...the mistake of youth.
"?　What is it?

　At the time I was learning how to take care of my weapons from Malika.
　It had been a few days since I'd started as an adventurer and I was rapidly adjusting to life in the village of Laxx.

'It's Gashita's guy,'
Oh, that idiot.

　It wasn't me who responded.
　It's Maleeka.
　She adds 'idiot' every time Gacita's name is mentioned, and she doesn't like him?

''It's no wonder that people call Gacita an idiot. If only I could evaluate myself more properly...!
What does that have to do with what you just said about 'youthful mistakes'?
Yeah, yeah, that.

　After a good conversation, the village chief gets on board.

''Dariel-kun defeated the quest target twice in a row, didn't he?　I think that hurt his pride. Godd*mn pride.
It was a bad thing to do to him, wasn't it?

　First Etemone.
　Next was Anthracic.

　I didn't aim to kill both of them, but that was the target of the quest that Gacita originally said he would hunt and ordered.
　He must have felt that his prey had been intercepted.

　The original hostility towards me flared up even more, to the point where I would get tongue-tied as we passed each other on the street.

''Monsters might cause damage to the village, so it's common sense to hunt them when you can, right?　Dariel, you've done so much for the village!
'Malika's right. In this case, it's Gashita's fault for being selfishly jealous. Normally adventurers from the same guild should be cooperating with each other...!

　It looks like there's absolutely no way I'm going to be able to work with him at the moment.

''I understand that this is a problem for you as the village chief, but isn't it just a matter of taking your time?　I'll do my best to break the ice on my end, too, so...
No, that's not what I'm worried about.

　Another thing?

Dariel was out of town when he came in.

　'Maybe he was trying to get me to leave,' the village chief said with a guess.

'He wants me to give him a quest to take out a stronger monster. Something stronger than Etemone or Anthracic.
''Yeah........?''

　As for Gashita, she wanted to show her strength by defeating a strong enemy.
　But to me, it felt reckless.

But a powerful monster doesn't appear so easily in a country like this, does it?　And it would be so unbearable if he showed up?
That's either good or bad timing...

　The village chief produced a document of some sort.
　Ew?
　No way...?

　On the document, along with a picture of the target was written.

'Urgent request to take down Blaze Death Size'.

　What is this........what is this.......it gave off a very dangerous atmosphere......?

'The Blaisdeath Scythe is a much more dangerous and powerful monster than Etemone or Anthracic.
''Why is there a quest to defeat that thing in our house?　Shouldn't they be handled by a larger city guild?

　Maleeka says, frustrated.

''You're absolutely right. The guild in the next town to take this guy out is the guild in the next town, and the class B and C have been hit. It's none of our business.
Then why is this...?
It's still a neighborhood. It's far enough away that there's no chance of a dangerous monster heading our way. That's why this request was delivered to you, to warn you to be careful.
'You mean you made that look like a gashita idiot?　If I did that, of course that idiot would be getting ahead of himself. What are you thinking, dad's idiot!

　Maleeka has a pretty unforgiving way of talking to her people.
　She still talks to me respectfully.

I haven't shown it. I can at least figure out what to do with a Gacita a**h*le when he goes off the rails.

When Gacita barged in, demanding a quest to defeat stronger monsters, the village chief gave her a copious lecture.
　You are increasing in size. There are many better adventurers than you. You have to change your mind and live steadily.

　But the young man could not accept his mediocrity.
　He took the liberty of rummaging through the village chief's desk and found the request form for the example dangerous monster.

''Don't show it to the old bastard!　Don't ever show it to me! He ran out of the room, screaming. ........I really don't have a choice.

　You mean me, the old bastard?
　...when you say it so clearly...!

'............more importantly. Are you sure it's okay to be this calm?

　A dangerous monster that should be moved by a Class B or C adventurer.
　Wouldn't it be bad if a D-class gashita collided with it?

What did I just say?　The report of the Blazesize sighting was in the area where the Guild of Neighboring Cities is responsible. It's a long way from here. The reason we've been notified is just as a precaution.
So Gacita's going to fight...?
''It's unlikely. Even if he was aiming for the area in charge of the next city, the main adventurers over there would have solved the problem before they arrived.

　That's why the village chief was still very relaxed.

But if our adventurers invade other people's area without permission, won't there be a problem?　Could this be a liability issue for your father, Gilmouth?
What the hell...?

　I don't think he's gonna be able to relax.

I'll take care of it.

　I stand up.

I'll catch up with him and convince him to come home.
What?　It's okay, Dariel-kun, you don't have to worry about it. He's gutless anyway, so he'll come home tired on the way.

　The village chief said, but that didn't dissuade him.

　I felt a sense of unease in my heart.
　This kind of buzzing has been around since the days of the Demon King's Army, and something bad always happens.

　He always regretted ignoring this buzzing.

''You won't be able to find them so easily, so I'll look around the forest and come back if it doesn't look good.
I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you, but...

　As I was getting ready quickly, Malika came running up to me.

'Take this, please.'

　Then she gives it to me.....

'Medicine?'
''These are processed herbs that Dariel-san and I collected. You never know what will happen...

　I thanked her sincerely for her concern and pocketed the little box of pills.

'Then I'll be off.'

You're not going to be able to do that.

　I didn't expect to catch up with them myself.

　According to the village chief, Gacita must have left a long time ago, and even if I knew the general direction, it would be extremely difficult to find her in the deep and steep forest.

　That's why I thought I would just look for it, and once I was satisfied that I'd done my best, I'd head home.

　With that in mind, I left the village of Lax.
　But my optimism was betrayed.

''........What is this.......?''

　The forest was in disrepair.
　Trees had been reclaimed, dirt had been gouged out, and there were even bodies lying around as if the unfortunate little animals had been collateral damage.

　Something was happening.
　There was an even mark on the ground, a flat surface, as if something had crawled over it.

　As I followed it, I came across the worst thing I could find.

''Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!　Help!　Help eeeeeeee?

　Gashita.

　The man in question, without an ounce of his daily arrogance, was crying out in fear and confusion.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.
　A huge snake.

　It was exactly the same as the figure depicted in the sketch.

　An enemy strong enough to make a B-class C-class adventurer take it out.

　Blaze Death size.

　It was a huge snake with a physique that could swallow a person whole.