While Gaien muttered that while throwing an enemy down into the ground, Tsubaki also agreed. Apparently everyone seemed to have felt that something was wrong.
Shin joined in and it became 3 against the remaining 3 members of the pack, including the leader. They didn’t show any behavior of turning their backs at all. Normally, they should have already tried to run away.
“Hey, don’t these fellows look a bit thin?”
Shin said as he noticed it when the other two people spoke of a sense of incongruity. The Jag Wolf appeared to show its ribs if one looked closely, even the leader as well.
“It’s like the demon essence affected these monsters somehow or another. They probably aimed for the Grimm horse because of its meat and demon essence. That certainly explains the lack of resistance I felt a while ago.”
Gaien nodded when he understood it, without dropping his guard against the Jag Wolf.
There were monsters that were born from the demon essence’s influence, and wild beasts that became monsters due to the demon essence. The former could live on demon essence alone, but the latter was different. They had to eat meat and could not just absorb demon essence to maintain their bodies. The majority of these latter types often attacked people and domestic animals, but it didn’t get much public attention, because the former have such a strong demon essence. Gaien explained the situation on the way. As for Shin, since he didn’t remember in detail how the monsters spawned during the game, he memorized it for future reference.
“It is prepared for death as there’s nowhere for it to go.”
Tsubaki said it plainly. Even for the monsters in this world, they had to be strong to exist. Before the rule of the survival of the fittest, all living things were equal. There was no line dividing the humans and monsters here.
It must be remembered that Shin’s and the others’ request was to guard the wagon. If it ran away, they would not chase after the wolf, but they could not help but kill it if it continued to attack.
The choices left for the Jag Wolves was either to die starving or to die fighting.
“We are also risking our life for this. Shin, it’s useless to hold back.”
“I understand.”
Shin answered him briefly, as this was not the first time he fought a monster to live.
However, he had never met such a desperate opponent prior to this time.
(The resolution is different from the previous guys. Though that’s the only difference, it couldn’t have done that so easily.)
It was not about challenging a strong opponent, nor the hunt or fight.
It fought to live.
To the extent that the pressure they received was remarkably different.
(Moreover, the two of them that are behind it are still pups.)
The two that were approaching little by little were still children with the shapes of puppies.
Was it because he was a Japanese person, that his blade was getting blunt?
“I will kill the leader. Tsubaki on the right, Shin on the left.”
“Understood.”
“Roger that.”
“Then…let’s go!!”
The timing was matched to each other.
Tsubaki and Shin were the first to begin.
Tsubaki stepped into the fight with her aura continuing as it was. Judging from the Jag Wolf’s point of view, it felt like there was a chance of being cut down if it blinked. To the opponent, which froze by reflex, Tsubaki swung down her fist without mercy.
The Jag Wolf slammed into the ground with a cracking sound, and then twitched a few times before it stopped moving.
Shin also took a stance and raising his sword above his head, stepped in with a speed superior to Tsubaki’s. The katana swung down as he stepped forward. The Jag Wolf didn’t move. No, it was not possible for it to move.
At the same time as the arc in the air disappeared, its body slipped diagonally. The eyes of the Jag Wolf blinked a few times as it turned toward Shin. It might not even have noticed the cut.
“Then after you.”
“Umu, agreed.”
Gaien stepped forward between Shin and Tsubaki. The reason why the leader didn’t attack Shin and Tsubaki was because Gaien had overpowered it.
There was no longer a chance of winning. Still, the Jag Wolf leader didn’t back down. It raised a short howl and put its strength into its limb. Its intention to live was straightforward. Even if he thought it was hopeless, Shin felt a sense of respect for that figure.
The leader exerted its power for a few seconds. In its last dash, it squeezed out all of its strength, aiming at Gaien. The speed was as expected from the alpha of a pack; powerful.
“Magnificent.”
It was Gaien who spoke words of praise. He prepared his longsword while facing the oncoming leader.
For the leader, which was approaching straight, Gaien moved calmly. The figure of Gaien wavering, with his feet side-stepping.
