NARRATOR's POV——

Maria was at a loss for words over his total mood swing. She looked around at the people surrounding her, all of whom seemed just as angry as gorillas. They shook with killing intent, staring at her as if she had just murdered someone.

"I'm... uh... I'm so sorry!"

Maria apologized, although she was not sure for what. The people had her surrounded, and Maria was disgusted at the sight when a woman's big pimples on her right cheek burst.

Maria stepped aside to not get spilled by the green gooey liquid and then started to run but failed because of the crowds on all sides.

“Time Dilation, Dimensional Leap"

She knew there was only one way out and chanted spells on hand, walking through the sky in another kind of space— leaving the suspended space and landing on the roof of one of the houses.

Up there, Maria began planning an escape route. Below her, she could see men and women of all ages screaming, "There's a vampire". Many of them had stones on hand, holding them like weapons.

"Please stop! I've done nothing wrong. "

Maria's words were cut short by the rocks and other objects being hurled in her direction.

Using the thick robe to shield her body from them, she stepped from roof to roof, using a certain spell numerous times.

For her, she was only walking or jogging.

All thanks to her experiences.

In that near-death situation, her body and mind were already accustomed to using it without fear of failure or any miscalculation on her part.

In addition, time dilation keeps everything in sync.

"Instantaneous Step~, Instantaneous Step~")

Thankfully, the crowd chasing her was way too dense for their good, and was unable to keep up with her ridiculous chants.

In their eyes, the hooded masked kid seems to chant teleportation spells consecutively, and some of them are amazed.

Having spent most of their energy pushing and shoving each other, her pursuers soon gave up. Knowing this was her chance, Maria leaped over the main street with the use of a dimensional leap, aiming towards the far rooftops on the opposite side.

"Oh... finally... a homo sapien!"

While in the time-stopped, colorless space, Maria's eyes glittered in delight—she saw a middle-aged woman leaning out of the carriage below her, with hair and eyes black as jet, curly hair suspended in the wind. Though Maria still wasn't confident in her ability to judge how old these human species were, if she had to guess, the woman was probably between forty and fifty years old.

This must have been the governess everyone was talking about. The shining ornament hugging her head, as well as the bright diamond-like jewel placed in the black choker tied around her neck, glittered in the sunlight.

However, brighter than either of those was her natural beauty, enough to pass Maria's beauty standards regardless of her age.

The very being of the middle-aged woman showed off her noble birth. Entranced by the normal human in front of her eyes, Maria completely forgot that she was supposed to be running away.

"If all of them had the looks of neanderthals then, who in their right mind would divorce her?"

Luckily enough, Maria saw the direction where the woman was looking— the beautiful form of a cloud.

"The way she looks at me is terrifying. Although time stops as I walk in this colorless space, I felt like she was watching me."

The woman's eyes were slanted upwards and full of wisdom, giving her a much more determined look.

“Is she... smiling? Why does her smile resemble a bit of Gran Elder Sarissa's, but why bottle those heavy emotions? "

Maria was bewildered by her expression. Her sloppy eyes were bright with curiosity, her pale pink lips raised into a smile, and none of these gave any hints of sadness.

It was all deep-sealed inside her heart.

Of course, in reality, their encounter doesn't exist. Walking in suspended space, Maria runs right over the carriage below her before the spell duration of the dimensional leap goes to zero.

Maybe she had just misinterpreted things? That was certainly a possibility.

Still, even after climbing the town walls and making her way to the nearby forest, the spell was worn down, and the old woman's creepy expression just wouldn't leave Maria's mind.

It was the same as those wives wanting to kill their adulterous husbands.

“Dimensional Leap~”

—Maria's POV

Because of curiosity, I'll try to pop out here just beside the main trail that goes further into the wilderness. I wanted to test this out to clarify my doubts regarding the risks involved in the terrifying scenarios.

For example, the time duration of the dimensional leap runs out while I'm still inside a wall or below the ground.

You can certainly imagine it, my listener.

For now, I'll suspend the edges of a slice of my hair on the tree, then wait for the timer to go to zero and see what happens.

You see, with the use of such a convenient spell—I can move anywhere without any interference, like being bound by gravity. Walking through the sky, plunging underground, or passing through the wall, although, of course, I can't touch or interact with any object in this colorless realm.

Anyway, people with a malicious nature would surely love to use this for personal gain—I can't even imagine how nasty this would work for all kinds of abuses they would commit, such as robbery, assassination, or prison escape.

Yeah, easy life, but for your information, listener—I'm not going down that path! Never! I'll live an honest life, and I've done enough associating with dangerous and evil individuals since I woke up.

The thought of becoming one of them makes me almost vomit.

By the way, I'm not afraid of those people who surrounded me earlier—it was the bad odor that was accumulating and getting thicker as they reached me. I couldn't stomach that and it nauseated me extremely, so I decided to walk on roofs. It's better to keep my health in good condition.

It bothers me how long they didn't take a bath.

Well, enough chitchat.

Time Left: 00:01> Dimensional Leap

Here it is!

"Oh? Did nothing happen? Hmm?“

After I yanked my hair out of the tree, time passed and I landed on the ground, indicating that I was no longer trapped in the colorless space.

