“A monster among monsters, huh…”
Thinking of fighting against a guy like that sent chills down my spine.
It’s natural to run immediately if you were discovered by it. As I thought, it"d be better to change the location of the headquarters so that we won"t have to meet with anything that dangerous.
While I was deciding on a plan on how to move forward from now on, I suddenly noticed something.
“Hey, Lily.”
“Yes?”
“The thing you call a ‘High Monster’. Could it possibly kill a cheat ability user?”
“...Right. That might be possible.”
She replied uncertainly.
“It depends on the situation, but if they fought head to head in a direct battle, I think it would be a hard battle.”
“...It’d be difficult?”
“Yes.”
At Lily’s reply, unable to find anything to say, I sighed.
How overpowered can a cheat ability user be?
Still, human beings are the terrifying ones.
“However, there might be monsters that are even more powerful than those that I know of. I was only a Slime, and could only live in a limited area. Perhaps Rose would know more.”
“No; I did not see any ‘Unique Monsters’, other than anesama, nor ‘Rare Monsters’, aside from myself, either.”
According to these two, the possibility of finding a ‘Rare Monster’ seems to be rather low.
But we must take careful measures to be safe. It would be too late to regret dying, when in h.e.l.l.
“Anyway, we should get as far away as we can, as soon as we can, from anywhere those monsters might appear. But I feel bad for Kato-san.”
As I summarized my story, at the end, I sent one last look at Kato-san.
If Kato-san waits here, there"s a high possibility of meeting the Scouting Corps pa.s.sing by.
However, if we leave, we would have just returned back to square one.
I looked towards the water; Kato-san was quietly looking down while stroking the braids on her shoulder with her fingers.
She didn’t look very discouraged by it.
Perhaps, I should say she looked emotionless, like usual.
She looks to have recovered quite a bit, but she was still far from normal. In the first place, something like the recovery of mental conditions is pretty vague.
It would be good if there was something to celebrate about for a change of pace, but I don’t have something like that.
“I have… ...no particular problems with that.”
“I see. In that case, let’s hurry and leave this place.”
Since we made the decision quickly, this makes things easier.
We started to pack our belongings immediately.
The weapons created by Rose so far were; three swords, two spears, and two axs. After that, there were shields, breastplates, and protection for the lower body.
Lily was using a spear as her main weapon and a sword as her secondary weapon.
Rose had a battle ax in one hand and carried a spare on her shoulder.
I had a sword on my waist, carried another on my back and equipped a large shield.
A breastplate and a small shield, that would not be a hindrance in battle, were distributed to everyone. I had the same equipment as the others, except that I was equipped with a large shield instead.
Actually, I wanted to give Kato-san, who had the same battle prowess as me, a large shield to act as a wall for her. But no matter how light we made it, her physical strength was insufficient to wield it, so I didn"t have another made for her.
Other than these weapons and armors, there were various other daily necessities and useful goods that I had requested Rose to make. However, I decided to throw them away because they were too inconvenient to carry about.
I made the decision that we would make them again when needed. This might create more work for Rose, but she didn’t seem to particularly care about it.
We looted the goods from Kaga’s backpack. The clothing was stuffed into Kato-san’s handbag, the food (smoked meat and the like) were wrapped in some tanned skin from the Fire Fangs by the four sides and tied up, with the same going for Rose’s spare parts.
“Did anyone forget anything? ――Okay, let’s set off.”
And so, we left behind the cave we had gotten used to living in.
＊＊＊
Tree branches bent, slamming onto the ground.
A blow as sharp as a whip, it was filled with enough power to gorge a large hole in the ground.
If a car was somehow hit by that, it would have been destroyed. If I got hit by that, I would become a stain on the ground.
The one that was able to dodge such a blow which made one’s blood run cold, an attack that boasts of great destructive power, at the very last moment, was just a single wooden doll…
...It was Rose.
“Shiiii~~~~!”
As soon as Rose landed, she lunged forwards with a piercing battle cry, In front of her stood a large, majestic monster called a ‘Treant’.
That appearance, described in two words, would be a "walking tree".
When Lily was in her Slime form she had been quite big as well, but the Treant towered over her at four meters tall.
Mowing down the surrounding trees as it approached, an entire house could be destroyed by its power.
However, Rose did not show any hesitation towards such a gigantic enemy.
She cut off the branches that attacked her from the left and right with an ax on one hand, and used the other to avoid――
“!?”
――Branches that appeared from below her, chased after her like a snake.
