CHAPTER 6
Well, that was how it ended up happening.
The fact that I had made a few extra rounds because the profits were pretty sweet had been the real problem, though.
Even then, it had only been a very modest amount.
It was bittersweet, but there was nothing I could do about it.
I would have to exchange only the things that could easily be converted into cash and slowly make preparations.
I figured it was fine to keep at least this much as compensation for the fact that I had survived all this time and had been able to enjoy a happy married life.
I lingered outside for quite a while, unable to bring myself to go inside because I was feeling strangely unsettled, when Nijella came running toward me in a hurry, not even properly dressed in her employee uniform.
She must have overslept.
But when I looked at her more closely, her expression was far from normal.
“R-Representative!”
“What happened that you had to run here in such a hurry?”
“A large magical beast has appeared at the western entrance of the village!”
“What?”
The western entrance was close to here.
It was also practically the back entrance, so there usually weren’t many people around there.
Feraeum was famous for being a place where magical beasts never appeared in the first place.
Which meant that the village had absolutely no preparations for dealing with magical beasts.
The closest thing we had to a defense was asking the mercenaries who traveled to and from the area to keep us safe.
There was a security force, but since it was made up of villagers, their skills were terrible.
That was why I had occasionally scolded rude mercenaries on the villagers’ behalf when I happened to run into them while eating dinner at restaurants or drinking at bars.
Thanks to that, settling down here had been relatively easy, though.
Did that mean this place wasn’t a safe zone anymore?
No, in the original story, this place had definitely remained safe until the very end…
“It suddenly appeared and is smashing through the entrance and forcing its way inside! Representative, you need to escape before this place gets damaged too! It’s moving far too quickly!”
I glanced toward the west once before looking back at Nijella.
“I’ll go take a look, so you go gather some people.”
“What? W-What did you say? You’re going yourself? This isn’t some fight between drunken men!”
Nijella stammered in horror.
I pulled a hair tie from my pocket, held it between my teeth, and raised both hands to tightly tie my hair up high.
Noah had personally blow-dried and styled my hair beautifully that morning, but I couldn’t help it.
“It’s too late to call the personal mercenaries! I’ll go and hold it off, so you hurry and bring the village security force, Nijella, and check whether there are any mercenaries still staying in the village.”
“Representative!”
“At this hour, they probably haven’t even left the inns after drinking all night.”
“Tell the innkeepers to ring the bells, hurry!”
“It’s far too dangerous for you to go, Representative! What if your husband worries about you? What if he finds out about this…?”
I smiled sweetly at her.
“Then you just need to hurry back.”
I might not look like it, but I had an S-rank mercenary registration card.
I had also once been a member of the White Dragon Knights, the former First Imperial Knight Order.
I was surprised too, to be honest.
A magical beast had appeared here?
There was no way Nijella would suddenly lie to me the moment she came to work.
I decided it would be better to eliminate the problematic magical beast first and investigate this afterward.
Why had a magical beast suddenly appeared in this peaceful place?
My head was already a mess because of Noah, so I suppose it was actually fortunate that something else had come up.
I sent Nijella away, quickly took the sword I kept in my office for emergencies, and ran toward the place where the magical beast had appeared.
Thank goodness.
It would have been a disaster if I had worn a dress today.
—
The magical beast came into view before I even reached the entrance.
With a threatening growl, the beast drooled from its mouth as it opened its enormous jaws, its red eyes blazing and its body resembling a gigantic bison with horns.
So it really was here.
It was large enough to look as though it could swallow everything in its path.
Something that size was rarely seen even in the village, and was the kind of beast one normally encountered only when going out on a subjugation mission.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a Follower magical beast with a purple jewel embedded in its forehead.
In that case…
I crooked a finger at the magical beast, trying to make eye contact with it.
“GRAAAH!”
As though it had taken that as a provocation, the magical beast let out an even louder roar.
The sound was like thunder, and I covered one ear with my hand.
“You’re seriously loud.”
The magical beast began approaching while swinging its arms from side to side.
It was so enormous that even the slightest swing caused nearby trees and walls to collapse with a rumble.
I figured I should kill it before it destroyed anything else unnecessarily.
When using illusion magic outside of actual combat situations, the fastest method was to channel it through the eyes.
A targeted illusion.
Compared to other methods, it consumed less power and had a higher success rate, so it was the method I used most often.
However, since I had to draw power through my eyes, they would sting or ache, and the color of my pupils would change accordingly.
I had heard that when I drew up even more power with the intention of using everything I had, even the whites of my eyes turned black.
I had never used it to that extent, so I didn’t know for sure, but apparently I would look like a necromancer or an evil spirit at that point.
Hazel Love in the original story was the type to give everything her all, so she always drew out far more power than necessary.
After entering this body, there had been exactly one time when I had drawn out an excessive amount of power, and my pupils had turned purple and stayed that way for days, causing me quite a bit of trouble.
I wouldn’t need to go that far today!
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes wide.
They began to sting as a faint warmth spread through them.
The magical beast met my eyes, which were filled with power, and its red pupils widened in surprise.
Why did they have to be red?
They’re the same color as Noah’s!
