Inside the Jewel.
I kept glancing around while simultaneously activating my Skills, processing a flood of information.
The flickering blue dot of light — there was only one, yet it seemed to teleport from place to place.
That wasn't really what was happening, of course. I just couldn't keep up with it.
The scenery around me was nothing but open blue sky and a single road stretching to the horizon.
"There!"
I swung my Saber, and sparks scattered through the air.
But in the very next instant, a sharp pain lanced through my left flank.
Dual-wielding short swords.
It was the same fighting style as Miranda's, but the one who truly excelled with it was the Fourth Generation — Marks Volt.
The Fourth Generation's Skill, Speed, was an ability that increased movement speed.
It was a Skill that had manifested when the Third Generation was on the brink of death on the battlefield, and the Fourth Generation had rushed to his aid.
Born from a derivative application of that was UpDown — a Skill that boosted his own movement speed while simultaneously suppressing the enemy's.
And then —
"Over Speed is just cheating, isn't it?!"
My Saber, flailing wildly in every direction, was struck again and again, sending sparks flying with each impact.
Sometimes I could make out the Fourth Generation's figure; other times, I swung at where I thought he'd used his Skill to appear.
Occasionally, the Fourth Generation's form seemed to split into two or even three.
My Saber was deflected, torn from my right hand and sent spiraling through the air. A brutal pain slammed into my chest, and I was blown backward, my spine crashing into a nearby tree.
Looking at the wound, I saw that the Fourth Generation had driven his short sword into my chest in a full-body charge.
"Calling me cowardly is a compliment. And having you say that to my face — well, I can't help but find that enjoyable."
The Fourth Generation grinned as he pulled the short sword free.
Blood gushed from my chest in torrents. My gaze drifted from the Fourth Generation toward the distance, where my Saber had just fallen and plunged point-first into the ground.
As I watched the Saber fade away, the pain receded and my body returned to normal. The spilled blood vanished too. I wiped away the cold sweat and rose to my feet.
Leaning against a tree, I watched the Fourth Generation deftly handle the short sword in his right hand.
"So you block with the short sword in your left, then slash with the one in your right? Couldn't you use something bigger, or was that not an option?"
The Fourth Generation, who specialized in fighting methods that leveraged his Speed, thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"Anything heavier and I couldn't swing it freely. At the same time, my Speed has increased, so the power is there too. I've tested it, and two short swords are just more convenient. I can slip them between gaps in armor, for instance."
He slid the short sword into the sheath at the back of his waist, then used his index finger to nudge his glasses back into position with a single, practiced flick.
The lenses caught the light. I took a deep, steadying breath.
"You can sustain that level of Speed?"
"It's rough, but if I use the First Generation's Full Over, I can just barely endure it. On top of that, I detect enemies with the Second Generation's Skill All. And to top it all off, I mess with their minds using the Third Generation's Mind — makes things easy."
The Fourth Generation's final-stage Skill apparently relied on using the First Generation's and Second Generation's Skills simultaneously.
Then, studying my face with a serious expression, the Fourth Generation spoke.
"...If Rael were able to use my Skill, he might surpass me. No — he has to surpass me."
The Fourth Generation explained while recalling the Ceres I had encountered in Central.
"Even if I fought her, I probably couldn't beat that girl — Ceres. That Speed, that Power, and she wasn't even trying. If there really is only one personality inside the Jewel, that's a remarkable Skill. But my Skill depends on using multiple Skills at the same time. Do you understand what that means?"
In terms of Skill performance, I could not beat Ceres.
And none of the Successive Heads — myself included — had ever fully grasped what Skill Ceres actually possessed.
"I understand that the opponent is definitely stronger than me — that much is clear."
"Which means you can't beat Ceres as she is now, even when she's not giving it her all. I don't know how serious she gets, but the idea that she'd be weaker than when you first met is unthinkable."
Ever since I decided to stop Ceres, I had simply given up on beating her with individual strength alone.
The reason I'd been building up my power like this was to create a situation where I could actually fight her.
Assembling an army of thousands or even tens of thousands would be difficult enough, but the bigger problem was the moment I tried to finish Ceres off.
A weak-willed person would be charmed, and even with tens of thousands of soldiers surrounding her, Ceres would slip away. Or I'd just be defeated by pure overwhelming strength — one way or another.
