Chapter 5

My name is Alek.

I am a gold-ranked adventurer.

I became an adventurer at the age of seventeen, and it has already been twenty-five years.

I turned forty-two this year, but I have no intention of retiring just yet.

My body is even more energetic than when I was young, and I can still feel my strength and skills growing.

Most of all, I am very fond of my current party.

...They are quite a unique bunch, though.

"Even such a grand city will eventually fall... How fleeting the creations of man are... Ah, this is impermanence..."

Muttering these words to himself is a man who is more than a head shorter than me.

His name is Dill, one of the main members of our party.

He is usually quiet and expressionless, but when he gets sentimental, he becomes unusually talkative.

He was originally trained as an assassin in a certain country to secretly kill important figures, but after a series of events, he managed to escape.

We met by chance when he was living as a new adventurer.

It was about ten years ago.

Since then, we have been adventuring together.

Not only is his combat ability honed from his assassin training exceptional, but he also excels as a scout.

"Look... There are bodies from that time scattered inside the room... Due to the high concentration of magic in the air, they have hardly decomposed even after hundreds of years... Hehe, I must take them back..."

"Please don't."

I immediately stopped him.

His tendency to get overly excited at the sight of corpses and try to take them back is a major flaw.

By the way, our party is currently in the "Emarina Great Wilderness," known as one of the world's most notorious magical wastelands.

It is said that a great nation called the Emarina Empire once existed here, but for some reason, it has now turned into a vast wasteland.

Due to the continuous abnormal weather, it is no longer habitable.

It is also a dangerous area inhabited by many vicious monsters, but valuable relics are said to be buried here, so high-ranked adventurers like us are conducting investigations.

Among them, we are currently exploring a place that is believed to have been a major city in the past.

Most of the buildings have eroded and are in ruins, but one can still sense the prosperity of the past.

"Strangely, most of the deaths seem to have been caused by burning and freezing. It appears they all died suddenly in a short period of time."

"How can burning and freezing happen simultaneously?"

The one who snapped at me is our only female member and the youngest in the party, Hanna.

She is only nineteen years old.

Despite her age, she is the lowest-ranked silver adventurer in the party, but her skills are already on par with a gold-ranked adventurer.

She is the daughter of a swordsman and a mage who used to be in my party.

Both were excellent adventurers but retired after getting married.

Then Hanna was born.

She inherited her parents' talents and can use both swords and magic, making her a magic swordsman.

She had always admired her parents and aspired to be an adventurer, but when she finally decided to become one, her parents strongly opposed it, leading to a fight and her running away from home.

"Who knows. Try to think for yourself a bit."

"Don't make it sound like I'm not thinking at all."

For various reasons, she is now part of my party.

She was cute when she was younger, but now, in her rebellious phase, she has become quite a handful.

I am supposed to be her senior, but I don't feel like she respects me at all.

"Namuh."

The bald, large man who is praying with his hands together is Gai.

He has a physique that rivals mine as a warrior.

Gai used to be a cleric in a country to the east.

He is skilled in healing magic but is also proficient in close combat using a mace, making him capable in both offense and support.

We met a few years ago and have been adventuring together since then.

It seems he was excommunicated from his order due to some past events and ended up in the west, where he started his life as an adventurer.

"Many of the women must have died as virgins. What a waste."

...I suspect his lecherous nature led to his excommunication.

Despite his serious appearance, he is a pervert who spends his free time with young women.

By the way, his bald head is a result of the discipline of the eastern clerics, and he is not actually bald; he shaves his head. At least, that's what he claims.

"...Something is approaching... It's probably a monster..."

At that moment, Dill gave a small warning, and we immediately prepared for battle.

"A big boar."

A large boar monster appeared.

It is a dangerous creature known for its powerful charge with sharp tusks, but as long as you are careful, it is not too difficult to handle.

However, the monsters in this magical wasteland are generally more powerful and may have special skills, so caution is necessary.

They can mutate due to the high concentration of magic in the area.

The one in front of us seems to have redder fur than a typical big boar.

"Snort!"

The big boar snorted excitedly and charged at us as if to say hello.

We quickly scattered to the left and right to avoid it.

"Whoa!"

"Take this! Fire Javelin!"

We immediately attacked the big boar's rear, which had crashed into the rubble.

Dodging the charge and then attacking.

This is the basic strategy for fighting a big boar.

Without any need for my instructions, my companions understood this and began to deal damage to the durable big boar.

They may be difficult to handle normally, but in combat, they are very reliable.

By the way, our battle formation is mainly with me and Gai in the front, and Hanna, who can use magic for long-range attacks, in the back.

Dill, on the other hand, stays hidden from the monsters and moves flexibly as the situation demands, acting as a guerrilla.

He is also responsible for alerting us to the approach of other monsters.

Suddenly, Dill shouted in a trembling voice.

"S-Something is approaching! What is this terrifying presence!?"

It is rare for Dill to be this flustered.

Moreover, the big boar, which has a wild instinct, suddenly stopped moving and began to tremble, snorting in fear.

It seems something truly formidable is approaching.

Even I, who am usually not very sensitive to such things, can sense it.

My body started to shake involuntarily.

Then, it appeared.

"A human...?"

It certainly looked like a young human.

Except for his white hair, red eyes, and tattered clothes, he looked like any other young man in his early twenties.

But the terrifying presence emanating from his entire body.

Just being exposed to it made sweat pour out of every pore in my body, and my teeth began to chatter.

An absolute powerhouse.

A being of a different caliber.

To oppose him is to die.

I understood this instinctively.

I am facing the greatest crisis of my adventurer life.

"Snort!"

The big boar fled at high speed.

I would have been happy if he had chased it, but the white-haired youth only glanced at it with his eyes and did not move.

It seems his target is us.

Or maybe, like the big boar, he will let us go...

At that moment, the youth's lips moved slightly.

"..."

Did he just say something?

I couldn't hear it at all.

"Hey, did you catch what he said?"

I looked at Dill, silently asking him.

He noticed and whispered back.

"I could only make out... 'ko'..."

'Ko'?

...Kill?

It seems he has no mercy.