Chapter 4

In front of Xenocross, I have to end this Blade.

......Will I make it in time?

"......I need a lot of things."

There were many four-legged beasts with fur that was almost white gray. Each of them stared at us with bloodshot eyes. There was no sign of a welcome.

"'Snow Wolves.' They are wolf-type magical beasts that inhabit cold regions. They have the habit of forming packs. It seems that one of the wolf packs that live in this mountain has come down to the foot of it. Normally, they live deeper in the mountains."

While explaining to me, Rea slowly drew the greatsword from her back. In stark contrast to me, who was slightly cowering from the wild killing intent, she exuded a deep calm.

"Kanna"

"I won't leave your side, so it's okay!"

I shouted the pitiful words with all my might. Pitiful? Better than looking cool and ending up as a wolf's dinner!

"I see. Then......here I come!"

Rea let out a sharp cry at the same time the wolves attacked.

"Sei!"

With a short but intense aura, she swung the greatsword, and the gray wolf that had flown at her with a mouth full of teeth was split in half and blown away.

"Next!"

The wolf that attacked from the side raised its claws, but Rea smashed it with her sword. The same fate awaited the wolf that charged at her next.

"Raaaaa!"

Every time she swung her sword, the wolves turned into chunks of flesh. The snow, which had fallen pure white, was stained red with the scattered blood.

I bit back my nausea and screams at the flying chunks of flesh and blood.

Even if the opponent was a beast that attacks humans, it was undoubtedly a living creature. Rea's expression showed no great emotion as she mercilessly slaughtered them. She stared straight ahead and accurately drove her sword into them.

No matter how much this world might be a fantasy to me, for the people living in it, this is reality. And everything that is born into this world is inevitably a being that must kill other creatures to survive. There is no sin in that. I don't want to die either. Rea must feel the same.

That's why we choose to eliminate the enemy in front of us.

I am currently just a baggage carrier with no power. To overcome this crisis, I need her strength. So, no matter how cowardly my words or how pitifully I cower, I must firmly etch this scene into my mind.

I still haven't answered her question.

"What are we going to do from here?"

The answer is the carnage in front of me.

It's not a clear response, but I've reaffirmed one reality.

I must survive in this world.

The pack of magical beasts was exterminated in about ten minutes. The area was covered with the bodies of gray-furred wolves, their blood staining the snow. Rea, standing at the center of the carnage, held her sword with a steady gaze. Beside her, my heart was still pounding, even though there were no more attackers.

After about a minute of no movement around us, Rea finally relaxed and exhaled slowly. I, too, exhaled the air that had been building up in my lungs.

"For now, it seems to be over."

Rea, who put her sword back in the sheath on her back, wasn't even slightly out of breath. Despite her fierce efforts, she hadn't even panted. How much training does it take to reach that level? I was breathing heavily, even though I had just been standing there.

I felt a sense of reverence, but as I regained my composure, I was startled.

Our purpose was not to gather mountain herbs or slay magical beasts.

I looked at the wolf carcasses again.

"Hey, hey, hey. Wasn't there a village girl who came here first?"

These wolves might have encountered the girl who came to gather herbs. In fact, that was more likely.

What if......

"......We have to consider the worst-case scenario."

Rea, though calm, spoke with a tense voice. We were thinking the same thing.

The image of the girl drowning in a sea of blood flashed in my mind, and I froze. But I gritted my teeth and forced my feet to move.

"Damn it. Hey, Rea, we have to search!"

"I know!"

We searched the area where the magical beast corpses lay, dividing the work. The fear that the next corpse we saw might be human didn't go away, but we strained our eyes to search.

"Please, be safe."

I prayed for the safety of the girl, whose name and face I didn't know. Honestly, praying to a god isn't my thing. But if it helps someone, I'll pray to any god or devil.

Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind hit me. Focused on searching for the girl, I lost my footing and was thrown off balance by the wind.

Worse still, the place where I tried to steady myself was a downward slope.

"Whoaaaaa!"

"Kanna!"

Rea reacted sharply to my scream, but I tumbled down the slope before she could reach me. In the spinning vision, I panicked and could only curl up to try to soften the impact.

After a few seconds of spinning, I felt a floating sensation. Had I been thrown off a cliff? Despair took over, but a moment later, I received a powerful impact from below, and everything went white.

When my thoughts returned to normal, I realized my body had stopped. I stretched out my shock-numbed body and managed to turn onto my back.

Looking up, I saw the edge of the slope from which I had been thrown. Fortunately, the height wasn't too great, and the snow had cushioned my fall.

"Are you okay, Kanna?"

The cliff from which I had been thrown was connected to the slope on both sides. Rea slid down quickly and, seeing me lying there, let out a sigh of relief. She grabbed my hand and helped me stand up.

"Really, you scared me. I thought my heart would stop."

"Honestly, sorry. I was a bit distracted."

As I brushed the snow off my clothes, my eyes fell on where I had landed. It was a blind spot from the area where the mountain herbs grew, and I found a cave.

Rea, following my gaze, also noticed the cave.

And inside, we found a bag that was undoubtedly human.

We hurriedly opened it and found a bundle of mountain herbs that grew just above. It was definitely the property of the girl we were looking for.

"Probably something she dropped while running from the wolves."

"So......"

"It's still just a hopeful guess. But at least we have a glimmer of hope."

Rea and I nodded firmly to each other and stepped into the cave.

The protagonist, having no means of combat, is just an observer.