The Fourth Generation looked at me, flustered, with an exasperated expression.
"Don't be so frightened. I'll offer advice to help create a fightable situation, and I'll push you up to that level. But if Rael dies, none of it will matter. Don't forget that."
Once I nodded, the scenery around me faded to grey and dissolved away.
Gradually, my consciousness was pulled back to reality. When I opened my eyes, I was in a small cabin in the village. The sun had risen, and the world was growing steadily brighter.
Villagers were already moving about nearby, and voices carried from the distance — a dog barking, along with the sounds of daily life.
I touched my chest, but there was no injury.
Only sweat. I got up, grabbed a towel, and stepped outside the building.
Stepping out, I stretched, washed my face, and rinsed my mouth. Then I confirmed that the village chief was on his way.
Watching the path to the cabin, the village chief arrived early in the morning, looking thoroughly displeased.
"Sorry about yesterday. I checked last night, and some village kids had been trying to go through your belongings."
The reason for his mood was apparently that a group of boys had broken in while only Shannon and Monica were around.
Shannon had told me about it, and when I returned from the Monster subjugation, I went straight to the village chief's house to report.
He said he'd look into it, and I relayed only the boys' descriptions. That had been yesterday.
(He's moving fast on this.)
As I thought about that, I spoke with the village chief.
"The second and third sons can't inherit the family, so apparently they decided to become adventurers."
When I heard that, the Third Generation spoke from within the Jewel.
"Good thing it ended before anything happened. Neither side had to escalate things. But people are the same in every era, aren't they?"
I had already decided that as long as they promised never to do it again, I wouldn't press the matter any further.
"They were trying to get equipment for that purpose? Well, we didn't suffer any losses, so it's no real problem. We also got them to remove the lookout post."
I had reported the lookout platform as well, and the village chief looked weary.
"Good thing they were a docile bunch. If they'd been the type with short tempers, they wouldn't have even realized they were being retaliated against. Sigh—this is exactly why I don't want to be village chief."
I gave a wry smile.
"Why didn't you refuse to become village chief in the first place?"
The village chief answered, looking displeased.
"My hometown was too far away, and I just couldn't bring myself to go back. And you think someone who'd just moved here could refuse? It's hard to fit in out in the countryside. Social customs, local traditions—there's so much hassle. You push all that onto the new villager, and after a few years, they finally start to accept you. If you're planning to spend your retirement relaxing in some rural village, I'd recommend earning enough to buy a mansion in some big city instead."
The Third Generation agreed from within the Jewel.
"Being accepted as a proper member of the village is really difficult. When it came to taking in newcomers, I truly struggled."
...That had nothing to do with me anymore, though.
"If I earn enough, I'll do that. Well, staying alive long enough is the harder part."
"That's true! But you'll probably go far, I'd say. Just a hunch."
After that, the village chief and I discussed the state of the Grey Wolf and the forest, then parted ways.
We entered the forest with fewer people than yesterday.
After Shannon and Monika, I decided to give Novem and Clara the day off this time as well.
With Eva in the lead, Aria and I, and then Miranda—the four of us ventured into the forest.
This time, the goal was to move faster, hunting down and eliminating the small packs that were scattered throughout.
Eva, who was scouting ahead, called out.
"Watch out for tree roots."
She pushed ahead of us, ready to give a warning if anything happened.
Following Eva's lead, the three of us moved through the forest, but the fatigue from yesterday made our movements sluggish.
Aria, in particular, was struggling.
"I'm sore in weird places, it's awful."
She grumbled as she pushed through branches and tall grass with a short sword in hand.
Miranda surveyed their surroundings.
"It's like a trap-filled maze out here. Tree roots, rocks, mud... Maybe this annoying request was chosen for the trial for a reason?"
Then, Eva, who was walking ahead, halted us with a hand signal. She crouched, grabbed an arrow from her quiver, and nocked it to her bow.
The rest of us lowered our stances and drew our weapons as we heard a rustling sound.
The sound of breathing, and the scent of beast.
I knew it was a Grey Wolf, but Aria and Miranda did not.
"I wonder what's coming?"
Aria scanned their surroundings.
"I just want to take out the Grey Wolves and head back quickly. I don't want to fight in the middle of the forest."
