Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“…ey, wake up.”

A voice called out to me, and somebody lightly shook my body to wake me up from my light sleep.

When I opened my eyes… I saw Reiji-san, who had already put on his clothes.

“…You’re awake, good. Saul and the others should be here in a moment, so hurry up and get dressed.”

“Okay…”

…? My thoughts were still a jumbled mess.

Oh, right, I need to get dressed…

I reached out my hand toward the hanging clothes, but they were too high for me, so I guess I have to get up…

“…?! OKAY I’LL BE WAITING OUTSIDE BYE!!”

Reiji-san left in a hurry. Weird.

Shaking my unsteady head, I picked up the completely dry clothes that were hanging in front of the fireplace, beside the blanket that had fallen off when I stood up…

As I was getting dressed, my foggy head became a little clearer. Maybe.

“Hmm… Is that how it is?”

I made a quick turn. This was the first time I put on this “Clarte Iris” all by myself, but I guess it turned out alright.

Since Lenny-san had been taking care of me for the past few days, I felt that I am getting completely used to being dressed by others. I fear for the day I become a useless person who can’t even dress for herself.

When I opened the door and walked out of the room, Reiji-san was standing right next to me with his arms folded… but for some reason he refused to make eye contact with me.

“…Reiji-san? Is something wrong?”

“Nonono, I’m completely fine! It’s your head that I’m worried about!”

“…?”

“Nevermind, just forget about it… Looks, they’ve finally arrived.”

Reiji-san pointed in the direction of a beautiful woman walking in the front of the group, Hayato-kun, who broke into a run as soon as he saw us, and…

“Iris!! Iris, oh my god, you’re still alive…”

…Nii-sama, who hugged me with extreme force as soon as he got close.

“Eep?! Nii-sama, you don’t have to say it like that… I’m glad you’re safe and sound, too.”

“Yeah, we’re not going to die that easily, you know.”

Reiji-san moved in and clashed his fist with Nii-sama, and they immediately pulled each other into another hug, again with extreme force… I’m glad from the bottom of my heart that everyone’s back together.

Gently, unnoticed, I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and put my arms around his back.

After a brief reunion, we spent some time catching up.

What surprised me was this gentle woman in front of me… Aini-san, was another of the Count’s “secret agents”.

And so, after introductions were made…

“…Once again, I’m really glad that everyone’s together like this… The situation here is much more serious than I thought.”

Nii-sama started off the discussion with a serious look on his face.

“What do you mean?”

“Remember that strange crystalline creature we fought in the previous town?”

“…Is that the one formed by the bandits’ corpses?”

“Well, it’s hard to forget even if you wanted to.”

“So here’s the catch. There’re over one hundred of these, this time mutated from goblins, just sleeping down there.”

“…Is that true?”

“Seriously…”

The same kind of enemy as the one that took all our effort to defeat… a whole swarm of them was just lying in wait.

I think my head is finally starting to boot up properly after hearing the bad news.

“…I had already reported this matter to the Count, since it’s of great concern. For now, we should get out of here.”

“Aini-san, you did?!”

“Yes… Gantz-san, who was hiding here, was the first to discover those creatures.”

“Mmm. The news, should have reached him, already.”

Then there’s still hope for reinforcements. But…

“…It’s still questionable whether the army can get here from the capital in time. We shouldn’t rule out the possibility of this town becoming a battlefield before then.”

“Are you saying we should evacuate all the townspeople…?”

There’s a big problem with that plan, however. Namely, the mayor.

“…Do you honestly think he’s going to cooperate with us?”

“It’s… difficult. No, it’s actually impossible. If we tell him what we discovered, he would realize that we have evidence of his shady dealings.”

In addition to this morning’s tea spiking, which was clearly intended to be a kidnapping, he also illegally mined state-sanctioned ores and sold them through unauthorized channels. Aini-san and Gantz-san were already gathering materials left in this room to make a report to the Count as we spoke.

Once the mayor’s crimes were exposed, it’s likely that he’d be immediately removed from office, or even executed.

However, since all of this was done in secret, he could just brush it all off as a lie… or send his private army to silence us.

…He was simply not someone we could talk to and reach an understanding with.

“So, are we gonna somehow evacuate all the townspeople and fortify the town’s defense while keeping that asshole of a mayor from stabbing us in the back? Sounds like a lot if you ask me.”

“…But we have to do it, right?”

“Well, yeah…”

The lives of the entire town were at stake. We couldn’t just walk away and pretend nothing happened now.

“Uh, I’d really like it if you save the town too… There’re a bunch of bad guys running it, but most of the people there are nice to me… I feel indebted to them.”

Hayato-kun, who had been listening quietly all this time, bowed his head as he spoke. Aini-san was watching him warmly from the side.

“…I don’t know how much we can do… but let’s just do the best we can, alright?”

“I have no objection with this. Of course I’ll have to go back and report to the Captain about it, but regardless of what happens, I promise I’ll give it my all.”

At Nii-sama’s and my words, Hayato-kun looked up, delighted… He might act a bit older than his age, but I think he’s a good and honest boy at heart… Is this my maternal instincts awakening?

“…Just to be clear, though, I’m only doing this because I need all the help I can get to deal with the ‘Wound of the World’ that’s causing this anomaly. It’s simply for my own convenience, you hear?”

Nii-sama pointed his finger toward Hayato-kun, causing the boy to be utterly confused.

“…That guy’s not being honest again.”

“He’s happy to find someone he can treat as a little brother, isn’t he?”

Maybe it’s because Ayame had been taking care of me all the time in my old world, but she had a really doting side to her.

Reiji-san and I chuckled as we whispered to each other.

We were then escorted by Aini-san and Gantz-san out of the tunnels, using the passageway that the miners used to carry their goods out.

Because of the circumstances, it was not possible to use the front entrance frequently, and it seemed a that secret, exclusive passageway was prepared in advance… It was a complicated feeling because the same route used for criminal purposes allowed us to escape in this way.

The exit was a gaping hole in the shadow of the hill, hidden from the beaten path. The moment we stepped out of it, the cool, clear night air spread out.

“Phew… Finally out of that damn tunnel. Too bad it’s completely dark in the outside too.”

“It seems like we’ve been underground for a very long time. Six hours, if I have to guess.”

“I… see…”

Everyone was breathing in the fresh air for the first time in several hours.

But for some reason, my vision suddenly distorted… Huh……?

“…Ir……s? Wha…”

Why is… Reiji-san’s voice… so far away…

“Oh, you’re finally awake.”

“…Eh? Why am I…”

When I came to, I found myself on Reiji-san’s back.

My head felt foggy. My senses were dull, but I could tell that I’m cold. Really cold.

“You just collapsed from a fever. According to Aini-san, in addition to the lack of sleep every night, being exposed to the cold has taken its toll on your overworked body… I’ll make sure you go to bed once we return. Aini-san is kind enough to lend you a patient bed at her place.”

“Oh, no…”

Thinking back, I feel like my thoughts had been hazy and sluggish ever since I woke up in that rest stop. I guess it’s only after I was released from the tension that it all came crashing down.

“…Reiji-san fell in with me too, but why are you still so healthy?”

“Unlike you, I have enough sleep… and I guess I’m just built different.”

“That’s kind of unfair…”

Must be nice, being so strong, I thought.

“…You know, I’ve been wondering if I should ask you this… Do you… want to go back to being a man?”

“…Eh?”

The words thrown at me so unexpectedly made me question myself a little.

Come to think of it… Strangely, I had never thought before that I wanted to go back to my original body.

When I think about the future if I stay in this body forever…

“…I don’t know.”

“Mmm.”

“But I don’t feel bad about it either.”

“……Fair enough.”

He then fell silent and continued walking. His steps were light, as if he was in a good mood, and I tilted my head in confusion.

“I knew you were acting weird, but I should have been more careful. Sorry about that.”

I immediately shook my head. Physical strength is one thing, but this only happened because of my lack of self-care.

“No, I should be sorry for causing you trouble… If only I was more helpful to you…”

“…What an idiot.”

“Ouch!”

As I sank into a sea of negative thoughts, Reiji-san lightly tapped on my forehead with the back of his hand.

“Don’t make me repeat it, you saved my life down there. Now just sleep it off until we’re back in town, you need all the sleep you can get.”

“…Okay.”

Time passed in silence again.

Reiji-san’s big back, which didn’t sway a bit even when he was carrying me, shook at regular intervals as he walked.

Somehow… I felt really at ease…

The warmth of his body made me forget about the cold and wander into dreamland before I knew it…

“Hey, Iris. I…”

At the end, just before I fell unconscious, I think Reiji-san tried to say something, but it never reached my ears…

Reiji

“She couldn’t have heard it, right…?”

I fearfully checked behind me and saw Iris’s feverish face, right in front of my eyes and nose.

Her face was so strangely charming that I hurriedly returned my gaze to the front.

All I could hear behind me now was the light breath of a sleeping Iris.

“Dammit… I really went and said it…”

I ruffled my hair and ruminated on what I just said.

“That’s selfish of me, isn’t it?”

Looking back on it, it seemed that my head was still out of wack since that incident underground… The blanket she was wearing fell to the floor as she got up from her sleep, and I got a direct view of her from the front…

I frantically shook my head to expel from my thoughts that nude, art-like body, which, because of its immaturity, exuded a really suspicious charm.

But what I just said earlier was my real feelings coming out of my chest.

The moist eyes shaking with anxiety I saw in bed.

The gentle, friendly smile as she talked to me.

The soft feeling I still felt on my back.

The tickling of her hair on my cheek.

The sweet aroma that tickled my nostrils.

I don’t want to let them go. I want them to stay by my side, I thought.

Sighing deeply, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself, regained my composure and began to follow Saul and the others who had left earlier.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“Alright… I’m going to do it, okay?”

Reiji-san’s voice was laden with tension.

The only other sound that could be heard was the cackling of the fireplace and the dripping from the soaking wet clothes hanging nearby.

By “soaking wet clothes”, I mean all of them, even the underwear. The only thing covering my body right now was a single blanket.

Truth be told, I was really tempted to run away in embarrassment at the thought of exposing myself so shamelessly, but that’s simply not an option… because it’s something that has to be done.

I lay down on the bunk at Reiji-san’s instruction. My heart was thumping so much that it threatened to jump out of my chest when I thought about what’s going to happen.

Reiji-san’s hand laid gently on mine, though he was as nervous as I was… My body shivered at his touch.

Although I was prepared for this, I was still a little scared. But Reiji-san silently accepted my feelings and gently held my stiffened hand to reassure me.

“I know how to do this, more or less… but I’ve never actually done anything like this before, so this might really hurt, you know?”

“Please do it… I can take a bit of pain…”

“Alright, chew on this.”

He handed me a piece of cloth… a handkerchief, to be exact. I folded it to the proper thickness and clenched it in my mouth.

Once it’s done, I gave him a small nod to tell him that I’m prepared.

“Okay, I’m gonna do it… Brace yourself.”

Gently, Reiji-san’s hand rested on my shoulder as I lay down.

“…Eek?! ~~~~~~~?!”

CRACK

It felt numb for a moment, then a sharp pain immediately followed as my dislocated joint was returned to its original position. At the same time, some freedom had returned to my shoulder.

“Hah…hah…”

“…You alright there? Sorry if I was too rough.”

“No… I just didn’t expect it to hurt this much, that’s all.”

