Three days later, in the early morning before the sun had even risen, the passenger ship Elliot and his friends were on was approaching the capital of Ittsukuni.

"I can see it. It seems those lights are Kaminato, the capital of Ittsukuni."

"Do you sense the Demon King?"

"No, it doesn't feel like it. It seems like there aren't many monsters either."

"Either way, I'll help people when they're in trouble, right?"

"Yes, that's my mission."

The passenger ship was towed by a small boat and arrived at the port of Kaminato. There were rows of elegant buildings, fitting for a country that had developed wireless. Elliot and his friends gazed out at the modern cityscape with eyes that made them feel like they had just come from the countryside.

"Come on, you two, let's go."

"Oh, sorry."

"Whis, what's that in your hand?"

"Oh, this? Just a little. I bought it at the ship's shop."

"I see..."

When the four of them were together, they went down to the first floor of the passenger ship and grabbed the reins of the moored carriage.

"Well, our vacation is over, let's go."

After showing my Builderna permit at the immigration office, I was immediately ushered into another room.

"Welcome to Ittsukuni, hero and company. My name is Tanya Fuji. I serve as a member of parliament in this country."

Tanya Fuji, with her slender build, half-white hair, and black-rimmed glasses, greeted them in the reception room.

"I'll let you know straight away. A monster has appeared in the northwest village of Atala, and the surrounding villagers are suffering. There are also rumors that monsters are appearing on the road to the Nikarus Strait to the north. We would like to send in the militia, but we are unable to do so due to the heavy rains that occurred the other day."

Belhard and Karna wondered if Elliot was to blame for the heavy rains.

"So we would like to ask the heroes to exterminate the monsters."

"Yes, we will head there immediately. Do you have any information on the monsters in Atala?"

"No, I don't know the details. However, it seems there are a group of about thirty of them."

"I understand, please leave it to us."

"I'm sorry I can't help you. Thank you in advance."

Elliot's battle in El Santo lasted longer than expected, so the monsters that he had let loose too early were really attacking the village.

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"Okay, let's get going right away!"

"W-wait a second, we've only just arrived and we need to replenish our monster stock..."

As if to put a stop to Elliot's enthusiasm, Trasteria asked to buy some time. Because the reception room was small, she could hear everyone's conversation.

"Elliot, you must be tired from your journey, so let's take it easy for a bit."

Tania responded to his words.

"No, there is real damage happening now, so I would like you to exterminate them as quickly as possible!"

"It will take half a day to replenish supplies at the breeding facility and return. Please wait until then..."

"For the sake of the residents, hurry as soon as possible!"

"Extend it by five hours, no, just three hours!"

"Ah, already!" Belhard suddenly snapped, and the room fell silent. "Let's go and defeat them right away! Come on, let's go!!"

"Mr. Belhard, why are you angry?"

"I'm not angry!"

"Did you really want to eat sashimi?"

"No!"

With Belhard pulling the wagon, the group headed towards Atala.

"Ah, come on! Why isn't everything going according to the script?! What am I here for? I'm getting off!"

"Now, now, this is an island country, so things aren't going so well. How about you leave this to Ittsukuni and let's go to the hot springs today. There are apparently a lot of hot springs here."

"Hot springs... if it's hot springs..."

Somehow managing to calm the raging Trasteria, the shinobi decided to enjoy the hot springs.

No monsters appeared on the first day of the journey, but from the next day, they started to appear along the road little by little. However, there were only a few of them, and Belhard felt as he fought that they must not have been well bred.

And so, on the fifth day after leaving the immigration office, they finally reached Atala.

The sun was setting when they arrived in Atala.

"We're short on time, so let's gather some information at the village tavern. Kate's light won't be enough to take on thirty monsters at night."

"Sorry, I'm not used to my power."

Ignoring Kate's sulky tone, the three of them agreed with Elliot's words.

First, they secured an inn and headed to one of the two taverns in the village.

"There's a building called Mitami Shrine on the edge of the village, and the main monster is the large one that lives there. I saw it from afar, and it was about five meters tall. It has many other minions as well. They appeared about a month ago and have been occupying the area. The Mitami Festival, which is held once every four years, is coming up soon..."

"They're nesting in the shrine grounds, and attacking worshippers. One hunter went to subjugate them, but it seems he was killed in return."

While drinking with the locals, Elliot and the others were gathering information.

Belhard was eating nothing but sashimi.

Karna looked at him from the side, thinking that he must have really liked it.

"We've gathered the information, so let's go back to the inn."

"Wait, Elliot. Let's eat a bit more first."

"Okay, okay. I understand."

That night, when Elliot and Belhard returned to the inn, they were holding a strategy meeting. "I don't know what kind of monster it is, so I need to come up with various strategies before we fight. If I get blinded like last time, I won't be able to move either."

"That's right. Let's call Whis and come up with a plan."

(Ahahahaha...)

At that moment, Karna's laughter was heard from the next room.

"Karna, you've got some alcohol in you."

"Ah, so that thing Whis bought on the ship that time was alcohol."

"Whis really liked Karna's laugh."

"He probably gave him some, saying it was a nightcap."

"Anyway, tomorrow morning. Let's go to sleep."

"That's right."

The two crawled into bed, listening to Karna's laughter leaking through the thin wall.

The next morning, Karna and Whis came to Elliot's room early. "How long are you going to sleep for? Come on, let's have a strategy meeting."

"Let me sleep a bit longer. I was late yesterday."

Elliot groaned, half his face sticking out of the futon.

"That's right, Karna's laughter was ringing in my head and I couldn't sleep."

"What!"

Karna instantly turned red at his words and started to explain haltingly.

"Oh, well, that was because I drank the Umeshu that Whis gave me because he said it would help me sleep better, but I can't believe it could have been heard in the next room..."

Karna hid his face in his hands and sat down, muttering softly, "I'm not going to drink anymore..."