Kiiiieek!
Clang!
However, just because someone looks dependable doesn't mean they actually are.
The bird dove quickly and clashed against Ain's sword. But by the time he blocked the attack and swung his blade in retaliation, the monster had already soared back into the sky.
True to its status as a good early-game sword, the sound of it slicing through the air was clear and crisp.
'It's just that his skills aren't backing it up yet.'
As expected, his level didn't seem very high. The monster must have sensed this as well, because it immediately lunged at Ain again. Its sharp beak grazed dangerously close to his side. Then, the monster launched back into the air, flapping its wings broadly.
I immediately drew my bowstring. The attack patterns of low-level monsters are inherently simple. The monster's movements paused for a split second amidst its frantic flapping.
Thwack!
Seizing that opening, my arrow struck the monster dead-on.
"……!"
Ain turned to look at me with a surprised expression.
Thwack!
Right next to him, another arrow pierced through the wind and skewered the monster. Ain didn't look back. Hearing the sound of the monster plummeting to the ground behind him, he finally spoke.
"You know how to fight?"
"That's why I told you I could go alone……."
"……."
When I answered while gesturing with my bow, he shut his mouth.
"We've already come this far anyway, so I'm coming with you."
"O-okay."
Never giving up halfway was definitely a protagonist trait. Since we had already set off, it seemed he had no desire to turn back now.
...
Perhaps it was because I was traveling with the protagonist, but monsters appeared frequently on our way back. However, that wasn't the only reason.
"Now!"
"Haaah!"
Slash!
Ain's sword cut down the monster. It was only fascinating the first time to see movements I'd only ever witnessed in a game unfold right before my eyes. Now, we were both exhausted from the relentless, repetitive battles.
"Ah! There's another monster over there~"
I deliberately shouted loudly, drawing the aggro of nearby monsters.
"……."
I caught Ain glaring at me out of the corner of my eye. The reason we were repeating these grueling battles was simple. It was because I was orchestrating it.
-Roar!
Meanwhile, a wolf spotted me and charged straight ahead. And Ain, who had volunteered to be my escort knight, naturally had to step in and block the monster.
Clang!
Watching their fight from a step back, I scanned the area for more monsters. I completely retracted a thought I had earlier. Sprinkle stealth powder to avoid monsters? Not a chance.
"Attack when the wolf turns its head to the right!"
"...Got it."
Smack!
Judging by his fighting, Ain's level was simply too low. I had no idea how he had even made it this far.
In that case, it was better for me, someone who knew all the monster strategies, to help him level up. And I was in the middle of executing that plan right now. I deliberately drew monster aggro, rounded up other beasts nearby while Ain was already engaged in combat, and withheld my help until he was in actual danger. I was putting in a lot of effort in various ways.
If this had been an online game, someone probably would have reported me for monopolizing all the mobs in the area.
'By the way, what level is Ain right now?'
The problem was that I couldn't check his level. Even if I couldn't see that, just knowing his stats like HP, MP, and attack power would let me figure out exactly how many monsters he could handle at once.
"To your right!"
Thwack!
I provided covering fire with my bow when he was in critical danger, but Ain probably wasn't the least bit grateful.
Thud!
The monsters I had diligently herded over were finally all defeated. Ain's hands were trembling slightly, and I was exhausted too, so I figured it was best to take a short break.
I walked around the area, gathering all the harvestable materials from the monsters. Since they were low-level, there wasn't much of value, but as they say, every little bit helps.
Perhaps because he was a noble, Ain just ignored all the loot and walked right past it. Well, nothing I could do about that. I'd just have to hoard it all for myself.
"Phew……."
Ain let out a heavy, labored sigh.
'Did I push him too hard?'
A prickle of guilt touched my heart. Seeing his exhausted face made me feel a bit sorry for dragging all those monsters to him under the guise of leveling him up. It'd probably be best to walk the rest of the way normally, right?
"A-are you okay?"
"Do you usually travel like this?"
"...Pardon?"
"Even having multiple lives wouldn't be enough."
