Ei had already sensed that something was amiss.
Her senses were very keen; several times before, when danger was present, a ripple of unease would always well up in her heart.
This time, it wasn't that any danger had appeared, but rather that too many coincidences along the way made her feel uneasy.
While walking normally, a road sign she had never seen before suddenly appeared by the roadside.
She had been on this road before; she had walked this way when she entered the city with Lumine and the others, and she was very sure there had been absolutely no road signs here yesterday.
Especially since the road sign didn't specify where it led, only vaguely indicating a direction.
Perhaps it was someone's prank, but the subsequent occurrences were not as simple as a prank.
Trees inexplicably falling to block the road, large pits dug on the road by unknown individuals…
In short, it seemed someone was deliberately preventing her from moving forward, guiding her onto another path.
Ei immediately became alert, looking around cautiously.
She did not feel any signs of being followed; it was possible that the other party was too strong and too far away from her.
In any case, someone was definitely deliberately obstructing her progress.
Ei stood still for a moment before slowly turning around.
She didn't have many choices now.
Either ignore it and continue forward, or follow the other party's guidance to another path.
"Hmph… The path of pioneering is entirely up to oneself; how can it be swayed by others!" Ei snorted lightly, and without much hesitation, she continued forward.
Then—
"Bang!!"
Another large tree in front of Ei crashed down, completely blocking her path forward.
Looking at the dust kicked up by the fallen tree, Ei subtly took a step back.
Actually, she could choose to go around it, but since someone didn't want her to continue forward, going around would be meaningless.
"The path of pioneering sometimes requires listening to others' opinions," Ei's eyes darted around, then she bent down and picked up a bird's nest that had fallen to the ground with the collapsing tree.
After collecting all the bird eggs inside, Ei helplessly turned around and headed towards the other path.
There were many possibilities for the current situation; perhaps the front was some forbidden area, with someone guarding it to prevent outsiders from entering… Well, that possibility was unlikely.
However, since that person insisted on her going in another direction, perhaps there was some special reason.
Since that was the case, she would go and see; anyway, it was still early.
…
"That annoying brat," Rosaria emerged from behind the fallen tree, his face grim.
With his methods, he certainly wouldn't have made it so obvious.
But alas, the Grey-haired girl seemed to have no brain, ignoring all his previous subtle hints.
Finally, Rosaria, unable to bear it any longer, simply made it direct.
He hadn't expected that whether it was obvious or not didn't matter at all.
The Damselette was so stubborn, determined to go where she had set her mind, that he was eventually forced to reveal himself and forcefully stop her steps.
Now, undoubtedly, the other party had already discovered his presence, which should be a first in Rosaria's work history.
And it wasn't because the other party was particularly perceptive that he was discovered; rather, he himself couldn't stand it and actively exposed himself.
It really made one speechless.
Rosaria shook his head helplessly and continued to follow.
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"Ah… huh?" Ei blinked.
She was certainly not calling the name of a certain Aeon of Elation; it was more out of surprise at the current environment.
Not far ahead, there were two watchtowers under construction.
Below the watchtowers were groups of Hilichurls, and among them were some wielding axes, a type clearly larger than other Hilichurls.
Those should be the so-called Hilichurls.
As for Samachurls, they should be those with disheveled hair, right?
Ei stroked her chin.
The person following her was guiding her to the correct mission location.
This, this, this—
Why didn't they just come out and tell her directly? Making it so troublesome, she thought it was someone with ill intentions.
Ei pouted, observed the situation ahead for a moment, and directly pulled out her baseball bat.
Monsters of this level didn't require her to be particularly cautious.
Just charge in and finish them!
Ei excitedly ran over, directly smashing a Hilichurl that hadn't even reacted yet, turning its head in confusion to see what the commotion was, sending it flying.
"Ya yika!"
The other Hilichurls immediately shouted syllables and words that Ei didn't understand; it seemed the Synesthesia Beacon couldn't translate the Hilichurl language.
Several Hilichurls constantly waved the torches in their hands and charged towards Ei, with a Hilichurl wielding a large axe following behind them.
However, such slow movement speed and limited range of attack posed no threat to Ei.
Moreover, Ei hadn't forgotten that her main objective was to destroy these two unfinished watchtowers.
Ei quickly jumped to the side, causing the attacks of several torch-wielding Hilichurls to miss, while electricity crackled around the baseball bat in her hand.
"Sayonara Homerun!" Ei slammed down heavily towards the Hilichurl.
The Hilichurl's massive size could not withstand such a heavy blow; the Hilichurl, sent flying, landed precisely on the watchtower under Ei's accurate calculation, directly causing the watchtower to collapse.
Looking at the collapsed watchtower, Ei nodded in satisfaction.
Of course, she didn't have much free time; the Hilichurls once again surrounded her.
These creatures were even weaker than imagined; Ei originally didn't need to wipe them all out, but now… she thought it might be a good idea to farm some materials here for a while and then return to the city to sell them.
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Rosaria stood on the distant high ground, a position from which he could perfectly observe the entire battle between Ei and the Hilichurls.
He was expressionless, his gaze fixed on Ei.
In his opinion, Ei's combat ability was present, even strong.
It was quite difficult for an ordinary person to achieve this; in Rosaria's memory, even in the bandit group he was part of, which lived on the edge of a knife, there was no ordinary person as powerful as her.
But ultimately, she was just an ordinary person; she didn't have a Vision and couldn't use element power.
That bat, however, was a bit special; perhaps it had a device similar to an elemental bottle that allowed it to be imbued with Electro element, but it wasn't her own elemental power.
So Rosaria was still a bit worried; the Hilichurl reinforcements were arriving soon, and he didn't know if the Damselette could quickly dismantle the watchtowers and retreat safely.
Behind him, a long spear like a scythe appeared out of thin air.
Rosaria was ready; once the situation turned south, he would intervene at any moment.