I raised myself up, wiping the tears that dripped from the corners of my eyes.

My shoulder had its normal smooth curve, but it was reddish-black and swollen. When I finally saw it, I was devastated.

“I see… Well then, get it fixed, will you?.”

I nodded my head and chanted a spell while enduring the dull pain that was creeping up my spine.

“’Heal’…!”

The healing light gathered on the reddish-black area where there’s internal bleeding… In a blink of an eye, the pain and swelling vanished.

“Thank goodness… it’s finally gone…”

At last, the pain that had been tormenting me for so long was gone, and I lightly grasped and opened my hands and rotated my shoulders to check on my condition… All good now.

“Sorry for troubling you… Reiji-san? Why are you looking that way?”

Reiji-san, though, was turning his head more than 90 degrees as if he wanted to avoid looking at me as much as possible.

“…Look at your ‘attire’ first before asking, idiot!”

“Ah… I-I’m sorry!!!”

…Oh no, I forgot about that.

I hugged my knees, shrank down as much as I could and wrapped the blanket that had dangerously slipped down all over my body.

A tremendous amount of blood must have gathered in my face by now. I couldn’t even look directly at Reiji-san anymore.

Why…? Why does it have to be so embarrassing? It was totally fine when we took a bath together before.

But the moment I recalled about the bath, my heart started racing nonstop.

“Can I turn back now?”

“Hiiiii?! Y-Yes!”

I made an unladylike noise again…

Afterward, we sat back to back in front of the cackling fireplace to warm ourselves up.

With nothing to say to each other after the previous embarrassment… we could only stare at the flame and feel the warmth of each other’s back in silence.

I find this silence unbearable, though…

“…Ah.”

“W-What’s the matter?!”

“Not really… I’m just thinking about how convenient it is. Healing arts, I mean. Normally, I would never allow an amateur like myself to fix your joint so roughly, considering the risks.”

Said Reiji-san bitterly.

What he did was nowhere near the proper medical procedure because of the possibility of damaging the surrounding tissues.

But I just regenerated them all with “Heal” and now my arm worked perfectly as it should.

“…It’s convenient, indeed, but we’ll be in trouble if it can’t be used.”

“Right…”

Now that we were out of the effect area of the magic nullification stones, our recovery was going smoothly, but the feeling of being stuck at that time made me shudder when I thought back on it.

What would have happened if the goblin who speaks human language and calls himself Gantz-san hadn’t come to our rescue?

With his help and guidance, we had somehow made our way to this nearby rest stop.

Goblins and hobgoblins alike usually speak in some “monster language” that humans can no way understand.

Apparently Gantz-san had lived among humans for so many years that he could now speak our language without problem.

It’s common for humans to hire hobgoblins as mercenaries… many of them serve as baggage carriers, rear guard shielders and other kinds of auxiliary troop.

Back in the game, the highest goblin-type monster you could employ as your familiar was called “Hobgoblin Hero”, said to be a seasoned veteran who fought in many battles… I think this Gantz-san might be one of those.

“So, did you notice something’s off?”

 I understood what Reiji-san was talking about.

On the way here, to a certain extent, the entire wall surface was a large hollow covered with magic nullification stones. However, the ores were no longer to be found, and what appeared instead were wooden scaffolds that appeared to have been constructed only recently.

“This tunnel was supposed to be closed off due to danger of collapsing… right?”

“And yet we found no trace of a collapse, well, up until the battle at least.”

…What we found instead, were signs of a mining operation that just took place recently.

The peddler from before once said that the trading of magic nullification stones in this country was strictly controlled by the state, because those stones could fetch a very high price thanks to high demand from their newly discovered use.

“…This is illegal, isn’t it?”

“No wonder that mayor got rich so quickly. He must have been behind all this.”

“Correct.”

The next moment, the door to the rest stop opened with a clang.

Gantz-san, the hobgoblin in full body armor who rescued us, entered.

“Talk later. When everyone’s gathered. For now, rest.”

He (thankfully) paid no heed to our current state of undress, walked past us to the fireplace, placed the small pot he was holding on top of it and began to stir its contents.

“No worries. These emergency rations, humans left them behind.”

The aroma of… spice and consommé (?) tickled my nostrils, and my stomach rumbled.

………

Why?!!!!!!!!!!

Without the barrier of clothing, the sound of my stomach echoed throughout the room.

In embarrassment, I stole a glance at Reiji-san… I could tell that “I didn’t hear anything” was written on his face.

“Gnnnnnnnnnnh!!”

“Frustrated, not good. Here, take a sip.”

“Ah, thank you very much.”

A cup of steamy soup was offered to me.

Even though he’s a goblin, why is Gantz-san so gentlemanly? He even sounds like one.

As I sipped on the soup, the spices left a lingering taste on my tongue, and I felt my body warming up a little.

“HOT?!”

Reiji-san, on the other hand, seemed to get burned by the hot soup, and spewed out a puff of smoke. That’s payback for earlier.

“Ugh… can I get healed?”

“Pfft… Yes, please turn your head this way… ‘Heal’.”

“Thanks…”

After he turned to look at me, I touched his cheek and cast a spell. The small glow lit up and disappeared.

As Reiji-san once again gorged himself on the soup once his burn was healed, a giggle escaped my mouth.

“May I ask something?”

“Hmm? Yes, go ahead.”

I was taking a mouthful of the soup, which had cooled down nicely when Gantz-san suddenly spoke.

“You both, so young… A couple, by any chance? Shall I, excuse myself?”

“?!!!!!!!!”

Both of us choked on our soup and coughed.

“Wrong? You get along, so well. It’s in plain sight.”

““We aren’t a couple!!””

Why does everyone I meet ask that question?!

“Leaving that aside… Who are you, actually?”

“Me…? I suppose, I can tell. The Count, employed me. In this region, I mainly oversee monsters. I’m a ‘secret agent’, in human speech.”

“That’s kind of amazing…”

I marveled at the fact that the Count entrusted such an important matter to a demihuman, who was technically a monster even though he was friendly. But I guess he’s the perfect candidate for the job if he proves to be trustworthy.

“…Um, did you happen to accompany a human woman to this place?”

I asked a question that just occurred to me.

“Miss Aini? If you’re thinking about her, you’re right.”

“I see… So she wasn’t in any danger after all…”

I was relieved to confirm that she wasn’t brought here by force.

“……Actually, no. ‘That thing’, blocked the exit. We had a hard time. Getting him, out of the way, you have my thanks.”

So the reason they couldn’t come back was because of that troll… It seemed that our effort was not in vain.

“Apologies, I got a call.”

Gantz-san suddenly covered his ear with his hand and started talking to someone.

“…Understood. We shall, remain here.”

“Did something happen?”

“Good news. Miss Aini, found your companions. They’re heading here, to meet us.”

““Really?!””

“They’ll come, in a moment. Until then, please take a rest.”

With that, Gantz-san walked out of the door.

“Those two… they’re safe… ah…”

My vision grew shaky. For some reason, I felt strangely sluggish, and my head was getting dizzy.

“…Looks like you’re in need of sleep. I’ll watch the fire, you go back to bed.”

“Yes… Sorry for the trouble…”

I didn’t manage to finish my sentence when my consciousness sank into darkness, as if it had reached its limits-

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Saul

Fortunately, as much as I loathe to call it that, the tunnel collapse that took Iris and Reiji also separated me from the enemy, allowing me to grab Hayato and made our narrow escape.

However… the road we came from was completely caved in and I could no longer confirm those two’s safety.

The boy Hayato had yet to recover. While I was trying to find another entrance by looking for an air current, he just silently followed me, crying all the way.

As a matter of course, I had something to say about that, but I pushed it away and put my hand on his head to comfort him.

“…What happened wasn’t your fault. We’re to blame for not sharing information about the existence of such a thing with you. Really, you did the best you could in that situation. Your timing was impeccable, I have to admit… but that enemy wasn’t ‘normal’ by any means.”

Yes, what happened back there was almost entirely our fault for not sharing the information. Unlike those of us who had previously engaged in combat with such a creature, he didn’t even know it existed.

“But…!”

But neither he nor I were mature enough… to accept the fact that his well-meaning actions have led us to our current predicament.

“Do you really think so, Nii-chan?! It’s all my fault, I screwed up! If you think so, you should have said that already-”

That remark hit too close to comfort, and in an instant, blood rushed to my head. The next thing I knew, I grabbed him by the chest and slammed him against the wall.

“…You want me to spit it out, right?”

“Ugh…”

I found my own voice surprisingly cold.

Hayato moaned in pain as his breathing was blocked by the tight squeeze.

“Then… IT’S BECAUSE YOU STICKED YOUR DAMN NOSE WHERE IT DIDN’T BELONG THAT THOSE TWO WERE CAUGHT IN THE COLLAPSE, ARE YOU FUCKING SATISFIED NOW…?!”

I’m aware that I’m far from a saint. No matter how much I tried to hide it, deep in my chest, there’s a whirlpool of resentment toward this boy who caused Iris and Reiji to fall into the tunnel collapse.

…I should not have brought a child who could not fight to such a place, bonded by temporary compassion. This is the result of sympathizing with this kid’s concern toward the person who took care of him and letting him do as he pleases.

In any case, it’d help no one if we kept on finding the right person to blame for what happened.

The sight of the boy’s frightened eyes as I grabbed him by the chest and glared at him quickly cooled the blood that had been rising in my head. Anger quickly turned to guilt.

“…This is stupid. Let’s not waste our time any further. Go.”

I let go of his collar and shove him away.

If this continued any longer, I was going to blame him to the point where I really couldn’t take it back.

I understood what he was talking about. I was seething with anger inside. But if I gave in to it, I’d never be able to forgive myself again.

I took a breath to regain my composure.

“…You came back because you wanted to help us, didn’t you? I supposed I should thank you for that.”

“…Mmm.”

As I turned on my heel and started to walk away, I felt a presence behind me rush up and follow me, wiping away his tears. I glanced to the side and saw his eyes red and swollen, but he was biting his lip and trying not to cry anymore.

…Timid as he was, guess he’s still a boy regardless. He didn’t want to look weak.

A giggle escaped from my lips. Yes, somehow there was room to laugh, even in this situation.

Thus, we resumed our search and went deeper underground.

“What the…”

We were now on a narrow, man-made path that runs along the middle of a steep cliff that was originally a huge underground cavern.

As we proceeded fearfully on the barely walkable path, the faint flickering of the space below caught my eye.

The scene spread out over there was…

“…They don’t look like goblins anymore, do they?”

A wide space below, probably the end of another tunnel, where countless glowing shadows filled it.

Covered in crystals here and there, those goblin-sized silhouettes looked abnormal even from a distance.

“Demihumans” like goblins at least still had humanoid shapes. Those creatures, on the other hand, were deformed and bloated in places, some of them even growing extra limbs.

There were well over one hundred of those, all in a crouching position as if sleeping.

“…Well, that explains why we didn’t run into any goblins at all.”

I said with a trembling voice. Disgusting sweat ran down my face.

Fortunately, they didn’t seem to be moving.

Was it because they haven’t detected us yet?

…Or their sleeping forms were merely chrysalides before mutating into something even worse?

“…This is bad. If all of them attack the town at once, defending it would be impossible…”

“Not even Nii-chan and the other two can do it?”

“There’s still everyone in the mercenary company who can turn the tide… No, this number of enemies is just too much…”

Without a doubt, direct combat with these creatures would lead to high casualties among us.

