- (Anna’s POV) –

It has been 4 days since I had to deal with this fat guy sent by the Church. As expected, the Church denied sending him, but the fat man is a merchant famous for being stupid and arrogant; he is only wealthy because he took over his father’s company. Like Roland said, he was probably sent by the Church to create a ruckus in my shop to slow down my business. However, the merchant was even more stupide than they thought, and they of course didn’t know about my strength, so it failed.

By the way, Roland and Eleonora told me that there are 2 factions in the Church: the Paluna Church and the Holy Church. The Paluna Church is led by the Pope and hold the same name as the country, this faction exists since the creation of the country. On the other hand, the Holy Church is led by an Archpriest and exists only since a dozen of years; and it’s probably this faction that is hostile to me.

Apparently, there was 2 Archpriest but one of them died in an ‘accident’ two years ago and no one replaced him yet. The only one remaining is the one leading the Holy Church. I don’t know if it’s true because Eleonora’s point of view might be biased, but she said that this Holy Church only care about money and it might be why they attacked me since my potions are more effective than their healing.

It’s the afternoon and I’m currently in my shop looking at my employees working but I’m reading a book at the same time. I want to understand the most basics stuff about the country before I go to the capital. From what I read, this country is called Paluna, this town is called Marina and the capital is called Crimonia.

*BOOM*

What was that noise? Well, whatever, let’s continue reading!~

So it takes approximately 1 week to reach the capital with a carriage from this town… it will be so boriiing!!~ Oh, and the kingdom is in peace right now but there are some other kingdoms that are hostile, especially those that allow slavery.

*BOOM*

Again?! What’s going on ?

I stand up and look at the store, then I focus and try to listen to some conversation.

“Did you hear this noise?” (customer 1)

“Yeah, what the hell was that?!” (customer 2)

“I don’t know, but maybe that’s why we saw many knights running around the town…” (customer 1)

Knights running around the town?! They only move under Roland’s order! It must be something serious, they only move when there is something serious anyway.

Let’s try to ask him!~

I run toward Roland’s house and it doesn’t take me more than 2 minutes to arrive. I enter the mansion and find Eleonora drinking her tea.

“Anna-chan? Are you already done with your shop today?” (Eleonora)

I ignore her question and ask another question:

“Do you know where Roland is?” (Anna)

“Y-Yes, he must be in his office.” (Eleonora)

After her words, I immediately run toward his office and enter the room without knocking. I see a surprised Roland sitting behind his desk and looking at me.

“Oh Anna! I was about to send someone to your shop.” (Roland)

“For what? And I heard that there are some knights running in the town! I also heard some noise and vibrations. What’s going on?!” (Anna)

“Well, it’s related. I would like to buy several dozens of potions to your shop because there are a lot of injured.” (Roland)

“My employees can take care of that. Please tell me what’s going on first!” (Anna)

“…” (Roland)

Why is he so silent suddenly?!

“Roland!” (Anna)

“Alright, let’s start with the context: the Guild Master of the Adventurer Guild sent 2 teams of B rank adventurer to find out why the Green Forest was recently filled with strong monsters. However, only one people came back and reported that his team was exterminated by a behemoth. Unfortunately, the behemoth followed him along with several weaker monsters and it’s now threatening the town. The guards fought them, but the monsters were too strong and many of them died or were injured. That’s why I sent the knight order but I’m not sure if they will be able to take care of this… Besides, the A-rank adventurer that live in this town is currently in the capital, and there are only 3 B-rank adventurers alive in this town.” (Roland)

Wow, it’s even worse than I thought!

“Why didn’t you ask me to fight?! I became friend with many of the knights and guards, I don’t want them to die!” (Anna)

“No! It’s too dangerous, don’t go! A behemoth is an A-rank monster while you are only a C-rank adventurer right now. I know that you are at least as strong as a B-rank adventurer since you fought the guild master and the knight commander, but it’s not enough!” (Roland)

Is he serious?! I finally have the occasion to fight a strong monster and he don’t want me to fight?! I grab his shirt and lift him off the ground and shout:

“And you are fine with your guards and knights dying?! So what if it’s dangerous! I started to like this town and the peoples in it, I also want to protect it!” (Anna)

He struggles to breath but finally manage to say something while still being lifted by me.

“I-I also don’t want to lose you! I consider you as my own daughter now!” (Roland)

…

What can I say now? I can’t blame him because he thinks I’m only ‘slightly’ stronger than the Guild Master and Gabriel. I can understand him, but I still want to fight a strong monster!

I put him back on the ground and say:

“I’m sorry for my outburst, but please tell me where the battle is, I promise to be careful. Besides, I’m way stronger than you think I am.” (Anna)

He pauses for a few seconds, then he sighs.

“Alright, the battle should be located at the east entrance of the town. But promise me not to die!” (Roland)

I smile and say:

“I promise to come back without a scratch!” (Anna)

I said ‘come back without a scratch’ instead of ‘not get a single scratch’ because I can heal myself if I’m injured so it’s easy to come back without a scratch, hehe~.

