We approached the clearing in the forest quietly. I looked around and saw many makeshift tents with its inhabitants sitting around. Some were eating while others were crafting things.

‘It’s weird seeing monsters craft things. Isn’t it only a matter of time before they have the ability to evolve like humans?’

Helen walked around the fence while the others walked through the tents. It seems their numbers are few today. The leader, Helen probably predicted this.

–Kireuk~

Four orcs were sitting in a circle devouring something. A foul stench emanated from the thing they were busy eating. I looked closer and almost puked.

‘A human...?’

And by the looks of the wrist guard around the severed hand... whoever that was, was an adventurer as well.

My fists tightened. Monsters view humans as either food or prey. Seeing another person eaten in front of me... it gave me the chills thinking if that were me.

This is what I’ve been growing stronger all these years for. Protecting my family and friends, my future lover and myself.

‘But i’m nowhere near strong enough to protect everyone.’

I vowed time and time again to get stronger.

“—”

Helen raised her hands when she entered through the fence. She was standing next to the biggest tent. The chief must’ve been there. An orc chief is classified as an A rank monster. How a chief is selected is different from humans. Orc chiefs must have red skin instead of the usual dark green. Red means something like a symbol of the Demon Battle God, Rodion that lived hundreds of years ago.

That evil god was a being that also had a huge mana pool. He killed millions of people and was the first to commit genocides that almost made humanity go extinct. He was a human born with devil blood apparently.

“It’s starting.”

Lucy, who also stayed back, whispered and prepared her spells. She casted a buff and sent it through the whole camp. The orc were then alerted but it was too late.

The martial artist, Paula, smashed the head of an orc with the heel of her foot.

The orcs were then sent into disarray. One even fell after tripping on something.

“Go!”

Billy bashed a shield with his spear, taunting the enemies.

The Orcs that heard the shouting exited their makeshift tents and came outside. They looked toward Billy and roared.

“Come on, bastards! Get a taste of my muscles!”

He dashed forward and bumped into an orc. The poor orc, despite being taller than him was thrown into a tree’s direction. He mercilessly swung his spear and stabbed another in the face. The red strings around the handle must be confusing the orcs since their ugly faces had what seemed like confused expressions.

A total of twelve orcs were taken down after a while.

A series of thumps soared through the forest. Helen was standing in front of the tent, wielding her saber.

A giant pushed aside the cloth acting as a cover and exited.

He roared loudly and swung his club in an aggressive manner. The ground shook as he threatened Helen.

Although she hasn’t moved an inch. She kept her fighting stance making the orc leader go even more crazy.

He roared louder than before and charged at Helen.

After a while....

“Well done, everyone.”

Helen wiped the blood from her face after I took out a cloth. The others were busy taking out magic cores from the orcs. Magic cores can either be found in dungeons in the form of crystals or inside monsters as a sphere. They are a concentration of magic power that accumulated over time and acts as fuel sources.

Cities can also be powered up by them. They might be similar to batteries from earth.

“Unlike the previous porters, you stayed behind when you saw the orcs. Some just faint or run away and get killed by a stray monster.”

The big guy that used the spear, Billy came up to me.

“I used to hunt monsters back home in my free time.”

“Oh, so that’s it. No wonder why you’re familiar with monsters already.”

Helen finished resting and stood up.

“We managed to get rid of the orcs in just an hour. I haven’t slept in two days so let’s go.”

Her face definitely looked fatigued. It must’ve been that long that she had to take to make preparations.

**

I received two cores as payment even though I haven’t really done anything besides hold some bags. Billy said that the extra core was for my courage as I stood standing even when an orc tried to rush me.

I sold the cores for 20 silver coins. It wasn’t much considering I have to take care of two girls who were also from nobility.

“I’m back.”

I shouted in the hallway when I got to the top of the stairs. I heard voices coming from the other room.

CRRRK

Just then, the door opposite to mine opened. A familiar face was there gazing at me in surprise. No actually two.

Erica and Nate.

“”Clyde!””

Both ran up to me.

“Huh? How are you guys here?”

The two got all emotional and hugged me.

They took me into the room where Arielle and Charlotte resides in. The two of them were sitting on their beds with smiles.

“When we just entered the magic tower, these two exited.” Charlotte spoke.

“It’s been so long since we last seen each other.” Nate cried like a little baby as snot came out of his nose.

“Long? Didn’t we see each other a week ago?”

