After finishing my report to Louisa-san, I was looking forward to seeing what skills had been added, but I didn't check and held back until I returned to my quarters.

　I didn't know how the information would be disseminated in case they peeked at my license and saw my skill list.

　My hunger is nearing its limit, and I thought I'd meet up with everyone quickly to eat - but there's some kind of struggle going on as I leave the guild.

(Is that........the children at Farma-san's place, and the Silverhound.......what, are they involved in some kind of trouble?

You f*cking dog, you deliberately bumped into me. How are you going to explain this to me?

　A man with a shaved head and an air of roughness about him, even if he wants to get a tattoo on his shoulder, is giving the silver hound a cause for concern.

　The giant dog with silvery body hair stands in front of the children - Ake and Plum - and glares at the man. People passing by don't say anything because the man is too angry to get involved and intercede.

'Hey, wait a minute. Those kids are my acquaintances.
Oh?　Hmph. It's just fine then. I got some dog hair on my shoe. You're going to pay for my shoes with ten gold pieces. And I'll let you off the hook.

(You've been mugging the kids for a while now. You can't save them.)

　He must have looked at me and decided on the amount of money to beg for, but even from the not too large amount of ten gold coins, the man is probably a level 2 or 3 at best. However, I'm the rear guard - my role is to support my companions, and my personal fighting strength is not that high. I wouldn't be able to fight one-on-one with a close level opponent and be unscathed. There's also the issue of karma, and it's tough not to be able to set them up from here.

''........Can I talk to the kids for a moment?''
"Ha, you want to collect money from the kids too?　I don't care how you pay me, I don't care how you pay me, but I'm busy. Come on.

　It's something that would raise karma through blackmail, but it seems that the man has cleverly led them to it, and it seems that the silverhound has been bumped into first.


'Zion didn't bump into him. That man was trying to hit my brother, and Theon....
Shut up, kid!　I know your license shows that the d*mn dog attacked me!
Yikes...!

　-- an adult, threatening a child with an angry voice. At that moment, a feverish anger that I had been suppressing spreads through me.

　The silver dog -- Theon is still watching the man without a care in the world. Just because he was attached to the children's guards, his physique was nearly two meters tall, and I could imagine that he would certainly become a more dependable force than a low-level explorer.

''........Aik, Plum. Can you lend me a little bit of Zion's power?
Well, how do you...
"Uh-huh... big brother Ake, that!　The one your mother gave you!

　Plum takes the license out of the butt pocket of Ake's short pants. Then he operated behind me and Zion and called up the party list.

　◆Current Situation◆

　I changed "Theon" to "Alihit"'s party member.


(--Okay. Preparations are over........now we just need to find a way to lower Theon's karma. (Well, I guess we can manage it.)

"...Oh?　If you think you're messing around, you're going to get a dog to cover for you. No way, man.

　The guy seems to be a reincarnation too, but when he swears so much, it doesn't even cause a hometown feeling.

　I have to provoke him to set up here - I'm not too good at blatant swearing, but I'll try to pick a word that will make him angry.

'Theon didn't do anything wrong. Apologize to these boys and I'll let you off the hook.
"You think you're a righteous man but you're not giving me a chance. If I attacked this dog, my karma wouldn't get any better until I hit him. Do you know what that means?
'You're gonna hurt the dog?　Even if your license doesn't raise your karma, do you think the people around you will forgive you for your actions?
'Karma is an absolute judgment. You guys can't do anything but sit back and watch with your fingers in the air.......!

　A man takes out a knife and tries to confront Theon - it's only a bump, but even if the other side attacks with the intention of killing him, the karma will cancel out. It's an incomprehensible train of thought to make an example of Theon, who is bound by karma and unable to resist, to threaten us.

　I hide Ake and Plum behind my back and say to encourage them, who are trembling, if only for a moment.

'It's going to be okay. Don't worry. Theon will never get hurt, you know.

　Current Situation

　Aricht's 'Support and Defense 1' is activated →Target: Sion
　Jack attacks Theon. No damage.

Woah...!

　With a startled voice, the man's unleashed blade is flicked off before it can touch Sion, who was in front of me.

''I, that was some kind of mistake.......I don't even have a companion to use support magic, this guy is just a dog.......''
What's that guy's lonesome?
Isn't that dog insanely strong?
You think you can do whatever you want.....

　The man turns me, not Theon, into a target - but.

　Even though he tried to turn around and aim at me, Theon reacted agilely and put his body between me and the man to protect me.

　◆Current Situation ◆

　Aricht's 'Support and Defense 1' is activated →Target: Sion
　Theon's "Covering" is activated → Target: Aricht
　Jack attacks Theon. No damage.
　Theon's karma has been reduced to zero.
　Karma in "Jack" is up.

"Geez ... oh, it wasn't my fault!　This guy just came out of nowhere.........!

　There should be no damage to Theon, but perhaps because he jumped out to cover for me, the man panics, thinking he's attacked.

