Stealth Kid Meets a Transcendent Being – Part 05

“Well, we’re fine, so it’s no big deal,” Serika said brightly. “Let’s just head back! Now that we can use the spell for crossing worlds again, we should go to Japan next!”

“I suppose we can do that,” Selyse replied with a dry smile. “So, what do we do with this?” She gestured toward the massive saber-toothed tiger sprawled before them. “The commission was to kill it. We can’t bring the whole thing back, but we need to bring some kind of proof.”

The reason the Rank B adventurer party, Four Eastern Stars, was in a forest like this was because of a job. A giant saber-toothed tiger had appeared, causing casualties. Though it wasn’t a guild-sanctioned commission, Selyse had agreed to take it on.

“I’m not lugging this thing all the way back,” Sara grumbled. “Just the head alone would be ridiculously heavy. What if we burned it with Serika’s magic and brought back the skeleton?”

“I can’t output that much firepower!” Serika protested.

“How about we just take the fangs?” Sophie suggested, pointing to the saber-tooth tiger’s fangs, each about sixty centimeters long.

“Hmm… bringing back a distinctive part is the right idea,” Selyse said, “but these fangs look insanely tough. We don’t have a hammer strong enough to break them.”

“I know!” Serika exclaimed. “If I freeze them with magic, they might crack under a little pressure!”

“And shatter into bits?”

Silence fell.

“Well, we won’t know unless we try!” Serika finally declared.

Using advanced water magic, she froze the long, gleaming white fangs, then brought a large stone to strike them.

“There! I broke them off!”

The fang shattered into fragments.

“Oh, they broke, all right,” Sara said. “Completely into pieces.”

“Let’s just give up,” Selyse concluded.

“What? Give up? Don’t you know the game only ends when you give up?!”

“I’m not really big on Japanese comics.”

“Wait, you do know about that! Didn’t see that coming!”

Selyse chuckled. “Anyway, this isn’t an official guild commission. We just did this as a personal favor. Right?”

The girls nodded. While it was Selyse who decided to take on the job, everyone agreed with the decision.

“If the client refuses to pay, we’ll let it go. The important thing is that this monster won’t harm anyone else. What do you think?”

“I’m fine with that,” Sara said. “I just wanna head to Japan and read the next chapter of that comic book. Not like our money works there anyway.”

“No objections here,” Serika chimed in. “I’ve just about had enough of this humid forest!”

“I agree,” Sophie added. “As you said, ensuring the monster doesn’t cause further damage is what really matters.”

“Thanks,” Selyse said.

I’m so lucky to have such a team, she thought.

The reason the Four Eastern Stars had risen to Rank B wasn’t just their exceptional individual skills but the way they worked seamlessly together.

The Four Eastern Stars emerged from the forest with fragments of the saber-toothed tiger’s fangs in hand.

Stepping into a wide expanse of rolling hills, they were greeted by a dry, chilly wind that starkly contrasted the stifling heat of the forest.

To the west, a steep mountain range loomed, stretching from north to south. At its heart lay the Dwarves’ nation, Ironforge.

One mountain stood out, a remarkably high peak with a summit that appeared as if it had been sheared off—no, deliberately sculpted into the shape of a specific tool. Its flat top tapered at the ends, with a narrowed section beneath, forming the shape of an anvil.

The anvil, massive enough to be used only by a giant larger than the mountains, served as an unmistakable landmark for the nation of smithing, Ironforge.

The thin plume of smoke rising beside the anvil amplified its grandeur. Ironforge, centered around the mountain with the anvil, stretched across the mountain range.

Thus, this hilly region, situated just outside the range, lay beyond the country’s borders. Over a hundred tents, large and small, dotted the area.

“There are even more tents now, aren’t there?” Selyse observed.

“Yup,” Sara said. “It’s only been four days since we were gone, but those tents around there must be newly set up.”

