Chapter 21.16 - Extra 3.1 (1/2)

「Take THAT!」

Accompanied by Hiroshi’s battle cry, the heavy mace made a splendid sound as he swung it at the boar-shaped monster, flinging it spinning into the air. Then, once its weak spot, the abdomen, was exposed, one arrow pierced through all the way to its heart from point-blank.

「Hiroshi, send one this way, would you!」

「Hiroshi-kun, over here too!」

「I got y’all!」

Answering both Makoto and Haruna, he first sent a boar flying over to Makoto using Smash, and once the skill delay had ended, he immediately launched another one over to Haruna.

「Sensei, above!」

「Yeah, I’m one step ahead of ya!」

He found the Gigantic Crow that had quickly flown down at him a moment earlier than Mio had spoke, countering its rapid descent with Smite and felling the beast.

「Wind Cutter!」

Right before it fell to the ground, Tatsuya lopped off its head with Novice Wind Magic, landing the final blow. Then, in response to the carnivorous bear that had appeared from afar seeking out the source of the blood scent,

「Over heeere!!」

Hiroshi built up pressure with Outface and concentrated aggro onto himself. Momentarily faltering, the bear leaped at Hiroshi out of fear to try and knock him down, but the next instant it was blown away in a flashy manner.

「What now?」

「S’long as we got that proof of subjugatin’ the monsters, I could care less.」

「Got it.」

They finished that little exchange before the bear could regain its composure, and Tatsuya promptly turned it into a popsicle with a nonverbal spell.

「Good job.」

「Man, we really git a lotta those suckers out here.」

Hiroshi muttered in an exasperated tone as he kept his vigilant battle stance, looking around at all the monsters they had taken out. The monsters they had finished off numbered over twenty. Although this did not even reach 30% of what Makoto and her group had gone through when they had gone to get the solmizen, they couldn’t simply ignore such a mob, especially when it was in the midst of winter near human villages where snow was gathering.

「I couldn’t believe my ears when you artisans said that you would round up all these monsters and annihilate them, but…」

「You really are something, all of you…」

「So cool, Boss Man!」

The craftspeople who had been taking refuge in the safe areas around the battlefield began to all marvel about this fight. On this particular occasion, the five of them had come here for a quest in the farmland outskirts of Wulls, hoping to also train in coordination. Nora and the other two figured this would also be a good opportunity to tag along for materials. Of course, this was with the permission of the landlord.

With that being said, using the term “outskirts” was a bit misleading. Leite Village was positioned in an odd location, the road to the village taking about two hours by foot to walk to from the eastern gate and then another half day from said road. The information for this particular quest was simple: drive out the unusually large amount of monsters that had gathered in the vicinity. With the mission being as simple as it was, several other adventurer groups besides Hiroshi’s had come and were hunting in other areas assigned to them. It was a little vague as to just how many they had to hunt, but Hiroshi was fairly sure that there was no need to take down 100 or 200 in just one area. In fact, hunting too many of them would eventually become an issue in and of itself.

「This is all normal stuff fer us. Heck, even if I ain’t here, Makoto and Brother could easily end it all without taking up much time as well, right?」

「Pretty much.」

「But if we’re talking which way is easier on us, this way is far easier, Hiroshi.」

The two of them said exactly what they were thinking, agreeing with Hiroshi while still maintaining their battle stances.

One might be tempted to think at a glance that five people fighting would be better than only having two people fighting such enemies. However, other than maybe amateur group fights, monsters were a whole different ball game.

First off, it was already presumed that each member of the party was able to at least take down one monster in a one-on-one battle, and they also had to have a firm grasp on their equal role as a party member. It would be even better if they could fulfill their part while keeping in coordination with what the other members were doing, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt for some people to share expertise in the same fields as each other.

In that sense, the Japanese team was the closest to the ideal composition. In their case, it was also true that they would have liked another person who was skilled at support magic, but of course that was too much to ask for. After all, they still had the unrivaled, reliable tank known as Hiroshi, and Tatsuya wasn’t the only one who could hold the forefront. They were truly blessed to have such options.

Although they couldn’t be as stoic as Hiroshi or Douga with their usage, Makoto and Mio also had top-notch guarding ability. Also, since Haruna didn’t have a single problem with going up against one or two monsters at a time, she could follow up whenever things got rough. Again, they were truly blessed.

「But ever since you learned Outface, things have gotten quite secure, haven’t they?」

「When you didn’t have that ability, you couldn’t even tell that the occasional enemy was in your blind spot. That’s a great way to lose.」

「Aww c’mon, ya can’t just expect all that from a simple craftsman.」

「No, I’m pretty sure that a “simple craftsman” wouldn’t try and stand in the front lines without using Outface.」

Hiroshi was already troubled with Tatsuya and Mio’s comments when Makoto also interjected with an exasperated face.

「Well, there doesn’t seem to be any more coming out, so let’s just gather whatever we can.」

Haruna had been listening to their conversation with a wry smile, surveying their surroundings before making the proposition. The reason Haruna hadn’t said much of her own opinion was because she was well aware from prior experience that their own perceptions of the outside world were inevitably skewed from regular people and their perceptions. Though it was already too late, surely there was no need to continue to offer her own opinion and be treated even more like an oddball by the other craftsmen. Or at least, that was what she thought, concerned for once about her public image. She didn’t intend to tell anyone, though.

「Yup. Oh, but we got a lotta raw materials fer once.」

「Could we possibly use them for practice?」

「Other than the animal hide, I’m purty sure that Haruna could barely even do it, let alone anyone else. We gotta git our hands on materials that’re at least not too hard to make into a Level 7 potion, otherwise everythin’ we use fer potions is gonna be too difficult.」

Everyone nodded in acknowledgement at what Hiroshi had said, cutting off just the parts that proved their subjugation of the monsters. This would at least make them some money, so they collected whatever they could, but it was unclear as to what they could even manufacture using these items.

「So how many medicinal herbs were you able to gather?」

「For now I was able to somehow gather a basket’s worth.」