Chapter 48: A Village Worth Defending
"Amal! Is your leg okay?"
Rex came toward Amal while wiping the blue blood off his sword. His strong body was covered in armor, which is now stained with the magical beast’s blood. His messy gray hair stuck to his forehead and he pushed it back with his left hand.
"Yeah, I’m fine. You really are a knight, huh? Taking down a Doshaguma all by yourself."
Amal answered him with a grin and then gently helped the five-year-old child in his arms to stand. After checking that the boy wasn’t hurt anywhere, Amal patted his brown hair.
"That guy over there took care of the monster. You don’t need to be scared anymore. Everything’s okay now, kid."
The boy, with a face covered in tears and snot, rubbed his nose roughly with the sleeve of his worn, patched-up clothes. Finally, he managed a smile.
"Thank you, mister! Thank you!"
Amal picked the child up again and headed back toward the boy’s home. Even though it was still quite a distance away, he could already see the mother standing there, nervously looking in their direction.
As soon as the boy noticed her, he jumped out of Amal’s arms and dashed toward her. His mother, seeing him running, rushed forward with joy to meet him.
Amal and Rex had come to Lynn’s Village, the closest village to the border and themselves disguised as traveling merchants. But right from the start, their job had stopped being trade or scouting. It had turned into monster hunting.