To think such words of concern would come out of his usually emotionally-dry mouth. Had I really pulled that much aggro?
"Hmm... Come to think of it, I had this on me. Here, take one."
"Is this a health potion?"
Ain frowned slightly. Health potions instantly recovered the body upon consumption, but they tasted incredibly bitter. I really wished someone would invent a better flavor.
He didn't immediately drink the potion he was holding, either.
'Does he hate bitter things?'
A brief memory flashed through my mind of me force-feeding his character a ridiculous amount of various potions in the game.
"……."
"Let's get going soon."
I have a conscience too, you know. After that, I stopped drawing aggro and just walked quietly. We were down to a single narrow path now, so Ain took the lead. Watching his back as he trudged forward, still clutching the bottle in his hand, he truly looked exhausted.
Rustle~
Just then, the sound of shaking bushes rang out, and something suddenly lunged at us. Because it was dark, neither of us had noticed its presence.
—Roooaaar!!
"……."
"……."
I was so startled that words wouldn't even come out. Even when I wasn't intentionally drawing aggro, was this just the inevitable fate of wherever the protagonist walked?
The thing that popped out was a bear. A massive bear with thick, dark brown fur. I had seen a bear in my past life. But that was at a zoo, and all I did was observe it from a safe distance. This was my first time seeing one so up close. The sheer intimidation factor was overwhelming.
Plus, it wasn't an ordinary bear. On its massive, raised paws, claws as sharp as spears glinted menacingly.
'A bear... A bear, huh…….'
Even while my body trembled slightly, I coolly assessed the situation.
Bears weren't monsters that spawned in this area. It certainly wasn't a low-level mob, either. I had never encountered one during my occasional hunting trips. Was it really okay for something like this to just pop up out of nowhere?
'Didn't they say bears pounce the moment you turn your back to run?'
I slowly backed away while speaking to Ain.
"Wouldn't it be best to run?"
"……."
He didn't answer. This was the only beaten path, but there wasn't a rule saying we absolutely had to stick to it. We could just take a wide detour to avoid the bear. as long as we reached the village, that was all that mattered.
Straying far from the path meant we'd run into monsters slightly higher in level than the usual ones, but it would still be far better than facing this bear.
We couldn't handle this thing at our current level. That wasn't just intuition, it was speaking from experience. Of course, experience from my past life, not this one. Based on the enemies we had fought and how we defeated them, I could roughly estimate our current levels. The level gap here was severe.
'Running away isn't anything to be ashamed of. It's a valid tactic!'
Even in the game, if you were mid-battle and realized it was hopeless, ditching everything and running away was the only way to survive. I took careful steps backward, but Ain didn't budge an inch.
"I will not run away anymore."
"...What?!"
In the end, he raised his sword and faced the bear.
I could understand his feelings. He had lost everything and had been forced to flee from the territory his family once ruled, running like a coward.
"Now is not the time to be stubborn!"
"……."
However, just because I understood didn't mean I agreed with his actions. If there had been even a sliver of a chance, I might have chosen to stay and fight too. But the opponent in front of us wasn't like that. Despite my frustrated shouting, he remained unmoving.
Thud!
"……!"
To make matters worse, the monster fully noticed our presence. Up until a moment ago, we could have somehow managed an escape. But now that it was entirely hostile toward us, fleeing easily was no longer an option.
We had to fight.
The bear was massive and threatening, but it still wasn't quite as large or terrifying as the field boss.
'But that was... only because Derek was there.'
The problem was that compared to the incredibly reliable Derek, Ain's back despite his bulkier build looked absurdly precarious. I gripped my bow. It was already happening. We had to resolve this somehow.
-Roooaaar!
"Dodge backward!"
"What?!"
Thud! Crash!
"Ugh... Damn it."
Unlike Derek, Ain couldn't immediately follow my instructions. Because of that, he took a direct hit from the bear's forward-swinging paw. At least he had blocked with his sword, so he probably wasn't critically injured.
Smack!
