The flowing crimson hair contrasted greatly with the white snow that littered the ground. Her feet were numb and her body was cold, yet she couldn’t feel a single bit of it. Her facial expression was frozen still and her eyes resembled that of a dead fish. Had the freezing temperature already turned whatever moisture was left in her eyes to ice?

As she trudged through the snow, only one sensation burned away on the surface of her skin. The biting cold irritated her scars, the painful and prickly sensation a constant reminder of the past. The burn marks from that day covered most of her body, littered everywhere below the neck.

Suddenly, she noticed her surroundings appearing to fall. It took a second, but she quickly realised it wasn’t her surroundings falling but her that had fallen. It seemed that her knee had given in, causing her to collapse on her next step and hit the ground. The soft snow cushioned her landing; not that it would have felt any different if it hadn’t.

‘Twitch’, she tried to move her muscles. However, they only twitched in response. Her body was no longer listening to her as it could no longer move.

“Am I… dying?” The young girl asked, barely able to keep her head above the snow and look forward. ‘Maybe it’s better this way. It’ll all end now and… I’ll get to see grandpa.’ The thought of seeing her grandpa again caused a brief smile to crawl across her face before the corners of her mouth fell again, tears running down her cheeks.

“I- *sob* I don’t want to die-! Waaaghhhh!” The girl screamed out with what little energy she had left in her body, sniffling and sobbing as tears and snot dripped down her face. She felt incredibly selfish, choosing to live. But she had to be held responsible, she did not have the right to take the easy way out. At her call, the crimson fire flared out from the scars and melted away the snow.

“Ma-”

“Mari?”

“Helloooo, Mari-!?”

Mari suddenly snapped of her trance, finding herself suspended in the air. To be precise, she was mounted on her horse and was leading the knights she had taken with her. Turning around to the source of the noise, she glanced at Ventri who was looking at her with a suspicious look.

“Are you okay?” Ventri asked.

Mari quickly gathered herself and regained the usual air she carried herself with, “I’m fine, I just spaced out for a second.” She stated, refraining from mentioning the dream. It was one of the first times she had gotten a dream of an old memory twice in a single day. Even stranger was that it had happened mid-day rather than whilst sleeping. She could only thank her luck that she wasn’t drenched in sweat as per usual.

Hearing Mari’s response, Ventri’s suspicious stare only grew stronger as he frowned sternly, “Are you sure? We can’t have you spacing out in the middle of facing monsters y’know?”

“Enough, I need to introduce the details of the expedition.” Mari waved off Ventri’s concerns. She could understand where he was coming from but she had only dazed off because there was nothing happening. In a situation of maximum concentration, such as battle, she would never space out like that. Not when it can put other’s lives in danger. Also… “Call me ‘Captain Mari’ when in public!” Mari berated.

“Yes…” Ventri responded, scratching the back of his head.

‘Oh, I should probably explain everything to them now-’ Now that Mari was facing her knights and she had fully come back to reality, she decided it was finally time to actually say the details. However, just as she was about to call for everyone’s attention, her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden commotion ahead of her.

“Ah, my child-!”

“Hm?” The shout of a woman came from ahead, causing Mari to face forward again in order to see what was happening. On the street ahead of her, the path where the horses were traversing was entirely clear. Naturally, this was because the civilians were keeping to the sides of the street in order to make way. But then the civilians suddenly broke out into noise, to which Mari immediately noticed the cause.

A child could be seen running along the path, oblivious to – or just uncaring of – the incoming horses. Mari calmly ordered everyone to hold their horses to avoid an accident. By now, Ventri and the knights were looking ahead to see what exactly was happening and got to witness Mari dismount from her horse and approach the child.

Ventri’s eyes shot open and his face became slightly stricken with panic. Reaching out, he shouted, “Ah, Mari! Don’t!” The crowd watched on as the fully armoured knight approached the unsuspecting child, wearing a serious expression. The mother’s face turned completely pale, shouting out, “Please spare him, he’s just a child!”

Now standing over the child, Mari reached out with her arm and an open palm. The silence had become loud enough to make one death. She knelt down, her hand making contact with the child’s head and… her hair finally moved to reveal an expression of pure delight and happiness, “Awww, you’re so cute!!” she exclaimed, petting his head before holding him with both hands and raising him into the air. The tension in the crowd quickly became confused.

Watching Mari squeal over the child, Ventri held his palm against his face. She had always tried to keep a noble and strong facade as the leader of a knight order when facing the public. However, there was one problem with that. Her incredible weakness to children caused her to forget about keeping up her facade. There was no doubt she would be incredibly embarrassed afterwards.

Nobles generally are seen as cold-hearted, so the crowd and the child’s mother had assumed the worst in the beginning. However, that misunderstanding was quickly cleared. Mari carried the child back to his mother and briefly spoke with her before leaving. The panicking mother had quickly begun laughing after interacting with Mari, so it seemed to end well.

