Chapter of Grim Reality: The Bright Dawn

“Cough! Cough! Ugh… It hurts...”

My whole body hurt. Just now, a bright light had covered my vision and the very next instant everything hurt as if someone had thrown me into a thresher and minced me into meat paste.

“Cough… Sis… Cough… Are you here?”

I forced my eyes open, hoping to get an understanding of what had happened, but I was only met with darkness. Which was odd, considering I could see in the dark.

Just what… happened?

My body wouldn’t move either. I tried to get up but neither my arms nor my legs would move. It was like something heavy was pressing down on me and restraining my body. Or maybe it was pressing me up? I couldn’t quite get my bearings. Or rather, I had no idea where was up and where was down.

“Sis? Uhh… You there?”

“... Mnngh.”

Just as I was beginning to worry, a groan entered my ears. Oddly enough, from right next to my ear.

“... Yumi?”

“Ah! Sis!”

“Ngh… What happened? Mh… Can’t move...”

Karen tried to move, squirming around.

“Wait, Sis, don’t move. Ahngh! Hurts! It hurts!”

“Eh? Yumi? What hurts?”

“That! Your leg!”

“... Ah? Ah!”

Grinding the hauberk into my unprotected side was anything but pleasant…

“Sorry, Yumi.”

“... It’s fine.”

“So, uhm… What is this? I can’t see anything.”

“Neither can I.”

The most I could move were the fingers on my hand… Though… My hair should be able to reach around, shouldn’t it? Well, let’s se—

“Yumi! Karen! Are you all right?”

“... Miss Elder?”

“I will free you in but a moment. Hold on.”

“Nn?”

Free us?

Just as I was wondering what the Elder was talking about, light pierced into my eyes, blinding me for the second time tonight.

“You two seem unharmed. That is pleasant to see.”

I opened my eyes, squinting at our surroundings. Tree barks, rubble, a paved road and a pair of thin legs. The latter being attached to the Elder, who was peering down on us in relief. And then there was Karen who was apparently below me.

“I would recommend getting up soon, lest you get hurt for real, this time.”

The Elder reached out a hand to help me get up. Once I was up on my feet again, I could finally discern what was happening… and what had happened. There were several thick tree roots at the spot Karen and I had been, covering us and likely shielding us. Judging from the large amounts of rubble, the building next to us had collapsed. However…

“Miss Elder… What was that bright light I saw?”

“Mhm, you’re better off seeing for yourself. Look, over there.”

She pointed in the direction we had come from… probably come from. A thick pink-coloured fog prevented us from seeing anything.

“What the… What is that?”

“I do not know. But it is dangerous so do not go in there. Everything inside that fog has lost its form and collapsed.”

“... I see. What about the Captain and the others?”

“Everyone got out fine. Nobody has been hurt, but I wager we have lost some supplies. The mercenaries are still engaged to the roper, though.”

“So they’re fine.”

I heaved a breath of relief, hearing this news.

“How long were we out, Miss Elder?” asked Karen.

“Scarce a moment. I hurried over and freed you as quickly as possible.”

“I see. Thank you for protecting us.”

“It’s fine. Think nothing of it.”

Karen threw a glance at the fog and furrowed her brows.

“We should return to Mr Captain.”

“Mhm, he is on the other side of the fog and I have my doubts you two could traverse it.”

We could walk around it but… We had no idea how far the fog extended. In the worst case, it could go far beyond the village borders. As I thought about that, Karen let out a small gasp and turned to the Elder.

“Miss Elder, didn’t you follow behind Mr Captain? Did you go through that fog?”

“I did, indeed. If it is just for a short while, I can protect myself. Long enough to carry my own self through the fog.”

She could protect herself from that fog? Then— Ah, but we couldn’t protect ourselves, so… Yeah… Upon closer inspection, the equipment the Elder was wearing was damaged in some parts, as if someone had poured acid on it and watched it dissolve.

