Chapter 63

"Phew, I'm saved! I don't even know how to thank you!"

The village chief, a middle-aged man, bowed repeatedly, expressing his gratitude. He appeared to be in his middle years, with a slight thinning of his hair, but he was quite young for a village chief.

He continued to bow deeply to Aldis, who had defeated the monster known as the 'Heterosaint' and saved the village. It seemed almost excessive, but as the village chief, he felt a deep sense of gratitude for saving the village, and personally, he was even more grateful. The woman who had been saved from the Heterosaint's attack was his wife.

In the end, thanks to Aldis's efforts, there were no casualties among the villagers, and only some damage to the houses. It could be considered a fortunate outcome amidst the misfortune. If Kirill and the others had arrived just ten minutes later, it would have been too late.

Understanding this, the village chief and the villagers did not hesitate to express their gratitude to Aldis.

"Magician! Please stay and rest tonight! We'll prepare a modest feast for you!"

The villagers, freed from the oppressive presence of the dangerous monster, looked bright and were unusually excited. The two of them had intended to stay overnight anyway, and there was no reason to refuse the offer.

In the center of the village, around the well, tables and chairs were being set up, brought from each of the villagers' homes. Despite being a border village and having lived with the threat of monsters, the food served at the feast was not particularly lavish.

However, the villagers beamed with joy and celebrated, knowing that they had managed to return to their daily lives without any casualties. Everywhere, people were clinking glasses and drinking.

"Really, thank you so much! Thank you so much!"

"You're amazing for someone so young!"

"Well, we can always rebuild the damaged houses. The most important thing is that no one died."

"Here, don't be shy, eat up!"

One by one, the villagers came to Aldis, praising his strength and expressing their gratitude with smiles. The drawn-out way of speaking might be a local accent. Everyone except the village chief had a particularly distinctive way of speaking.

"But, you're Aldis, right? You're stronger than you look. We didn't expect that a pair of Heterosaints had settled here. If we had known, we would have had to flee the village immediately."

A middle-aged man with a beard, while pouring more alcohol into Aldis's cup, said this. Kirill, feeling curious, interjected from the side.

"Is it that bad if they're a pair?"

"Huh? Oh, you're the young lad, right?"

The man, who seemed quite drunk, only now seemed to notice Kirill's presence.

"Yeah, when Heterosaints form a pair, their threat level is incomparable to when they're alone."

The reason lies in the Heterosaint's larvae.

"Heterosaints don't usually form groups, but they do pair up during the breeding season. You saw the larvae, right?"

Kirill nodded silently. The sight of countless floating larvae was a terrifying scene, like something out of a nightmare.

"Heterosaints lay an incredible number of eggs. Well, seeing that number, it's not hard to believe."

He pointed in the direction where the larvae's bodies had been scattered earlier.

"The problem is that the larvae eat everything around them. The Heterosaints probably started breeding here because there was a water source and plenty of food."

He himself understood that the villagers were part of that food. He drank and showed a complex expression.

"But, the idea of so many monsters being born... It's scary to think what would happen if they all grew up."

"Yeah, that won't happen. They start eating each other once they grow to a certain size."

"Eating each other?"

"Yep. The larvae eat each other, and only about five survive to adulthood."

Hearing this, Kirill understood.

In the end, the number would stabilize. However, before that, the surrounding prey would be completely devoured, which would be a significant problem for the prey.

"You know a lot about this."

"Yeah, you grew up in the city, right?"

"Ah, yes. I'm from Reiting in the Federation of City-States."

"I see. City folks probably don't care much about the ecology of monsters. But here, where the threat of monsters is a constant, it's a matter of life and death. You learn about it from a young age."

In the border villages, such threats are a real and immediate concern. Messing with dangerous beasts or monsters can't be excused with "I didn't know." It could put the entire village at risk. Therefore, knowledge about the beasts and monsters in the area is taught as common sense, the drunk man explained.

"Besides, I'm a hunter. It's only natural that I know more than others."

It turned out that this man was the one who first discovered the Heterosaints. He looked tense as he recalled the moment of discovery.

"Well, it's a relief that this magician took care of them all. Wait, are you a magician? Never mind."

After the battle, Aldis had informed the village chief that he had defeated all the Heterosaints, including the larvae.

Even one escapee could pose a threat to the village. If the adults were killed first, it was unpredictable how the larvae would react. That's why he prioritized the larvae over the adults.

Aldis had thought through all this while surrounded by the monsters. Kirill looked at Aldis, who was sitting there, with renewed admiration.

There, Aldis, the sword-mage, was being constantly refilled with drinks by the villagers, looking somewhat exasperated.

The next morning, after spending the night at the village chief's house, Kirill and the others went to a vacant lot at the edge of the village to dispose of the Heterosaints' remains.

The villagers had wanted to burn the remains immediately the previous day, but Aldis had put a stop to it. He explained that the suction cups on the Heterosaints' tentacles had the ability to suppress magic, which was not widely known.

While they didn't fetch a particularly high price, a sorcerer in the capital had asked him to collect them if possible. The tentacles of the Heterosaints were generally considered useless, as they had no known practical use.

However, if a way to use them was found in the future, they could fetch a high price. The sorcerer, who collected and studied materials with no practical use as a hobby, had asked Aldis to collect them.

Incidentally, the blue, mineral-like spheres that seemed useful were actually completely useless.

The previous night, it was already dark, so the collection of the suction cups was postponed until the next day. Leaving the remains as they were could have caused unnecessary danger, so Aldis had used magic to bury them in a vacant lot at the edge of the village.

It was only natural that the villagers were surprised when they saw the Heterosaints' remains disappear into the ground as if sinking into a swamp.

Aldis brought the Heterosaints' remains back to the surface from where he had hidden them underground. In the vacant lot, which had been empty, two adult Heterosaints and a large number of larvae appeared.

"Alright, I'll collect the suction cups. Kirill, can you gather the larvae in one place and burn them?"

"Yes."

Kirill, who had answered, hesitated for a moment before reaching out to one of the larvae.

"…Is it really okay to touch them with my hands?"

Even though they were larvae and dead, they were originally dangerous monsters. It was understandable that Kirill, who had never fought or even come into contact with monsters, felt uneasy.

"Hehe, it's fine. You can touch them with your bare hands without any problem."

Aldis said this with a smile that was hard to interpret as either a chuckle or a smile.

"If you're worried, you can use gloves."

"Ah, I'll… do my best."

After all, he had left the task of repelling the monsters summoned by the sword to Aldis. He couldn't trouble Aldis with something as trivial as this.

Kirill, determined, reached out to touch the Heterosaint larvae. The strange, squishy sensation made him grimace.

2019/07/16 Typo correction: "hand to suffer" → "hand to trouble"

*Thank you for reporting the typo.