On that day, Ines had left the village as a member of her clan’s pharmacists to gather medicinal herbs.
Beyond the village gates lay a world infested with monsters, a world of death.
However, she couldn’t simply not gather the medicinal herbs needed to save the lives of the villagers.
Therefore, the pharmacists had passed down wisdom and knowledge on how to avoid monster attacks.
This was precisely why even young women like Ines could venture outside the village to collect medicinal herbs.
Even so, the monster-repelling charms taught by the masters weren’t foolproof.
There were simply times when no matter what, you would be attacked.
In fact, Ines knew of several pharmacists who had been attacked and seriously injured, or never returned, during herb gathering expeditions.
Even venturing outside the village, they usually didn’t go too far.
If they strayed too far from the village, they would surely become prey for monsters.
However, this time, a patient had fallen critically ill, and it was absolutely necessary to venture further than usual.
While Ines could confidently assert that she wouldn’t be attacked by monsters in nearby familiar areas, she lacked confidence this time.
She wore more monster-repelling amulets than usual, but she knew they would only offer meager comfort in her current location.
Therefore, Ines, clad in tension, cautiously surveyed her surroundings as she advanced towards her destination.
Fortunately, Ines reached her intended destination without being attacked by monsters.
Upon finding the flower she sought, Ines let out a sigh of relief, then immediately tightened her focus.
Her task wasn’t finished, and it would be meaningless if she didn’t return safely to the village and administer the medicine to the patient.
Most importantly, she knew that the time spent stationary gathering herbs was the most dangerous.
If she became too absorbed in gathering and lost awareness of her surroundings, it would be difficult to escape from monsters.
The reason Ines had to venture farther from the village this time was due to an emergency patient, but she didn’t always come for such emergencies.
Normally, they had a stockpile of medicine, but they had run out, and just as they were discussing when to go gather more, the patient fell ill.
Normally, she would have come after thorough preparation and careful timing, but that had become impossible.
By the way, while the village had individuals capable of fighting monsters, traveling in large groups made them easier for monsters to detect and took more time, so Ines went alone this time.
In the first place, escorts weren’t assigned for every medicinal herb required by the pharmacists, so it wouldn’t be special just for this instance.
Furthermore, those capable of fighting monsters were dispatched elsewhere on another matter, which was also a reason they couldn’t accompany her.
This gathering trip came about due to several coinciding circumstances.
Having found the target flower, Ines carefully dug it up by the roots and placed it in her gathering bag.
Then, she reached for the same flower blooming nearby.
One flower would be enough for the current patient, but multiple were needed for their stockpile.
Gathering again at this location was possible, but she wanted to avoid coming here repeatedly if possible.
However, if she stayed in this place for too long, the possibility of being found by monsters would increase.
When gathering outside the village, judging when to disengage was extremely important.
After gathering three flowers, Ines decided to return to the village at that point.
Although the flowering season for the flowers was fixed, staying any longer risked being discovered by monsters.
The urgent gathering was complete, and she could come again later for the stockpile once better preparations were made.
Confirming that the gathering bag was securely closed, Ines straightened herself from her crouched position and began walking towards the village.
The gathering itself had been successful, so now she just needed to return carefully to the village.
***
About thirty minutes after leaving the gathering spot, Ines suddenly stopped walking.
Ines’s ears caught the sound of multiple footsteps other than her own.
Suppressing the urge to flee, she continued walking.
Running carelessly could inadvertently attract attention.
She needed to proceed cautiously while assessing the opponent’s intentions.
About five minutes after Ines sensed the presence, the situation changed.
And for Ines, it changed for the worse.
What had previously been a single presence maintaining the same distance from Ines was now joined by about two more.
At that point, it was clear why they hadn’t attacked her until now.
Although there were only three presences now, if she prolonged this, the number could increase further.
Ines was forced to make a choice: confront them here or flee at an even greater speed.
The choice she made was, quite simply, to flee.
She knew at this point that the opponents were wolves, and she didn’t expect to escape them.
However, she reasoned that she needed to create some distance and disrupt them.
Once the decision was made, everything happened quickly.
The game of tag with the three wolves had begun.
Fortuitously for Ines, the pursuing wolves did not increase beyond four in number.
Calmly considering whether they were stray wolves acting alone, Ines finally decided to confront them.
Even for a Vampire with superior physical abilities, she couldn’t outrun wolves indefinitely.
Knowing that they were gradually closing in, and considering her remaining stamina, she concluded that she had no choice but to fight at this point.
However, it couldn’t be said that Ines, a pharmacist, could defeat three wolves on her own.
Bracing herself for impending death, Ines drew the dagger she carried and advanced towards the wolves.
“Hahaha…!”
The battle with the wolves continued for some time, but neither side landed a decisive blow.
However, Ines herself knew that the current situation was not in her favor.
The wolves, realizing they couldn’t defeat her easily, used their intellect and chose to attack in pairs.
Perhaps anticipating a prolonged battle, they opted to give one wolf a rest.
Noticing this, Ines felt like complaining about how intelligent they were, but she couldn’t afford such a waste during combat.
She could only continue trying to survive, dodging the relentless attacks of the wolves.
Just as Ines’s stamina was about to give out, and she was about to fall to her knees, the situation changed.
A light appeared next to Ines and the wolves.
Although suicidal during combat, Ines instinctively shielded her eyes from the blinding light.
Fortunately, the light seemed to be a surprise to the wolves as well, and multiple whimpers could be heard.
Ines realized that the wolves’ eyes had been blinded by the strong light, but she couldn’t seize this chance for an attack.
This was because although Ines had managed to shield her eyes, she hadn’t been able to completely avoid its effects.
It was at this time that, as Ines’s eyes recovered and she quickly tried to assess the surrounding situation, she heard the voices of a leisurely man and a seemingly exasperated woman.
“Huh? What’s going on here?”
“From what I can see, it looks like that woman is being attacked by wolves, doesn’t it?”
Ines let out a sigh of relief at the voices that shattered the tense atmosphere.
She understood that she had apparently won a gamble.
At this moment, Ines did not realize that these two individuals were beings beyond her imagination.
She was filled with relief that her despair of heading towards a death sentence had ended.
It was only after returning to the village and confirming that the patient’s condition had stabilized that Ines learned these two were beings referred to as the “Powerful One” and the “Princess of the Beginning” by Vampires.
A new arc begins.
This is a story primarily featuring XX after a long time.
I won’t explicitly say who XX is, but you’ll likely figure it out when they appear.
The continuation of this story will appear much later.
Please understand.
