“Hello, little missy. Is this your first time to this small village of ours?” Kana heard when was walking to the entrance.

Turning to see who spoke, she saw a young-looking woman near the gate. Her hair was red, and she had hazel colored eyes. She wore a kimono with a sword at her waist. Her ears were pointed, indicating that she was an elf.

“Yes, I am a traveler. My goal is to be number one!” Kana replied confidently.

“Oh, that is quite the goal you have there. I am an adventurer who is staying here. I watch the gate for any danger in my free time. My name is, Rulenia, nice to meet you.”

“I'm Kana. Nice to meet you, Rulenia,” Kana told her happily. “Most people I meet call me a kid and doubt me when I tell them that I am a traveler. You seem to not think that way at all.”

“Hahaha, well, I am an elf. Our lifespan is far more different than other races. I could tell from the way you moved that you are no child, so I deduced that you are far older than you look,” she explained.

“Good to know,” Kana said enlightened.

“So, why have you come to the village?” Rulenia asked patiently.

“I was on the way to the capital and saw this village here. I thought I would stop to replenish my food,” Kana explained to her.

“If you want, you can stay for a while. All you need to do is kill monsters in the surrounding area to make sure they don’t gather to attack the village. It also makes for good training,” she replied.

“I wouldn’t mind that. I don't feel as strong as I should be, so training here before moving on seems like a good idea," she told her.

With the elf's help, she found carpenters to make her a simple, wooden cottage. Two weeks later, they finally finished her house and she loved it. Today, was her first day on the job and she was eager to start.

When she headed out, she saw the carpenters moving in her new bed and other pieces of furniture. She smiled and waved to them before heading to the gate.

On the way to the gate, she saw many people working and being happy. It made her feel pretty good that she will be protecting them.

*Slash*

There didn't seem to be a lot; only ten monsters in all. After making sure there were no monsters left, she went home.

Four years later…

Kana stayed in the village a lot longer than she thought she would. The people there were fun, so she did not want to leave. Although in these four years her simple cottage became bigger. She made a lot of money here as well, but the most important thing was her increase in power. Sage level, killing monsters all day had a strange effect.

Today she again went out. “That was number sixty-four, wow, there are a lot of monsters around today, this could be bad,” Kana said after killing a hybrid wolf-like creature.

"Why are there so many monsters around today? If this keeps up the village could get attacked,” Kana said out loud.

Rulenia was sitting in the chair outside the gate when she noticed Kana approaching. She stood and walked toward her. “So, how was it today?” She asked Kana.

“There were a little over sixty; this is more than usual,” Kana told her.

“A little over sixty? This problem is happening with other villages as well,” Rulenia explained.

“The king said it is because of the surrounding devil lords starting something. Whatever the case, we should be prepared,” Rulenia warned her.

"Devil lords, huh? Looks like I found my target," Kana thought to herself. The devil lord she needed to kill may be close, so this could be her chance.

“Kana? What is it, you are spacing out?” Rulenia asked with concern.

“Nothing, only thinking. So, what is the king going to do about this?” Kana asked her for more information.

“Actually, the king is inviting all of the most powerful people to the capital. They are asking people to join the war, and of course, they get paid for it. There are pretty good positions like teaching the army, or thinking up strategies,” she told her.

“Then I'll join,” Kana said.

“Wait! You can't, I will be all alone here, it will be sad,” Rulenia replied as she pleaded for her to stay.

“Fine, I'll stay one more year, but then I must leave for the capital. There are things I need to do,” Kana told her. "Although my power is a little above a lord's rank, I should be able to handle anything that pops up out of nowhere.

Six days later, a familiar face appeared as Kana was walking outside. “Toru, is that you? It's nice to see you after such a long time,” Kana said beaming with a smile.

“Kana, is that you? What are you doing here? I thought you would be at the capital?” Toru was a little surprised to see his friend, but afterward he became happy.

“I stopped here to replenish my supplies, but I ended up staying longer than I thought I would. You have grown quite a bit these past years,” Kana remarked. It was true, he did look older, and it looked like he had been training as a warrior.

“Yeah, and you have not changed one bit in these four years,” Toru told her in a surprising tone.

“Wait, you thought I was lying? Why you little brat!” Kana shouts angrily.

“Woah, calm down. I was only a kid back then, so I did not know! Please have mercy on me!” Toru responded with panic in his voice.

“Hmm, so what are you doing here?” Kana asked him still feeling upset at his mistrust.

“I will answer that for you,” Rulenia replied out of nowhere. “Knowing that you wanted to go to the capital, I decided to ask someone to help guard the village in your absence. With Toru here, you can go with no worries.”

"Ahh, that is why she wanted me to stay. She was waiting for Toru to get here before I left." Kana thought to herself.

“Thank you, Rulenia. I mean it!” Kana exclaimed excitedly. Now the village could be protected while she was gone.

“Shouldn’t you thank me, instead. I am the one helping after all,” Toru replied.

“We will see after you protect the village, brat,” Kana said in amusement.

“You will see. Every monster will be too scared to come near this village with me protecting this place,” Toru boasted.

Only the villagers who overheard him were doubtful. “Should we believe this guy? His arms are like twigs. I'll have my son take over the guard duty,” said an old-timer who was the village carpenter.

“Good. I have a daughter who can pitch in to help. She is reliable,” replied the middle-aged tailor.

“Eh, he ain't too bad. He could help out on the farm, we need people like him," remarks an old farmer.

“You looking to kill the kid? He looks like he can barely hold a shovel, let alone working the farm. Take it easy on him, old man.” A young farmed laughed out.

Toru was so embarrassed his face turned red.

“See, you need to look a lot more convincing, brat. Kukuku,” Kana gleefully remarked.

“I will show all of you! You will see!” Toru shouted before stomping away.

“Hahahaha!” All the villagers started laughing. This was a common thing here since Kana taught them to mess with people.

“Well, guys. I will be leaving today, see you later!” she called out while walking toward her home to pack what she needed for the journey.

Later that day, all the villagers were sad to see her leave, but in the end, they all said their goodbyes with some even crying when she was at the gate to leave.

"So, on to the capital. I wonder what it will be like?" Kana wondered to herself as she walked down the path.

Will things be fine, or will things go downhill? We will see once she takes that step. Onward to the capital, for things, may never be the same!