The boss mole crouched down and, despite his huge frame, jumped high. It was trying to crush us with its huge belly.
　That huge body is hard to catch.

Everyone!　We need to get out of there for once!

　Following the order, everyone, including the girls, jumped out of the nest. With a thud, there was a sound as if the whole earth was shaking inside the cave.
　A moment later, the boss mole crept out of the cave.

d*mn it! You little bastard!

　The boss mole was glaring at us with bloodshot eyes.
　I whistled as I aimed my claws at its mouth.
　In response to that sound, the rest of the moles flew out.
　I wonder if there were more than a dozen moles at a glance. They'll be surrounded by them. They'll have the advantage of being outnumbered and outgunned.
　The boss mole grinned condescendingly.

"You thought you had us fooled. But I don't think you know that we set you up.
What do you mean?
"I was careful and I sent a secret agent to the village. They sent a message to the Guild of Adventurers asking them to take us out.
Yeah. Yeah. That's why we're here.
"The Guild of Adventurers has designated our defeat as a C-rated mission. --But that was an assessment that did not include me. I didn't tell anyone in the village I was here because I knew something like this would happen.

　The boss mole is proud of his own cleverness.

"Taking my presence into account, I'd say this should be over B-ranked in terms of difficulty. An A-rank rating is also possible. The Adventurer's Guild probably sent a C-rank adventurer to the guild with the assigned difficulty level. Unfortunately, I'm far superior to you.

　The boss mole was stroking his chin and looking down at us.

"Sending a secret agent to spy on the Adventurer's Guild. That's great.

　And you deliberately let him lower his mission rank by hiding your presence...
　You're a very clever mole.

but you're no match for me in a fair fight. Your chance of victory is over!

　They were completely convinced that they had won.
　The boss mole is laughing loudly, his belly shaking. The henchmen around them followed suit, laughing and laughing loudly.

Hmmm. That's definitely great, but ......

　The moles were laughing at her, and Anna had a pitying look on her face. A look of compassion flashed in her eyes.

''I guess that's the mole's limit, isn't it?
"Huh?　Don't f*ck with us, okay?

The boss mole gave the word. The henchmen of the mole are attacking all at once.

Father. Leave it to me.

　Elsa took a step forward, her sword at the ready.
　She was as still and unmoving as a calm. Drawing the moles to their limits.
　As soon as she was in time, she flashed her sword.
　The moles all jumped at once and fell to the ground like flies, unable to reach Erza.

''Muu......!　My pretty little henchmen in just one hit: ......!

　The boss mole was upset in front of the moles, who were easily kicked away. Come to think of it, he was underground, so is this the first time he's seen Erza in action?
　In front of the flinching boss mole, Anna said as if to ask the question.

''Hey. Did you ever think of it this way?　He said just because it's a C-ranked defeat mission doesn't mean C-ranked adventurers will come.　
"What?　So you're B-rated adventurers?''
"?　Come to think of it, how high am I ranked?
"Meryl. You're not an adventurer because you don't have an adventurer's license. I'm not sure I'm the one who's taking an outsider along on a mission to take down a guy.

　Anna muttered to Meryl, who was looking at her, with a mixture of self-mockery. She turns to the boss mole and looks up at its massive body.

Dad here is an A-ranked adventurer who was once described as a child prodigy. And Elsa here is the youngest S-ranked adventurer in history.
''You're an S-ranked adventurer to an A-ranked adventurer: ......!

　The boss mole's face has obviously changed. That smug smile has vanished.



'Nonsense!　Why would such a high-ranked adventurer be on a mission to defeat a C-rank or so!　You guys are bluffing!'
I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but it's the truth.

　I said with a wry smile.

"Actually, we're going to take a family vacation. There was a combat mission at the hot springs, so we decided to take it.
"What--?　So that's why we're going to take them down while we're at it?
Well, that's just it. Sorry about that.
"............

　We were being killed as well.
　That fact came as quite a shock to him.
　The boss mole had a stunned expression on his face, as if he was having a bad dream. But the faded expression was quickly replaced by a fury.

''You've got to be kidding me!　It doesn't matter if it's an A or an S, it doesn't matter!　If I crush you guys here and now, I win!'

　He's right about that.
　Ranks mean nothing on the battlefield, not even a title.
　Strong or weak. That's all.
　But those who have been given the title of high-ranking adventurer have a certain amount of skill.
　The only thing that matters is the claws that the boss mole, who calls himself an A-ranked adventurer, swings at you.

"What?

　And then he runs his sword.
　The severed claws of the boss mole fall to the ground.
　The boss mole was flummoxed, having lost his primary means of attack.

I'm sorry. We gotta finish this. We worked up a sweat on the road and it's getting dark. I need to take a bath in the village hot springs and get some rest.

　I've stressed that the hot springs are the main focus of this expedition.
　The boss mole's pride should be torn to pieces.
　Sure enough, he was so angry that he lost his temper and pounced.
　But before his attack could reach me, it was much faster than my sword sliced through his massive frame from shoulder to hip.
　The boss mole turned white and let the giant body sink to the ground. An earth-shattering sound rang out, and then it stopped moving.