But for Mari herself… “I did it again…” Mari mumbled, burying her face into the back of her horse.

Ventri sighed and chuckled briefly before changing the subject, “How about you explain the details now?” Hearing his suggestion, she sat up from her horse and turned it around. It had been put off a fair bit, so now it was finally- finally time to do it. And, she could hopefully bring everyone’s mind away from the past few moments.

“Ahem, ATTENTION!” She shouted, causing all the knights to go silent instantly and listen to her. “I’m going to explain the details of this expedition now! This is an important killing order coming from the empire itself. Our objective is to go into the mountains and kill an ogre that has been blocking the trade route. It's importance means the empire will be paying a considerable amount to remove it. The ogre has been reported to be at Lvl. 97, so extreme care must be taken! However, this will be an easy dispatch as long as everything goes to plan.”

Ogres were generally a tough enemy to deal with. Their stature on average was that of a small hill and their strength and durability were incomparable to that of humans. A group is required in order to take one on, so much so that it is against the law to intentionally try to fight one alone.

And this one was on the upper end of monsters, when it came to levels. Lvl. 97, incredibly close to the fabled Lvl. 100 that very few surpass and a high number even for monsters that are able to level up much faster than humans. Lvl. 100 and above is still theoretical on whether it is possible to achieve. There are no known legitimate records of a Lvl. 100 human. Only myths and legends.

Mari, who is Lvl. 96 should be close. However, the massive exp requirement to continue leveling up at this high point has effectively created a natural ‘wall’, limiting many talented individuals from reaching greater heights. Mari’s Lvl. 96 in itself is a marvel to behold.

The reason for it is still unknown, but monsters are able to surpass that wall more effectively than humans. This had led to records of Lvl. 100+ monsters and more common Lvl. 90+ monsters, including this hunt's Lvl. 97 ogre. This ogre’s appearance has led to the empire closing off all access to the route until the threat has been dealt with.

And with all the expedition's details finally explained, Mari ordered the group to continue on.

. . .

With Mari and Ventri at the front, the group marched on foot through the mountain terrain. The walk wasn’t too bad as they had chosen to go along the pre-designated path for the trade route. Naturally, it was fairly even as it had to allow for carriages travelling through.

The path hadn’t always been this smooth, but with the empire’s resources and the use of earth magic and other workers over a long period of time, the terrain had been terraformed to the point of allowing traders to easily travel through the mountains. Which would have been completely impossible otherwise.

The reason they were all walking on foot at this point was because they had left the horses behind. Simply put, bringing horses into monster territory was a bad idea. They would become uneasy and sometimes refuse to follow commands. Other than that, when coming face to face with a monster, they become a liability. One cannot afford to fight monsters and worry about their horse at the same time. So, they were left behind.

“Hah… You do know where the ogre is right?” Ventri asked, trying to catch his breath. Although Mari felt fine, it looked like he was struggling a bit with the hike.

“Mm, it’s up ahead!” She gave a simple but vague reply before attempting to continue on. However, she was stopped as Ventri suddenly grabbed her by the arm and stopped her. She turned around, wondering for what reason he had suddenly stopped her.

“Listen, Mari. Not everyone here is a monster like you.” Ventri said between breaths, pointing back to the knights who had all become sluggish and pale before continuing, “If you keep this up, they’ll end up dying y’know?”

“Ah, you’re right. Let’s take a break then.” Seeing the miserable state of her knights, she stopped the march and had everyone rest. The knights all shared a collective sigh of relief as they dropped their exhausted bodies to the ground. Mari herself wasn’t exactly feeling tired, however she decided it would be best to join them too.

The group drank some water and chatted as they sat about the rocky ground, just off the path. After briefly sweeping over them with her eyes, Mari raised a cup to her lips before suddenly holding it in suspension. Her expression hardening, she turned to Ventri, “Do you sense that?”

“Hm? Ah-!” Ventri looked confused for a moment before a look of realization swept across his face. Mari didn’t expect the knights she brought to sense it, as it was fairly hidden. However, the fact even Ventri hadn’t noticed until she had pointed it out most likely wasn’t a good sign.

“Canisfangs? There’s so many yet I wasn’t able to notice them…?” Ventri stood himself up. He was right to be skeptical. Canisfangs are a common and weak monster, yet only Mari had noticed them. The fact they were able to get this close and stay this hidden was very out of character for regular canisfangs. There was no way these were normal ones.

“They’re about 500 metres away and approaching from where the ogre should be… Why wasn’t this mentioned in the report?” Mari questioned. Reports were occasionally inaccurate, since not all sources were the greatest. However, they had information from what should have been one of the most reliable sources possible, the empire itself. How could they make such a mistake as to not mention them? Essentially, it had to be a new and unexpected development.

Whatever the case, she had to quickly relay this information to the group and prepare accordingly.