Chapter 12: Monster Extermination

Chapter 12:
Monster Extermination

 

AT LAST, time to exterminate some monsters!

I was in high spirits that morning. Monster extermination was a big part of the knight brigades’ job, and no matter where you were assigned, you’d eventually end up doing it sometime in your first year.

Today, Fabian and I were to join the Sixth Knight Brigade, which specialized in monster extermination. We were fresh recruits without any real combat experience, so our role was just to watch and learn from our seniors. Barring special circumstances, there’d be no fighting on our part.

We split into five units of twenty, with Fabian and me in Unit Three. Our destination was Starfall Forest, about an hour north of the royal capital by horse.

As I rode in the back of Unit Three, I felt a wave of nostalgia come over me. The towns and cities might have changed in the past three hundred years, but the forest hadn’t. Starfall Forest was the forest closest to the royal capital, and I’d visited it from time to time in my past life.

Upon reaching the forest, we split into our five units and received a quick explanation from our unit leaders. We were then each handed a small vial containing a sparkling liquid—a healing potion.

Ten of us would fight monsters, five would guard the saints, two would scout for monsters, and Fabian and I would be joined by one other knight to patrol in between as a precaution.

You read that right—the saints were here. I hadn’t so much as seen a saint in this life yet, so I was really looking forward to meeting one. But even after we finished preparing, received our explanations, and set off, I still hadn’t seen a single saint. Even weirder, the knights lined up in rows, like they were waiting for something to happen. The saints couldn’t have not arrived yet…could they?

After thirty minutes of waiting, five horse-drawn coaches arrived at the entrance of the forest. From the carriages stepped fifteen women in white robes. The highest-ranking knight present, Vice-Captain Guy, quickly moved to greet them. The remainder of the knights put their right fists across their hearts and lowered their heads—the knight salute. I quickly followed suit.

“Thank you for coming, Your Graces. I am Guy, vice-captain of the Sixth Brigade. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

The saints gave a casual nod to Guy and followed him. After that, each unit was assigned three saints. The three saints assigned to Unit Three must’ve been roughly in their twenties, thirties, and forties, respectively. Apparently, it was normal for them not to introduce themselves, instead choosing to be addressed as “Her Grace”. Although, apparently the ten most powerful saints were referred to as First Saint, Second Saint, Third Saint, etc., ordered from strongest downward, and their names were known throughout the realm.

“Thank you for joining us today, Your Graces.” Hector, our unit’s leader, greeted the saints.

The white robes of the saints came down to just below their knees to overlap with their high-laced boots, and each wielded a staff imbued with a magic stone. They nodded wordlessly back at Hector before each giving their staff to a nearby knight.

Um, what? Is that supposed to be a sign of trust? Or are the staves heavy, so they’re making the knights carry them? I wasn’t sure which weird possibility was true until I noticed the way the saints didn’t so much as give the knights a single word or a glance.

It was definitely the latter.

 

After that, we entered the forest with our unit.

I immediately felt bad for the knights assigned to guard the saints. There were branches everywhere in the forest, and they had to chop away every single one to keep them from even gently scraping the saints’ bodies. Then the saints would walk down the cleared path without so much as a thanks for all that effort.

Hmm…I guess people’s values have changed in the past three hundred years? I wasn’t arrogant enough to insist things stay the same forever, but these particular changes really irked me.

“Contact!” the knight walking at the front suddenly yelled. A boar-type monster appeared—it was a violet boar, a two-meter-long beast known for being extremely aggressive.

It bared its tusks at us and huffed.

The knights assigned to kill the monsters quickly circled around the beast, seamlessly dividing into decoys and attackers. Cut by cut, they gradually wore the violet boar down…but then, something odd happened.

The saints just…walked away from the scene of the fight and sat themselves down on a flat boulder.

Huh? The three saints started making small talk, completely disregarding the fight right next to them. The five guards assigned to protecting them circled around them, forming a secure perimeter.

Um…what is this? I thought saints were supposed to participate in battles and be on standby to heal any knight on the spot. Was I wrong?

I stared absently at the saints until, after not much time at all, the monster was slain. A single injured knight walked before the saints, and all three of them placed their hands over his injury and whispered a spell. After about thirty seconds, a white glow enveloped the injury, and they removed their hands to reveal that the wound had closed completely. The knight bowed over and over before he was finally overwhelmed by emotion, falling to his knees and crying out in gratitude.

The saints themselves simply wiped the sweat from their brows and listened as the knight went on and on, seeming satisfied with their work.

Um, the knight’s arm was injured, I suppose. I did see what looked like bite marks, and I think a tusk pierced his arm, but it was a light injury. It shouldn’t have taken spells like that—it should’ve been fixed in seconds!

Oh. Oh, wow…umm, I knew the power of the saints had dwindled, but are they really this weak now?!

 

***

 

I was in my own world for a while after my big discovery, and I only snapped out of it when Fabian told me it was lunchtime. I took my lunch, which had been carefully preserved in a giant leaf, and sat by his side.

“Fabian…”

“Yes, Fia?”

“Um…the saints are really amazing, aren’t they? I mean, they closed up that knight’s wound in just thirty seconds. That’s incredible, right?” Hopefully Fabian would say I was wrong and would tell me that those three were apprentices or something. Full-fledged saints were far more impressive.

But he didn’t. Instead he agreed wholeheartedly, unaware of how it made me feel. “Indeed. It’s nothing short of a miracle. The saints are a blessing upon this world.”

