Isn't that it?
　I turn my gaze towards Lucy's pointing.

Which one? And Emily.
"I don't see him.

'You could use your clairvoyant skills.'
　When I use the skill, I do see a small, dotty, cow-like demon.
　It's out of the range of my senses, so I can't tell if it's the prey I'm after or not.

''How can you see that far away?''
　I can't even see clearly with my clairvoyant skills.
''Elves have good eyesight, you know!
　Lucy puffs her chest out.

'So what do we do now?'
　I asked them all.

'I'll beat you with my magic!
　Lucy is rolling up her arms.
'It's about five hundred meters from here, can you hit it?'
　Jean says doubtfully.
'You can't,'
　Emily assures him quickly.

'What!　I'm the only one who can attack at long range!
　Meekly, Lucy gets angry.
'Lucy's magic is no-contact, you know.
　I know, because I've seen Lucy's magic too often.
　There's no way you can get this far.

I'll take the bait.
　He pulls the dagger from its scabbard and holds it in a dangling position.

'I'm useless on the offensive this time, and...'
　The weather was clear.
　There was not a cloud in the sky, and there was no water all around us in a grassy field.
　With the dagger in my hand and my own magic, I couldn't hope to make an effective attack on the large, rampaging bison.

''True, are you okay?''
　Lucy looks worried.

'I'll use my skills and do a good job. If you lure him over here, we'll use Lucy's magic to weaken him and then Jean's magic sword to finish him off.
I'll be using auxiliary magic on Lucy and Jean to increase the effectiveness of their magic and attacks.
That's the plan. Lucy, go on with the chanting.
Wait. I'll cast a defense spell.
　I'm going to have Emily cast a supplementary spell.

　Now, let's go.

　I approached the rampaging bison with my covert skills all the way to the rampaging bison.
　As the distance narrows, the giant figure gradually becomes clearer and clearer.
　The figure of the rampaging bison is about the size of a medium-sized bus.

　If it hits you, it looks like it might blow you up like a leaf.
　They may not have noticed us yet, but they are leisurely hacking away at the grass.

　I wonder if Lucy's chanting is about to end.
　I turn around.
　Jean raises his hand.
　He raises his hand, signaling that he's ready.
　Okay.

　Stealth skills unlocked.

　A rampaging bison glanced at me.
　He's on to us.
　But it's still only on alert.

　I picked up the stone at my feet and activated my throwing skill.
　With the traveler's skill, what I throw will always hit.
　It's a skill I often use when I want to conserve my magic power.

''Urya!''
　He grabs a rock and throws it as hard as he can.

"Strike.
　The stone, which was thrown with full force, hit the rampaging bison in the nose.
　Buo-oh," a yell of rage resounded.
　Glaring at me, he glared at me.
　Here it comes!

　Runaway skill activated!

　I'm heading back to my people.
　I've got a bison on my tail.
　Well, he's faster than I thought!
　He's faster than the Ogre.
　Unlike the last time we went into the woods, there are no obstacles.

　We can't outrun this one.
　It can't be helped.
　I look back to the rampaging bison.

　Oh, that's pretty impressive.

　A huge chunk of it is rushing towards me.
　If it hits you, you'll break your whole body, no doubt.

　Activate the evasion skill!

　Just before he was caught up, he activated his skill.
　With a thud, a black mass passes in front of me.
　I feel like a bullfighter.
　Once again, I look at the rampaging bison, trying to avoid it.
　The rampaging bison are heading this way, "Huh?
　You can't turn around!

'What?　What?
　Lucy made a goofy noise.
　Rambunctious bison get excited when they see red things.
　Lucy wears bright red hair and a bright red cape.

'Aha!'
　Miss Lucy, she likes you.

She's coming!
　Jean shouts.

'Hee!　Fireball!
　With a thud, a huge fireball is fired at the rampaging bison.

'It's fast!'
　A rampaging bison cannot turn around when it starts running.
　Therefore, if you shoot a spell after a run, it will hit almost 100% of the time.
　However, you can avoid them before they start running.

　The rampaging bison avoided the fireball with plenty of time to spare.
　Once again, he scrambled up his hind legs to lunge at Lucy.

''Awwww.''
Hey, Lucy! Hurry up and chant again!
　Emily is soothing Lucy's confusion.
　It's just not going to be enough in time.
　The rampaging bison keeps his head down and is ready to charge.

