Inside the moving carriage, Ian stared blankly at the scenery beyond the window.
With his chin propped on one hand, he looked thoroughly disreputable, without the slightest trace of aristocratic dignity. However, there was no one present to criticize him.
He was alone inside the carriage. Perhaps they found the thought of sitting with him uncomfortable, for Mael and Marie had amicably taken their places on the driver’s bench and were handling the horses together.
Aside from the occasional sound of the two bickering out of boredom, the journey was peaceful overall.
‘This is nice. Truly.’
Although he had seen such scenery every day since his regression, it still felt remarkably unfamiliar.
That was how brutal his previous life had been.
Perhaps the Twelve Lords, known as the representatives of God, had been defeated by the Outer Gods. Whatever the reason, their presence had grown increasingly faint with each passing year.
Countless people had cried out the Lords’ names, only to be met with despair.
Considering how often rumors spread that even the Champions under their protection had been slaughtered by Apostles of the Outer Gods, perhaps it had been inevitable.
Whenever such rumors circulated, the servants of the Outer Gods seemed to swarm across the entire world.
There had been madmen driven insane by the hopeless circumstances, priests who worshiped the Outer Gods—the enemies of humanity—and mages who pursued forbidden and wicked knowledge.
Bandits who took advantage of the chaos had proliferated as well. It had truly been an age worthy of being called the end of the world.
Wherever one went, there were crows tearing flesh from corpses. Whenever one climbed a mountain, it was common to encounter snarling monsters.
Yes.
That was the sort of world it had been.
It had not been beautiful and overflowing with life like this.
Ian narrowed his eyes.
The forests burned.
The land decayed.
The sky became stained a deep violet.
The scenes from that time flickered before him until they finally began to overlap with the landscape outside.
“!”
Startled, Ian tried to straighten his slouched body, but strangely, it refused to move.
He could not so much as twitch a finger.
That was not all.
His head began to throb, his vision spun, and nausea churned in his stomach.
Was he suffering from motion sickness?
He tried to tell them to stop the carriage, but even his voice would not emerge.
His breath grew short.
He could not breathe properly.
Ian squeezed his eyes shut.
When he opened them again, however, nothing had happened.
“……”
The carriage was leisurely climbing a hill along the road, and the scenery outside remained endlessly beautiful.
The forest boasted lush greenery, the land was fertile, and the sky stretched high and blue above it.
Aside from the cold sweat covering his body, nothing hurt.
He was perfectly fine.
‘It was a dream.’
A profound sense of relief surged from within him.
It lasted only a moment.
Ian could not conceal the heaviness in his heart.
Since he had regressed, it was not difficult to guess that what he had seen was the future awaiting them.
He had an ominous feeling.
It felt as though something terrible was about to happen.
RATTLE.
A small window in the wall connecting the passenger compartment to the driver’s bench slid open.
When Ian turned toward it, he saw the helmet of a Red Spear Knight.
“Young Master.”
Judging by the voice, it was Mael.
“There is a village nearby. Would you like to stop and rest for a while?”
“A village?”
“Yes. It is called Dioble Village. It is fairly large, and we will reach it as soon as we cross this hill. We stopped there briefly on our way to the villa, and there is a clean restaurant that serves excellent potato gratin. I am certain it would suit your tastes.”
A hollow laugh escaped Ian.
Gratin.
Yes, it was not a bad dish. He had eaten it often during his years of wandering.
Just as he was about to agree, Ian sensed a strange ripple of mana and heard an eerie, spine-chilling sound.
SCREEEEEECH—!
The reverberation was deeply unpleasant.
It was more than enough to jolt his wandering mind into alertness.
Ian knew what the sound meant.
Anyone living in this era would recognize it.
It was a warning that the forces of an Outer God were tearing through the dimensions.
“Mael!”
Ian shouted urgently.
“Stop the carriage immediately!”
“We are doing so!”
The excited horses were thrashing wildly, causing the carriage to shake violently.
However, as expected of the animals used by a prestigious noble family, they were no ordinary breed. They soon calmed, and the carriage began to slow.
The moment it came to a complete stop, Ian threw open the door and leaped out.
The sound had come from somewhere nearby.
‘Where?’
He whipped his head around and searched the surroundings, but he saw nothing.
Suddenly, he recalled hearing that several villages near the villa had been trampled by monsters pouring out of an Outer Gate around this time.
‘Could this be where it began?’
Driven by suspicion, Ian sprinted up the remainder of the hill.
Below, facing the village, an Outer Gate was opening.
A fissure had appeared in the air as though someone had torn paper apart with their fingernails, and light flowed from it like blood rippling through a haze.
The light was somewhere between yellow and orange.
Conveniently, the danger posed by an Outer Gate could be divided into five colors.
Yellow, orange, red, violet, and black.
Which meant the one before him was—
‘Grade 4.’
That was bad.
Had it been Grade 5, there would have been no reason to be this alarmed. With two Red Spear Knights accompanying him, they could have handled it without difficulty.
But if it was equivalent to Grade 4, three people alone would struggle.
They might still manage.
The species of monster that emerged would be the most important factor.
However, the greater variable was their number.
There was no way to know how many would come through.
If the number was moderate, they could manage. If there were too many, some might slip past them.
Should even a portion of them head toward the village, a considerable number of people would die.
Ian turned and looked back at Mael and Marie, who were still beside the carriage.
They were geniuses.
They possessed overwhelming talent and skill worthy of it. They must also have completed every mission entrusted to them thus far.
That was probably why Diol had sent only the two of them to the villa without assigning a senior knight to accompany them.
“……”
Ian did not deliberate for long.