I clicked my tongue in irritation and pulled thorny vines up from the ground.
This was different from targeted illusion magic.
It was area-type illusion magic, which meant setting a specific area and spreading the illusion throughout it.
Once I deployed an area-type illusion, the thorny vines inside it felt completely real, and I could even make the people caught in them bleed when they were pierced.
I deliberately spread the area illusion and kept pulling out more and more thorny vines so that the people rushing over in a panic would be able to see them.
Unable to look away from my eyes, the magical beast twisted its body, growling as it tried to escape.
Every time the beast moved, thorns stronger than steel scraped against its skin and rapidly inflicted wounds.
I watched for the right moment and raised my sword.
I could easily suffocate it to death like this, but I figured I should at least pretend to put up a fight so that the people watching would think I looked impressive.
Even if that made me look superficial, I couldn’t help it.
This way, I could preserve the prestige of the mercenary guild and make my life easier in many ways.
I tapped the ground impatiently with my foot while waiting for people to gather.
“There they are!”
“A magical beast appeared over there!”
“Our Representative is fighting that thing alone!”
I heard Nijella’s roaring voice along with the shouts of the people.
“Good.”
The moment the people appeared, I lightly jumped forward with my sword in hand.
“Gasp!”
A man who saw the enormous magical beast let out a terrified cry.
Tap!
Thud!
I stepped onto thick thorny vines I had created in midair, lightly leaped upward, and landed directly on top of the magical beast’s head.
The magical beast, whose body was completely restrained, widened its eyes.
Perhaps offended that a human much smaller than its own arm was standing on its head, it snorted violently and began thrashing its body.
Whoa, whoa, you crazy cow, stop!
Thud!
Without missing the timing, I drove my sword straight into the magical beast’s eye.
“GRAAAH! GRAAAAH!”
The beast’s body shook violently as it let out a bloodcurdling roar.
Crackle! Crackle!
The magical energy traveling down the sword like a bolt of lightning pierced through the magical beast’s entire body.
“Whew.”
After catching my breath, I squeezed my eyes shut and drove the sword even deeper with another hard thrust.
Ugh, this kind of thing really isn’t my style.
Crack!
The magical beast let out a strange groan before its face began splitting apart, as though it were a stone wall that had been dried to the point of crumbling.
Oh my gosh, that’s disgusting.
Before I could fall with it, I pulled out my sword and leaped backward.
Tap!
I landed on the ground while using my sword to steady myself, and at the same time, the magical beast collapsed backward with a heavy thud.
For a brief moment, there was silence.
Then thunderous applause erupted all at once.
“The magical beast is down!”
“She took down that gigantic magical beast all by herself!”
When I dispelled the illusion, the thick thorny vines disappeared without a trace.
“W-Wait?! Isn’t that the Guild Representative? She saved the village again! Everyone, let me tell you who that person is!”
One of the innkeepers who recognized me began enthusiastically boasting about me as though he were bragging about his own daughter.
Stopping a few bar fights wasn’t exactly enough to count as saving the village, but I was still a little proud.
“No, it’s nothing! You must have been very surprised, right? I never expected a magical beast to appear this far into the village.”
I smiled while casually wiping my forehead with the back of my hand.
“Indeed, I wonder if this place is going to become dangerous too.”
“Good grief, when are we ever going to repair all this damage…?”
One of the villagers who had come running over rubbed his chest in relief while repeatedly glancing at the fallen magical beast.
I could see that the mercenaries who had arrived with the villagers were eyeing the magical beast greedily.
Apparently, they had been prepared to fight, because every single one of them had brought their weapons.
“We should probably clear this thing away, so if you don’t mind, may we take care of it?”
Since removing the magical beast was work in itself just to obtain a piece of its loot, I decided to leave it to them.
My heart was already feeling unsettled.
Since it was a large magical beast, they could probably make quite a bit of money by removing and selling even its hide.
“Oh, would you do that? As you can see, it’s quite a large one.”
“If you let us keep the loot that comes from it as well, we’ll clean everything up perfectly.”
“Oh, would you really? Then I’ll be on my way… Ah, right, that building over there is the mercenary guild I run, and there are requests from clients looking for people to collect monster loot, so if you haven’t visited yet, be sure to stop by! Our fees are incredibly cheap, too! Well, I’ll be going now!”
After finishing my little advertisement, I deliberately staggered slightly, and Nijella immediately sensed it and rushed over to support me.
“Our Representative needs to rest, so move aside, quickly!”
At that, the crowd parted down the middle as though the sea itself had split apart.
I bowed repeatedly in response to their concerned greetings and left the scene.
Only after we had made our way out of the crowd did I straighten myself from where I had been leaning against Nijella.
“See? That’s why it was easy to solve.”
“Even so, you were in far too much danger.”
“If a Follower magical beast had appeared, it would have been a real disaster.”
“Do you really think I would go down that easily?”
“See? Now even the mercenaries who didn’t trust me because I’m the Representative are going to come here.”
Nijella shook her head from side to side.
“Maybe I should have taken the magical beast’s heart separately.”
“What a waste.”
“Representative!”
“All right, all right.”