"Gugh…!"
Wait, was he actually pretty hurt? I desperately backpedaled while aiming my bow. If the aggro pointlessly shifted to me, we'd both be in grave danger.
The bear crouched low. That was the wind-up stance before executing a rapid-fire pummeling skill on whatever enemy was directly in front of it.
Without second guessing, I fired an arrow.
Snap!
"...Wow."
The bear, which had clearly been crouching, suddenly extended its body and immediately swiped its front paw. The speed was so fast I could barely track it, and my arrow was smashed to splinters, scattering across the ground.
Weren't bears supposed to be inherently sluggish? I genuinely felt that something this ridiculously fast had no right to call itself a bear.
I quickly nocked another arrow. Since my attack posed a greater threat, the aggro shifted perfectly toward me. This must be why a tank's role is so crucial.
'...I suddenly miss Derek.'
I longed for the presence of a sturdy tank to hold the front lines.
Twang!
The flying arrow was once again brutally swatted and destroyed. I didn't let it faze me, continuing to backpedal frantically and draw another arrow when..
"Haaah!"
Ain, who had gotten back on his feet at some point, swung his sword at the bear. However...
Smack!
"Gah!"
He was sent flying by a single kick. Thankfully, he didn't seem seriously hurt. Even so, the sheer frailty of the protagonist almost brought me to tears. Ain... are you actually weaker than me right now?
The monster that had charged at me reared up and slightly tilted its head to the left.
'Coming from the right?!'
Swoosh~
"Ugh!"
I ducked swiftly, and its right paw sliced through the empty air just above my head.
Swoosh~
This time from the left.
When its attacks didn't connect, the monster crouched down again. But attacking rashly now could result in a counterattack. I calmly dove to the side while drawing my bowstring.
Slash-slash-slash!
Without even confirming if I was still in front of it, the monster reached out with both front paws and ruthlessly shredded the space ahead. Just imagining standing in front of that was horrifying. I would have been torn to shred. But this was my window to attack.
I fired my bow instantly.
Thwack!
-Roooaaar!!
The arrow lodged itself squarely in the monster's shoulder. I immediately nocked the next arrow. It wouldn't be a high-level monster if it went down in one hit.
-Grrr…….
The beast glared straight at me and planted all four feet on the ground. That was the telegraph for a charge.
'Can I dodge it?'
Rather than running blindly, the strategy was to wait for the exact right timing and dodge at the last possible second. Even in the game, dodging this attack required quite difficult controls. Could I really pull it off with my actual physical body?
I swallowed hard and drew the bowstring. Even if I couldn't dodge it, I was going to make sure it ate at least one more arrow first.
"...Huh?"
-Roaaaar!
But right then, someone struck the bear's back from behind.
'Ain?!'
Ain tossed an empty bottle aside. It was the health potion bottle. He hated it so much, but it looked like he finally drank it. The bear immediately switched its focus to the closer enemy, giving me desperately needed breathing room.
Clang!
Cla-clang!
"Gugh……!"
However, it was impossible to tell how long he could hold out while struggling to parry those heavy attacks. I also had no idea how effective my own attacks would actually be.
I drew the bowstring again. There was no time to hesitate.
Thwip-thwip-thwip!
I unleashed a relentless barrage of arrows. Taking extreme care not to hit Ain while maintaining rapid fire, my concentration sharpened to an unprecedented peak.
-Rooooaaar!
Riddled with consecutive arrows, the bear went into a frenzy, putting Ain in a critical crisis. A few more hits and Ain would collapse; alternatively, the bear might go down first. I nocked another arrow. I didn't have many left. Could I finish it off with this?
Just as I was about to release the bowstring, something flashed brilliantly.
"?!"
"……?"
-Gwooooooar!!
A sword blade abruptly jutted out, having pierced straight through the bear's heart in a single strike.
As the beast collapsed, a figure slowly revealed himself from behind it, draped in a black cloak that seemed to melt into the darkness. His piercing blue eyes immediately locked onto me.
Comments Box