It happened suddenly.

Robert spent the morning walking marching alongside Will, the leader of the Squires, happily discussing their return. Many people had warned him how dangerous the north was. While they hadn’t exaggerated, the campaign had been much easier than he’d imagined. Than anyone had imagined.

Will had originally been horrified that they would be regulated to Alana’s army, wary of following such an inexperienced commander, but it had turned out to be a boon. They were well-protected, their lives were safeguarded by some of the best healers on the continent, and they would not be traveling as far as the larger armies.

The last was the biggest boon, as the march was the most harrowing part of the campaign. There was something maddening about the surroundings never changing no matter how far one walked. It fed into a deep dread, one that had plagued Robert from the moment they had left the safety of Victory’s walls.

It wasn’t a feeling he was unaccustomed to. Robert knew pressure. He had learned to operate under it, though he couldn’t claim it didn’t affect him at all. Normally, after a long day, he had a soft bed to absorb all his aches and worries. That, and a few words of encouragement, were enough to get him through the harshest days of his training.

Camping in the cold wasteland beyond the territory of the human kingdom, there was nothing soft to lay his head on. Somehow, when he had prepared for the campaign, he hadn’t thought to bring a comfy pillow, a decision he regretted. The hard ground did nothing to heal him. He didn’t even have the refreshing warmth of the sun in the morning. The only thing he appreciated about his sleeping arrangements were that the tents kept out the wind.

He would never voice his complaints, but it was wearing him down. Mana strain and lack of sleep certainly didn’t help. He eventually adjusted to the cold and sleeping on a bedroll, but the night terrors still kept him awake. Real and imagined.

His own mind was the worse enemy but it drew inspiration from the threats he’d faced. Mainly, one in particular. Dogs that stood like men, wielding weapons made of ice. Silent as gently falling snow as they hacked and slashed through the camp. Dodging swords and magic as they skated through the army, cutting down the unprepared outsiders and occasional unfortunate knight as they passed.

He had injured several, throwing fire in wide bursts as they approached, but hadn’t managed to bring down a single. They didn’t share his failure. Five injuries came from the dozens of monsters that skated past him. One on his sword arm, causing him to drop his weapon. A long gash on his side. Two more cuts to his legs when he tried to retreat. The final strike slit his throat. A lethal blow.

For a moment, Robert thought he was going to die. He knew it. Felt the end grow closer as he drowned in his own blood.

That would have been the end of the Harvest Hero if not for Lourianne Tome’s creature. The smiling succubus had appeared over him for a moment, the curve of her lips mocking. Robert’s fear was joined by anger and embarrassment. Shortly after by relief as she touched the end of her tail to his head and her mana seeped into him, suffusing him with warmth as she stopped the bleeding. That was all she did, running off to the next critically injured. Leaving him to stew in the oppressive silence, forced to remain still as he didn’t want to aggravate his recently closed wounds.

Until the silence had ended. The combined sound of howling dogs, the death cries of a titanic monster, the screams of men, and the sounds of combat had been…overwhelming. The cacophony haunted his dreams. Every time he recalled the worst night in the campaign, he was further convinced that he was not at all ready for the true threats to the kingdom…and that he would be dead without Lourianne Tome.

A thought he didn’t like to dwell on. Not just because it was depressing but because it was bad for his focus. He needed to maintain a state of alertness. At any time, another band of reapers, the flower-wearing bears, or something worse could appear.

A wise decision. Alana’s announcement that they were returning to Victory had put him in a good mood, his best mood since arriving in the north, but he hadn’t relaxed. That meant, when they were ambushed not three hours into their march, he was one of the first amongst the acolytes to react.

The method of warning was unique to Lourianne’s creature. Rather than a shouted a warning, the information was pushed directly into his mind. Enemies, several dozen. Imminent attack. A vague direction.

Robert turned. Seeing nothing but snow, he immediately began to cast. The earth affinity was a little harder to use in the north, as the cold, hard ground needed a bit more power to move, but he was more accustomed to it than ice. He may not be the most experienced fighter but he had certainly learned the folly of hesitation throughout the campaign. If he couldn’t see the enemies or their attack, the only thing he could do was prepare to defend.

A smart decision as moments later, the next message came. Bombardment incoming, though the creature could give no details on the method. Robert was already in the midst of putting up a wall and shouted for the slower-moving acolytes to get behind it. Will took more direct action, grabbing two startled young men toward him. All except one of the Squires, a poor, exhausted fool with bags under his eyes so heavy Robert imagined it would take half a lifetime for them to disappear, managed to duck behind the shelter.

Their slowest member got caught in the hail of arrows that descended, crying out in pain as the force of it hitting his shoulder turned him around before dropping him in the snow. Will was again the first to move, darting out to grab him and drag him behind the wall while also yelling orders. “I need two more walls on either side. Prepare to defend yourselves but don’t move out. Let the knights take the lead.”

