What do you mean?


I muttered to myself as I looked around at the place I'd arrived at.
The markers on the tree trunks were the same.
Even without the markers, I remembered the features of the trees I'd passed, and I was sure I'd followed them precisely.
If I had gone in the opposite direction to the one I had marked, I would have been able to return to the meeting place.
But we didn't arrive at the meeting place, which was a little open space.


'What the hell is going on!


Kazuki barked.
He turned his head around and looked at me.


'You tricked me! Asahina!


Waki, who was walking at the front of the pack, would understand best that he had followed the landmarks back.
He was probably confused.
But confusion in this situation would be fatal.
I was cautious of my surroundings and drew the white sword, the white dragon, from my waist.


"Kazuki-kun, calm down. We're surrounded.


When I opened my mouth to say something again, Waki froze at Hosoyama's quiet voice.
I'm surprised that Hosoyama has noticed that he is surrounded.
Surprisingly, Hosoyama's search range seems to be wide.
It's called being able to break down toxins in your body, and that's pretty competent for a healer.


''Don't you two get out of my space.


I'm going to move my eyes to the left and right incessantly to keep an eye on the area.
There was a dense sense of death in the air that was incomparable to the demons I've fought so far.
This might not be good.


''It's here!''


With Hosoyama's voice, I swing the white dragon.
It's so fast that I can barely follow it with my eyes.
It's going to be a bit tough to fight while protecting the two people behind me in this situation.
Moreover, the enemy is still out of sight.
It looked like a tree branch, but could it be a tree demon?


''I'm not very good at fighting while protecting ......


I blurted out so loudly that the two behind me couldn't hear me.
I'm a samurai, not a knight.
I specialize in slashing opponents, not defending them.
That means my defense is pretty low.
Until now, Tsuda was protecting the three non-combatants behind him and the rearguard Nanase, so me and Sato could focus on the battle, but now that Tsuda is gone, I'm the only one who can protect them.
That's the kind of thankfulness you realize when you're gone, isn't it?


You should be able to see them by now: ......


Hosoyama murmurs behind me.
Indeed, the enemy's killing spirit and presence are gradually getting closer, but we still can't see them.
No, this is .......


''Sheesh!''


He turned around and cut down the tree demon that was looming behind them.
Its branches were close to the two men.


''It's a tree demon! Watch out for the branches!


Even though I know the enemy, there are plenty of trees out there.
To begin with, I can't distinguish between demons and real trees.
Perhaps it's because we're surrounded by them, but signs are scattered everywhere.


''It can't be helped. Let's cut them all down.


Another sword is drawn from my waist.
This is the sword that was given to me at Leitis Castle when I found out my profession.
It's a 'two swords' skill, one swing in each hand.
I've been practicing it at night, but I haven't mastered it completely.
But it is certainly more maneuverable than swinging a single swing with both hands.
I try not to think about defense, I take them all down before they attack me.


'I know this isn't the time to say this, but was Asahina such a brainiac?

Hmmm?


The two of them seemed to be saying something behind me, but I didn't hear them as I was concentrating.


'Two-fisted--'Cherry Blossom Blizzard'


A technique that slashes from various directions and angles in all directions, like a large wind blowing and a cherry tree in full bloom scattering.
The branch that was spread out in this direction was slashed in small pieces.
Even so, it still wouldn't have reached the main body of the demon.
The painful voices raised by the branch-slashed demons can be heard from everywhere.
So, I'll decide now while there are no branches in the way.


''Two swords--'Kamaitachi''


A gust of wind blows.
Behind me I could hear Hosoyama's little scream and Kazuki's startled voice.
After the wind had stopped, there were many trees that had been cut down in their place.
There was no sign of life there.
It seems that the current attack has taken down all the tree demons.
I huffed and delivered the sword.


''Awesome, Asahina.''


When I turned around, I saw Waki and Hosoyama standing there without a scratch.
It was really a close call this time.
I can't believe I was unscathed right after I got out of the castle.
It seems that I'm steadily getting stronger too.


I'm sorry I doubted you earlier. I wasn't cool about it.

'No, it came out of nowhere. No wonder you're upset.


Waki may seem frivolous, but he's actually a guy who can honestly apologize for his mistakes.
Nowadays, being able to honestly admit one's faults is a valuable thing.
I think this is a desirable part of life.
I enjoy the many good things about my classmates that I can see now, perhaps because I was never involved first in my life before I was summoned.


What do we do now? The landmarks we've been working on have probably been changed by the tree demons moving around.


I looked around at Hosoyama's words.
Then I approached one of the fallen trees.


...... No, it doesn't look like it.