Now that makes sense. It seems some things can't be controlled by the spell and it prohibits the user from popping out inside solid objects.

For example, light travels freely, and if not, then I don't have any form of shadow on my being.

And then there will be air because I can breathe normally, and if not, the only place I can go to get out of the spell will be the vacuum in outer space, because there are almost no particles, right?

Also, it'll violate the second law of thermodynamics… wait... who are these people?

When did they get here?

Oh no,

"Hi, there?"

This group of young adult humans is strange. All four are homo sapiens, and more importantly, they smell nice compared to those humans I encountered.

It seems they use some natural soap to at least cover their natural body odor.

The way they look at it, it seems they're of high status or nobles, like that governess woman I see.

"Hello?"

I replied as gently as possible; they aren't bad guys, but strange ones. Each of them has this distinctive aura surrounding them.

If I had to categorize it, it would be bland, sour, and sweet, although all three have a significant amount of bitterness on them but are distinct.

Two guys and one lady are homo sapiens humans.

“You've got a nice sword and a wonderful child's voice; do you want to come with us? We have a mission to the nearest dungeon you see. "

"Hmm, surely she's an adventurer like us? I didn't encounter such a kid holding a good sword until now, and her posture is something else. "

"Yeah, you are right."

These guys are talking about me and my sword without considering their female companion.

"Uh... Yes! I wonder if it is okay to accompany you all, and I want to learn the coolest things from you adventurers! "

I might as well go with the flow; who knows, maybe this way I'll be able to integrate into the human society and learn its norms and cultures.

"Then let's go!"

The bland— He appears to be the leader, judging by the way he speaks and walks in front of his companions, while the two engage in some sort of small talk that I don't understand.

But there is one thing that has intrigued me the most.

NARRATOR's POV——

They introduced themselves as Jonas, Elmo, and Moa, as simple as that is.

Maria returns the favor, as it is customary to share each other's names.

As the adventurers strolled by alongside her, Maria casually watched them and noted that their gear was all of the highest quality and unisex clothes in plain white, brown, and black, all of which had geometric patterns yet were appealing to look at.

Maria's eyes, on the other hand, came to a halt when she passed Jonas, the leader as if she had remembered something. Maria had an uneasy feeling about him since she first saw him right after she popped out. That feeling was focused on his sword rather than him.

"Brother Jonas, how did you obtain that sword? "

Maria looked at Jonas up and down with a harsh tone the instant she noticed it.

That was because the sword had no business being there in the first place.

"What? Oh my goodness, this sword. Do you happen to know what this sword is? "

Jonas asked, laying his palm on the sword’s handle with a careless smile, unaware of Maria’s raging bloodshot eyes behind her mask. The sword’s handle showed signs of wear, indicating that it had been handled extensively.

"You covered your full body, which means you're a vampire, right? There’s no way a vampire or a wandering kid who is completely ignorant would know. Without seeing it, no one would imagine that this tattered scrap of metal is the replica of Magnimi Csion. "

"Replica of Magnimi Csion?"

In response to Elmo’s breakout, Maria just barely controlled her anger. According to what she recalled, this sword isn't as great and long as Captain Alcina's sword.

It wasn't emanating a blood-thirsty intent, yet it looked potent to feel.

“I'm a hero, you see. Hehe”

Jonas scratched his cheek shyly.

Although the man wielding it did have the right to declare himself a hero. Maria was bothered about how he inquired about the structure and composition of the original.

"The Hero King and a Great Weapon Forger Charleston... He and his party overcame a major calamity decades ago with the help of a mysterious silver fox woman and emerged victoriously. He aspires to successfully replicate the woman's mythical sword. That is why this is the replica of Magnimi Cision's"

“Why do you have it?“

Jonas revealed the origins of the sword, but that was not what Maria wanted to know as she pictured the fox woman she heard about.

“Why do I have this sword, you ask? That’s simple. The Hero King gave it to me. "

“Huh? The Hero King gave it to you? "

His words were hard for Maria to believe.

After all, a hero-king was the one they were discussing, and it sounds as if he is the king of all heroes.

It was the equivalent of a king giving up the crown to a peasant.

Is Hero King a lineage or just an honorary title? The way he looks, he isn't some kind of special human.

Maria was completely flabbergasted.

“Is it that surprising? Senior Charleston, you see, is my master. As a reward for becoming his disciple, he handed me his sword. "

As he saw Maria struggling to recover from the shock, Jonas stated with a concerned expression.

"The Hero King... copied her sword? "

“Copied her sword?"

"You are one lucky fellow, Jonas! With the Hero being your master and all! "

Elmo said, butting into the conversation alone.

Maria, on the other hand, paid him no heed.

She doesn't get it.

In other words, the Hero King partially- successfully created a replica of the highest-class sword and congratulated his disciple on his inauguration by handing over his sword to him. and the silver fox woman seems to give that permission to him to copy her sword.

I suppose Alcina isn't the only powerful silver fox out there... Perhaps the Gran Elder Izzalla...

“I understand your fascination with Jonas’ sword, but what’s the deal with that long sword of yours? Why cover it with rugged cloth? Are you planning on using that?"

