Chapter 003

The rope slid in my hand.

“Got it!”

Someone jumps toward the rope and grabs it immediately.

“Hey! Brand help me out here!”

The one that grabs the rope is none other than Cain.

“EVERYONE! PULL!”

With that command everyone pulls with all their might.

Bang! Bang!

The monster feets lose its footing and it falls down.

“ATTACK!”

After Cain shouted the villagers started to attack.

However, Cain and Brand together with the other villagers who are tasked to hold the rope didn’t participate. Instead upon hearing his command they grab the rope and pull it with all their might.

“Graaaa!”

“Gaaaaaaa!”

“Grrraaaa!”

The rope pulled really hard in the hands of Brand that the rope even slid in his hand.

Brand can feel the monster struggling through the ropes.

“Gaaaa!”

“Brand pull!”

Cain pulls the rope by stepping backward while facing the monsters.

But this time Brand put the rope on his shoulder and pulled the rope vine using his own body.

“Get him!”

“Fast!”

Puck!

Slash!

Puck! Puck!

Brand looked around and he saw that several villagers are attacking the monster from every corner of its body.

Some of them are attacking the face, the eyes are already blind and blood is dripping in its face.

There are several slashes in the feet to destroy the monster tendons.

Everybody is fighting so hard.

But that is not enough…

Brand can still feel the monster struggling through the rope.

“Brand!”

Brand look at Cain.

Cain looks serious and speaks while grinding his teeth trying to pull the rope that is holding the monster down.

“I have to let go of Brand, hold it more tightly! I need to pierce the brain of this monster.”

Brand nodded.

“I got it! Go!”

Upon saying that Cain immediately ran towards the monster.

“SPEAR!”

He shouted with all his might.

Then suddenly a spear appeared in the air, it seemed like one of the villagers immediately throw it towards him.

Cain grabs the spear and he runs towards the  monster.

He moved towards the side of the head. 

Pause for a bit, it seems like he is aiming at the monster and then dash forward once again.

Using both of his hands he stabs the spear in the monster's bleeding eye.

“GGRRRAAA!”

Then he moves backward, holds the end of the spear and pushes it with all his might.

Puccck!!!

Blood squirted from the eyes and the monster struggled one last time and eventually stopped moving.

“YEEAAAAAH!”

“Yeeeaaahhh!”

“We won!”

“That’s what you get, monster!”

Brand can feel the celebratory atmosphere in the air.

However,

“MOVE! THERE ARE STILL A LOT OF MONSTERS!”

Cain poured them cold water.

They all look towards the encirclement and true to his words there are still a lot of monsters remaining.

The villagers immediately run towards the encirclement.

Then Brand ran towards the encirclement too.

He was just about to pass on Cain when Cain stopped him by blocking his way.

Brand was confused.

“Huh?”

“Brand… Find Damian.”

(I see…)

“I know what you feel Cain but we need to help out the village first! Remember Cain… ‘The village comes first.’”

Brand quoted the famous saying in the village.

That whatever happens we need to protect the village first before protecting an individual.

Cain just smiled at me.

“Yeah! You're right, but we need all the help we can get… find Damian and drag him here to help us out! If someone saw you just tell them I gave you that order. Damian has the brains to help us out here.”

(I know what you're doing, you know.)

Cain might look tough but he considers Damian and me as family, and we also considered him that of one.

In the first place, Damian might have the brains but he always skips the training and he might be considered one of the weakest men in this village.

Not because he is fragile but because he just lacks training.

(Now, how could a man like that help us kill these monsters? I don’t know?)

But Brand still worries about Damian and Amelia.

“Siggghhhh… I got it… I will leave now and head towards their house.”

Cain nodded as if he was satisfied with Brand's answer.

Brand… though feeling wrong… he also wanted to check up on his friend.

Brand ran towards the side where he could reach Damians house without running towards the encirclement.

Unfortunately, Damian’s house is just three 3 houses from the wall and from Brand perspective it's just atleast 2 houses apart from the monster invasion.

“Did Damian and Amelia escape?”

Brand keeps looking around when he is running towards Damian’s house.

Looking for any villagers that got stuck in their houses or afraid to run due to the monster's attack.

The street is in chaos.

Baskets are scattered everywhere. 

Fruits and vegetables that look like we're about to be transferred to the store room are scattered on the ground.

“Huff! Huff!”

Brand looks around until he focuses on a single place that enters his view.

A single floor house made out of wooden logs which is the standard looking house in our village.

Brand runs towards it and opens the door.

Bang!

“Amelia!”

“Damian!”

“Anyone here!”

Brand looks around the area.

The house looks fine, there are no signs of panic and damages inside.

The truth is Brand feels like there is no person staying here when the invasion happens.

“They… they are not here?”

He looks at the dining table, then looks at their rooms.

“Where are they?”

Brand felt confused but immediately he got an idea.

“Did? Did they already go towards the Village Hall?”

He felt relieved.

“Phew…”

Brand body slump.

