Published: July 3, 2025
At dawn, after leaving the City of Kairadi, the four of them arrived at their destination, Abali Village, by early afternoon.
"We arrived quite early, huh?"
"It’s because we walked at a fast pace. Normally, it would take a whole day..."
Nils replied to Ryo's observation with a wry smile.
All four of them had particularly trained their endurance, which significantly shortened the time for such long-distance travel.
How long one can sustain high performance... It's a crucial factor, whether one is an athlete or an adventurer.
Long live endurance.
It seemed that the residences were clustered around the center of the village, but the cultivated fields stretched far beyond the village, quite extensively.
There, several villagers were working, but upon seeing the four, they approached.
The reason was that they had returned the swordsman to the village.
"Nils? Oh, it's really Nils! Long time no see!"
"Nils~! Welcome back~"
Seeing the villagers cheerfully waving at Nils, Ryo's expression relaxed as he said, "So Nils wasn't disliked and exiled by the villagers. That's great."
"Why would I be exiled?"
Nils retorted in a tone that was more incredulous than angry.
"Because Nils looks like a little troublemaker or a ruffian... you were quite mischievous, right?"
"Ugh... I can't deny that..."
"It's usually the case that such people get kicked out of the village and become adventurers."
"Ryo is making a definitive statement..."
"Does Ryo-san have acquaintances like that?"
Eto and Amon whispered to each other, amused by Ryo's definitive tone based on his light novel knowledge.
"Anyhow, first, let's go greet the village chief and grandma."
Cutting the conversation abruptly, Nils walked with big strides toward the center of the village.
The other three followed behind.
In the village square at the center, a larger house was built adjacent to it.
The building itself was wooden, but the interior seemed quite spacious.
"Buran, are you there?"
As he opened the door, Nils entered without hesitation.
However, the three were hesitating.
While Nils might have been quite familiar with the place, the three were not.
They ended up peering inside from just outside the door.
The space was very large, almost as if it was used as a meeting hall.
After waiting for a few seconds, a large man in his fifties, built like Nils, emerged from the back of the house.
"Oh, who is it... wait, is that you, Nils? Is it really you?"
As if he had seen something unbelievable, the man called Buran looked Nils up and down multiple times.
"Yep, it's me."
"Is it really you, Nils... I hardly recognized you."
With that, the two embraced tightly.
"Hardly recognized... it hasn't been a year since I left the village, you know?"
"Well, that's true... but you seem so impressive now... Back when you left the village, you were just a troublemaker..."
"Pfft."
Hearing that, the other three burst into laughter simultaneously.
"Don't say that, Buran. By the way, these three here are my party members, Eto, Amon, and Ryo."
"Nice to meet you."
The three bowed their heads all together and greeted him.
"Hey, nice to meet you. I’m the village chief, Buran. Well, standing around talking is not good; have a seat."
Prompted by Buran, the four took a seat.
Just then, a woman of similar age to Buran appeared from the back, carrying a tray with cups.
"Nils, welcome back. Everyone, please come in."
"Lanlan, I’m home."
The woman called Lanlan smiled warmly, placed the cups filled with drinks, and soon stepped back.
"So, Nils coming back at this time means..."
"Ah, we accepted a request that the village sent to the Guild."
"I see... huh? But that request was from the adventurers' guild in Kairadi, and it was quite a high-ranking request, wasn’t it?"
"Nobody in Kairadi would take it, so it was passed to the City of Run. As for the rank, well, we managed to stretch a bit and accept it."
As Nils said this, Eto and Amon smiled wryly.
"I see... well, it's better than having unknown people tackle it."
At that point, Buran took a sip of water from his cup.