Chapter 14
Let’s be strangers now
Dante blinked several times as if he couldn’t believe the sight before his eyes.
If the creature’s torso wasn’t even visible at the height of the inn’s door, it meant it was at least the size of a house.
A monster of that caliber appeared in a residential area? Without making a single sound?
“Did you bring it here?”
Elisha asked without turning her gaze. Dante immediately shook his head violently.
“Do you think I’m crazy? Why would I bring that? Besides, there’s no way a monster would follow a human’s orders!”
“Maybe you just summoned it so I couldn’t run away.”
“There’s no such thing as magic that summons monsters!”
Though, he felt like Erich might actually invent something like that one day.
At Dante’s desperately indignant cry, Elisha finally shifted her eyes slightly to look at the man clutching her sleeve.
She had said it half-teasingly, but she hadn’t expected him to be quite that offended.
He reminded her of Erich when they were young.
Like a black cat with its tail all puffed up…
‘Get it together.’
But now was not the time to be soaked in such sentimentality.
Elisha immediately pulled her gaze away from Dante and stared straight ahead again.
The sound-blocking magic only kept sounds inside; it didn’t block outside noise.
Yet, not a single scream or even a voice could be heard from outside.
Even Jonathan was just looking at them with wide eyes, as if he couldn’t see the massive presence right there.
‘People without high mana detection skills can’t discover it.’
Elisha knew of a monster with these characteristics.
She couldn’t not know.
It was a monster she had encountered before.
“A Hide.”
“If it’s a Hide, then it’s like back at the Shelan Plains…”
Dante muttered softly as he stared out the door.
Since he hadn’t participated in the subjugation at the time, this was his first time seeing one in person, but he certainly knew its notoriety.
The Shelan Plains Monster Attack Incident.
Despite being a plain without a single tree, the reason people were left helpless until Elisha arrived was simple.
It was because it was a monster that those with mana detection below a certain level couldn’t even perceive.
‘They said Elisha was the only one who could see its true form back then.’
He could see the monster clearly now, though.
But this monster…
“It’s surprisingly quiet, isn’t it?”
Dante tilted his head slightly, finding it strange.
If it was truly the culprit of that incident, it should have destroyed the inn by now.
“Because it was summoned.”
Elisha replied, her brow furrowing slightly.
The Shelan Plains, where the Hide was first discovered, was quite far from the imperial capital. It was impossible for a monster to reach this place on its own.
The same applied even if it wasn’t from the Shelan Plains.
For a monster with the size and ferocity of a Hide to get here, it would have had to smash at least one village or leave some kind of trail.
Just because it was invisible didn’t mean it couldn’t launch physical attacks.
‘At the very least, a report of an anomaly would have reached the Imperial Palace.’
For a moment, Elisha’s gaze lingered briefly on Dante Renaud.
The fact that Dante Renaud was here meant that, ultimately, no report regarding a Hide had reached the imperial family.
Erich, who would know the danger of a Hide better than anyone, wouldn’t have sent Dante Renaud to find her if he had received such a report.
So there was only one answer.
She didn’t know what method was used, but someone had intentionally summoned that monster here.
“Is it even possible to summon a monster?”
“There’s no rule saying there can only be one person like Erich in the world.”
Though she wondered if such a person actually existed.
Elisha then fired a small fire arrow toward the monster’s leg.
The monster remained still, without any movement, not launching any attack.
As if waiting for someone’s command.
“Jonathan.”
Elisha released the sound-blocking magic and called for Jonathan. Jonathan flinched and stood up awkwardly.
They seemed to be having a serious conversation, and now they were suddenly approaching the door—were they planning to leave?
“Is there something you need? Or are you leaving…”
“Do you have a robe?”
But Elisha’s subsequent words were quite different from what Jonathan expected.
Jonathan blinked blankly a few times before slowly nodding.
“I have a few robes left behind by guests, but I’m not sure if they’ll fit a lady…”
“I’d like to borrow one.”
At the rather firm request, Jonathan hesitated before finding a robe and handing it to Elisha.
Even then, her gaze remained fixed outside the door.