We’d known firsthand how dangerous those “crystalized” creatures can be, and now there were as many of them as the goblins accompanying the General we once fought.

This wasn’t a simple boss raid anymore. We were now facing something akin to a small war… a “Legion Raid”, speaking in the game’s terms.

Unlike last time, the odds were heavily against us. Even if we mobilized the entire town, it would still be far from enough.

We could try to contact the Count ruling this region and request the aid of his army… but there’s too much hurdle to go through with that approach: getting in touch with him, exchanging information, asking for help, waiting for the army to prepare… Would these monsters even sit still during all that?

It’s impossible, no matter how I look at it.

“I can’t think of any way we’re going to win. Worst case scenario, the entire town must be abandoned…”

“No way…”

Hayato looked down in dismay. That town had only been his home for a month, but he seemed to be really sad about having to abandon it.

I was about to say something to him, but didn’t know what to say and swallowed my words.

“Excuse me…”

“Who goes there?!”

I was completely distracted by the situation below when a voice suddenly called out from behind me, startling me to the point where I thought my heart would stop, but I barely managed to stifle my voice.

I turned around in a hurry…

“Um, sorry for startling you, I…”

“Nee-chan?!”

Now it’s Hayato who’s surprised by the newcomer.

She’s a woman in her early twenties with long, rich blonde hair that was loosely braided into a single strand, swept off her shoulders and hanging down in front of her body.

With a ladylike smile on her face, she spoke to us with a beautiful voice befitting her gorgeous appearance.

She was dressed in a green-toned robe with plenty of lace, like a dress, and an embroidered cape that wasn’t too ornate… If you ask me, she resembled a character from a certain alchemist video game.

…That reminds me, threads pertaining to her in the game forum were often called “Atelier” because of her career as a pharmacist.

Somehow, I felt a great sense of defeat when I looked at her.

I can proudly say that Iris and I are exceptionally beautiful, but it was only possible with our effort and passion that went into refining our avatars over and over…

But this person in front of me was a native of this world. Thus, it’s hard for me to believe that all this appearance is natural.

Seriously, what’s with those legs? Those hips? Those melons?

I was quite the beauty in my old world, but this woman was on another level.

Completely disregarding my inner struggles, the woman in front of me clasped her hands together and came over to me with a relaxed expression.

“…Thank goodness. Both you and Hayato-kun are safe.”

She exhaled deeply as if deeply relieved, checking each of our faces and whether or not we were injured.

I glanced sideways to check on Hayato and saw him looking away embarrassed… I truly sympathized with that. This older sister was simply too poisonous to a boy of his age.

“…Uh, leaving Hayato aside, I don’t think I’ve been introduced to you.”

“Actually, I’m here to talk with you about that… This location is unsuitable, so first let’s move to where we can meet up with everyone else. Please follow me.”

With that, she turned on her heel and began to move, killing the sound of her footsteps… If Hayato called her “Nee-chan”, and her appearance matched that of her game NPC self, she must be Aini-san, the person we were looking for.

And she mentioned “everyone else”. This could probably be Iris and Reiji.

…I see, those two should be safe now.

With this assurance, I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that I have no choice but to follow her.

“Ah, Gantz-san?… Yes… I’ve found the other two, they seem to be unharmed… Okay, see you there.”

She was putting her hand over her ear and talking to someone as she went along. Perhaps it’s a magical tool of some kind to talk to people in a faraway place.

Back in the game, it could be rented in towns and were often used to make secret contacts, but in this world, no such store existed.

When I was still traveling with the merchants, I was the first to ask if I could somehow get my hand on such an item because of its usefulness, but I did not receive a favorable response. So why did this woman possess something that wasn’t sold on the market?

…There must be more to this woman than the kind and beautiful lady I once knew back in the game.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“…ey! Wake up!”

My consciousness slowly resurfaced as someone weakly slapped on my cheeks to wake me up.

So cold.

The feeling of the wet cloth sticking to my entire body was uncomfortable, and I felt as if my body heat and even my strength were being taken away from me every second.

What happened to me…?

The cold made it difficult for me to stay conscious.

Still, as I concentrated on retracing my memory, the events just before gradually came to the forefront of my mind.

The unexpected encounter.

While battling the enemy, the ground below us collapsed, and I jumped after Reiji-san who fell into the hole, then I got hit on the head and my consciousness went dark…

“…Reiji-san?!”

In an instant, my dazed consciousness was awakened, and my body sprang up…

“Argh?!”

“Idiot, don’t move so suddenly!”

The moment I tried to get up, a sharp pain came from my right shoulder and pierced through to the brain’s marrow.

As my vision flickered and greasy sweat ran down my forehead, Reiji-san gently laid my fragile form back down on my knees while looking at me with concern.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Despite everything else, we both managed to survive.

“…You got a dislocated shoulder and probably some torn muscle. You’re lucky I was able to make a sling from the stuff in my bag… Idiot, why do you always overexert yourself like that?”

“…I can say the same thing to you, Reiji-san.”

While enduring the oozing pain, I rebutted Reiji-san’s words with a pout. I quickly realized what I was doing and turned my face away.

“What’s with the ‘I knew you’d pull this crap again’ when I was trying to save your life? Not only did you interrupt me that one time, but you also told me to go back when you were falling to your death because ‘it’s dangerous’! How were you going to survive that fall on your own, Reiji-san?!”

He always chided others, including me, for being reckless, but ignored his own safety all the time.

I raised my voice in frustration, but regret washed over me as soon as I finished. I spoke out of line, didn’t I?

“It’s a good thing there’s water below us.”

Both Reiji-san and I were soaking wet, a true testament to the fact that we happened to fall into a deep pool of water.

I shifted my gaze elsewhere and immediately saw a scene not unlike the underground lake of a limestone cave I had seen once in my old world.

“Yeah, you’re right… Sorry about that.”

Reiji-san bowed his head to me in apology, and any remaining anger I had left was rapidly cooled with guilt.

“…No, it’s me who should apologize for losing my composure like that… You’ve done so much for me during the previous battle, even now you’re taking care of me…”

And he’d always been there for me since the beginning. I was too embarrassed to say that last part, though.

“Actually, how did we fall down here in one piece anyway?”

At the time I lost consciousness, it must have still been quite high in the air, since I couldn’t see anything below. If we had fallen straight down, we wouldn’t have gotten away mostly unharmed even with my “Protection” and the pool of water cushioning our fall.

“Well…”

Reiji-san started recounting what happened after I lost consciousness.

First, the reason I was knocked unconscious was because of debris falling on my head.

Second, the Reactive Shield enchantment of the “Clarte Iris” I was wearing was activated.

And last, Reiji-san quickly held me in his arms, leapt to the wall using a large piece of debris as foothold, jammed his sword into the wall and used it as a brake to slow down the fall, saw the pool of water below, jumped and landed in the water… and somehow carried me to where we were now.

The pool was clear, fresh water now that I looked at it calmly, but there was no way Reiji-san could see whether it’s deep enough to land, or whether it’s even normal water. That was a huge gamble between life and death, to say the least.

“…It’s still incredible even if you say that…”

We were only saved as a result of good luck on top of good luck.

Not to mention, the clothes I was wearing did indeed play a part in protecting me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to talk about this now.

…Thank you very much, Milly-san.

I inwardly expressed my gratitude to the person making my clothes, who was not present.

“Yeah, totally… I’m getting chills now that I’ve put everything into words… and the sword I usually use is completely trashed.”

I followed his finger pointing to the side and saw Reiji-san’s familiar sword lying there, broken. Half of its body was covered in cracks, and its blade was crushed.

“I already had the feeling that it was about to break when I got hit by that enemy attack up there… and somehow it managed to protect me and you until the very end… I salute you, partner.”

Reiji-san bid farewell to the sword he had been using ever since he came here, perhaps a bit saddened by his attachment to it.

“…Okay, so we’re now freezing and soaking wet all over. We’d better go somewhere that’s safe to light a fire and fix that shoulder of yours while we’re at it.”

“Why not here?”

“…We’re deep inside a mine, and unless you want us to go up in a not-so-pretty explosion, I wouldn’t advise you to light a fire in here. At least it looks like air is getting in, so we shouldn’t be suffocating.”

Yeah that doesn’t sound really pretty.

“I guess we could fly back the way we came…”

Reiji-san immediately shook his head and pointed upward. I turned my gaze toward that direction.

“So beautiful…”

The view was unexpected and spectacular.

I realized that we had been getting by without any lights since we fell down here. When I looked closely at the darkness, I could see that the entire ceiling, and even the floor, was covered with something that emitted a faint blue luminescence.

“It’s like I’m floating in a starry sky. What could this light be?”

“…Magic nullification stones, I’m afraid.”

“?!”

I remembered touching one of those when a peddler in town was selling it. This ambient light, all of it, was from those stones…?

“Iris, can you use magic?”

“Um… ‘Light’”

I chanted the most basic illuminating spell… and it’s as I feared, I got no response at all. In addition, the magic power that should have been flowing through my entire body was gone without a trace.

“It’s no good… I can’t get my wings out either…”

“Guess we’ll have to walk all the way then…”

Reiji-san’s words trailed off toward the end. Now that I think about it, he hadn’t moved from his position since he laid me down on my knees a while ago, could he actually…

“…Are you injured, Reiji-san?”

“Well… let’s just say the landing wasn’t exactly smooth.”

Reiji-san’s left arm was hanging slack, and he had not moved it since a few minutes ago… It’s not hard to imagine that because he was protecting me, he was struck without being able to defend himself.

“…My arm didn’t break or anything, and my legs are still good, aside from a twisted ankle… Don’t worry, I can still walk you out of here.”

“I’m sorry, if only I could be more helpful at this moment.”

“You should be happy that we’re both still alive… Thanks for saving me back there.”

He smiled at me, and I did my best to awkwardly return the smile.

By the way, I thought I felt something strange during the fall. It was like watching someone else moving my own body while I watched from a bird’s eye view, that kind of strange feeling.

What could it be…? It’s a vague memory, like an event in a dream, and it didn’t fit together well when I tried to pick it up.

“…Let’s get going. We can’t keep gawking at the scenery forever.”

With that, Reiji-san stood up and extended his hand to me.

He had a point. Even though we were saved for the time being, the current situation remained quite urgent.

“…I wonder if Nii-sama and Hayato-kun are okay.”

“I trust that Saul is sensible enough to get both of them to safety… I hope.”

“Then we should get back to them as soon as possible.”

I drowned out the anxiety that’s riddling my heart, grabbed Reiji-san’s hand, and put all the strength I could muster to somehow raise my weak legs-

CLANK

From far away, we heard footsteps of someone clad in metal greaves and froze on the spot.

“Quiet… Did you hear that?”

“That isn’t Nii-sama, is it…?”

None of us wore any metal armor when we came here, so this someone… or something, was unknown to us. We were both in no condition to fight properly and tension was running high.

CLANK

The sound of footsteps was getting louder and louder, as the unknown figure approached us without fail.

Reiji-san reached for the dagger strapped to his waist belt.

“Stay still… No matter what happens, I’ll protect you.”

Cold sweat dripping on his forehead, Reiji-san clumsily moved forward to shelter me… his legs clearly didn’t look very good. There’s nothing I can do now that I couldn’t stand up and use magic. I bit my lips in frustration.

