It was a tremendous sense of intimidation that almost drowned out my presence.
A light shone in my field of vision, and a golden blade with a gentle arc swung down on my skull. If this had been the first time, I might have been so frightened that I might have made the wrong choice.

But this was not the first time I had been in mortal danger. So, without any resistance, I held Tino tightly in my arms and activated the second Safe Ring at will.

I'm not proud of it, but I was confident that I was as good as anyone at handling the Safe Ring. In fact, even in this age of powerful hunters, no one has used this emergency evasion tool as much as I have.

In my experience, from the time I was a level 3 hunter, I was completely incapable of dealing with such attacks. If it's one-on-one and the opponent is aiming only at me, I can't evade the attack no matter how I jump sideways, backwards, or forward, and counterattacking is a dream.

So I take the attack as it comes. In the time it takes me to hesitate to evade, I activate my warding fingers.

The blade, the electric shock, is strongly repelled by the warding that is placed just in front of my body. It seems that Arnold's fighting technique is to fight with the weight of each blow rather than the number of moves, but even so, I had no idea how many times the blade was swung down in one second.

That's okay. That's what hunters are for. But no matter how many shots I fired, the blade would never hurt me, who knew all about the capabilities of the warding finger.

Eventually, the attacks swung down in anger stopped and Arnold took a step away. His eyes, which were narrowed like sharpened blades, showed not only anger but also a strong sense of caution.

There was a huge hole in the ground behind me. It was probably caused by the aftermath of Arnold's attack. I released Tino, who had shrunk in my arms, and he stepped back, pale and unflappable.

I think we can finally enter into negotiations. Thanks to the presence of Liz and Cicely nearby, I can be more forceful than usual.
I don't know why Arnold is so angry. I'm sure it's just the usual misunderstanding.

'Are you done?

'Why ...... are you standing there? That's impossible.

I trust the warding finger.
It is generally thought that the safe ring is a treasure that automatically creates an invincible ward against deadly attacks, but that is not the case in the slightest.
The Warding Finger has several functions. There are several functions of the Warding Fingers, and I can extend my survival time just a little bit by using them.

One of them is "arbitrary activation", in which you can activate the warding finger, which is normally activated automatically, by your own will. With this activation method, you can slightly change the size of the warding, which is normally uncontrollable.
And in my case, if it's against an attack swung from the front, if I activate it at the moment I think "Oh no!

I can't help but brag about it.
Arnold looks scary, but I've been attacked by scary-looking people more times than I can count. It's not something I can boast about, but since an ordinary person like me has survived hell, I can take a small amount of pride in it.

'Mr. Arnold, calm down. This is the difference in ...... experience. I've been attacked a lot in my life, but no one has ever been able to hurt me before.'

'Ah!

With a small sound of something disappearing, Arnold's huge body disappears. Before I could grasp the situation, a loud sound echoed from the back of my head.

'Master!

Tino's scream goes up.
One of the warding fingers activates automatically. Apparently, it sensed that it could not break through from the front and switched to attacking from the blind spot. The speed is unbelievably fast for someone of her stature.
But it's useless. It's useless. What Arnold doesn't seem to understand is that it's not me he's fighting, it's not me he's trying to break through.

What he's trying to break through is the history of the Safe Ring!

It's the history of the Safe Ring itself, which is considered one of the strongest defensive measures of all time!

I'm a tiny being, but I'm equipped with seventeen of these "safe rings," which are sold at eye-popping prices.

To make matters worse, Arnold didn't stop his attack and slashed my back in succession.

'No, no!

'Calm down. I think it's time to stop.

I'll die, I'll die.

The remaining number of the Safe Ring, which was replenished by overworking the clan members, was being worn down.
The warding finger maintains its strength at a trade-off with its activation time. In other words, it can surely prevent seventeen blows, but after that, it cannot prevent even one blow.
An ordinary warrior would be able to find a way to fight back if he could prevent one blow, but all I could do was prevent it.

I turned around and gave a big swing of my right arm to buy some time. My right arm and the golden blade that I had put all my strength into collided and stopped.

The boundary of the Warding Fingers is impervious to impact, light, and sound above a certain level. So, if you have the right numbers, even I can temporarily compete with the heroes.

