Tria, the second largest city in the Kingdom of Naglas, is a port city.

　It is bordered by the sea to the east and has developed as a center for coastal trade.
　To the south is the bountiful forests of Corsus, and to the north and west are lush green grasslands.
　Further west, the land eventually reached a barren wilderness, where the Canobis, the largest mountain range on the continent, loomed majestically in the distance.

　Deep in the wilderness and forests, extremely dangerous demons inhabit the land, making it a dangerous place for mercenaries, let alone ordinary people.
　Every month, the lives of mercenaries who were overconfident in their own abilities are lost there.
　And in the Canobis Mountains, it would be suicidal to set foot in there, unless one was a very skilled mercenary.

　Even the most dangerous demons in the grasslands around Thoria were no match for the weakest demon in the Canobis Mountains.
　Needless to say, for a newbie mercenary, even the demons that haunt the Tholian grasslands are not to be trifled with.

　In particular, a rookie mercenary who encountered a "Disperser" bearing the name of "Despair" could only curse his own misfortune.
　They are the top of the grassland food chain.

　The average height is 1.5 meters. Five meters. Its entire body is covered with green scales, reminiscent of a bipedal reptile.
　It keeps its balance on its front legs and thick tail, and uses its stubby hind legs to move fast across the grasslands to catch its prey.
　It has two unusually long and well-developed horns on its head, but they are pointed backward and are not used for attack.

　The weapon of choice for a repairman is a long line of powerful fangs, sharp claws that can lightly tear through leather armor, and a high level of agility. It also has strong scales that can repel a half-hearted attack.

　They usually attacked herbivores in the grasslands to satisfy their appetites, but on rare occasions, they also attacked people.
　It was definitely the last opponent a new mercenary would want to encounter, and once they encountered it, they would be prepared to die.

''Conia!　What about Ralph's wounds!

　A young man with ash-blond hair shouted with his sword and shield at the ready while squarely confronting the despairing disperser of such a meadow.

''Oh no, Greshe!　I'm out of medicine!

　The small girl let out a scream-like cry as she tended to the bloodied and unconscious axeman's wounds.

''Tch!''

　The young man called Greshe clicks his tongue at the girl's reply.
　It was a two-hour walk from Tria. In the middle of the grassland, far from the road, Greshe and his friends were in desperate need of help.

　Greshet and the other four are childhood friends from the same village.
　It's been three months since they left the village, driven by the youthful longing for the city.
　The four of them had no job, no money, and not much of an edge, but they had no choice but to become mercenaries to earn money.

　With the money he received as a parting gift when he came out of the village, he bought weapons, and at first, he took on requests mainly to support skilled mercenaries, carry their luggage, and do miscellaneous tasks in the city.
　Once they had gained a certain amount of battle experience and had a satisfactory set of armor, they gradually went out to hunt in the grasslands on their own.

　But though they were a little reckless, they were not reckless.
　They listened to the advice of their senior mercenaries, weighed their own weight where they didn't have to, and had the sense to back down when they judged it was not a good idea.
　Even in the grasslands that were said to be relatively safe, he avoided dangerous beasts and demons such as the 'Beast King' and 'Green Knife' and focused on fighting the 'Snatch', which was easy to hunt.

　The snatch is a type of weasel, a large beast that is nearly one meter long.
　Although it was a predator with a ferocious nature, it was not a very frightening opponent for mercenaries who had mastered the art of combat.
　The cartilage, called tailstone, which can be extracted from the tip of the tail, sells for a high price and is considered just the right prey for new mercenaries.

　Grechet and his men had left Tria early in the morning and had killed eight snatches before noon.
　Not to mention the tailstones, the pelts themselves sell for a lot of money, so eight snatches before the sun had even risen to its zenith is a good pace.

　Greshe and his friends encountered despair just as they were about to have an early lunch, feeling good about their good fortune for the first time in a long time.

　It was just a few minutes when they were preparing for lunch and neglected to be alert to their surroundings.
　That simple mistake had driven Greshet and the others to the edge of the cliff.

　When Conia, the most discerning member of the group, spotted a shadow approaching from the horizon, it turned out to be the demon with the name of despair, the four of them were instantly brought to the brink of death.

　Even though they are slower than the Beast King, the agility of the dispatchers is not low.
　When Konia found them, they were already too far away to escape.

　Greshe and the others had no choice but to try to intercept them, but of course, they were no match for a decent fight.
　They tried to minimize the damage as much as possible while trying to escape without even finding a chance to win, but it wasn't worth it, as they suffered casualties.

''Gio!　Grab Ralph and Conia and get back!

What about Grechet?

　The long-haired young man, who was holding his sword alongside Grechet, asked without looking away from the dispenser.

''I'll buy as much time as I can here!

Speak up!　I'm not leaving you alone!

But we can't go on like this: ......!

　Annihilation. Grechet swallowed the words that followed.

'You just have to take this guy down!

No!　Geo!

　The swordsman called Gio comes around to the side of the dispenser and swings his sword down to cut off its neck.
　But that sword strike is blocked by the display's long horns and does not reach.

　A swing to cut off the entire horn is easily rebounded, and the tail of the display strikes Gio in the opposite direction.
　The tail strike, wielded from the blind spot, hit the defenseless Gio's flank and blew his body right off to the side.

''Gio!''

　Conia's exclamation echoed.

'd*mn it!'

　After Ralph, even Gio was injured, there was no longer any way to retreat with the injured.

''Conia!　You just run away!

No!　I can't do that!

　Facing Grechet, the dispenser was in a position where he was about to attack her with his head low.

''Shaaaaah!''

　A threatening voice was spat out from a mouth with sharp fangs peeking out.
　In the next moment, the Disperser's hind legs kicked the ground and its huge body leapt towards Grechet.

''d*mn!''

　He quickly flattened the side of the attacking dispenser with a small shield fixed to his left arm and escaped from its fangs.

　But before you can catch your breath, the next blow is directed at Grechet.
　The front legs of the sharp-clawed display are raised.
　His left arm, which he had smashed against his shield to ward off the attack by his fangs, has not yet returned to its original position. His stance is also broken.

(Not good!)

　Greshet was ready to die.

'Greshet!'

　Conia's scream strangely echoed in Greshe's ears.

　It was then.
　The front paw of the dispenser that had been swinging down towards Grechet suddenly disappeared.

''Geeeeeee!''

　A screaming voice escaped from the mouth of the Dispair.

　Grechet's eyes, unsure of what had happened, caught the Dispair's paw flying through the air.
　In the area where that paw should have been, a cross-section that looks as if it had been sliced off by a scuffle, and a large amount of blood gushing out can be seen.

''Huh?''

Shaaaaah!

　The jaw of the dispair is about to strike again to Grechet, who cannot hide his confusion - the next moment its head falls off.

　The next moment the head fell off.
　Gresche escaped the misfortune called despair without knowing why.

　What he saw in his eyes, which had died nine deaths ago, was a single shortsword that floated in the air and drenched its sword body in the blood of the Dispeare.