“The Captain has orders for you two as well. Rejoin with the nearest mercenaries or preferably with Bolard. In the case of the latter, continue the barrage. Otherwise, support the nearby mercenaries however you see fit.”

“Support them…”

How would we even support them, though?

“I believe finding the crossbowman named Bolard would be more advantageous right now. Nonetheless, nothing will change as long as we keep standing here.”

“... You’re right. Sis, Miss Elder, let’s go.”

“That we shall.”

“Okay!”

The three of us nodded at each other and then made our way through the village’s buildings, back to the battle against the roper.

---

“There. Over there.”

I pointed at the nearby group of mercenaries. Half a dozen men, three of them holding onto ropes, two shooting with their crossbows and the last one observing the battle.

We approached them and the observing man turned around to us.

“Oh. You three…”

The man raised his eyebrows in surprise at seeing us, then broke out into a smile.

“Good to see you are fine. Any injuries?”

“None, Mr Bolard.,” answered Karen.

“Good to hear.”

Bolard nodded, then turned his eyes back to the roper.

“Take a look at that bastard. After it spewed out whatever the hell that was, this happened.”

“Nn?”

Curious, I followed his gaze and…

“It’s… curled up?”

“Sure is. No idea what the hell it is doing. But it hasn’t attacked since then. On the other hand, we can’t do jackshit about it either.”

The mountain of a roper had used all of its tentacles to cover itself up. Looking at it like this, it was quite clear how it had three or four tentacles which were exceedingly larger than all the others. And a lot tougher as well… The crossbow bolts that had struck it were falling out one after another, leaving not even a single scratch.

“It’s regenerating?”

“Seems like it. We’re just wasting ammunition like this if you ask me. Well, we got plenty to spare but if it keeps this up for longer… Anyway, have you girls seen a good vantage point? ”

“A vantage point? No…”

We didn’t look for one either. The Elder and Karen were also shaking their heads.

“Too bad. I’d rather not stand in the alleys when it decides to spew that fog again. And all these buildings look like they’d collapse the second I climb up. Well, beggars can’t be choosers.”

Bolard scratched the back of his head as he continued to watch over the roper. The roper that still hadn’t moved away from that point… Speaking of which...

“... Hey. Wasn’t the plan supposed to lure it into the centre of the village?”

“It was, yes. No clue why it still stands there at the entrance.”

“Nn…”

“Some men already moved up the road to get a decent shot at it. Doesn’t look like it plans to move away from there either.”

Curled up as it was, it surely wasn’t going to…

“Right. Do you girls have any clue as to why it is curled up? I dunno, some magic or something?”

“Magic? Nn… Doesn’t look like it.”

It didn’t really look like it was using any magic… It was just curled up and doing… nothing. Well, it was being a pain since the mercenaries couldn’t do anything against it either… At least, not with the crossbows.

“Nothing, huh. Well, in that case, we should hurry up and get a few more shots out.”

“But didn’t you leave behind your stuff?”

“Sure did, but I kept some in reserve. And I doubt we’ll get many shots out if we don’t hurry.”

“Nn? Why?”

“You don’t think all we do is shoot at it with crossbows, right?”

Err, no, I didn’t. But what could they do with it being curled up?

“Well, you’ll see, so let’s get up here and shoot some more.”

He pointed at a nearby building with a grin. It was a little taller than the other buildings. But before we could set off…

“GYEEEEHHH!!!”

The roper screamed, uncurling and revealing itself once more. Its large eyeballs were bloodshot, looking around the area haphazardly… before they all settled to look in a single direction…

“Girl.”

“...”

“Did you kill that roper’s parents or what?”

“No… I think not...”

Its eyes were all directed at us. No, they were directed at me. A piercing glare, completely ignoring everything else.

“GYEEEEHHH!!!”

The large tentacles stretched out in our direction, high up in the air, casting a shadow on us.

“Oh sh— Run!”

“Yumi!”

“Nn. Wah!”

Karen grabbed me, this time by the waist and ran away, carrying me along. The Elder was next to us and the other mercenaries, Bolard included, scattered away, disappearing into the alleys between the buildings…

“Incoming! Protect your head!”