Even if its size was intentionally suppressed, would that violent Hide stay still after being hit by a fire arrow?
‘There’s no way.’
There must be some other reason.
As soon as she finished her thought, Elisha threw on the robe.
Technically, she only had it halfway on.
“I’m not going to run away.”
Elisha spoke to Dante. He was still clutching one of her arms.
Dante pulled his hand away with a startled expression.
He had been so surprised he hadn’t even realized he was still holding on.
“Jonathan doesn’t like it when his inn gets destroyed, so you have to be careful.”
Elisha said calmly as she manifested a magic circle beneath her feet.
Dante also manifested a magic circle behind her and nodded slowly.
Watching them, Jonathan’s lips curled up slightly.
He didn’t know what on earth was happening, but one thing was certain.
‘The moment you two started shooting magic in here, my inn was already half-destroyed…’
Meanwhile, Dante, who landed on the roof of the inn following Elisha, let out a small exclamation.
“It really is huge when you look at it like this.”
To think Elisha took down dozens of these massive things by herself.
“It’s just tricky because other people can’t see them.”
Once you see them, they’re easy.
After speaking, Elisha quickly scanned the surroundings.
About twenty people were passing through the nearby alleys.
Including the surrounding houses, there were at least a hundred. If she used magic recklessly to take down the Hide, these people could get hurt.
‘I suppose it’s a relief no one is passing through this particular alley.’
There was a reason the inn had no guests.
After assessing the situation, Elisha looked up at the monster before her once more.
Black scales all over, pupils slit vertically, and a foul mana creeping off it.
It was definitely a Hide.
‘Why is it still not moving…’
It was just as she tilted her head slightly.
“…?”
In an instant, a hazy figure appeared on the monster’s shoulder. Elisha instinctively knitted her brows.
…A person?
“Dante Renaud, do you see that?”
“If you mean that disgusting, black, giant monster, I see it very well. I guess my skills are pretty outstanding.”
Dante replied, shaking his head. Elisha casually ignored his words.
It seemed Dante Renaud couldn’t see it.
Was she simply seeing an illusion, or else…
“Shouldn’t we evacuate the people nearby first?”
In the meantime, Dante began to offer his own opinion. His words failed to penetrate Elisha’s ears.
‘It’s not an illusion.’
The figure on the shoulder was clearly becoming more distinct than before.
It took the form of a young man with black hair and red eyes.
“If we attack recklessly and it goes on a rampage, it’ll be a disaster—”
“That’s it.”
The human who summoned and held the Hide here.
The moment she made her judgment, Elisha immediately deployed dozens of magic circles.
Dante’s jaw dropped as he stepped in front of Elisha.
“Didn’t you hear me? If you act recklessly, civilians might get hurt!”
“Move, Renaud. I’m not trying to catch that.”
“Then what is the ‘that’ you just mentioned?!”
“It’s…”
At that exact moment, the man’s figure began to blur again.
Elisha immediately pushed Dante aside and fired a spell toward where the man had been.
However, her magic only swirled around the man’s empty space.
Like a mirage, as if he hadn’t been there from the start…
— Graaaaaah!
Simultaneously, the monster, which had been motionless the whole time, began to roar.
It was a bone-chilling howl that even an ordinary person could clearly recognize.
“Elisha!”
He told her not to attack first, so why did such a smart girl launch a preemptive strike!
It was just as Dante looked at Elisha with a frustrated expression.
K-boom!
For a moment, light flashed before his eyes, and a violent lightning strike enveloped the monster.
It was quite literally a bolt from the blue.
Dante forgot what he was going to say and blinked his eyes blankly.
‘And here she was telling me to be careful not to destroy the inn.’
Look at those roof bricks crumbling.
The innkeeper’s going to cry if he sees this.
Dante then slowly raised his gaze to stare at the monster in front of him.
He couldn’t tell for sure since it was already black, but seeing how its slit pupils were rolled back…
“Did you kill it in one shot?”
He asked, unable to believe it.
Elisha, her face still heavily scowled, opened her mouth sullenly.
“Let’s just say you killed it.”
