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Since Merc was left alone beside the fire, some time had passed.

While basking in the moonlight and taking in the snoring of Edin and the others, Merc detected a movement with her Mana Scan.

They’re here.

The other group had most likely seen that everyone had fallen asleep except for Merc. The group advanced silently and swiftly toward Merc before disappearing into the shadow of a big tree around 10 meters away.

Three… No wait, there’s one more presence, but it’s a bit weak. Four in total.

Without giving even the slightest indication that she was aware of their existence, Merc examined her opponents, easily figuring out they were a group of four.

“Fire Arrow!”

Whoa! They’re coming at me right off the bat.

A short chant entered Merc’s ears. Just as she’d expected, the enemy hadn’t warned her. This proved that the other side had no intention to talk.

Several arrows of fire took flight, encroaching towards Merc, who was purposely showing a bunch of openings.

“Water Wall!”

Without moving, Merc stretched out her hand to the incoming fire arrows and promptly created a massive wall of water that evaporated them.

For Merc, an elf and a student of Rosemary, something of this level was nothing.　

“…?!”

The opposing group had likely never imagined that their well-prepared assault would be so easily thwarted. Their confusion was, clearly, visible to Merc.

Merc, having survived innumerable fights, would not miss a chance like an opponent’s confusion.

“Hah!”

Merc kicked the ground whilst she was still seated and then launched herself forward.

She pulled out her wooden stick and, in the span of a split second, closed the distance with the enormous tree.

“She was onto us!”

A man, who appeared to be a wizard, exclaimed in shock as he noticed Merc approaching him with a raised wooden stick. Merc figured that this man was most likely the one who’d cast Fire Arrow earlier.

In order to later get information out of the man, Merc held back so as to not kill him and slammed her wooden stick on his head.

“Argh!”
“You b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲!”

A black-clad swordsman sprang out from behind the enormous tree and slashed at Merc from the left side, as if to protect his fallen fellow from a second blow. After hitting the wizard, Merc had little time to react, making it impossible for her to block the strike with her wooden stick.

Should I use Mana Hardening? No, that won’t do.

For a split second, Merc considered applying Mana Hardening to her arm and receiving the sword, but she soon found that the swordsman’s sword was also covered with Mana Hardening.

Even though it was difficult to believe, it was still possible that the swordsman’s Mana Hardening was superior to Merc’s.

In this case…

Merc let go of the wooden stick with her left hand and drove the back of her fist into the swordsman’s fingers.

“ARRGHHHHH!!!”

The swordsman screamed. Only his swords had been covered in Mana Hardening. Because of this, he certainly felt the pain of his fingers being crushed by Merc’s hardened fist.

Although the swordsman kept his grip on his weapon, Merc was able to evade his swing because its trajectory shifted.

“Eat this. Lightning Arrow!”

Without a moment’s pause, Merc cast Lightning Arrow towards the swordsman.

Unable to evade, the man was struck by lightning arrows, falling on his knees with the whites of his eyes exposed.

“This leaves two more…”
“P-Please wait!”

After quickly dispatching half of the group, Merc fixated on an unarmed man with a deathly pale face who was holding his arms in the air. He was trying to surrender.

“W-We shouldn’t have messed with you. P-Please, just spare our lives!” the man pleaded.
“How can you ask that right after you tried to take my life?”

With an icy gaze, Merc replied.

She had no clue who these people were, but given that they were prepared to kill her, they ought to have been prepared to be killed as well. In such a circumstance, pleading for one’s life was unpleasant.

“W-We didn’t! W-We didn’t want to kill you! We simply wanted to have a peek inside your bags…”
“Is that so? Why was your magician’s spell dead set on killing me then? It’s pointless to try and fool me.”
“H-He wasn’t able to control it! H-He’s always been a crappy magician…. P-Please, spare us!”

Even when the man begged, Merc only gave him a pitiful stare.

“Good grief. So then. I’d appreciate it if you could explain what your buddy is doing creeping behind me, while you’re here drawing my attention.”
“How did you?!”

Since the beginning, Merc had confirmed four presences. Even though the man in front of her was drawing her attention, Merc was still using her Mana Scan, which allowed her to detect the faint, ominous presence stealthily creeping up behind her.

“To hell with it! Get her!”
“KYYYAAAA!”

A wild cry resounded as the man yelled, and the presence that had been sneaking behind Merc quickly drew closer.

Merc hurriedly coated her wooden stick with Mana Hardening and swung it without even turning around. She felt resistance against her stick the next instant, and a streak of blood shot up.

“GAAAaa…”

The hawk-sized bird that was about to attack Merc struck the ground violently, twitched a few times, and then stopped moving.

“A Levi Zeka (Spearbird). What a rare sight.”

The Magic Beast that Merc had just killed was named Levi Zeka, otherwise known as a Spearbird. Its Danger Ranking was a Yellow-Green Grade and it was known as a dangerous Magic Beast.

Similar to the Im Ega, it had a meager Mana, but its speed and the spear-like beak that gave it its name made it a very frightening opponent.

With its beak at the center of its spinning charge, it was able to pierce even steel with its penetrating assault. Even an armored foe may have their chest torn open by it. Fortunately, they were a type of Magic Beast that wasn’t very common and was on the verge of extinction.

It would appear that the man in front of Merc had the ability to command this Levi Zeka.

I thought there were four of them, but it turns out it was three men and a chicken.

Merc chuckled as she turned to face the man. On the other hand, the man was staring at Merc with shocked eyes, as if he had just witnessed the unimaginable.

“T-This is a dream… Without turning around, you killed a mid-attack Levi Zeka with a single blow… You’re a m-monster… A MONSTER!”
“A monster? That’s a bit rude, don’t you think? I was simply defending myself. Why don’t you do yourself a favor and tell me who you are?”

Merc said, pointing her wooden stick at the man. Hearing that, the man smirked mysteriously, as if he had realized something.