A child's cries were heard as she rushed into the tertiary building of the guesthouse.

The cries were loud enough to attract the attention of everyone in proximity. Even the animals scurried away at the noise.

The teaching and non-teaching staff as well as the employees of the guesthouse were alarmed. They instantaneously thought of the worst scenarios imaginable.

However, the employees weren't allowed to approach any student without formal consent from those in charge of them. On the other hand, the school staff could not actively rush to the source of the noise, either.

They had to ensure the safety of the others.

Consequently, all eyes turned to one specific person.

It was a tall, tanned skin woman who towered over the tallest of the other adults present by at least three heads.

This woman of imposing build stood with her arms crossed over her prominent chest, at the door of the playground specifically designed for guests aged 10 and under.

Her face was stern as her lizard-like eyes surveilled the vicinity.

She was in charge of ensuring the safety of every children in front of her. Even though her responsibilities at the moment stopped there, she took it upon herself to remind the other teachers to do their assigned task properly whenever they lost focus—which didn't necessarily sit well with them, but no one dared to voice their complaints aloud.

With a mere turn of the head, the inwardly grumbling staff all came to the agreement that she should be the one to go.

Their negative opinion of her paled in comparison to the situation at hand.

So, while the other staff tried to distract the curious and worried kids they were in charge of—all while trying to come up with excuses to pacify them—the person wordless selected marched towards the guesthouse after signalling one of the employees to summon their head of security.

This person was Grade 5: Purple's main homeroom teacher, Miss Betzy.

Considering that everyone present unanimously agreed that the zostrek would be the most apt at dealing with whatever had occurred, there was no doubt they thought it was a problem that most likely required brute force to handle.

Miss Betzy couldn't blame them for thinking so. Although local authorities had deemed the destination for the educational outing a medium risk area—or MRA, for short—there were still chances of finding High Level beasts roaming around.

As such, having someone from one of the best warrior races in their midst suddenly felt like a blessing.

Well, except for the Miss Betzy herself, who didn't fully agree with them on the fact that she belonged to the "warrior zostrek" race. Yes, she was indeed a zostrek. But if you asked her opinion, she would say the "warrior" in front was merely others' subjective description. It was not a title that was originally attached to her species' name, after all.

If evidence was needed to prove her point, one simply had to keep in mind that her in own family, where all members were expected to follow in the footsteps of their seniors and join the Defense Forces, everyone agreed that Betzy should opt for a...milder career path.

As her heavy steps brought her closer to the wooden guesthouse, Betzy couldn't help but curse her luck.

The fact that she was born a pureblood didn't mean she had an innate will to fight.

Truthfully, all she had was a naturally scary face, a body that easily gained muscle mass, a family background that didn't fit her personality and a fear of almost everything!

But others wouldn't know that. All they knew was that she was zostrek. So they immediately assumed she could fight a guylopug—those homicidal bear-sized horses!—bare-hand.

Betzy groaned. Her thick brows pulled into a frown.

By the beard of Dounio the Great! All she wanted was a quiet, low-risk job. How did she end up in this mess?

An employee passing her whimpered at the deep grumble that sounded too much like the rumbling of thunder.

Betzy paid the employee no mind as the latter scurried out of the humble building.

She was used to such reactions. Especially from humans, who, she'd noticed, was the only race working here.

Betzy knew this entire trip would turn out to be a nightmare the moment she heard they'd be watching the "bloom of the dallon," a hideous flower that opened once every ten years.

Those damned things only grew in locations where High Level beasts were most active.

Not only that, but they also had to bloom on freaking graveyards!

It was not surprise they released a smoke that stenched of death whenever they opened.

The only reason this trip was made obligatory was because it was the first time in thirty years that those stinky flowers bloomed in an area deemed approachable.

To think she'd be asked to travel this far with an entire school's worth of children, just to catch a whiff of a decaying corpse from ugly shells, located in an area where people could easily die in some of the most brutal ways possible...

