It was an unexpected counterattack.
　That's why the two of them seemed to have delayed their reactions.

　Fortunately, Snow is a dragonborn (Dragon Newt). Thanks to his sturdy body, he's not in serious trouble.

　However, Rowen is different.
　He is a 30th layer boss monster, but his body is almost a flesh and blood human. He is vomiting blood and squatting down.

　The Dravdragon compares the two of them and chooses Rowen for the chase.
　I start running as soon as I can. I pour my magic power into the 《Dimensional Winter (Di Winter)》 and try to slow down the enemy's movement as much as possible.

　I try to get to Rowen before the Dravdragon - but I can't get there in time.
　I was hopelessly out of position.
　No one would be able to help Rowen--.

Big brother, Rowen!　Don't look at me!

　The Reaper's cries reach my ears.

　Then, understanding what the Reaper is trying to do, I release my dimensional magic. My magic, which had filled the throne room, is lost and I am left with only her magic.

　Even my eyes turn away from Rowen.
　I must not recognize what is about to happen.
　If you don't even recognize it, it will be the Reaper's sole domain.

''Please, Reaper!
I know, brother!

　A roar echoes with the Reaper's reply.
　I can tell that the Dravdragon has jumped into the place where Rowen was.

　After a beat, I deploy the Dimension again.
　I find Reaper and Rowen down in the corner of the throne room.

　Reaper used the instantaneous movement (warp) of the example to get close to Rowen and managed to save her while she was materializing.

'Reaper, I'll take care of the rest!　--Magic, "Dimensional Winter (Di Winter)!

　I was running towards Dravdragon the whole time I was turning away from Rowen.
　The Dravdragon sees a new enemy approaching and tries to fight back.

　He couldn't expect the other three to cover him.
　We have no choice but to defeat it one-on-one.

　I hold the sword extended with 'Magic Freezing' to the side and charge in.
　The Dravdragon shudders and squeezes out magic power from the bottom of its body. Then, it inhaled a breath as if to cut down on its life and spat out a blazing fire from its mouth.

''--Magic 《Freeze》!

　I put up a barrier of cold air and push forward through the flames.
　If it was me, with my deep understanding of flames, even 'dragon flames' would not be a decisive factor.

　The Drav dragon's claws are waiting for me as I pass through the flames that scorch my skin.
　I used my sword to catch the attack.

　Of course, if I just catch it, it will only blow me away. The only person who could withstand this would be Snow with his foolish strength. I use "Magical Freezing" to change the shape of my sword. It expands its surface area like a shield and slides over the ice. This is a trick that only Rowen's Magical Materialization can do, and only Magical Freezing can do it.

　The ice is scraped away and white sparks fly.

　I succeed in sneaking into the bosom of the Dravdragon and extend my sword again.

　Of course, the target is his neck.
　With Rowen's blow, it looks like I can cut off the head completely with one more breath. That's the only place to aim.

　I jump away from the Dravdragon's claws and get on its arms.
　Now I've gained height. All I have to do is extend my sword tip to the Dravdragon's neck, which is about to be torn to shreds.

　The Dravdragon senses my aim and flaps its wings.
　It flies with a strong wind that is laden with magic. It tries to shake me off by flying between the low ceiling thrones.

　But it was one of the most easily handled counterattacks I had expected.
　The Dravdragon was using its magic to handle the wind. Apparently, it was also using magic to fly. Perhaps it was unconsciously weaving flight magic.

　So much so that it works on this huge body. I'm sure it's a fairly high-level magic.

　But that's only a weakness for me. ''Dimensional Winter (Di Winter)'' displaces the flight magic (...) and slightly disrupts the Dravdragon's stance.

　It was more than enough of an opening.
　While leaping, I extended my sword to the limit with my "Magical Freezing" and cut off the Dravdragon's head. My sword from Magic Freeze is inferior to Rowen's in terms of sharpness. However, by aiming at the wound Rowen created, the sword was able to slice through the dragon's flesh.

　In midair, the head and body of the drav dragon separates from the drav dragon's head and body.
　Blood rains down, and the throne room without the king is stained with fresh blood.

　The huge body of the Dravdragon falls to the ground and a roar rings out.
　I confirm the life and death of the Dravdragon as it lands.

　It was completely dead.
　I couldn't feel any life or magic power.
　However, the Dravdragon does not turn into light and disappear.