The first tentacle smashed down, straight into the alleyway we had just occupied. The walls of the surrounding buildings got flattened and debris flew through the air. Then, as if it wasn’t enough, it swept to the side, through the buildings and clearing the area entirely, leaving only some meagre remains of the foundation.

“GYEEEEHHH!!!”

Before the dust could settle, I heard several more impacts. Likely the other tentacles having crashed into and cleared the surroundings.

After gaining some more distance, Karen stopped in her tracks and let me down.

“... What the hell? Why is it after me?”

“...”

Neither Karen nor the Elder answered. Or more like, they couldn’t answer. None of us knew why it was attacking.

“It’s not coming after us… is it?” asked Karen.

“... It doesn’t look like it will. Mayhap it cannot follow us?”

As the dust cleared away, we once more could see the large roper, rooted at the same spot as before… and its eyes still trained on me.

“GYEEEEHHH!!! GYEEEHH!!!”

It screamed… but it didn’t move…

“Are we… actually safe here?”

The large tentacles were stretched out on the ground, trying to reach towards us. But the distance was too great. On the other hand, the mercenaries weren’t letting this chance go to waste, shooting at the opened eyes.

“GYEEEHHHHAAA!!!”

It retracted its tentacles in an attempt to protect the eyes from the barrage. Alas, plenty of them still got through and hurt the roper in the process.

“Yumi. Look there.”

“Nn? Where?”

“Below the roper.”

“Nn?”

I tried to follow where the Elder was pointing at. Below the roper? The ground, she meant? What was with the…

“... What the hell?”

I was seeing things, wasn’t I? Yeah, I definitely was. There was no way that huge mountain of a roper was stuck to the ground because of the tentacle growth, right? Actually, why was part of that tentacle growth covering the lower side of that roper?!

“I am not seeing things, Miss Elder? Am I?”

“You are not seeing things, Yumi. The roper is stuck, literally, on your tentacle growth...”

“...”

Seriously… At least, now we knew why it wasn’t moving away from its spot. It really couldn’t.

“GYEEEEHHH!!!”

Stuck at that spot and only able to defend itself… Bolts and spears sticking out of its body, the latter attached to ropes. I could see several more spears stabbing into one of the large tentacles, tying it down to the ground.

“GYEEH!”

The roper attempted in vain to lift the tentacle and before it could free itself with the others, they were tied down as well, immobilising the roper entirely.

“... They’re actually keeping it restrained.”

It couldn’t move. It couldn’t attack. It was completely at their mercy now.

“Yumi, Karen. The fog seems to have lifted.”

“Nn? Ah, you’re right.”

“... We should look for Mr Captain then.”

“Nn, I agree.”

The roper couldn’t do anything in its current state. Unless, of course, it tried to use that magic fog again but there were no indicators to that. But nonetheless, it was still alive and well. Its wounds kept regenerating.

“Let’s go.”

“Nn.”

Having decided that it’d be best to return to Korwen, the three of us made our way through the area that had been covered in the fog. Looking at it like this… What in the blazes was that fog? The entire area was… empty, except for a small part of the building we had stood on originally. Everything behind it was just… gone. Not even rubble remained as if everything had just… disintegrated.

Scary… It’s a little like the mana grenades, leaving nothing behind.

The mana crystals, when exploding, also seemed to disintegrate their surroundings, rather than exploding with a shockwave and all that stuff.

“Yumi, I can see him.”

“Nn? Oh, that was quick.”

Korwen stood atop a building, overlooking the fight with the roper. We quickly climbed up to join him.

“Captain.”

“Mh? What, you three are here? What happened to that… It’s gone?”

He stared at the area with the fog, his eyes wide in surprise.

“Mhm… So it doesn’t last long. That’s good. That’s good.”

After nodding to himself with a satisfied smile, he turned to us.

“Yumi, take your banner and get up here.”

“Nn? But I couldn’t…”

“There.”

