After taking a rest at the foot of the mountain, we sat up from the large rock and began to climb up the majestic slope of the mountain that stretched out before us.

The slope, formed by reddish-brown rocks and pebbles, was not a good place to climb.
If I stepped off and fell, hitting my head on a rock, it would be a disaster.
I chose my foothold carefully, and somehow managed to climb up the slope.

On the other hand, I saw Irene, Satsuki and Mee, who were more than ten steps ahead of me, climbing up the slope with ease.
They seemed to be chatting happily or humming to themselves, often even showing concern for me and Cyril who were following behind.

'Oh, with all those athletic monsters, we're in no position.

Cyril, who was moving ahead, smiled and extended his hand toward me.
I took his hand and Cyril pulled me up like a prince escorting a princess.

'I'm sorry. But I'm the one who's in the worst position. I'm like a princess now.

'Hmm, I suppose you're right. I guess we're just a bunch of common men fighting over a princess.

'There's a real princess mixed in there, though.

I chuckle and point to one of the men walking ahead.
There was a silver-haired princess in men's clothing, walking lightly with a jaunty gait.

'Even the real princess is crazy about you, isn't she?

'No, I don't think so. You're probably mistaken about something.'

'Hmm, yes. Maybe I'm wrong.'

Cyril chuckles meaningfully.

Irene and I have always been prone to such misunderstandings.
Maybe it's just the way of the world that if a man and a woman get along well, they'll be suspected of having a male-female relationship without a second thought.

'Hey, Cyril! What are you and Will doing making out with each other? That's not fair!

Such a voice came from Satsuki, who had somehow advanced a long way ahead of us.
Cyril replied to her, raising his voice.

'Satsuki! Princess William's breathing is getting worse! Why don't you take her in your arms and carry her again?

'Oh, is that so? I can't help it. Wait here, Will, I'm coming.

'Oh, hey Cyril, what are you talking about ......! Don't take it seriously, Satsuki!

I was almost picked up by Satsuki, who came running up to me, and Cyril was laughing next to me.
Watching us, Irene and Mi were also laughing cheerfully and whispering something to each other.

Lately, Cyril's pranks seem to be gaining more and more momentum. .......
You will find a lot of things that you can do to make your life easier.

And so, with this kind of exchange, we went up the Fire Dragon Mountain.

There were no major dangers along the way.
I'm fed up with the bad footing, but I'm not so athletically challenged that I can't fall and get seriously injured if I proceed carefully.
Of course, Cyril, who has been trained as a warrior, is the same, and the other three are just abnormal.

But as expected, after climbing like this for more than an hour, we were starting to get tired.
I was about to suggest that we should take a break.

I was about to suggest that we take a break when Mie, who had been leading with Satsuki and Irene, stopped moving, her cat ears quivering.

I'm not sure if this is a feather ......? I'm not sure what to make of it, but it's a good idea.

Mee muttered and turned her sharp gaze to the left hand front.

I followed her gaze, but could not see anything beyond it.

I thought it was .......
A few seconds later, several creatures jumped out at once from the ridge ahead of me.

The creatures looked like large lizards, over two meters long, with two pairs of translucent wings, similar to those of dragonflies.
Its shimmering wings fluttered at high speed as it floated a few meters above the mountain slope.

The distance was still far, and the figures that I could see were only tiny.
There are five of them.

When I saw them, I fully activated the monster knowledge stored in my brain and pulled out the names of the corresponding monsters.

'Is that... a dragonfly?

'...... Dragonfly?'

While parroting back, Irene throws a glance back at me.
I give her a small nod.

The monsters, on the other hand, seemed to regard us as their prey, and all of them came towards us.

''They're coming, Satsuki!

'All right, Princess! ...... But you can't slash them if they're flying through the air. I'm not sure what to do.

The two of them, Irene and Satsuki, stood in the vanguard in front of the five large winged lizards that were coming towards them.

Mi is right behind them.
The beastman girl pulls a small throwing knife from a holder on her thigh and asks me.

'William, is a dragonfly a type of dragon?

'No, biologically it's pretty far from a dragon. It just got that name because of its similarity in appearance and characteristics.

'I see. If it looks like a lizard and flies, it reminds me of a dragon, doesn't it?

'Yes. And one more thing. They breathe fire breath.'

'...... Really? Tsk, that's really nasty.''

While I was talking about this, five dragon flies flew in with a buzzing sound of wings, finally approaching the fighting distance.

When the dragonflies were within a certain distance of us, they dispersed at once.
They formed an encircling net around us from the outside, and then closed the distance between us.
Seeing this, Mee clicked her tongue again.

'You're too clever to be a lizard! It's not like William's magic is going to be able to wipe out ......!

As she says this, Mee still doesn't throw the knife.
The effective range of the throwing knives was short, and it would take some more time for the dragonflies to get within range.

'Satsuki, if we get surrounded, Will and Cyril will be in trouble! Get behind me and cover me!

'You say that, but! I can't help you if you're flying and breathing fire!

'Yes, but! But there's nothing we can do about it!

Eileen and Satsuki's voices were impatient.
They're right, it's not good if they target me or Cyril.

As for Aileen, Satsuki, and Mee, their aura-enhanced agility allows them to evade quite well.
They would also be effective against the fire breaths of the dragonflies.

But Cyril and I are ordinary people in that respect.


I don't have the physical ability to keep evading the breath of fire with a flutter.
In addition, the foothold on the slope full of rocks and stones is poor, and if you push yourself too hard, you could fall off your feet and get seriously injured.

On top of that, the combination of the ability to fly and the ability to breathe fire (fire breath) is extremely bad, making it a bad match for close combat experts like Irene and Satsuki.
They would be helpless if the fire breathed out from above, beyond the reach of their swords.

My magic would be the only effective firepower, considering that Mee's throwing knives were not enough to make a decisive move.
However, since the enemy has spread out and attacked us, we can't use range magic such as sleep or blizzard to wipe them out.

If that's the case, the proper course of action would be to shoot them down one by one with magic missiles and other minor techniques.
However, this would cause a great deal of damage to us as well, before we could finish shooting them all down.

I can also think of a few other tricks...

I was, however, thinking of trying out my newly acquired 'power' this time, as well as practicing in battle.
And I've already been chanting spells for that purpose.

I made sure that all five dragonflies were within range, and activated the spell.

'Magic Missile'.

With the completion of the spell, four small lights were created around the staff that I raised high in the sky.

Normally, these would be shot out like arrows, and each arrow would deal small to medium damage to the target it hit.

But that was not enough firepower this time.
Dragonfly is an E rank monster, and taking into account its durability and magic defense, we can predict that we will need to hit each of them with about three arrows to shoot them down.

Hence, this skill.

'Multiple spellcasting!

I piled up the magic arrows (magic missiles) that I had activated in four layers ( ).

With a high-pitched squeak, the light around my staff increased in number from four to eight, eight to twelve, twelve to sixteen.

'''What about ......?'''

When the four friends saw this, their eyes lit up, as if the sense of urgency they had felt just before had vanished.
And then...

'...Go!

With a shout, I shot sixteen arrows of light in all directions.