A streak of white light rose into the early morning sky.

　Hulul Shpaan.

　A magical light like a large flower blooms in the blue sky, and Turkia and the villagers are shouting, 'Oh.

　It's up in the valley across the village.

　With the permission of the village chief, Mr. Mohaini, we shot up a luminescent signal-propelled grenade.

　The reason for this was to attract the Fifth Settlers.

　The range of activity of the villagers of the Tomb Keeper's Village was so wide that it could reach the Tomb of the Eternal Spirit, the remains of the pyramid.

　It was difficult for the five of us to find and defeat the Black Great Ape in such a wide area alone.

　That's why we asked for help.

　.............

　An hour or so passed.

　The light from the luminescent signal bullets has already disappeared.

　Mr. Kilts shot up another luminescent signal bullet.

　Shpaan.

　In the sky, the light shines again.

Because of the distance we have to travel from the frontier village/base, we need to shoot signal bullets periodically to keep them from losing track of us.

　We sit on the ground and wait.

　About three hours later, it was time to prepare the fourth luminous signal round.

(...ah...)

　I spot a small shadow beyond the blue sky.

　Without a second thought, I stand up.

　The shadow grows larger and larger, and in the blink of an eye, it reaches the sky above us.

　Thump, thump, thump.

　It's a huge red dragon.

　On its head, there is also the figure of a dragon knight.

　The dragon landed on the ground with a strong wind blowing around it.

　Zuzun.

　Vibrations and heavy sounds transmitted from the soles of their feet.

　Turkia and the villagers were almost backing away in surprise at the appearance of the giant dragon.

　Kirt-san tells them that he is on their side and tries to calm them down.

　I left that one to him and I ran towards the dragon.

　Stuck.

　Mr. Dragon Knight descended from the saddle to the ground.

　As he removed his helmet, his gray hair spilled out.

''Mr. Amyukel!''

　I laughed.

　The dragon knight girl responded to that with a short, "Ugh.

　And then her gaze turned to the Tolga villagers gathered behind us.

''Huh.''

　Mr. Amieukel sighs.

　He looks at me with a wry smile.

Marle-dono is really great. Next to the ruins, you're already a local.

　I said.

(Huh?)

　I nod my head.

'It's nothing. That's Lord Marl, isn't it?　I've already learned it myself.

　Amyukel-san muttered that.

　Behind me, who was getting upset, Kirto-san and Illtimina-san were smiling bitterly for some reason.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇


　I'll explain the situation to Mr. Amyukel.

"Yes, sir.

　Nodding his head, Amyukel-san immediately flew off to the 'Pioneer Village and Base'.

　He said that it would be around 10 days until the arrival of the pioneer group.

　During that time, the five of us stayed in the village of Turkia, patrolling the neighborhood and hunting the 'Black Great Ape'.

　We killed about three of them.

　Due to our proximity to the village, there weren't many of them, but the village chief and Turkia were pleased with our numbers.

　The villagers' wary eyes seemed to have faded away.

　Twelve days later, a little past noon, a total of 395 members of the Fifth Settling Group arrived at the Tomb Keeper's Village.

(Finally!)

　On the watchtower, I waved widely.

　But the villagers also looked a little frightened.

　A group of 400 or so exotic warriors were closing in on their peaceful place of life.

(........No wonder.

　Moreover, the people of the pioneer group are all the elite of the warrior nation of Shumuria.

　Furthermore, there are also four dragons flying overhead.

(You can feel the pressure even from a distance.)

　Perhaps sensing the presence of such a village, the frontier group stopped at a point away from the village.

　From there, only one person stepped forward and came out.

(That's........)

　General Roberto Wogan!

　General Roberto, the representative of the pioneer group, stopped in front of the entrance to the village.

　The two men, Mr. Kilt and Mayor Mohaini, walked out of the village.

　We watched them from the watchtower.

　The three of them are having a conversation.

　The general and the village chief shook hands with each other, as if Kirto was trying to broker a rapport.

　An air of relief flowed from the village as well.

(Good.........)

　And so the pioneers were allowed into the village, and a welcome and friendship banquet was held that night.

　A banquet in a food-scarce village?

　You might think so, but this was due to the skill of General Roberto.

　In fact, in a conversation with the village chief, Mr. Mohaini, General Roberto not only accepted the request to defeat the Black Great Ape, but also gave half of the food that the pioneers had brought to the village.

　The village was overjoyed by this.

　The villagers were relieved of their guard.

　Then they had a banquet and drank some wine.

There was a feast and they drank a little wine together, "the best way for people to understand each other.

　And a blushing Kilt.

　Just as he said, even though they didn't understand each other's language, the pioneers and the villagers were all smiling, hugging each other's shoulders and singing together.

"Konna mai ya kano, first time!

　Turkia laughed, too.

　And the night went on as she danced and her sister Iltimina, who could dance and do anything she wanted, learned the dance and danced with her, and the two of us danced together and were cheered, and even I, who was tone-deaf, was beaten up and stopped by Solstice for trying to get on a roll and sing, and the night went on.

　And the next morning.

Fifth Frontier Corps, go!

　General Robert gave the order for us to leave the village.

　The people of the village were concerned about us and saw us off.

　We split up into 8 units of 50 men each, and proceeded in 8 directions from the Tomb Keeper's Village.

　Up in the sky, four dragons.

　The Dragon Horsemen are the eyes in the sky, and they are the guiding force to rescue us in case something happens to us.

　We are the southwest force.

　On the first day, we didn't encounter the Black Great Ape.

　But on the second day, we encountered three of them, and on the third day, seven.

　From the fourth day onwards, they encountered a herd of ten or more of them multiple times.

Don't miss a single one!

　Mr. Kilt's proclamation flies.

(Oh!)

　In response, we will defeat the black demons.

　For Turkia.

　For Mr. Mohaini.

　For the people of the village.　

　Over the course of seven days, we defeated the Great Black Monkeys in the forests and riverbanks that were the area of activity for the villagers.

　We defeated a total of 172 of them.

　That's a number for our own unit alone.

(It was a group of 20 at the most.)

　It wasn't a herd of two hundred or more, like it was one day, so it was enough to deal with.

　There were some injuries again, but there were no deaths.

　And this time, the total number of the Black Great Ape killed by the Fifth Frontier Corps exceeded 1,200.

　When we returned to the village, Mohaini and the villagers were surprised.

"Masaka, what is the number of these monkeys?

　He said it was a rare number in recent years.

　He was also surprised at our ability to defeat them all.

　That night, it's a party again.

　Shy girl Solstice is munching on her food with a smile on her face.

　I didn't lose to her either.

　Poe brought us both food and everyone in the village was laughing at us.

　Turkia was smiling too.

　Iltimina-san was smiling, though.

　Then, as Mr. Kilt and General Roberto were having a drink, Mr. Mohaini, the village chief, came out of the room.

'Minna-san, it's true, near-rigato-gozaimasu.

　They bowed their heads.

　The two Shumurians laughed.

'Of what?'
We are humbled by your concern, Mr. Mayor.

　Heartfelt words.

　Mr. Mohaini smiled.

　Then he nodded.

Come on, sunshine, we have a deal. It's your turn to talk.

　I say.

　The drunkenness fades from Mr. Kilt and General Roberto's eyes.

　The General asked for confirmation.

'Well?'
Hi. I'll tell you everything I know about the Empire of Toluuga.

　Mr. Mohaini was very clear.