He pointed at the ground next to him. Much to my surprise, the banner was there, even though I couldn’t save it when we were attacked by the roper. But… it looked a little damaged.

“It got roughed up a little but it survived, same for Bolard’s crossbow and all that stuff.”

“... How did you even manage to get it out of there?”

“By virtue of the woman next to you.”

“Nn?”

The woman next to me? Karen had been with me the entire time so…

“Miss Elder?”

“Mm. Even without a forest at my bidding, I can still do some minor things. Bringing some items out of there without entering was not particularly hard. Your magician friend can do the same, I wager.”

“I see…”

As amazing as ever… Not only did she protect us from a collapsed building without even being present, but she also collected our things and managed to traverse that fog on her lonesome.

“Anyway, get up and do your job.”

“Ah, yes, Captain.”

My job... was it… Yes, that was my job. I walked up to the banner and lifted it—albeit with some difficulties. Looking over it, I could see that Korwen was right. It took a slight beating. The shaft was damaged and the flag itself had some holes. But despite all that, it was still in one piece. I somehow could imagine Wormaz screaming already, though…

It’s not my fault, though… This was completely out of my hands…

Suppressing a sigh, I stood next to Korwen, holding the banner straight. Seeing that I was back at my spot, Korwen nodded and returned his attention frontwards again.

“If you see it using magic, inform me immediately.”

“Nn, I will do that.”

“Good. Now then... Miss Elder.“

“Yes, Mr Korwen?”

“Do you know if Yumelia is still watching from the forest?”

Right, Yumelia was watching the situation from afar…

“... I apologise but I am too far from the forest to say for sure. I believe she hasn’t moved, however.”

“Hasn’t moved, huh. Mhm.”

Korwen rubbed his chin, lost in thought from the looks of it.

“In that case, I guess it’s time.”

“Time?”

“To finish this.”

To finish this, he said? He wanted to finish the roper? Before I could ask what he was planning, he lifted his arm, signalling the other mercenaries.

“Captain… How are you planning to kill that… roper?”

“With brute force.”

He smirked at my question as if he thought it amusing.

“You will see it soon. Look.”

“Nn?”

He gestured with his chin towards the village centre. A group of just under two dozen mercenaries was lining up, heavily armoured with large weapons like axes, halberds and hammers at the ready.

“So, how about it? Want to give the signal?”

“... Eh? Me?”

“Yes, you. It is part of your job.”

“But…”

“What, not good enough for you?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then do it.”

“...”

Forceful, wasn’t he. It was such an important thing, though, wasn’t it? And that made me all the more nervous. Although, I really had to get used to it, so…

“Nn, I understand. I’ll do it.”

“Good. Then, just repeat what I’ll tell you for now, just like the other times.”

“Nn.”

I just had to repeat his words… Nothing else. Bracing myself for it, I turned my gaze to the mercenaries who were getting ready.

“Well then, you ready?”

“... Nn.”

I took a deep breath, waiting for Korwen’s words. 

“Dragon Knights! Now is the time to show this monstrosity what we are made of! Show no mercy and make us proud! Fight, fight and kill! For the Lomerian Dragon Knights!”

“””WOOOHHHH”””

“GYEEEEEEHHHHH!!!”

The twenty-odd men roared and charged at the bound roper, still unable to free itself. The first few jumped up, despite their heavy armour, and landed on top of the large tentacles. Their weapons promptly sunk into the flesh, cutting through. Chunks of flesh and pink-coloured blood flew through the air as they mercilessly hacked the tentacles. The roper could only scream in pain as the first tentacle was completely severed from its body, lying limp on the ground and the stump flailing in the air.

The other mercenaries similarly jumped onto the tentacles and hacked them to pieces, until none of the large tentacles remained.

“... Amazing.”

That was all I could say to it. With roaring shouts, they swung their weapons and systematically stripped the roper down. The cut-off tentacles were immediately pulled away by the other mercenaries, keeping them out of reach of the mother roper.