　Turning into light and disappearing is a phenomenon only in the labyrinth. It seems that such a magic formula is built into the labyrinth.

　It was the first time I had ever gazed closely at a monster's corpse.
　A definite hint of death. The evidence of crushed life is there.
　I made sure that the enemy was gone and turned my attention to the safety of my friends.

'Kanami, are you okay?'

　First, Snow walks over to us.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm fine.
You're the man, Kanami. Unharmed, even against a dragon.

　Snow gives me a debauched look.
　It's as if he's looking at a 'hero'. If possible, I'd like you to stop looking at me like that.
　But now I have something more to say to Snow.

...... Hey, Snow. It's a good thing that you're able to communicate with that dragon, right?

　I looked like the dragon got angry when I heard Snow's words.

'...... What?　Ugh, no. I can't do that.

　Snow shook his head in response.

'Yes. ......'

　I discourage myself from reinforcing the Dimension to see if it's a lie. It's not something I would do to a companion, and confirming it doesn't change anything.

　The dragon is already dead.
　I can follow the conversation with Snow and check on the status of the Reaper and Rowen.

'Good ......, Rowen ......'

　The Reaper is at the edge of the throne room, happy to see Rowen safe and sound.
　But--

Reaper, why are you doing this to me?

　--the reaper's right leg was missing from the knee.

　I ran towards the Reaper, freezing my spine.

'Why (...)?'　...... Rowen taught me that. He said, "Make your own decision. So I decided. "I'm going to help Rowen.
"Help me out, ......?
"Ignore the 'kill Rowen' mission, ignore it!　Attah decided that my mission was to 'save Rowen'. So, as I said, I'll do what I can to save her with my life (・・・・・・)!　Rowen is a very important playmate of mine!
Reaper: ......

　Reaper laughed.

　I have a 'connection', so I understand her condition, albeit vaguely.
　The Reaper is magic, but it is based on a human girl. She is a faithful reproduction of a human, so her pain is the same as ours. This means that the Reaper is laughing for Rowen as she endures the pain of her leg being wrenched away.

　I scream and walk up to the Reaper.

'Reaper, are you okay!　Can you use your magic to get back to your feet?!
Yeah, I'm fine. You'll be back to normal in a little while. Your brother's giving me a lot of magic, so it's easy.　

　I pull the magic supply to the reaper to the limit.
　Although I'm relieved to find out that he's not in mortal danger, the pain transmitted to me from the 'connection' is quite significant.

　Beside her, Rowen wobbles and reaches for the Reaper.
　But that hand can't even touch the Reaper's body.

''d*mn, that's pathetic ....... Even though this body is weak, how, how pathetic ......!

　Loewen mumbles bitterly as she puts her slipped hands on the ground.

　It's true that the earlier abomination was not like Rowen.
　Even though Rowen specializes in interpersonal combat, it's strange that she couldn't react to a dragon's surprise attack to that degree.
　When she was training with me, she had the ability to anticipate the future, almost like a future prediction.

　Maybe Rowen's condition wasn't as good as I thought due to the repeated 'unresolved' resolutions over the past few days.
　I regret my naive decision this morning to let Reaper and Rowen recover.

　And as I recover, I realize that I'm not the only one.
　I keep mumbling to myself what's wrong with Rowen - and I'm not sure what's wrong with her.

...... almost died. If I die, I'll 'monsterize' everyone, everyone, everyone!

　Rowen strains into his fist on the ground.
　The stone ground is cracked and an unusual magical power is boiling from his body.

　It's a horrible pressure.
　I know he's not an enemy, but I feel a cold sweat flowing down my spine.
　I can see that Rowen's power, which had been weakening, is returning.

　In other words, right now, Rowen is regretful to the point of becoming 'unrepentant'.

'Lo, Rowen, don't worry so much about it. These things happen.
No, it's a fatal blunder!　My 'monstering' isn't just my problem!

　Rowen interrupts me and continues to speak.

"Freshly 'monstrous' (...) is not rational. You can say that you will become a monster itself. It would have been even more horrible if I had been 'monstrous' in a place like this: ......!

　Rowen continues to blame herself for her blunder.
　After hitting the ground a few times, she covers her face with her hands.

　The Reaper gently accepts Rowen's appearance.

'You're already worrying about Rowen too much ....... If Rowen is 'monstrous', Attachi and the others can stop her. We're your friends, you should trust us with that much.
Reaper: ......

