"Don't worry, we won't hurt you." After entering, Mio spoke carefully to the girl.
"Yes, we just want to ask you something." Kusue added.
"Heroes?" Hearing their words, the girl timidly raised her head and spoke hesitantly.
"Yes, you can tell, right?" Hearing the girl's words, Kusue smiled.
"We are Heroes, so you can feel at ease." Although Mio wasn't quite used to the title of Hero, it was quite useful at times like this.
Hearing Kusue and Mio's words, the girl put down the small knife she was gripping tightly, seemingly completely letting down her guard...
Seeing the girl's actions, Mio and Kusue exchanged glances and both sighed in relief.
After dispelling the girl's vigilance, Mio went outside to call Takeru and the others in. Looking at the dim house, Takeru directly cast a Light spell. Everyone looked curiously at the soft glow emanating from above.
"Master, can I learn this too?" Looking at the Light spell, Iu said excitedly.
"Of course. It's not a difficult spell." Hearing her words, Takeru nodded lightly.
"I'm Akiyama Mio. Can you tell me your name?" Looking at the girl, Mio inquired curiously.
"I'm Jesby." Hearing Mio's inquiry, the girl spoke softly.
"Then Jesby, why did you run away earlier?" Hearing the girl's name, Iu asked curiously.
"Sorry, I thought you were people from the village." Hearing Iu's inquiry, Jesby lowered her head and spoke quietly.
"Village? Are you a child from Zagros Village?" Hearing Jesby's words, Yusuke said excitedly.
Hearing Yusuke's inquiry, Jesby nodded lightly but did not speak further.
"We want to go to Zagros Village. Where is the village?" Hearing this, Iu inquired again.
Hearing Iu's words, Jesby glanced briefly at Iu, then went to an empty window of the house. Outside, there was a mountain resembling a volcano.
"Mountain?"
"No, that should be a monolithic rock." Hearing Yuka's confusion, Glenda explained calmly.
"Monolithic rock?"
"Also called a volcanic neck. It forms when cooled magma emerges from the ground. A famous example is Devils Tower in Wyoming." Seeing everyone still seemed unclear, Glenda explained again.
"I think I've heard of that." Hearing Glenda's words, Yusuke said thoughtfully. As for Takeru and the others, they remained silent.
"The village is over there." Subsequently, Jesby directly stated.
"What? Can you climb a place like that?" Hearing this, Keita was stunned.
"You'd need to ride a winged monster to get up there." Although they had grown stronger, no one had achieved flight yet.
"No wonder they have no contact with the outside world." Hachiman sighed.
"Could you take us to that village?" Subsequently, Yusuke inquired again.
Hearing Yusuke's request, Jesby lowered her head and said nothing.
"It seems impossible. This child mistook us for villagers and ran away." Seeing the girl's reaction, Glenda said calmly.
"Alright, let's rest nearby for tonight." Watching everyone's discussion, Takeru, who remained silent throughout, said.
"Yes!" Hearing Takeru's words, everyone nodded.
Since Takeru could proficiently use Earth Magic, he could easily create houses ten times sturdier than this one.
With his deeper analysis of magic, he could produce not just dirt or stone bricks, but even ceramics.
In less than a minute, a modern three-story house appeared before everyone. Although not connected to electricity, it had all the necessary furniture. Water issues were solved with Takeru's Water Gathering Barrier.
"Incredible!" Looking at the house, everyone exclaimed in admiration. Jesby, witnessing Takeru's magic, was also deeply shocked.
"Alright, everyone rest. We'll discuss the village tomorrow." Looking at everyone, Takeru said calmly.
"Eh, okay!" Hearing Takeru's words, everyone quickly nodded.
"Um, Master, can I take a bath?" Subsequently, Kusue bashfully approached Takeru and inquired. Having cleared the path under gravity, she was drenched in sweat. If even the men found it unbearable, the girls certainly did.
"Of course. There's Light magic and Water Gathering magic inside. But for hot water, you'll need to heat it yourself with Fire magic." Hearing her words, Takeru explained calmly.
After all, this was a hastily built temporary dwelling. Naturally, it couldn't be as exquisite as the giant castle on Monster Island, nor have as many functions.
"I understand. Thank you, Master!" Hearing Takeru's words, the girls showed delighted expressions.
Takeru paid no attention and jumped directly to the third-floor balcony, selecting a room to stay in.
Hachiman, Mio, and the others quickly chose rooms inside.
"Let's take a bath together!" At this moment, Glenda approached Iu and the others.
"Okay!" Hearing Glenda's words, Kusue nodded.
"I'll handle the heating!" Yuka quickly spoke.
While the girls did this, Yusuke and the others went to other bathrooms to clean up. There was more than one bathroom.
…
Soon, time arrived at the next day. Takeru leisurely opened his eyes.
During the night, Takeru had already visited Zagros Village to investigate. Without alerting anyone, he had scouted and returned.
The mission was to prevent Zagros Village from being annihilated. Takeru and the others simply needed to find the source of the disaster or protect a few individuals. However, Takeru clearly knew that for a higher evaluation score, fewer sacrifices meant a higher score.
For now, the specific source of the disaster was unclear. Even the villagers of Zagros Village seemed unaware of the impending calamity.
Waiting here foolishly for thirty days to silently guard them was possible, but unnecessary.
Currently, Takeru found Jesby the most suspicious. The mana within her was even stronger than that of the bald man Lagee encountered on Jiffon Island.
Possessing such powerful mana yet acting weak and fearful of a village composed entirely of ordinary people was frankly ridiculous.
Besides investigating the village, Takeru had also discovered a special item: a stone containing immense mana. This stone was clearly the culprit behind the monsters' enhancement, as well as a valuable treasure. Takeru had promptly retrieved it.
As he pondered, Takeru noticed Jesby, along with Kusue and Glenda, at the freshwater source ahead.
"I usually fetch water here. There are edible fruits over there. I'll go pick some." Looking at Kusue and Glenda, Jesby said obediently.
"Then I'll go too." Hearing Jesby's words, Glenda directly spoke.
"No need. This is something I do every day. You all go back to the house." Hearing Glenda's words, Jesby directly refused and quickly left.
Glenda watched Jesby's retreating figure, sensing something was off.
"What's wrong?" Noticing Glenda's expression, Kusue inquired curiously.
"Nothing. I just think it must be hard for such a young child to live alone." Hearing Kusue's words, Glenda said quietly.
"Glenda-san, are you not good with children?" Hearing Glenda's words, Kusue asked with surprise.
"No, I like children very much. A cute child like her, when she turns eighteen, I'll like her even more." Glenda suddenly said with emotion.
"Eighteen?" Hearing Glenda's words, Kusue didn't immediately understand.
"I mean, she's outside my age range. I'm not interested in men." Seeing Kusue still somewhat confused, Glenda continued.
"Eh, you mean..." Suddenly hearing this, Kusue was surprised.
"Don't worry. Men don't jump on women they see either, right?" Seeing Kusue's somewhat worried expression, Glenda said helplessly.
"Ah, I suppose so. Sorry, I don't have anyone like that around me... I'm really sorry." Realizing her rudeness, Kusue apologized. After all, Glenda had always behaved very politely.