“Mhm, looks good, doesn’t it. Maybe we won’t even need Ria’s help.”

Having cut the large tentacles off, the mercenaries turned their attention to the roper’s main body. They surrounded it and hacked into the body, cutting off the smaller tentacles covering the body. One mercenary dared to jump up and thrust his halberd into the large eyeball.

“GYEEEHHH!!! GRYEEEEEEIIIIIHHHH!!!”

Screams of pain echoed through the air as the mercenary ripped the eyeball out of the mother roper’s body. A feat of inexplicable strength, defying all I knew and expected. I thought that Lily was already utterly ridiculous, being able to cleave through a tree. But these men… They were even further removed from what I deemed common sense.

“GYEEEEE!!!”

“Nn?”

Suddenly, I felt something happening… odd.

“Captain, it’s doing something.”

“Again that fog?”

“No… I don’t think so. Huh?”

The mana wasn’t centred around a single eyeball. Instead, it was flowing to the large crystal that was embedded in its body.

“Something… It’s doing something with that crystal.”

“The crystal? I see…”

Korwen’s eyes narrowed, watching the crystal. Yet, he made no indication of ordering the mercenaries back.

“Captain, shouldn’t we call them back?”

“Their armour protects them from most magic. Even if it should cast that fog again, they’ll have enough time to get out. And in the first place… Watch.”

“Nn?”

Returning my attention to the roper, I could see several mercenaries jumping and climbing the roper, en route to the large crystal. They hacked their weapons into its body and used them as crutches, pulling themselves up, bit by bit. The roper was still gathering mana by the time the first mercenaries reached the crystal. Without delay, they began to hack into the surrounding flesh. Just like digging, they scooped out the surrounding flesh.

“GYEEEEHHHH!!!”

The mountain of a roper wobbled to the sides, in an attempt to shake off the mercenaries. To no avail, they weren’t even the slightest disturbed by the unsteady ground.

“GYAARRHHHHH!!!”

The crystal moved, sliding down just ever so slightly. Maybe the mother roper realised that it wouldn’t finish whatever it was doing in time as the shaking and wobbling grew intenser.

“Mm? Yumi, what’s that, above the crystal?”

“Nn?”

Above the crystal? Ah there… There was something… A small muddy pink stone, rapidly growing in size.

“... A mana crystal?”

It was slightly see-through from the looks of it but it was without a doubt a mana crystal, wasn’t it? Actually, I felt like I had seen that before…

“Ah! Captain, it’s trying to create more ropers!”

“... I see. That would be a bother, wouldn’t it. Someone, get me Ria. And tell everyone to get ready for combat! We might have more enemies incoming!”

A nearby man saluted and then ran off, shouting all the while to get combat-ready. As for the mother roper…

“It’s coming…”

The mana gathering stopped, disappearing into the mana crystal that was the size of a soccer ball. Then, this muddy crystal… exploded, spreading its splinters everywhere.

“Woah!”

“Careful there!”

Korwen’s hand was right in front of me, having caught one of the crystal splinters that flew in my direction.

“Wait, what the hell!”

The splinter in Korwen’s hands suddenly grew tentacles, wrapping around his arms. He grabbed the crystal with his other free hand, ripped it off and crushed it in his hand, causing the newly grown tentacles to dry up and fall to the ground.

“Tsk, that’s quite a bother.”

All around us, we could hear mercenaries shouting, weapons being drawn and flesh being torn into. Dozens of small ropers had grown rapidly from the crystal splinters and were now engaged in combat with the mercenaries.

“WOOOOHHHH!”

“GYIIIIIRRRRRRHHHHHHH!!!”

Meanwhile, the mercenaries climbing the mother roper let out a shout of victory, as the large crystal slid down the mother roper’s body and hit the ground.

“Tsk, so it really wasn’t its main crystal, huh.”

“Huh?”

“GRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”

The mother roper screamed, shaking with an intensity unlike before, causing the mercenaries to finally lose their balance and tumble down. One mercenary was caught on the leg by small tentacles, jerking him back up. The force of which bent his entire leg in an impossible direction.