“That’s good… Damian will be scolded by the chief but… at least they are safe.”

“Phew…”

Brand inhaled and felt a cold air going in his lungs.

“Let’s get back and help Cain!”

But before he got out.

Fuuuuusssshhh!

A sound of rushing air can be heard outside the house.

“Huh?”

Immediately something came into his mind.

“Don’t tell me…”

Due to their training they knew the common monsters around their village.

Fuuuusssshhhh!

Fuuussshhh!

He moves towards the nearby window and peeks outside.

“Brown Sickle.”

An insect monster with a sickle like in its hand.

The size of this monster is very small, the size of a 7 year-old child.

But no one should underestimate it.

Its small body is not a disadvantage but an advantage especially if it fought with an adult human.

Brand looks outside once more and it seems like that the monster is looking around the village.

(Did it escape the encirclement? Or is this a new monster that came in and passed through the village easily because of the chaos?)

The monster doesn’t have any wound, a blood on its arm or any mark that suggests that it already fought with the villagers.

(As a villager of Birr… I have to stop it here.)

Brand grip his axe, he tried to remember anything he learned about this monster.

‘Fast moving monster.’

‘The blade hands are as sharp as a normal sword.’

‘Wearing metal armor is advantageous.’

‘If you don’t have armor, carry a shield but be careful of its assault.’

‘The hand movement of this monster is so fast that blocking each attack might be impossible.’

He looks around Damian’s house.

Unfortunately, Damian… is not a fan of fighting so he didn’t find any weapon in here.

“Tsk… Damian…”

Brand felt irritated.

He could just go towards the neighbor and hope that there is a shield in those houses or better yet metal armor.

Which is practically impossible to find in this village.

“Then what?”

Right now… Brand doesn’t have any advantages.

He cannot think of anything to defeat this monster with ease, he knew that if he got out of this house he would fight the monster on a one-on-one basis and he would be at a disadvantage due to the monster characteristics.

“Tsk! Tsk!”

He felt irritated and at the same time nervous about what he is about to do but he doesn’t have any choice.”

“I cannot let this monster roam around freely in this place.”

He felt sure in his decision, even if he is at a disadvantage he needs to do what the village requires him to do.

This is a responsibility he needs to take.

He was about to move out of the house when look back at Damian’s kitchen one last time.

Then suddenly it hit him.

During ‘Training’ when they are part of a large hunting group and none hunters are invited to have some battle experience.

He bought a bag of flour, an egg and a frying pan during our expedition.

When people asked him about it he proudly said that he wanted to eat freshly cooked bread for this picnic.

He literally considered that day as a picnic instead of a training session.

Of course people laugh at him about it but in the end when lunch time comes they are also the people that ask for more fresh cooked bread from Damian.

Then Damian grinned at Cain and Brand.

Just like saying ‘haha got them’.

But an incident occurred.

When multiple Brown Sickle attacked the group and another Brown Sickle caught Damian in surprise he threw his bag towards it and the monster sliced the bag in half.

But that didn’t just destroy the bag, it also popped the flour bag inside the bag that created a dusty area.

Then Damian escaped and ran towards the nearby hunter and they immediately took care of the Brown Sickle.

That night when everyone is resting.

“Hey!”

Cain and Brand together with the other people in the campfire look at him.

“I think a bag of flour can distract the Brown Sickle for a bit.”

“Wahahaha!”

“What are you talking about Damian!?”

“Such a good joke!”

“Your really came up with weird things Damian.”

People all around us laugh at him.

But then when Brand looks around, Cain and Roger aren't laughing.

Instead they seem like they are lost in thought.

Damian smiles at everyone and gently scratches the back of his head.

“Hahahaha… yeah… yeah”

Damian laughed but I felt that he just agreed with everybody to make the topic stop.

Brand looks at the kitchen once again.

He slowly moved towards it and he found the bag of flour in Damian’s cabinet.

Brand looked around and he found containers with spices on them.

He emptied the containers, these containers are somewhat transparent and made from a hardened and manufactured monster jelly, and poured several flour inside it.

Brand now has 3 fist size containers with flour in it.

“Damian… shit… I hope you are right.”

Damian is Brand’s friend that he considered to have a good head.

He thinks differently and he is special in that way. 

The only quality he didn’t like about this friend of his, is his attitude to skip the responsibility given to him by the village.

Each of the villagers have these responsibilities and they follow it to help the village.

But somehow, for some weird or bizarre reason Damian wanted to skip it.

Daily Training, which involves learning about the monsters and learning how to use weapons.

Basic Survival, which lets us learn how to survive in the wild.

And of course, the village rules, we follow this to the teeth to keep the village safe.

But even so… even if this friend is an odd ball he felt that he can trust Damian.

He prepared the 3 containers and put the two of them in his pocket and the other one in his left hand while he carried the axe in his right hand.

“Sssiiigggghhh! I hope you are right about this, Damian.”

Brand opens the door and the Brown Sickle looks at him.