“You’re quite late.”

In the completely night-struck town of Loine, at the Adventurer’s Guild.

In the guild leader’s office, Rei Ryu Rosca had been awaiting a visitor.

Originally, this person should have visited about two hours ago, but after being kept waiting, it had become this late.

Therefore, her words of welcome concealed some unmistakable prickliness.

“Don’t be so tense. It ruins your beautiful face.”

“…”

In the face of Rei’s anger, Theo Arthur Brown, the Kingdom Knights Commander, casually sat on the sofa.

His attitude made Rei want to say something.

However, to keep the conversation moving, she decided to set aside her personal feelings for now.

“So? How did the investigation go?”

“It’s pretty bad. The number of monsters is abnormal. Just shy of saturation, maybe?”

“…I see.”

Rei had requested the Knights to undertake a certain task.

The content of the request was an 【investigation of the monster habitat in the Wartz Great Forest】.

In the past month, there had been a growing number of monsters inhabiting the Wartz Great Forest.

Even among the adventurers who consider the town of Loine their home, voices of doubt were being raised.

“I went into the forest today, and monsters kept coming out one after another.”

“Then, as expected…”

“Yeah, it’s undoubtedly a sign of a 【Stampede】.”

Arata hadn’t doubted it, but normally it’s impossible for dozens of goblins to inhabit the shallow areas of Wartz Great Forest.

Goblins are monsters that are located at the lower end of the ecosystem.

As a result, while they reproduce rapidly, most of them are destined to be preyed upon by other monsters.

“Goblins were swarming like insects, that…”

“A superior species has appeared, hasn’t it?”

“No doubt about it.”

Theo’s investigation confirmed that the change in the monster habitat in the Wartz Great Forest was indeed a precursor to a stampede.

Once a stampede occurs, the surrounding towns will suffer immense damage.

Rei immediately started envisioning scenarios for when a stampede would occur.

She considered the worst-case scenario.

Given the current increase in goblins, it was predicted that the superior species that had appeared was either a 『Goblin King』 or a 『Goblin King』.

Then, using the reported increase in the number of monsters, she estimated the approximate scale of the impending stampede.

The result was in the thousands.

If things went badly, the stampede was expected to reach tens of thousands in scale.

Moreover, based on this forecast, she calculated the necessary manpower and supplies, and took measures to minimize the damage.

“We’ll have adventurers dispatched from the royal capital. Right now, there’s a capable B-ranked party visiting this town. I’ll try to get a couple more parties involved.”

“I’ll also request the dispatch from the Knights. I intend to stay in this town for a while.”

“…I feel safe knowing you’re here.”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean. It’s not like you.”

“…”

Theo was puzzled by Rei’s somewhat distracted demeanor.

There are no absolutes in battle.

If even one irregularity occurs, the tide of battle can turn instantly, and the battlefield can literally turn into hell.

She showed a moment of contemplation but decided to voice the worry she had been keeping to herself.

“There’s a new adventurer that I’m a bit concerned about.”

“Oh, a love consultation? Is the ‘Ice Queen’ really getting a boyfriend?!”

“Don’t joke around. Also, I… I want to have a boyfriend! Yet, even if I date, they leave me‼ Why is that⁉”

“Uh…”

Triggered by Theo’s joke, Rei starts venting her frustration.

Even Theo found himself trying to calm her down.

A few minutes later.

Rei, out of breath, regains her composure.

“…Sorry, I lost my myself.”

“Well, what happened with the newbie?”

“He collected twenty bundles of medicinal herbs on his first day of registration. And today, he brought in proof of defeating more than 100 goblins. What do you think about such an eccentric newcomer?”

Collecting a large number of herbs is possible if one has the 【Appraisal】 skill.

As for defeating goblins, it can be achieved if one has the equivalent skill of a C-rank adventurer.

Even if they’re new to adventuring, if they’ve had experience as hunters or mercenaries, it’s plausible that they would have such capabilities.

“It doesn’t seem strange, does it?”

“What if that newcomer was level 4?”

“What?”

— Level

It is a blessing given to all creatures existing in this world.

By repeating effort and training, the rank of the species increases.

And as the level increases, so do their abilities.

Level 1 indicates the weakest state of the creature.

Regardless of being human or not, for all creatures, level 1 is the state right after birth.

“Can you imagine it? Even if they were an elf or a dragon race which need a lot of experience, that newbie is a human… moreover, he looks like he’s in his mid to late teens.”

“If he’s a human, he should have reached level 7 on his own by that time… Wait, you used 【Appraisal】 on that newbie?”

“It’s… It’s fine! I was just curious!”

Using the 【Appraisal】 skill on others is considered something one should not do, as an unspoken rule.

This is because as the level of the skill increases, it becomes an act of prying into personal information.

“So? What kind of guy is this newbie?”

“His name is ‘Arata’. A boy with black hair and black eyes-”

“Really⁉”

“What’s with the sudden outburst?”

“I was asked by him for a mock battle. That’s what I was doing until a while ago.”

“…You don’t mean to say that’s the reason you were late?”

“I just got a bit carried away!”

“……..sigh.”

Theo didn’t show any signs of feeling guilty even when it was revealed that the cause of his late report was due to personal reasons.

Seeing his attitude, Rei sighed deeply.

“So, how strong is Arata?”

“I don’t have 【Appraisal】, so I can’t say for sure? But he moved like he was about level 20.”

“I see.”

“But…”

Theo stumbled over his words.

Seeing Theo’s hesitance, Rei felt a sense of doubt.

“There was something off about him. He reminded me of someone who had been wounded and moved back from the front line, or someone who had retired… Someone who has the skills, but their body can’t keep up.”

“…”

Rei recalls the situation when she used 【Appraisal】.

There was nothing notable in Arata’s status.

He had few skills, all of which were ordinary.

The 【Appraisal】 was over in an instant.

It was then.

The moment when Rei made eye contact with Arata.

Without thinking, she averted her gaze.

She didn’t know why.

She only felt something menacing, like she had to look away, and she hastily dropped her gaze towards the documents for the quest that he had taken.

Eventually, the conversation ended because there wasn’t enough information to consider anything more.

What remained was the problem of how to survive the stampede.

But the footsteps of disaster were closing in on the town of Loine…