You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Iori smiled and shook her head, then asked, "Is your reconnaissance mission over?"

"It was interrupted by an unexpected situation."

Sebastian put aside his distractions and continued reporting the situation, his expression calm as if he were only talking about a minor matter.

"Twenty kilometers away, a small group of cavalry is moving towards this place."

"Oh? I wonder who's coming this time. Hopefully, there are some interesting guys among them."

Recalling the several CGs the villagers had contributed to her, Iori smiled slightly: "Although it's a bit troublesome, it's time to clean up the surrounding environment—oh, I really did get a monster-clearing quest!"

Chapter 342 The Warrior Captain Prepares to Die a Heroic Death.

drop!

[New mission discovered!]

[Repel the enemies attacking the village]

[Reward: Large amount of experience points]

[Race Level: 3]

[Occupation Level: Unemployed]

There really is a new mission?

Iori took out the full-time outline, glanced at it, and then casually put it back into the storage space.

Whether out of personal likes or dislikes or for personal gain, Iori had to protect the village, so she accepted the task without hesitation, but couldn't help but complain in her heart.

The tasks assigned to him are on a completely different level from ordinary beginner tasks!

When everyone else is just starting out, they fight goblins and slimes, but when it comes to me, I'm fighting Goblins and Rimuru, right?!

Even level 40 monsters don't give rewards—who gets their starting profession certificate by defeating max-level NPCs?

Protecting the village sounds simple, but it's actually quite difficult. After all, whether in games or in real life, destruction is always easier than protection. Just ask players whether they prefer killing monsters or escorting others, and you'll understand.

Of course, none of the above is a problem for Iori. Whether the stepping stone is one inch or two inches higher, it makes no difference to a god walking among humans.

……

"Lord Aizen, have more bandits really come?"

The villagers were terrified when they heard the news. Although the victims had been brought back to life, they did not want to experience the massacre again.

The village chief knelt on the ground in humility, his hands as if holding something that did not exist, pleading with Iori.

"Please, please protect this village... No matter what, even though we have nothing, we will do everything in our power to thank you!"

--sad.

The village chief himself found it ridiculous to say such a thing.

Putting everything else aside, Iori's ability to resurrect the dead alone would allow him to easily amass a fortune. Even if this small village were sold off entirely, it wouldn't amount to even a fraction of what Iori possesses.

What the village chief didn't know was that Iori's abilities were even more exaggerated than he imagined.

Even the lowest-level resurrection magic has a fifth rank, while spellcasters in this world are generally only at the first or second rank. Reaching the third rank is considered genius, and the fourth rank is already worthy of being written into the heroic hymns of bards.

Fifth-tier resurrection magic requires casters who are considered national treasures. Such individuals usually possess special physiques or are blessed by divine artifacts, making each one unique and irreplaceable. You could search the entire world and still not find more than ten of them.

(Of course, this refers to humans; long-lived species cannot be generalized, such as dragon kings who are comparable to max-level characters.)

—And the scroll that Iori casually used was an eighth-tier shaman-type group resurrection scroll, which is considered a relatively high-end item even in the game, let alone in another world.

If this thing were on the market, it would be truly priceless.

Therefore, "reward" will not move him; only pity and kindness can get Iori to help.

The village chief may not understand magic, but he understands human relationships and thus comprehends this point.

However, he really had no other choice, because he couldn't be sure whether Iori's help to the village was just a passing fancy, or whether he would leave because he got tired of it.

That was all he could say, that he could only act incredibly humble in order to gain sympathy—it could be called cunning, but Iori didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

A group of ordinary people just want to survive, and even such a simple request is difficult to be fulfilled. What is so funny about the efforts they make for it, even if they seem ridiculous?

It should be understood that not everyone is lucky enough to stand on high ground and look down on them.

"Don't panic, it's okay."

Iori's single sentence silenced the villagers, and their expressions calmed down considerably.

To these ordinary and poor villagers, Iori, who could eliminate numerous "bandits" in the blink of an eye and even bring the dead back to life, was practically a god.

Therefore, the villagers here believe that as long as Iori is willing to take action, Kahn Village will be able to escape disaster once again!

"As for the compensation..."

Iori didn't generously say she didn't want anything; instead, she frowned slightly, as if she had been thinking about it seriously for a while.

The villagers' expressions immediately became tense—

"After this is all over, could you tell me about the local specialties? As a traveler, what I love most is experiencing different cultures and customs, and collecting food and stories."

call!

The villagers collectively breathed a sigh of relief, almost causing a gust of wind to blow.

"Of course, no problem! Please make sure we treat you well!"

"Everyone is so enthusiastic!"

"Lord Aizen, I will immediately dismiss everyone and have them find a place to hide, but I will stay. The village has been attacked repeatedly, which is very strange. I want to see if there is any reason for it."

The village chief seemed to have made up his mind.

Seeing this, Iori nodded: "We should indeed investigate, but everyone must be exhausted after all this time, so let's not dismiss them yet."

"what?"

The village chief was stunned. "So many people... Won't this cause you trouble?"

"Not necessarily."

Iori once again demonstrated the power of magic in front of everyone. After opening up the storage space, a huge scroll, half the height of a person, fell out and was held upright on the ground by Iori with one hand.

"Excuse me, are you susceptible to magic sickness?"

"……what?"

Iori showed no sign of anything amiss, remaining calm and composed. With a slight smile, she launched her magic without waiting for the villagers' reply.

hum!

