Chapter 39: The Abandoned Village, Filat (1)

Raion’s carriage headed toward Filat Village, camping intermittently along the way.

At last, they reached the entrance of Filat Village.

Unlike the fortress that served as the domain’s center, the village was merely surrounded by a simple wooden palisade.

“Master… This place is near the Clamen Mountain Range. Can it really be defended with just this?”

Jade had gone out on monster subjugations two or three times when he was still with the Wind Wolves Knights.

While beast-type monsters could be handled like hunting prey, humanoid monsters such as goblins or orcs required a war-level response to stop them.

And Filat Village was located right at the foot of the Clamen Mountain Range, notorious for being teeming with monsters.

The mere fact that the village was still standing was remarkable in itself.

“Do you think this would be enough to defend against them?”

“Absolutely not.”

“You’re right. Patrick, let’s go inside the village first.”

“Yes, Master.”

The carriage rolled toward the village gate, a gap opened in the wooden fence.

The men standing guard there were not knights or soldiers—they were simply villagers.

“Stop right there!”

Because a suspicious outsider had arrived in a carriage, the men hastily blocked the way.

“What brings you here?”

“We were traveling and wished to stop by for a short rest.”

“Then go to another village. This place is crawling with monsters—it’s far too dangerous to rest here!”

Though his tone was harsh, his words carried a measure of concern for travelers.

However, Patrick did not back down, following Raion’s orders.

“My master wishes to rest here. Besides, the sun is nearly set—it would be difficult to reach another village before dark.”

Just as he said, the surroundings were growing darker by the minute.

Being so close to the Clamen Mountain Range, staying in the forest at night could easily cost one’s life.

“…Can’t be helped. Very well, go inside. But I can’t promise there’ll be any inn fit to rest in—we only just survived a large-scale monster attack.”

“Thank you.”

Raion’s carriage entered Filat Village.

Inside, the scene was even more miserable than what lay beyond the palisade.

Many houses were destroyed, and the villagers’ faces were shadowed with exhaustion and despair.

“The scale of the attack must have been tremendous.”

At Patrick’s murmur, Raion looked out the carriage window toward the sky.

The moon was perfectly full—no, more than that, it glowed faintly blue.

“There’ll be another fierce attack tonight.”

“Most likely, yes.”

During a full moon, the density of mana in the air increased, making monsters far more active.

Naturally, regions close to monster habitats were always on high alert, fortifying their defenses during such times.

But Filat Village lacked the resources and equipment to properly prepare, so each full moon period was a desperate struggle for survival.

“Let’s go find the village chief first.”

“The village chief, sir?”

“If things are this bad, we should lend a hand. We can’t just sit around waiting to die ourselves.”

If they were going to stay in Filat Village for the night, ensuring their safety came first.

And Raion had another reason for visiting at this late hour.

Of course, Patrick didn’t know his master’s true intention, but without question, he asked the villagers for the chief’s whereabouts.

After some inquiries, they were directed to a small hall built in the center of the village.

“The chief is said to be inside.”

“From here, I’ll go in myself.”

Raion stepped down from the carriage and entered the hall, with Patrick following close behind to attend him.

The others remained outside to guard the carriage.

As Raion entered, the eyes of the elderly and the young—who had been in the middle of a discussion—turned toward him.

Among them, the old man was the village chief.

Startled by Raion’s sudden appearance, the chief, Ahad, stepped forward.

“Who are you, sir?”

“My name is Raion Dragonia.”

“You seem to be a noble… What brings someone like you here?”

Raion’s neat and refined attire, as well as his noble bearing, clearly marked him as a man of high rank.

Naturally, the villagers couldn’t fathom why someone like him would appear here.

“I’m on my way to Kanas and stopped by to rest for a while.”

“What? The Kanas Territory? But that place…”

No noble ever chose to go to Kanas.

In truth, not only nobles, but commoners and merchants avoided it as well.

To Chief Ahad, Raion’s words sounded utterly insane.

Yet Raion’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest.

“I have important business there. More importantly, don’t you need extra hands here?”

“Extra hands? A noble’s help is of no use in this place, so please see to your own affairs.”

Ahad curtly cut him off and turned back to the others.

Even after being coldly rejected, Raion’s expression remained unchanged.

“We should find an inn first.”

As they stepped outside, Patrick couldn’t help but voice his concern.

“Are you sure about this, sir? If we leave things as they are, the village will be in danger.”

“Even if we forced our help on them now, it would look like begging for approval. Besides, they don’t know our strength.”

With that, the two went out to look for lodging.

Because the villagers had fought monsters until dawn that very day, it was difficult to find any proper place to stay.

