The moment I raised my hand wide, Paula immediately moved.
　I put my hands around Mia's mouth and neck from behind, trying not to make a sound, and forced her to crouch down.

　A step later, the village chief with a sword in his hand came running toward me, keeping low.
　Accompanied by two women who were kneeling behind the carcass of an antlered deer, I joined them.

　Yoru, Kuu, and the others were also lying face down on the backs of the slimes.
　They seemed to have remembered the signal to warn them of danger.

"Can I help you?
"Unh!　Ugh!
"The boneys are gone. Where's ......?
No sign of .......

　You should have been on alert during the battle with the antler deer.
　I've got a bad feeling about this.

"Hee hee.

　The gobbler, who had somehow blended into the undergrowth, pointed behind a tree and informed me.
　I peeked out from behind the deer carcass and saw a black mass hiding in the grass.

"Is that a wolf, ......?
"A black wolf. What a pain in the ass.
Sir, there's another one.
Gggghhh!

　As Paula had pointed out, there were several beasts spying on us from everywhere.
　It's a good idea to take a look at a few of the more common ones.
　In the game, it was an annoying monster that took advantage of its high mobility to surround one of its allies and attack it in rapid succession.

　From this point of view, it is one size larger than a normal dog.
　It also has thick legs and a sturdy body.

　Its special ability is, I believe, biting.
　It's the same as the skeleton dog, but with more muscle, so it's probably more powerful.
　It also has black body hair, which gives it its name.
　I'm sure that has some troublesome properties too.

When did so many of them come to ......?
"They must have smelled us fighting antlered deer. They must have sniffed out that we were fighting antlered deer and decided to take advantage.
Well, that's cunning. What do we do now?
If we're surrounded, we're at a complete disadvantage. Let's pull back to the wall. There's no danger of being attacked from behind.

　One by one, they're not that hard to deal with.
　But if they keep coming at us from all around, we'll definitely run out of steam first.


　We've been doing this a lot against boss monsters, but the violence of numbers is really something to be reckoned with.
　And not being able to use and really hurt too much. 　

　With the wolves no longer hiding their low growls of menace, we decided to change our location.
　With the village chief in the lead, we started running toward the east.
　But after only a few dozen steps, his feet stopped.

"Gosh, these guys!

　Several of them, their fangs bared, gathered to block his way.
　There was no way to defeat them, but if they stayed here, they would be surrounded immediately.

"Let's go around. Go to that tree.

　With Gobu controlling us with an arrow, we turned to the large tree on our right.
　But before we could get close, several more wolves appeared from behind the tree.

"No good. Let's get back here.

　We turn around quickly.
　The longer we stopped, the worse it would be for us.
　But the wolves are still standing in our way.

Then let's use the trees as a wall. There.

　But that tree was already in the wolves' territory.
　The same thing happened to the other tree.
　With our escape routes blocked, we had no choice but to return to the carcass of the antlered deer.

Hahaha, they've completely read our movements. What's going on? ......

　No matter how fast the wolf is, this anticipation is extraordinary.
　At my question, Paula and the village chief made quick eye contact.

You, in fact, have been hearing some unfamiliar sounds .......
"Me too. Every time I try to move, there's something echoing from above.
Oh my God!　They're gathering!

　Just as Mia had said, a dozen or so wolves were closing the distance.
　There doesn't seem to be much time left to think about it.

　The antlered deer I had left unclaimed, hoping it would slow them down, showed no signs of having been fished out of their bodies.
　And after all that running around, I'm nearing the end of my strength.
　I guess it's all just what they wanted. 　

　I drank up the restoring potion, caught my breath, and made up my mind.
　I would have preferred to take it easy, but I don't think I can afford it.

"We have no choice. Let's meet them here.

　If they were all gathered in one place, it would be a chance to round them up.


　Besides, I can take care of a few injuries with this antlered deer that the wolves couldn't touch.

We're running out of time. Yol, Kuu, come here for a minute.
And!
Kuu!

　I nodded at the two innocently looking up at me, and hurriedly took out the numbing mushroom.
　The demon children slobbered reflexively.
　As I bring the mushroom to their mouths, I say I'm sorry.

"I'm sorry.
"Gonyou!
"Gummy!

　While shoving the numbing mushroom into Yoru and Kuu's nostrils, I took out the labyrinth garlic and tossed it to Gobbledygook.

"All right, give it to him!

　The goblin bites into the garlic, swallows it, and smiles his familiar evil smile.
　Then he took a deep breath and leaned forward.

　--
　The horrible stench from the goblin's mouth enveloped the wolves that were about to attack.
　Immediately, the pack of beasts staggered back, their faces contorted by the fierce smell.
　It's a good thing I have a good nose!

Now!
"Kuu, flap!
"Goo!

　The bird child soars up into the sky at once, and with a flap of its wings, sends down a large number of pointed feathers.
　This is how I've settled most of my disputes, but this time my opponent is not so easy.

"Oh, no.

　The black fur that surrounds the wolf's body is highly flexible and very slippery.
　About half of it doesn't penetrate, and slides down the body surface.
　But even so, it seemed to have done some damage.
　The wolves were dripping blood, and Paula continued to tell them what to do.

I'm folding!　Yoru, GUN!
"Gaden!

　A small figure disappeared, and then Yoru suddenly appeared in the midst of the wolves.
　With purple lightning claws clinging to his feet, the beast boy slammed his sharp claws into the wolves.
　A howl of pain and a spray of blood erupted from the wolves.

　Gobbledygook's second skill is stinky breath.
　It is thanks to the numbing mushrooms peeking out of their noses that these two animals, who were not very good at this, can move as usual.

　The mushroom actually has the effect of paralyzing the sensory organs for a short time.
　For this reason, it was used as a raw material for paralytic medicine in the workshop.
　This is the reason why I said that I had touched but never eaten them.

Wow, there's a lot coming!


"Gov, behind you!
"Kihihihihi!

　The wolves in front of him were stopped in their tracks, but now he had to attack them from behind.
　However, as if they had seen through Gobbledygook's movements, the wolves stopped just in time.
　As if they had seen through Gobbowl's move, they stopped just in time.

"d*mn, they're reading me again!

　I took out the bones of the dreaded bird, and waved the doorbell to summon three more bone-chicks.
　I need to add some more walls.

　The village chief and Paula also wielded swords and whips to check them, but they were skillfully out of range.
　Mia's is not powerful enough to make a decisive blow.

I'm not sure what to do.

　Just as I was mumbling, I suddenly heard a loud cry from above me.
　At the same time, a black shadow began to fly around like a madman.

"What is that?

　The next moment, the string of Gobuchi's bow rang out, and the shadow that had been shot down fell headlong.
　What fell to the ground was a bird with blackened feathers all over its body.
　In the claws of its feet was a limp fairy yaw.

So that's what he did!

　The unusual movements of the wolves and the words of Paula and the others clicked together in my mind.

　Forest crows.
　In the game, it was a nasty monster that worked with the black wolf to hunt us down.
　It must have been watching our movements from the sky and letting the wolves know.

　And .......
　I gently picked up the bloodied fairy.
　Perhaps she was grabbed while scouting.
　But it must have sensed our danger, and with all its strength, released the fairy's kiss.

　The wolves, who had lost their eyes in the sky, were no longer our enemy.