Chapter 34

"Narseena, you're late."

"Hehe... A lot happened."

I stood in front of the guild, and when I saw Narseena running out from inside, I relaxed my cheeks.

I had been worried because she hadn't returned for a while after saying she had something to do and went to the back of the guild, but it seemed she was fine.

Relieved, I opened my mouth with a slight jest.

"I'm glad nothing happened. Actually, the Lightning Sword was in the guild. I thought Narseena might be in trouble, and I was about to go back to the guild."

"Wh-What!?"

"…Eh?"

However, for some reason, Narseena's face showed a look of panic at my joke.

Surprised by her unexpected reaction, I let out a bewildered sound.

In the next moment, my surprise turned into concern, and I opened my mouth again.

"Did something happen…?"

"O-Onii-san! L-Let's go quickly!"

But before I could finish my sentence, Narseena, looking flustered, changed the subject and started walking.

Her attitude was clearly suspicious.

So, I was about to ask her again as she walked ahead…

"…Now's not the time for that."

However, sensing multiple presences behind me, I muttered those words.

Narseena also seemed to have noticed the presence and stopped in her tracks.

Narseena's story was indeed concerning.

If so, I decided to deal with this matter first and then talk to her calmly.

I made this decision in an instant, but I walked as if nothing was wrong and smiled at Narseena.

"Let's go. To the grassland."

"Okay!"

The moment I said "grassland," the presence behind us reacted slightly.

Narseena and I noticed this and laughed together.

"…Good, it worked."

"…Yes, it was getting annoying."

The moment we started walking, the presence behind us also moved.

Narseena and I pretended not to notice and headed for the grassland.

…The people following us didn't realize they were being lured out.

◇◆◇

After leaving the adventurer's guild and passing through the town to head for the grassland, the presence behind us disappeared once.

However, the moment we reached the grassland, the presence reappeared, surrounding us.

"Haha! You came to be cornered on your own!"

In the next instant, a large number of adventurers who had been stalking us for days appeared from the grassland, and the leader-like man sneered at me.

He seemed to be imagining lynching me and forcing an apology, and then laying hands on Narseena, as a sadistic pleasure was evident on his face.

With that pleasure still on his face, the adventurer spoke to me.

"If we kill you in the grassland, the guild will think it's a dispute between adventurers and won't intervene! In other words, you're the one who's putting your own neck on the line… Ah!"

"Annoying."

However, the adventurer couldn't finish his sentence.

The knife I threw with a look of boredom stabbed into his thigh, forcing him to be silent.

"…Eh?"

"Isn't that strange… He hit the target from such a distance with a knife!"

Panic began to spread among the adventurers at the scene.

I, on the other hand, smiled with a mocking look on my face.

"Choking yourself? There's no way you'd do something that stupid. It's the opposite.

— I'm the one cornering you."

"!"

I said this to the adventurers with a murderous intent.

Indeed, I had deliberately told the adventurers we were going to the grassland because I was tired of their stalking behavior.

So, I lured them to the grassland, where no one would care if adventurers fought each other, to prevent them from causing trouble again.

And I had no intention of forgiving the adventurers who tried to harm not only me but also Narseena.

"If I defeat you, there will be fewer people to interfere. So, lose as miserably as possible."

I smiled at the adventurers, hoping they would serve as an example.

The fear in their faces at the killing intent in my words…

"Uuuuuuuu!"

In the next instant, the adventurers ran towards me…

◇◆◇

"I see, you thought you wouldn't be thrown if you got close."

Looking at the adventurers running towards me, I muttered.

It seemed they were wary of my throwing and decided to get close.

…However, their judgment was wrong.

After all, Narseena's fists were far more dangerous than my throwing.

"Leave it to me!"

Narseena ran towards the adventurers to show them the power of her fists.

"Kyaah! Ow! Ow!"

"Stop it! Ah!"

Her body, enhanced by skills, quickly reached the adventurers and immediately made them scream in agony.

The adventurers' attacks couldn't touch Narseena as she moved around the open area with ease.

"Seems Narseena is doing fine."

Nodding at Narseena's performance, I decided to do my part.

"Die! Defective healer!"

More adventurers came towards me than towards Narseena.

I don't know if they thought it would be easier to defeat me or if they just didn't like me, but I was popular.

In other words, I was unintentionally drawing the adventurers.

So, my role now was to keep them from reaching Narseena.

Deciding this, I focused on defense.

In the next instant, I limited my magic detection to a 10-meter radius around me.

This was a precise but limited magic detection I had developed after years of training only in magic detection.

The moment I activated it, my five senses dulled, and my perception of anything beyond 10 meters became vague.

— However, in exchange, I could perceive everything within 10 meters.

Thanks to this magic detection, I understood every action of the adventurers attacking me.

How many were attacking, how to dodge, and how to make them attack each other, I understood everything.

Then, I strengthened a specific part of my body with ki to process all this information.

At that moment, I felt as if the world around me had slowed down, and a smile appeared on my face.

Yes, the part I strengthened with ki was my brain.

Even if I strengthened my body with ki, I wouldn't gain much.

That's why I had trained to strengthen a specific part of my body with ki.

Now that my brain was strengthened with ki, I wouldn't be hit by the adventurers' attacks.

I would cause them to attack each other, limit their movements, and deflect their attacks with a dagger to buy time.

At one point, a fireball flew from 10 meters away, but I easily dodged it.

This defensive fighting style was something I had developed while desperately thinking about how to use magic and ki.

As long as I had this, I could continue to be a formidable obstacle.

And as I kept the adventurers at bay, Narseena kept defeating them, reducing their numbers.

"Damn! What are these guys!?"

I could hear an adventurer scream at the sight of Narseena and me.

Hearing that scream, I smiled, confident of victory.

I had always been a despised existence in this guild.

But if I won this battle, that would change.

I would finally be recognized as a capable adventurer.

A month ago, I couldn't have imagined such a scenario.

I owed it all to Narseena's existence.

Without her, I would probably still be a bottom-tier adventurer, no matter how skilled I was.

I had believed I was useless.

Moreover, if I hadn't met Narseena a few years ago, I wouldn't have gained this level of skill.

Thinking about this, I felt grateful to Narseena.

Because of her, I had come this far.

So, while fighting, I felt grateful to Narseena…

"What!?"

However, the next moment, a chill ran down my spine, and I stopped thinking and fighting, turning around.

"What is this feeling…?"

"Hey, look over there! There's something!"

I wasn't the only one who stopped fighting.

Narseena and the adventurers also seemed to sense something and stopped moving.

…And with their reactions, I felt a bad premonition.

Everyone present seemed to be stopped by something, and I had a vague, unpleasant feeling about it.

The moment I felt this, I stopped my magic detection and thought acceleration, and instead enhanced my vision with ki, looking in the direction one of the adventurers had pointed.

…And the next moment, I recognized something coming towards us at high speed and lost my words.

"——!"

It had six heads, all with yellow eyes filled with hostility, coming towards us.

"No way…"

Those eyes were fixed on me, and I understood that I was the target of their hostility.

And with that hostility and appearance, I was certain of everything.

— The something coming towards us at high speed was the mutated form of the hydra whose heads I had cut off when I was in the Lightning Sword.