"Huh!

　A warrior in hard leather armor swings the battle-axe down with a shout.

It's not a good thing.

　The demon that was hit by the warrior's attack is split in half from brain to crotch.

Freeze ball!

　The wizard unleashes an icy spell to affect his surroundings.

Guffaw!

　Surrounded by trees and quads, the area greatly reduces the evils' escape route.
　The magic hits the demon and freezes it halfway through its body as it scrambles through the obstructing vegetation.

"Say!

　Then, when the demon slowed down, the warrior cut the demon in two from behind, and there was nothing left to move around but them.

Whew!

　The warrior exhales heavily after a job.

There's a lot of hunting. I'll strip him down and we'll go back to town.

Yes.

　They were adventurers.
　They were also rootless plants that traveled to different towns and took on dangerous jobs on the spot to earn their daily bread.
　It was a job that was often too dangerous and not worth it, where and when you might die.
　But despite such dangerous work, the number of young people who want to become adventurers has not decreased.

But there are so many demons. The demons in the forest are thinned out by the wizard's dragons, right?

　A warrior blurts out, peeling the golden material from the demons.

"Because it's this time of year, there must have been more demons than usual during the breeding season.

So, it's the next time you're hunting for a demon.

　A disgusted warrior looks in the direction of the Great Demon Forest.

"It's that time of year again, when the demon outbreaks are sure to come. It's almost time for this year too.

　The

So, I've been formally appointed as the resident knight in arms of the town.

　A month after Merck's return, Letty, who remained in town, came to tell me this.

"Well, congratulations?

"Yes, congratulations.

(Isn't this a left turn?)

　Lasse secretly thought it was a left turn, but Letty looked so happy that he dared to keep it to himself.

What kind of mission will you be performing in this town?　The vigilantes are already there, and if you make a bad move, you will cause friction among the local population.

　She understood the mission assigned to Letty long ago, but she didn't know about it. Therefore, in order to avoid any discrepancies in their understanding of each other, Lasse has been comparing information with each other. 　

''Ostensibly, it's the garrison of the Knights who protect people from the Great Demon Forest. But its real purpose is to protect Lasse. Although Lasse has a strong demon under his command, that's only if there's a battle and he can't be used by another nobleman or a specific organization, for example. I will protect Lasse with the power of the Order for such occasions!

　There was some emphasis on the "I do" part, but what Letty said was in line with the agreement she made with Merck.

(So it's not a physical bodyguard, but a power bodyguard. Well, I have a bodyguard to disable the special forces, and I don't want to spend a lot of money on it.

And the members of the Order?

　Letty is the only one who came to Lasse.
　If she had men, she'd at least let the guards see her.

No. I'm the only knight in Dexter City!

　It's quite unusual, but since it's easier to do, Lise didn't dare to get into it.

It's a last-minute budget-cutting harassment. But there are still people watching me behind the scenes. They have some skilled people on hand, but they don't seem to realize that all the cats in town are Ketsey's men.

　Ketsey is a demon also known as the Cat King.
　Not only did the genus communicate with each other over great distances, but they also had the ability to subdue creatures of the same cat family.
　Using this ability, Lasse obtained various information from across the country.
　Ketsey's information network was one of the reasons Lasse was able to play a role in his military career.
　With the information Lasse learned from Ketsey, he learned that the town is in great danger.

"Excuse me!　Is Mr. Lasse here?

　and then a woman's voice echoes in Lasse's office cum shack.

Yes, I'm here!

　Breaking off the conversation with Letty, Lasse walked in the direction of what he assumed was the entrance to a shack without walls, answering the owner of the voice.
　A woman who would be about in her early twenties was standing at the (tentative) entrance.

You must be Lasse-Tamer. I'm Ino from the Adventurers' Guild.

　The woman who introduced herself as Inno bows to Lasse and greets him.

(She looks hard.)

　From the crisp impression of Ino, I guess he is probably a serious person, Lasse.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ino. What can I do for you today?

　Lasse already knew what he was going to say, but he decided to hear it from Ino's mouth.

I'm here to offer you a job today, Lasse.

"A commission. What kind of request?

　Ino looked squarely at Lasse and replied.

''We are going to defeat a large number of demons coming from the Great Demon Forest.

　A new storm was about to come in.