“Lord Clyde, listen to this.” Charlotte got my attention, “The two of them have been here for an entire month.”

“What? How is that possible?”

Arielle also looked confused. I wasn’t sure if she was even following.

“Just like Her highness said. We’ve been here for a month and ten days. Whatever happened in the kingdom was not normal according to nature.”

“So it was someone’s doing.”

“Good deduction, Clyde. We might’ve been somewhere where time stops for us. Even if we landed here a week ago, our thirst and hunger wasn’t any different from when we were on the carriage back then.”

“Where time stops, huh...”

I rubbed my arm that always turns white with spirit activation.

That technique had been malfunctioning ever since that phenomenon. I found that weird since the backlash was far stronger than other times.

“What have the two of you been up to all this time?”

“We were asking around for a way to go back home. We actually came from the duchy that’s near this kingdom. That’s how we found out that this was the other part of the continent.”

Nate answered.

“We were attacked by bandits and monsters a lot of times. Luckily, miss Erica and I managed to deal with them with teamwork. Can you believe the fact that she could strengthen spells? Since I have little mana, I had to end battles quick. She’s really amazing! Now I know why she was given a recommendation.”

I looked over to Erica. She was blushing while scratching her cheek.

‘She’s not used to praise huh? She’s kind of cute.’

“Were you guys able to find anything at the information guild?”

Erica shook her head to my question. Her blonde pigtails bounced.

“All the rumours we heard there were fake. No one could even tell us what teleportation is similar to the one we experienced.”

“Damn, what is the Order doing? And here I thought they were elites…”

Arielle grumbled to herself.

“We might be able to find something. Arielle and I will try looking around for anything useful again tomorrow. In the meantime miss Erica and Nate can look around to see if there is a way to contact the kingdom.”

“Considering our location can we reach the kingdom?”

Erica voiced her thoughts.

“Well, we can try. We should get a message to the palace at least. After that we’ll have to wait. I’ll send a letter to the information guild in the duchy to see if they can help.”

Charlotte stood up and opened the door.

“We’ll continue tomorrow night. Please have a good night’s rest everyone.”

While they try to establish communication with the kingdom, I will be joining the party tomorrow for their raid. Helen gave me a piece of paper that had the location written on it where I should meet them. The directions were also there since I didn’t know the geography of the city yet.

We dispersed after night time arrived. Nate will be sharing a room with me while Erica will stay with Arielle and Charlotte.

◇◇◇

It was late at night when Charlotte woke up.

‘Not again…’

Lately, she had been waking up every night to relieve her bladder that’s been giving her problems. She didn’t know when it started.

Charlotte mechanically got up and yawned. She stretched her muscles before walking out of the door. The inn was quite dark so she had to use a tiny bit of lamp oil to light a candle.

‘I keep remembering that night… Why does it still haunt me…’

That night her former maid confessed to her crimes. It was the same night that her mother was poisoned.

And the one who did it was none other than her maid. The one who she called her sister.

Pina.

Charlotte hadn’t visited the palace dungeon in over a year. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to. She wanted to see Pina but the bitterness in her heart prevented her from doing so.

A voice on the inside kept telling her to order Pina to reveal the name of who told her to do it. That would mean Pina’s head will explode and she’d die if the seal activates.

Charlotte didn’t want Pina to die so she never went through with it. She was forced to commit that crime by someone of high status. The person must be an influential person in the kingdom.

Was it perhaps a duke? One of the noble ladies?

Charlotte knew that her mother had enemies even if she was loved by many. There was a duke who refused to cooperate during her father’s battle for the throne. One of them kept the others in the dark of what happened in the kingdom so the king could die without their help.

It wouldn’t be strange if that duke held a grudge against Melodia for saving the king.

They knew that Belle was a competent fighter that could protect the queen well so they didn’t sent assassins. Belle was a former S rank assassin after all. She was more than enough to deal with people of the same class. They used someone from the royal family servants to go through with their plans.

Charlotte clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

‘If I ever find out who it is then I will kill that person…’

She asked one of the servants to draw the seal on Pina’s tongue . She wanted to see if anyone could help her break down its runes. She had been unsuccessful so far.

She wasted a lot of resources and money to get people to break the seal.

Charlotte sighed before flushing the toilet.

‘I’ll think of another way… I always do…’

She headed back to her room through the silent corridor embraced in darkness.