When I turn around after killing the leader of the stampede, I can see all the destruction that was caused. I may have gone a bit too far… some bodies are so badly damaged that they are unrecognizable, several monsters are nothing more than small pieces of flesh after so much destruction.

  I think for a moment about destroying all the bodies, freezing them like ice shards and breaking them into multiple pieces or something similar, but I discard the idea when I see a core next to me. Some of the monsters must have lost their cores, but in general almost all of them are intact, and the villagers will be able to use the money to repair the wall.

  I will not take them, I don’t need them, the money is more important for them right now.

  All the villagers are gathered near the entrance. Luckily, no one looks disgusted by the scene and they are not looking at me like a monster. They are just waiting for me. When I stand in front of them, no one says anything. The silence feels a bit uncomfortable, I let a few seconds pass and decide to speak first to break the tension.

  “Hello everyone…” My brain hesitates for a moment between trying to look cool in front of them and another part that wants to be polite. In the end, my brain half short-circuits.

  “Everything is over, there are no monsters left alive. Is anyone injured?” It was the first thing that came to my mind. At least I have some healing potions in case someone needs them.

  Everyone shakes their heads from side to side. I let out a sigh of relief when I see that no one is injured. “I have a few questions, if someone can help me I would appreciate it.” Everyone stays silent for a second, and finally an old man wearing silver armor steps forward.

  “Let’s go to the center of the plaza, we can sit there and I will answer all your questions.” The old man makes a small bow and invites me to follow him. We both start walking and all the other citizens follow us closely. I can hear some murmurs from the younger ones behind my back, which are quickly silenced by the other elders.

  I turn around to smile at them and give them a wink. My actions calm them down a little, they were already stiff, and the scolding from the other elder had left them frozen like statues.

  We all sit on several wooden chairs placed around the center of the plaza. Before I can say anything, the elder leader speaks. “Thank you for saving us, young one. My village and I are deeply grateful to you. We would all be dead if you hadn’t arrived to save us.” The old man makes a small bow and looks at all the people around him, and everyone bows after his gaze.

  “I’m glad I could help, I’m happy I arrived at the right moment.” I smile a little, feeling uncomfortable with all the attention around me. “By the way, my name is Maki. Before we continue, I want to know where I am. Exactly where are we?”

  “It’s a pleasure, Maki. My name is Hurye.” After greeting me, the old man looks a little uneasy.

  “We are in the Kingdom of Juka, this is a small village near the border zone.” The Kingdom of Juka? How the hell did I end up here? At least it’s not a terrible location. Depending on where I am, I could be close to Skyblue City.

  “How far are we from the Skyblue territory border?” I ask, ignoring the curious looks. I can understand why they are staring at me, it’s strange not to know where you are.

  “Not very far geographically, but there is no safe road to get there. It’s all mountains and forests. The fastest route takes a couple of days by carriage to the nearest city with a teleportation portal, and from there you could jump.” The old man is intelligent, he hasn’t asked unnecessary questions and limits himself to giving useful information.

  “I understand… thank you for the information.” While I think of my next question, I hear one of the citizens whisper to a friend of a similar age, his comment was: How does he not know where we are? That’s suspicious.

  The other elder in elegant armor glares at him fiercely, I even see him hit him on the head with his Imra. The poor young man rubs his head. Luckily, he’s smart enough to understand how rude his comment was toward his savior.

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  I can’t blame him. If someone arrived at my village, helped us like I just did, and then asked where he was, I would also find that suspicious.

  I turn to look at the young man who made the comment. He freezes in place, even his friend lowers her head and nervously moves her legs.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not angry. I would also be suspicious if I were in your position.” I raise my gaze to the sky for a moment and raise my voice slightly. “Don’t worry, I’m not a bad person and I have no intention of harming you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have saved you in the first place.” My words seem to convince most of the citizens, who were looking very nervous.

  “You could say I have a small connection with someone from the kingdom, I’m happy I could help indirectly.” When I return, I’ll tell Brendu about the situation.

