Reincarnated (3)
It was a girl who looked no older than ten. Her sweat-soaked golden hair shimmered beautifully under the moonlight. Her blood-red eyes radiated an elegant aura like polished rubies. Though she still had at least three more years before entering her growth spurt, her beauty had already begun to bloom.
“Still, no real satisfaction in the cut.” The battle after a long time was quite enjoyable. They weren’t opponents satisfying for Elia’s level. But the mother wolf beast she faced last was tough enough to somewhat relieve her urges.
“Huh?”
Elia, who had been dusting off the dirt from her skirt hem, turned her head at the gaze directed at her. Two men and one woman. Seeing the emblems on their chests, she recognized them as adventurers.
They arrived earlier than planned? I thought they’d come tomorrow. Besides, Silver rank…
Elia thought it was good she had handled it first. If those three had faced these beasts, they would have been wiped out. A single wolf beast was a threat level 2 monster—something a Silver-rank adventurer could handle. But more than ten of them? They would be bitten, torn apart, and left in a miserable state.
That wasn’t the only problem. The massive wolf beast lay dead with its tongue lolling out. Even one of these could have torn those three apart.
“You’re adventurers, right?”
Dian nodded stiffly. He had no idea what was going on. The situation was nothing like he had expected. He had imagined another party being mauled by a single beast, not a lone girl taking down over ten of them. And what was that thing? In all his time as an adventurer, he had never seen a monster that large.
“These should be all the beasts in the forest.”
Elia gave the giant wolf’s head a light kick with her foot. Even in death, approaching it felt unsettling, yet the girl remained completely nonchalant.
“I’ll leave the cleanup to you.”
With a slight bow, Elia turned toward the convent.
“W-wait a moment…!”
Dian, who had been blinking in a daze, called out to her.
“Yes?”
Elia tilted her head and looked back.
“Did you… do all this by yourself?”
She had no adventurer emblem, so she wasn’t one of them. She carried no proper weapon either—just a slightly worn dress and bare hands. Her body was that of an ordinary girl.
“I did. Why?”
“How? How did you do it?”
Elia pointed at the branch embedded in the beast’s forehead.
“I smashed its head in with a tree branch.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m asking how you managed to fight all these beasts alone. You don’t look like an adventurer or a mage.”
Elia studied Dian. His clear eyes held the burning desire of someone who longed to grow stronger.
Good eyes.
“It’s simple.”
She might as well tell him how to become strong.
“Train your stamina for five hours a day, practice swordsmanship for five hours, train your mana for five hours, and hunt thirty beasts. Repeat that cycle.”
“W-what?”
“If you want to get stronger, you have to do things that sound impossible.”
Elia offered a gentle smile.
“Push yourself to the brink of death at least once.”
She extended a finger and pointed at the sprawled beast corpses.
“You can do it too.”
With those words, Elia vanished into the forest. The three of them stared after her until she was completely gone.
“……What was that?”
They looked back and forth between the spot where the girl had disappeared and the beasts lying dead with their heads crushed.
“Should we… start with the harvesting?”
After slaying a beast, adventurers had to strip its horns, teeth, and hide as proof of the subjugation and submit them to the Adventurers’ Guild. Dian’s party drew their daggers to begin the work. They decided to start with the largest one first. Just skinning it would probably take the three of them over an hour.
The moment the three approached the giant wolf—
“Kaoooo!!”
The wolf they had thought was dead let out a roar and whipped its tail like a lash, sending all three flying.
“Kuhk!!”
The blow struck Dian square in the abdomen. He crashed into a tree, back first. Clutching his stomach, he curled up on the ground.
“Ghh… It was still alive…?”
Wincing, he lifted his head. The wolf had a thick branch lodged in its forehead like a horn. Even with brain matter leaking out, it was alive. Its purple eyes had turned blood-red, veins bursting within them.
“Grr…!!”
The enraged wolf bared its sharp fangs. Thick blood dripped between its teeth. Blood also streamed from its nose.
“I-is everyone… okay…?”
“Y-yeah……”
“……”
Arold barely managed a reply. Piara had been knocked unconscious after slamming her head into a tree. A single tail strike had nearly wiped out the entire party.
