Mission…Success?

*BANG!*

The wall Hal was hiding behind completely collapsed after three more Rock Bullets battered it down, forcing him to dash away yet again, out the door in the back.

This was the second house that the battle had almost totally destroyed, and Hal was naturally feeling a bit guilty, as he knew how devastating it was to see one's house reduced to ruins.

He, his mother, and those from Poporo Village knew the feeling all too well.

However, he had to utilize whatever he could to survive and whittle down what remained of the Mischievous Housesprites.

It was a necessary sacrifice for the success of the mission.

On the bright side, the one he had almost killed earlier didn't pursue him, leaving him with only three furious opponents, and two of them were already minorly injured, as Hal had somehow managed to find a way to counterattack despite his desperate situation.

He was tempted to use his remaining [Fireball] charges to end the battle once and for all, but ultimately chose not to.

Those remaining uses were reserved for emergency situations, and, although rather dangerous, his current situation couldn't be classified as one, though it was most definitely an intense battle where he could lose his life.

'Tch…they're persistent!' he cursed inwardly. 'Should I retreat first?'

Falling back for now made more and more sense as time went by.

After all, his mission was to drive the sprites out, and with only three of them still in combat-ready condition, they would most definitely flee out of town with one fearless charge from more than twenty grown men.

'Yeah, that's probably what I should do…'

However, just when Hal was planning his escape route, a loud screech echoed from the distance, seemingly coming from the Mischievous Housesprite he almost managed to kill earlier.

The call was followed by unwilling snarls from his attackers before Rock Bullets finally stopped coming his way.

Hal carefully peered out from behind a wall, his brows raising upon realizing that the Mischievous Housesprites were already leaving the town.

"Oh?"

Then, without hesitation, he ran back to the house where he had killed the eighth sprite and quickly harvested its slightly damaged wings and arcane core before running back to the defenders to inform them of his victory, his heart excited and prideful.

Scrappy as his triumph was, a win was still a win, and reporting that he had taken out eight sprites and driven the remaining four away was a glorious achievement for a youngster like him.

***

At the barricades, the town's defenders strained their eyes, trying to see as far as they could.

They hoped to maybe catch a glimpse of how Hal was doing.

Upon learning from the mayor that the young wizard had just joined the Grand Magic Academy at the same time as the others from their town, they couldn't help but worry for him, especially since he had dared to go off alone and fight all twelve Mischievous Housesprites.

There were multiple times when their thirty-three-year-old leader tried to persuade the mayor to let them go help Hal, but he was firmly rejected.

Mayor Erold insisted that they might cause trouble for the young wizard if they didn't stick to the plan.

And so, with heavy hearts, they could only wait at the barricades to protect the side of town they controlled.

It was then that somewhat frantic footsteps echoed from the distance, allowing the defenders to breathe a sigh of relief.

The young man had survived…

The one approaching could only be the novice wizard from the academy, as the sprites usually relied on their wings rather than their feet when moving about.

Sure enough, Hal's silhouette soon came into view, prompting the defenders to briefly leave their posts and escort him in.

Even Mayor Erold was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

If his deductions were correct, then Hal was an important student of the academy, and losing him might result in serious interrogations from the academy about what had happened.

Though unbeknownst to the old town leader, he couldn't have been farther from the truth.

Who would sincerely care about a low-mana affinity trash, except his family and friends?

"Please do tell what happened," the old mayor urged, eager to know, despite not expecting much good news.

"I killed eight of them, heavily wounded the ninth, and the remaining three suddenly retreated with a strange call from their injured comrade. I suggest we quickly take over the other side of town and try to prevent them from entering again…they were making quite a mess out of the houses…" Hal responded, with a hint of pride but more focus on what to do next than on what he had achieved.

He sincerely believed they shouldn't allow the troublemakers to enter the town again.

If what the mayor had said was true, then they would return, though Hal hoped they wouldn't, so he could return to the academy as soon as possible and report a successful first mission.

Erold and the defenders blinked at Hal's report, until the more honest among them began to show doubtful expressions.

"You… defeated them and drove them out of town?"

Their town's problem was solved just like that? Even Erold found Hal's claim difficult to believe.

Hal merely smiled in an understanding manner at their reactions and laid his sack bag on the ground, kneeling to open it.

He then retrieved the eight cores and the sets of wings he had collected and showed them to Erold and the defenders.

This time, their jaws dropped.

The young wizard had indeed done as he had claimed!

Those horrifying Rock Bullets had crushed bones and heavily injured even fully grown, muscular men, and yet, this young wizard had managed to kill eight of those rock-shooting sprites?

How the hell did he even do it?!

Stupefied, even Erold couldn't speak for a few moments, brought back to reality by a rather proud "ahem" from Hal.

"A-Apologies, young wizard. L-Let's quickly do as you said…" the mayor stuttered.

In the next moment, the defenders managed to regather their wits, quickly bringing some of the barricades with them to place at the collapsed entrance on the other side.

Finally, after more than two exhausting weeks of battling the darned F-ranked arcane monsters, the Town of Greyfen had been reclaimed.