I immediately run out of the mansion and head toward the east entrance, it takes less than 5 minutes to arrive. I finally arrive to the battle location and look at the situation.

I can see around 30 knights, a dozen of guards and a few adventurers fighting approximately 100 monsters.

*BOOM*

The biggest monster’s tail just slammed on the wall, destroying a part of it. Wow, so powerful! I suppose it’s the behemoth. Its size is at least 5 meters tall and over 10 meters long with its tail.

Looking around, I can see Gabriel giving orders, so I head toward him. He recognizes me and talk.

“Lady Anna? What are you doing here?” (Gabriel)

“I came to help, what’s the situation?” (Anna)

“Ah, it’s reassuring! We are currently outnumbered, we should be fine against the weaker monsters, but I don’t know what to do with the behemoth… Its skin is too thick so the most we can do is bait him out, but it seems very angry so I don’t know if we will succeed…” (Gabriel)

“Do you mind if I take care of it?” (Anna)

“I know that you are strong, but it’s still too much for you. It would be good though.” (Gabriel)

Haha, I never showed him even half of my strength so it’s normal if he thinks I can’t.

“It’s fine, don’t worry! Please focus on the weakest monsters, I will take care of the behemoth.” (Anna)

“Ehh? Ha-” (Gabriel)

I summon my sword ‘Rosetta’ and immediately run toward the behemoth because it just entered the town, but I have to clear the way first. I slash down 3 wolfs that jumped on me, killing them instantly. I cut the head of an orc that was about to smash a knight, then I finally arrive in front of the behemoth. It’s about to smash the first house so I throw an ice spear toward him to get his attention. The behemoth turns toward me and roar. On the other hand, I smile and mutter:

“Let’s play, my friend!” (Anna)

I circulate my mana and caste another ice spear toward him while I run toward him, ignoring the local’s gazes. I slash on its back at the same time as the ice spear reach him, but my sword only makes a small wound.

So thick! It’s sturdier than I thought!

The behemoth let out a cry, then it throws its tail toward me, but I jump to avoid it. Once I’m a dozen of meter over the ground, I rotate and create an earth wall behind my feet. I kick the earth wall with my feet to give me an impulsion toward the behemoth, then I circulate my mana around my sword and slash its legs. The leg is cut clean so the behemoth start falling to the ground. I turn back and do a series of at least 10 strikes in less than a few seconds before the behemoth fall on the ground, blood splashing everywhere. Once it falls, I jump and give everything I have on my last strike and slash its neck, separating its head with its body. The mana leaving its body is a proof that it’s dead, so I absorb it. Yup, not even a single scratch on my body!~

I can’t stop smiling! It’s the biggest challenge I had so far and it’s only a A-rank monster, even if I could have killed it faster if I used large scall magic or slashed at its neck with all my strength right at the beginning but I didn’t want to destroy the town and wanted to play a bit. I can’t wait to find a S-rank or even SS-rank monster, I’m pretty sure that they would be an amazing opponent!~

I look around me and I can see many citizens watching me from afar and several knights and guards aswell. Shit, I forgot about them!~ Well, it doesn’t matter~.

I can see that even some knights that were fighting the weaker monsters are watching me. Hey! Don’t get killed by a monster while watching me!

Having nothing else to do, I head toward the weaker monsters to help them. I slash at their neck directly, killing them in a single strike. After a few minutes, no monsters are alive, but there are a lot of injured knights, guards, and adventurers so move toward Gabriel to give him my report.

“All the monsters are dead so I’m thinking of healing the injured. Please tell Roland that I’m fine, he was quite worried~.” (Anna)

“Alright, thank you for your help, Lady Anna. We avoided a lot of death thanks to you! And I already sent someone to report to him and I told him to mention you, don’t worry.” (Gabriel)

I nod, then I head toward the small clinic that they installed for the battle and speak to someone that seem to be the manager of the clinic.

“Bring me to those that are heavily injured, I will heal them.” (Anna)

With this, I can save those that are about to die, but I can still make money because they will likely use my potions for the less injured ones. Hehe~

The manager of the clinic nods and brings me to a room with 5 peoples that have several bones broken or even limbs missing. It takes only a dozen of seconds to repair a bone, but it takes a dozen of minutes to regrow a missing limb, so I leave the clinic only after half an hour.

What can I do now? Well, there is still 1 hour before the shop close, so I guess I will go back there for now…

********

1 hour later, the shop is finally closed so I head back to Roland’s house. Once I arrive, a maid informs me that Roland wish to see me, so I go to his office. In the office, I can see a tired Roland sighing.

“See, without even a scratch!” (Anna)

“Yes, you kept this promise, BUT you also said that you would be careful. But I heard that you attacked the behemoth AS SOON AS YOU ARRIVED!!” (Roland)

“Haha, it’s my way of being careful~.” (Anna)

Hearing my reply, he sigh again.