As if to ridicule me, the unknown figure finally appeared out of the darkness.

A small humanoid dressed in full body armor.

“Dammit, a goblin?!”

Reiji-san clenched his teeth in rage. With his legs injured and his weapon gone, he was no match for even a normal goblin, let alone a goblin in full armor.

The goblin slowly moved his hands…

…Both hands raised. As if he was trying to tell us he isn’t hostile.

“…Eh?”

“…Huh?”

While we were frozen by the unexpected behavior, the goblin raised the visor of his helmet, revealing a definitely-a-goblin face, and opened his mouth…

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare. I’m not hostile. Can you calm down and hear me out?”

The goblin, while a bit broken in his speech, had a baritone, somewhat of a dandy voice.

My brain refused to comprehend what just happened.

“You…”

After a few seconds, my head finally caught up with the situation and began to work again.

Naturally, a voice escaped from both of our throats.

“YOU TALKED?!!!!”

…Uh, actually, it was a scream.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

While recasting the magic from time to time, we proceeded deeper into the tunnel. Once we were in a somewhat open area, we took a short break and dispel everyone’s concealment magic.

“Now that we’ve gotten this far, does anyone realize something’s off?”

“Pardon?”

I tilted my head at Nii-sama’s sudden remark.

“First, the blockade at the entrance is heavily corroded, and from the looks of it, it looks like this tunnel was closed quite some time ago… Yet this place is so clean.”

“Clean, you mean?”

“That’s right, for a place with a collapse warning, there isn’t that much rubble around. Not to mention the pathway…”

“Oh, I see.”

The pathway here felt like it had been stepped on and cleared constantly for frequent human traffic… to the extent that even I didn’t particularly struggle to walk on it.

“Here, come take a look. Iron tools get rusty pretty quick, but the ones lying around here look like they could be used right now.”

Reiji-san unceremoniously pulled out a shovel that was propped up beside him and inspected its cutting edge.

The rust on the shovel, which was sticking out of the ground, seemed awfully thin for a shovel that was supposed to be in contact with the soil for several years.

“If you ask me, I think the blockade is just a dummy to conceal whatever mining operations still going on here… but we can’t sit here and think about it, let’s move on.”

“Okay, then…”

The moment I tried to chant “Sneak” again…

With a booming sound, the wall of the road that we were just about to advance on blew away with a cloud of dust.

“Woah?!”

“Enemy attack?! That’s ridiculous, did it just detect us through the wall?!”

As the two of them quickly prepared themselves, a gigantic figure, perhaps more than two meters in height, appeared from the wall in front of them.

Back in the game, there were four ways the enemies would detect players: sight, hearing, life force detection commonly found in spirits and similar beings, and lastly…

“Magic detection…?!”

“Is that a troll?!”

…Magic detection. As in sensing the activation of magic as the magical power fluctuates.

But such a detection method was only available to magical creatures, not a normal, living organism like a troll!

“Now that we’ve been detected, we have no choice but to run when there’s an opening!”

“On it!”

Reiji-san was the first to get back on his feet and jumped to the frontline with Nii-sama. Meanwhile, a scream resounded behind me.

“Ah… Waaaaaaah?!”

Hayato-kun had used some means to conceal himself and disappeared from the corner of my eye, but that’s okay, as heartless as it may seem, it is more convenient for him to escape first.

“Let me support you! Everyone, full speed ahead!”

I unveiled the light wings on my back, and the inside of the tunnel was brightly illuminated. As I cast magic in rapid succession, the two of them were enveloped in the multicolored light of various support magic.

At any rate, the enemy in front of us… was the same kind as the “thing” we fought in the town before… as the severe headache told me.

Hayato

I ran away. Again.

When I came to my senses, I was running at full speed, leaving everyone behind.

Back there, Nii-chan and the others must be fighting. Even that Princess-neechan, who wasn’t that much taller than me, or even below me in stature.

What the hell am I doing?!

That was just too uncool.

I was the one who asked them to help me find Aini-neechan. I was the one who brought them, who should have nothing to do with this, into danger, so why was I the only one to run away?!

Back when it was still a game, just being exposed as an elementary school student changed the way some people looked at me. In VRMMOs, where the attitude directly bled through, I could see it,  whether I wanted to or not.

The eyes that assumed I was nothing but a nuisance even if I had done nothing wrong.

Eyes of disdain.

Eyes of contempt.

Eyes that constantly looked for mistakes.

And when they found even the slightest flaw, they looked at me with triumphant eyes as if they’ve just hit a jackpot.

I despised those eyes. Those who did worse than I would still look at me as if I was a noob because I was younger than them.

So, not wanting anyone to look down on me, I desperately tried to hone my skills, raise my level and pursue efficiency to not become a loser.

Eventually, people did consider me less of a noob, and I made a name for myself as a young but self-reliant player.

I thought I had become superior. I didn’t care about some lousy adult shaming me for being a kid to cope with the fact that they’d lost to someone younger.

But they couldn’t cope forever if a young boy like me was able to reach “that class” before they did.

Then the game became reality.

No matter how well I did in the game, could I still do it when it’s my new real life?

I couldn’t talk to strangers, couldn’t go shopping alone, and when it came to fighting, I couldn’t even muster the courage to go to the aid of the person important to me.

In the end, it was I who had to cope with the fact that I was nothing but a kid acting cool in a boxed yard where safety was guaranteed.

A kid like me could do nothing.

As always.

…So frustrating.

……I’m sick of it!

“Dammit, dammit, dammit! What the hell am I doing?!”

Did I grind my level for this?

Did I kick everyone else out to get my unique class for this?

I touched the handle of the weapon hidden in my coat. This was no child’s toy. It’s a lethal weapon.

When the town was under assault and I had to hide, the very same red-haired Nii-chan dashed in front of the endangered soldiers and mowed down the enemy horde in the blink of an eye.

I wanted to be like that too.

I’d always had a dream of becoming the hero like the protagonist of mangas and video games.

I can do it…!

“Goddammit! What did they feed this thing?!”

Reiji-san and Saul-niisama were desperately fighting off the enemy troll, but it’s clear that the troll was too powerful even the two of them… We couldn’t hold on forever like this!

“Use the chaff!”

“Got it!”

For caution’s sake, I reached inside my bag for a tube-shaped object.

Magic Disruptor, nicknamed “chaff” by the players. It’s an escape item that scatters flash of light and magic-powered shards to temporarily disable the enemies’ magic detection.

I pulled out the pin and threw the tube over the enemy’s head.

“Cover your eyes!”

As soon as I shouted, I covered my own eyes as well. Those two must have gotten the message, right?!

Instantly, a flash that could be felt even from behind closed eyelids filled the space.

I waited three seconds and opened my eyes to see the enemy troll holding his eyes and writhing in agony as countless shards of rainbow-colored shards fluttered down.

“Alright, let’s go…”

When Nii-sama was about to give the order to retreat…

“Aaaaargh?!”

“What?! Stupid Hayato, turn back!”

Out of thin air, Hayato-kun appeared behind the enemy and swung his previously-concealed weapon half in frenzy… a kodachi.

I could only recognize his slash as a flash of light.

With perfect timing and more than enough energy, Hayato-kun cut through the troll’s supposedly strong muscles and spine without even allowing him to resist.

Assassin-class’s special skill “Assassinate.”

Of all the physical damage skills, this skill boasted the highest multiplier if it caught the enemy off guard.

“I… I did it… I did it! See, fighting’s no big deal after all…!”

As Hayato-kun cheerfully confirmed that he had definitely finished the enemy with a single blow, the troll’s body slowly tilted in front of him, unable to support his huge body now that his back and spine had been severed, and collapsed into his knees.

Such is the power of “Assassinate”.

For the moment, we almost felt relieved. Almost.

Because the enemy was no regular living being to begin with.

The troll’s feet stomped on the earth again with a thud.

“……….Eh?”

In front of the stunned Hayato-kun’s eyes, “crystals” grew out of the troll’s wound and covered the upper half of his huge body like a grotesque breastplate.

“Eek?!”

The enemy turned his gaze on the little shadow that inflicted pain on him… he’s targeting Hayato-kun!

“’Chain Bind’!… Huh, it doesn’t work?! Hayato, run!!”

The troll’s whole body was entangled in Nii-sama’s magical chains, but he didn’t even bat an eye as he ripped them off and headed toward Hayato-kun.

Nii-sama’s skill wasn’t effective enough, and the troll’s bloodshot eyes of anger never left Hayato-kun, who he recognized as the biggest threat.

As if in slow motion, a fist covered with crystals, like a gauntlet, was raised to Hayato-kun’s eyes, who was still frozen by the unimaginable event.

Because he was within my reach, I impulsively pulled the rigid little body and dragged him behind me.

“Nee-chan?!”

Hayato-kun’s eyes widen in astonishment as he sat on his buttocks.

The enemy’s fist was now coming right in front of me. Time seemed to stretch out infinitely as I looked at the fist with a somewhat calm mind, despite it being probably fatal if it hit me cleanly.

It’s fine, though, I was prepared to take at least one hit from this.

I closed my eyes and protected my head in preparation for the impact that will come the next moment.

“Gah?!”

The impact didn’t come; instead, there was Reiji-san’s grunting and the sound of sword clashing.

When I fearfully opened my eyes, I saw his usual back standing there.

“I knew you’re gonna pull this crap again… dumbass!”

The enemy’s fist, raised again, had a dangerous gleam in it. Immediately, I cast a protective spell on both of us.

“’Wide Protection’!”

I felt my wings spreading behind my back.

Magic enveloped our bodies like a protective coating.

“Uooooohhh!!”

The protection was scraped away, but it bought Reiji-san enough time to narrowly parry the troll’s fist.

But the resulting shock from the impact shook the entire tunnel, and the ground beneath our feet cracked… A collapse?!

“Reiji-san?!”

In the blink of an eye, the supposedly thick layer of bedrock completely collapsed, opening a pitch-black hole with no bottom in sight.

While I managed to escape with my wings, Reiji-san, who was at the center of the collapse, had already fallen far down.

He’s going to die.

By the time I came to, I was already flying frantically down to him. Debris from the collapsed tunnel was raining down on me, and I suddenly had the illusion that somehow my body was moving on its own through the slowly flowing space.

A mysterious sensation of myself calmly overlooking my surroundings and frantically moving my body based on this information.

My body, which had been practicing but had not yet been able to fly properly, dodged the falling debris and, like a ray of lightning, caught up with the falling Reiji-san.

“Idiot, stop putting yourself in danger and go back!”

Why is this guy still like this even if he’s falling to his death?

I didn’t give a damn, I just kept flapping my wings and reached for Reiji desperately.

“Screw it! Just grab my hand already, Reiji!”

Even if I was shouting, I felt like I was in a trance or something.

For some reason, Reiji-san, who looked astonished, involuntarily grasped my hand, and at the same time, I clasped his hand with both of mine, flapping my wings to slow his fall.

“Argh…!”

A tremendous load was placed on my shoulders, and I felt a nasty shock coming from the right side. My sense of reality instantly returned.

“Hey, Iris, enough of this! I can figure something out, just let go…”

“NO! I’ll never… absolutely never let go of you…!”

The adrenaline rush dulled my pain, but my body was still shaking profusely and sending out dangerous signals that I am not in proper condition. But I’ll never let go of his hand…!

“…Iris, above you!!”

At Reiji-san’s sudden yell, I looked up, half in a daze…

“Ack?!”