　Even if there's no damage, the man's karma has risen at the point of attempting to attack - then it should be okay to fight back if it's 'up to a blow'.

　Wavering, Sion glares at the man. The man mistakenly thought that he was intimidated by it, and he puts strength into his hand holding the knife - but then.

''-- Go, Theon!

　Current Situation

　Theon's "Tail Counter" is activated.
　Jack has been hit. Knocked back. Support damage 11.
　Jack" has fallen into a coma.

d*mn...?

　It was an unnoticeable and fast action - Sion unleashes his rich, fur-covered tail at lightning speed and looks at the man as he smashes into the man's side, and the man flies through the air with the force of his momentum.

　With a gap, the man stops moving as he runs into a trash can at the end of the road. There, the armed soldiers finally rush in - they thought their karma was offset, but the man was mercilessly taken away in the trash can.




　Plum jumps on me and cries loudly, while Ake struggles to hold back his tears and is happy for me and Theon to be safe.

''Ake is strong.


　Eike, too, was probably at the end of his nervousness, and he clung to my lap when I patted his head. It can't be helped because they were scared - both of them are still very young.

I don't mind that that dog was strong, but he's reckless.

　There's a meeting place nearby, so Igarashi-san seems to have come to see what the commotion was about. It seems that he had also seen me and Sion fighting together.

'He's a very strong and courageous dog. I was pulled by this dog's courage too.

　Theon is still looking around as if he's protecting us - although I'm not sure about the townspeople who are just playing onlookers and not trying to help, but as it turns out, they didn't spread the damage down the road because they didn't mess with us. The man, Jack, had no idea what he was going to do because he was a bit of a quack at the end of the day - he wasn't cool enough to be a hit man.

'Hiccup my brother, that was so cool...'

　To Plum, Ake is also a 'big brother' so he's wearing it, but I'm a little relieved that he doesn't call me 'uncle'.

　The two of them seem to understand somehow that I supported Theon. However, they don't understand to the point that it's a skill of the rear guard, and they seem to interpret it as 'I protected you' anyway.

'Thank you, brother. I'll tell my mom that my brother saved me.
'Tell him Theon was protecting me. Don't worry about the rest.

　I want to eliminate any hindsight so that that man won't think about getting even and so on. Well, since it seems that Theon's tail counter had knocked him out of consciousness, I'd be grateful if he could forget about it, including the fact that he met us here.

　That Sion, when Ake and Plum stop crying, comes over to me and sits down without saying a word - and.

'....Kuhn.
Wha... what's the matter?　You sound like a puppy for someone so big.
It's like you're taking care of him. I've heard dogs are very submissive to people they admire.
'Theon wants me to stroke him. That's what you do when you're in your spare time.
Do you want to pat her too?　Zion's so docile, you don't have to worry about touching him.

　Igarashi-san's eyes lit up as she looked at Sion, so much so that even Eike noticed right away. I laughed and showed her a nod as she gave me a look that said, ''Is it okay?

' '........Fluffy. Reminds me of the girl I had at home I wonder how she's doing now.

　Igarashi-san combs Sion's fur with a familiar hand. Sion looks comfortable, but he stares at me with a look on his face, wondering if I won't do it too.

(Even though he's nearly two meters tall, his eyes are dull when I look at him like this... maybe he's just a big dog breed and still in the mood to be pampered.

'Oh Kyouka. What are you doing, bothering the dog. I thought you were going to pick up Arihito?
Mr. Ellie, Mr. Aricht will be there for you.
Hey, big brother... and big dog... and big brother... and big dog... and big brother.　But it's too big and a little scary!　But I want to mooch!

　Elitia and the others seem to like dogs, too, and all three of them begin to touch them with Ake and Plum's permission.

　Only Theresia was unable to sit back and hid behind me - but since Sion is quiet, she too is brave enough to reach out and pet her head soon.

''..........''
'It's not absolutely impossible? That's good to hear.

　Theresia doesn't exactly get over her difficulty, and after a little petting, she hides behind me again. Aik and Plum laugh happily at Theresia like that - it seems like it was a long time ago that she was crying a lot earlier.

''Well ... let's get these kids off.
What? Are you sure?
'Wow!　I'm with my sisters!
Oh, my God, what's going on?　Have I done something to get you hooked?

　Igarashi-san was confused as he clung to Plum. I looked at the two of them and remembered what Farma-san had said.


'Sis, you're so cool!　I want to be a strong woman too!
'Can't we have swordsmen?　Or maybe I don't have enough of an adult demeanor.
'Don't be depressed, Ellie. You're a wonderful swordsman, Ellie.

　Elitia looks at Igarashi-san with a bit of envy. She's level 9 and definitely the ace of our party, but I guess her true face is that she's an age-appropriate, impressionable girl.

(And yet.........I can't believe Sion has that kind of skill. A guard dog...)

　Right now, Theon is still in my party. I thought about letting him go home at Mr. Falma's house, but watching Zion faithfully walk next to me and follow me made me honestly wish I had a dog like him.