The Black Wall Monster

Kilde was supposedly the name of the chieftain's son who had stolen meat from Alvie. She said he was a mean boy. Apparently, he lived off his parents' status, leading an entourage and behaving outrageously.

According to Alvie, he was especially mean to her. After hearing that, we all agreed it was probably typical behavior for a young boy. In other words, 'that thing where you pester the girl you like.'

The more we heard from Alvie, the more that guess became a certainty. It might have been a heartwarming sight from an adult's perspective, but to the still-young Alvie, it was simply unpleasant, and she seemed thoroughly fed up with it.

What could possibly have happened for Kilde to go missing? I decided to listen without interrupting.

"What has that idiot done this time?"

"It seems Kilde-sama went monster hunting with some other children..."

"Why would he do anything so reckless...?"

"According to the child who ran back, he apparently said it was to redeem his honor..."

The Nadeus warrior said this while repeatedly glancing at me. By 'redeeming his honor,' he presumably meant that Kilde was still hung up on the incident in which he had disgraced himself. He must have tried to prove he could defeat a monster with his own hands, but that would be difficult for an untrained child. Muno-dono also put a hand to their forehead and shook their head in exasperation.

"Is anyone looking for him?"

"Setun-sama and several others went, but there is something troubling..."

"Don't drag it out. Spit it out!"

"Y-yes! Well, according to the child who ran back, he apparently saw the Black Wall Monster..."

"Tch! What a nuisance...!"

The Black Wall the warrior mentioned was apparently the black rampart encircling some ruins in the central part of the 'Ashfall Hills,' which the Nadeus clan roamed. Approaching it was forbidden, and terrifying, grotesque monsters were said to roam there.

The monsters generally stayed deep beyond the Black Wall, but they occasionally came outside. A single one was strong enough to toy with and slaughter ten Nadeus warriors, and they said they made a point of fleeing as fast as they could whenever they encountered one.

"Setun knows about it, right?"

"Unfortunately, he does not. It took time for the children to calm down..."

"So he left before questioning them. What a disaster... Izamu, I will certainly pay you fair compensation. So, could you go rescue Kilde?"

――――――――――

Emergency Quest: 'Rescue Kilde!' Accept?

※If you do not accept it, you will never be able to accept it again.

Yes/No

――――――――――

Oh, an Emergency Quest for the first time in a while. If I turned it down here, not only Kilde but also the warriors, including Setun-dono, would likely suffer heavy losses. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth to abandon people we'd spent a week getting to know, and I could expect a good reward as well. There was no reason not to accept it!

"Leave it to me. ...Jigorou, Shio, Mikelo, Eiji! We've got work to do! Let's go!"

"Sure thing!"

"Whoa, that's sudden!?"

"I shall accompany you."

"Understood. Sorry, Alvie. I'm going to rescue your friend... I mean, acquaintance."

I quickly sent the quest information to everyone, then sent party requests to the four I had chosen. My selection was based on their combat power and the weight Karu could carry. Considering the possibility of fighting unknown enemies while moving swiftly and searching for people from the air, I judged this to be the best arrangement.

"Everyone else, form parties too and make sure you can depart at any time! We may have to send out a request for reinforcements!"

"Got it. Searching for someone and fighting a powerful enemy... Then we'll organize ourselves around the speed we can manage."

Toji, who had now been entrusted with a position like that of a sub-leader, took charge of the arrangements. Before parting with the Nadeus clan, let's take on one last major task.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

The chieftain's son, Kilde, had been in a foul mood lately. He had lost face for himself and his parents by taking the easy way out and trying to show off. It was entirely his own fault, but the flames of anger that had arisen within him with nowhere to go grew larger by the day.

At last, he reached the limit of his patience. To reclaim the honor he had lost, he took action. Carrying weapons meant for adults, he led the boys in his entourage outside the settlement to hunt.

What awaited them was the harsh baptism of a high-difficulty field. The Scars, including the Nadeus clan, used various patterns, but for some reason, their physical abilities and magical power were also superior to those of Humans. However, the 'Ashfall Hills' had a minimum level of 70, making it a field where even the highest-level players currently would likely struggle. There was no way Kilde and the others, who had never undergone rigorous combat training, could handle anything there with their shoddy weapons.

Since they were also members of the Nadeus clan, they wore Hidden Cloaks like Alvie. They apparently thought they could manage if they ambushed their prey before being noticed, but actual hunting was not so easy. Going unnoticed and concealing one's presence were two different things.

Their chosen prey, the Sprinter Flight Rabbit, escaped before they could get within ambush range. They had been heard trampling the grass. Similarly, careless noises nearly caused them to be discovered by an Air Blade Weasel, an enemy they could never have defeated, leaving them chilled to the bone.

"H-hey, Kilde-sama? Why don't we go home now?"

"You expect me to go home empty-handed!?"

