Chapter 84

"Meowwwww, what is it, that thing?!"

Tart's tail bristled, and her whole body was on high alert, watching the <Hydra>. Not just Tart, but everyone was standing still with wide eyes.

"What is that huge thing…"

"It's a <Hydra>. It's the boss that claims this area as its territory."

Responding to Blitz, I also looked up at the <Hydra>. The <Hydra> was incredibly large, with a body length of about five meters, far surpassing our own. Its body was covered in red, flame-like scales that were extremely tough, and it had five heads sprouting from a single body.

The parts covered in scales were resistant to both physical and magical attacks, but if we could somehow flip it over, the belly, which has no scales, would be vulnerable to major damage.

…<Luluye> was impossible, but maybe we can defeat the <Hydra>…

It's a close call, but the <Hydra> drops some good equipment, so I want it too.

"Master, how do we escape? If we don't hurry, the <Hydra> will come over!"

"---No, we'll defeat it!"

"Meow!?"

Tart jumped in surprise at my words. But she quickly said, "Understood!" and gripped her <Flame Bottle>.

My disciple, you're too brave…!!

But Roy looked at me calmly.

"Can you defeat that giant body!?"

"I think we can, just barely!"

"Just barely…"

Despite his distant gaze, Roy glared at the <Hydra>. He must have decided that if we can't escape, we need to take the initiative. That's exactly right.

"To defeat the <Hydra>, we need to flip it over and attack the part of its belly that has no scales. Ideally, we'd use wind magic, but this time, we'll all attack at once and use the recoil to flip it over."

The <Hydra> is designed to fall over when it takes a certain amount of damage at once. If you can roll the <Hydra> by yourself, you're a pro! I remember some players saying that. But we don't need to be pros, so we'll all flip it over together!

As usual, I'll let Blitz take the front, and Roy and I will start the <Goddess's Strike> and provide support. The main attackers this time are Tart and Titia, so we'll reapply the <Goddess's Strike> to them as soon as the <Hydra> is flipped over.

"Let's go!"

Blitz used <Cross Shield> and charged at the <Hydra>. The <Hydra> noticed and attacked with a burst of flames from its mouth, but Blitz's skill and the <Goddess's Protection> I cast on him blocked it.

…Yeah, this should work.

"Now!"

At my signal, everyone attacked. The <Hydra> let out a painful roar, "Gyaaaaa," and fell over. Good!

"‘<Goddess's Strike>!!’"

"‘<Potion Throw>’!"

"‘<Merciless Judgment>’!"

The <Hydra> took damage from Tart's explosive attack and Titia's attack, but it quickly got up and roared.

"Can't we defeat it with that attack!?"

Mimosa looked at the <Hydra> with a pale face, but a five-meter monster can't die from just two hits.

"I think we need to repeat this about ten more times."

"I'll do my best, meow!"

"Ah!"

When I told them the estimated number of times, Tart was fired up, and Titia was a bit hesitant.

"Be careful, when the <Hydra>'s HP drops below 10%, it will spin its heads and create a tornado!"

"‘Understood!’"

"‘Understood, meow!’"

If you get caught in the tornado, you'll be blown high into the air, which is quite dangerous. The damage from hitting the ground will be significant, so we need to be extra careful to keep the support going.

"Gyaaaaa"

"---! Lady Titia!!"

Suddenly, the <Hydra> targeted Titia. It must have been because she gained hate from the previous attack.

The moment the <Hydra> opened its mouth wide, Titia used a skill.

"‘Prayer of Peace’!"

In response to Titia's voice, light rained down from the sky. Strangely, the <Hydra> started wandering around as if Titia had disappeared from its sight.

…Ah, so this is the hate reset effect! Amazing.

The <Prayer of Peace> Titia used is a skill that resets the hate directed at her. As a result, the new target of hate was---Tart.

"Meow!?"

"It's you, meow!"

But before the <Hydra> could attack Tart, Blitz kicked off the ground and leaped. He swung his sword to draw the <Hydra>'s hate to himself.

"‘Cross Judgment’!!"

"Gyaaaaa!"

As Blitz expected, the <Hydra>'s attention shifted from Tart. This allowed us to set up the standard battle pattern where the front line holds the <Hydra> and the back line attacks.

"Alright, let's press on! ‘Goddess's Strike’!"

"‘Goddess's Strike’ and then---‘Goddess's Hammer’!!"

In sync with Roy's attack, Blitz, Mimosa, Tart, and Titia also attacked. I quickly re-applied the <Goddess's Strike> and provided support like healing.

The <Hydra> groaned, "Gyuuu," and was beaten up just like before. However, it quickly got up again.

…We need to keep chipping away at its HP. The more damage we deal, the longer the <Hydra> will stay flipped over, so we need to be persistent.

I drank a potion to recover my mana and encouraged everyone, "Let's keep going!"

