The next dawn we arrived at the City of Acolyte which was in ruins. Apparently, like Trisia, some residents were trying to make a living here. This city had evolved from ruins to a small village with wooden houses here and there. No stone houses could be seen so far. It was still such a primitive village. There are not even two story houses yet.

“Hello miss? Care for some herbs?” Some random old woman greeted us.

“Umm. No I don’t think I need it.” I looked at the herb. As far as I know, this herb is used for the bandage skill, it is used mostly by warriors as a replacement for health potions. Unlike health potions that can be drunk in battle, bandages are usually used after the battle thus they are known to be cheap. But, I currently have no need for such a thing since I am not a tank.

“I see. Thank you.” The old woman then left.

“She seemed troubled.” Stella said after observing the woman’s face.

“Huh?” I looked back at the leaving woman. Her head was down, she indeed looked sad.

“Umm, you seem sad ma’am. What’s the matter?”

“Ahh, it is not a big deal. It is just that we are poor here. No one comes into this city anymore. I just thought you seemed like an adventurer thus needed some herbs.”

“Why are you staying here to begin with?“ El asked while standing on my shoulder.

“This city is my hometown. Most of us here were away when the catastrophe struck. Most of us were working in other cities in the central region. We were planning to retire here but, this is what was left. We tried to farm and breed cattle but rabbits, wolves and foxes eat them.”

“Rabbits??” I tilted my head. Aren’t those monsters the weakest of the weak?

“Are you perhaps a foreigner?” She then came upon a realization.

“Umm, yes I am.”

“And these creatures are your pets?” Her calling El and Stella creatures irked me but they are my pet now so I just answered with a yes.

“Ahh. Thank goodness. Almost no foreigners come here anymore. Will you hear our request?”

“Umm, sure.”

“Will you please guard our farmers and shepherds?”

Quest has been offered

Kill wolves, foxes and rabbits

The shepherds and farmers are disturbed by monsters that are pillaging their crops and killing their cattle. Kill at least 20 of these animals to complete the quest

Quest difficulty E

Quest reward 3 copper

Quest time limit: no time limit

“3 copper?” I unconsciously shouted.

“Ahh, I see. You are like the others. Other foreigners just pass by and are not bothered by our quest at all. I know the payment is low. But it is the most we can give.”

No kidding. This payment is even lower than that of a beginner’s quest. Not to mention I have to kill 20 of each of them. If people wanted to cross here, they must at least be around lvl 50 when alone or lvl 30 if they are in a full group. No one would bother by a quest for level 5 players.”

“Umm,”

“If you do not want it, it is fine. Please don’t do this out of pity.”

“Ma’am. We currently have nowhere to go. So how about this? We will kill every creature around this village and you will let us stay at some inn here?” Stella said.

‘Nowhere to go? Aren’t we going to Trisia?’ I thought but it is true that I have no real objective at the moment. Going to Trisia is mainly only to collect the gold from the loot we gathered at the cave which is now being held by Iris.

“Really? But. Can you really kill even the wolves here?”

“We are at least lvl 100! So how about it Riri? Want to stay in this village for a moment?”

“Umm, sure. But...” I then looked at my sword.

“What is it miss? I will try to provide you with the best meal and the best inn here.” The woman then glimmered with hope.

“My blade is damaged. So I need to repair it. Is there a blacksmith in this village?”

“Yes! There is! If it is just for repairs we will do it for free just for you. Our blacksmith is quite talented but there is not enough iron ore here to make new weapons” The old woman shouted with joy. “Hendrick! We have a customer.”

Quest has been modified

Kill pests around the village

Kill at least 10 wolves, 20 foxes and 30 rabbits each day and you will be granted free food, bed and weapon repairs by this village

Quest difficulty E

Quest reward free inn, free food, free repair

As she shouted at another house, a well-built man then showed up carrying a hammer. He then came out. She talked with him but then I heard shouting. I guess she was being nagged at by the blacksmith about the free repairs.

“Ehem. So you are the traveller. I heard you were going to stay here for a while?” He came out again while smiling this time as if the shouting earlier hadn’t even happened.

“Erm. Yes.”

“Please come inside.” The man then welcomed us inside his cottage. ”So where is the blade that needs repairing?”

“Ahh. Here.”

The man then took my blue cracked sword. After inspecting it his eyes opened wide as he inspected it with more and more care as if the sword itself were a delicate gem that could be broken if dropped. Well, considering the fact that the sword was cracked, it might really break if it were to be dropped.

“This might take a moment.” After he stared it for a while, he started to heat the sword and hammering it on the anvil. 3 hours passed and my sword was returned.

Sword of Elkami

Durability 40/60

Attack 75

Faith +50

Str +20

Dex +50

Int +50

Wis +20

Sword imbued with a fairy soul.

Summon Elkami

Summon cost 200 mana + 5 mana/second

Level restriction 50

‘It hasn’t even been fully repaired! What a shitty job this is.’

“Umm, I am sorry. I tried the best I could but with such poor equipment this is the best that I could do.” The blacksmith apologized.