Just in the nick of time, Rose repelled it with the buckler in her other hand.
She successfully defended herself, but she lost her footing and stance.
The Treant immediately tried to pursue its attack, moving the countless roots that were its feet.
“Anesama!”
“I know!”
While Rose was distracting him, Lily had finished her preparations for a large attack magic. Behind her back, her hands began to shine.
Third-ranked wind magic was compressed into the form of a bullet with power that was comparable to a large rifle with overwhelming power.
――Then, *creeeaaak*.
A sharp sound that grated on one’s eardrums rang out and a part of the Treant exploded.
“Giii!?”
The hole that was made was larger than what two adults combined could reach even with their arms stretched out; nearly cutting the tree in half. I could clearly see the foliage that was in the background through it on the other side.
As expected of the Treant, it was still alive even after that attack. However, it didn"t escape unscathed and both its arms had stopped attacking.
Without missing that chance, Rose swung her battle ax in a large arc.
“Shiiiiing――!”
She dealt the finishing blow by using the big hole that Lily already opened in the Treant.
Instead of a cry of agony in its death throes, the Treant let out a creak as its body was cut in half magnificently, falling to the ground at last.
＊＊＊
"I think we"re starting to get used to fighting together."
I murmured calmly.
I push aside the branches that came close to my head. Rose was leading the way and opening up a path. But due to her small stature, there are some branches that occasionally get in the way as I walk.
“It was such an awful first battle, right? I was prepared to die there.”
Lily, who was walking next to me, responded to me talking to myself.
“Me too. My heart stopped, especially when Rose appeared.”
“I am deeply sorry. I had been surprised at that time as well.”
“No. After all, I survived thanks to you. Good job with today’s battle as well.”
“I am grateful for your praise.”
“Lily as well…”
“Ahaha. That’s because I had it easy.”
“What are you talking about? If Lily-anesama had not been there, I would not have been able to fight as the vanguard with such confidence. That role is more than I could handle by myself.”
After the encounter with the Treant, we continued our progress through the forest again.
We were generally heading in the direction of where the sun rises.
Now, we were conveniently moving eastwards.
More specifically, in the opposite direction of the Colony.
...Or so it is supposed to be. I think.
The forest scenery is quite indistinguishable for an urban guy like me, so I can’t really tell, but we should be moving away from it.
I can’t rely on my sense of direction, though there shouldn’t be an issue since I asked Rose to lead the way.
Even within this forest where the sky couldn’t be seen most of the time, you can sometimes see the rising and falling outlines of the mountains in the far distance; including one splendidly large… …figure that looked just like Mt. Fuji. The First Expedition Unit to set off seemingly used it as a landmark.
This was information from Kato-san. To be precise, it was what Takaya had told her.
Moving in the same direction as them means that we were moving away from the Colony. In other words, in the direction away from the vicinity of that cave.
Five days have already pa.s.sed by since we left that cave.
It feels as if we"ve travelled a considerable distance on foot.
Of course, that’s only true if we haven’t gone around in circles.
For us human beings, normally we would not have been able to traverse a forest like this as easily as we did now. It was only because Lily and Rose whom had incomparable strength and stamina were clearing the way for us, that we were able to do it so easily.
Kato-san did a good job despite having the lowest physical abilities amongst us. Actually, since she tended to overdo things, we had to pay extra attention to her instead.
Although we were uneasy camping in the wild, we never got attacked while sleeping.
Also, even if we did get attacked, Lily and Rose, who didn"t need any sleep, were properly on the lookout. It became the norm for me to sleep while hugging Lily, as Kato-san slept near Rose, who crafts her spare limbs silently.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
Night falls early in the forest.
We humans who do not have night vision and were uncertain of our feet when it became dim, had a much higher risk of causing or being involved in an accident.
Just like we did for the past few days, we made camp while it was still bright.
When finding a suitable place for camping, first of all, Lily goes back to her Slime form and melts the plants that are short, before consuming them.
Like this, some s.p.a.ce is cleared in the forest, after which, Rose starts making a bonfire.
Even though there’s a great risk of being discovered when starting a bonfire, I decided to do it since the risk of having zero visibility for us humans was more dangerous.
Of course, I’m careful to choose a location that prevents light from escaping too much. The obstacles in the forest are very useful in times like these.
Because I lent a hand in helping out, we had our meal without having to wait for too long.
We sat in a circle around the crackling bonfire.
This was the norm whenever we ate.
