Chapter 16: First Encounter With a Monster

“A monster hunter? Thank goodness. I was afraid we would have to travel through dangerous territory without protection,” one person said, placing a hand over the chest.

“I suppose if there’s a monster hunter, I don’t need a refund,” someone mumbled.

“That’s a relief. I have to be at my destination today,” another person said, wiping the sweat off their forehead.

Hearing how happy the people were to have a monster hunter with them made Luke’s stomach churn.

How would they react if they knew he was the reason why it had become so dangerous?

“They would hate you. They would look at you like you’re a monster and flee for their lives,” the evil god whispered.

Luke tried to ignore him as he stepped to the front.

As soon as the driver spotted him, they declared, “Here’s our monster hunter.”

Some of the joy faded away as a few people recognized him.

“Isn’t that the guy from yesterday?” a person muttered.

“Was he a monster hunter? He never said anything before,” another person added.

Seeing the doubtful and worried looks sent his way, Luke cleared his throat and said, “Some of you might have recognized me, but I assure you that I’m a monster hunter. You’ll be safe in my hands.”

Though some people were still uncertain about the safety of the trip, most were just happy to have a monster hunter along for the ride.

Everyone quickly got on the wagon, and they were off.

Several people tried to strike up a conversation, asking him all sorts of questions like how many monsters he had killed or why he was hiding his identity. The younger ones were especially curious, wanting to know all his heroic deeds.

He was careful to edit what he said to them by mixing some truths with lies to make himself look both credible and reliable.

After all, he wanted to put them at ease without giving away his identity.

Luckily, the first part of their journey was relatively smooth. They encountered no trouble along the way and even managed to make it through a couple of days before any trouble arose.

“What’s that?” a person asked, pointing in the distance in front of them.

The driver slowed the wagon as everyone tried to get a better look at what was happening at the front. Luke frowned as he tightened his grip on his sword, able to see clearly that it was a lone monster blocking the way.

“Stop here, driver. I’ll handle it,” Luke said, standing up.

The moment he spoke, everyone fell silent as they immediately understood without him stating it outright. The driver obeyed his order and forced the wagon to a stop while Luke jumped down from the wagon. Everyone watched with baited breath as he walked towards the monster.

It didn’t seem to have noticed his presence, not reacting in the slightest at his approach.

That was better for him. He wanted to catch the monster by surprise and end the fight in one blow if possible. A drawn-out fight wouldn’t help anyone and could endanger the people on the wagon.

Luke unsheathed his sword, ready to charge at the monster and strike it down when it abruptly snapped its head in his direction.

Their eyes met, and neither dared to move. After several moments, the monster roared and ran away from Luke. He stared speechlessly at the running monster, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Was it running from him?

It took him a moment to snap out of his shock and run after the fleeing monster. He caught up quickly and stabbed it in the back, ending it in one blow like he intended.

As he stared at the monster’s corpse, a strange feeling washed over him.

Why had the monster run from him?

This had never happened before.

Even when it had been one weak monster against him and ex-comrades, the monster had refused to back down and had been slain by them. They would never flee from a human if given the choice.

His mind swirled with confusion, trying to figure out what could have caused such a bizarre reaction.

That’s when the driver called out, “Monster hunter, is it over? Is the monster dead?”

He snapped his head up and said, “It’s been dealt with. It’s safe.”

Even from a distance, he could hear the people in the wagon give a cheer, but he couldn’t bring himself to be happy about it.

The only one who could possibly explain the monster’s strange actions was the evil god. As the creator of monsters, he would know why the monster had chosen to flee instead of fighting Luke head on.

However, he didn’t want to confront the evil god, not after what happened several days ago.

Luke could still remember the conversation they had, which left a bitter taste in his mouth. Talking with the evil god so soon after what happened would just aggravate him. He would have to set aside the strangeness for now.

Following exactly how the pamphlet said to deal with the monster corpse, Luke dismembered the body into pieces and set them on fire.

Apparently, burying a monster’s corpse would corrupt the land, and burning the corpses outright wouldn’t work. The monster had to be cut in small pieces before being burned, and it had to be done in a certain way to work.

He wasn’t sure how they figured it out, but he just accepted it.

Once all of the remains except for the piece he said was destroyed, he returned to the wagon relatively clean. After he boarded the wagon, they continued on their journey with everyone fawning over him again.

“That was amazing. You took out that monster like it was nothing,” one child said, swinging their arms like they were swinging a sword.

“Yeah. You might be stronger than the heroes,” a different child chimed in.

Immediately, someone shushed them and said, “Don’t say that. The heroes are really strong. They defeated the evil god.”

At the mention of their “heroic deed”, the corners of Luke’s mouth twitched as he mumbled, “Yeah, they did.”