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And so I asked the chief.

 

“Chief. What about the other testimonies?”

“Oh, yes. The next witness was the village hunter.”

“Oh?”

“It had three heads…”

 

Serulis nodded.

 

“So it was a Cerber…”

“It was a large snake.”

“…No, it’s not.”

 

The chief looked confused.

 

“So it is not a Cerberus?”

“Not if it is a snake…”

“Is that so…”

 

They were similar in that they had three heads, but snakes and wolves were completely different.

It might be a Cerberus if it is a wolf, but if it is a snake, then maybe it’s a Hydra.

 

“Chief. And what of the other testimonies?”

“Yes…”

 

All of the testimonies that the chief related were of horrifying creatures.

A giant with one eye. Like a Cyclops.

One had a snake for a tail, the head of a lion and the body of a mountain goat. Like a Chimera.

And then there was a giant dragon.

 

Serulis listened and then groaned.

 

“What terrible monsters…”

“Yes, they are all so terrifying.”

 

He was shaking too.

 

“And the damage?”

 

I asked. And so the chief told us of the damage to the village.

But it wasn’t too bad.

The worst of it was the first sheep that was stolen.

Other then that, some vegetables had been stolen and caught fish had disappeared.

Some of the damage was just that people were shocked by the sight.

 

“What does this mean?”

 

Serulis wondered and then looked towards me.

 

I ignored it and asked the chief to mark all of the places the monster was sighted on the map.

All of them were concentrated towards the west side of the village.

 

“I see. This is good information.”

“Is there anything else that you would like to ask me?”

“This is enough. Thank you very much.”

“Wha-what do you mean?”

 

I muttered something random in reply to Serulis as we left the chief’s house.

I was hesitant to analyze and theorize in front of the chief.

 

“Mister Locke. What do you mean?”

“Let me see…”

 

Once we were out, I turned to Serulis and explained.

 

“I don’t know what type of monster it is. But I doubt it is very strong.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because if it were strong, then it wouldn’t need to cast illusions to trick the villagers.”

“…I see. I see.”

 

Serulis looked very convinced as I showed her the map.

 

“And I think it should be in the middle of here.”

“Really?”

“The illusions are too horrifying. It really wants to keep people away. So we must be suspicious of this area.”

“I see. So that’s what it means.”

 

The chief and all the villagers were afraid. That’s why they made a request at the guild.

But their testimonies were not consistent. And the damage was minimal.

 

If this really was a Cerberus hunting quest, it would have an A Rank difficulty.

But this was F Rank considering the damages.

The guild must have had trouble trying to calculate the danger with this one.

And they had come to the conclusion that there could not be an A Rank monster lurking here.

It must have been judged an E Rank quest after much consideration.

 

“In any case, let’s go to the west side!”

 

Serulis said cheerfully and started to walk.

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