This is an explanation chapter.
Along the region bordering the Great Forest of Jura, in a barony of the Farmus Kingdom.
There were several groups that guarded this frontier territory.
The main force was the knight order directly under the barony.
Its members normally numbered one hundred, but these were emergency times. Retired knights had been recalled, bringing the total to two hundred and eighty-four — nearly three times the usual number.
The next most prominent contributors were the adventurers belonging to the Free Guild.
They took on commissions to hunt the monster threats lurking in the surrounding area.
However, since there was no emergency conscription, the drawback was that they only worked on a voluntary, case-by-case basis.
The ones patrolling the barony's perimeter were mercenaries hired with money.
Their skill levels ranged from seasoned veterans to fresh recruits, but they all shared one thing in common: they had been hired to watch for increased monster activity during this period.
That said, since Baron Nidol Maigram was penny-pinching when it came to hiring, the reality was that they did nothing beyond basic surveillance.
So who handled the subjugation of monsters that the Free Guild didn't take on?
Normally, that was the knight order's job.
And yet!
"You fools! If the knight order leaves the territory and monsters attack in the meantime, what then?! Who will protect the town!!!"
The panicky baron refused to give permission.
He wouldn't provide funds, and furthermore, he wouldn't deploy the knight order under the pretext of protecting the town.
The ones in trouble were the surrounding villages.
The Free Guild wouldn't move, and neither would the lord, no matter how much they reported monster damage…
In the Guild's case, however, clear regulations dictated that they could not accept subjugation commissions for monsters they couldn't defeat. They were not permitted to take on requests lightly.
After all, to hunt a B+ ranked monster, multiple adventurers of equivalent rank — at least three, per regulations — were required.
Even if ten B-rank adventurers set out for a subjugation, even if they won, several of them would inevitably die.
Just because a monster's appearance had been confirmed didn't mean they could send a subjugation force immediately.
Under normal circumstances, a few B+ rank adventurers would be stationed in the area despite it being a frontier, but the problem was that monsters appeared too frequently. They couldn't keep up.
Take a commission, subjugate, return. The time lag was the issue.
An organization was needed to patrol the villages and handle subjugation duties.
In response to these circumstances, Baron Nidol Maigram reluctantly established an organization.
Its name: the Border Defense Force. Its numbers: thirty.
It was composed of petty criminals — villagers who had run out of food and come to town only to cause trouble and get arrested, townsfolk who had been picked up for brawling.
They were held in a correctional facility.
They were forced to do menial labor for the knight order, and sometimes they served as sparring partners in mock battles.
Under the name of "rehabilitation," these menial tasks were forced upon them.
One of them was appointed as captain — or rather, saddled with the role — and tasked with patrolling the villages.
From Baron Nidol Maigram's perspective, this was nothing more than creating the appearance that he was doing something for the villages.
Even if they died, his own pocket wouldn't be any lighter.
He had deployed them with exactly that level of consideration, and yet…
"Hmph, the old fox. Well, if it means freedom, I'll take it as a positive!"
That man — Youm.
His rise would be allowed to proceed.
Under normal circumstances, he would have ended up as nothing more than a petty criminal.
He might have climbed to become the boss of a back alley, but he never would have appeared on history's main stage.
The Border Defense Force he led would go on to achieve remarkable distinction, becoming the saviors of the frontier villages.
Fuse.
He was the guild master of the Free Guild's Blumund branch, a small kingdom of Blumund.
His ability was beyond reproach — a formidable adventurer who had risen all the way to A- rank.
True to his agreement with Baron Bayard, he promptly dispatched his own investigation team.
From the intelligence department's reports, he had already confirmed that the Empire had made no moves.
There was a chance the Empire would continue to stay idle… He had considered this, but he could not afford to be mistaken.
He would continue having the Empire monitored.
This wasn't originally his job, but it couldn't be helped. He accepted that with a clear head.
Then a report arrived: his other investigation team had returned.
He entered the room and settled into a sofa with deliberate composure.
This was the reception room, reserved for highly confidential discussions.
Seated across from him on the sofa were three men and women.
B-rank adventurers.
Kabal, who excelled in defensive capability — a Heavy Warrior by trade, steadfast in his role as the party's shield. He cracked jokes, but his work was meticulous.
