Villain Retirement

Weeks have passed, and the Leville party has continued to hunt almost every day without rest. Suffice it to say, when they got beaten down by Riley without even as much as making him sweat, there was a fire that lit up within them.

Riley did not mind, of course—he even went with them every time. And each time, he pulled all the monsters toward the Levillle party.

Suffice it to say, the three were completely different from how they were just weeks ago. After all, even though Riley was pulling the monsters toward the Leville party, he wasn't helping them to defeat the monsters at all.

If they die, then they die. But so far, aside from being heavily wounded and covered in blood each time they hunt, the three of them were still alive and well.

Riley wasn't going to lie—it was fun. It was almost as if he was playing a game where he pitted the Leville crew against the monsters. It was sort of exciting to see if they were going to live as Riley pulled more and more each day.

And of course, because of the… incredible results that the Leville party was showing, they have also been slowly gaining popularity in the local city of Arunafelt. None of them noticed it, however, as they were all just incredibly exhausted after every hunt. They just focused on getting stronger; sleeping and hunting—that was their life for an entire month.

As for Riley, he didn't rest. Each time he went back to the tavern, he tells Aerith of the things that happen to him that day.

And then, finally, the time for the Expedition has come.

"Aunt Lilly!"

"Jacob? Is that you!?"

The Leville party were currently outside the gates of Arunafelt—and it wasn't only them, there were more than a hundred people there; all bringing their own carts and supplies for the long hunt ahead.

The Leville party also has a new cart—much larger than before and even had a roof and drapes, making it closed from the outside world.

And as Bert said, he brought his son with him, who was already leaping into Lilly's arms.

"Look at you!" Lilly lifted the small boy, lightly pinching his cheek as she gritted her teeth in excitement, "You're so tall now, even taller than Roan."

"...I'm minding my own business here, why do I keep hearing my name!" Roan's head then peeked out from the cart as he pointed at Lilly and Jacob, "And you, if you don't stop growing taller I will hit you, okay!?"

"Stop scaring the child, Roan," Lilly could really only roll her eyes as she gently placed Jacob back on the ground.

"Sorry, I'm late. I waited for Jacob to wake up," Bert then forced out a chuckle as he approached Lilly, "Where's Nathan?"

"Right there."

Bert quickly looked at where Lilly was pointing, only to see a man tending to their carriage birds.

"Nathan! You don't need to do that!" Bert waved his hand at Lilly's husband.

"It's fine! I'll take the first shift in driving!" Nathan waved back, before just continuing to brush and feed the giant birds, "This is my job, anyway!"

"..." Bert glanced back at Lilly, only for her to giggle and shrug in response,

"What about our overpowered Porter?" Bert then asked, "Is he… going to come?"

"I'm right here, Bert."

And almost as if in cue to his query, Riley appeared from the gates of the city—and beside him was Aerith, and like him, she was covered with a cloak.

"I apologize for my tardiness," Riley said as he approached the group, "I forgot about the Expedition."

"...Of course, you did," Lilly could really only sigh and shake her head. But afterward, she quickly stretched her hand to Aerith.

"Hello, my name's Lilly. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Aerith."

"..." Aerith shook Lilly's hand, but she didn't really say anything and just nodded.

"..." Lilly was a little weirded out at first, but she just smiled as she introduced the rest of the Leville party to her. Aerith didn't talk, but she still acknowledged the others as she continued to nod.

"Alright then," Lilly then clapped her hands as she joined her husband on the front of the cart, "Since we're all here, shall we get ahead of the line!? Leville party's first Expedition!"

"Let's fucking go!" Roan once again peeked out of the cart as he raised his fist. As soon as he did so, however, he was almost hit by Bert's hammer.

"Language, my son can hear you!"

"Let's…" But alas, it is too late as Jacob also raised his fists in the air and said,

"Let's… fucking go!"

***

[...Leville party's first Expedition!]

[Let's fucking go!]

[Language…]

"..."

"..."

"Who do you think he is?"

Somewhere, 5 pairs of eyes could be seen glowing in pitch darkness. Their eyes seemed like finely cut gemstones—human, but at the same time, they held a sense of ferality in them.

Their breaths and voices too echoed and trembled through the darkness as they stared at the portal that was in the middle of them. The portal, showing Riley inside the cart along with everyone with him.

"Do you think he was sent by the Common Council?"

"What for? The Common Council has not bothered us and our ancestors—it is ludicrous to think that after an eon had passed, they would come to find us."

"Sa'ruth has a point. The Common Council, if it still exists, would only consist of people that might have already forgotten about our ancestors."

The voices continued to talk—their words, containing a certain click and clap on them.

"But the fact that our organization exists would mean that our ancestors have foreseen that something like this would happen, no?"

"But why? For what reason would they try and find us?"

"He isn't trying to find us, have you people not heard what he said in the library? He is here by fate."

"But he knows about Ahor Zai, and that we left the Known Universe after the war of the gods in search of Nothing. I feel like we must reach out to him—if it is true he had made contact with a Preprimordial being, then we owe it to our ancestors to know the truth."

"Nonsense—he had also mentioned that he killed hundreds of billions of people—his words are filled with lies and arrogance. No singular person has that kind of strength anymore."

"The Cherbi could. And one of the Great Van's direct descendants could too, he looks like one."

"But he's not, he said he is from the Unknown."

"The creatures you speak of might not even exist anymore. The time of the gods is over. This creature, whatever and whoever he is, I believe he just wants attention by spouting these grand lies."

"Why would he lie?"

"As I said, for attention. And since he seems to want it…

…then we shall give him one."

"But our people are with him. We have already risked their lives by trying to explode the library."

"They are beneath us."

"They are still our people. We do not even know if the Stranger means us harm."

"Enough. If to die with the Stranger is their fate...

…then so be it."