　With those words, Rowen falls silent.
　She seems determined not to be any more weak for the sake of the Reaper. She ties her mouth shut and watches as the Reaper recovers.

　And then a silence falls in the throne room.

　And so we finished our request (quest) to defeat the dragon.


◆◆◆◆◆ ...


　After we finished healing the Reaper and Rowen, we went down to the village.

　Snow and I both carried the head of the Dravdragon for proof. Perhaps because it was too big, I hadn't calculated that it didn't fit into my 'possessions'. To be honest, the descent down the mountain was more tiring than the battle with the Dravdragon.

　Then I decorated the head of the Drav Dragon in the center of the village, and one by one, the villagers gathered around.

　They opened their mouths wide in surprise and shouted with joy. Some of them even started to dance, which shows how this dragon was tormenting the village.

　The villagers surrounded us with constant words of thanks.
　Villagers, young and old, men and women, with tears in their eyes, continued to praise it.

　Their praise was layered on top of each other and echoed throughout the village. It's a roar like a flood, but it feels as pleasant as an orchestra. As we stand in the center of it all, we are overwhelmed by the heat.

'This is how you treat 'heroes': ......
"Hmm, Kanami is the 'hero' of 'Epic Seeker' ....... Alright--

　Rowen and Snow responded to the villagers with a smile.
　Then, Snow began to advertise here and there.

''--The Dravdragon that ravages your village has been defeated by our 'Epic Seeker' guild master, Aikawa Kanami!　He's the 'hero' of The Dragonslayer!　Give our 'heroes' a rousing ovation!

　Snow shouted with the lung capacity of a dragon man (Dragon Newt) so that everyone could hear him.
　When the villagers heard this, they got even more excited and began to praise my name with their mouths.

'Kanami!　Kanami!　Kanami!
'So that's the guildmaster of that (...) 'Epic Seeker'!
''To be a 'dragon slayer' at such a young age, you are truly a 'hero'!

　All eyes turned to me.
　I felt dizzy from the sheer intensity of the event.

　It's similar to the feeling I get when I deal with nobles and merchants at a ball. Even though there is no sinister calculation behind the scenes, I still get nervous in the face of excessive expectations and praise.

　Apparently, I'm not cut out for this sort of thing by nature.
　No, maybe it's because I simply don't think it's appropriate. If this was the end of my efforts, I would be able to accept it. But that's not the case. This 'power' that killed the dragon is a 'power' that was obtained by coming to another world. That's probably the biggest obstacle.

　I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what to expect.
　Then, in order to leave immediately, I head to the village manager to report on the dragon slaying.

　I weave my way through the villagers who try to hug me and head quickly to the village chief's mansion. Snow and the others are following behind me.

　I whisper a rebuke to Snow.

''Snow, we don't need all that publicity. It would have been nice if Rowen had gotten me a copy of "Dragonslayer" too: ......!

　Immediately Snow and Rowen reply.

'You can't do that, Kanami. That's what we need to do.'
'It was Kanami who cut off the dragon's head. I'm just a blunderer and a troublemaker to the Reapers. Unfortunately, The Dragonslayer is Kanami's: ......

　They both seem to really want to make me the 'hero' of the 'dragon slayer'.
　I see that there's no point in saying anything, so I sigh and continue walking.

　Behind them, Snow and Rowen speak to me.

'...... Kanami, be more like a 'hero'. It's better for everyone.
'This time the glory belongs to Kanami, but ....... But next time I will have the glory ......!

　I left them breathing and walked into the village chief's mansion.
　The Walker family members were lined up in a row there. Perhaps sensing the results of our appearance, they immediately begin to pay for our requests (quests).

　They are as deft as ever.
　Thanks to that, I'm just standing there again.
　And then, after confirming the defeats and handing over the rewards, the village chief tells me that a banquet is being held. He asked me to join him if I would like to attend.
　I tried to decline, but three other people wanted to participate, so I had no choice but to attend.

　Thus, the village hurriedly began to prepare for the banquet, and things got hectic.
　Snow retired to his carriage to think of a publicity speech, while Rowen and the Reapers went to play with the children.

　With nothing better to do, I tried to help prepare the feast, but was politely refused.
　I've got a lot of work to do, but I'm not going to be able to help.

　It's a good idea to have a good time with them. In this kind of situation, dimensional magic would be handy because I wouldn't get lost.

　And I continued to pass the time against the monsters outside the labyrinth.