A violent shock through my head…

My body went limp…

My consciousness was swallowed by darkness…

“Iris?! Iris!!…! …?!”

I could no longer hear anything as my consciousness completely sank into darkness…

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

Suddenly finding himself alone in another world.

The young boy, having just graduated from elementary school when he was suddenly thrown out on his own, with no one to turn to, no money on his person, and forced to live in the wild, running from monsters and bandits, a situation he had never experienced before.

That’s the story Hayato-kun told us.

“…So, I’m a player, just like you guys. Sorry for deceiving you…”

When Aini-san found him, he was already collapsed due to physical and mental exhaustion.

“I owe Aini-neechan a lot for taking in someone like me… but I can’t even stand up and fight for myself because I’m too afraid… so please, help me find her.”

He bit his lip and hang his head down in shame. When he had finished his story, I couldn’t help but…

“Wha-ack?!”

…I couldn’t help but want to hold him close.

“What was that for?! And why are you crying, Nee-chan?!”

“Because…”

How difficult it must have been for him to be suddenly thrown out of the sheltered environment of family.

As for me… I had to go through some terrible things that still make me shudder just to recall a few, I was soon sheltered by friends I could count on, and I had more people I could trust, so I wasn’t alone in the end.

Yet, the fear of being alone, even for less than half a day, was still etched in my mind.

I just couldn’t believe a child half my age was forced to spend days being alone and vulnerable like that…

“You must have suffered a lot… it must have been painful…”

I gently hugged his little body once more, with his head even lower than my short frame, and after a moment he began to shake his shoulders slightly.

“…I’ll make sure to find your sister and bring her home. I promise.”

I tapped him lightly on the back and muttered, and he gently nodded his head slightly in my chest.

Saul

After calming down, the boy promptly came to my side to avoid Iris.

He looked uncomfortable and stubbornly avoided looking at her, indicating that he was embarrassed that he had cried in a girl’s chest.

“Darn, I lost my composure back there… Hey Nii-chan, she’s the famous player called ‘Princess’ right? I thought she’s supposed to keep a distance from other players or something.”

“Well… she can be touch-starved at times. It isn’t easy having to keep your guard up all day, you know.”

When it was still a game, in order to keep up the “Princess” image among players, we avoided getting to close to people other than us, while behaving as fairly as possible with them.

Of course, it was to conceal the true person inside… Though, that person was kind of gone now.

“…I think it could be that you’re the first younger player she’s met over here.”

For someone constantly seen as a target of protection like her, she probably wanted to be on the protecting side for once when she saw a younger boy…

Though, Iris might think she’s in her 20s, but on the other hand, there is almost no difference between the boy’s mental age and Iris’s external age. It must be hard on the poor fella to be hugged by a girl he thought to be his age.

“Huh? For real? How old is she?”

“Twenty.”

That was actually my age. And Iris was supposed to be my little sister at the moment.

“Wow, so she’s an old auntie… Eep!”

I smiled at the little boy who made the unnecessary comment, and he suddenly paled and fell silent.

Oops, I didn’t know why he was so scared, but whatever. One does not simply call a 20-year-old woman “old auntie”.

Satisfied with the boy’s completely frightened appearance (for some reason), I continued.

“I’m going to talk with her about this later, so don’t worry.”

“I hope so… She really caught me off guard with that one, you know… Seriously, how could a person smell so good…”

The second half of the last part was probably meant to be a monologue, but unfortunately I could hear it. The boy, probably recalling the feeling he had just experienced, turned his completely red face away.

Yep, that must have been poisonous to a still-pure middle-schooler.

I gently put my hand on his shoulder.

“Again… This is strictly a problematic behavior on Iris’ part, so don’t get the wrong idea, okay?”

“…What the hell?! Why are you looking at me so menacingly?!… Stop, it hurts!”

The boy’s shoulder seemed to be creaking, but it must have been my imagination.

“If you dare to lay a hand on her, I think I don’t need to tell you what’s going to happen…”

“ENOUGH!”

“Ack?!”

Suddenly, I felt a light impact on the back of my head. I looked up to see Iris standing nearby with her staff at the ready.

“How could you say such mean things to a young child, Nii-sama you utter fool?!”

Iris, looking clearly outraged, quickly sheltered the boy in her arms to get him away from me…

“Utter fool…”

“Young child…”

Both of us became depressed at what she had just called us.

Iris

“Looks like this is the place.”

Reiji-san murmured.

Spreading before our eyes was a huge tunnel entrance dug out of a cliffside, which must have been quite developed.

Wooden scaffolding was set up in places to allow visitors to descend into the tunnel. This must have been a mining site once. However…

“Weird… I don’t see any enemies.”

The goblins we had expected to see were nowhere to be found. It was eerily quiet around us.

“…It’s daytime, so they may still be wandering around in the tunnels. Everyone, stay sharp. We’re moving in.”

Nii-sama gave a grim reminder. In the worst case, an engagement may become inevitable in a constricted space like a tunnel. Tension lit up everyone’s face.

“By the way, Iris… Can you still ‘sense’ it?”

“…Yes. It’s here, without a doubt.”

My headache had been getting progressively worse since a few minutes ago. The “Wound” was definitely in here somewhere, I’m sure of it.

“I see… Well, hang in there, we’re just here to scout today. Once all the mercenaries are here, we’ll purify it for good, okay?”

“…Yes.”

We had no way of knowing what’s inside. Perhaps there were enemies like the one we encountered in the previous town. In that case, we’d be woefully underprepared for it.

Meanwhile, Hayato-kun, who was crouching down and investigating the footprints that remained from earlier, stood up.

“…Those footsteps apparently lead into that tunnel.”

Hayato-kun, on a hill overlooking the mining camp, tried to track the footprints… which he said was a skill of his class, and pointed to one of the many entrances.

When I checked with my enhanced eyesight using “Eagle Eye,” I found evidence of a blockade with a warning sign that said, “Danger of collapse, no entry”. The chain-and-fence blockade had already been broken, however.

“There’re signs of people coming and going in this place.”

“I see… But how did you do that, was it an exploring-type or stealth-type ability you have?”

“…I’m a stealth-class player. Anyway, we should hurry.”

“Sure. Iris, you ready?”

“Always. Well then, the first rendezvous point is at the bottom of those stairs.”

There was a storage area down those stairs which also served as a shelter from the rain. After specifying its location, I prepared my magic.

Invisibility and noise cancelling magic. The downside was that we couldn’t sense ourselves either. Therefore, if we didn’t decide on a safe area before use, we would lose our way in the worst case.

“I’ll go first. Reiji, take care of Iris for me.”

“Sure thing, I’ve got this… I hope.”

“I’m counting on you, then.”

There’re many places down here whose footing isn’t good, like a suspension bridge. I can only hope this would be a smooth ride.

“Hayato, what about you?”

“I can just follow your footsteps. Worst case, I can manage on my own, don’t worry.”

With that as confirmation, I began to cast magic. We turned invisible with “Sneak”, then our noise was drowned out with “Silent Move”.

My body was lifted up right after, probably because Reiji-san was holding me. I held onto what was probably his sleeve, and the scenery began to flow.

…Our infiltration mission had begun.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

The boy asking us for help was now leading the way.

His jet-black hair has a lock tied in a tuft, and he was dressed like a typical boy of this region.

To recap, he became stranded in this town one month ago with no idea of where he had come from, but a woman he referred to as “older sister” picked him up and took care of him.

While listening to his story, we were walking along the hills away from the town, guided by him, toward the place where his sister usually collects medicinal herbs.

“Uh, are you sure you’re okay to bring this slow-looking Nee-chan along?”

“Ahahahaha…”

The boy stared at me in suspicion.

Well, I couldn’t deny that I’m slow…

“Well, we’re trying to avoid combat as much as possible… It’s not like we’re starting something big down there, we’re gonna be fine… If anything goes wrong, I’ll carry you and run, don’t worry.”

“I appreciate that, but please be gentle, okay?”

“S-Sure.”

Actually, when he runs at full speed, I get really dizzy… so let’s hope that scenario wouldn’t come to pass.

“…Are Nii-chan and Nee-chan dating?”

““NO WAY!!””

We shouted in unison at the sudden question.

The boy who asked was looking at us with a cold stare, while Nii-sama shook his head from a distance…

“Are we really okay with those two around…?”

The boy’s suspicious gaze was painful…

“…Uh, it feels kind of uncomfortable walking around without armor.”

“So do I…”

The two people who usually wore full armor were now only clad in fabric clothing and a little leather. This was a stealth operation, so light equipment was preferred, but it was still of high quality, nonetheless.

I was dressed as usual, but with a lower-ranked staff because my usual one would make noise when I walked.

In any case, the fighting power was much reduced. Therefore, we must avoid combat as much as possible.

“That aside, I want to ask you something…”

“My name? Hayato.”

“Hmm… Sounds like an Eastern Islander name if you ask me.”

“…I don’t know, I don’t remember anything.”

“If you say so.”

Nii-sama let the matter slide without pursuing it further.

I had some doubt about the boy’s story, but I guess there is no need to pursue something that he does not seem to want to say.

“By the way, is the person you’re looking for… Aini-san who runs a pharmacy in East Street?”

The name “Aini” that Nii-sama spoke of was a rather famous NPC back in the game.

She was only a simple questgiver sometimes showed up, but her beauty, style and gentle demeanor made her a huge hit among the playerbase.

People who wanted a break from the daily grind went out of their way to get into this remote area, and as I recall, there was even a fan club…

“…Yeah, but why did you ask?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to ask you if you knew her or not.”

Nii-sama simply shrugged his shoulders.

He’d been talking with Hayato-kun quite frequently since a while ago… Well, I’ll just let him be, he’s better at this kind of thing than I am.

Then, after walking for a while through the hilly terrain, we came to a wooded area slightly off the beaten path.

“Here they are, these footprints. She used to collect medicinal herbs around here, so I’m probably right.”

Hayato-kun pointed to footprints that looked like they belonged to a woman and a smaller child.

The ground was muddy and wet from the melting snow, and the footprints were clearly visible.

If she was really taken away by goblins, then I had a really uncomfortable feeling about this.

“Though, I didn’t see any signs of struggle around here… and she seemed to walk on her own two feet.”

“Right. If she was forcibly taken away, there should be no footprints, or she should have resisted and been more disheveled… These footprints were heading straight in a specific direction.”

If it turned out that the goblin in question was a hobgoblin like the ones we met the other day, then it’s no big deal, but we should always expect the worst.

“Now that you mention it, I’d been too upset to notice it… But doesn’t that mean…”

“Yeah, while we don’t know why a goblin is accompanying her, she’s probably safe for the moment.”

“Nee-chan…!”

Hayato-kun tried to run off as he saw a glimmer of hope, but Nii-sama caught him.

“Hold it, I’m just saying that we have a better chance of saving her, but we’re still headed to a tunnel full of monsters you know?”

“Y-Yeah…”

He reluctantly obeyed, but his gait was thick with impatience.

Saul

That kid was definitely not normal, I thought.

Hayato, still overeager, tried to hurry ahead. That alone would be normal… if he wasn’t walking so fast.

We’d been walking for a good while. Any normal kid should be getting tired by now, but this little boy was fast enough to leave Iris and even Reiji in the dust.

If he was really a local boy, he might be used to traversing this area, but he said he was found collapsed in this town one month ago.