“AHHHHH!!!”

And a scream of pain escaped him, followed by him hacking randomly into the tentacles around him until they finally let him go. A nearby mercenary ran up to him, grabbed him under the shoulders and pulled him away to safety. A trail of blood followed them...

“Urgh…”

“Don’t look away. This, too, is your job.”

“But… That’s…”

“Averting your eyes won’t change what is happening. And as long as he is not dead, he can be saved.”

“... Nn.”

How could he watch this, without even twitching?

“Captain…”

“Mh? Ah, Ria. Took a while.”

“Mm… Some ropers… were in the… way…”

“I see.”

Korwen finally turned around to look at the woman behind us.

“How’s it looking?”

“Mhm… No signs… of her…”

“I see. Do you think it is safe for you to act?”

“Mm…”

Ria looked at Korwen for a few seconds, then her gaze wandered to the roper and finally to the forest.

“She missed… the best chance… The suns… will raise… soon… I doubt… she plans… to act… She lost… her advantage… So… Even without… my help… she’d get caught… easily...”

“I see. That’s unfortunate in itself but nothing we didn’t expect. In that case. Ria, I order you: Rip that mana crystal out of the mother roper’s body!”

“... Acknowledged… Captain.”

A rare smile crept up Ria’s lips. Similarly, Korwen smirked then faced back to the roper.

“Yumi. How about it, want to give the next order too?”

“Eh?”

“Just copy my words.”

“... In that case… Nn, I’ll do it.”

“Warming up to it, aren’t you?”

“Well…”

It was making me seriously nervous, shouting such important orders. But I noticed… somewhere inside… That I actually kind of wanted to… Seeing them act on the words I shouted… It was a hard-to-describe feeling. I knew I was just shouting the order’s Korwen had already decided upon but… It made me feel like I was doing something. Accomplishing something. As stupid as it sounded. I knew it wouldn’t change much whether it was me or Korwen who gave the order. I was just doing it right now to get used to it. But on the inside, it was still a pleasant experience.

“... I might be warming up to it.”

“That’s good to hear. Well then, let’s get this show on the road.”

“Nn!”

I took a deep breath, waiting for Korwen.

“Men, into cover! Magic incoming! Into cover! Magic incoming!”

Exhausting all the air in my lungs—assuming I had them—I shouted the warning with all my might. Not even a second later, the mercenaries ran away from the mother roper… Some of them looking a little too scared. They were more scared of Ria shooting them accidentally than they were of a monster of this size. Watching it was a little… ironic?

“Mm… Well then…”

Ria stepped forward, taking out a small flask with a yellow-brownish liquid. She removed the stopper and emptied the flask in front of us, pouring the liquid onto the ground.

“*****! *****! **** *** ***** ** ***** ** ** ** *** *****! ******* *** **** ***** *****!”

“Huh?

Unfamiliar words left Ria’s mouth. Like a chant for a spell. It wasn’t my first time seeing it but it was the first time I could make out the words. Not that it helped, seeing as I couldn’t understand them in the least. Then, not even a moment later, the liquid she had poured on the floor rose into the air, absorbing an absurd quantity of mana from Ria and gathering around her hand. She  waved her hand a little and the liquid obediently followed her motions.

“Mm… Then…”

With a wide swing of her hand, Ria flung the liquid towards the roper. It scattered into small drops, making me wonder what in the hell it even was… At that moment, the roper screamed yet again, in pain.

“GYWAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Incomparably loud to all the other times, it screamed without letting off. I had to press my hands over my ears because it felt like my eardrums would burst. Squinting my eyes, I looked at the roper. Despite the screams, there were no additional wounds on its body.

While I was wondering what had even happened, Ria had begun to cast yet another spell, this time without any odd liquid. Her words were completely drowned out by the screaming roper so I had no idea anyway whether it was even the same chant. Ria motioned something with her hand. Wondering what was happening, I gazed at the roper again.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHHH!!!”

