The D-Rank Guild Master of the No. 1 Guild

We had come a long way from the cave where the rest of the group was. The outing had lasted long enough that I needed to drink another stealth potion. I was a bit worried about the ones I’d left behind, but I had to see the face of the person presumed to be the ‘first monster slayer.’ I needed to check their status window as well.

The effort seemed worthwhile as more and more people appeared the further I ventured out. Everyone seemed to be talking about the same person. 

Amidst the noise, I gathered crucial information. First, the person the initial character referred to as ‘that person’ and the ‘first monster slayer’ seemed to be the same individual. Second, about fifty characters within my sight were all praising this person.

“Where’s Aleon?”

“He went to rescue someone who fell beneath the ground disturbed by the monster.”

“When is he coming back? It’s unsettling to be here alone… What if another monster comes…?”

What is this? These diverse characters, all waiting desperately and confidently for Aleon to protect them, as if he were a hero from a movie. This was a competitive field with kill points and rankings, and yet, it felt like a hero had emerged among them.

As I observed them, the ground beneath us shook violently.

“Aaah!”

“Another monster!”

The ground surged upward in the middle of the gathered characters, causing those on top to tumble down. Abilities flared up all around, casting colorful lights. I saw various transforming animals, reminiscent of Switch-type creatures. Despite the barrage of small and large abilities, few managed to land an effective hit on the monster.

In that moment, I had several conflicting thoughts in the span of just three seconds.

Should I step in? But I had only managed to take down the last monster with Gio and Unahar’s help. I didn’t have the strength to do it alone. Joining forces with the other characters to gang up on it felt like reducing myself to just another common character. My strengths weren’t ‘teamwork’ and ‘cooperation.’

But just watching while others fought made me worry that viewers would see me as a selfish character. I wasn’t supposed to represent ‘selfishness’ either!

Had I misjudged my character’s image? Trying to embody both ‘hidden strength’ and ‘compassion’ might have been my folly.

While I hesitated, the monster opened its maw to devour a character. I had no choice but to extend my hand and prepare my fire. I needed to release the stealth potion too—.

Swoosh—! 

If the monster hadn’t suddenly been engulfed by a rising wave of water, I would have fired my flames. Luckily, I managed to avoid revealing my presence and my flames. I hadn’t yet deactivated the stealth potion.

The sudden turn of events made me shift back into observation mode. The vast amount of clear water, as if it had a will of its own, climbed the monster’s body, soon engulfing it completely. 

Crack! 

In an instant, the water froze, and the monster became encased in opaque ice. The more the monster struggled and twisted, the more the ice cracked. But each movement only caused the ice to cling tighter, freezing further with more water. The relentless invisible battle continued until the monster’s movements gradually slowed. 

Patiently waiting, I watched as the monster finally stopped moving entirely. Emerging from behind the frozen creature, a figure extended one hand upward as he approached slowly. This figure drew the attention of every character present, including mine.

Without a hint of disturbance despite the attention, as if it was his destiny, the man with blue eyes held a peculiar light in them. Aleon clenched his outstretched fist tightly. As the veins in his hand bulged and his fist tightened, the massive block of ice before him also compressed with a crunch.

After a moment, it became evident that the monster inside the ice was dead. Aleon then relaxed his fist and swiftly slashed his hand sideways. The enormous ice block, larger than the crowd, sliced cleanly as if cut by a knife and fell to the ground. Inside the fallen ice was the monster’s severed head.

“Waahhhh!” 

At someone’s cue, all the characters cheered in unison. The awe and respect for someone who had single-handedly and effortlessly defeated a fearsome monster that had terrorized them all day were palpable. Aleon was indeed a character tailored for such moments.

“How is it that someone like him appeared only today? Why haven’t we seen him before now?” One of the crowd members beside me voiced the same thought I had, questioning another character nearby.

The other character, seeming as proud as if he were Aleon himself, responded, “Aleon only appeared today. That’s because he had been sleeping in the ice all this time. When winter and monsters emerged in this world, he awakened to oppose them.”

