I Favor The Villainess

That demon seemed to be a work of an avant-garde artist with a bad taste .
Lion’s head, goat’s body, poisonous snake’s tail, and bat’s wings were all joined giving it a mismatched appearance, it’s even bigger than the water slime we encountered previously .

“A chimera!?”

Claire-sama, who instantly realized the demon’s ident.i.ty, shrieked .

That demon, commonly known as a chimera, is a monster that originally appeared in the Greek mythology .
It has a strong body and can breathe fire from its mouth .
It’s said its flames can set a mountain ablaze .

Chimeras are also extremely dangerous demons in this world .
Demons of this world are said to be born from animals ingesting magical gems, but chimeras are a little different .
They’re artificial familiars created for military use .

“Claire-sama, let’s retreat for now . We should leave it to the army”

I may have transmigrated as the game’s heroine, but I have no intention of following in the game’s heroine’s footsteps .
It’s foolish to fight against such a dangerous monster with just two people .
Now that the army is heading here, it should be dealt with using numbers .
There’s no need to take the risk .

However―― .

“No, we will stop it here”
“Claire-sama!?”

Claire-sama stubbornly refused to move .

“If we wait for the army, the damage will spread . If that happens, Lene’s punishment will invariably become heavy”
“Claire-sama…”

At Claire-sama’s statement, Lene was lost for words .
Right .
Even though Claire-sama was betrayed, she’s still worried about Lene .
Claire-sama may be domineering, haughty, and selfish, but that’s not all that’s to her .

“Haa… A disadvantageous disposition . Claire-sama?”
“What is it”
“This late you still worry about those who betrayed you”
“You, you are wrong”

Claire-sama denied, fl.u.s.tered .

“Lene is my property . That is why, the responsibility to supervise her――”
“Ah, yes yes .  A typical tsundere’s line . Since it’s a state of emergency now, enough with that for now”
“… I will get angry . Well, whatever . Go call the military”

It seems like I’m being driven away by her spiteful gaze .

“What are you saying . I will a.s.sist too”
“It is none of your business… is what I would like to say, but I will be saved this time”
“At any rate, I’m also Claire-sama’s property?”
“I still have not recognized you though?”
“There you go again”
“Enough with your jokes, missies”

The man interrupted my and Claire-sama’s married couple comedic routine that we were using to buy time .

“Lambert . You too don’t get confused, move the chimera quickly”
“… Got it”

He must have been hesitant to set the demon on his brethren .
Even so, Lambert rang the bell .

“Go . Exterminate n.o.bles”

Receiving an order from its master, the chimera raised a roar beyond description .
It’s the stun attack the water slime used, Hate Cry .

“… !” Claire-sama, can you move?”
“Who are you talking to? I will never repeat the same mistake”

Hate Cry is extremely hard to resist when it takes you by surprise, but you can resist it if your heart is ready .
Of course, without a high magic apt.i.tude, it’d still be difficult .

“Do you know the distribution of attributes on a chimera?”
“Naturally”

A chimera possesses three attributes, fire, earth, water .
Its lion’s head has fire, goat’s torso has earth, and snake’s tail has water .

“With my support, Claire-sama can attack to your heart’s content”
“Very well”

As soon as she finished speaking, Claire-sama created a fire attribute lance .

“Become charcoal!”

When Claire-sama swung her magical wand, the lance flew straight at the chimera .
However, with a nimble swing of its tail in a manner unbecoming to its large build, the chimera knocked down Claire-sama’s fire lance .

“As expected, it is tough to attack it from the front . It does not seem to be dimwitted either”
“Then, how about this”

I created a stone arrow and fired it behind the chimera .
The target is Lambert-sama’s who’s holding the demon bell .

“Elder brother!”

“Elder brother!”
“I won’t let ya?”

The stone arrow that almost reached Lambert-sama was stopped by a wind barrier the black-masked man made .
Somehow, he seems to be a wind attribute magic user .

“Aiming at the user is the right idea, but just now you didn’t even hesitate to aim at the guy who was your comrade? You’re quite a merciless miss”

The black-masked man made a snide comment .

I put the highest priority on protecting Claire-sama and ending the battle .
Certainly, I like Lene and I’m sympathetic to Lambert-sama .
But, when compared to Claire-sama’s safety, it’s obvious I’ll choose it .
For it, I’ll use whatever dirty means it takes .
Claire-sama is already in enough danger just from what happens in the game .

But, as long as the black-masked man is here, targeting Lambert-sama seems difficult .
After all we have no choice but to defeat the chimera .

And, at that moment the chimera opened its mouth .

“Claire-sama!”

