Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

"Haa. Where did that thing pop out from?"

Deputy team leader Bray joined the others while massaging her forehead. 

Everybody started to talk at that moment as if that question was what all of them were thinking about.

"It came out of the ground."

"Why would such a thing be underground? I've never heard of a monster as strong as this one who lives underground."

"I've never heard of one living on the ground either. It wasn't a level 1. It was much stronger."

"Yeah. I'm not sure if we can only call it a mere monster... It was crazy.

"And why did it only attack that dude? Hey, did you do something to that centipede? It even came out of the ground from right below your feet."

"N-no. Not at all."

"Why would it want to kill you so badly then?"

"I don't know..."

"Maybe it could sense that Kairen had the power to kill it and attacked him because of that?"

"You mean, it could sense mana?"

"Something like that."

"Well, damn. That thing was crazy."

"What if there are more of them under the ground?"

"No way! What are we supposed to do then?"

"Should we take a look? It would be a huge problem if there are more of them."

"I guess we should do that, but after we take a rest."

"I agree."

The group chatted about the monster while taking a rest. They were all venting their stress and anxiety by talking about that thing. It was their first time facing such a strong monster so it was natural for them to feel nervous.

"I can't sense any monster pressures around."

"We couldn't sense that centipede either."

"Right. I couldn't sense there was something underground till it came out."

"Why? Was it because it was too strong? Can they do something like concealing their pressure?"

Kairen listened to the others' conversation while thinking about that question. It seemed that the others also couldn't feel the monster's pressure. 

Was it because the centipede was too strong.

'I don't think that's the reason...'

In Kairen's case, he failed to sense the monster's pressure because of the other feeling he got from the monster that was much stronger and scarier than the pressure. 

'Can't it be the case for the others?'

Maybe, they failed to sense the pressure because of the same reason as Kairen, but unlike him, they weren't able to sense that feeling.

Currently, Kairen couldn't sense that feeling anymore. That's why he believed that there weren't any other monsters around, at least there weren't any like the centipede. He looked at the talking people and said what was in his mind.

"I don't think there are any more monsters around."

"Hm?"

Team leader Dains said something at that moment as if he was waiting for Kairen to talk first.

"I guess it wasn't the first time that such a thing happened, right, Kairen?"

"....?"

Kairen tilted his head at the sudden question.

"I've heard that the monsters act strange when you are around. You told me yourself about the mission in Mount Fiera."

"Ah!"

That was indeed true. Kairen knew that as well that the monsters acted strange around him. The stronger a monster, the stranger it would react to his presence.

"Do you know the reason behind that?"

"...."

Of course, he didn't know. 

"I don't know."

"Just before the centipede came out of the ground, you suddenly started looking around and walked to the exact location where the monster came out of. It seemed to be that you'd sensed something at that time. Is that true? Is that why you are saying that there are no more monsters in this place?"

"...."

'Come on. I just wanted to join the conversation.'

Kairen only wanted to talk to the others. As the one who was the direct target of the monster, he was clearly more stressed out and under much more pressure. He thought talking to the others would help calm himself down so he just said what was on his mind. 

If he knew that it would turn out to be like this, he would've just kept his mouth shut and only listened to the others.

'What to say now?'

Should he say that he actually sensed it? How the hell was he even supposed to explain that? He himself didn't know what he exactly sensed and only called it 'disgusting feeling.'

-Yes team leader. Actually, I suddenly got goosebumps just before the monster appeared. 

'Nah, boy. People will find out that you are stupid if you say such a thing.'

In addition to that, he was still wary of these people. He was once threatened to be captured and interrogated by SMF because of the strange nature of his mana. He was told that SMF was suspicious of him. 

Kairen was afraid of telling the truth.

'Let's just say nonsense.'

He decided that and then started talking with a serious expression.

"As Rai said before, the monster might've attacked me because it felt that I could kill it with my magic. If we think that way, then the monster should've had the ability to feel other presences around it. Monsters usually don't come out of the ground. Judging from how it came out from underground, it must have lived underground for a while. Looking at how the plain was intact before the monster came out of the ground, the centipede must have spent most of its life underground. If that's the case then it's likely that there weren't any other monsters that could threaten its life during the time that it had lived here. And also, the monster had lived underground, meaning that it had a lain down there. I don't think other monsters could approach that thing looking at how strong it was. It would be too scary and unbearable for weaker monsters to be around it. That's why I said there aren't any other monsters around."

"...."

"...."

"...."

People were blankly looking at him. Kairen also was blankly staring at the air.

'I'm not sure that what I said made any sense...'

Kairen flinched once he raised his head to look at the team leader's face. He was staring at him with a piercing gaze.

'This... this look is kinda familiar...'

Kairen remembered the team leader's gaze when he said nonsense back in the underground room of the first ruin.

Kairen prayed inwardly that the conversation would stop here. He didn't like the current situation at all.

Fortunately, Rai started talking about another thing at the moment.

"Anyway, we should inform the headquarters about this incident. There have been no such monsters till now, at least no reported ones. If there are more of them, the headquarters and the hunter guilds must prepare in advance."

Others that were silently listening to Kairen and the team leader's conversation turned towards him.

"You're right, Rai. We should inform them."

"It would be much better if we could take some of the monster's body parts with us."

"But they are turning to dust."

"Yeah..."

"Then, are we going back now?"

Team leader Dains contemplated for a moment before answering Asa's question.

"Yes. We will go back after checking the area a little bit."

Asa plopped down on the ground and sighed with relief. Looking at her, Kairen raised one of his eyebrows.

'I don't get her. Does she like missions or not? She gets happy when hearing about missions then grumbles during the mission and wants to go back.'

Her actions didn't match each other. Of course, Kairen also nagged a lot inwardly. But it wasn't because he was unhappy with the mission. No. Kairen was unhappy with his whole life, these two were different issues.

"Holy shit! What has happened here?"

"Oh my god!"

Suddenly, the sound of two people talking came from a distance.

Everyone stopped talking and turned towards the source of sounds while picking up their weapons. They could hear some people approaching them while chattering.

"What the- Everything is destroyed..."

"Did an earthquake happen? Or maybe a tornado?"

"How can a tornado happen without the whole village noticing it?"

"You also saw those lights! What happened then? Did aliens attack us?"

"Can you shut up?"

The team could see two men walking towards them from far away while looking at the destroyed plain with their mouths wide open. 

They were holding some wooden sticks in their hands and walking forward with warry faces. Their clothes were casual and old-looking. They didn't seem to have noticed the group of people sitting on the ground yet.

"WOAH! Was there always a hole this big in here?"

"I've never seen it before..."

They stopped near the ruin and looked around.

"W-why is this place destroyed?"

"Oh, man."

"Will it be alright? Should we tell the others? How can such a thing happen all of a sudden?"

One of them took one step back and pulled the other one's arm.

"Hey, brother. Let's return and come back with everyone else."

The other one, that was a bearded young man scoffed at him.

"Are you scared?"

"This place is destroyed. Do you get what it means?"

"You still believe whatever bullshit that old man says about this ruin?"

"It's not about believing. Look at this hole now. How can you explain it?"

One of them looked into the hole that the centipede created and the other looked around the area. The one looking around pulled the other one's arm and pointed at a place.

"A guess the explosion sound and the light came from there. Look, it's more damage there."

"Is that so?"

The other man also looked where he was pointing. 

"Shouldn't we call the others? I don't have a good feeling about it."

"Let's get a little bit closer- what? Who are they?"

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