The timing was nearly identical to ours. So far, we had enough clues to turn our suspicions into certainties.

…Or I should say, I was convinced of it a long time ago.

“…Hey, Hayato.”

“What’s the matter, handsome Onii-chan?”

“…Are you a player?”

“?!”

The small body in front of me visibly shook.

“…How do you know?”

“The first thing I noticed was the way you walk. You have a weapon hidden in your waistband, don’t you?”

He was wearing a long tunic, which was perfect to hide a weapon within. However, unlike in the game, weapons had considerable weight, especially for a small boy like Hayato, and that was reflected in his slightly shaky gait.

No normal kid walked around while hiding a weapon in his clothes.

“Moreover, when we asked about Aini-san earlier, why didn’t you question how we knew her name, despite we having just arrived in this town and never met her all this time?”

“T-That’s…”

“Because you immediately recognized us as fellow players but simply hid it, correct?”

After a moment of hesitation, he gave a small nod as if giving up.

“You look rather young. How old are you over there?”

“…I’m a first-year in middle school. I started playing when I was a fourth-year in grade school.”

As I suspected. In the game, when creating a character, you couldn’t set them too far away from their real-life height. The exception would be if you switched characters like we did.

Afterward, it was optional for them to grow their avatar to their own height, but as far as I know, I had never heard of anyone doing so, because they did not want to ruin the integrity of their avatars.

The boy was only just tall enough to be at the lower end of the height limit for avatar creation, so his real-life age was also roughly predictable.

“…Well, it’s hard to be thrown out into a world like this and asked to fight for your life, isn’t it?”

It’s a bit much to ask of a child who has just graduated from grade school. The harsh attitude was also unavoidable, considering the circumstances.

“…You don’t think I’m a wimp or anything right?”

“No, that’s perfectly normal. It’s us who are heretical for having adapted to this world.”

I said that, but I was only able to do that because circumstances forced me to do so. As a result of throwing myself into battle with all my might for the person I want to protect, I somehow managed to adapt.

…If we had reunited with Onii-chan in the first town without incident, I think there’s a good chance that we would have continued to live an ordinary life in that town.

“…Then I have something to ask, Nii-chan. Are you afraid of fighting?”

“…Yes. We’d gone through a lot of pain to reach this point.”

It was especially bad when I fought the goblins in the previous town. I cried all night long in the chest of a little girl, now much smaller than I was, and I still smirked in embarrassment when I remember it.

“Of course I’m still scared… but I have to fight if I want to protect the people close to me in this world, so I’m trying really hard to push myself to pick up the sword, that’s all.”

“That’s because you are adults… I just can’t…”

The look of frustration on his face made me decide to leave him alone for now. Because a child shouldn’t develop the resolve to kill others…

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

It wasn’t until late at night that we finished dealing with the aftermath of the attack… We had to spend the night in a corner of the soldiers’ quarters next to the outer walls, gracefully provided by their commanding officer.

The next morning, at the mayor’s summons, we travelled all the way across the town to his mansion, which was located in the area where the wealthy lived.

Apparently, he had a dispute with everyone in the mercenary company the last time they visited this town, so they weren’t invited this time.

Only Nii-sama, Reiji-san and Milly-san accompanied me to see the mayor while the mercenaries stayed behind to discuss future operations with the stationed soldiers.

“Good grief… I don’t expect him to do anything funny in our first meeting, but be prepared to run in any case. And do not touch whatever is offered to you.”

Nii-sama warned me again, for the umpteenth time today.

I’d already applied magic to increase resistance to abnormal statuses such as poison and paralysis, but you can never be too careful.

…Because this mayor didn’t look friendly at the slightest.

If what the soldiers told us was true, it’s obvious that he’s hiding something he doesn’t want anyone to find in the goblin-infested mineshaft. Perhaps he called us here to warn us against investigating it.

This meeting could very well be a trap of some kind.

“…Let’s get this over with. Iris and Milly, stay close to Reiji at all times. Reiji, I trust you can look after them?”

“Gotcha.”

After Reiji-san nodded as a confirmation, Nii-sama knocked on the extravagant door… At this point we already know very well about the nouveau riche taste of its owner.

When the servant led us into the parlor, the mayor was already there waiting for us.

…At first glance, it was hard to believe that this was the home of a town mayor whose major industry was stagnant and in trouble, with its soft, expensive-looking carpets and large amount of furnishings.

“We’ve finally met, travelers. Come, take a seat.”

Acting overly friendly, the mayor guided us to our seats. However…

“…Five of them.”

“Not too many to deal with, then.”

Nii-sama and Reiji-san whispered to each other.

It seemed that the mayor’s goons were already in place. But they weren’t enough to make the two of them panic. The only problem was if there’s something in the tea or air, that had already been taken care of unless there was something wrong.

The mayor started asking us questions. How we acquired our current abilities at a young age, where we were born and where we lived.

Nii-sama was entrusted with the responsibility of conversing, and the talk proceeded smoothly, even if it was only on the surface.

“…Now that I’ve heard of your heroic deeds yesterday, I would like to extend an offer of working under my command to you.”

So this is what he’s trying to do. Unfortunately, we don’t want to become anyone’s pawns here.

“Of course, I’ll reward you nicely…”

For us, whose money in the game didn’t transfer over to this world and only had the reward money from the previous town, it certainly looked like a huge sum.

Since we weren’t present during the mercenaries’ previous stay in this town, he probably judged us to be their newest recruits and wanted to lure us to his side with money.

However, Nii-sama quickly interrupted the mayor by raising his hand.

“Pardon my interruption, but if this is what you’re after, then we respectfully decline. If you ask us to lend a helping hand for the time being to protect this town, I am willing to cooperate, but I have no intention of being employed by a person who is in charge of the town but has no intention of doing his job.”

Suddenly, at Nii-sama’s words, which could be described as impolite, one could see the blood vessels rising on the mayor’s forehead.

“…It’s wonderful that you youngsters are being so brave, but I’m only telling you this because I see you as skilled mercenaries… Yes, it’s just business, no need to make it personal…”

“You seem to have misunderstood something… We are simply travelers and not mercenaries to begin with.”

Nii-sama interrupted the mayor again.

We were only cooperating with the mercenary company, and not strictly their members.

“B-But you are with those mercenaries, aren’t you? I don’t think you were with them when they stayed here before…”

“We are only accompanying them on their journey as a favor, out of a personal relationship. Their employer is acquainted with us.”

The mayor was at a loss for words. He must have realized that the person employing the “La Cercueil” is the Count ruling over this region.

To mess with the Count’s guests meant inviting trouble, I’m sure the mayor knows that much.

Well, calling us the Count’s guests was kind of a bluff. Fortunately, we had the power to back that up, as shown yesterday.

“Not to mention…”

Nii-sama took a sip of the tea that was offered to him… and immediately spat it out.

His eyes narrowed quickly, taking on a menacing hue.

“Serving your guests tea spiked with Dreamgrass nectar is the peak of etiquette, don’t you think?”

“Guh…”

Dreamgrass… When I was unable to unveil my wings due to trauma, I had to take medicine with it as an ingredient to be able to sleep. Since Nii-sama was the one making that medicine, he was able to detect the slightest discomfort when tasting that particular nectar… After all, I had to take that medicine for a while.

…Come to think of it, Ayame was good at tasting water and rice for some reason.

“It seems that we’re not welcome here. If you leave us out of whatever you’re plotting, then we won’t pursue this matter. Now, if you excuse us.”

We all got up from our seats.

There was a sense of killing intents around us, but when Reiji-san crawled his hand to the sword at his waist, they seemed to pull back.

“…If you don’t have my approval, it would be easy to make it impossible for you to even get lodging in this town. You’re going to regret this.”

“Who’s going to regret it, we shall see about that.”

My brother left such a parting remark with his most wicked princely smile, and we left the mayor’s house.

“Good grief… I had a hunch this would happen, but that wasn’t a negotiation from the beginning…”

Nii-sama went limp as soon as he was out of human eyes. His inner Ayame was leaking.

“Ahaha… Good work back there, Mr. Ambassador.”

“I’m so tired…”

As soon as he said that, he wrapped me in for a hug.

“Can we keep like this for a while? Ah… I feel like I’m being healed…”

At the sight of Nii-sama acting so silly, I smile wryly, pat him on the back and let him do as he pleases.

“…But you know, that was still a pretty dramatic way of telling him to sod off. You literally declared war on him.”

“Sorry… But there’s no doubt it’s going to happen sooner or later.”

“For god’s sake… They could have hidden the greed in their eyes a bit better when they looked at Iris and Miriam.”

“I know right…”

“To be honest, it creeped me out, nya…”

Just like yesterday, the mayor, let alone his underlings, looked at me as if I were a merchandise to sell for money.

“This country bans the trading of slaves, but it’s very likely he’s got some outside connections… Do not travel alone, at all costs.”

I nodded deeply at that.

“…Anyway, where are we going to stay?”

“I wish we’d found accommodation earlier, nya…”

With such an ominous statement from Miriam-san, we began to stroll around the town with a gloomy feeling.        

Several hours later

“…I didn’t expect that mayor to act this fast.”

“We got turned away everywhere we go…”

The sun was high in the sky, even beginning to set, and we were quickly at our wit’s end…

The town’s main street ran alongside a mountain stream that flowed through the valley, and the sights and sounds of the gentle stream would normally soothe my soul, but I was in no mood for that right now.

“Looks like we don’t have much choice other than borrowing the soldiers’ quarters again.”

“Yeah… but that would only be a temporary solution.”

“I agree… I wish someone would let us rent a room.”

Such a slim hope that was.

At least the townspeople weren’t being completely hostile to us, since they did know we saved the town yesterday.

“Well, can’t exactly blame them for that. We have no idea what tricks that mayor has up his sleeves… Huh?”

“Is somebody arguing?”

Someone was arguing with the soldiers at the gate.

“I’m telling you, Nee-chan is kidnapped, so please hurry up and rescue her! Please, I beg you!”

It was a young boy, clearly in distress.

We looked at each other and quickened our steps toward him.

At the scene, we found the officer and Zeltis-san arguing with a boy about ten or twelve years of age.

“Is he a kid from this town?”

“I’m not so sure…”

“He said his sister was kidnapped right? Depending on the situation, we could have an emergency on our hand.”

“In any case, we should hear him out immediately.”

Nii-sama seemed to be thinking something, but we all nodded to each other and approached the officer.

“Excuse me, everyone, what’s going on here…”

“…?! It’s you guys?! You all are strong people, aren’t you?! Please, help me…!”

Upon seeing us, the boy immediately drew closer with a fierce look.

After somehow quieting him down, we listened to what he had to say.

He wasn’t originally from this area, but a woman who worked as a pharmacist in this town found him lying around here alone and picked him up… he had been living in her care since.

“Nee-chan was out of town collecting medicinal herbs because she needed a lot of medicine right now… but she still hasn’t come back. When I looked for her, I found some goblin-like footprints!”

“Well, as much as we would like to help you, we are not allowed to move on our own without permission from the higher-ups…”

The officer told the boy apologetically.

“It’s a shame to say it, but so are we. It would be unwise if I act rashly and jeopardize the company in this place where we had an earlier dispute with its ruler… Maybe the Captain will approve of it, though.”

Said Zeltis-san.

Soldiers on official duty and mercenaries with a reputation to protect. Neither of them could act on their own, that meant…

“Oh well, guess we’ll just have to go… Saul, you okay with that?”

