The habitat of Cyclops varied, ranging from caves to mountainous terrain, but the one I was after had no fixed dwelling.
It was a wanderer who lay down and made its bed wherever it pleased and left its waste everywhere.
Despite the messy traces it left behind, it never settled in one place, making it difficult to track.
It was no wonder the lord was struggling with it.
Occasionally, it would gather the remains of its unfinished meals in one spot, as if it was proud of its collection, but that was the extent of it.
Since it constantly changed its sleeping location, it never stayed in one place for long.
Because of this, a standard search would not be enough to find it.
I had to prepare a slightly more specialized tool.
“Grrrrr…”
The air around me grew heavy in an instant.
A towering giant with a single yellow eye was glaring at me.
A muscular beast draped in animal hides around its waist.
In one hand, it gripped a huge club, crudely shaped from an uprooted tree. Its surface was stained with blood in several places.
“Disappointed there aren’t more of your kind?”
I casually sealed the glass bottle I had been holding.
The transparent liquid inside swirled, catching the sunlight as it reflected off the surface.
This was pheromone—
A special item crafted to trick Cyclops into thinking a female of its kind was nearby.
It was difficult to obtain and could only be used in very specific situations. It was a rare commodity rarely found on the market.
“Fran really makes things convenient.”
I owed this one to my childhood friend.
Since Fran ran a shop dealing in magical artifacts, she had access to certain supply channels for items like this.
When I told her I needed it urgently, she managed to bring it to me that very day.
The Cyclops was completely entranced and had eagerly tracked me down.
The effect had worked perfectly.
“Gwoooooooh!”
It seemed my trick had been exposed.
Realizing that there was no female, the Cyclops let out a furious roar with veins bulging on its forehead.
Its ear-splitting cry shook the entire forest, sending tremors through the ground.
Branches rattled, and small stones on the forest floor bounced from the sheer force.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Cyclops kept stomping its feet in frustration as it bellowed in rage.
Even if I couldn’t understand its words, its meaning was obvious.
It was furious at being toyed with.
“It’s unfortunate that you couldn’t find a mate, but you still have to pay the price.”
Because their numbers were so low, Cyclops were highly sensitive to the scent and pheromones of a female.
They traveled great distances in search of a partner.
That was why their territory had to be so vast.
“Gwooooh!”
A club larger than my entire body came crashing down.
A direct hit would turn me into minced meat.
But I didn’t dodge.
In a fleeting instant, I drew the magic sword at my waist and sliced through the club.
“……!?”
The Cyclops stared in confusion.
It glanced at the now-halved club, then threw it aside in frustration.
It unleashed its monstrous strength, uprooting two small trees nearby and grabbing one in each hand before launching another attack.
“No matter how many times you try, the result will be the same.”
The Cyclops swung one tree horizontally.
I dodged with minimal movement.
Then, with the other tree, it attempted a follow-up double strike—
“Guh…!?”
Just like before, I cut them down using Shadow Fang, rendering them useless.
My sword wasn’t just sharp.
By infusing it with mana, its cutting power increased exponentially.
It combined the razor-sharpness of a blade with the weight and force of an axe.
That was why I had been able to sever the Cyclops’ weapons so effortlessly.
And if I took it one step further—
Kwaaaaaah!
My aura was unleashed.
What had once been a mere haze now burned like flames.
Black fire erupted, enveloping the entire blade.
“No matter how hungry or bored you are, you don’t mess with humans.”
In an instant, I closed the distance and slashed at its waist.
The sensation was different.
Rather than cutting, it felt more like grazing past.
When I turned around, the Cyclops that was now split in two came into view.
“If I hadn’t met Drevan, this would’ve been a lot more trouble.”
I had only gone to Rain to learn swordsmanship, but I ended up gaining something I never expected.
Without his training, it would have taken me a long time to fully draw out this sword’s potential.
“Magic Swords really are something else.”
The corpse had almost nothing left between its pelvis and chest. Its abdomen was completely gone.
That part had been erased upon contact with my aura.
This was the true power of the Black Magic Sword.
Anyone who saw it might think, “Isn’t this basically cheating?” But it had its downsides.
Using it at full output meant it couldn’t be used again for a long time, and its effect diminished against enemies with high magic resistance.
Moreover, it was useless against demon lords or high-ranking officers.
Their bodies contained immense mana, which acted as a kind of buffer.
I suppose everything in this world has its strengths and weaknesses.
But more importantly—
“That ended way too easily.”
***
Using pheromones was a trick.
It wasn’t well-known, it only worked during mating season, and there was no way to tell if the rampaging beast nearby was even male.
Claria would have had no choice but to track it by sifting through half-eaten animal carcasses or its waste.
“This is the Cyclops that was threatening the village.”
I returned to the village and took out the upper half of the defeated monster from my subspace storage.
Even though it had been cut in half, it was still about the size of an average adult male.
Its single yellow eye stared directly at the lord, almost as if on purpose.
“Sir Theo, please forgive my rudeness.”
The lord bowed his head in apology.
