[h2][center][b][color=ed1c24]Novak[/color][/b][/center][/h2]
The girl continued to describe the area, mentioning hunters and hunting festivals.  Once again, Lazirha mentioned this Kyrinth.  Novak had no idea what it was, other than that her description inferred it was a dangerous being of some sort, but not a direct threat to the town.  It was definitely something that they should ask about prior to heading back out into the wilderness.  Fortunately, if the town was as full of hunters as Lazirha seemed to infer, it shouldn't be difficult getting information on this Kyrinth and any other local beasts worth worrying about.

The village was roughly what Novak expected from the girl's description.  However, it seemed a little odd that none of the others had a tattoo on their arm like Lazirha's.  Did it mean something special in the village, or was it simply a meaningless adornment upon a bored girl?  It shouldn't be hard to find out, although it might be wise to wait until a more appropriate time to pry about it.

Just as the girl was inviting the group back to her home, they were interrupted by a commotion.  Several armed men were confronting a massive, somewhat mammalian armored beast.  The creature was covered in what looked like metallic scales, and it was holding something in its mouth.  The beast seemed to glare at Nobunaga, and it was only at this point that Novak realized that it had human remains in its maw.

[color=ed1c24][i]Is this the Kyrinth that she was talking about?[/i]
[/color]

Novak readied his sword, but there wasn't much he could do with it.  He didn't know anything about using the sword, and he certainly didn't know anything about fighting an armored, man-eating monster.  Of the three of them, only Nobunaga stepped forward to fight the beast, already barking suggestions to the village's spearmen.  Lazirha seemed to be surprised and perhaps a bit confused at their inability to fight.

[color=ed1c24]"It's a long story, miss Lazirha, but suffice to say, Misaki and I aren't fighters,"[/color] Novak interjected.  [color=ed1c24]"Heck, I just picked up this sword to defend myself from birds.  I'd say the only reason we're alive is because we haven't been doing this for very long, and most of that time has been spent simply trying to not die horribly."[/color]

Once again Novak was blurting things out that, had he been thinking clearly, would not have revealed to an outsider.  Right now, however, the primary thing on his mind was not getting killed and eaten by this strange monster.  It was an upsetting realization, that he was so unprepared for this world, and completely unable to fulfill the mission given by the goddess to protect these people.  Perhaps now would be a good time to begin making use of his skill-seeking ability.

[color=ed1c24][i]I could learn something quite useful from watching how the hunters move when fighting that monster, but I'd better first he sure that they know what they're doing.[/i][/color]

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