By the way, the trees that Rose cut down burn very well. Normally, a living tree is hard to set fire to, but it got set ablaze easily. I guess it’s the power of magic.
“Well then, even though we have reached here safely thus far… …Let’s proceed without letting down our guard.”
“That’s right. In fact, I think the real thing starts from now on.”
I returned a nod to Lily who agreed with me.
“It wouldn"t be strange if we had left the range of operations of the Scouting Corps by now. The number of monsters will gradually increase from here on out.”
So far, we had only encountered individual monsters. But that was only because the Scouting Corps had hunted around the area, dramatically reducing their numbers.
We were travelling in the same direction as the First Expedition Unit as they were disposing of most of the monsters, since there would be less of them populating this area even if just by a little bit… ...Well, that was one of the meagre expectations we had when we headed this way.
The other one is, of course, to let them take custody of Kato-san. It would be good if she could successfully join up with them.
“If there was a dangerous monster around that cave, the question would be, how far it would take for us to be, before we are at a safe distance away from it.”
“We have progressed more smoothly than we expected. It would be great to find a place where we could rest about now.”
“Are we still going after the Expedition Unit, even after we leave the forest?”
“If that"s possible, that would be great. The problem is, wouldn"t that be hard to actually do so?”
Also, after travelling for days and days on end through this forest, with barely any changes in the scenery, rather than a sense of fatigue, I felt a heavy sense of futility.
I don’t know about monsters like Lily and Rose, but it’s pretty tough on us humans mentally.
Once you start to slacken emotionally, the dangers on the journey increases as well.
Of course, fatigue also piles up.
Even if we don"t get attacked by monsters, a human only needs to miss his footing on a slope to die easily.
We have no choice but to be cautious.
“It has only been five days since we left the cave, but it might be the time to make a new base.”
“If that is what Master says, I will abide.”
“At least, after coming this far, we should get a little rest. To be honest, I’m feeling a little tired. I know I"ve been dragging you guys down. But I don’t want to commit a fatal mistake.”
While talking like this, we took a piece of smoked lizard monster meat that we’d packed for the journey, and re-grilled it in the bonfire.
I took one such lizard in my hand and bit into its head.
Oh yeah. There is also a problem regarding the food supply.
Ensuring a stable food supply is incredibly difficult while on the move. Monsters that attack us, such as the Fire Fangs, can be eaten, but Treants are inedible.
As I thought, we will have to collect food after settling down and then restore our strength by resting. I want to find a place like the previous cave we had stayed in as much as possible.
“Come to think of it…”
Kato-san, who was eating a lizard that was grilled to crispiness with both her hands, was the one who had suddenly opened her mouth.
She was basically a silent girl.
I don"t know if she was like this from the start, or became like this after, but she had mostly been a listener to conversations between Lily and me.
Even after Rose was finally able to talk by creating vocal equipments for herself, her personality is not very a.s.sertive, so it was more or less just Lily and me conversing throughout the journey.
““What?””
It was so unusual for her to speak out that both Lily and I turned to look at her at the same time.
“Ah, that’s…”
Uncomfortable, Kato-san who remained wrapped in sheets like always, was in a sitting position while holding her knees to her chest, fidgeting with her knees.
“I was listening to the conversation about the future plans, but I was thinking, you know…”
“What?”
“Senpai… …have you not thought of returning to our world?”
That question was like a sudden grenade thrown my way.
Lily’s body that was cuddling besides me, trembled slightly.
Rose, who was wood crafting, turned to face me, slightly panicked.
Those reactions were easy to understand.
The topic was that important.
“I didn’t particularly think about it.”
However, my answer was very straightforward.
Kato-san opened her eyes widely in an unusual move for her, perhaps in surprise.
“Real… really…?”
“Yeah."
I tore off the limb of the lizard and chewed on it.
“Well, when I first came to this world, I was always thinking about when I can return; it was all I could think about.”
“In that case...”
“But now, I have these guys with me.”
I stroked Lily’s head that was next to me.
“...Master.”
Lily called me in an unusual voice that was full of restraint.
“We… If the Master wants to return…”
“Ah, no. That’s not it. My way of saying that was bad.”
Lily pulled on my arm, drawing me closer to her upper body while frowning.
“I just wanna be together with you guys.”
“Master…”
“In the first place, there is no meaning in hypothesizing. Whether or not to return, I will think about it after I have the means to do so. In present conditions, there are no clues on how, and before that, it takes all I have just to think about how to survive day-to-day. I don’t have the time to think about such things.”