“Please, don’t do this. People are watching.”
“No, I must reflect on my actions. Not only did I fail to protect my people, but I also treated my benefactor with disrespect. I now realize my own foolishness.”
The monster that had killed humans for amusement was gone.
The village had regained its peace, and my business here was finished.
“As long as the outcome is good, that’s all that matters. Well then, I’ll be on my way—”
“Please, wait a moment!”
Just as I was about to leave, the lord urgently called out to stop me.
“What is it?”
“I can’t let you go like this. We’ve prepared a reward. Please accept it. And if possible, we’d like to hold a small gathering with the villagers to express our gratitude…”
It seemed he wanted to offer me some kind of hospitality, but I wasn’t interested.
“Apologies, but I have something urgent to take care of.”
“Could you stay just for one more day?”
“I appreciate the offer, but I must decline.”
Only then did the lord stop trying to hold me back.
“You truly are a man without greed.”
He seemed to mean it as a compliment, but in reality, the truth was a little different.
I simply wanted to save time for a greater gain.
Not accepting a reward was just my way of avoiding the guilt of taking only the best parts for myself.
I had erased the stain of being called a disgraceful runaway hero.
In this village, that was enough.
“Damn it… I can’t believe I lost to a guy like him…!”
Louis burst out in frustration.
“You went on about thieves and swordsmen, and now look where we are?”
“Shut up! You just got lucky and found it first!”
“Luck is a skill too, you know that, right?”
Behind them, Farne let out an awkward laugh.
She wasn’t the type to be jealous of others.
She was probably keeping quiet just to avoid provoking her short-tempered companion.
“Theo, where are you heading next?”
Claria approached me.
“Why do you want to know?”
“I’m just curious. We might run into each other again.”
“If we do, we do. If we don’t, we don’t.”
From the start, I couldn’t have given an answer.
Until the dice were cast, even I didn’t know where I was headed.
“…Yeah, if fate allows, we’ll meet again.”
Just as we were about to part ways without a proper farewell, a soldier came sprinting toward them and gasping for breath.
“My lord, you must evacuate! Monsters have invaded!”
“What!?”
Almost immediately, screams erupted from all directions.
People stared up at the sky with their faces twisted in terror.
Something was flying toward them.
“That’s…!”
Louis seemed to recognize it at a glance.
A creature far too huge to be an ordinary bird.
A monster with the lower body of a lion draped in a golden mane and the upper body of an eagle.
A being so formidable that most adventurers wouldn’t even dare to challenge it.
It was a griffon, the symbol of strength and wisdom.
I didn’t expect this thing to show up.
This was one of those unpredictable, probability-based events.
Just as one might make different choices in similar situations depending on their whims, this was an event that occurred randomly, even under nearly identical conditions.
If my memory was correct, the chance of a griffon appearing in this village was just 3%.
That was about the same probability as pulling a 3-star or SSR in a gacha game.
For the record, except right after completing a quest, a griffon would never appear in this village.
Since it didn’t seem necessary to take it down, I had left it alone…
“Leave it to me!”
Louis drew his sword and called out to the lord.
Claria and Farne assumed battle stances.
Since they had missed the Cyclops, they were probably hoping to make up for it with this.
“I’ll handle suppression!”
Flames burst from the staff Claria held.
She attacked the griffon just as it landed, preventing it from taking off again.
“Kh…!”
A powerful gust of wind scattered the flames in all directions.
With just a single beat of its huge wings, the griffon extinguished Claria’s magic.
But this had all been accounted for.
“Spirits, bind that monster!”
As Farne chanted and stretched out her hand, green vines of light burst from the ground.
The luminous tendrils, infused with the power of spirits, coiled around the griffon’s legs.
They continued to grow, climbing its body and binding its wings.
“I’ll finish this!”
Louis looked exhilarated. He lunged forward and swung his sword—
Clang!
My Shadow Fang blocked the attack.
“What the hell are you doing!?”
It had been the perfect chance to land a fatal blow.
Louis shouted in disbelief.
“That’s what I should be asking. What exactly are you trying to do?”
“This is complete madness!”
He tried to overpower me with sheer force, but I didn’t back down.
Our blades clashed, ringing out with a sharp metallic screech.
“Are you trying to protect the monster!?”
Louis had clearly assumed he would have the upper hand.
But when I didn’t falter as he expected, a hint of unease crept into his voice.
He must have thought he couldn’t lose in a contest of strength.
Two months.
That was all.
But I had trained relentlessly, without taking a single day off.
Things wouldn’t go his way so easily.
“No. I’m trying to protect the villagers.”
“Then step aside!”
Louis knocked my sword aside and widened the distance between us.
With the griffon still bound by the glowing vines, we locked eyes, each poised for the next move.
I knew what he was thinking.
A griffon was an even more dangerous monster than a Cyclops.
If I hadn’t regressed, I probably would have taken the same approach as him.
But who was it that had driven me out of the party in the first place?
In the past, I might have tried to reason with him in a gentler tone. But not anymore.
“This is my final warning. You put that sword away.”
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