  “How did you get here?” The other elder asks me, then realizes how rude the question sounds and continues. “If you don’t mind telling us, of course…” He reminds me a bit of the grumpy elders from my old world, the kind who just sit in parks complaining about life.

  “I was in a dungeon, something strange happened when I cleared it and I appeared near this village by pure coincidence.” I don’t give them any details, but I don’t lie either. Everyone seems to accept my words easily.

  “OH!” I hear a female voice raise in surprise. Everyone turns to look at her, and she turns red in a second.

  “Jossy?” Hurye says the name of the girl who looks like a mage. The brown-haired girl with hazel eyes turns even redder, almost trembling like a little puppy. “Do you have something to say?” The elder’s voice sounds gentle and understanding.

  “This… this… it’s nothing important, I just remembered something.” She looks at me for a second and lowers her gaze. “You’re the boy who participated in the last novice tournament, right? Your name is Maki, you have purple eyes, reddish hair, you use lightning and ice magic.” She says everything in a single breath, speaking too fast, and we all remain silent for a few seconds.

  She looks from side to side, waiting for someone to say something, her legs start moving even faster.

  “Yes, that’s me. I never thought I’d be recognized in such a remote place.” I’m a little surprised she knows about me.

  “I also heard about that battle, everyone was talking about it for weeks. Someone that strong facing the Magma Goddess doesn’t appear every day.” The village leader speaks.

  Magma Goddess? Is that what they call Areci here? I make a mental note to call her by that nickname next time I see her.

  “Is it true that you’re dating Princess Brendu? Is that rumor true?” The first young girl who had been scolded along with her friend asks me. When I look at her, she quickly covers her mouth with her hands. “Everyone was talking about it recently… sorry for asking, you don’t have to reveal your private life to us.” She rests her hands on her knees nervously.

  I don’t answer, I just look at her with a big smile and then turn to Hurye. “I have a small connection with someone from the kingdom, I’ll tell them to send someone to this village when I return.” This place is very desolate and doesn’t seem to have notable guards. At the very least, Brendu could ask her father to send some capable Sapphire-ranked fighters. Honestly, I doubt another Grade 4 monster will appear here.

  The elder shows a warm smile when he hears me. He understood everything in a second, it’s nice talking to intelligent people. “Thank you, this village and I will be grateful to you.” He makes a small bow to thank me.

  “By the way, where is everyone? This village looks rather desolate and I’d like to know how it reached this point.” Maybe I can gain something valuable from their story, I might discover something interesting.

  The elder begins explaining everything from the beginning. Many more monsters appeared over the last week. The village was able to fight them thanks to some adventurers because they were all Grade 3, there were no complications during the first assaults.

  They didn’t think much of it, they assumed some small groups of monsters had migrated and even saw it as an opportunity. Everything changed when that minotaur appeared. It began massacring multiple people, everyone focused on it immediately to avoid losing more lives.

  Unfortunately, the monster’s power exceeded their expectations, many died, and others were terribly injured. Everyone else was evacuated to the nearest village, and only the bravest or those capable of holding the monsters back as long as possible stayed behind.

  While the village leader continues speaking, I suddenly stand up. “Is something wrong? Is everything alright, Maki?” Everyone looks at me nervously.

  Before I can answer, I quickly construct several ice walls, using gravity to reinforce them and to scatter multiple constructs heading toward us. Fire spears crash into my walls, some shatter instantly, but in the end I manage to stop the surprise attack.

  I move my body rapidly toward the direction where the spears were fired from. Only the two elders react almost as fast as I do, they are right behind me, ready to fight. Everyone else takes a second to process what just happened.

  A horrifying laugh echoes from the distance. I can see a woman in a black robe slowly approaching. “Cute little boy, I’ll burn you down to the bone.” I don’t answer, I’m focused on the withered tree tattoo on her hand. Is this the work of those damn people?