They had to decide quickly. Fight or flee?
“Arold! Fall back!”
Three mediocre Silver-rank adventurers stood no chance against this wolf. There was no point in trying. Instinct told them clearly—fighting meant death. They had to run.
Dian grabbed the unconscious Piara.
“Kuaaak!!”
A scream rang out from behind. It was Arold. The wolf’s claws had raked across his abdomen.
“Arold!!”
Three gashes split his stomach, blood pouring freely. Arold gasped in agony, feeling as though his organs might spill out.
“Ugh…!”
The wolf turned its gaze to Dian. It smirked at the trembling girl—the mocking grin of a predator toying with the weak. The wolf that had feigned death before a stronger foe now drooled at the thought of devouring these three fools.
It tilted its head at Dian, as if telling her to run. It was thoroughly enjoying the game. Even if she fled, it would catch her anyway. Still, with its massive size, maybe there was a chance?
She soon realized how pointless that hope was. Despite the battle, the forest remained untouched—no trees had been broken. A creature of that size fighting should have felled at least one. As expected… escape was impossible.
“Huu… huu…”
With shaking breaths, Dian drew the swords at her hips. The blades trembled violently. The outcome was clear. She would die. She would become the wolf’s meal.
But she had no intention of going quietly. She would resist to the end. For some reason, the girl’s earlier words echoed in her mind. Push yourself to the brink of death. She hadn’t expected to put that advice into practice so soon.
“Hraaa!”
With a spirited cry, Dian charged at the wolf.
—Thud!!
The wolf casually swatted her aside with its leg. Dian crumpled to the ground. How utterly hollow an ending. She had dreamed of becoming an Orichalcum-rank adventurer. She knew it was an absurd dream, but she had wanted to grow that strong. Yet reality had left her at Silver rank—the second most common, utterly ordinary tier.
“Kuk, kukuk.”
The wolf sneered at her. Blood-mixed saliva dripped onto her head. Yet, shamefully, she could do nothing. All that remained was to die in vain. The wolf opened its jaws wide. Its excitement had faded. It wanted to play more, but the opponent was too weak. A foul stench washed over her. Dian’s body trembled harder. The skin on her palm tore as she gripped the sword, blood flowing. Fine. At least she would land one hit.
The wolf’s mouth drew closer. Forcing her numb body to move, Dian raised her sword. She would ram it down the beast’s throat!
“Hraaa……!!”
But—
—Crunch!!
As if it had expected this, the wolf shattered her sword with its teeth.
“Pik, kukuk, kuk.”
The wolf laughed with a displeased expression. Dian felt the full weight of her own powerlessness.
“Ha, haha… Damn it…”
The wolf opened its jaws wide, as if to show off. And in that moment—
A flash of golden light severed the wolf’s neck. Its head fell to the ground, mouth still open in that mocking grin.
“I had a bad feeling, so I came back.”
Step by step, the girl approached. In her hand was Arold’s sword.
“So it was playing dead. Tougher than I thought.”
Elia let out a yawn. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she sighed deeply. A child’s body tired quickly with even a little movement. She had exerted herself more than usual, and drowsiness was overwhelming her.
“I’m sorry. I should have made sure it was finished before handing it over.”
Elia crouched in front of Dian.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
It felt like bones were broken. Breathing was difficult.
“A… Arold… Arold is…”
Dian worried about her companion first. Arold had suffered the worst injury—his abdomen split open by the wolf’s claws.
“That man?”
Elia pointed with her thumb at the man lying far away.
“Y-yeah…”
Dian nodded. Elia stood up, knees straightening. She walked over to the man who looked ready to die at any moment, gasping for breath.
“He took quite a beating.”
Elia rolled up her sleeve.
“Pardon me for a moment.”
She placed her hand on Arold’s stomach and closed her eyes. Her long lashes fell like curtains. In a soft voice, she spoke.
“……O God, grant your daughter the power of salvation.”
She began reciting a prayer. Then a power different from mana began to rise—warm and gentle. Holy Power.
“A-a priest……?”