No matter how much Myungho surpasses me, humans are still humans. Whether they’re Heroes or of Gold rank, in the end, they’re weak beings who tense up at the sound of an animal’s cry.
It only took a moment to overtake that guy. Since Myungho asked me to wait from behind, I ran forward a little more and plunged my greatsword into the ground.
Then I put my ear close to the handle. It’s less accurate than putting my ear to the ground, but in times like this when it’s urgent, this is enough.
I just needed a rough idea of where and how many there were.
…Up ahead, several two-legged beasts. And behind them, two six-legged beasts.
The distance between the two was quite large, but since there’s nothing else with six legs living on this mountain, it’ll be easy to catch them.
At my speed, I should arrive just as the two meet. But Myungho isn’t like that. When I turned my head to look behind, I could see Myungho running from far away.
If I were to face the two alone, I could do it, but protecting all the weaker ones would be too difficult.
Hmm, this will work then. Running toward Myungho, I picked him up in a princess carry.
“…Alterra?! Why suddenly…”
“Your legs are too slow. Whatever you do, hold on tight, and get ready! We’ll be fighting as soon as we arrive!”
Surprised by being suddenly picked up, after briefly explaining, it seemed like he understood somewhat. His face was still as red as a boiled shrimp though.
As I jumped between trees and rocks, that embarrassment seemed to fade as he tightly gripped the fur leather I wore.
Still, the fact that he didn’t scream shows that he’s tough for a human. Cutting through the wind as I sprinted, soon the distinct traces of many humans moving began to appear.
Not long after, I could see the shapes of those humans. And the six-legged beast. A creature half-covered in insect-like armor with a mouth that made up most of its body.
It had its massive jaws open, trying to swallow a child.
Thank goodness. We’re not late. Myungho roughly threw the people aside, pulled a spear from the ground, and hurled it towards the beast’s eye.
-GGWAKKKK!!!!
Since it was thrown hastily to stop it, it seems the spear didn’t reach the brain; it was only stuck piercing the eye.
“Everyone, please gather around me! I will protect you!”
Myungho seems to be doing his job properly. Then I can fully focus on these beasts.
Focusing mana on my horns, I pushed the spear further inside that was already embedded in one beast’s eye. The creature, whose brain was pierced, immediately collapsed and stopped moving.
Were the two companions? As soon as one died, the other charged forward with its mouth wide open, enraged.
Its interior was lined with irregular teeth like saw blades, looking quite terrifying, but I’ve seen even more horrifying things.
I created a large hammer made of rock and swung it forcefully into its mouth.
The beast hit squarely with a clean strike rolled around, regained its balance, and attacked again. Its life force is disgustingly tenacious.
Regaining my stance, this time I charged first and smashed the beast’s skull with the hammer. Once, twice, three times. With each strike, the exoskeleton cracked, and eventually flesh started flying out.
Finally, when it felt like I was hitting the ground instead of flesh, the beast fell silent.
This is why I hate these things. They don’t die unless their brains are completely destroyed.
Shaking off the flesh from my hands, I turned around to see the humans staring at me with terrified expressions.
“…Do not be afraid. I am your ally. Alterra, thanks to you, we managed to save everyone. Thank you. Now, everyone. I heard about an elder. We will help you, so let’s go to where the elder is.”
“Could that elder be… the village chief… sir?!”
“…It might be him. Someone with slightly gray hair… and a white mustache. Is that right?”
“Yes, it’s him! He’s alive…”
Where did we come from again? Since I literally exhausted myself catching up, I hadn’t thought about the way back.
Hmm. If I follow the slightly bent trees, it should be fine, right?
“This way… I think. Follow me.”
“I understand. Everyone, please kindly follow her. I will stay at the rear and keep watch for anything appearing. Alterra, I’ll leave it to you.”
Oh dear. It’s annoying to see the weakest member of the party acting like the leader.
While feeling disgruntled, I carefully retraced our steps.
—
“…So, a horde of Orcs suddenly attacked your village, is that correct?”
“Yes… Normally, during this period, the nomads graze their livestock on the plains beyond the next mountain, but for some reason, they’ve turned into raiders this year. We thought our village in the mountains was safe, but they suddenly attacked…”
“No fatalities yet?”
“…Yes. Fortunately, there haven’t been any so far, but what the adventurer mentioned earlier about the creatures knowing the taste of human flesh is troubling…”
“Normally, Orcs are just bandits, so there’s nothing unusual there… Tell me, elder. Haven’t you heard any strange rumors? Like a plague spreading somewhere, or maybe… something getting utterly destroyed because of idiotic wars?”
“No… There haven’t been such rumors. This happened suddenly without any warning…”
Yuna and Akashi were gathering information from the elder while waiting for Myungho and Alterra. However, the elder didn’t know much, so there wasn’t much progress.