It is obviously unnatural to see my thin arm, not wearing any armor, fighting against a huge blade. Arnold's eyes widened in astonishment.
The blade that's been swinging down so wildly stops. This is my chance to persuade him. Arnold wants to kill me, but I have no will to fight.

I tried to keep my composure and smiled. I'm going to puke all over this vacation.

'I'm sorry, but I have no intention of fighting. I've always hated fighting. It's pointless to do so.

You'll die. You're strong, you should fight with strong people. I'd be dead if I'd been hit by the first surprise attack or any other attack.
This is why hunters who don't know their stuff are scary. They think I'm level 8, so they usually come at me full force.

'What are you doing here, anyway? It's not a coincidence, is it? I'm on vacation. ......'

'......!

In response to my perfectly reasonable question, Arnold glared at me with a look that said he was going to shoot me.
I'm not sure if he's aiming for an opening, but he keeps his sword at the ready, lowers his stance, and breathes hard. You don't need to aim for an opening, I'm always full of them.

But it feels good to be in a stalemate. My tongue is the only weapon I have.

'If it was because Liz was teasing you, I apologize for that. Sorry.'

'............'

Say something. Should I get down on my knees or something?

But as someone who was attacked out of the blue, I have something to say. I could have been killed by that. Especially for Tino, who doesn't have a warding finger, he could have been seriously injured.
I pulled Tino, who was standing guard next to me, and patted him on the head. The range of the warding finger had been extended in time, so there seemed to be no damage. Good, good, good.



He turns his head and flicks his tongue around.

'But honestly, I'm not that interested in ...... you guys--oh, sorry. I'm sorry.

The moment I said it, I thought I'd lost it.
I couldn't help but speak my mind. Because Liz's teasing was just a little mischievous, and not unusual for a hunter. So, in my mind, there is no justification for them to chase and attack us.

However, if such an explanation was enough to convince them, they would not have chased us this far into the mountains in the first place.
I hurriedly withdrew my statement, but it seemed too late. Arnold's eyes widened for a moment and twisted like a demon as if he understood the meaning of what was being said. He had completely poured oil on the fire.

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm going to do it.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not. Arnold raised his blade almost as a reflex, but it slipped through as if by magic and struck him on the chin. Arnold's huge body is blown wide open, but he adjusts his stance in the process.

Lies was completely pissed off. The aftermath of the lightning strike may have caused a plume of black smoke to rise from her costume, but her appearance showed no sign of damage. In the event that you've got a lot more than one, you'll be able to find a lot more.

She was just as devilish as Arnold.

I'm not sure what to say. I'm sorry. You're no better than a piece of trash, and you're interfering with my Liz--'

Apparently, the fact that she was interrupted in the middle of a rape is what got on her nerves. He's completely lost his vocabulary.

In a thug-like tone of voice, Liz jumps on Arnold. Even though he was a bandit, he was too eager to fight, jumping on a swordsman with a higher certification level than him.

In response to the divine speed of the kick, Arnold successfully maneuvered his greatsword to stand up to it.
It's a good idea to keep your eyes on the prize. The electric shock must have passed through the blade, but its speed did not decrease in the slightest.

'You! At the right moment! Don't get kicked by a horse and die! Die and pay for it!

'!

Arnold was on the defensive as Liz jumped at him, spewing vituperation.
The attack of Liz, who specialized in speed, was unknown to most swordsmen. The fact that Arnold was able to withstand the attack without being defencelessly attacked proved that he was an excellent swordsman.

Tino watched the scene in stunned amazement. It was the battle of a heavenly hero.

For a moment, Liz's movements accelerated rapidly as she delivered a series of flowing blows. He ducked back under the greatsword that he had raised to defend himself, and landed a blow on the back of his knee.
The leg is swung wide at the back of Arnold's head as he loses his stance. At that moment--Arnold's body glowed.

Lightning. Sparks scattered and the light burned Liz. She flew through the air as if she had been hit by a bullet, did about two revolutions, and landed on the ground with both feet.