We repeated the process of flipping the <Hydra> and attacking it. Eventually, the <Hydra> roared even louder.

"Gyuraaaaa!!"

"…Wow, that's a loud roar."

"It's ringing in my head, meow!"

The sound waves from the roar sent small grains of sand flying, which was quite painful, but we didn't have time to avoid it because the tornado attack was coming.

When the <Hydra>'s HP drops below 10%, a thin wind starts at our feet, so we can tell immediately. The attack power increases, so we need to be even more careful with our HP management.

"Be careful, the tornado is coming! Recover now while you can!"

"Master, I'm out of potions, meow…!"

"…………………………What!?"

Tart's words made my blood run cold.

"My stock is… almost gone too!"

I had been careless. In the game, there was no limit to the stock of items in NPC shops, so I always carried as many as I could in my <Bag> and <Simple Storage>. I never thought about running out of recovery items.

…But of course, after hunting so much at the monastery and defending against <Luluye>'s attacks, it's no wonder our recovery items were depleted!

Ah, I messed up.

While I was panicking, the <Hydra> let out a roar, "Gyuuuoon."

"We can't let it, the tornado attack is coming!!"

"Meow, meowaaaaa!"

"Tart!!"

In a moment of carelessness, the <Hydra>'s tornado hit Tart directly. I quickly cast <Goddess's Protection>, and Roy cast <Regeneration>, but the damage was still significant.

"I'll take it!"

"Blitz!"

"…I'll create a barrier! ‘Goddess's Sanctuary’!"

As we each did what we could to help Tart, her scream suddenly cut off, and we heard a surprised "Meow!?" Then, a black shadow fell on us.

"…A dragon?"

"It's big…"

Roy looked up at the sky and whispered the identity of the shadow. Titia, standing next to him, had her mouth wide open in shock.

"Wait, that's a <Dragon Knight>'s dragon!"

"Does that mean a passerby helped Tart?"

When I revealed the identity, relief appeared on Titia's face. …But Roy and the others still looked worried.

"Many <Dragon Knights> belong to Fabrum, which is hostile to Erentz."

"Oh…!"

There's a possibility they might be working with Rodney. They helped Tart, who was thrown into the air, but we can't tell if they're good people.

---What should we do?

In the tense atmosphere, the <Hydra> roared, "Gyaaaaa." Right, I almost forgot about the <Hydra>!

"Tia! ‘Goddess's Strike’"

"I'll take care of it! ‘Merciless Judgment’!"

"Mimosa! ‘Goddess's Strike’"

"Got it! ‘Cross Judgment’!"

"---‘Sorrowful Dragon's Strike’!"

As I and Roy cast skills on Titia and Mimosa, an attack also came from the sky. It was a high-damage strike used by <Dragon Knights>. Thanks to this, the <Hydra> turned into particles of light and disappeared, leaving behind its drop items.

Defeating the <Hydra> was very satisfying, and we all leveled up. However, we can't relax with the <Dragon Knight> in the sky still unknown.

Roy and I had stern faces, and the dragon descended to a lower altitude. Kent and Cocoa jumped off, with Kent holding Tart in his arms.

"‘Huh?’"

The unexpected reunion made us all exclaim in surprise. Kent and Cocoa waved to the dragon, which then flew away.

…What? What's going on!?

"Welcome back, everyone. I'm glad we could meet up safely!"

"Sorry for the wait!"

"Thanks, meow~"

It seems the <Dragon Knight> wasn't an enemy. I sighed in relief and jumped at Kent and the others.

"Welcome back, both of you! I'm glad Tart is safe."

"Hey! But it's hot here!!"

"I'll… ‘Water Arrow’!"

Cocoa shot a water arrow at the ground, and with a sizzling sound, the temperature dropped. It wasn't as effective as ice magic, but it should help reduce the heat.

"There's a lot to talk about, but let's hurry to the grassland!"

"Got it!"

Thanks to Cocoa's skill, we managed to reach the grassland safely.

This concludes the content of Volume 3 of the book.

It includes a lot of new and revised content (70 pages!).

Thank you very much!

‘The Villainess Healer’

Episode 3: Unique Job <Maiden> Quest - Part 1

Label: MF Books (KADOKAWA)

Illustrations: Yoh Hijiri

★ Map

★ Job List

Prologue (Rodney Harbus' Perspective)

Let's Check Our Skills

Reunion

<Deep Canyon>

Introductions (Discussion)

<Wyvern> is Here!

<Adventurer's Bracelet> Operation

The Usual Illegal Entry

Job Change to <Healer>

<Eternal Monastery>

Just Throw <Flame Bottles>

Rodney Discovery

Boss <Luluye>

<Burnt Field>

Epilogue (Ruditt Cocoriala's Perspective)

Side Story / Dreaming of Our Second Jobs! (Kent's Perspective)