“……No objection. But… we’ll have to talk with you later, okay?”

The boy’s shoulders shook with fear at the words directed at him, and his gaze wandered.

“Nii-sama, you don’t have to say something that threatening…”

“…Hmph.”

Nii-sama turned away grimly. Clearly something had been eating at him for a while now, but he didn’t seem to be opposed to going to help.

“It’s settled then. Me, Saul and…”

“I’ll pass. I’m simply no good in an infiltration mission, nya.”

Milly, who is a magician specializing in firepower, was simply not suited for action in tight places such as tunnels.

“That leaves…”

“Yeah…”

Reiji-san and Nii-sama turned toward me.

“Iris, do you mind waiting here with everyone else…”

“Thanks, but I refuse.”

“As I expected…”

I answered immediately with a smirk, and Reiji-san and Saul-niisama’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

Normally, they would fiercely oppose my decision, but…

“Of everyone here, Iris is the most useful for infiltration.”

That’s the reason. Bishop class was actually second only to the Assassin or Archer series of classes in this type of covert ops, because they possessed a spell that conceals the appearance of those around them.

Milly-san also had a magic that makes her disappear, but it only applies to herself. Instead, it has the advantage of being able to prepare magic while being unseen, although it is a difference in class design and not the superiority of either.

For once, I had the right to choose whether or not to accompany them, and I would not accept a rejection.

So, an operation to rescue the boy’s older sister was hastily decided.

I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear Nii-sama muttering “Alright, excuse get” with a bad expression.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

My healing magic spread across the battlefield, and one by one, the fallen soldiers rose up, their faces bewildered.

…However, only half of them came back to life.

The other half were left lying there with nothing happening to them.

I thought I was prepared for this, but it is excruciating to actually see the bodies of the deceased in front of me. However, there were things I have to do now. I only offered a silent prayer and pushed it away to the corner of my thoughts.

“Can you keep going?”

“…Yes, I’m a little tired, but I think I can still cast a few more area-of-effect healing spells.”

“Alright, I’m going to let you down now. Don’t stay too far from me.”

Saul-niisama slowly descended and gently lowered me to the ground. Reiji-san, noticing this, joined us once more.

“Reiji-san, are you hurt anywhere?”

“Those things barely landed a single strike on me. So, what’s next?”

“Can I entrust you with cleaning up those still inside the town? I’ll work with the remaining soldiers to prevent any further incursions.”

“Loud and clear!”

They clapped their hand together and split off in opposite directions, Reiji-san toward the town and Saul-niisama toward the gate. I followed the latter suit.

“…Is anyone left in command here?!”

One soldier raised his voice in response to Nii-sama’s loud call.

“Me! I’m their commanding officer!”

“Rally the surviving soldiers and gather them at the gate. My companions are coming to the rescue, so please don’t panic and hold the line until they arrive. Reiji… our friend, was already on his way to deal with the enemies inside the town.”

“Roger that!… I really appreciate your assistance.”

“Okay, if you or anyone gets wounded, just retreat and stay back alright?”

“…Understood. You heard the man! All hands, regroup!”

The soldiers, having come to their senses, took up their positions.

Outside the gate, Milly-san and Lenny-san high-firepower magic was bombarding the enemies, drawing their attention away from us, so only sporadic attacks came this way…

The cleanup did not take much time.

“…Is this… over?”

A soldier mumbled.

As far as the eye can see, there was no more monster left standing.

“Yeah, it’s over…”

“We’ve won… We’ve endured…!”

The soldiers, finally realized that the battle had ended, let out a few cheers of victory.

Soon, however, their voices faded, and once the survivors were identified, they began recovering the bodies of their comrades.

…Many people had died. These were people who had been with them just yesterday. How much regret must they be feeling right now?

“It’s not your fault, miss. If anything, it wouldn’t have been like this if it weren’t for you.”

“Yes, I probably wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t come along… Thank you so much for that.”

The people who were working with a somber look on their faces still called out to me not to worry as they passed by.

“Um, can I help…”

I was about to approach when a soldier stopped me. He was the one who collapsed near Reiji-san at that time… I think.

“No, you’ve helped us enough. We would be sorry if we had to bother you any longer… Please take a rest, you’ve earned it.”

“…Yes.”

With that admonition, there was nothing more I could do. I turned on my heel to leave.

“Allow me to tell you this too! I was about to give up on everything back there, but thanks to you… I can still return home, and I won’t make my soon-to-be-married girlfriend cry! I’m forever grateful to you!”

“That’s…” 

I turned my head around, and gave him the best smile I could muster…

“That’s good to hear! I hope you return home safe and sound!”

…After squeezing those words out, I walked away.

As I stood there, standing helplessly outside the circle of soldiers who were seeing off the corpse of their comrades, who were to be taken to the capital for a funeral, someone tapped me on the shoulder.

“Now that I think about it, this is the first time since we’ve been here that we haven’t been able to save someone right in front of us.”

“…Nii-sama.”

“Let’s not get in their way here. Come with me.”

With that said, he pulled back his hand and took me to the shadows of the outer wall, to an empty place.

Then, when no one could see us, he held me close to his chest.

As much as I was surprised, I also felt that Nii-sama’s body was trembling slightly, and I realized that I was not the only one who is frustrated.

With only him patting on my back for comfort, I cried in silence…

After having calmed down, we looked around the area where the battle had taken place, tilting our necks as we reflected on what had just happened in the battle.

By the way, Reiji-san, who was the first to burst into the scene, was currently surrounded by the soldiers and looked troubled by their praise.

As for me, I was desperately trying to stave off the embarrassment of hearing those looking at me from afar occasionally calling me “Saintess…”.

Nii-sama looked at me with a wry smile.

But I digress. The sun had set, and the area was in the midst of cleaning up the battlefield, with fires burning the bodies of the goblins in various places. In the town, the fighting had stopped, and the townspeople were beginning to show up on the streets.

“…But those goblins were certainly weird, weren’t they?”

“Yeah, it’s like fighting undead or something… I couldn’t sense any will from them when we fought.”

Unlike the goblins from before, they lacked any kind of tactics and just charged at anything in the vicinity. Thanks to this, they were attacked from two different sides, and their forces were dispersed in a disorderly manner, so in the end they were easy opponents…

As I walked past one of the goblin corpses on the battlefield… I felt a sharp pain in my head. I turned the corpse over and examined it…

Immediately, I found the anomaly.

“What’s this…”

“Iris, did you find something?”

Nii-sama noticed the situation and peeked from above.

“…Take a look at this, Nii-sama.”

I rolled up the edges of the clothes the corpse was wearing, and there was a previously familiar crystalline body of something that had lost its luster and cracked, buried in the body.

“So it’s just like that time… No wonder those goblins acted weird.”

The shadowy monster formed from the bandits’ remains some time ago also had a similar-looking crystal in its body. So it seemed likely that this attack was related to the “Wound” that opened up a few days ago…

“Excuse me, officer, can I ask you something?”

“Oh, it’s you… Thanks to your help, the damage was minimal. Please, ask away.”

Nii-sama called out to the officer who happened to be passing by. He was giving instructions to those around him, but still, when he saw us, he gladly complied.

“Do you know if there is anything unusual or different going on in that direction?”

“Oh, that…”

Looking in the direction I pointed, the captain looked as if he was biting a bitter bug.

“…So there’s something?”

“Yes… A stone’s throw away in that direction will lead you to a new mineshaft occupied by goblins. There were a lot of people walking along that path, so you’ll be able to find your way easily… However, we haven’t been able to investigate due to the strong opposition from the mayor in charge of this town. We sent a message to our headquarters in the capital and were waiting for the reply from the lord to give us permission to investigate… then all of this happened.”

“That’s strange. When the town’s main industry was taken away and there was even a goblin raid, I’d expect the mayor to be more cooperative…”

The mayor’s actions were awfully suspicious no matter how we look at it.

“…Is there something he doesn’t want anyone to see?”

As Nii-sama mumbled something, the officer, who was staring at his profile, called out to him fearfully.

“Um… I’ve always wondered about this… but are you His Highness Saulquez, by any chance?”

“…?! N-no, what are you talking about…?”

Uh oh, Nii-sama lost his cool. Don’t worry, I understand how you feel.

Come to think of it, it’s not often that Nii-sama get caught in this kind of situation…

“…I’m sorry, I have my own reasons. I would appreciate it if you would do your best to keep this matter as private as possible.”

“I see… If you really are… then the young lady here must be…”

“Ahaha… Sorry, I have my own reasons too.”

“Uh…”

“I’ll talk about the details later on when I have the chance, so please keep it to yourself for now.”

“Please, I ask of you.”

“O-okay, I get it, you don’t have to bow your head like that! I’ll keep this matter a national secret!”

When I bowed my head, the officer got flustered and quickly made a promise to us.

Nii-sama, who had been caught off guard because these developments usually come to me until now, hurriedly put on the hood of his own cloak, and I laughed at the sight of him.

The fleeting moments of tranquility were interrupted when the town became more noisy and bustling. For some reason, all the soldiers around us turned tense.

“Ohhhh… I had heard that some unknown travelers had joined you, but I can’t thank you enough for protecting our town…!”

A middle-aged man in a very rich-looking costume and accessories walks toward us from the back of the town, shouting loudly. When his gaze turned to me for a moment, hawking his surroundings, I felt a chill run down my back. It was like he wasn’t looking at me as a person, just how much money he could get from me.

As I huddled closer to Nii-sama, he nonchalantly changed his position to hide me behind his back, perhaps noticing this.

…What a nasty gaze. I tried to hold back my knees from shaking as bad memories that I thought were long healed haunted my mind again.

Behind us, the officer whispered to our ears.

“That’s the mayor… He was the one who brought in a large number of ruffians from who-know-where disguised as miners in his service, so be careful around him. Neither he nor his cronies are pleasant to be around.”

“…If that isn’t obvious enough.”

Accompanying the mayor was someone who definitely looked more like a gangster than a governor’s attendant, looking at those around him menacingly… And to think that he didn’t even lend a hand to help in the battle just now.

People change as places change. Because the people in the previous town had been so kind to me, I was now keenly aware that this was not going to be the case here.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“……ey!!… ake up! Hey!”

I was woken up by someone shaking my shoulders.

I think I was dreaming about something, but I could no longer remember… What was I doing just now?

My vision was blurred from sleep, and for some reason I saw everyone peering at me anxiously. I tilted my head to look at them.

“…For now, Iris-chan, take this.”

With that said, Philias-san held out to me… a handkerchief?

“Wipe it away, will you?”

When she said so and pointed to my cheeks, I involuntarily touched them… and felt something wet.

“Eh…? Is this… tears?”

“Yeah. You were crying in your sleep just now… Are you really alright?”

In the past few days, I had been waking up more and more often like this. I think I was definitely dreaming about a certain thing… but no matter how much I tried to remember, I could not retrieve that scattered memory.

“You don’t get much sleep at night, do you?”

That’s kind of true, I felt myself sleeping less or sleeping much less due to the constant dull pain in my head. Therefore I often fell into a shallow sleep during daytime, just like this…

“I’m fine. I just have a little trouble sleeping, that’s all.”

“Well, I’ll take your word for it… If there’s something wrong, just tell me right away, okay?”

“You don’t have to worry about me that much… Rather, aren’t those two the ones you should be worrying about?”