It’s not like I don’t think about my brothers and parents that I had left behind.
I want to somehow tell them that I’m safe.
However, while that may be true, I don’t want to be separated from the important things that I have here.
In any case, I want to take these girls with me when I return.
Although it’s quite a dilemma if you thought hard about it, fortunately, the current situation is not a ‘what if’ talk.
Rather than thinking about the possibilities of being able to return or not, thinking about how to survive in this world takes a higher priority.
However, even if you accept staying in this world, just by living in such a dangerous forest like this, another problem arises.
To put it frankly, a limit will eventually appear.
You could lose your life from monster attacks, but the issue of food supply is a serious problem as well. Recently, I started thinking about the nutritional values of the food that we’ve barely been getting. We have also been eating small fruits that the Colony had confirmed were edible, but I suppose they lack vitamins.
We could become sick if we continue to live like this for a long time… …This was the problem that Lily, who possessed Mizushima Miho"s knowledge, raised.
I’m not familiar with these kind of things, but scurvy could be an extreme example of how serious this situation could be.
I’m someone who can subdue monsters. I don’t know how the humans from this world would react to that, but once we’ve stepped out of this forest there is a possibility that it will become necessary to step into civilization.
I don’t know what will happen then, or if that time will even arrive.
Sometimes I get uneasy.
I wonder if there is a safe haven for us.
“Master.”
At that time.
Rose, who has been silent so far, spoke in a low voice.
Simultaneously, Lily, who was leaning against me, raised her eyes.
A sniffing sound could be heard; she had acquired this ability when we defeated that Fire Fang the other day. She was gathering information about the surroundings.
“Be careful… ...We’ve been surrounded.”
“Understood.”
With Rose’s warning, I immediately shifted my back and took the big shield in my hand. We always wear protective equipment, even while sleeping, in preparation for times like these. And so, we’re battle-ready.
Lily pulled her spear towards herself in one hand and began preparations for the deployment of magic circles with the other, then Kato-san came dashing to my side. This was our usual routine.
Several seconds after we had finished our battle preparations...
“Grrrrr…”
What came from the depths of the forest, were two Fire Fangs.
“No. There’s one more.”
With an att.i.tude of vigilance, Rose stood alert with her faceless head pointed towards the opposite direction of the two Fire Fangs.
She said that we were surrounded. Just as she predicted, another Fire Fang that had been lurking in the bushes appeared.
It seems to have judged their surprise attack a failure.
On the other hand, the wolves did not look like they were going to retreat.
That is, they judged that they will triumph against us.
“Three, huh? This looks problematic.”
We have never encountered this many of them at once.
We fought against Fire Fangs several times, but it was only ever against one of them at at a time.
There were… three of them now.
It was something that I had been expecting to occur one day, but even so, I can’t control the fear that surged within me as we were surrounded.
“Anyway, we have to finish one of them off quickly...”
Licking my lips that dried from the tension, I whispered as I held my gaze in front of me. The wolves started to slowly circle us in a clockwise direction.
They were looking for an opportunity.
The aim was… …s.h.i.t. It was obvious what they were gunning after; Kato-san and I.
Perhaps their intuitions as wild wolf’s told them that the two of us were the weakest in the bunch.
If that"s the case, this might get bad. To aim for the weakest part of a group is a cla.s.sic battle strategy.
Unintentionally, I let out a gulping sound.
In this critical situation, even Lily and Rose might not pull through. Not to mention the two of us, who were just a liability...
“It"s alright, Master.”
“Please be at ease, Master.”
Then, perhaps becoming aware of my uneasiness they called out to me unanimously.
“Because we will protect Master.”
“Even if I have to subst.i.tute my very body, I will ensure Master’s survival.”
Through the path between us, my unease was conveyed to those girls.
They called to me immediately to rea.s.sure me.
Then, I too, was connected to their hearts.
They have a solid resolution to protect me; an absolute resolve to do whatever it takes.
Their transmitted thoughts were washing away the fear and unease that had dominated my heart.
Instead, they gave me courage in order to confront this difficult fight.
“Lily, Rose…”
I clenched my fist tightly to stop my trembling and forcibly distorted the corners of my lips into a smile.
It was too awkward to call it a fearless smile, but it was the only way for me to show courage, in order to respond to the concerns of these girls.
“Don’t say stupid things. If we are to survive, we’re doing it together.”
“Yeah!”
“Acknowledged!”
It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, we won"t lose.
I fervently believe this.
Because I believe so, that should give them power through the path that connects us.
