I think it was probably me, not Jiel-san, Tsukasa or Kyousuke, who first noticed the strange change.
I later learned that it seems to be something that wind mages who have grown up to a certain line can unconsciously sense, and it's commonly known as 'wind reading'.
It's called intuition or an unpleasant premonition, and it's a way to somehow know if there is a factor nearby that seems to affect your life or death.


There's something strange about this forest, isn't there?


And that was just when I was about to say that.
I was going to talk to Giel about the discomfort I'd been feeling since I entered this forest.
You will be able to find out what is the best for you and what is not.
Mr. Ziel, we were in the same group, and I tried to cut him off about it, fortunately.

It seemed too late, though.


''Nanase-kun, be alert. There's a little distance between us, but we're surrounded now.


Mr. Giel looked around in a very natural motion, as if he was really looking for food, and said to me in a whisper.
I felt my body strengthen at the word "surrounded by enemies".

As a wind mage by profession, I am of course the rear guard, and whether it is an enemy among humans or demons, I have never gone head to head with them.
It's not that I, as a man, had never longed to fight on the entire line, but at most what I was doing was releasing long-range magic behind Tsukasa and Kyousuke.
And none of the demons I've fought so far have been strong enough to dodge the attacks of the heroes and samurai to pin the rear guard down.
That's why I wasn't used to accepting something called killing intent, unlike the vanguard's melee combat positions.


''Hee!''


If I was freaked out by where the attack was coming from, my body floated a few inches to a hand that touched my shoulder.
I follow that hand, and I see Ziel-san with a grim look on his face that I rarely see.
The hand that grabbed my shoulder tightens.


'Calm down. If you don't want to die, think about what you're going to do to survive, and be prepared to spend whatever it takes to survive.


Mr. Ziel stepped in front of me with a stern face, drew his own sword and held it up.
His back was much wider than I thought it would be.


'Use me to help you survive!


Hearing those words, I finally felt my hand tighten.
Instead of the somewhat distant respectful language that I've been using up until now, Jir's original words, which are a bit messy, reach my heart.

I'm not as strong as Akira, even if I'm on my own.
I don't have the charisma to lead everyone like Tsukasa does.
I'm not good at anything like Kyosuke.
I'm not good at cooking, I can't liven up a place at any time, and I can't heal anyone.
I am nothing special.
But I want to live.
I don't want to die.
...... I want to go back home too.
I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do anything about it, but I'm going to say that I'm not going to be able to do anything about it.
So to do that, to grab that life, I have to fight for it.

Perhaps it's because of the killing intent directed at myself, but my hands, which had been cold earlier, become warm with heat.

Probably what Akira did on his first day in this world, I finally decided to be ready to fight through this world.
Instead of being swayed by the opinions of the people around me, I thought that with my own will.


''Yes! I'll do what I have to do not to die! So please tell me what to do! How can I survive?


I gulped and looked up, grabbed my wand to assist in activating the magic, and looked into Ziel-san's eyes.
I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this as well.


''Good preparation, sir. Now, let's get right to it: ......


I quickly nodded at the words Ziel-san whispered in my ear.
It was something I'd never tried before, but I know from my previous experience as a wind mage that strong emotions are sometimes a force to be reckoned with when invoking magic.
If I'm not just a drifting me until now, but now that my morale is up, I'll be able to perform it for sure.



Then are you ready?

Yes, it's all set.


I'm ready to meet the enemy.
It feels like quite some time has passed since I made my preparations, but the enemy has not yet arrived.
Even if the killing spirit I felt was because I was frightened, isn't Ziel-san's search range too wide?
No, is this level of competence necessary to serve as the deputy commander of a country's knightly order?
My guess is that it's roughly twice the range of Tsukasa, the brave man, and about five times the range of Kyousuke, the close range combatant.
Or does the profession of a knight have a wide search range?
After I had made up my mind, I wondered about something that had never bothered me at all before, and I chuckled as I realized that I really didn't know anything about the world, we really didn't know anything about it.



About a minute later, an hour or so in experience, it came.

A brown and green demon that seemed to cover our entire field of vision surrounded us, and with each step it narrowed its range.

'Trees!

They are more accurately called tree demons, or 'torrents', and are usually dressed as trees. Normally they are dressed as trees, but when danger threatens or during the breeding season, they are very active.


It seems that this time we have met just in the breeding season.
Saying that to me, who was upset to see the full extent of the enemy, Ziel-san looked at the torrents that were caught in the trap he had set.
I was surprised that demons have a breeding season like other creatures.
Apparently, demons are closer to living things than I thought.

The trap that me and Jiel-san made is just a trap, but it's just a pit.
I just set holes big enough to fit an adult male in the ground with wind magic, centered around the place where Jiel-san and I are standing now.
There's no mechanism to hide the hole, or to put insects inside the hole, it's just a pit, or rather, a hole.
If it was a human, it was just a hole that any intelligent creature would have avoided or jumped over without coming straight forward.
But the holes in the ground sucked Trent and his friends into them.
It seems that these "Trent" monsters are not so intelligent.
Prior knowledge is a great thing, after all.
I didn't enter the library in the castle as ordered by the king, but now I regret it.
There were probably some books about demons in the storeroom.


'As I said before, Trent's intelligence isn't high, but it's not the lowest either. You must remain vigilant. I'll be on guard behind you as well, but keep an eye out for him.


Ziel-san's words got me fired up again.


''You remember the auxiliary magic I taught you earlier, right?


I nodded at Jill's last confirmation.


'Good. Now it's time for the actual battle. From what I've seen of your party so far, you have the best view of what's going on around you. I've asked for .......


I nodded again at Ziel's encouragement and readied my staff.


'Give this one the power to slay even a dragon, the power to defeat a mighty enemy. Until the time when my magic power runs out, my power will be your power - 'Wind Aid Magic: Acceleration'.


I took a breath when I saw Mr. Ziel, who glowed green for a moment, and increased his magical power again.


''Create a barrier that will not allow any attacks to penetrate this one. Until my magic runs out, my power will be your power - 'Wind Aided Magic: The Barrier'!


I finally relaxed my shoulders as I cast two auxiliary spells on Mr. Ziel.
Mr. Jill confirmed that the two auxiliary spells were applied without any problems and patted me on the head.


''Well done. Now take it easy and let me do the rest.


The calming, calm voice, despite being surrounded by demons, made me feel myself relax.
I could hear Ziel's words in the distance, as if she was stressed from the repeated exercise of magic.
I just lost consciousness.