Three days had passed since the sword they had acquired from the ruins had become cocooned in Nere's hair. Aldis still found himself in the land of Leitin.

　During this time, the sword was still glowing vaguely red and showed no change.
　Based on Marida's story and what has happened so far, we can expect some kind of change to occur.
　But I didn't know when the change would come.

　In Marida's dream, she couldn't understand that in detail.
　Since she doesn't dream about the scenes she wants to see, she can only guess the scenes that don't appear in her dreams based on fragmentary information.

　The two things we know from the other dreams are 'I can use Nere's hair to quell the sword' and 'I will succeed in quelling the sword'.

　Of course, Aldis has no obligation to see the outcome. But once he was involved, I would be lying if I said I didn't care.
　I don't think there's any way, but there's no chance of something bad coming out of it.

　In the end, Ardis, who had no urgent business, decided to stay in Leytin for a while.
　I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do, but I'm sure it's the right thing to do.
　And on top of that, he also receives requests to defeat the beasts in his free time.

　On this day, Ardis was also hunting beasts in the grasslands a few hours walk from Leytin.
　But unusually for Ardis, who usually acts alone, she was accompanied by three companions.

''Aldis. It's almost time for the sun to shine, why don't we go back to the city?

　Ted calls out to Ardis while wiping away the gore on his bastard sword.

'Right. Let's get back after we skin these guys.'

　Aldis pointed with his broadsword at the wreckage of Lactor, which he had just cut down.

　Ted and the other "bright stars of the midnight sun" are still in Laitin, just like Ardis.
　In the end, they seemed to have decided to decline the request from the Zimbalil Trading Company, but when they learned that Aldis would be staying in Leytin for a while, they seemed to have decided to stay, saying "then, we're going to stay too.

　After quickly skinning the lacter in about twenty minutes, Aldis and the others were on their way back to Leytin.
　As they walked along the road through the plains, they talked about how Ted and his friends had refused a request from the Zimbalil Trading Company.

"Hey, Ted. We've come all the way to the League of Cities and States.　The conditions were good too, weren't they?

My client smells a little shady. To be frank, I don't like it.

　With a disgruntled look on his face, Ted tells him why.

'Is that the reason you turned him down?

　Even though they did not need the return of the rosin, they had refused a good deal of work after coming all the way from Thoria for ten days.
　It was a waste of time, to say the least.

　It would be a waste of time and money to justify such a decision on the grounds that the client is not pleased with the work.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of your time in the city.

You say that?

'Haha. Aldis, have you ever heard of a tool called a 'boomerang'?

'I wouldn't want Aldis to be the only one to say that.

　In the past, Aldis has turned down requests on more than one occasion because his employers didn't like him.
　It's no surprise that Ted and the others would argue with him all at once.

It's not a bad idea to hunt with you after all these years. It's a good thing that there are plenty of requests for Raythein to take out.

''If there are more requests to take down than we can handle, that means there are that many people who have been victimized by beasts and demons, right?　Isn't it a little inappropriate to call me lucky?

But Orphelia. If you say that, wouldn't it be inappropriate for us, who get our bread and butter from defeating people, to exist?

'No one is saying that anymore!　First of all, that logic is ridiculous. It's a leap in logic.

Ha-ha, did you find out?

　As we walked down the road leading to Leytin, lighthearted remarks were exchanged in a congenial manner.

'Huh?　What is it?

　Suddenly Norris stopped.

'What's wrong?　Have you found a demon, by any chance?

'No, it's in the direction of Laitin, but isn't there ...... a cloud of dust?'

What?

　Ted followed Norris's lead, blocking out the sunlight with his hand and squinting.

"I don't know ....... Ardis, can you see?

Don't be ridiculous. There's no way to tell from this distance.

　Aldis's magic search has an effective range of about five hundred meters.
　It was effective in places with poor visibility, such as buildings and forests, but it was unsuitable for detecting far away, by all accounts.

''If we go a little further, I'm sure everyone will be able to see us.

　At Norris' words, the group quickened their steps somewhat and continued on their way to Leytin.
　Then, as they continued walking for a while, Aldis and the others could gradually see the state of Leytin.

'Indeed ......, there's a cloud of sand smoke standing in the air. Is it an unseasonable whirlwind or something?

　Ted and the others caught the anomaly in their eyes as well.
　Norris, the best-eyed of the group, passes on further information to Aldis and the others.

'There are a lot of shadows swarming around Leytin: ....... I wonder if it's a person?'

　As they closed the distance, Aldis and the others began to see the scene.
　The countless shadows surrounding the gates of the city walls, the sand flying up because of their movement around, giving the city of Leytin a hazy appearance.

''Hey, hey, you didn't start a war, did you?''

No way. ......

　Ted frowns and Orphelia stammers for words.

'No, that doesn't sound human, does it?　It's a bunch of beasts. Looks like there's a few demons in there too.

Herd of animals?　That one?

　No wonder Orphelia was surprised.
　Normally, when the beasts are herded together, it's only a few dozen of them at most. A herd of more than a hundred would be rare to see.

　On the other hand, the shadows surrounding Leytin, at a cursory glance, there are more than a thousand of them.
　Moreover, there are even demons mixed in with them. There is no doubt that this is an unusual scene.

''Hey!　Look at that!

　At the sound of Ted's voice, Aldis turned his attention to the bushes at the side of the road.
　There were several "glass wolves" running through the grass.

　The distance between them and Aldis and the others is about 50 meters. It's not surprising that they're so close to attacking their prey.
　But the glass wolf didn't look at Aldis and the others and ran straight to Leytin.

'What's the meaning of this?'

　Ted just mumbled incomprehensibly.
　The glass wolf is ignoring the human. He didn't pounce or run away, just as if they were out of his sight.

'What happened to Raytin ......?'

I don't know, ....... Anyway, let's hurry up.

　At Ted's command, the group quickens their steps even faster.
　As they get closer, the situation becomes a little clearer.

'I don't think we can make it to the east gate!　Let's go around to the west gate!

　The city wall surrounding the city of Leytin has two gates, the east gate and the west gate.
　From a distance, a group of beasts seemed to be rushing to the east gate.
　The shadow of the beasts could not be seen at the west gate, but instead a line of humans taking refuge within the city walls and soldiers could be seen sandwiched between them from both sides.

''Yes!　The west gate is still open!

　Making a wide detour around the eastern gate where the beasts were swarming, Aldis and the others hurried to the western gate.