Maria, who had been buried in her thoughts, came to when Elmo asked. Maria then quickly shifted her sight to him, then untied and unwrapped her sword— showing them the elegance of its long black-clad scabbard.

“?!“

The weapon itself visibly blazing in black which terrifies them.

“Oh, this? It’s simply for self-defense. My captain said kids in the kingdom aren't allowed to wield weapons, but some circumstances happen, and she gives me this sword to protect myself. "

"Hmph, is that so? Wait... you’re not an adult? "

"I'm ten-thou, ten years old. Haha", Maria replied in a restrained tone.

"What? Do you mean you’re not 15? "

"I’m 10. Although I may look like this, I can fight monsters very well. "

"T-ten years old..."

When Elmo learned her age, he took a timid step back.

Elmo had yet to reveal his age, but Maria assumed he was between 15 and 17. The young man was the same height as Maria, who was abnormally tall for her age.

"10... so young and tall..."

Moa, who had been listening closely to the two of them, looked at Maria with a puzzled expression. Moa and Elmo were probably about the same age, although Maria was a bit taller than Moa. That fact must have somewhat bothered Moa.

"Whoa, as expected of vampires. If you’re this tall when you’re just 10, then that means you’ll probably grow some more. For a girl, you’re going to grow rather tall. "

With his arms folded, Jonas, who was much taller than Maria by a few feet, commented.

Maria had been the tallest girl in the class in her past life. She would prefer to be tall rather than short if given the choice also long legs.

For convenience's sake, it was for survival when encountering bigger monsters.

“Still, you're small compared to a normal swordsman, so you’ll be pretty unreliable. I guess it’s still better than having nothing, though. What types of monstrosities may be found on the mountain, Jonas? "

"Not many appear on that mountain. Even if something does appear, it will most likely be a lowly animal. "

“Is that so? Then, this is the ideal home for the Magma Wolf King and Blood Steel Wolves then. "

Elmo remarked.

“How did they end up here in the first place? Isn’t the town surrounded by the Sphere Lord Guardians? Right? How did they get passed through those old men? As far as I know, there are at least twenty-one Sphere Lord Guardians on the mountain edges alone. "

Elmo was correct. The Sphere Lord Guardians lived in the forest around the town, the sole mountain and some on main trails on the outskirts, commonly known as the protectors against monstrosities and non-human invaders.

Maria somehow passed through one of those without getting caught.

No one would be permitted to pass through unless they were humans, the race that boasted of being the greatest, or had their permission. Even if they did enter, they would wander around the protected area until they returned to their homes.

As for why she didn't get caught, the house of the Lord stood guard inside the barrier. If Maria went through that forest which is the edge of the barrier, surely the guardians near the perimeter would detain her or even kill her on the spot.

"Could this not apply to animals?"

Elmo asked.

“You’re right. After all, there are wild animals and stuff like that.“

Jonas nodded in agreement.

"This isn’t correct. Any monsters with malicious intentions will be barred from entering the barrier. That is why there aren’t many monsters on the mountain. "

Although Moa had stayed silent until now, she spoke up to explain things to Jonas and Elmo before Maria could.

"Malicious intentions? Don’t all monsters have those? " Elmo asked.

“I read it in a book once. There are two types of monsters: those that attack their own and those that don’t. That’s why the lowly monsters were allowed to pass. "

“Oh, I see. Blood Steel Wolves attack humans on their own, but lowly animals such as slimes won’t attack us until we agitate them first. So, how precisely did the Blood Steel Wolves get in? "

"They teleported.", Moa abruptly reply.

"... What? Oh, no!"

“Their leader, the Magma Wolf King, can cast a portal. Sometimes they are killed under the ocean or underground. But somehow, they get inside our premises. The guild is so fast at detecting their presence and it has been one hour since those higher-ups panicked and begged us to exterminate them as soon as possible. "

It sounded pretty convincing when thought about, but it wasn’t something that sprang to mind quickly.

Three years ago, the high-rated adventurers, like the three of them, had racked their brains for a while until they found the solution.

And if they hadn’t seen one of the ominous portals, they probably wouldn’t have believed it was possible.

"I see. So you can pass through the barrier, huh? That’s good to know. "

Jonas exclaimed.

“You’re right. It’s also worth noting that random-type teleportation can fly across large distances. I’ve only seen them when those corpses of them floating on the seas. Probably teleported on wrong place "

Elmo said.

"They only need to get to the portal, then several of them will rampage. If it's not closed for a long time, that'll be worrisome."

Moa added.

The three of them conversed, exchanging newly acquired knowledge and planning for the approaching fight.

As Maria stood there watching them, she was reminded of her lonely existence, and she was feel a little out of place by the three of them.

"You two. You may keep talking if you want, but we’re about to enter the mountain. We’ll never know when a problematic monster may appear, so exercise caution. "

Moa, as introverted as she was, had been hesitant to provide counsel to the other adventurers, but she had done it in the end.

After all, this wasn’t the same mountain they had visited countless times as adventurer rookies. It had transformed into a haven for powerful monsters. A genuine beast den.