Battle With A Monster

“A monster right from the start instead of an animal…!”

Animals were beasts that did not use magic, but monsters were beasts that wielded magic. When I used to hunt in this mountain with my father, encountering a monster only happened a few times a year, yet now my luck was terrible!

Without thinking, I turned my back on the Big Boar and shamefully ran away. I understood in my head that I had become stronger, but the memories of the past few years—when monsters nearly killed me again and again—rose up in my mind.

‘Luca, there’s no way you would lose to something like a Big Boar.’

‘I know that, but my body is moving on its own…!’

‘Turning your back is more dangerous. Resolve yourself.’

Seremees-sama’s firm voice echoed in my head, and I felt ashamed of myself for running.

I had always told myself that even if I was useless, I would never lose my determination. Even if my efforts produced no results, I had trained desperately every single day.

If I ran away here, I would have no excuse to face my past self. Thinking that, I tightly gripped the sword hilt with my trembling hand and turned around with determination.

The Big Boar was already very close… and I attempted to deflect its attack with the sword technique I had practiced thousands, tens of thousands of times.

Until now, my deflections had always failed—either I took the attack directly or my sword got stuck awkwardly in the monster and I was dragged along—but this time it executed perfectly just as I had imagined, and I avoided the Big Boar’s charge without a scratch.

“Amazing…!”

‘See? You can do it if you try.’

The Big Boar, whose charge had been slightly redirected, couldn’t stop its momentum and crashed into a nearby tree… and I seized the opportunity to swing my sword down at it from behind.

My blade cut through the Big Boar with far less resistance than I expected, and the monster let out a dying cry before collapsing on the spot.

“No way… I defeated it alone… I defeated a Big Boar!”

Until now, even weaker monsters had nearly killed me. Seeing the fallen Big Boar before me and recalling the sensation of my sword cutting through flesh, I felt that I had overcome my trauma.

I no longer needed to fear monsters excessively. I had become strong.

‘Seremees-sama! Thank you so much for making me your servant…!’

‘There’s no need for thanks. I’m glad I chose you.’

After that, I found myself enjoying my newfound strength so much that I ventured deeper into the mountain, deliberately searching for monsters to hunt. Only after defeating my fifth Big Boar did I finally feel somewhat satisfied.

“This is way too fun. I can run through the forest without tripping, I don’t collapse from exhaustion even after moving this much, and the arm holding my sword doesn’t go numb.”

Thinking about it now, the way I was before becoming a servant was clearly strange… but since it wasn’t severe enough to interfere with everyday life, I never imagined it might be the effect of a curse.

‘Luca, it would be a waste to leave the monsters you hunted here. Wouldn’t they be worth money if you butchered them and brought them back?’

‘That’s true, but I don’t have a large backpack, and even if I carried them, I could only take a little…’

‘Oh my, did I forget to explain? Divine Domain Interference can also be used for storage. Humans can only exit the Divine Domain from the place they entered, but objects are not bound by that rule. So if you leave items in the Divine Domain, you can take them out anytime and anywhere. Also, nothing in the Divine Domain deteriorates, so even the monster meat you’ve been collecting can be preserved fresh indefinitely.’

Among all the things Seremees-sama had told me since we met, that explanation shocked me the most and left me frozen in place. If things placed in the Divine Domain never deteriorated… that was an unbelievably convenient ability.

‘…Meat usually spoils quickly, but if I bring it into the Divine Domain it won’t rot?’

‘That’s right. Warm meals will remain freshly cooked forever, and not just food—things like clothes and weapons won’t deteriorate either.’

‘It’s so convenient that I’m too shocked… I’m actually becoming calm instead.’

After taking a deep breath to steady myself, I repeated Seremees-sama’s explanation in my mind and voiced the question that came to me.

‘Can I send objects to the Divine Domain by themselves?’

‘You can, but in that case they will pile up where you were standing when you entered the Divine Domain earlier. That’s why delicate items should be brought in by hand, and if you casually toss things like monster meat into the Divine Domain, I would like you to come clean them up afterward.’

‘Then it’s probably better if I bring things in one by one myself. And when taking something out of the Divine Domain, I would have to enter it first and find what I want to retrieve, right?’

‘That’s correct.’

I think I understand how to use it now. With this ability, no matter how many monsters I defeat, I’ll be able to bring them all back.

If I could bring back everything after spending days in a dungeon, I couldn’t even imagine how much money I could earn.

‘For now, I’ll collect the monsters I defeated and send them to the Divine Domain.’

After that, I carried the monsters into the Divine Domain while marveling at the power of Divine Domain Interference. Once I finished testing the ability, I left the village and headed toward the royal capital.