Letter.

With all the equipment Yuuji was given, and with his discovery that there is a level system, Yuuji and Amilia headed out near the walls to kill some slimes for Yuuji to gain a few levels and to get accustomed to his sword.

Now that the massive undead army was gone, the scene outside did look extremely beautiful. A flowing crystal-clear river, large almost infinite plains, and a forest not so far away but to a different side. It looked almost like something you’d see as a wallpaper to an old computer at first glance.

With how well planned the defenses of the city were, you’d barely find monsters around the walls except for slimes which can be easily overlooked.

Light-blue, gooey, jumping creatures. That was the best way to describe them. Harmless? mostly unless you come up against a big one then it’ll probably send you for a long hot bath.

Yuuji kept hacking away at slimes, easily slicing through them with his sword. It was easy– or well it should’ve been if not for the fact that they keep jumping around too much and are a pain to aim at.

“There’s quite a few of them around here!” Yuuji complained. “Hey! Amilia, isn’t this something the guards should consider with such a decent amount!?” Yuuji continued.

Even though his complaints were loud, it granted no response from his fellow partymate–

“YUUJI!!!”

As Yuuji looked over to the place where the screams were, he saw Amilia surrounding herself in an ice shield and getting bombarded by slimes from all directions.

“Please come help me! Please!!” Amilia cried in distress yet again.

“Oh yeah?” Yuuji smirked as he kicked another slime away.

His little smirk turned into a full on villain grin before continuing. “How about this? You pay for my dinner tonight?”

Amilia's eyes widened with surprise at the sudden request.

“Yuuji! This is not the time for jokes!!”

“But I’m not joking?” Yuuji replied sarcastically. “Oh well then.. Have fun with the slimes~ –”

“FINE! FINE! I’LL PAY FOR YOUR STUPID DINNER. HELP ME!”

With her accepting the conditions Yuuji quickly ran over to her and dealt with the slimes. A panicking Amilia could do nothing but glare at Yuuji with a pouty face. Cute for sure, but Yuuji was standing his ground about the dinner.

—---------------------------------

“But seriously, what caused that amount of slimes to appear?” Yuuji questioned whilst cleaning his sword with a cloth.

“It must be because of Sirius’ influence.” Amilia closed one of her eyes and started to explain. “Probably related to one of his crystal’s abilities. You saw how he was able to control those undead? Slimes are attracted to the smell of the dead, may it be human or animal.”

Yuuji put a finger to his chin as if to think about the information he’s just been given but almost as soon as he did that, his train of thought was halted in its path by Amilia.

“By the way, you haven’t checked your level yet.” Amilia pointed at Yuuji whilst tilting her head slightly.

At that gesture from Amilia, Yuuji moved his hand and his level screen popped up again.

“You’re already level 25!” Amilia’s surprise cry was loud enough to startle Yuuji.

As for how Amilia was able to see the menu, as they’re party members she’s allowed to see the menu and his stats whenever he pops the screen up.

Yuuji’s level rose fast, although it probably felt too fast because the amount of time was small but nonetheless he had killed a bunch of slimes which combined with a unique skill on his sword helped him level up.

Yuuji’s sword had a unique skill to double the EXP he received from killing mobs. While at first he thought it was broken and OP, it still required him to fight mobs and only gave him a boost at the earlier levels. Once your level is high enough, a drop in the bucket like that isn’t going to push you forward much.

In the corner of his eyes, a giant man appeared to be walking towards them. Yuuji quickly switched off his interface and faced the man.

From afar, it only looked like a giant had broken loose and was going to be attacking the walls. However, It was none other than General Marcus.

Waving his hands at them gently and in just a few moments he had reached where they were at.

“Looks like our Hero here has been training.” Marcus paused and looked at Yuuji. “How has it been, you two?”

A gentle smile spread across his face. His smile and his tone had no malice. It felt to Yuuji like he was talking to a father figure, something he lacked.

“It’s fine to call me Yuuji, General” Yuuji smiled as he put his sword into the ground as a rest.