Elen, specialized in unique magic — a Magic Caster by trade, wielding a diverse array of spells, with particular mastery of teleportation-type magic. Her thoroughness in maximizing the party's survival rate was noteworthy.
They were the team he had sent to investigate the cave where Veldora was sealed.
His first thought upon seeing them was simply: Thank goodness they came back safe!
The truth was, the appropriate difficulty level for that cave was equivalent to A- rank. Even if he went himself, honestly, it would be rough going alone. Of course, he was the guild master and couldn't freely move about…
Yet despite all that, he had dispatched these B+ rank adventurers to investigate Veldora's current status.
The reason he chose them was their high survival rate and exceptional intelligence-gathering ability. For a reconnaissance mission that avoided combat rather than a subjugation, he judged their capabilities to surpass those of B+ rank adventurers.
But if anything happened to them, his responsibility as guild master would be immense.
He had personally led the way in a blatant violation of regulations.
However, he had felt it was absolutely necessary to confirm the situation.
That was precisely why Fuse was the most relieved of all to see their return.
"Let me hear the report."
Fuse asked his questions without ever letting emotion show on his face.
No matter how grateful he felt inside, he would not offer a single word of praise.
The three men and women, accustomed to this, responded in their usual fashion.
"It was rough, I tell ya! Geez!"
"I wanna take a bath already…"
"You guys got it easy — the hardest part was playing referee between these two when they started bickering, that was yours truly…"
Their demeanor was the same as always, no different from any other mission debriefing.
But there was no trace of levity in their eyes.
And they began their report.
Battles with monsters inside the cave.
How they had deceived the sensory abilities of the Guardian, the Tempest Serpent, to infiltrate beyond the sealed door.
The confirmation of Veldora's disappearance…
They reported that they had spent approximately a week investigating beyond the door, confirming that absolutely no presence remained.
And then the puzzling part…
"So here's the thing. We finished the internal investigation and exited through the door, but… the Tempest Serpent was gone."
"That's right! My escape magic can't activate inside the door, so I spent ages agonizing over how to get away from the Tempest Serpent — and it was all for nothing!"
"My decoy illusions plus heat-source distractions were pointless too! Anyway, we were actually worried that our trick for getting in wouldn't work for the way out…"
That was their report.
What on earth had happened? That was an A- rank monster — the strongest existence inside that cave.
A monster that Fuse himself probably couldn't defeat.
It was precisely because that creature existed that the success probability of this mission had been drastically reduced…
Fuse fell into thought.
Something was indeed happening in that place. He needed to know what. That was Fuse's conclusion.
"All right, you three. Take three days of rest. After that, head back into the forest for another investigation!
This time, there's no need to enter the cave! Thoroughly and carefully survey the entire surrounding area!
Dismissed!"
"Dismissed? That's it?! You call that a vacation?!"
"What do you mean, three days?! Give us more time off!"
"Sure, sure… It's not like anything we say will make a difference, right?"
He thought he heard those voices, but Fuse paid them no mind.
More important was organizing the information he had just received.
What exactly was happening in that forest…
Fuse delved deep into thought.
When he happened to open his eyes, three resentful gazes bore into him.
"What are you still doing here? Go!"
With that, he ushered them out.
---
Inside a private room assigned to her within the palace of the Holy Papal Kingdom of Lubelius.
This world was dull.
When Hinata had fallen into this world, she was only fifteen.
It was the day of her first year of high school — the entrance ceremony — on her way home from school, having attended only because she didn't want to be at home.
As she passed the shrine she always walked by, a sudden gust of wind blew.
Unable to keep her eyes open, she shut them. When she opened them again, an unfamiliar landscape stretched before her.
Hinata was delighted.
She thought she had been freed from a mother consumed by religion, who never gave a moment's thought to her family.
Her father had evaporated long ago.
He had ranted about hitting the jackpot on a long-shot horse race, but all that remained was a mountain of debt.
Unable to endure the violence her father inflicted, her mother had retreated into religion.
After all the trouble Hinata had gone to — killing her father so her mother could collect the life insurance…
If only she had waited a little longer, the payout would have come through.
She hadn't made any clumsy mistakes that would have given her away.
