Chapter 4

"Are you going to cheer up already?"

Teresa and I are walking outside the town. The reason for this is that the request we received from the Adventurer's Guild required us to go outside the town.

She is wearing a robe and a staff about as tall as her, with a gemstone embedded in it.

Since a while ago, she has been walking with large strides, trying to keep her distance from me, but it’s not ideal for a rear guard to be up front.

However, since there are no strong monsters in this area, which is not far from the town, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Teresa turned her head slightly and looked at me with a glare. It seems she’s still holding a grudge over the cafeteria incident, but I thought it was quite considerate of her to accompany me on this request.

Without saying a word, she just stared at me, so I waved and showed her a smile.

"......"

She sighed, as if giving up, and came to stand next to me, looking at me with a serious gaze. I understood that she probably wanted to know the details of this request.

"This time, the request we accepted is to exterminate a pack of wild wolves that have been raiding a farm in the neighboring town of Lindas."

The farm that issued the request is near a forest, so monsters sometimes come out from there.

The wild wolves we need to exterminate are individually rated as D-rank monsters, but a pack of up to 10 is rated as C-rank, and a pack of 11 or more is rated as B-rank.

Teresa, who originally belonged to an S-rank party, should have no problem with this level of monsters.

As I was thinking this, Teresa cast a suspicious glance at me.

"Are you thinking that I might hold you back or something?"

In response to my words, she slowly nodded. I don’t remember telling her my adventurer rank, but it seems she thinks I’m weak.

"Don’t worry, I’m stronger than Lux!"

I gave a thumbs up, but...

"......"

Teresa looked at me with a pitying gaze.

"Alright, let’s proceed as planned."

After a few days of travel, we arrived at the neighboring town of Lindas and immediately visited the farm to fulfill the request.

When we showed up, the farm owner happily took our hands.

The number of wild wolves was high, and livestock were being eaten every day, so he was very anxious.

So, Teresa and I immediately set up camp at the farm to exterminate the wild wolves.

The plan was for me to go out front and use my sword to draw the wild wolves, while Teresa would support me with magic and, if possible, join in the attack.

Since we weren’t originally a team and had formed this duo on the spot, it wouldn’t be useful to make too detailed plans.

"Grrrrrrr"

"Ah, they’re finally here!"

I spotted the wild wolves coming out of the forest. There were more than I expected, at least 20 or more.

"Well, wolf stew tonight, maybe?"

I thought the farm owner could butcher them and we could have some delicious meat tonight, but...

"What’s wrong?"

Teresa tugged on the hem of my clothes. Her gaze seemed to be asking something.

"What’s wrong? Do you need to use the bathroom?"

She shook her head vigorously.

"First, we need to take care of them. I’m counting on your support!"

I said this and tried to remove her hand, but she opened her mouth, though no words came out.

"Alright, let’s get some light exercise."

I drew my longsword and approached the wild wolves.

"Ha!"

I slashed the body of the wild wolf in front of me, killing it instantly.

The wild wolves kept their distance from me, repeatedly lunging at me when they saw an opening. However, those openings were intentionally created by me to lure them in.

"Yow!"

"Yow!"

"Yow!"

The wild wolves weren’t just focused on me. The real threat was Teresa, who was casting pinpoint magic from a distance.

She didn’t change her expression as she swung her staff, and with each spell, she took down one wild wolf.

"I can’t fall behind."

While this might be Teresa’s show, I don’t want to be seen as just a burden.

"Roar!"

At that moment, a particularly large individual appeared. It’s probably the leader of this pack.

"Teresa! Can you handle it on your own while I take down that one?"

I called out loudly to her, and she nodded clearly.

"Growl!"

It seems they had the same idea... or rather, they were trying to eliminate Teresa, who was behind me, as a threat.

"Pass if you can, but you’ll have to go through me first!"

Wild wolves attacked from the sides, and the wild wolf leader charged from the front, but...

"Yo! Ha! Ho!"

I narrowly avoided the attacks from the wild wolves on the sides, then thrust my short sword and longsword into their bellies, using the momentum to gut them.

"Roar!"

I then crossed my swords to block the charge of the wild wolf leader’s fangs.

Despite its large body, which probably weighed around 100 kilograms, I didn’t take a single step back from the charge.

"Beasts can’t make quick turns, so once they stop, it’s like this."

The wild wolf leader probably didn’t understand what was happening.

I slashed the stopped monster in front of me dozens of times in an instant.

"Gr... Ow...?"

"Hmm, not a bad workout, I guess?"

When I turned around, Teresa had just finished off the remaining wild wolves.

It seemed she had taken care of them without any injuries. I waved to her and approached her.