Chapter 12

Well, the forest... or should I say, a dense jungle? As I walked through a place that looked like an ancient forest with trees towering high, a monster appeared.

The Horn Rat I saw on the first day... this one is red.

I squinted, thinking it was different.

Then, the name of the monster floated into my view.

"Red Horn Rat"

"Red?"

"There seem to be different color variations. Maybe a subspecies?"

"Is there a difference in strength?"

"Somewhat... but the analysis isn't complete yet. Kaya and the others think there might be attribute resistances corresponding to the color."

Well, it's probably within the margin of error.

Thinking about it, Kaya and the others brought back various colored monster corpses as souvenirs.

Then, three Red Horn Rats appeared in front of us.

Not one, but three.

I was a bit taken aback by the sudden number.

"Zee!"

The Red Horn Rats, noticing us, charged at us with clear hostility.

"Here they come! Everyone, get ready with your weapons and fight!"

"Y-Yeah, I got it!"

Hikasa, who had been self-deprecating about the weapon Kaya gave her, responded.

No, she has combat experience, but since the combat group fights at the front, she doesn't get much of a chance.

For those with combat abilities, these kinds of monsters are just grunts, and the sense of battle is thin.

However, we are ability users who are not suited for combat and are based at the stronghold.

How much can we fight with our current weapons...

"Thwack! Ah... I missed!"

Hikasa, who moved well, swung her sword at the Red Horn Rat but miscalculated due to her unfamiliarity with the weapon.

"Zee!"

The Red Horn Rat, seizing the opportunity, charged at Hikasa with its horn.

I stepped in with my Onion Shield to block the horn, feeling a strong impact that almost made me drop the shield.

Moreover, the horn was slightly embedded in the shield.

If I didn't have the shield, I would have died!

What? Is this not good equipment?

Damn... trying to use my teleportation ability... don't move!

The Red Horn Rat moved around quickly, trying to attack me as I tried to specify the target for my teleportation.

My teleportation takes five minutes to cast, and it lacks the guidance that Kaya has.

Even if I waited five minutes, the Red Horn Rat would be somewhere else.

If I'm not careful, I might be dead in five minutes.

It's difficult to fight with abilities, as expected.

No, can we even win this normally?

There are three of them, and even one is tough.

If we weren't in a party, we would be dead by now.

Anyway, since using abilities is out of the question, we have to defeat them with swords.

"Hikasa! Let's go!"

"Y-Yeah!"

Synchronizing with me, who had just blocked another attack, Maki called out to Hikasa and swung her sword at the Red Horn Rat embedded in my shield.

"Zee!?"

There was a solid impact, and the Red Horn Rat seemed to be shocked, but it was still alive.

"Damn... tougher than I thought."

"Finish it!"

Hikasa followed up with another attack.

A good sound echoed, and the Red Horn Rat's body caved in.

It felt like a bone had broken.

There's a big difference between Maki and Hikasa.

The level difference might be significant.

"Chuuu..."

The horn slipped out of the shield, and the Red Horn Rat let out a cry before dying.

"Good job!"

"Don't let your guard down!"

I turned my attention to Hime no, who was behind us.

She was given a staff and the same level of armor as us.

I was worried if she could fight, but she was holding the shield with both hands and blocking the Red Horn Rat's attacks.

"T-This is real combat!"

The Red Horn Rat's aura... for us, who had lived peacefully in Japan, the feeling of killing a living creature for the first time was an unpleasant sensation that stuck with us.

A slight thought crossed my mind: why are we doing this?

But if we don't, we won't get stronger, and we'll end up as Kaya's slaves.

I think that's what gave us the will to fight.

Before I knew it, the three Red Horn Rats were lying dead in front of us.

"Haa... haa... The first battle was... like this..."

Maki said, panting.

I was in a similar state.

On the first day, Kaya and the others took these down with one hit.

What? What? Is there such a big difference in abilities?

Moreover, is Hikasa arguing with Kaya, who can do such things?

That's amazing... I really admire her.

I could feel the reason why the combat group is under Kaya's control.

Once our breathing steadied, I spoke.

"It was tougher than I thought. It's very different from what I imagined."

"Of course. But... we have to do it, right?"

"Wow... is everyone okay?"

Hime no asked, looking worried.

Hagi泽 also seemed to be out of breath.

"I'm fine. Are you hurt?"

"Yeah, the equipment we were given is good, so it's tough but we can do it."

We also received the Red Horn Rat's charge, but thanks to the equipment, it was just a shock, and we could fight.