“Okay. Thank you very much. So where is the farm located?” I asked trying to start my quest.

“Just go outside and you will; see. There are hardly any houses here so you should see it easily.“

10 minutes later

“I am done.” I went back to the old woman.

“Huh? So fast?” The woman opened her eyes wide. No kidding. She had handed out the quest only a few minutes ago and suddenly it was done. It was like you were given a difficult math test and you handed the test back after 10 minutes. But this quest was too easy. Even with my weapon penalty, 1 strike was all it took to kill the rabbits that had infested some of the farms. A single bolt from El no matter how weak the bolt was could kill a wolf while Stella, well, when she turned into a wolf all enemies tried to run with all their might in an instant so it was decided that rabbits were for me while the wolves and foxes were for El since Stella only made the quest more annoying.

I have around 400 points in dexterity which was more or at least almost on par with assassins, thieves and rogues. Catching a rabbit which dexterity didn’t even pass 20 was like collecting pebbles at the riverside. While El just flew around and sniped around with her thunder attacks sometimes a stupid mob of wolves tried to gang up on her just to be barbecued. I noticed that my mana hadn’t even reduce by 1000 by the time she was finished.

“Umm. Yeah. So here is the quest.” I handed the quest back. “So, where is the inn?”

“Ahh. Please come here.” The woman who I found out was the village elder led us into a wooden house. “My apothecary is beside this house. This is actually an empty house, the owner died of illness just yesterday. You may use this house at your own leisure.

‘They don’t even have something as vital as an inn here!’ I thought while accepting the house the village elder gave me. This city that I tried to defend has degraded to such an extent.. but no wonder, the town was destroyed with all the villagers killed a mere month ago. It was even more surprising that there were actually people who wanted to move here.

For some weird reason Stella was smiling the whole time while making two beds for us. This small house has like 1 very small kitchen which none of us could use outside behind this house, 1 bathroom which also none of us would use (Pets and players do not need bathrooms) in the corner of the house, 1 bedroom plus 1 living room that was truly inside the house.

“Stella?”

“Ahh? Yes? What is it?” Stella stopped her humming and responded to my question.

“You seemed awfully happy. I haven’t never seen you like that before.”

“Well. It is a secret. Hehehe.” She made a smile again while continuing to clean up the house.

#Knock knock#

“Yes?” Some random man knocked on the front door.

“Sorry. Umm I heard you are the new protector of this village.” He said.

“Well. You could say that.” I answered confused.

“There are wolves attacking our cattle! We tried to fend them off but they just keep attacking. I think they are angered by your killing this afternoon.” He said.

Quest has been offered

Kill wolves

A pack of wolves tried to attack the farm you are guarding. Repel them

Quest difficulty E

Quest reward unknown

Your fame and familiarity will drop if you refuse this quest

“Okay. I will go there immediately.”

And so 20 wolves were indeed trying to surround some houses and barns inside the city. I just looked at them while walking towards the wolves. The wolves were barking loudly but I was not afraid. I had seen something far more fearful than this.

“Umm, we should just kill them right?” I asked the man.

“Of course you idiot! Kill them all of and help us!”

I just noticed that I had asked a dumb question. It was like someone giving a math professor a simple arithmetic problem of subtraction and addition. Then the professor asked dumbly about what to do with the question he was asked.

And so not even 2 minutes passed as said wolves were wiped out by El and me. With my high dexterity 2 light stabs knocked out the wolves and El was buzzing around killing 2 or 3 wolves every shot. They could only look in awe at the show they were seeing. After the pack of wolves went down without even 1 of them managing to flee, I asked the man if I was able to return to my house again. He could only nod without a word.

Audience skill is now beginner level 2

“Huh?”

Audience beginner level 2

Increases your performance the more people are watching you.

For every 10 people that are watching your performance every stat will be buffed by 1%.

‘This skill forces me to be the center of attention! Why would anyone at all watch other people fighting anyway?’ I thought about how useless this skill was. If you go dungeon hunting, all people would battle instead of watch you. So how the heck could I gather 10 people for a 1% buff? Even if it is saving a damsel in distress like this one, there only were around 10 or 20 people at most so I only got a 2% bonus?

After whisking away the useless skill information I went back to my house to sleep.

A week later I got a nickname, defender of the village. Though I didn’t get a system message, some children had begun calling me by that nickname. It has been a routine that every morning until afternoon I came out and greeted every house while also patrolling on the nearby fields. Sometimes helping them carry baskets of crops or meat from cattle. In the real world, I had never been to a barn. So when I saw cows being cut into pieces by a butcher I could only gave a shout of shock. But I soon realized that this method though cleaner is also applied in the real world to produce our everyday meat in the supermarket. I now pitied the cattle that was raised this way but, that is the way of life right? We need to kill them to eat.

Stella, though not actively killing mobs, was helping the other women carry baskets of vegetables and washing them in nearby river. She looked more like a countryside girl now with simple clothes and a white scarf covering her head or ears to be precise. All the villagers knew she had wolf ears and tails but she still decided to hide them feeling uncomfortable from the gazes from children and villagers at her ears and tails. There was no repulsed look in their eyes, just curiosity but it still made her uncomfortable.