The scroll flew into the air, and an invisible hand pulled it open. Its mirror-like surface emitted a sacred golden light that enveloped the entire village, including all the villagers—

The next moment, everyone felt a dizzying sensation, as if their bodies had been thrown into water and then pulled out. After a moment of weightlessness, they swayed and sat down on the ground.

"what?"

The village chief immediately sensed something was wrong. He looked down and saw soft, lush green grass, then looked up at the clear sky and... nothing at all.

Vanished! The village vanished!

He stared wide-eyed at the summer grassland, unable to believe that what he was seeing was real... but the breeze blowing past him felt so good, so real!

"Village chief, the village has disappeared?"

"No, this is..."

Someone quickly realized what had happened: "The village didn't disappear, we were sent to another place!"

The villagers were immediately in an uproar, many kneeling on the ground, searching for Iori...

……

"The world item [Map of Mountains and Rivers]?"

Sebastian, who was serving Iori, looked at the suddenly empty village and nodded in relief.

"Since you've brought this with you, there's nothing to worry about. My role as a guard is somewhat superfluous."

The [Map of Mountains and Rivers] is a terrain-based item that can both trap enemies and protect oneself. Except for a few special methods, the two worlds inside and outside the map cannot interfere with each other. With this item, Iori can be said to be inherently invincible, hence Sebastian's saying.

Before long, the chaotic sound of horses' hooves, along with a trail of dust that slowly spread, led a well-equipped team into the village.

They were imposing and their movements were concise and efficient. However, their armor was not uniform; each wore different equipment, some in leather armor and others in chainmail. They looked like an amateur knightly order cobbled together, numbering around twenty or thirty.

Interestingly, the group did not charge recklessly. Instead, they gradually slowed down before entering the village, and then immediately reined in their horses and stopped. The leading officer even dismounted and led the horses, and the knights behind him followed suit.

No one raised the slightest objection throughout the entire process; everything proceeded so smoothly, which is how things usually are.

This is a well-trained army—Iori judged this from their spirit and morale at a glance.

As he surveyed the group, the knights also noticed him. However, unlike the others, Iori's eyesight was sharp enough for him to clearly see everyone's expressions from hundreds of meters away. But the knights were drawn by a strange feeling and directed their gazes toward where Iori was.

They couldn't make out who it was at all, but the silhouette of the person in white seemed mysterious and imposing, as awe-inspiring as the ancient and unchanging mountains and rivers!

Without any reason... they had only glanced at it... the knights suspected that something was wrong with them, but they didn't want their comrades to find out, so they could only pretend that nothing had happened and continue to follow their commander.

On the contrary, the leading soldier looked stern, his resolute square face showing a solemn expression as if he were about to slay a dragon, his beard bristling, clearly as if he were facing a formidable enemy!

Then they witnessed a horrifying scene by the roadside:

Corpse!

Elite knights, fully armed like them, were pinned to the ground like salted fish, pierced from head to toe!

The gruesome corpses stood like statues of flesh and blood throughout the village, and the eerie and bloody scene almost made the well-trained soldiers vomit!

"What on earth is going on here... Are you kidding me?!"

"Shut up!"

"Yes Yes!"

The knight leader's words silenced his men, but he knew this could not completely dispel their fear.

To be honest, even he would have lost his composure in this situation, let alone a group of young people.

So he gave a shout and stopped, then instructed, "Wait a minute, no matter what happens, you are not allowed to make a move!"

"Commander? You mean..."

Just remember that, don't ask any more questions.

The warrior captain, Gazef, appeared to be over thirty but not yet forty. He was quite burly, and in full armor, he was a typical hulking giant.

Moreover, Iori could sense a completely different aura and charisma emanating from the other party compared to ordinary soldiers.

Regardless of level, if you only look at attributes, he might not even be able to defeat a mid-level monster in the Great Tomb of Nazarick. What Iori values ​​is the "purity" of the opponent as a martial artist. Sebastian, standing to the side, also focused his attention on Gazef, clearly noticing something.

The man whom Iori had treated with special regard was now pursing his lips, gazing intently at the white-clad figure in the distance.

"I never expected to step into such a dangerous place... But before we can distinguish friend from foe, we must not act rashly. The most foolish thing in the world is to overestimate our abilities and blindly make enemies."

While patiently calming his subordinates, Gerdav was also troubled.

If he wasn't mistaken, he must be under some kind of curse!

Something was off from the moment we entered the village. Even though we were so far apart, I couldn't help but keep my gaze fixed on them, and I could clearly sense their presence, as if we were face to face...

The feeling of being both far away and yet so close at hand made Gerdov wary.

However, he was overthinking it, because it wasn't a curse or magic, but rather a special effect inherent to the equipment:

【Moon Coat】!

The trench coat Iori was wearing not only had maxed-out resistance stats as armor, but also had secondary attributes such as automatic repair, style changeability, and color changeability, as well as an active skill he had tailored for himself—

【focus】

It can be freely turned on/off.

Once activated, when you enter someone else's field of vision, the system compares and judges your charm and perception. If you pass the comparison, you will attract the other person's attention to yourself (unlimited number).

Based on how others perceive you, selectively display your own aura.

Those skilled in martial arts will see power, those who admire technology will perceive wisdom, and those who yearn for redemption will see divinity.

……

Iori only activates the active skill of this coat on certain occasions, such as when executing bandits or when being worshipped by villagers.