"Hmm. I was in a bit of a hurry, wasn't I?

　He took a sigh of relief as he brushed the gore from his cleaver.

I didn't think you'd ignore me. Sorry.

　I didn't think you'd ignore me. I'm sorry," said Toya, apologizing, as if he knew he was in the wrong as a vanguard.

"Well, it can't be helped, it's my first enemy.

　It's a good thing that you're not the only one who has a problem with this.

No, that's not true. It's not a problem because we are all capable of close combat, but what if we had been asked to escort them?　You can't just get killed because you've never met the enemy before.

"Well... I didn't mean to underestimate him either, but I couldn't react quickly enough.

　It's not that we didn't anticipate it, but it was quite unexpected.

　In addition, he was skilled enough to repel my spear in the unstable air. He was an enemy not to be underestimated.

It's more of a threat than the Orc Leader if you're dealing with more than one. ...... Or even on its own?　It's hard to surround them because they are small and quick.

Yes. If you're just looking for simple speed, Slash Owl was fast, but it just jumped straight at you.

Speed. "Speed? ...... Hmm?

　I'm not sure what to do.
　I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not.
　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea.

I'm not sure what to make of it.　I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out.

I'm not sure. I'm just guessing, but isn't [Skilful] agility and [Shunzoku] running speed?

　I'm not sure if Toya had thought of that, but he answered my question right away.
　But ...... hmm?

I'm sure you'll be able to figure out the best way to do this.
"Oh, nice analogy. That's exactly how I feel.

　Haruka summed up Tohya's reply in a nutshell.

I'm sure you'll be able to find something that works for you. I don't know if demons have any skills or not.

"Yeah. I don't know if the demons are skilled or not, but they were approaching fast, jumping up and down.
And it had a weapon, though it wasn't a proper ...... weapon.
Yeah, a broadsword.
Yeah, a broadsword.

　Toya picked up a broadsword that was lying nearby and tapped it.

　I'm not sure what to make of it.

It wasn't made by an ogre, was it?
The adventurer's lost and found ....... No, he took it, probably.

An adventurer who fights ogres must have a certain quality.

It's only of moderate quality. I'll probably never use it, but I'll take it home and sell it. I don't want to leave it lying around and have it become a weapon for other demons.

　Toya unrolled his magic bag and threw the broadsword into it, along with the neck and body of the ogre he had chopped off.

How much does an ogre cost, by the way?

"An ogre is just magic stone and skin. It seems that the meat is edible, but it is hard and unpalatable, so it cannot be sold. The magic stone itself can be sold for more than the orc leader, but the overall value is higher for the orc leader who can also sell meat.

　Yuki asked with a slightly excited expression, but frowned a little when Toya replied.

I don't understand. What's the point of defeating them?

"Even if there's no point, they'll probably approach us. Even if there's no point, they'll probably approach us, considering the situation.

It's an annoying demon. --Do we all need to improve our stealth and concealment skills?

I see. That's a good idea.

　If everyone's skills improve, there might be fewer cases like this where someone notices you from a distance and attacks you.

I'm not denying that, but I want revenge. I want to get revenge. I want to be able to kill him one-on-one.

"Yeah. Well, that's good, right?　It's not like it's going to be easy to get up there, and we'll probably run into it again.

Well, the next time he comes out, we'll stay back and let Toya handle it.

Yeah!　I'll leave it to you!

　"I'll take care of it!" Toya declared emphatically, and slapped him on the chest.


　--But the ogre seemed to be a casually rare monster.

　It's not surprising that he hadn't encountered one before, but he couldn't find one, not even when he walked around the area.

　Naturally, we didn't encounter the ogre again that day, and it would take a few more days of searching before Toya could fight again.

　　　　I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do this again.



　It's been a week since we killed our first ogre.
　Our search area extended to the northwest of the town of Laffan, deep into the forest.

　A few days ago, I finally had a chance to fight the ogre again, almost alone, and although I struggled a bit, I was able to kill it without getting hurt.

　I haven't encountered an ogre since then, but I think it's a good thing that I found out that even if I were to encounter two ogres at the same time, I should be able to kill them without much trouble.

Isn't the number of encounters with the undead increasing lately?
"Oh, you think so too?　It's good that they're small fry, but they're not very good.

　As Toya and Yuki mentioned, the percentage of demons encountered in this area was becoming more and more skeletons and shadow ghosts.

