Happy times always pass too quickly.
Is this still Higi Village? Where on earth have I ended up?
Since the Daily Commissions in recent days hadn't refreshed in Higi Village, Chizuki hadn't planned to visit.
Today, there happened to be a commission in Higi Village, so Chizuki made the trip. However, the sight before her made her freeze in shock.
Some of the wooden houses had blackened, charred marks on their roofs, clearly uninhabitable now. It was impossible to tell whether this was due to natural disaster or human malice.
Other villagers, injured and supporting each other, shook their heads and sighed as they entered the village entrance.
"What's going on?" Chizuki could feel the heavy atmosphere in the air.
After hastily completing her commission, Chizuki rushed to the home of a familiar child to ask about the situation.
"What happened?" Nearby was the home of young Shimamura.
"Chizuki..." Shimamura's eyes lit up at the sight of her, though her injured body lacked the strength to stand up.
A pair of crutches lay beside her.
"You're..."
Chizuki's eyes were filled with disbelief.
She had only been away for a few days—how could things have changed so much?
"What exactly happened in Higi Village?"
"Is your leg okay?" She fired off several concerned questions, her gaze finally settling on Shimamura's injured leg.
"I couldn't run fast enough and got hurt a little, but it's nothing serious." Shimamura reached out and lightly patted her thigh, gritting her teeth as she lifted it slightly, forcing a casual tone. "See? It's fine. Just needs a few days of rest."
Then she answered the earlier questions one by one.
"Because of the thunderstorms lately, lightning keeps striking. And just our luck—the evening before last, lightning hit a big tree in the village. After the tree was struck, it caught fire and ignited the nearest house. That part wasn't too bad, since the heavy rain quickly put out the flames. But the real trouble was that Kairagi suddenly appeared from outside the village. They took advantage of the chaos to injure many people and stole a lot of things."
As Shimamura spoke, the anger in her voice became harder to conceal.
"They're all terrible villains!"
Chizuki nodded in firm agreement.
"Since getting injured the day before yesterday, I haven't been able to go out. I'm a little worried about the other kids—could you go check on them for me?" As she spoke, she used her crutches to push herself up, stood, and walked inside, motioning for Chizuki to follow.
She pointed to a pile of sunsettias in the house and said, "Please take these to them."
[Prompt: Complete Shimamura's commission by delivering the sunsettias to the others. Reward: Attribute Points ×3.]
"Sure." Chizuki readily accepted the commission.
Even without the system's reward, she would have done this anyway. The bonus was just the cherry on top.
"Yamada." Chizuki first headed to the nearest house—Yamada's.
The child was crouched in the family's vegetable patch, watching over it.
Much of the land on Yashiori Island was unsuitable for growing crops or vegetables. This small plot was the family's precious treasure.
"Everything's trampled..." Yamada crouched down, staring at the scattered vegetables crushed beyond recognition, his brows tightly furrowed with no sign of relief.
"Hello, Chizuki." Yamada greeted her as she approached, though his tone remained somewhat listless.
"What happened to these vegetables?" Chizuki asked, eyeing the ruined leaves strewn across the ground.
She couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.
At the very least, just by looking at those vibrant green leaves, Chizuki could imagine how well they must have been growing before this.
Yamada simply sighed as he gazed at his ruined garden.
"All trampled. Many were nearly ready for harvest."
"Wasting food like this is unforgivable!" Chizuki's anger flared up completely at this moment.
These Nobushi were utterly despicable! She had to find a way to punish them severely!
One idea after another bubbled up in Chizuki's mind.
After offering a few words of comfort, Chizuki handed Yamada the sunset fruit Shimamura had given her.
"Thank you for the sunset fruit." Yamada wanted to say more, but when he looked up, Chizuki had already dashed off in a flash.
Soon, Chizuki had given sunset fruits to every child in the village.
Next, she wanted to check out the nearby Nobushi camp.
She remembered that the closest Nobushi hideout was behind the village, near a large pond. At the end of the pond was a small path leading down to where the Nobushi gathered.
Truly, these villains were everywhere!
Chizuki's gaze shifted to the nearby gorge filled with almost tangible Electro energy—Musoujin Gorge.
If even the will of lightning couldn't judge them, then she would take matters into her own hands!
A surge of what could only be described as "chuunibyou spirit" spread through Chizuki's heart.
She could handle small Nobushi camps on her own. As for camps with Kairagi, while she couldn't confront them head-on, she could still make trouble for them.
Chizuki would never let them off easy!
These scoundrels who stole and hurt her precious little friends—she wouldn't forgive them.
This grudge is noted!
Let my silver sword sever your sins!
With her silver sword clenched between her teeth, Chizuki set off.
She descended from the sky, the impact of her landing knocking the Nobushi off their feet.
A skilled warrior turns the terrain to their advantage.
Chizuki knew this well.
Before one could react, her sword was already at his throat.
Vital points were her primary targets.
As the remaining few drew their blades to strike, Chizuki had already anticipated their moves, deftly dodging before countering with precise slashes.
For a youkai like Chizuki, combat was almost an innate instinct, growing sharper with each battle.
Her weapon changed in an instant as she stored the silver sword in her system space.
When another aimed his crossbow at her, Chizuki lunged forward, biting his arm hard enough to stop him from firing.
The crossbow fired arrows imbued with Electro energy, sending purple arcs crackling across the nearby water surface.
Electro-Charged.
Chizuki naturally chose to evade.
Her razor-sharp claws simultaneously launched their assault.
Pouncing, biting, scratching, clawing—no method was left unused.
As long as it could eliminate the opponent, any means would suffice.