A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

However, he touched the fireball on Levy's head.

"Meow!" The fireball was startled.

“It’s in the way.” Bray said expressionlessly.

"Alright, let's go to sleep. We might have to stay up all night, so be prepared," Bray said.

Staying on night watch means not being able to sleep tonight.

Bray even had to prepare to fight monsters at night.

The thought of a fight in the middle of the night was disgusting to Bray.

“Wait a minute, are you adventurers invited by the town?” A woman with freckles on her face called out to Bray, who was yawning.

"Huh?" Bray turned his head in confusion; he didn't recognize the person.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself first," the freckled girl quickly added.

It was indeed strange to suddenly call out to someone, so the girl felt it was necessary to introduce herself.

“I’m a teacher at a school in town, my name is Kaima,” said the freckled girl named Kaima.

Bray was taken aback; such a young person was actually a teacher.

In his mind, teachers were always people who were a little older.

“Teacher?” Bray asked tentatively.

“Hmm, teacher.” Kaima looked at Bray with a puzzled expression.

However, Kaima quickly stopped dwelling on the issue of Bray.

"I'm sorry to have stopped you so abruptly," Kaima said with an awkward smile.

“It’s okay.” Bray shook his head; he had a strange fondness for the teaching profession.

A person who can be a good teacher must be remarkable.

He himself was a failed teacher.

Why did you stop us?

"I heard you're planning to help the town deal with its recent troubles tonight, so I just wanted to say a few words to you," Kaima said with a smile.

“There are always a lot of strange noises in the town at night, and the children are often so frightened that they can’t sleep.”

Knight Town has its own school, which, although small, is where most of the town's children attend.

There weren't many teachers at the school, and Kaima was one of them.

She also works part-time looking after children who live at the school.

Do terrifying screams come from the night?

Some people say they can't hear it, but the students living in the school dormitory and Kaima can hear it clearly.

Sometimes it feels like the sound is right next to your ear, making you live in fear all night.

Children, in particular, simply cannot bear this fear.

"It's great that someone's here to handle this," Kaima patted her chest.

Kaima was one of those people who seemed strange at night.

Others cannot understand the concerns of people like Kaima.

“These are for you, little amulets.” Kaima handed three wooden amulets to Bray.

She even included Levy's share.

“…” Bray hesitated for a moment before accepting.

He wondered if it was something particularly valuable. If it was, Bray would really feel embarrassed to take it from such an ordinary teacher.

"Ah, don't worry about it, it's nothing special, I have many more on me."

"I made them all myself. They were prepared for the students and were simply carved from wood."

"Many times, I couldn't sleep at night, so I took some time to carve some."

To appease her students, Kaima made many of these wooden amulets.

"Thank you." Bray accepted the three amulets.

This is a small act of kindness from Kaima.

Although it may not seem to have any particular significance, it is still a small token of her affection.

“By the way, the people in your town are very warm and hospitable,” Naruko said.

Not only Kaima, but everyone in the town was very nice to her after she arrived.

“Hmm, not a bad town, right?” Kaima smiled.

“Oh!” Levy nodded excitedly.

Levy could clearly sense people's kindness.

Kaima is a really nice person, and Levy likes her a lot.

"Then I won't bother you any longer." Kaima waved and left.

She really just suddenly wanted to give Bray a few amulets; she didn't mean anything by it.

"Goodbye," Bray said goodbye.

"Here you go." Bray tossed a talisman to Naruko.

“There’s one for you too.” Bray crouched down and handed a charm to Levy.

"Oh!!! Levy got some too!" Levy's tail wagged rapidly.

"Looks like we're really going to be up all night tonight." Bray widened his right eye, which was filled with dejection.

"Why are you suddenly so motivated?" Naruko asked, looking at Bray in surprise.

Even though this guy has a job, doesn't he always look so颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of listlessness, apathy, or apathy)?

