed the Solv Mountains.
She felt strange about Lowell’s reaction and quickly avoided his eyes.
In fact, it was all a lie. She had never crossed the Solv Mountain in the first place, nor had she taken a wrong turn. What she had crossed through was instead the monsters’ nest.
Elaine couldn’t tell the truth though. If she did, there would be an even bigger uproar than there was now. As she watched Lowell grab the back of his neck, she recalled what had happened at the inn a week ago.
“There’s only one week left until the recruitment for Killard’s knights begins?”
“Yes, that’s why my son left early too. It takes no less than 15 days to get from here to Killiard.”
Bella had requested she protect Ash but, even so, ever since Elaine had found out that he was still alive, she had been filled with the desire to meet him.
She wanted to touch his small, soft hand and feel his warmth. Hear his voice chatter on and see her reflection sparkling in his eyes.
However, no matter how much she wanted to meet Ash, there was one thing she could not overlook. That’s the 20-year gap. Within that gap, many things had changed in the world. And she was sure Ash was no exception.
The last time Elaine saw him, he was only 3 years old. There was no way her Asher would remember her. If a complete stranger whom he couldn’t even remember tried to protect him, there was no way he would be okay with it. Becoming a knight under Killiard would fulfil both the promise of protecting Ash and the Justification of being able to stay by his side. Therefore, she must join the Knights of Philred, but the deadline of submitting the application documents was only a week away.
Elaine left the village that day. As she had already traveled all over the continent previously, the shortest route to Killiard was already clearly pictured in her mind. However, in her mind, she was not picturing a dirt road that went around the mountains, but a straight course that went through the mountains.
Elaine ran nonstop day and night. It was faster for her to run as apposed to riding a horse. Even if she didn’t eat, she didn’t need to stop because she never felt hungry. Same with sleep. She didn’t need to stop to sleep at all. She ran like that all day until she finally reached the Ramsus Mountains.
Killiard was just beyond the Ramsus Mountains. However, most people deliberately took the long way around to avoid the monsters. That would take a week. She didn’t have a week to spare.
That was the reason she had no choice but to take the path through the nest. Plus, she had never expected security here to be so tight.
“Okay, well… since you’re safe, I guess we’ll end this here.”
Lowell who had finally regained his composure, sighed deeply.
Originally this matter would have been directly reported to the Duke, however, he was currently away at the moment and not scheduled to arrive until the day after tomorrow.
“By the way.”
He placed his clasped hands on the table and narrowed his eyes.
“What was so urgent that you had no choice but to come through the mountains?”
“I heard the knights’ exam was to be held in Killiard in two days.”
“No way, that’s the reason…”
“Yes. I’m going to take the entrance exam.”
Kkkk