I was talking about the two who were taking turns to drive the carriage. They were the only ones with experience in driving a carriage, and I was more worried about their fatigue than myself.

“So, where are we now?”

“Um, let me see, just one more hill and we’ll reach the town we’re heading to…”

It had been a day since we crossed the border and parted ways with the merchant party. We were finally about to arrive at our destination, the next town.

When we passed the hill and were about to see our destination…

“…?!”

All of us gasped.

The town that was our destination… Small shadows crowded around the exterior walls that were set up to block the canyon, as if the gray walls were covered in black.

“…Hey, aren’t those goblins? Let’s hurry up and kick their asses!”

The first to spot the goblins, Weiss-san, shouted in agitation.

I activated “Eagle Eye” myself to take a good look at the situation… The gate had already been breached, and the reddening figures being trampled upon by the black shadows… are those people?

“No… are we too late?!”

“…I don’t think so, it doesn’t look like it has been breached very long yet. We must hurry nonetheless.”

“Even if you say that, I can’t go any faster…”

The vibrations in the interior of a rented carriage were quite severe, and even if the horse still had some strength left, the carriage could topple over or disintegrate if it is not handled properly.

While everyone was feeling impatient, a hand went up… Reiji-san’s.

“If that’s the case… I’m going to break past those gobs somehow and save anyone inside. Iris, can you use your support magic on me?”

“…Understood. I’m going to do that to everyone as well. Since I can’t expose my wings when I go outside, let’s get it done while I still can.”

I nodded in agreement and apply as much support magic as possible to everyone currently in the carriage. Just this much wasn’t enough to make me fatigued, and there was still plenty of time to spare.

However, Reiji-san, who was sitting directly in front of me, still looked uneasy. The small shadows that could be seen on the way to the destination were so numerous and crowded.

“Please take care of yourself out there.”

“Of course. I’ll try to save as many people as possible until you arrive. After that… it’s your job.”

“…Yes.”

After patting me on the head a few times to calm my worrying mind, Reiji-san flipped up the top and jumped down from the back of the carriage, and with explosive acceleration, the overtook the carriage and moved away from here.

“And off he goes. Reiji-san is really fast, isn’t he?”

“Agreed… I don’t think I’m a match for him anymore… so don’t worry about that, Miss Iris.”

“…Pardon?”

As I looked off at Reiji-san’s back, which was quickly fading into the distance, a voice called out to me unexpectedly.

“He’s strong. Or rather, he got way stronger than before. Remember how we often spar with each other? The first few days, I had the upper hand… however, he’s caught up considerably since. I really can’t be careless when fighting him anymore…”

Zeltis-san had a bitter smile on his face, as if he were troubled. Did that mean Reiji-san had been winning more and more of their duels?

“It’s frustrating of course, and I don’t intend to keep losing to him like this… but that’s what makes him your fated knight, don’t you think so?”

“N-No, what are you talking about?! He’s just a friend!”

I firmly denied that statement. Between Reiji-san and I, there’s no such master-servant relationship. He’s just a friend… whom I trust more than anyone else… yes, just a friend.

“…Still, you think of him as my knight instead of you, Zeltis-san? That’s nice of you.”

“Aww, thank you! But I’m always ready to offer this sword as your knight whenever you ask me to- Ack! That hurts, sister!”

“Oh, shut up, we don’t have time for any more of your nonsense. Stop fooling around and get ready to leave, idiot brother.”

As usual, Zeltis-san tried to take my hand, and Philias-san grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the carriage. I couldn’t help but chuckle at such a comedy routine. But it also made me feel a little more relaxed.

“Well then, Iris-chan and her brother, we’ll be departing soon. You two take care of the townspeople, leave the rest to us.”

“Got it. I’m going to carry Iris and approach the town by air. By the looks of it, there’s going to be a lot of damage to the whole town, so I’m going to rely on you, Iris… can you do it?”

“Yes, Nii-sama, I’ll leave the escort to you.”

I held out my hand, and Nii-sama quickly grabbed it and began carrying me in his arms. We then went out to the driver’s seat, where Weiss-san was concentrating on his arrow. The arrowhead was filled with wind magic.

The arrow was released, and as if guided by something, it shot through a small shadow that was holding a bow in the distance.

That was “Guided Arrow”, which is a technique that requires wind magic qualities in addition to archery, and apparently Weiss-san had a small amount of those qualities.

“I’ll try to cover for you. Now go.”

He told us bluntly and began to aim again.

“Thank you very much, I’ll be counting on you then.”

“…Hmph, just doing my job.”

We’d gotten to know each other a lot better, but he was still not being honest with me, I thought so while shrugging my shoulders, when suddenly Nii-sama switched positions to separate me from Weiss-san.

“…No matter how many points you earn, my sister is a no-go, you know?”

“I told you I’m not into her! Just go already!”

“That’s rude to Weiss-san, Nii-sama! And stop treating me like a child!”

It’s true that our first meeting was a little awkward, so I could understand Nii-sama’s wariness toward Weiss-san, but this was too much, even for a joke.

“Yeah, uh, sorry…”

Weiss-san fired another arrow and struck another goblin that was climbing up the outer wall.

“Anyway, Reiji’s waiting for us. Hold on right, we’re leaving.”

“Please do.”

Saul-niisama picked me back up firmly, and with a flap of his wings, he leapt into the air.

We got further and further from the ground… If it hadn’t been for this situation, we might have enjoyed the aerial walk, but now we were in a time sensitive situation.

While still directing the extended gaze of “Eagle Eye” toward the town in the distance, I raised my concentration to be ready to use magic at any time.

“…Would we be able to make it if we were faster? We could have saved this town from taking so much damage.”

“Probably, but we can’t predict the future. We can only do what we can… I’m going to speed up, so keep holding onto me.”

“…Yes.”

I squeezed my arms around his body, and all the scenery seemed to flow backwards, as if I was being blown away. It wouldn’t be long now before we entered the town. No matter how horrific the scene was, I would do what I could. I started chanting to save the wounded, who would surely be in great numbers.

Reiji

I sprinted across the ground while keeping a low profile. With each step I kicked the ground, there was a sound and a feeling of something hard cracking underfoot, but it was quickly left behind.

To be exact, I was more like “jumping” than sprinting. My stride was much longer than if I just sprinted normally. The scenery blew backward in a flash at a gut-wrenching speed.

This was one of the ideas I came up with in order to become stronger, which I tried, albeit only for a few days in training before departure.

What I’m applying to my gait now was the way I move when I use my skill, “Skanda”. However, I was not using the skill. Using it as a reference, I tried to control my body posture, as well as the concentration and release of the fighting spirit into my feet kicking the ground.

It’s my own body that uses skills after all, so if I could reproduce them, I could achieve the same effect… After practicing it through trial and error, I was able to confirm that it is indeed possible to some degree. And unlike skills that for some reason cannot be used continuously, as in the game where there was a cooldown time, I could confirm that it is possible to continue using this technique as long as my strength and concentration lasts.

That being said… it’s no easy task running at several times the normal speed. Unlike when using skills, I had to handle all the information by myself… I had to think with my own head and body how I was going to move my body. It was as if the most efficient macros are being scraped and everything was being entered manually, and it put a huge strain on me. My current speed wasn’t comparable to what I used to normally, and at first I was quite dependent on potions as I fell over and crashed into trees because my brain could not keep up with my reaction time.

However, after countless failures and repeated use in mock battles to simulate actual combat, I had now brought it to a level where it can be used in actual combat to some extent as a result of that trial-and-error process.

…And simply “moving faster” had a further effect by itself already.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!!”

When the enemies noticed me and the first one raised its sword, I had already readied my own. The poor victim’s body was easily cut in two, and not only did the upper half of its body fly up in the air as if it had been hit by a truck, but the impact caused by my sword moving at high speed also blew away several others who were caught in my path.

High speed could be transformed into destructive power when used this way.

I readjusted my sword. Its tip scraped the ground. Sparks flew from the stone padding due to the friction.

I charged headfirst into the enemy group. Nothing could stop me now!

“Promotion… Bazookaaa!!”

While gouging the ground, flames gushed out from the tip of the sword as it slashed upward, and since the sword was moving at a super high speed, the fire became like an explosion. That was an intermediate skill of my secondary class, “Promotion Bazooka”.

The fire that was like an explosion swallowed up the small shadows that were swarming in front of the gate and pushed forward, turning those caught within into charcoal and paved the way past the enemies.

I could see the town, with its walls broken and its gate breached now… Let’s go!

The landscape blew away with explosive speed, and after easily leaping over the still numerous goblin hordes, I skidded on the cobblestones with the soles of my boots and landed in the town.

I was welcomed… with the thick smell of blood. The town was a hellscape. The soldiers were falling down in a heap, overrun by the goblins, who seemed to have no regard for their own lives, let alone those of their allies. The wounds seemed to be deep, and some of them were still breathing, but they would not survive… under normal circumstances, that is.

As long as they were still alive, Iris could save them. All I needed to do was to keep as many lives as possible from being scattered further until then.

Some small shadows turned around at the appearance of the new intruder… too slow!

“You’ll become test subjects for my new move, come at me!”

I took a step forward with my left foot. The nearest enemies were a few steps away. Pushed by the strength of my legs and the fighting spirit exploding beneath my feet, I instantly rushed up to top speed, reaping off enemies along the way as I passed them.

That was unstoppable. Next, I stepped forward with my right foot and kicked the ground in the same manner. The forceful change of direction placed a tremendous load on the legs, but this “Reiji” robust body of mine overpowered even that and ran. The rapidly changing vision was so intense that it is almost intoxicating, but I desperately processed the information and looked for the best next step.

Faster, faster, faster!

One slash, one kill. Each time the ground beneath my feet was kicked by my own foot and exploded, a flower of blood bloomed in a flash, but by then I was already on to the next enemy, and the next, and the next.

Colors disappeared from my field of vision, which had focused all its attention on information processing and prediction, and the world began to flow in slow motion.

Frantically calculating and drawing in my mind the most efficient route of extermination, I scrambled through the myriad of deadly weapons, weaving in and out of the gaps between the hordes of enemies, cutting down anything that stood in my way and laying waste to them.

I quickly lost count of how many times I’d swung my sword.

The last enemy was killed when it was about to swing its machete at a dying soldier. But not letting my guard down, I checked my surroundings while keeping my stance.

There was already no enemy in sight, leaving a void around me. A new shadow was approaching from the gate, but I still had a little time to catch my breath.

Originally, the swordsman series was a relatively well-balanced vanguard position, but while powerful against single opponents, it is a typical boss-killer style with the disadvantage of weak crowd-control capabilities, which could become disheartening in this situation where I had to fight off a horde of goblins.

So my answer to it was… “Just do as many one-on-one fights in as short a time as possible”. It was quite a muscleheaded answer, if I say so myself.

“It’s like coming up with my own swordsmanship style… Not a bad idea. Well then…”

I waved my sword to rid it of the blood, but as a matter of fact, I felt quite fatigued at the moment. It’s not so much that I can’t move, but I guess I’ll just have to fight normally from here on out. I inwardly clicked my tongue.

I looked down over my back at the soldier whose head was almost split open by the last enemy I cut down. He was pierced here and there, and looked mortally wounded, but he still had some breath left in him.

“Hey, are you still alive?”

Even if it’s just one person, the more lives saved here, the less tears she would shed…