Antic.i.p.ating what happens next, I embraced Claire-sama right away .
Claire-sama raised her voice in protest, but the next moment a scorching h.e.l.lfire covered us .

“It was dangerous…”
“What was that just now?”
“The chimera’s fire breath . It’s more powerful than I imagined”

We survived thanks to the water barrier that I put up right away with all of my power, but the a.n.a.lysis room is in a terrible state .
The magical tools used for a.n.a.lyzing are all burned up, some parts of the brick walls also melted .
In this room filled with smoke there’s a danger of carbon monoxide poisoning, like this the building might even collapse .
We won’t survive that .

“Let’s go outside”

I suggested to Claire-sama in a quiet voice that Lambert-sama would be unable to overhear .

“! However, the damage will spread――”

“We’ll guide it to the backyard . The crowd should still be at the vast foremost sports grounds . The academy students and the staff are in the dormitories”
“… I understand”

After Claire-sama nodded, she drove a flame bullet into the weakened wall, melting it .
She made a hole roughly the size of a person .

“We are escaping!”

This time, Claire-sama shouted on purpose to let Lambert-sama and others hear .
At the same time, us two broke into a run .

At the same time, us two broke into a run .

“Go after them . She’s the daughter of the Minister of Finance . You can’t let her get away?”
“…”

Lambert-sama rang the demon bell commanding the chimera to pursue .
The moment we left the building, it crumbled down .
Cold sweat ran down my back .

“All the enemies got buried under the building――”
“It does not seem like it”

With a tremor, a loud noise reverberated, and the chimera jumped out of the rubble .

“Kh! Flames!”

Claire-sama hurled flame arrows at the approaching chimera .
While tiny compared to the flame lance, they’re numerous and maneuverable .
The flame arrows. .h.i.t, wrapping around the chimera .

However―― .

“Even though it was a direct hit!?”

The chimera rushed at us without minding it .
It’s not that it hasn’t suffered damage, but that it wasn’t enough to make it stop moving .
The chimera, drawing right in front of us, raised its sinister, sharp claws .

“Freeze”

I encased the whole chimera’s body in a huge block of ice .
The ice made a heavy thud and finally stopped the chimera .

“… What an absurd magic”
“If Claire-sama is in a pinch, I can do this much”

I spoke lightheartedly to the stunned Claire-sama .
But, I didn’t lower my guard .

With a lion’s roar, the chimera let loose its breath once again, and completely melted the ice .

“Couldn’t you freeze its body to the core?”
“It’s not a particularly good idea . It’s impossible to do in an instant, and I believe even if I take my time with it, the water attribute tail won’t be affected”
“… I wonder what we can do”

While we were thinking, the chimera made an a.s.sault .
With an overwhelming physical strength, we started falling behind and were gradually being cornered .

“Claire-sama, let’s go with the first cooperation in our lives”
“What should I do?”

Claire-sama seemed to have no leeway to retort, she obediently urged me to go on .

Claire-sama seemed to have no leeway to retort, she obediently urged me to go on .

“Before, Sein-sama used attribute bestowal . I’ll bestow the water attribute, so please aim at the head”
“But, will the tail not knock it down again?’
“Could Claire-sama use the trump card that you showed during the Order of the Academy entrance exam?”
“… I see . But, some time is necessary to prepare it”
“I’ll buy you time . In the meanwhile”

At my words, Claire-sama showed a dauntless smile .

“Should I trust you?”
“If possible”
“… Hmph, very well”

It’s decided we’ll do it .
Now all that’s left is to support Claire-sama with all my power .

“Fire!”

Claire-sama made innumerable fire bullets and shot them at the chimera .
They hit its goat’s body one by one .
But, as expected the chimera ignored them and charged at us .

When I thought there was still some distance, the chimera opened its huge mouth to spit out the breath .

“Freeze”

My magic made it just in time and the whole chimera became encased in ice and stopped .

“Now, Claire-sama!”

Claire-sama lightly stretched her arms to her sides .
The four crests of François house were born and floated around Claire-sama, at the same time the ice was broken .

“Shine!”

Four rays surged forth and overcame the chimera’s breath .
Claire-sama’s Magical Ray pierced through the huge mouth opened to spit out the breath and skewered the chimera’s whole body .
With a scream the chimera’s large body collapsed, and this time it didn’t move .

“We did it”
“Thanks for your hard work . As expected of Claire-sama”

For a moment both I and Claire-sama released our tension .
We were careless .

“You’re a big deal, but in the end you’re just missies”

The black-masked man, who approached us unnoticed, swung a knife at Claire-sama .

“Claire-sama!”