"Isn't this just a grunt?"

"Yeah, the weakest monster."

Seriously... we struggled against the weakest monster.

Even with good equipment.

"Do the combat group fight these every time?"

Fighting with just weapons and no abilities is that tough.

If we had gone in unarmed, even as a party, we might have been wiped out.

It was a good decision to spend almost two weeks preparing equipment.

"Even though we rely on abilities, it seems we still felt the excitement of battle."

"Is this fun? Hmm..."

I still don't understand, as I just endured.

Is it fun to easily defeat enemies?

"I do feel a strange sense of exhilaration..."

Maki also seemed a bit puzzled.

"But we won our first battle!"

Hime no's words made everyone on the scene understand the feeling of victory.

Indeed, that was an undeniable fact.

It proved that we could fight monsters.

We wouldn't let anyone call us combat-ineffective.

"Kousuke, can you send these monster corpses to my house's workshop?"

"Sure, I'll try."

I sent the Red Horn Rat corpses to Maki's house.

Since I had already decided where to send the defeated monsters, it was easy to visualize.

The long casting time is a drawback, but during that time, Maki checked everyone's weapon damage, and Hime no tried to see if she could cast a healing spell.

Hikasa kept an eye on the surroundings, and Hagi泽 also helped by looking around.

The Red Horn Rat corpses in front of me disappeared with a puff.

"We got a little bit of points."

"Yeah, even a little is better than nothing for a two-hour expedition. Let's get used to fighting at this pace."

We nodded to Maki's words and started moving.

The next one that appeared was an Opal Green Beetle, a greenish beetle.

I thought it was a jewel beetle, but the color was strange and it was big.

It was about 50 cm long.

It reminded me of a game where you hunt monsters.

Five of them appeared at once.

And... I came to a conclusion.

This isn't a place for a single person from the stronghold group.

No, five... it's tough enough with three, and now there are two more.

It would be difficult without a fire ability like Kaya's.

"---"

The Opal Green Beetles charged with a strange, inaudible cry.

"We can't just rush in!"

Hikasa, who seemed to have gotten used to it, immediately dodged the Opal Green Beetle's charge and thrust her sword into the gap between the head and body from the side.

There was a good sound... wow. Gross!

The Opal Green Beetle's head and body separated, and it died.

"I know the weak point!"

"Got it!"

"I managed to react to the speed, but I think everyone should aim for the gap after the jump and landing."

"Understood!"

So, we each aimed for the beetle's neck.

Hime no even deflected a charging beetle with her shield and stomped on it.

She was braver than I thought.

"Ugh... I'm actually afraid of bugs."

"Me too."

I agreed with Hime no.

Honestly, I can't really tell the difference between beetles and cockroaches, and I'm also afraid of cicadas.

Actually, I kind of dislike girls who like bugs...

What about Hikasa?

"Alright!"

I also put in some effort and took down a beetle like Hikasa.

Before I knew it, everyone had taken down one each.

...If we know how to handle them, we can manage.

"But the carapace of the Opal Green Beetle can be used for weapons and armor, so it's good material."

Maki gave a thumbs up.

Indeed, from a material perspective, it's good.

In games, a lot of equipment is made from insect materials.

"Dissecting them is a pain..."

The stronghold group sometimes has to dissect the monsters the combat group brings back.

Basically, the stronghold group is made to do all the tedious tasks.

"Hanabashi is pretty okay with everything except bugs, right?"

"Hmm? Well... it's just a matter of getting used to it. I handle it like gutting fish. I don't really like it, though."

I'm just afraid of bugs.

When I was little, a dragonfly got stuck to my clothes, and when I flicked it off, only the head remained on my clothes. It was a traumatic and unpleasant memory.

I also have other trivial traumas, like accidentally stepping on a cockroach with my bare feet in the dark at home, or being stung by a hornet.

These are all trivial traumas.

Recently, last summer, I was on my way to Maki's house and saw Oono catching bugs in the forest.

Curious, I approached and heard a cicada's loud cry. I peeked in.

Oono was plucking the wings off a cicada with a thin smile.

The scene and sound are burned into my eyes and ears.

Naturally, I felt disgusted and quickly ran away.

Fortunately, Oono didn't notice me.

I think this is the main reason I don't like Oono.

When I see Oono, I can't help but hear the cicada's cry.

But my fear of bugs isn't that serious.

"Kousuke has been afraid of cicadas and beetles since he was a child. He reacts the most to bees."

"Shut up!"

I would have avoided it if I could, but the situation doesn't allow it.