“Oi, oi,” one of the Squires muttered, staring at the fallen man, whose pale skin had turned a bright red at an alarming speed. “What in this frozen Abyss is going on? That’s an arrow, right?”

“Not the time,” Will snapped.

“Monsters don’t use arrows!”

“No, enemies do! And these are laced with something so you better pay attention before you get hit with one.”

Robert didn’t need the reminder. As the others raised two more walls for their impromptu shelter, he faced the empty back, sword in hand, eyes peeled.

He had studied a little military history under his mentor. The arrows suggested an intelligent army. While that had several implications he didn’t want, and probably wasn’t qualified, to consider, what he remembered from their discussions was that a bombardment, whether magical or mundane, almost always preceded a charge.

The enemy frontline should be taking advantage of the confusion caused by their arrows to attack. Despite that, he heard nothing of the sort. No war cries or feet crunching the snow. No explosions of spells. It was quiet besides the occasional barked order but he had already learned that silence could be deceptive.

Soon enough, the tension was broken by a scream. A distinctively inhuman scream, a mix between a screech and a roar. Robert’s eyes moved toward the sound as a body flew through the air, rolling through the snow before coming to a stop near their shelter.

He had a moment to take in the human-lizard hybrid creature before another landed next to it, painting the surroundings with its dark blood.

A moment later, the elf appeared, carrying a third on her shoulder. Robert felt something was different about her. It came to him as she dropped the corpse atop the others. Under her eyes, there were two red slits, that widened and narrowed as she breathed. Combined with the blood covering her and her vicious smile, it was rather disturbing.

“Only one of you is down, good.” A forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air, before disappearing behind her smile. “Stay focused, cubs. The enemies are invisible.”

“Invisible?!” Will exclaimed. “We never heard anything about that!”

The elf ignored them, kneeling next to the injured Squire. Fingers coated in the glow of her magic, she touched his sweaty brow. The touch was enough to make him grimace. “Hm. I see.”

“Am…am I dying?” the man gasped, clearly in pain. Robert felt his stomach clench in sympathy. However, he also felt a small surge of pride. If he hadn’t acted, the others could have ended up the same way. He could be the one lying on the ground, useless, again, but he wasn’t. A small victory but one he counted in his heart.

“Dying?” The elf chuckled. “No. You appear to be uncomfortable but your body is fine.” She straightened up with a shake of her head. “This poison cannot kill anyone. What a cute diversion.”

“You call…this…cute?” the fallen Squire grumbled.

Robert understood his grievances but felt the man was wasting his breath. There was no empathy in that smile.

“You are alive, are you not? Something that would never be the case if I had shot that arrow. So, cute.” She waves her hand dismissively. “Since there is no need for a healer, I will go grab the geckos. Stay safe, cubs.”

With another chuckle, she disappeared from the shelter, kicking up snow as she ran off. Robert watched her departure with mixed feelings.

On one hand, she’d ensured they were safe and seemed confident that they weren’t facing any real danger. On the other, as a healer she’d left a man twitching in pain when she could have done something, preferring to be in the thick of the fight. He supposed her responsibility ended after making sure he would live but it was definitely a callous thing to do.

“Sssssss.”

His attention was drawn to the corpses. Or not. One of the creatures was still alive. It stared at him, pale blue eyes with slit pupils, narrowed in either pain or exhaustion. Its arm twitched and a four-fingered hand moved toward him. Reaching for him as it hissed softly.

Robert felt something watching its dying struggle. Something…indescribable but along with the feeling came a certain knowledge. This was no ordinary manabeast. They could be intelligent, and he certainly saw intelligence in that gaze, but there was also emotion. It seemed to be pleading with him, its hisses full of vulnerability. Slowly, Robert felt himself lowering his sword, his mouth parting to speak though he had no idea what he would say.

The moment was shattered before he could figure it out. With a meaty thunk, a hammer slammed into the head of the pleading lizard, spraying dark blood.

“Huh, they really aren’t that tough.” George, one of the more experienced Squires, put his weapon on his shoulder. “First time I’m seeing these guys. You, Will?”

“Like I said, I’ve never heard of an invisible monster. This is—you alright, Quin?”

“Huh?” Realizing the two gazes on him, Robert snapped out of his confused thoughts and turned away from the recently pulverized monster. “Yeah, fine.”

“Well, this campaign hasn’t been the most lucrative but we might be able to make decent coin after all.” Will grinned. “The alchemists always pay good money for undiscovered monsters. Haha, we really do have good luck working for Alana. I’ll have to make sure to buy her a drink once we make it back to Quest.”

His leader’s words sobered the future hero. What was he doing, imagining a monster was pleading with him? No matter how intelligent it was, it had tried to kill them. His job was to kill it and he would be paid for it. The last thing he needed to do was make things more complicated by imagining crazy things.

He repeated that reasoning again and again in his mind but it didn’t help. As the camp was cleared and the army resumed its march, the only thing he could think of was the soft hissing and pleading eyes. He thought of them and he wondered.