Today, I received a message from guild master Ateles…. I didn’t think he’d contact me when I’m all the way in Velen Lon.

And apparently, there have been missing adventurers in the mystical forest of Elchnor. Though… it sounds a little strange that he mentions this to me….

If I remember correctly about its ecology, I don't think it should be an area with high-ranked monsters—at a max of D-Rank?

I looked at the map that was included in the print, and there was a line where the city barrier ends.

‘Sigh…’

Rank advancement quest, huh?

Sometimes I don’t really understand the authorities in this world…. Well… same goes for back in my own world, I suppose.

‘Knock, knock’

And then, there was a knock on the door. As it slid open, Ame walked in with mugs in her hands.

“Oh? A letter?” she asked, tilting her head.

…She’s adorable, as always….

“Yes. It’s from Master Ateles… he wanted me to take this advancement mission so that I’d be able to proceed to the next rank.”

She handed me one of the mugs with a “hmm?” and suspiciously looked at the letter. “Aren’t you supposed to in a no-quest policy from the guild, though?” She then shifted her gaze to me. “...But it’s nothing dangerous, is it?”

I wasn’t sure how to reply, but I sipped some of the hot milk and sat beside her on the bed.

“...Not really. It seems to only be a D-Rank quest.” I replied and held her hand, reassuring her that I’d be fine.

She narrowed her eyes while pouting.

“...Will you form a party?”

“…I won’t, I suppose….. It’s faster if I do it alone anyways.” I replied.

Ame puffed her cheeks as she heard my reply.

“I wanna come along too!”

“…..”

…Ahahaha… there wouldn’t be much for me to do if you did….

“Sorry, no can do, but… I promise to be back by morning.”

She glared at me and stared to poke my cheek.

“...Every time you’ve taken a quest, something strange always happens… so are you sure?”

“...Nothing strange happened recently,” I hesitantly responded.

She’s right… my first two quests ever were bizarre… I suppose it’s only natural she’d be worried.

“Well, I’ll get going then.”

I got up, but she’d held my sleeve, pulling my face closer to hers.

‘Chu~’

.....

“Al, You forgot this,” she said playfully.

“...Thanks,” I replied, feeling extra motivated to finish the job. I’ll obliterate whatever’s in the way.

— :::: —

…It’s so dark. Yet comfortable, how long has it been since I had this good of a sleep? Uhh… well, I suppose it’s only been three days since I first arrived in this world.

Gosh… I already had insomnia before coming here, and it got worse!

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I slowly opened my eyes, and I found myself in a dimly lit room. Looking around, I see the walls are made of wood, and there’s some furniture made out of wood and rocks.

If I remember correctly… I lost consciousness, didn’t I?

But….

Ahh! I feel so relieved! There are other people!

I got out of the bed that was made of straws and other soft organic material. I then started to stretch. Since… heck… my muscles were sore… I mean… I was running non-stop, so it made sense….

Man… this was the most comfortable bed I’ve had since I arrived!

Idiot! Of course, it is if you compare it to a hard and stiff tree branch!

And as I finished stretching, Miss Hilda walked in and greeted me.

“Ohh! Aska, you’re awake!”

I proudly stuck out my chest and hit it, saying, “Of course!”

We then walked out of the hut together, and everyone was gathered around a campfire. But… for some reason, they were all grinning when they saw us approach.

I wasn’t sure why, but… it seemed to target Miss Hilda the most.

Hmm… why?

She was a little red and fidgety. I doubt she’s red because she’s blushing. I mean… the fire kinda makes everyone seem red. Though… her uneasy body language wasn’t something I could explain.

“Are they being mean to you?” I carefully asked in a whisper.

But for some reason, she jolted away from me a little and covered the ear I had just whispered into.

….Does she hate me!!!?

What did I do???!

Ahh… well, stupid question… you saw her naked… ob—shit, I saw her naked!??? I-I mean, s-sure, I wasn’t really thinking about it that much since I was so exhausted, but like… am I perhaps slow?

……

…okay, think about something else, suuuh, phheew~, deep breaths Aska.

Hmm? Is that?

In the corner of my eyes, people approached from the dark—Julia!?

I… I’m so relieved… thank god…! But… she doesn’t seem to notice me as her eyes seem empty… did something happen?

““Hey! We’re back!”” Some of them called out as they approached.

Isak was the first to notice as everyone was laughing and teasing Miss Hilda.

“Oh!? You’re back!” Isak excitedly greeted them.

“Oh, Isak, wanna know who we found!?” One of the male students said.

“What, who?!” Isak replied excitedly as he slowly walked toward them.

“We found Jack!”

Isak paused and looked my way in confusion.

I also confusedly stared at them.

Shivers sent down my spine as I slowly turned my head and saw the person they were calling Jack.

There’s no way…! He’s supposed to be dead!

“Heey Aska, did you—”

“GET AWAY!!!” I cried from the bottom of my lungs.

Everyone was looking at me, confused, but Julia was the first to react and grabbed the two people closest to her and dashed away. The rest… were shredded to pieces.

Everyone at the campfire panicked as they saw the returnees get sliced into pieces in an instant. After all…. Jack had morphed and twisted into a dark shadowy creature with blade-like limbs.

Confusion spread as everyone ran in different directions, making everything hectic.

Shit!

That thing killed them in an instant! And it made them lead it back to the base too!

‘Tsk…’

Still… I can’t blame them for believing it was the real deal…. After all, they didn’t stumble upon the same type of corpses I did. So they probably weren’t aware of creatures that play with their victims….

Julia had dashed to my side with a bow in her hands.

W-what? …Well, I’ll ask her about it later.

“Bro, this…. We’ll talk later. What can you do?” she asked, still glaring at the monster that was joyfully eating her dead comrades.

“...Not much, honestly,” I replied, “I can do some water magic.”

“Then run! You idiot brother!”

“...! You’re not thinking of playing hero, are you!?” I shouted at her.

“Oh, shut up! Someone needs to distract it!”

…! You’re right! But!

“I’ll buy time with you, Julia,” Miss Hilda said.

She was shaking, but… she showed determination.

…They could clearly tell that this monster was way beyond what they’d seen. And… the same goes for me….

Just what is this thing…!?