But except for it shaking and shouting in pain, I couldn’t see anything that wasn’t normal. That was, outwardly. Watching the mana, however… I saw something… that honestly scared the hell out of me. Small blots of mana were rapidly moving inside the roper’s body. They slowly gathered a certain spot inside the body, forming a small sphere around it. And then… the screaming stopped.

What.. just happened?

An eerie silence fell over the village, nobody was daring to make a sound. Slowly, ever so slowly, the large roper’s body lost its strength and slumped to the ground.

“Is it dead?” muttered Korwen after a while.

“It is… Captain...”

“...”

The large roper… The mother roper… had breathed its last… I turned around to look at Ria, only to see her pale complexion with sweat dripping down from her forehead. The magic had seemed simple but it was clear that it had drained a large amount of mana from her.

“Miss Elder. Can you sense Yumelia in the forest?”

“... With the mana settling down, it has become a little easier, yes. However… Yumelia has left, the moment the roper died.”

“... She left? Seriously?”

“Yes.”

Korwen sighed and then, much to my surprise, let himself fall to the ground, where he sat with his legs outstretched.

“Praise the Lord of War in heaven’s high… It’s over.”

It’s over… he said. I looked over the village. The mercenaries slowly came out of between the buildings, approaching the corpse. Some of them kicked against the body, only to jump back immediately in fear of retaliation. Yet, nothing happened. The body, the corpse, did not move. Once they realised that, the mercenaries raised the weapons high.

“”“WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!! VICTORY FOR THE DRAGON KNIGHTS!!! WOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!”””

They roared, they shouted, celebrating their win. They were nearly as loud as the final screams of the roper. But this time, I didn’t mind the noise. It was their way of expressing victory, after all. It’d be crude to cover my ears. Albeit, it still hurt a little.

It’s over, isn’t it? All of this...

Yumelia had fled but that was unavoidable. If she had been in the village when we attacked, things might have gone differently. Right now, I was just glad things had finished without the worst-case scenario happening.

“Yumi… Is it… Is it really done?”

“Nn. I think so, Sis.”

“I see… I see…”

Karen stared at the roper, her eyes wide. Maybe she couldn’t quite believe it. The mercenaries… They had veritably overwhelmed the roper in the end.

“Mm… I need… a break…”

Ria slumped down to the ground, sitting next to Korwen. Her face was still pale and sweat was slowly soaking her clothes.

“Good work, Ria.”

“Mm…”

“We’ll take care of everything else. Take a break.”

“Mm...”

Ria nodded vaguely, her eyes barely open. A moment later, they shut down and she slumped to the side, against Korwen’s shoulder.

“Hey, now… Ahh… I didn’t mean you can fall asleep like this…”

Despite that, he smiled at Ria.

“You did a good job. Sleep well.”

He cautiously moved her away from his shoulder, laying her down with her head resting on his legs.

“Seriously...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“What are you three grinning for?”

“””Nothing.”””

He grimaced at our answer that was completely in sync.

“Tsk… Whatever, we’re still not done here, you hear…”

“We aren’t?”

“Of course not. We have to clean this mess up. Especially that huge corpse. Getting that back will be a pain and I can already hear Will complaining to me even if we do.”

“Why would he complain?”

Shouldn’t he be happy that we dealt with this one as well?

“Because he’ll want those materials and those crystals. Well, depends on what he’ll offer. Either way, we got a lot of work left. Haaa…”

“Ahaha…”

Well, he wasn’t saying he wouldn’t give them away. If the offer was good enough…

“Oh? Well now… Guess that’s a good omen, isn’t it?”

“Nn?”

Korwen looked over to the forest, so I followed his gaze and… A large string of light was rising up over there, flooding the forest in an ephemeral light. The two suns just barely peeking over the forest, bathing everyone—the mercenaries, the roper’s corpse, the ruins of a village and, of course, us—in soft red light. The night was slowly turning into day.

“Right at dawn’s time. If that’s not a good omen, then I don’t know.”

“Nn.”