The village was more lively now with children allowed to play outside at the farm with the decreasing number of wolves. It was nice to see this poor and desperate village regain its vigor just like this. I wonder how many villages in this world could gain peace with just 1 high level players staying inside the village.

By the way, I have been asked numerous times by villagers and the village elder to become the village chief but I politely refused. I just pointed my finger back at the village elder to be the chief instead. I would rather live a normal life while seeing this amiable place.

“But sire. We paid our taxes on time this time. So how can you raise them by 50% all of a sudden?” As I overheard the village elders talking to some unknown man with a two handed sword on his back. I was about to return from my patrolling duty but I changed my mind when I saw some armed men inside the village.

“Well, I think it is because you have more in your granary right? Bwahahaha.”

“But still, 30 gold coins is too much. It will cost us all of our crops and cattle that we just bred to pay that.”

“Hey listen old woman. We have kept you safe haven’t we? No one disturbes your puny village while we are around. So do your duty and pay this week’s tax!”

“How can he get paid a lot more than me while I have never seen him on duty to defend against the wolves’ attacks?” I murmured behind the man’s back.

“Who said that?!” The man quickly turned his back only to find a teenage girl with ordinary clothes. (Given by villagers)

I only tilted my head and continued asking. ”So village elder. This village already has a bodyguard, why did you also hire me?”

“Umm. That’s not it. It is..”

“He is a bandit Riri! He keeps robbing us of our valuables every week!” Dorus barged out of his room shouting. He is our elder’s son.

“Hey we are much nicer than bandits. We didn’t even hurt any of your villagers when you stepped inside our territory. So watch your mouth little kid!” He then turned to me. “So this is the rumoured guardian of the village? Well, I command you to leave this place or you and your puny village will pay.”

“No. Please don’t hurt the villagers. We will try to gather the money and pay. Just give us more time.” The village elder then wept at said man’s leg.

“Why do we have to leave? Anyone is welcome here.” El came out from my pocket.

“So you challenge the bandit group Tartarus huh?”

‘He just contradicted himself!! He clearly said he wasn’t a bandit at beginning.’ My thoughts screamed at the overly clichéd attitude of the bandits.

“I am not like the wolves that you defeated. I am above level 100 here. So scram.”

“Is that the highest level in the group?” El said innocently without feeling amazed at all. She just poured oil onto the fire without even realizing it!!

“Damn you!!” He swung his oversized two-handed sword vertically at me. With my dexterity I just lightly sidestepped and dodged the attack. He kept attacking, changing between wild vertical and horizontal slashes. But his attacks were too predictable unlike Hector’s and Arknum’s. He just swung the sword with all his power without any skill so I could just dodge them with my eyes closed. I just side stepped, jumped, ducked and sidestepped left.

“Hey! Men! Get this insect!” At last he ordered his henchmen to gather around me. About 20 of them gathered.

“Umm. Rebecca. Is it okay to fight them seriously?” I asked while turning my head to the village elder.

“Well. If you think you can defeat all of these men and continue to protect us. Please, by all means. Try to beat them. You can kill them too if you must.” Rebecca said while sighing.

When I turned my head to the villagers. All of them nodded their heads. Their approval was enough. I then drew my blade from its sheath.

“Surround her!” The bandit leader shouted.

Even when surrounded I could still see all of their movements. Some villagers gasped for air when they saw me dodging a mercenary’s axe by a hair’s breadth. But of course it was intentional. Stella’s style of fighting was not wasting a movement so I moved just enough to dodge.

“Fireball!” I cast my only attack spells. It hit bull’s eye dealing some damage. Then I followed with three slashes of my blade and one of the men was history.

The bandit group quickly took a step away after seeing me kill a man so effortlessly. Well, even with my weapon penalty, with my inflated stats, I am sure I am as strong as a level 200 player if not stronger. With a high dexterity my strikes were all critical (including my fireball).

3 hours later the bandit group retreated after losing another 7 men. I was toying with them giving them hope that they could somehow succeed and dodged while countering at the last minute. I did this unconsciously since Stella taught me to minimalize my movements as much as possible but I just realized it after some of my audience (Villagers and Dorus) started speaking about them. I then realized that my fighting style seemed to mock them very much. I wonder if things will turn bad because of this. They seemed pretty mad when they retreated.

“Wow. Awesome!” A loud cheer was raised by the village towards me. Greetings, thanks and gifts followed by a visit from every villager.

“Huh?” I spotted a system notification in the corner of my eyes. When I opened it, it read.

Audience buff is activated. Current buff 10%

Audience buff is deactivated.

10% huh. I guess the audience literally meant everyone that was looking at me even if it is the enemy. This might turn out to be a good buff after all.

http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=350&t=3878http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=350&t=4905

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author note

- hello. enjoy this last chapter. any question and suggestions are welcome.

- if you haven't known i am currently have trouble with real life stuff (college work piled like mountains) so i have to put off writing for several months hope when the college is over i have enough motivation to come back here.