　Still, there are more non-undead demons than undead demons, but if they continue to increase at this rate, the situation could turn around.

　And the biggest problem is .......

I'm not sure what to make of that.
"Zombies, huh?" ......

　Everyone frowned at my words.

　I have a certain level of tolerance for gore due to the necessity of disassembly, but I'd rather not see a moving corpse.

"Nao, is that what it is?　Is that a flag?
You know what they say, if you talk about it, a shadow will appear. ......
Haha, no way.

　I'm not sure what to make of it, but it's too good timing.

　It's right on the edge of the search range. I'm not sure what to make of this.

What?　What is it, Nao? Just tell me.
There's a new enemy. And two of them.

　I'm going to give Nao the title of second class flag architect.

"Okay, I'll give Nao the title of second class flag architect.

I'm not happy!　I'm not happy! What's a second class?

It's a thankless flag. By the way, the harem protagonist has the first class.

Don't make up weird titles for me!

　"Don't make up weird titles for me!" "And by the way, I wanted to have a Type 1.
　Is there a certification exam going on somewhere?

Don't be ridiculous, both of you. Do you have the distance to spare?

Oh, yeah, yeah. I don't think an ogre would see us at this distance. And by the way, we don't know that it's a zombie, do we?

But it's two places, right?　Since it's Nao, I'm pretty sure one of them is a zombie.

Yuki, what do you mean, "because it's Nao"?

What do you mean, "because it's Nao"?

　Yuki shrugged her shoulders and said that, and I sighed.

I sighed. "That's some trust you have there, dude.
"Well, yeah. So what are these two places like?
One of them is pretty strong. Probably more than an ogre.

　My words caused tension between Haruka and the others.

　I'm sure the fact that there is an enemy stronger than the ogre in this area has given them some sense of danger.

But this one is alone. The other one has multiple ......5 between 8?　The reaction is not that strong, but it is more than ...... skeletons.

I'm curious about the stronger enemy, but the zombies are probably more than one.

　You're assuming that there are already zombies. I don't think so.

　...... No, I think it's more likely myself.

　There's a skeleton.

We have to go, right?

It's not like we're being asked to do anything, so I'm sure there are ways to avoid it altogether. ......

That's not exactly what we're going for, is it?

That's right. We've decided to go as far as we can.

Well, if we avoid it here, we'll probably be hunting orcs for the rest of our lives.

　I don't like that for some reason. There's no progress. .......
　I don't want to become a famous adventurer, but I want to get to the point where I'm satisfied.

I'll just check it out. If it doesn't look like it can fight, we can just run.

　If I don't confirm that it's not a zombie yet, I'll have to worry about the type of enemy the next time I get caught in a search.

　There is also the possibility that it is actually a completely different kind of monster.

　...... might not work. I hope I can escape.

I hope you can escape. What if it's a fast zombie?
"Fast zombies ......?　You think a zombie is going to run after you like an athlete?

　Athlete running with a rotten body.

　I'm going to change my job to a skeleton while I'm running.



"No, no, no, that's not even close. What if it walks on four legs and jumps around like a beast?

"...... Is that a zombie?　That's a far cry from the zombie I know, or even the one I imagine?

　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but I think it's a good idea.

"It's more like an alien or something. Are zombies like that?

"No, I don't know. No, I don't know. I've just seen such a movie before. Well, even if they're zombies, you can still get rid of them if you're cleansed, right?

I'll do my best. But if they're really fast, Toya, good luck.

Okay. You have to stay in the area of effect.

Geez, really?

　When Toya heard Haruka and Natsuki's words, he frowned.

　In fact, if they're approaching slowly, you can use Purify to wipe them out, but if they're moving like Toya says, it's hard to use Purify unless you stop them one by one.

　In addition, if Natsuki, who is in the vanguard with Toya, uses magic, then Toya will be in charge of stopping the zombies.

　--And maybe me. Let's hope it's not a fast zombie.

But it will be. Deodorant ......, or deodorant?　Or you'll want some kind of NBC hazmat suit, if you're going to be encountering them too often.

No, you can't operate with that on. Endure.

　I don't know if I can make it, but I don't think I can fight in those rumpled clothes.
　If I were to make one, it would have to be a gas mask.

I have a good nose, so strong smells are hard for me.
You can make clothespins.
You want me to pick my nose with that?　No way. ...... Well, I'll just have to live with it.

　I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm not the only one.