“…This is strange, Akashi. You know a lot, don’t you? Can’t you think of anything?”
“I know a lot, but there’s so much that it’s hard to pinpoint one thing. It’s like asking why humans are greedy and expecting just one answer. There isn’t just one reason, so how can you ask for just one? Ah, wait… What? Throwing all the boring and hard stuff at me, and now you’re coming when it gets interesting? Stop messing around! After saying you’d return, years passed…”
However, when Akashi suddenly collapsed, Yuna looked worried and checked his condition, even though she usually didn’t have good feelings towards him. She considered him a comrade.
But when Akashi quickly regained consciousness, she dropped him carelessly.
“…What is it exactly? Are you… Wait a moment. Akashi…? Is that really you?”
But Yuna questioned whether the person who stood up was truly Akashi. Without answering her, Akashi continued to make incomprehensible movements like moving his body or taking deep breaths.
“Hmm. With this uncomfortable body… Survived well, haven’t I? Indeed, I am me. Hmm? What did you say? Say it again, my hearing hasn’t been used for a while.”
“Who are you?”
Yuna drew the iron bow strapped to her back and strung the bowstring. The sudden hostile atmosphere made the elder emit a ridiculous sound, but for them, it wasn’t a pleasant situation.
“Who, indeed. Akashi. Just a bit more… That’s right. Closer to the original, you might say. Why bring out your weapon? Anyway, with this body, I can’t harm anyone. Sit down. No sinister plans, I just came to see the Half-Dragon from the Burning Plateau.”
The serious and oppressive attitude, unlike his usual light-hearted demeanor, made Yuna tense. However, since she knew he couldn’t harm anyone with this body, she lowered her weapon for now.
“Thank you. First of all, as a mage, I can’t miss such a rare opportunity.”
“…If you’re Akashi, does that mean there are more… Akashis in the world?”
Yuna, having calmed her hostility slightly, asked ‘Akashi’. He answered straightforwardly.
“That’s right. There’s the heavily burned version originally in this body, and also versions closer to the original like me. Though, even so, I have no intention of agreeing with the original’s dreams. Inheriting knowledge is enough. I can’t inherit his misguided obsession.”
“…Then are the Akashis… good?”
“That’s unlikely. If they were, why would the owner of this body have been locked in an underground prison?”
Akashi burst into hearty laughter and casually admitted to being evil in response to Yuna’s question.
“…Ah, here they come. Finally. I thought I’d have to wait forever.”
When Alterra appeared leading the group from afar, Akashi abruptly got up from his seat and strode confidently toward her.
Alterra looked at him as if he were some strange object, but Akashi paid no attention and observed her horns, eyes, and tail.
“With a dragon-like face, these curved horns, my word. Even the tail. So, a proper one has appeared in the world. Hmm, wasn’t your name Alterra? Can I touch them once? No ill intentions, purely academic curiosity. Oh, you can’t understand speech? Excuse me for a moment.”
Akashi reached out to touch her horn, but Alterra firmly grabbed his hand in response.
“You don’t want me to, huh. Hmm… Could you let go? It feels like it’s going to break. I’m fine, but the body’s owner might not be, right? Ah, if only I could use magic in moments like this, it would be so convenient.”
Despite the pain, Akashi didn’t frown but looked at Alterra with an expression of interest.
“…What’s going on… Akashi? Alterra? Akashi, what are you doing again…”
“Ouch. Is the owner here? Nothing serious, just trying to satisfy academic curiosity by touching the horns. Would you let go?”
Seeing this bizarre side of Akashi, different from his usual self, Myungho looked at Yuna.
“…For now, it’s still Akashi.”
“…Alright. Alterra, let go of Akashi. What? She wants to convey… Yes, Akashi. If you try to touch her again, she’ll rip your arm off. More importantly, who are you?”
“The details, ask that woman with the iron bracelet. I’ve done what I came for, so I’ll take my leave. Oh, and write something on this body. Tell him not to swear. Isn’t he ruining everyone’s dignity? Well, that’s all.”
Having said what he needed to, ‘Akashi’ dropped his head and collapsed again. Alterra looked down at him as if he were trash, and when he regained consciousness, Akashi immediately groaned in pain.
“This trash… Coming here just to say his piece and always throwing me into terrible situations… Kill all the other versions of me already…!”
Clutching his numb arm, Akashi writhed on the ground as Myungho hesitated seriously about whether he should really write something.
Then, as if making a decision, he slowly approached Akashi with the brush in hand.
“…Hey, what are you doing with that? Don’t come near me, don’t come near me…! Stay away from me!”
“…Sorry. It seems the other you was right.”
Especially considering the potential conflict that might arise after teaching Alterra to speak, Myungho placed the brush on Akashi.