The receptionist at the front desk gulped as a scowl formed on the face of the intimidating zostrek heading towards him.

He forced a smile and silently gestured toward the upper floor with his arm.

The man didn't trust his voice wouldn't climb up few octaves if he tried to speak now.

The fierce-looking woman's scowl deepened. It seemed the mere sight of him brought her violent instincts to surge.

Luckily for him, the zostrek didn't try to strike a conversation. Instead, she did a beeline and headed straight up the staircase as soon as she understood the meaning behind his sign.

The man didn't need a thank you or anything.

In fact, he was glad she didn't spare him a second glance.

But he did see her hand clenching on her side when she turned the other way.

The professional smile on his face turned into a grimace. The image of the bulging veins on her big hand was fresh in his mind.

Was she really resisting the urge to hit him?

Hearing the creaking of woods, as though they would break under her massive build, he couldn't help shuddering.

He owed his colleagues for the tip. Had They not warned him there was a terrifying zostrek amongst the guests, he never would have imagined the monster from just now came with the school.

No, actually, he had thought the others were pulling his leg on his first day back to work from a month of convalescence. Had it not been for them, he would have probably angered the zostrek by questioning her "supposed" relationship with the kids.

But honestly, who could blame him for being suspicious?

Who would believe a zostrek—of all species—was working with seven-year old kids as a teacher?! Not a guard in charge of their protection or anything, but a teacher!

After moments of disturbing silence, the man jumped in fright. The sound of tapping came from upstairs. It was as if someone was banging on a door with a sledgehammer.

Did the zostrek regret forcing the impulse to hit him down?

The employee's legs turned weak.

He immediately pulled on the dated phone across from him. The thought that he should normally be calling for a staff member to ensure the guest wasn't destroying private property didn't cross his mind.

He needed to get an extension of his sick leave until this batch of guests were gone.
Glancing up, he thought,

"There's no way I survived a carrier crash just to stay here and serve as a free punching bag!"

On the floor above, Betzy stopped in front of the door behind which muffled sniffling flowed out.

She spent minutes working her face into the most gentle expression she could think of.

It took a lot of effort considering she had to get over that human's distorted smile and blanched face. He didn't even pretend to respect her.

Greeting paying guests?

Hah. The guy didn't even try. All he did was point a trembling arm towards the stairs.

Forget politeness, that human couldn't even pretend he wasn't wishing her away from his surroundings!

At the same time, Betzy prayed with all her might that it was just a prank. Maybe some kid put grenant worm in another's clothes?

Oh, how she wished that was all there was to this story:

A false alert that could be laughed at during future storytelling sessions among friends.

Because Betzy didn't have a sliver of what it took to fight off a beast.

Once Betzy was more or less certain it was good enough, she knocked on the door as quietly as possible.

Unfortunately, the knock came out harsher than intended. The hinges rattled.

Stupid archaic doors, she thought with a growl.

The sniffling turned unrestrained screams of terror on the other side and below, a yelp sounded.

Betzy closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

What an annoying human that guy was! She'd make sure to make an official complaint regarding his lack of professionalism before leaving.

Betzy knew she should probably talk to the girl from outside to let her know who it was, but she surmised it would be better to let her identity known only while facing her. She hoped her gentle facial expression would do a better job at soothing the kid. Betzy had learnt quite brutally that her voice wasn't exactly reassuring from a child's perspective.

So she decided to walk in directly.

She slowly pressed on the door handle. According to her thought process, if it didn't make as much, the child wouldn't be too alarmed.

Alas, the handle ended up in her hand, along with a good chunk of the door.

A vein throbbed at Betzy's temple as she stared at the piece of broken wood in her hand.

Inside, the girl screamed louder and louder.

Downstairs, something crashed onto the floor.

Betzy gritted her teeth.

Dumb prehistoric door with an equally dumb school outing should all go to Hell!