She faced the direction of the enemy, gripping her short sword with both hands.
Then, a low growl was heard.
(Did they spot us?)
With their wolf-like appearance, their sense of smell must be sharp.
From within the Jewel, the Fifth Generation spoke up.
"Ugh, this is painful to watch."
Maybe it was because they resembled wolves, but seeing us cut down creatures like that seemed to be getting to him. *You animal lover,* I thought as I watched the Grey Wolves burst out from the underbrush.
The first Grey Wolf to come charging out was hit mid-lunge by one of Eva's arrows and collapsed on the spot.
The second one was lunging at Aria, whose reaction had been a beat too slow, so I stepped forward and swung my Saber upward in a diagonal slash from low to high, cutting the beast down, then reversed the arc and brought it down in another diagonal to cleave through the third Grey Wolf that was trying to lunge for my legs.
Miranda threw her short sword and took down a Grey Wolf, and when Aria stepped forward with her short spear, she used her Skills to skewer the wolves one after another as they poured from the underbrush.
The pack of seven in total had been crushed just like that.
"There were twenty to thirty at the forest entrance. If we push deeper, there'll be more."
I left perimeter watch to Aria, wiped the blood from my Saber, and sheathed my weapon. While Miranda and Eva harvested materials and Magic Stones from the Grey Wolves, I joined in keeping watch.
As I scanned the surroundings—.
(They're watching again.)
I extended my range of detection with my Skills and confirmed a Kirin in the area, flickering between blue, yellow, and red.
Once spotted, it pulled back to the very edge of range and kept watch on us—no, on me specifically.
Just then, Eva finished collecting the materials.
"Oh, now, don't get any ideas," she said to the creatures.
Immediately, the scent of beasts filled the air again. But this time, they weren't Monsters.
They were real wolves.
Several of them watched us from the underbrush, and nearby I could make out females and pups.
Beasts that live in forests where Monsters settle are, frankly speaking, a real pain.
They're strong. Naturally strong, to be precise.
Unlike the swarm of Monsters, they've built up something entirely different from surviving in harsh terrain alone.
Eva pulled meat from the pouch at her waist and tossed it out.
One wolf emerged from the tall grass, sniffed the meat, and caught it in its jaws. After securing the prey, the Grey Wolf turned and disappeared back into the grass.
Meanwhile, the other wolves had been moving into position to attack us, but once their companion returned safely, they pulled back.
Aria took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her brow.
"I can't tell the difference, you know? And if they do attack, we're allowed to fight back, right?"
Eva objected.
"Make sure it doesn't come to that. Those wolves are the reason Monsters don't spill out of the forest. Besides, they're far more trouble than you'd think."
She pointed at the stripped, blood-soaked lump of meat.
Miranda surveyed the surroundings.
"So when you said you'd take the meat, it was to offer it as tribute in exchange for being let through. I had assumed you were going to poison it and set a trap."
...That was such a Miranda way to think about it.
"I told her not to. That sort of thing is what makes wolves distrustful. Though, I suppose they were sniffing us out — maybe someone did try something like that here."
Aria tilted her head.
"Something like that?"
Eva stood up and pulled off her blood-stained gloves.
"They set a trap and caught wolves and bears instead of Monsters. They're smart, and they were extremely wary of us. Could it be that village is the reason? If there were elves here, there wouldn't be nearly this many Monsters around."
If there had been elves here in the first place, we never would have been summoned at all.
Miranda nodded, understanding.
"I was told never to leave traps unattended, but I suppose... the forest has its own rules, doesn't it?"
Eva nodded.
"Still, you can get attacked. When that happens, be prepared to fight seasoned veterans."
Aria, however,
"Maybe I'd like to fight one sometime."
...She actually came out with something like that.
(These people are scary.)
Not just the beasts—my own companions were scary too.
I swore in my heart never to make enemies of wolves and bears, and of my allies there was no one I could afford to antagonize in the first place.
Before I knew it, making even one person angry put me in a dangerous position.
(Wait... am I not in, like, an insanely precarious position here...?)
Shaking my head, I pushed those thoughts aside and pulled a canteen from the bag at my hip to drink some water.
And then—
(...What should I do? I can't exactly keep trailing after them forever.)
Glancing in the direction where May the Kirin was presumably located, I wiped my mouth.