So her father had simply disappeared. That was fine.
But thinking about it, she would eventually have needed to commit further murders.
She would have had to kill the religious figures who had ensnared her mother, and sooner or later, she would have had to take her own mother's life with her own hands.
Hinata analyzed this with perfect calm.
That was precisely why she hadn't wanted to be at home…
Here, no further killings were necessary. That was what she had believed, and yet…
"Hey! She's in here too!"
"Oh! Still a young one, huh? Jackpot!"
"Nobody'll notice a little taste before we sell her off, right?"
Men with those words closing in around Hinata.
Ah… So it's the same here too.
This world is filled with despair.
That was what she felt.
A world crawling with ugly creatures — a world like this should just perish!!!
I AM THE ONE WHO KILLS. THE ONES KILLED ARE NOTHING!!!
《Confirmed. Unique Skill "Usurper" acquired… Successfully acquired.》 I AM ALWAYS CORRECT. MY CALCULATIONS HAVE NEVER BEEN WRONG. NEVER!!!
THAT WILL NOT CHANGE GOING FORWARD EITHER.
《Confirmed. Unique Skill "Mathematician" acquired… Successfully acquired.》 Suddenly, her vision cleared. The fog in her mind lifted, and her thoughts became razor-sharp.
If these men before her intended to take from her, then she would take from them first — their lives!
And so the killing began.
The time it took for one girl to kill three men was less than five minutes.
Despite the fact that the girl, who had only just awakened to her abilities, was by no means physically impressive.
With those cold eyes, she read her opponents' movements, dodging with minimal motion.
She slipped away from a hand reaching for her collar, and without hesitation, gouged out an eye.
Hooking her fingers into the empty socket, she pulled the groaning man forward, swept his legs, and let his head slam into the ground.
She drew the knife from the fallen man's waist and slit his throat.
That made one.
Without waiting for the stunned men to steel themselves, she grabbed a fistful of sand and hurled it.
Into the eyes of one man whose vision was now clouded, she delivered a devastating kick to the groin.
He crumpled without a sound.
With that man in her peripheral vision, she circled behind the other and drove a knife into his back, aiming for the area near his heart.
As intended, the blade must have slipped between his ribs to pierce the heart — when she withdrew the knife, blood sprayed and stained Hinata.
How pleasant — the warmth of blood.
The men became silent corpses before they could utter a word.
Now, there was one prey she had deliberately left alive.
Hinata approached the man clutching his groin in agony and crouched down.
She could have terrorized him further at this point, but she didn't.
There was still a chance he had companions.
She grabbed the crouching man's hair and lifted his face.
And then she used her Unique Skill, "Usurper."
All of his memories and skills were stripped away, leaving only a husk behind.
Hinata glanced at it, then slit its throat with her knife.
Killing it was an act of mercy, after all.
That was her first kill in this world.
After that, she killed many more, stealing their knowledge and skills.
Now, she prided herself on having become one of the strongest in this world, using those skills as her foundation.
Ten years had passed since then.
She no longer remembered how many people she had killed.
Good people and evil alike — Hinata killed them all equally.
Because, she said, all are equal before God.
Ridiculous, but here she could kill to her heart's content.
Yes. The person standing there was no longer a girl.
She was a perfected killer.
A beautiful woman bearing the titles of "Head Knight of the Papal Imperial Guard Division" and Commander of the Sacred Knights.
And precisely because of that, she could no longer move freely.
She wished someone would start a rebellion or something.
That was what she thought.
Just then, she heard a knock at the door.
"Excuse me. Cardinal Nicolaus Speratus, Your Eminence, has arrived.
He wishes to request an audience. How shall we respond?"
Nicolaus?
If I recall correctly, he was the one who clung to me…
"I'll see him."
Hinata agreed to meet with Nicolaus.
A faithful dog to amuse her boredom.
(I hope this gives me something new to pass the time…)
A saintly smile blossomed on her face as she indulged in her fantasies.
The adventurers who passed each other in the cave were on a reconnaissance mission!
Seriously, is it really okay to just throw exposition in like this?
Explaining everything from the protagonist's side is quite difficult, but…
The Unique Skills "Usurper" and "Mathematician."
Their abilities closely mirror those of the protagonist's skills.