Arnold stands up slowly and stares at Liz while breathing hard.
I'm not sure if that's Arnold's "trump card". Did he send lightning from his sword into your body?
I'm not sure if it's because he's resistant to lightning or if it's because of some other technique.

'Wandering around, depressing, little girl...'

'I just recently strengthened my resistance to lightning.

Liz says with predatory eyes. But I didn't see that coming.

Because I had thought that Liz was stronger than Arnold.
I knew that she wasn't weak since she was level 7, but it was far from unexpected that she couldn't win the game by surprise.

It occurred to me that perhaps praise would put him in a better mood, so I said something sycophantic.

'You're even with Liz, Arnold, you're so strong.

'............'

'Could that sword be made of thunder dragon material? Is it bone? That's a shame. ...... I should have made one too. I never thought of that. I'm sure you'll be fine.

I was upset, but I managed to lift it, when a voice called out from behind me. It was Sitri, who was preparing the carriage.
She was apparently watching for the right moment. In a calm voice, he said.

'You threw away the bones after making soup, didn't you? They were in the way.'

'Oh, ...... ah, ...... was it? ............Oh, was it good?'

'I thought the chicken was better ......'

'Oh, hahahaha...... you don't remember at all...... see, I'm forgetful. But you can't make a sword with a chicken bone, so in a way, you've divided the roles--'

'It's not that I can't make one, but ...... I made one the other day.

I don't know what I'm saying myself, but Citri gives me a wrong answer.
Oh no. Arnold has a pale face and looks like he's about to jump on you. If it weren't for Lise, he would have attacked him for sure. It's completely backfiring.

Then, Citly put his hand behind his back and whispered in his ear.

'Do you want to run? I'm ready.'

'!!!

That's right, Citri, you know me well. We'll run, of course we'll run. If we'd run the moment we saw the lightning on the mountainside, we wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place.
The problem is that Arnold's legs are almost always faster than a wagon. If we don't do something about him, our escape won't work.

'Ah, Mr. Arnold. Actually, I'm busy. ......'

'You're ...... busy lusting after women?

You're wrong. But yes, if you think about it ......, it might make sense for Arnold to come since he got us out of that situation. No, it doesn't.

I wanted to get away from Arnold, but in order to do that I had to deal with him. I was in a quandary.
The standoff between Lise and Arnold continued. The durability of a high level swordsman is ridiculous. I trusted Liz's ability, but I couldn't tell who had the upper hand.



At that moment, Tino beside me shouted as if he had made up his mind.

'Mastera......, I'll fight too!

'What ......?

It was the most unlikely option. No matter how good Tino is, I don't think he'll be able to put up a good fight against Arnold, who's on par with Lise.
However, Tino stuck out his chest and looked at me with straight and pure eyes.

You can't be protected all the time. I can see now that it was for this moment that Masutaa imposed on me the special training to be struck by lightning!

'E......'

''Huh?

I'm not the one who imposed that training in the first place. .......
Arnold is looking at me with an expression as if he were looking at a monster. No, it's not. It's not me.

I'm sure that if it was just me and you, two on one, there would be a gap.

I wonder why hunters are so eager to die.
This isn't a training exercise, Tino's body would be cut in half by a direct hit from that huge sword. In fact, I've seen Luke cut a man in half. It's possible.
The next problem will be the lightning that he is wearing. No matter how resistant you are, it is unlikely that you will be able to survive being exposed to that. Unlike swords, lightning is hard to avoid. It's reckless, even without Ansem in the party.

But no one seemed to agree with me. Neither Sitri nor Liz showed any signs of stopping Tino. They were the kind of girls who would push their children into the deepest chasm.

Then I suddenly remembered something good. I went through my pockets and pulled out something slimy. Tino's face changes. Arnold's face changes too.

I'm glad I brought it just in case. It's rolled up and stretched wide.
The "Evolving Greed" that had been forcibly stuffed into his pocket said in a disgusted voice.

I've been through a lot--is it my turn ......?

I'm not sure what to say. It's--'


It's a great way to make sure you're getting the most out of your vacation. To be honest, I wasn't sure whether to bring it or not, but I brought it because it's definitely a powerful tool.

If it was just Tino, the Tino of that time would be able to fight against Arnold.