What's gotten into Bray today? He's suddenly become so motivated.

"When did I acquire the 'energy-saving guy' persona?" Bray scoffed. Night fell, making the already somewhat gloomy town even more oppressive.

Sometimes, the sound of dogs barking could be heard from inside the alley, breaking the tranquility of the late night.

However, the barking of dogs at night can indeed disturb one's sleep.

“It’s finally night,” Naruko said to Bray, stretching her body.

"Is Levy asleep?" Bray asked casually.

“That child is full of energy, how could he possibly be asleep?”

Most people would answer "I'm asleep".

Unfortunately, Levy is not an ordinary person, but a vibrant and energetic police lion named Levy.

"Never mind, I'll just leave it at home," Bray sighed.

“Levy isn’t home,” Levy said, standing next to Bray.

"... "

“Levy can’t sleep,” Levy continued.

She slipped away.

“Fireball can’t sleep either,” Levy said to Bray, pointing to the fireball overhead.

“Levy can help.” She then showed off her non-existent muscles.

“You’ll be so sleepy tomorrow morning, and I won’t be responsible.” Bray tapped Levy on the head.

"Mm." Levy nodded.

"I'm so sleepy." Naruko yawned beside her.

"I really hope monsters appear soon, so I can kill them and finally get some rest," Naruko started daydreaming.

While Bray was chatting with Naruko and Levy, fog rolled in over the town.

Fog at midnight is not a normal occurrence.

A sense of eeriness arises spontaneously.

Bray immediately placed his hand on the scabbard.

"Crack—crackle—" A sound like something colliding with itself echoed all around.

"Woo—" A strange cry came from afar; it was an indescribable sound.

It's hard to say what kind of animal it resembles.

"There really are monsters." Bray frowned. It seemed that there really were monsters lurking in Knight Town that came out at night.

"You two, be careful of your surroundings," Bray warned Naruko and Levy behind him.

But there was no response from behind for a long time.

“…” Bray turned his head and saw that there was no one in sight.

Naruko and Levy, who were supposed to be standing there, are nowhere to be seen.

The fog grew thicker and thicker, blurring the surrounding scenery.

"Another troublesome matter." Bray drew his longsword from his waist.

I really hope that Naruko and Rei are both okay.

However, with Naruko around, there shouldn't be too much to worry about.

Bray decided to worry about himself first.

First, we need to figure out what the current situation is.

To understand what's happening right now, Bray can't stand still.

Without hesitation, Bray randomly chose a direction to move forward.

There should be streetlights in Knight Town at night, even at midnight.

But all the lights went out.

Not only were they turned off, but the ordinary lampposts were also replaced with a bizarre style.

At the top of each lamppost is a strange human figure holding a light bulb.

"Clang—" Bray accidentally kicked a piece of wood on the ground.

The fog was too thick for Bray to watch his step.

"Luckily it wasn't a manhole cover." If it were a hole, Bray would probably have fallen right in.

Bray glanced at the piece of wood he had kicked; it came from a broken carriage nearby.

There was not only one dilapidated carriage on the street, but also several carriages that had fallen apart.

Bray had no recollection of the carriages on the town's main street being so dilapidated.

The wooden crates, which should have been neatly stacked, were now scattered everywhere, and not a single one was intact.

The box was rotten, and the straw stuffing inside had spilled out.

In the middle of the night, a gust of wind blew through the thick fog, stirring the straw on the ground, and causing the rickety carriage wheels to creak and groan as they spun slightly.

"Tsk, I hate horror stories the most," Bray muttered to himself.

But despite the complaints, Bray still needs to keep moving forward.

The streets were overgrown with weeds, and when Bree stepped on them, they made a "rustling" sound.

The barking that should have been there completely disappeared, making the night less noisy.

Unfortunately, Bray was hoping for a slightly noisier night.

Bray walked to the front door of a house and hesitated for a long time.

He wanted to knock on the door.