“Hmmm…” Marcus put a finger on his chin and closed his eyes. “Alright then. How about calling you Yuu as well?”

Yuuji’s eyes widened with shock and then just a few moments after it shined bright from happiness.

“Please do! I’d love that!”

Yuuji’s happiness came from the fact that that nickname was one he was given by his grandmother, the person he adored the most. And so it made him feel a little at home with a nickname like that.

“Woah..” Marcus’ eyes widened a little. “I was really just messing with you there but” his mouth turned into a smile before continuing. “Guess there’s not helping it then.”

After a few moments of silence Marcus grabbed his greatsword off the ground. “I should get going then. Got a patrol I need to attend to.” Marcus said as he started leaving. “Stay safe you two!” he looked back and waved his arms at them and the two responded in a respectful bow.

—---------------------

“These kids are always lively..” Marcus said as he walked with his head resting on his hands. “I should finish this patrol soon.”

As soon as he finished his sentence however, a bad stench hung in the air. A stench he was all-so familiar with.

“Smell of undead huh..” he said in a low voice as he started heading to where the place of the smell was.

It didn’t take long at all for him to start hearing calls of help from what sounded like 4 people. And sure enough, he arrived at the scene with 4 adventurers being surrounded by 20 or so undead monsters.

The party consisted of 2 vanguards, 1 mage, and a tank, with the tank and one of the vanguards terribly wounded.

“Hey! Stay there, I’m coming to help you!” Marcus shouted which grabbed the attention of a few of the undead towards him.

—-----------

“Yuuji, we should head back home, it's getting late.” Amilia stood up and grabbed her staff, urging Yuuji to do the same.

“Amilia,” Yuuji’s eyes were looking more serious than usual. (At least for Amilia.) “Earlier you saw I had a skill called ‘Enemy detection’ right?”

Amilia quizzically tilted her head and then nodded confirming.

“I think it activated..” Yuuji said as he immediately faced the way Marcus headed in. “Something bad is happening. Quick, Amilia!” Yuuji said and took off running with Amilia in toe.

It didn’t take long for the duo to arrive at the scene. The situation got worse from when Marcus first arrived as the battle drew further notice from other undead scouts in the area.

“General, are you okay?!” Yuuji shouted.

“Great timing, Yuu!” Marcus smiled as he stabbed through an undead’s body. “We need to get rid of these guys before they draw even further attention to others!”

At his command, Yuuji took an attacking stance ready for battle. Amilia picked up the hint and started chanting support magic to increase Yuuji’s speed.

“O mighty snow, aid us to cut down those aiming to make you fall.. Ice Blessing!”

With Amilia finished with her chant, Yuuji looked back at her and winked and immediately started engaging in battle.

Swiftly dodging, nimble steps to the side, clean slices, those were all Yuuji’s new found strengths from his training from earlier.

In fact, his sword training in Japan might have been more of a help than he’d even thought himself. Sure, he was more comfortable using a ‘Katana’ than using a normal sword but nonetheless the fundamentals could be applied to both.

Yuuji’s dodging was so impressive, onlookers from the side would instinctively applaud him.

In total, Yuuji finished off around 30 undead monsters on his own. Marcus, The adventurers, and Amilia managed to finish off around another 20 and that was all that there was to them.

“I’m beat.” Yuuji called as he laid on his back with all of the monsters gone.

“THANK YOU FOR SAVING US EVERYONE!” The mage from the party bowed on the ground.

“It’s nothing important.. Hey Yuuji! say something!” Amilia waved both her hands dismissively then looked at the practically sleeping Yuuji.

“Wait.” Amilia who was in a pout noticed a fallen paper on the ground where the monsters attacked.

Grabbing the paper and opening it, Amilia’s body shivered completely at the content of the letter as if she saw a ghost. Her eyes widened then she looked at Yuuji who in turn nodded for her to read it out loud.

“Enjoy a small taste of my capabilities, Self-proclaimed hero… Yours truly, Sirius Zeller.”