“I…see.”

He looked at my face, worried. “Fia…are you crying?” I couldn’t stop the tears from welling up. Fabian reached into his pocket and offered me a handkerchief. “Are you okay?”

I clung to him and cried. He wrapped his arms around me as teardrops ran messily down my cheeks.

What had happened? I was so proud to call myself a saint in my past life, always putting myself in harm’s way to stand with my allies. The knights would be my shield, and I theirs. But somewhere along the way, the very definition of sainthood was twisted. Here I was, the former Great Saint, and…had nothing been left behind for those that came after me?

Fabian just let me cry in his arms. “Are you feeling okay, Fia?” he asked after a time. “Did the monster startle you? Or did just seeing the saints move you so?”

“Um…neither. My eyes are just a little bit leaky. That’s all…”

“I see…then why don’t you tell me where that leak is? I’ll fix it up next time, eh?”

He’s so kind. I promised myself I’d repay the favor in kind if the roles were ever reversed. But for now, I just unfolded the giant leaf and took a bite out of the rice ball inside.

“Oh! I thought the rice balls would be all sloppy from my tears, but…they’re salted just right.”

Fabian didn’t say another word for the rest of our lunch. I think it was out of consideration for me.

He really is a gentleman.

 

***

 

We continued walking the forest after lunch, eliminating any monsters we came across. The most common monsters were those violet boars, and we finished five of them before the day was over.

“It’ll be a meat festival tonight!” one knight happily exclaimed. They all seemed fond of meat. I shared the sentiment.

As for the saints, they acted the same as before—relaxing a distance away from the fight and providing healing afterwards. It wasn’t until just past noon that they said their first words.

“Can we stop now?” they asked Hector, our unit leader. “We’re tired.”

“Understood! Let us return at once!”

And just like that, we were on our way back.

 

The path back was quicker. We didn’t pursue any monsters unless they actually blocked our way. I noticed the knights around me begin to relax—a worrying sign. Disaster tended to strike when one was least prepared.

“Monster fast approaching!” barked the leader of the scouts. He was an attack magic user, which let him to use detection magic to sense nearby monsters.

“Wh-what?!” Hector shouted. “What direction is—”

And Hector went flying.

I took a deep breath and looked.

A deer-like monster with blue eyes glared at me, a mere three meters away. It was a flower-horned deer—a monster with antlers that spread like a flower as it grew, native only to Starfall Forest. It was a B-rank monster, the kind that surely required thirty knights to defeat. It was vastly superior to anything we’d come across so far.

B-rank monsters should’ve only inhabited the deep reaches of the forest, a day’s travel away or farther. Our unit was woefully unprepared to deal with one. There were only twenty of us. Worse, our leader was knocked unconscious before the battle even began.

No way was that a coincidence—B-rank monsters were known to be intelligent. It must’ve targeted the one giving orders to leave us helpless and confused.

The knights faced the monster in a scattered half-circle, all scared stiff. Not even the second-in-command dared to move.

“Fabian!” I called out. “Can you take command?”

Fabian returned to his senses upon hearing my voice and blinked in confusion. “Uh…but I’ve never seen that monster before. I can’t give orders if I don’t know what it can do.”

Figures. It’s a monster native only within the depths of this one forest. Most people don’t know anything about it.

The other knights began returning to their senses—perhaps our voices jarred them out of their stupor. They drew their blades, and…stopped. They could only stare back at the monster, unsure of what attacks it could make.

“Eeeeeek!” The three saints suddenly shrieked and scattered in the opposite direction.

“Wait, don’t run!” I yelled. The flower-horned deer instinctively chased moving targets.

Without stopping to think, I drew my sword and moved to intercept the monster just as it started after them.

“Invigorate: Attack x3; Speed x3!” My blade met the antlers as it charged. “Ngh!” The impact pushed me back a little, but I still blocked it. “Guys, I have experience fighting flower-horned deer! Follow my lead!”

I stared into the monster’s blue eyes and held my ground. Seconds later, its eyes suddenly turned red.

“Get back!” At once, flames erupted in a three-meter radius around the monster.

“Wh-what?! It’s burning?”

“It’s dangerous, get back!”

The knights retreated.

“Watch the eyes!” I called out. “You have to watch the eyes of a flower-horned deer! Attack when its eyes turn blue; pull back when they’re red!” I knew that it could only control fire when its eyes were red, but it also couldn’t rush you in that state. “The monster’s hide is tough! It’ll take time to kill.”

I turned to Fabian and called out, “Fabian, blow your emergency whistle and call for backup! It’s B-rank—we need more people!”

Immediately, Fabian and all the other knights blew their emergency whistles. Now we just had to pray that there was another unit nearby. There was no way a single, leaderless unit could manage alone.

The flower-horned deer’s flames should recede soon…

“We need three people to block the antlers with shields! The rest of you circle around! This monster is quick—don’t leave any gaps or it’ll break through our line and pick us off one by one!”

The well-trained knights responded at once and began to encircle the flower-horned deer.

“Aim your attacks at the white abdomen! Its back is too hard to cut!”

Minutes passed. We struggled against it, still unable to pierce its thick hide, when an out-of-place, nonchalant voice called out to us.

“Oh? I came when I heard the whistle, but I didn’t expect this…”

I turned, and there he was: the knight known as the Dragon.