I had already made the firm decision to leave the village, but as I finished collecting my few belongings and prepared to depart, I noticed a familiar sight through the window. The party of pursuers—the very reason for my current flight—was drawing close to the inn. I attempted to slip away as quietly as possible, hoping to vanish before they could establish a perimeter, but one of them possessed exceptionally keen senses. He caught a glimpse of my movement and alerted the others. I didn't wait to be greeted; I dashed toward the nearby forest to avoid being captured, and they immediately gave chase.

  Even though my speed was significantly higher than theirs, I realized that if they continued to trail me with such accuracy, I might eventually be worn down or cornered. I decided to change my tactics. Instead of continuing the headlong flight, I used the forest’s dense cover to loop back and hide in a nearby thicket. With the help of the heightened senses granted by my Hero job, I settled in to eavesdrop on their conversation. I had anticipated that the Lord would send a search party, but I hadn't expected them to be this quick or this accurate in pinpointing my location. If I wanted to survive, I had to understand how they were tracking me.

  As they drew close to my hiding spot, I caught the sound of their voices. One of the two women in the group said something that made my blood run cold: she knew my job was a Hero. I was baffled by how they could have obtained such information, but the conversation quickly revealed the source—a specialized magic device they had brought along specifically for this mission.

  The news had clearly changed their priorities. They decided to stop the chase for the moment and consult the Lord of Velshara. It was becoming obvious that the Hero job was far more significant and rare than I had initially assumed. But for me, this knowledge was a disaster. If the word spread that a "Hero" was wandering the countryside as a fugitive, the scale of the pursuit would shift from local guards to high-ranked nobles and perhaps even the kingdom’s central military.

  There was only one way to secure my future: I had to eliminate everyone who possessed this information. To keep the secret, I would have to kill the very group I had been running from. It wasn't a choice I made lightly, but I couldn't afford to let them return to the city. I had to become a hunter.

  The situation offered me two distinct advantages. First, they didn't seem inclined to share this information with anyone else immediately; they likely wanted to keep the "knowledge advantage" to ensure they were the ones to benefit from my capture or recruitment. Second, they were convinced I had already fled deep into the woods. Because my primary goal until now had been escape, they had dropped their guard considerably. I watched as four of the party members headed into the inn to rest, leaving only the knight and the adventurer outside to assist the villagers.

  I waited for over an hour, ensuring that those inside the inn had settled in and that the knight and his companion were far enough away to be out of earshot. Once the area was quiet, I sneakily approached the building. Since this was a village inn, there were only a handful of rooms. I moved through the hallway with near-silent footsteps, using a light, evasive knock on each door to verify if anyone was inside and if they were awake.

  I found my first target on the third door. I entered the room and saw a woman lying on the bed. For a moment, a wave of hesitation washed over me. I wasn't used to the idea of killing someone in their sleep, especially a woman who, in any other circumstance, might be considered an innocent person just doing her job. But she was a threat to my survival. I looked down at her, closed my eyes for a second to steady my resolve, and then opened them with cold conviction. I drove my sword through her throat, ensuring she couldn't make a sound.

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  “Kughh!”

  She jerked awake the instant the steel touched her skin, her eyes wide with a pained, confused expression, but the struggle lasted only a few seconds before she went still.

  I moved to the next room and repeated the process with the man sleeping inside. They had chosen adjacent rooms, making my work grimly efficient. I left the second room without making a sound and moved toward the next door. I touched the wood barely enough to create a slight noise. Hearing no response, I slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. However, the woman in this room was a light sleeper. She began to stir the moment I crossed the threshold.

  “Huh…? Neila?... Is that you?” she muttered, her voice thick with sleep. She hadn't seen me clearly in the dim light and assumed I was her female comrade.

  I didn't answer. As I tried to close the distance, she suddenly sat up. As soon as our eyes met, the sleep vanished from her face. She began to shiver as the reality of my presence sank in.

  “W-who are you!? HELP! S-sir Nareth! Wh-where a—”

  She didn't get to finish the cry. She was the scholar, the one who had used the magic device to check my job. I would have liked to question her about the device's origin, but I couldn't risk her alerting the others. I dashed forward and cut her down mid-scream. She was a scholar, not a fighter, and she was no match for me in her weaponless state.

  I didn't have time to linger. The man in the room next door had clearly heard the aborted cry and was already moving. I dashed into the hallway just as he exited his room, a sword gripped tightly in his right hand. He had clearly intended to help his comrade, but he was already too late. He saw me standing over her doorway and understood the situation immediately. Instead of a reckless charge, he took a high defensive stance, though I could see his legs trembling beneath his brave facade.

  I approached him slowly. With every step I took, his shivering grew more pronounced. When I finally entered his range, I brought my sword down in a heavy, vertical swing. He managed to block the strike, but the sheer power of my boosted Strength forced him down onto one knee. His posture was shattered, and I could tell his spirit was breaking. I delivered a powerful kick to his chest, sending him crashing back into the wall.

  His sword clattered to the floor. I walked over to where he lay and paused. I wanted to hear what he had to say before I finished it.

  “P-please. Can’t you l-let me go?” he pleaded, his voice cracking. “I promise t-that I won’t chase you a-anymore.”

  We both knew the promise was hollow, but he made it anyway, desperate for a few more seconds of life. I didn't have a reason to listen, but I felt a strange obligation to let him speak his final words. Once he was finished, I stabbed my sword into his chest. He gasped and spasmed for a few seconds before life left his eyes.

  Four of the six were dead.

  I set about collecting their belongings. Thanks to the habits I had formed in the games I played in my previous life, and the fact that the system didn't brand me with a criminal job for taking from the dead, I found the process of looting easier than I expected. Since they had changed into more comfortable clothing for their rest, their primary equipment was laid out and easy to take. Some of their gear was quite good, featuring skill crystals, but the most important find was the magic device I took from the scholar. It was likely worth a fortune and held the secret to how they had found me.

  I stood in the quiet inn, thinking about my last two targets. The knight and the adventurer were still outside, completely unaware that their party had been annihilated. I wondered what kind of faces they would make when they realized the truth. I wasn't happy about what I had to do—I’m no psychopath—but I knew I couldn't stop until the tail was cut.

  [Edited]