The moment of their clash. In the next moment, along with Gaien’s swung down sword, there was the figure of the leader split in two.
While waving the blood off of his blade, Gaien turned his eyes toward the last, small Jag Wolves ahead.
“What should we do?”
How would a person of this world make such a decision at this time. To find out the answer to that question, Shin called out to Gaien.
“I will kill them if they attack, but I won’t give chase if they decide to leave. Our work is to guard, not to hunt monsters. In any case, I don’t know whether it’s possible for those two children to survive on their own.”
In case they survived, they might get attacked by someone else. However, that was for another story. If they appeared outside a village in this world, it was a common sense to employ a bodyguard or to learn some self-defense. They might get attacked by other monsters or even by bandits in either case. Even if they killed the Jag Wolf children here, the possibility of someone else attacking the wagon, as well as themselves, didn’t decrease.
The children might have understood that their parents had died. They disappeared into the forest to escape.
“Somehow, it leaves a bad aftertaste in the mouth.”
“It was different from a fight against common monsters, huh.”
Shin nodded to Tiera’s words.
“I share your sympathy. I’ve never experienced such a fight before.”
Gaien consented.
“But it’s not good to mind it too much either.”
What Tsubaki said was right; if they worried about it too much and thereby let it dull their blades, a companion might be sacrificed next. They had to be practical.
“Is it over? Then let’s hurry up and leave.”
Nack, who was near the Grimm horse, called out to the four people. As expected from an elderly former adventurer, he changed gears quickly. He was not shaken to see the scene from a little while ago either.
“Still, for them not to eat to get thinner, there must be something in the forest, right?”
Gaien then answered Shin’s question.
“Well, there’s nothing I can add. Jag Wolves are smart monsters. It’s hard to think that they failed at hunting until they reached such a condition.”
“Even if the food supply diminished?”
“These guys also eat goblins. It unreasonable to think that the goblins were swept away, right?”
“I agree. If one of them was found, 30 of them would come out.”
Tsubaki said it in a way that was like saying a G* was lurking in the house. After all, the goblins’ reproductive power didn’t seem to have changed, just like in the game era. (E/N: G = cockroaches, ‘cause Goblins are like cockroaches)
“I heard a story that said Skull Faces were appearing in large numbers in the Wraith Plains. Wouldn’t that have an influence?”
When Tsubaki said that, Shin opened his mouth as he suddenly remembered.
“Ah, that reminds me, I overheard that all high-rank adventurers are away the guild, wasn’t there something like a large-scale request?”
“That matter, huh? At that time, I was going to go home for a few days before, at Bayreuth’s southern town with Tsubaki. So I didn’t participate there.”
Then Tiera secretly whispered into Shin’s ear.
“(Hey Shin)”
“(What’s the matter?)”
“(The Skull Faces, was that the request that came to master?”
“(Yes, those fellows were quite strong. That might be the cause.)”
There was the possibility that their territory was overflowing with Skull Faces.
“Either way, we don’t know the reason. It’s useless even if we think about it. So I’m going to go to sleep.”
Doing things at her own pace, Tsubaki said that and put on her overcoat. It was typical for adventurers to be able to sleep in a shaking wagon. Because there were shifts between being coachman and standing guard, it was an important duty to rest while one can.
“It’s as Tsubaki said. There’s not enough information even if we think about it. Since that took a significant amount of time.”
“That’s right. For the time being, should I do maintenance on our weapons? What are you going to do, Tiera?”
“Because it’s my turn soon, I will be at the coachman box.”
When Tiera said so, she exited the canopy, and moved next to Nack.
According to Schnee, Tiera learned most of the necessary skills for an adventurer, so she could take the role of coachman without any problems. Rather, it was Shin who didn’t have the experience. That was because a horse could advance without him having to guide it when he set the direction in the game, so he was not used to doing such things.
“What adventurer can’t drive a wagon? Even a young woman can do it.”
“Ugh…”
Even though they were just simple words, what Nack said made him feel a little down.