They had achieved nothing, but by this point, everyone except Kilde had already lost heart. One reason was that they had wandered quite far from the settlement without realizing it while putting distance between themselves and the monsters. Their immature minds had followed him with the same mindset as when they went out to gather edible wild grasses and tubers near the settlement, where monsters were less likely to notice them. The fear and tension had worn their nerves down to the breaking point.

But Kilde was different. He needed a visible achievement. Giving up and fleeing home was not an option.

"Gaaaaa..."

"Vgooooo..."

"Gueh... Gueh..."

"Eek!?"

At that moment, the worst possible enemy appeared. It was the Black Wall Monster. The monster Kilde and the others encountered was an abomination made from a cluster of heads that appeared to belong to various humans, with limbs sprouting haphazardly from it. As it walked slowly along, countless hollow eyes—so numerous that counting them was horrifying—rolled and darted about.

The Nadeus clan had no clear description of the Black Wall Monster's exact shape in their traditions. That was because encounters with it were so rare. Even so, it had enough impact to chill the boys' blood from a distance. Everyone, including Kilde, trembled with fear.

"Eek... eeeeeek!!!"

"Run! Run!"

"W-wait! You guys!?"

The boys, who had already wanted to go home, were incapable of overcoming their fear. Screaming, they fled in all directions. Only Kilde had made a halfhearted attempt to steel himself, and he lost his chance to run, leaving him able only to reach toward the backs of his entourage as they grew more distant.

"Ooh...?"

"Vgaa..."

"Gegigi!"

"...!"

Even a Hidden Cloak could not conceal voices or sounds. The monster seemed to have heard the boys, and it began rushing toward Kilde.

He would be eaten if this continued. Driven by a sense of danger, Kilde slipped into the gap between a nearby rock and the ground and lay facedown. Then he desperately covered his mouth with both hands to keep his ragged breathing from escaping. Cold sweat poured nonstop from his back and forehead under the extreme tension, and the pounding of his racing heart was painfully clear in his ears.

"Shaa!"

"Kiii!"

At that moment, two small shadows leaped at the monster. They were Air Blade Weasels, the most aggressive monsters along the outskirts of the 'Ashfall Hills.' Though small, these predators used 【Windstorm Magic】 and sharp, blade-like tails to carve up their enemies. They had judged the monster to be a large piece of meat and tried to eat it.

"Gwoooooooh!?"

The two Air Blade Weasels repeatedly slashed the monster, steadily piling on damage. At this rate, they could whittle it down. Even Kilde, watching from the sidelines, thought so.

"Nngwooooh!"

"Kyugah!?"

"Aaaah!"

"Kyugah!?"

But the monster was a monster after all. The arms sprouting from between its heads suddenly swelled, and it seized the Air Blade Weasels in its hands.

Naturally, both Air Blade Weasels struggled violently. Ignoring them, the monster shoved the captured weasels headfirst into its mouths. Two of its countless mouths chewed them with loud crunching sounds, devouring them with shocking ease.

"Buuuuurp!"

Then, after letting out a huge, disgusting belch, it began sniffing the air with the nose of the head closest to the ground. After twitching its nose several times, every face turned toward the rock where Kilde was hiding and curled into a sadistic grin. Unlike Izamu's avatar, Kilde was not made of bones alone, so his scent had given him away.

All of its faces cackled eerily as the monster lumbered closer. Tears welled at the corners of Kilde's eyes, and despair made his teeth chatter uncontrollably.

As if to torment the terrified Kilde, the monster reached the rock where he was hiding, seized it with several arms, and began shaking it. Kilde could do nothing about the rock atop his violently shaking back, and he even forgot how to scream. He squeezed his eyes shut, clasped his hands behind his head, and could do nothing but pray that the monster would give up or that help would arrive.

"Now!"

"Uooooooh!"

It seemed luck was on his side, because Setun's search party arrived in time. At their leader Setun's command, the warriors mounted on riding beasts threw hand axes at the monster. Every axe, hurled with a martial technique, struck the monster's body, scattering several of its heads.

It looked as though they had dealt a heavy blow, but Kilde knew it would accomplish nothing after seeing what the Air Blade Weasels' attacks had done. As expected, the monster merely glanced at Setun and the others before continuing to shake the rock as though nothing had happened.

Still shaking it, the monster grew new arms around the places where the axes had struck, pulled the weapons free, and tossed them aside. Several of its faces sneered mockingly at the astonished Setun and the others. They were hopelessly outmatched in attack power.

"Ggeh? Geh-heh-heh..."

The monster did not regard Setun and the others as threats, only as new prey. With its many heads, it planned to savor Kilde slowly in front of those who had come to rescue him, then make a meal of them afterward.

Every Nadeus clan member present had been made to believe that they could never win. But the monster's complacency bought them time.

"Bwooooooooooooooooo!!!"

"Ubyuh!?"

A huge shadow fell from above and crushed the monster from directly overhead. The Nadeus clan members had no idea what had happened and froze in place, unable even to move.

The dust kicked up by the impact was carried away by the wind, revealing what had arrived. Standing there was a massive warrior with a vicious boar's head, pulling an axe from the monster.