Through the path between us, they should get stronger from the faith I held in them.
“Lily will be responsible for one of them! Try to finish it off as soon as possible! Rose will protect us while trying to hold off the other two. Kato-san, do not leave my side!”
There was no reason to wait.
Since there are three opponents aiming for Kato-san and I, it"s impossible for Lily and Rose to protect us against all of them at the same time.
First of all, Lily will use her full strength to beat one as fast as possible.
In the mean time, Rose, who is superior in combat, will focus on buying time.
After that, all I can do is to believe in those girls.
I can do that, because it’s the least I could do.
“Go!”
I issued the order.
A green glow was emitted from the magic circle that began forming in Lily’s hand, consequently, an explosion occurred.
Rose was our shield, she had no intention of retreating an inch.
"Roaaaaaarrrrrr!"
Seeming as though it wasn’t aiming for the two of us at all, one of the wolves intercepted Lily while the other two continued running towards us with deliberate aim.
“Yaaah―!”
“Shiiii―!”
“Roaarrrrr!”
The 3 wolves clashed with Lily and Rose――
――Just before that happened.
Something white flashed across my vision.
"Grroarh?!"
One of the wolves that was heading our way had jumped into the air with its mouth open and filled with flames, but suddenly it fell with a strange posture.
The situation before me, was an unbelievable sight.
Something flew straight into the body of the wolf which was over two meters tall.
The wolf had not even realized what had happened to itself.
Just before being blown away into the trees that towered around the surroundings, the head of the wolf got shot by something with momentum akin to that of a bullet――*splatter*.
In the night, ominous ‘red flowers’ started falling, a giant tree absorbed the shock and fell to the ground, causing a tremor.
It was too abrupt.
No one was able to grasp what had just happened.
“Graaah…?”
In that moment, everyone was stunned in amazement by how the Fire Fang had been killed. The two other Fire Fangs that had been moving in our direction, seemed to notice something and looked up into the air.
Too late.
“Grooaah!?”
Something had fallen down and crushed the wolves as they screamed.
Then, there were no further movements.
“Wh-… ...what?”
I raised a groan while looking at what was in front of me――a pure white spider.
Furry white hair covered the entirety of the spider’s gigantic body.
Eight sharp claws can be seen on the ends of the spider’s legs, one of them must have skewered the cranium of the Fire Fang.
“This is… …it can’t be.”
With legs that were three meters long when stretched out, on the cephalothorax* of the large white spider, existed something that should not have been there.
It was the upper body of a young girl.
The girl who had flowing, long white hair that looked like spider silk, smiled devilishly in our direction.
> ORIGINAL AUTHOR’S NOTES
◆In the beginning, while Rose was watching over the sleeping MC with a smile, Lily felt a slight sense of loneliness in her heart. ...Please imagine something similar to that yourself.
◆Next update will be on the 1/8 (Wednesday).
SRLS,Y HOW CAN U GET YR NICK WRONG, I EVEN NEEDED TO EDIT THAT HWHAHAHAOUR AWESOMENESS IS UNSTOPPABLEZ!! WE ARE INVINCIBLEEEE! UNDEFEATABLZE! WE HAVE GAINED IMMORTALITY BY FINISHING THIS CHAPTER, THE SUFFERING HAS PAVED THE WAY, TOWARDS GREATNESS
WE HAVE SOLVED THE DEATHLY HALLOWS!!!!!!
THIS SERIES IS HEREBY RENAMED:
←---------!ANY OBJECTIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITHIN 0.0000000000001 MS OF POSTING THIS CHAPTER, SUBMIT NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE.
...
IT HAS BEEN DECIDED.
AND SO, THE NEW ERA HAS DAWNED UPON US
WE, ARE THE BANE OF OUR OWN WORKS
COFFEE MOVES OUR BODIES, AND SWEETS, OUR MINDS
SLEEP IS OUR ENEMY, AND TIREDNESS, OUR FOE
WE HAVE TRANSLATED OVER A MILLION TYPOES
UNKNOWN TO TIREDNESS, NOR KNOWN TO AWAKENESS
HAVE WITHSTOOD SLEEPLESS NIGHTS TO PROOFREAD MANY CHAPTERS
YET, THESE EYES WILL NEVER REST IN PEACE
SO AS WE PRAY, UNLIMITED LIGHT NOVELS!!!!!!!!¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
->THUS OUR NEW PLEDGE IS CREATED, THE VOW HAS BEEN MADE<>