In the midst of cherry blossom petals dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.
Indeed, some monsters, such as fire-breathing lizards and forest wolves with jumping abilities that defy Earth's common sense, can use magic. However, Mile accepted these abilities as a matter of course, thinking, "They must have these abilities because they are from another world," and did not particularly question them.
However, while wyverns do have a relatively "flight-capable build," it was still mysterious how ancient dragons could fly with their small wings and large bodies.
The fact is, monsters cannot use complex human languages, so they can focus on strongly desiring the desired outcome without being distracted by the effort of forming words, which sometimes allows them to cast powerful magic that surpasses humans. Moreover, Mile recalled that the so-called "god" had said, "It reacts to the thought waves of living beings and causes various phenomena." He said "living beings," not "humans." Additionally, when Mile first spoke with the nanomachines, they mentioned, "Humans and other ordinary living beings are set to an initial level of 1."
Returning to the story, the four members of "The Red Oath" heard more about the wyverns from the villagers. Summarizing what they heard, it was roughly as follows:
About two and a half months ago, wyverns began appearing every 12 days, each time capturing one cow, horse, or sheep. At first, everyone was too afraid to do anything, but when they realized the wyverns were not harming humans, they became a bit complacent. On the third or fourth appearance, some villagers mustered the courage to protect their livestock and were chased by an angry wyvern, narrowly escaping. However, the wyvern seemed to be playing, as it did not show any intention of fatally attacking the villagers, who understood that the wyvern was only trying to protect its territory.
When the villagers reported this to the guild branch and the lord's residence in the capital, the lord, who was initially uninterested, changed his attitude upon learning that the wyverns appeared regularly. He thought that if they could reliably encounter the wyverns, he could train his troops with minimal expense, promote himself as a good lord, and boast of his strong army.
Moreover, it was the lord's duty to prevent damage to his territory. On the other hand, the guild does not issue requests on its own except in emergencies. Without a request from the lord, they would not take action. They are not a charity, and hunters do not accept requests without payment. The responsibility and convenience of slaying wyverns lie with the lord and the state, not the guild. The guild only acts after receiving a request, except in emergencies.
However, the combined strength of all the hunters in the territory could surpass the lord's army, so it was stipulated that information about powerful monsters must be reported to the guild in case of emergencies. The villagers were simply following this rule.
The lord then sent an 18-member extermination team consisting of mages to bring the wyvern to the ground, archers, javelin throwers, and spear and swordsmen to finish it off. This was a sufficient force. Although they did not include a hunter with experience fighting wyverns as an advisor, no one would complain about the strength of the force against a single wyvern.
On the next day of the wyvern's attack, the villagers, who had been instructed to stay indoors due to the danger, saw, a few hours later, battered soldiers and magicians desperately casting healing spells on the severely injured, who were also in a terrible state.
There were 3 deaths, 6 severely injured, 5 lightly injured, 1 missing, and 1 cow. Half of the severely injured were unlikely to return to service. The commander, though shocked by the unexpected heavy losses, judged that the mission was completed since the wyvern had been driven away. He informed the villagers and withdrew, his steps heavy.
The villagers were relieved that the wyvern would no longer attack. This lasted until 12 days later.
...And 12 days after the battle with the lord's troops, the wyvern reappeared. In other words, the wyvern did not think it had lost at all. It had scattered the weaklings who challenged it, grabbed its prey in victory, and returned. There was no reason for it to avoid this hunting ground.
The villagers, who had not prepared, were panicked when the wyvern took a valuable young cow. They hurriedly reported to the lord's residence and the hunter's guild, but the response from the lord's residence was not good. After that, hunters began to arrive sporadically. ...The villagers learned from these hunters that the lord had issued a request to the hunters rather than sending his own troops.
To the villagers, it didn't matter who defeated the wyvern. If the lord paid the reward, that was a welcome development. ...However.
The first group. The second group. The third group. The hunters kept retreating. Rumors spread that other groups had suffered significant losses and had to stop or disband. Eventually, there were no more hunters in the area, and it was then that "The Red Oath" appeared.
"...It's pretty much as I expected. The flow of the story isn't strange, except for one point..."
"Yeah, that's right. Everyone is acting according to their own convenience."
"That's true. But..."
"「The wyvern is too strong and too smart!」"
Indeed, that was the only thing that seemed out of place.
"It's natural that the request sent to the capital didn't have detailed information."
Indeed, as Reina said, request forms do not include unnecessary information, especially if it would be disadvantageous to the requester. Lies are strictly forbidden, and intentionally hiding important information is also prohibited. In such cases, the deposit is forfeited, and future requests may incur increased guarantees or fees. If the omission endangers hunters, it can lead to criminal charges, such as "reckless endangerment."
However, in this case, the fact and the danger of "slaying one wyvern" remain unchanged. Whether the lord's troops or other hunter parties failed does not change the fact that they failed to slay the wyvern. It could be that the wyvern was strong, or the troops and hunters were weak. No one knows, so there was no need to write such things in the request. Moreover, it would be counterproductive to write unverified information that might reduce the number of takers or lead to price negotiations.
On the other hand, mentioning the wyvern's regular behavior might have attracted more takers, but it could also raise suspicions about why the lord's troops were not handling it, which would be inconvenient.
"So, what do we do...?"
"Normally, we just fight it head-on and defeat it."
"Yeah, there's no other way..."
Reina, Pauline, and Mavis were right. Whether the wyvern was particularly intelligent or had some hidden agenda, "The Red Oath" had one job: to slay the wyvern. They were not secret agents or investigators. They had no special authority or such a request.
Their only mission was to "slay the wyvern."
After gathering more information from the villagers, the four members of "The Red Oath" had lunch and dinner at a tavern and returned to their inn. The villagers were surprised to see the three small members, except for the relatively light eater Mavis, eating heartily. They had skipped lunch, and it's a hunter's rule to eat when they can, especially in a safe place where being full and slow is not a concern.
Pauline and Mavis seemed a bit embarrassed eating in front of the villagers who hadn't eaten, but Reina and Mile didn't seem to mind. Reina saw eating as part of her job as a hunter, and Mile was just hungry.
It seemed that Mile's body in this life burned calories less efficiently than in his previous life...