He returned to the carriage and searched through his luggage.
A bow and arrows.
The gamekeeper had obtained them for him.
They were not exceptional weapons, but they were respectable enough.
“There is a Grade 4 Outer Gate below the hill.”
“Then we must turn back.”
“And call for reinforcements?”
“We have no messenger, so we will have to wait. Remaining here is dangerous, so I believe we should return to the villa first.”
“No.”
Ian answered firmly.
“If monsters emerging from an Outer Gate are not exterminated immediately, matters become troublesome. You know that. They multiply at an astonishing rate. Did they not teach you that in the order?”
“They did. I also understand the importance of an immediate response. However, it would be dangerous for only the two of us.”
“What are you talking about? Marie is here as well. There are three of us.”
“No. There are two. You appear to be mistaken. When I said two, I meant Marie and myself.”
“…You did not even count me as part of our fighting strength?”
Mael nodded as though the answer required no consideration.
“Surely that is obvious. You have neither armor nor a sword. What do you intend to fight with? That bow and those arrows? I will speak frankly. Monsters are different from ordinary beasts. You may be able to wound one with those, but you will not be able to finish it.”
There was a way.
He only needed to strike a vital point, such as the space between the eyes.
However, hitting the vital point of a monster that was faster and tougher than an ordinary beast was impossible for anyone but a seasoned hunter.
Even then, one needed to remain calm while shooting.
Few possessed the courage to maintain such composure with a monster directly before them.
After their duel the previous day, Mael had acknowledged that Ian was highly skilled with a sword.
That did not mean he believed Ian was equally capable in real combat.
The danger was far too great for them to act out of empty ambition.
“Do you think I am unaware of that? Do not worry. I have a method I can rely on. Besides, if we turn our backs on this Outer Gate… matters will not end peacefully.”
Ian turned and climbed the hill again.
Mael and Marie hurried after him.
However, they could not bring themselves to seize his arm and drag him away.
Because he bore the Berger name, they could not act rashly against him.
They followed anxiously to the top of the hill and confirmed the Outer Gate below.
Their expressions were hidden beneath their helmets, but the atmosphere around them visibly stiffened.
“As I said, it is either Grade 5 or Grade 4. A hundred well-trained soldiers—no, even fifty—could handle it without much difficulty. But do you think a village protected by nothing more than a wooden palisade would have soldiers of that caliber stationed there?”
“……”
“Of course not. It is somewhat large for a village located in a place like this. It has a reasonably sturdy palisade, and judging by the alarm bell, it seems to maintain its own militia. But do you think there is anyone among them whose skill we can rely upon?”
“Probably not.”
“Exactly. If we leave them alone, they will become food for the monsters. Do you intend to stand by and watch that happen? As Red Spear Knights? Did the knights of House Berger not swear to protect the eastern region?”
“…You are correct. However, we are currently carrying out a mission. Our mission takes precedence over our broader duty. Therefore, your safety is what we must concern ourselves with at present.”
“My safety?”
Ian laughed.
It struck him anew that he was being protected by two people who would soon become heroes of the eastern region.
“How reassuring.”
No sooner had he spoken than another strange ripple of mana spread outward, signaling that the Outer Gate had fully opened.
The sensation passing over his body was deeply unpleasant.
A moment later, the roar of beasts came from within.
Then monsters began pouring out in tangled groups, emerging in five separate waves.
‘Five. Eight. Six. Seven. Nine….’
Thirty-five in total.
Fortunately, there were not that many.
For an Outer Gate, that number was relatively small.
Although it was difficult to establish an average, the largest number of monsters Ian had ever seen emerge from a single Outer Gate had reached several hundred.
His relief lasted only a moment before he immediately examined their appearance.
Their faces resembled wolves. Their bodies were covered entirely in fur, and they were larger than children but smaller than adults.
They had four limbs and walked upright on two legs.
Ian instantly recalled the name of their species.
‘Hyullang.’
The name was formed from the characters for deceit and wolf.
They had been named as such because of their tenacious vitality and their habit of feigning death.
First discovered in the Garam Empire, they possessed exceptionally powerful jaws.
Their claws were also sharp. It was common for a single swipe to tear away a deep chunk of flesh, so few things were more valuable than armor when fighting them.
Ian spoke again.
“If you are truly concerned about my safety, then you will need to fight beside me. I apologize for forcing your hand.”
“You are placing us in a difficult position.”
“I imagine so. Still, are we not fortunate?”
“…In what way?”
“They are Hyullangs. We would have had far more trouble if something else had emerged.”
Mael nodded reluctantly.
“Hyullangs are… indeed relatively low-ranking compared to other monsters. Marie and I should be able to handle them. However, their number is somewhat concerning.”
“Even if you use mana?”
“Marie and I are still only Level 2.”
Ian had assumed they would be Level 3.
Then again, they were still in the middle of their growth.
The fact that they had already reached Level 2 was impressive enough.
And in the current situation, it should be sufficient.
Ian watched the Hyullangs struggle upright.
As though instinctively sensing where their prey waited, they were staring toward the village opposite them.
Perhaps the frantic ringing of the bell suspended above the palisade was attracting their attention even more strongly.
‘Twenty-four.’
That was the number of arrows in his quiver.
He did not need to count them.
It was the number he had always carried whenever he went hunting with the gamekeeper.
Ian drew one.
The arrowhead had been sharpened to a vicious point that looked capable of piercing anything.
He set it against the bowstring.
Raising the hand gripping the bow above his head, he pushed it forward in one smooth motion.
The string naturally drew taut.
Mael watched him from the side.
Ian smiled.
“Trust me.”