'Not good, they're coming!'
　Jean holds up his shield, but that won't prevent him from doing so.
　It's just the way it is.
　Knead your magic.

"Water magic, ice floor!

　I froze the rampaging bison's feet.
　Slyly, the rampaging bison fell.
　He let out a slightly dumb squeal and slipped away, "Bum-ooh!

"Really?
　Jean comes running over to me.

Oh!　But you can't do it a second time. I don't have the magic.
'Seriously?　You have too little magic!
Shut up!
Hey, Lucy!　One more fireball.
Okay, okay.

Blade of the Wind!
　Jean swung his sword down, and the magic blade hit the rampaging bison's side.
　There is a zinging sound, and the rampaging bison bleeds out.

　But
It doesn't look like it's working very well.
'It's essentially an auxiliary magic for close range. It's not very powerful when used as a jumping off point.
　Jean says regretfully.
　The rampaging bison looks fine.

　He snorts at us and is ready to charge.
　Lucy's chanting isn't even half done yet.

'Okay, let's split up. I'll take the bait and just avoid them. Jean, attack from behind.
Oh, oh. But how do you get them to come to you?
That's how you do it!
　He readied his knife and lunged at the rampaging bison.

'Oh, hey!'
　Jean is shouting impatiently behind me.
　A rampaging bison rushes towards us.

　Evasive skills!　And more!

"Water Magic Ice Blade!

　The magic that I activated with the last of my magic power pierced the rampaging bison's one eye.
　Bwow! 'Oh!' said a strained cry.

'Oh!　Yes!
　Jean says carefree.

'I didn't do it. I just pissed him off.'
　The rampaging bison rushes toward us in anger.
　He loses one side of his vision and wobbles a bit.
　If I can just avoid it with this, I'll be fine.

'I'm already empty of magic!　Jan, I've got you covered!
I mean, are you really a wizard?　Yo, all right. I'll take care of it.
　Jean tackled the rampaging bison from the side, holding a large shield at the ready.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a great deal more to say about this.

　Is that a shield skill?
　That's a good move, isn't it?

It's over!
　Lucy shouted.
　Jean and I panicked and moved away from the enemy.

'Fire-ball!'
　The rampaging bison is wobbling as he gets hit by Jean's skills.
　There's no evading it.
　A ridiculously large fireball completely covers the rampaging bison's huge body.
　Whoosh, a pillar of fire rises.

　

"Lucy's magic is amazing........
　Emily blurted out.

'That wasn't my turn...' muttered Jean.
　'No, you did a good job.

'Hmmm, of course you did!
　Lucy is very proud of herself.

"But you're not going to scorch the shit out of it. You don't want to sell them like that, do you?
　You're supposed to be making a little money, but aren't you overdoing it?

'Fur would be no good. But the internal organs and bones are valuable as material, too, so they'll buy them back. Maybe.
　Jean is a little worried.
　'Oh, come on, I'm sure it's all right.

I'm starving. I wonder if I can have some of this.
　Lucy says something wild.
　She smells like burnt meat.

"You're a little girl, you're gonna get a stomachache.
　Emily puts in a supremely decent shove.

'I'll report you to the guild. I'll have to ask them to buy and carry the demons.'
　If you take down a large demon, report it to the guild and they will transport and assess it.
　Jean seems to have a communicator and will contact the guild.

　We're on guard to see if any other demons have come in until then.
　There are very few strong demons in this area, so it should be fine.

　◇

　It was about 10 minutes after the rampaging bison was defeated and Jean reported to the guild that he noticed something was wrong.

--The danger-sensing skill rang out.

　Keen, a high-pitched sound echoed in my head and I almost frowned.
　I've never heard this sound so high and loud before.
　It's totally different from the Ogre's.

'Hey!　We all have bad enemies.
　I call everyone's attention to it.

'What?　True, what are you talking about?
'True!　Are you sure?
'Watch your back!　There's got to be something out there!

　Skill to locate.

'Ah!　Look at that!
　I look in the direction Lucy was pointing.
　Something is rushing in with tremendous speed.

"No!　A griffon!
　Emily screamed.


The one approaching us was the Gryphon, a demon with a danger level: high level of danger.