“You look quite tired, I must say.” (Anna)

“And whose fault is that?!” (Roland)

“Are you implying that it’s my fault?” (Anna)

“Well, yes and no… I must thank you for killing this monster though, you probably saved a lot of people. If you didn’t do it, all the casualties would have given me even more work.” (Roland)

“You said the ‘no’ part but what about the ‘yes’ one?” (Anna)

“Well, you see, a lot of citizens sent me some letters stating that they want to meet the red-haired girl, so I have to calm them all!” (Roland)

WHAT?! Seeing my frozen face, he smiles and continues:

“So, you might have some problem if you go to the town tomorrow. Oh, by the way, you should go to the adventurer guild aswell, the guild master said that he wants to talk with you.” (Roland)

“A-Alright…” (Anna)

Ah… I can already feel the headache… I guess we can say RIP to my discreet life…

***********

The next morning, I’m heading toward the Adventurer Guild to talk with the guild master. When I trained with the knights earlier this morning, some of them thanked me for healing them or saving them. Several of them also said something like “So you were holding back when you were fighting with us?!”. Sorry, hehe~.

I can feel a lot of gazes on me… Enhancing my sense, I can hear one of them muttering:

“Red hair?! Is she the one that…” (citizen 1)

“Yup, I think she is the famous Red Flash.” (citizen 2)

Red Flash? What is that?!

Once I arrive at the adventurer guild, I can see that there are a lot of people like every morning so there is a small queue for each receptionist. When it’s my turn to head to the receptionist, she says is a robotic voice:

“Next.” (receptionist)

She lifts her head and look at me, then her entire face freeze. After a few seconds, she suddenly shouts:

“R-Red Flash?!” (receptionist)

Again with this, what is that?

Suddenly, all the adventurers in the room turn toward me. Hey?! What’s the hell is going on?! Some of them are whispering between each other so I try to listen to their conversation with my enhanced hearing:

“So, she is the famous ‘Red Flash’?” (adventurer 1)

“Yeah, I saw her fighting the behemoth, she was running and attacking so fast that it was hard to follow her with my eyes! I could only see her sometime when she slowed down so it was like if she appeared and disappeared like a flash. Also, she has red hair and she had a red aura around her during the fight, so I think that’s why everyone call her ‘Red Flash’.” (adventurer 2)

“Wow, she looks so badass! I wish I were there to see her fight!” (adventurer 1)

SO ‘RED FLASH’ IS A TITLE THAT EVERYONE GAVE ME?! Well, I think it’s fine, it’s better than being called the ‘Red Demon’ or the ‘Bloody queen’ I guess…

By the way, only the best adventurers usually get a title and most of them are strong enough to have their place in a history book. Getting this kind of title for only killing a behemoth is a bit…

Seeing that I was not focused, the receptionist calls me:

“E-Excuse me? The guild master wish to see you, you can directly go to his office using those stairs.” (receptionist)

“Alright, thank you!” (Anna)

I head toward the guild master’s office. I know where it is because I already came here several times. Once I arrive in front of his door, I knock.

“Yes?” (Geoffrey)

“It’s Anna. I heard that you wish to see me. May I enter?” (Anna)

“A-Ah, yes!” (Geoffrey)

I open the door and sit on the chair in front of him.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” (Anna)

“First, let me thank you for killing this behemoth. The guild suffered a lot because of that since 6 B-rank adventurers died during the investigation mission so it’s a relief that the remaining 3 survived during this battle. Also, it’s my fault if the behemoth even came here because it chased the adventurer that I sent to investigate, so it would be my responsibility if a part of the town were destroyed. You prevented this to happen, so thank you again.” (Geoffrey)

“Haha, don’t worry. To be honest, my main motivation was to finally fight a strong monster because it has been a long time! Well, I’m happy if I could save some people by fulfilling my desire!” (Anna)

Well, I also wanted to save this town and the new friends I made but I feel too embarrassed to say it, especially after being thanked like this!

“Well, I knew that you were exceptional since I met you, but I didn’t know that it was to this extent.” (Geoffrey)

And what am I supposed to answer to that? Trying to change the subject, I ask another question:

“You only called me to thank me? Or is there anything else?” (Anna)

“Ah yes, sorry. Helping to defend the town was a quest for C-rank and higher. You didn’t take the quest, but you participated in the battle, so I have to reward you. Since you did an excellent job by killing an A-ranked monster, killing several weaker monsters and healing a lot of injured, you are promoted to B-rank and will receive 100 gold coins and the magic stone from the behemoth. Well, the magic stone was already yours because it belongs to the one that killed the monster, but you left the place right after without taking it with you…” (Geoffrey)

Ups? Well, that’s quite the big reward for fighting a dozen of minutes! Besides, let alone the gold coins, the magic stone might also be useful in the future!

“Alright, thank you! Here is my adventurer card.” (Anna)

The guild master takes the card, leave the room for 5 minutes, then come back with the magic stone, the gold coins, and the B-rank card.

“Thank you! I will take my leave then!” (Anna)

I leave the adventurer guild and head toward my shop under the gazes of the citizens. I also hear a lot of ‘Red Flash’ here and there…

Ahh… I feel like a celebrity… It’s not that bad, but it’s quite tiring.

I hope that it won’t be the same at the capital!~