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28. Wolf’s Hidden Village

Where is Shizuku? Our daughter.

She must not come back. The will of the “enemy” is at work in “The Farthest Ends of the Blue”.

No, I can’t die. Not until I tell that girl the name of the one who devours everything.

The name of the enemy is――.

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「A long time ago, the werewolves who were chased away in a war.」

As the surrounding scenery changed from grassland to a forest of shrubs, Shizuku began telling us the history that her parents taught her.

「The men, the old, and the sick all fought and died. Those who fled were women, children, and small tribes unfit for battle. Some fled far away, but… werewolves can only live in this land. Due to that line of thinking, my grandparents were the ones who remained.」

「To the mountains, huh…」

Endemic skill [Garou]. For these people, whose skill is rooted in the land, this land has more meaning than a simple birthplace.

「As the forests disappeared, the power of werewolves also weakened. They ran away and away. And then they quietly settled in a small forest that remained in a steep valley where humans could not enter, and where they are still living today.」

Shizuku and her tribe call it the “Wolf’s Hidden Village”.

I decided to walk there in order to learn about the land. It was certainly a tough place. The brittle rock, sandy and dry soil which doesn’t allow for water to pool, and climate with large temperature differences hinders the invasion of large armies.

「Koe-san, are you okay?」

「Yes, master. Thank you.」

Without the assistance of skills, it would be difficult for Koe-san to even walk. If we didn’t know about it beforehand, we wouldn’t even have imagined that there are demi-humans living in hiding in a land like this for three generations.

Not to mention that there is an S-class dungeon.

「Dungeons are dangerous, but you can obtain meat and materials. Thus we entered the shallow layers of the Blue End. Although there were injuries and deaths, we survived by drinking the blood of monsters.」

She added that it was still better than the muddy water in the Kinui town. Shizuku raised her head and looked at the sky in the distance. The village was probably in that direction.

「……What?」

As soon as I followed her line of sight, I felt a sense of discomfort. At the same time, [Divine Eye Drive] noticed black smoke rising.

「Smoke. But it’s not cooking smoke… That would be too careless for people who have been living in hiding for three generations.」

「No, that can’t be true. It’s forbidden to raise smoke straight up in the village. Something is happening in the village!」

Blood drained from Shizuku’s face. Seeing it as an emergency situation, I pulled Koe-san and Shizuku closer to me.

「[Space Jump], activate.」

I jumped to the sky above the point where smoke was rising. Looking down from the air, I could see simple houses made of wood and stone, lined up side by side in a narrow valley.

All of them had burst into flames emitting black smoke. Black monsters crawled around between them, and the screams of the residents can be heard mixed in with the sounds of destruction.

「Which is your house?」

「That one!」

The place Shizuku pointed at was probably the first place to be attacked. A house, slightly larger than the others, raised a particularly thick plume of smoke. That must be the smoke we saw from far away.

「Father! Mother!」

「Don’t move, Shizuku.」

「But!」

「I’m faster.」

I momentarily let go of Koe-san and Shizuku in the air and selected a skill. In this situation where the residents and monsters are mixed up, Shizuku is too fast but too light to push through. What is needed here is strength.

「[Asura’s Six Arms], activate.」

Six invisible arms appeared and caught Koe-san and Shizuku. We landed on the ground with the two arms at the bottom. I started dashing through the village with the invisible arms instead of my legs. The majority of the monsters crawling around the village were simple-minded insect-type. They rushed towards us without much thought and then were punched away to death by the remaining two arms.

A somewhat intelligent individual plunged in aiming for me, but I grabbed its protruding jaw and crushed it with my right hand.

「Master, are you hurt?」

「This skill evolved from [Physical Strength Enhancement]. This level of enemy is no problem. Besides, we’re almost there.」

With the house just in front of us, Shizuku slipped from the arm and rushed forward.

「[Garou]!!」

She tore off the monsters that were clinging to the house and rushed inside. Within seconds, she jumped out with both of them in her arms.