"Calm down, guys." Hammath put himself between the guards and Leon. "He is not an enemy… that girl… she can"t even obey a simple order."

"Who is this guy, Hammath?" One of the guards asked.

"He is a traveler… from another world." Hammath answered.

"A traveler who didn"t buy a ticket and didn"t want to travel…" Leon sighed and looked away.

"He doesn"t have the mana crystal in his forehead…" The guard frowned. "So, the rumors are true… to think one of them would survive the world above…"

Being stared by eyes full of fear, curiosity, and confusion wasn"t that pleasant. Besides, Leon didn"t have time to waste. So, he stepped forward.

"I"m in a hurry…" Leon said. "Where is your leader?"

"Sorry," Hammath said. "Is grandfather busy? I want to let Leon talk to him."

"Today"s meeting just ended." The guard said. "He is free."

"Great, here share with everyone." Hammath pa.s.sed the guard dozens of those weird rats.

"… It looks like you are on the way to become a good hunter, Hammath." The guard said. "It has been a while since I saw someone finding so much meat."

"Ah, it was thanks to Leon," Hammath said. "Without his help, I wouldn"t have caught one-third of those. Spread the word that he helped me; it should calm down everyone"s nerves."

Even though it was a bit rude, Leon didn���t hide his impatience. He was in a world where people have been fighting against monsters and creatures that could do all sorts of crazy things for quite a while, but he didn"t have time to be cautious. Leon had to hurry because he had no idea what could happen to Earth and his friends while he is away. He didn"t finish the job of making the survivors become allies, so if something happens…

Although the village leader"s house was big, it was just because several meetings were held there. The place was wide, but it didn"t have anything inside of it, not even chairs. The village leader was just sitting on the lifeless brown ground cross-legged, and his eyes were also closed. As if he was meditating… Regardless, although he was supposed to be seventy years old, Hammath"s grandfather didn"t look much older than Leon. If he had to guess, Leon would say he was thirty years old. He had some scars here and there, but he had a healthy complexion. Maybe it was because they didn"t have much water, but he was bald. But that was the last thing Leon noticed, when he opened his eyes, Leon saw in his crimson eyes, the experience of a veteran of many death battles.

"Grandfather, this is Leon," Hammath said. "A traveler from another world."

"I can see that, Hammath." The village leader frowned while looking at Leon. "… I never thought I would see a magician after so long…"

"Grandfather… did something happen?" Hammath frowned too. "Why are you angry?"

"Because you brought someone who greatly annoys me…" The village leader said, still keeping eye-contact with Leon. "His mere existence annoys me."

"Although he is a magician grandfather, he is from another world," Hammath said. "He doesn"t belong to the group who chased us to this place."

"He certainly isn"t from our world…" The village leader said. "But magicians are all the same… Harbingers of chaos and death."

Leon didn"t like that guy"s tone, but he decided to stay quiet and hear more. After walking for a few hours, it would be a pain to leave without learning anything. Besides, if he opens his mouth, a fight would probably break out. Just like the village leader seemed ready to pick a fight, Leon also wanted to kick the a.s.s of someone so rude.

"What are you going to stand there all day and hear me insult you?" The village leader asked.

"Just for a while," Leon answered. "Once I confirm that you are just a fool that can"t tell me anything useful and just can blame your problems on others, I"m out of here."

"Hah… at least you aren"t so prideful like the fools up above." The village leader said after smiling for a short moment. "My name is Gurr… Although I don"t like people who made choices like you, I will answer a few of your questions since you helped my grandson."

"How about answering a few more since I didn"t kill him when he tried to do the same to me?" Leon asked.

"… Hammath, it is time for your training." Gurr let out a long sigh. "I can"t believe that after all these years of training, you lost to someone who doesn"t have even half of your battle experience."

Hammath didn"t like to hear that, but he obeyed readily, even though he was quite curious about what his grandfather and Leon would talk about it. Regardless, Leon was quite surprised when he heard that. By the look of things, The people of that village could only use simple magic like Rage, but even without a spell to a.n.a.lyze his opponent"s status, Gurr could see that Leon only had a few years of battle experience.

"Well, then…" Gurr looked at Leon in the eye. "I guess I should start explaining why I don"t like people like you… I can see that you came from a world that just experienced the beginning of a.s.similation, so it is only natural that you don"t know. Still, I wonder if that will even change anything… you already probably set your world on the path of destruction, after all."