Eventually, they discovered a small inn on the outskirts of the village.

They entered and secured a room.

Raion stepped inside, then took a few items and came back out.

“This should be the middle of the inn, right?”

He was searching for the building’s exact center.

Patrick, curious about his actions, asked,

“What are you trying to do, sir?”

“They’ll be coming soon. Before that happens, I need to make sure Monica, Dike, and Caldein aren’t in danger.”

“There’s a way to do that?”

“Just watch.”

Raion began tracing the formula for the Energy Wall spell he had learned from Caldein.

Through Caldein’s teachings on magical theory, Raion had discovered something crucial—

That magic could be invoked not only with the standard Phalon Continent incantations, but also through phrases written in Korean.

The Energy Wall, a mana barrier, was precisely such a spell.

Once the formation was complete, another incantation flowed from Raion’s mouth.

“Engraving Expansion—maximum!”

[An engravable formula has been completed.]

[Expanding the formula to the current level’s maximum.]

[Formula expanded.]

[Please designate a target to engrave the formula.]

Raion looked down to see a large magical formation floating beneath his outstretched palm.

He set the target location to the inn’s center, which he had just found.

The Mana Barrier’s magical array expanded widely, embedding itself beneath the inn’s floor.

Since it wasn’t visible, the innkeeper would never notice it.

“There.”

“What did you just do?”

“I’ve set up a mana barrier around the inn. Monsters won’t be able to enter.”

“Then won’t that also stop other people from going in or out?”

“I haven’t activated it yet. It’ll be triggered once the attack begins, to protect everyone inside.”

The spell formation remained inactive for now.

When the battle began, Raion, Patrick, and Jade would leave the inn—then it would be activated.

Meanwhile, the night deepened.

Outside, the large moon rose high into the sky.

Filat Village lay about ten kilometers from the Clamen Mountain Range.

The men standing guard by the tightly closed palisade trembled in fear.

Of course, they had thought of leaving Filat behind.

But abandoning everything they owned meant certain death elsewhere.

If they didn’t defend this place, they had no way to survive.

Awooooooo—!

Just then, a chilling howl of a wolf echoed from afar.

The men on watch tightened their grips on spears, swords, and bows.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud…!

The trees in the darkness began to shake.

From between them emerged Saliva Wolves—massive, wolf-like monsters drooling as they charged forward.

“Monsters are coming!”

At the shout of several men, everyone raised their weapons at once.

The pack of Saliva Wolves stormed in at terrifying speed.

The men behind the palisade drew their bowstrings and released volleys of arrows.

But piercing the thick hide of a Saliva Wolf was nearly impossible.

And the wolves weren’t alone.

Goblins rode upon their backs, while beside them, kobolds—dog-like creatures capable of bipedal movement—charged in wielding crude wooden clubs.

Graaahk! Yip! Yip!

Kyaak! Kyaak!

The savage cries, mixed with the thud of wooden weapons, only deepened the men’s terror.

Bang! Crash!

The monsters slammed into the palisade, and the battle began.

Their struggle was nothing more than a desperate attempt to hold the line.

“Don’t let them through, no matter what!”

Chief Ahad shouted until his voice nearly broke.

But the number of monsters was overwhelming.

Eventually, the weakened sections of the palisade gave way, and the monsters poured into the village.

“Aaagh! Ugh!”

Hearing the screams from outside, Raion frowned inside the inn.

Beside him stood Patrick and Jade.

Patrick glanced at Raion’s expression and spoke cautiously.

“Just from the sound of it, it’s clear they’re being overrun.”

“They can’t possibly win against a monster horde under a full moon with only a few dozen men. Well then, shall we go too?”

With those words, Raion stepped outside, taking Jade with him.

Patrick stayed behind to protect Monica, Dike, and Caldein in case anything unexpected happened.

“Emission!”

As Raion stepped out, he activated the prepared Energy Wall.

From beneath the inn, a faint blue glow rose up in the form of a magical sigil, expanding into a dome-shaped barrier.

“I’ve linked it to my mana—it won’t break easily.”

Raion’s mana now exceeded 10,000.

Considering that a 3rd-circle mage’s average mana was around 1,500, it was over six times greater.

His growth was extraordinary.

“I’ll go help them right away.”

“Go on.”

The moment Raion gave his reply, Jade drew his sword and charged toward the monsters.

The swift trajectory of his Raizen-Style Swordsmanship carved through the beasts, landing critical strikes.

Meanwhile, Raion also swung his blade, cutting down monsters as he made his way toward the village entrance.

The men, already pushed to the brink, were fighting hand-to-hand amidst the monsters.

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