Translator/Editor : Léabyss
Yesterday was a very pleasant night.
The happiness of sleeping in warm and soft fur for quite some time seems to have completely erased my previous fatigue.
When I woke up, just before the sun came up, I moved my face to the chest hair that was connected from his mane and tasted again how cool it was. How soft it felt on my skin.
Hearing his complaining voice made me nervous. I lowered my hands and put my fingers on the part of his chest where the most hair grew. I enjoyed how Mofumofu [fluffy] it was, like a teddy bear, and seconds later, I even massaged it just like I had before with Glenn.
How could I know that Douglas would wake up immediately if I played with his front legs?
Now he was in a bad mood.
We move again through the forest towards Leonidas and, although I am with Douglas, he has not spoken to me once.
The reality is that lions get irritable if they are not allowed to sleep long and, Douglas, it is a lion after all. As if he was a huge cat.
Something like a simple harness was attached to Douglas’s lion and the place where I had to sit was perfectly prepared as well. At first I refused to get on my partner’s back. Why couldn’t we do it the same way we did with Gale? Why not use the Arvis (horse)? But on the other hand, I was his partner and I was forced to accept to please him properly … To be honest, he ‘s very comfortable. It is clear that he runs slowly to avoid getting me tired and it is also obvious that he is trying to cross on the smoother parts. Without jumping, without rushing. Douglas looks imposing, upright, with his head held high, his tail straight and showing a very terrifying countenance. I don’t know if I would get tired of being like this …? By the way, despite the discussion, Douglas runs at all times with Gale and Noah, who always show him the new routes.
The itinerary seems to have ended, and we are now more than halfway along the way. It was at that moment that I thought the trip would end without much trouble.
But then Douglas stops suddenly.
“Chika, I’m going to change form. It’s okay?”
“Yes.”
I hurry up and jump from Douglas.
“Be careful, don’t move.”
As he said it, Douglas returned to his original state and hurried in search of his clothes yelling:
“Glenn! What do you hear?”
“Douglas-san, there is a strong signal coming from a group of demons. There are plenty…”
Glenn walked away from us as soon as he got off Minthia. Gale, for his part, seems to have noticed that I was surprised by the sudden event … because I was desperately looking for Glenn among the trees.
“Chika, don’t worry. Glenn is a great adventurer, he used to live in the forest. We can trust him.”
Then Glenn suddenly appeared again.
“There is a huge group northwest from here, the mother is with them.”
“Isn’t it more difficult if the mother got mixed up? Even if we try to surround them …”
“Well, it will certainly be difficult. What are we going to do?”
Although it is a demonic beast and this may be the beginning of the battle that I wanted to see so much, it is the lives of my companions that are at stake. I really don’t want to see them get hurt.
“Can’t we wait here until they decide to move elsewhere? Or maybe we can …”
“Glenn, can you have Chika on your side?”
“What…?”
“Leave it to me! I will protect Chika with everything I have, even if I have to give my life. Please. Fight as much as you want, branch bosses!”
Glenn’s eyes were shining. He seems very happy to see those two fight at last.
“Chika, never go to Glenn’s side. Do you hear me? Stay close.”
Gale pats my head.
“Yeah, but be careful … Call me as soon as you hurt yourself. I’ll be ready to use what I learned in the guild at any time!”
“You’re very kind, but I’d like to avoid showing you my embarrassing wounded man appearance as much as possible …”
“I hope so.”
The monsters were in an open space inches from us. Moving in an organized and precise way, as if they were a square. According to Glenn’s explanation, these demons are known as Dual Fang , and they are a complete object of extermination. Huge things that they like to attack humans and eat corpses. Their bodies have two torsos; and their bright eyes are deep red. They appear to be dangerous when fire is exhaled from their huge snout.
There may be more than thirty of them, right now.
There was one, which was really dangerous. The size appears to be the same as if we stacked four Welsh turned into a bear. His head is divided into three parts and he is the head of the pack. They know him as “The mother” and it seems that the name suits him wonderfully.
I was concerned that there were so many, that they were so strong and tall and that our team would only consist of three beasts and one human, but they seemed not to want to change their minds. No, if we were going to get to Leonidas, then it would be by fighting.
“It’s been a long time since Gale fought. Can you still do it? You can go hide with Glenn.”
“Hah, I can take care of thirty without your help.”
The two of them did not agree at all, but that seemed to be their way of working. Gale had a great sword in hand and Douglas had a sword in one and a dagger in the other.
We didn’t have to wait long before the herd came eagerly towards us.
Suddenly, Gale rushes in and jumps to the center of the flock. The demons, who noticed Gale’s figure rushing down from above, gathered and all attacked together. In the next moment, Gale’s arm seems to light up thanks to his magic power and the huge sword then begins to flash as well.
All the demons that were going to attack Gale were cut off and destroyed in an instant. They seem to be around ten.
I never thought that he could kill so many with one sword.
Douglas, who jumped right behind Gale, lands in the middle of the herd at a speed that is as impressive as it is terrifying. The demons don’t give him enough time to prepare and Douglas is repeatedly hit head-on as he tries to protect himself with the help of his swords. Even though they started attacking him from behind, he moves, dodges, and hits them expertly. As if he had eyes in the back .
When I saw the scene, I remembered the words Parish-san said to me once in the laboratory. They were so good at fighting, it even seemed like a dance.
When I looked up, an arrow struck a demon’s head. Then there was another, all in the same place. Surprisingly, Glenn-san has a wonderful aim. With a straight face and straight arms, he puts his bow to the sides and shoots two arrows at the same time. Glenn’s arrows pierce the eyebrows, neck, and fangs. It’s very accurate, so he doesn’t seem to miss a single time.
There were almost no demons left and it had barely been… a minute? No, it might even be less. By this time, Gale was confronting the mother using the sword that would not stop flashing. Taking all of the demon’s attacks using his abilities and avoiding flares as if he knows where the fire was coming from. After repeating the same pattern multiple times, Gale suddenly jumped up and stabbed him in the middle of the eyebrows. Around the same time, Douglas leaps up from the left side and swings the sword with both hands before cutting off its legs.
When I looked at what was happening, a large number of arrows pierced almost in the same direction as before. I couldn’t even chase them with his eyes, but I’m sure Glenn shot the same spot without ever making a mistake.
When the mother screamed terribly and fell to the ground, she was already dead.
BL snack 