Listening nearby, I couldn’t hide my amazement even under the effects of the stealth potion.

A character with such an exceptional backstory, designed to awaken not on the first day but from deep within the field’s ice. Being trapped in ice equates to a life-threatening situation, so Aleon must have awakened his Pure Nature ability while in a dormant state. Today, he emerged, reigning supreme over monsters with ease, as if it were second nature to him. Could there be a more perfect protagonist-like character in this story? It made characters like me, and others, seem like mere extras.

His serene blue hair and irises were almost blinding to my eyes. Aleon’s gaze was gentle yet cold. Despite his holy and ruthless nature, he sighed in relief after ensuring no one was harmed after single-handedly defeating the monster.

“Is anyone hurt?”

He personally checked the arms of each character near the monster, confirming their safety. Already, every character here had become a follower of Aleon. He was a holy saint. His powerful ice abilities seemed to dominate this winter. The monster’s cold body and hard skin had made it challenging for my fire to inflict damage. But Aleon had frozen the cold-blooded creature with his Pure Nature ability, encasing it in ice until it was utterly immobilized. How powerful must this man’s output be? 

My current abilities couldn’t compare. I could believe he was the current top ranker.

At that moment, the saint’s blue eyes met mine. I froze, taken aback. It shouldn’t be possible. I was hidden with the stealth potion amidst this dense crowd. Yet Aleon looked directly at me and approached confidently. His walk was upright and honest, like a knight.

“The ‘First Unique Ability Unleasher,’ correct?”

The characters parted to make way for Aleon, despite being unsure of his destination in the empty space. Feeling a sense of futility, I decided to reveal myself, letting the stealth effect dissipate.

Aleon remained unfazed by my appearance, his approach becoming quicker. He grasped my hands firmly without hesitation.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am the ‘First Monster Slayer!'”

The man, who looked like a cross between a holy knight and a benevolent ruler, used a reverent tone, his face lighting up with genuine joy. He truly seemed glad to meet me.

Why?

“I’ve been eager to meet you,” he said earnestly.

Aleon’s mystical blue eyes brightened.

The ice saint wasn’t a perfect beauty like Unahar, but his demeanor and gaze had a peculiar, seductive charm.

Both Shemarin and this character had it.

Anyone who rises to the top must possess this level of charisma.

But I do not.

“I have heard about you. If it displeases you that I knew about you before our first meeting, I apologize.”

He was apologizing sincerely, even for such unnecessary things. This saint was sincere in everything.

He probably doesn’t know how to lie. This exceedingly merciful and virtuous saint.

“If you are the first to unlock a unique ability, you must possess great strategy and courage. I have also heard that the fire of your unique ability is very strong and beautiful.”

How did a character who awakened today learn information about me?

Suddenly, I recalled the character who was watching us from the forest when Gio, Unahar, and I were capturing the beast earlier.

That character might have come here and relayed the information.

Aleon, seeming to realize that he had shown too much familiarity upon first meeting, soon displayed a sorry expression and withdrew his hand from me.

But his business wasn’t just to make small talk.

He had a proposal for me.

“Will you join me in protecting these people?”

See?

I quickly realized that this wasn’t a simple invitation to join his party.

He was asking me to join his noble cause, to come under his command, to entrust myself to his beliefs.

In other words, this was a line from a ruler to his loyal follower.

Given that I also had people I needed to protect, I had clearly fallen behind him.

It was like a king of one nation demanding that the king of another nation become his vassal.

Feeling a deep sense of something having gone wrong, I opened my mouth.

“I refuse. I also have my own people to protect.”

My quiet statement surprised Aleon and spread quickly among the crowd surrounding us.

The murmurs began.

“Aleon is a great person who protects us.”

“That small-minded person refused because she didn’t want to.”

“Selfish.”

“The ‘people’ she talks about are only two or three.”

“So they just want to live well among themselves?”

What kind of irrational talk is this? Am I supposed to protect them by default?