Most of the tents housed Dwarves, short-statured people with long, curly hair tied back. Outside, smoke rose from stone stoves. It was right around lunchtime.

Carts moved steadily along the dirt road, some heading into the hills, others departing. While most passengers were non-Dwarves, a few Dwarves boarded the outbound carts, fleeing their homeland.

“So the civil war’s still ongoing,” Selyse muttered with a frown.

The Dwarves here had fled the strife within Ironforge. Though Selyse and her companions didn’t know the full extent of the conflict, the steady flow of refugees suggested it was severe.

Many Dwarves believed they would return soon and had set up temporary camps. But some had been living in tents for over a month, a sign that things wouldn’t settle down so easily.

“I know there’s a civil war going on,” Sophie said, “but it’s disappointing that the army isn’t taking action against such a dangerous monster.”

“They’re probably too occupied quelling the conflict,” Selyse speculated. “If the situation inside is as bad as it seems, they can’t spare anyone for those who’ve fled beyond the borders.”

“Perhaps. I do want to visit Japan, but staying here a little longer might be the better choice,” Sophie admitted.

“I figured you’d say that,” Selyse replied with a smile.

The saber-toothed tiger had attacked a Dwarf in these hills, and their plea for help from the national army had gone unanswered.

Dwarves were physically strong, but they could not handle monsters effectively. Moreover, since they could hardly use any magic that wasn’t related to smithing, they left the task of monster hunting to adventurers.

Unfortunately, adventurers were scarce in this region because Ironforge didn’t have an Adventurers Guild. For a camp mainly occupied by Dwarves, the Four Eastern Stars had a good reason to step in.

“Wow, it’s packed again today,” Selyse remarked.

Though called a camp, the area had several permanent structures. One of these was a two-story stone building, a store selling daily necessities.

Foreigners were barred from entering Ironforge itself, so goods from Einbiest were traded outside the border. While meant for merchants, the store now primarily served the Dwarves in the camp.

Inside, the spacious establishment displayed essentials like cloth, baskets, and spices, alongside smithing tools—hammers, coal, bellows. Dwarves of all genders crowded the shelves.

Dwarves were a short people, with adult males no taller than Serika. Females stood even shorter. They had thick, reddish or brown hair often tied back, and their large and bright eyes made them seem younger than they actually were.

“Considering their selection, this place was the obvious choice!”

Sophie and Sara were busy pitching the tents, leaving Selyse and Serika to handle the shopping.

“You’re not wrong,” Selyse said. “They probably source everything from Ironforge, yet they never seem to run out of stock. It’s impressive.”

A sharp tsk caught her attention. She glanced around but couldn’t pinpoint the source among the bustling Dwarves. Probably just her imagination.

“Selyse! Back already?”

From the back of the shop emerged a female Dwarf with a thick red braid draped over her chest. Her indigo apron marked her as a shop attendant. Her small, upturned nose was tinged red at the tip.

“Ah, Gilma. This saves us the trouble of finding you,” Selyse said.

Gilma was the one who had hired the Four Eastern Stars to take care of the saber-toothed tiger terrorizing the area.

“So, was it tough, or did you fail to find it?”

“No, we killed it,” Selyse replied.

“What?! A-Already?!”

“Yes. But it was so big that we couldn’t bring back proof of the kill, especially with the forest’s terrain. This was all we could bring.”

“Pieces of its fangs? Well, the Garda Noruda Forest has always been treacherous. Still, what a relief! With the tiger gone, everyone can finally relax. I’ll grab your reward.”

“Hold on. This is all the proof we have.”

“I heard you the first time.”

“Ah… If you’re willing to take our word for it, that’s fine.”

“Of course! I might not look it, but I’m a good judge of character. Just give me a moment!” Gilma disappeared into the back.

“She’s nice!” Serika commented.

“Yeah,” Selyse agreed. “Couldn’t be more grateful to meet someone this trusting of strangers, especially when we’re not even from the same race.”