TL Note: This chapter was sponsored by an anonymous supporter. Thanks so much!
As soon as we started up the mountain road, one Kobold and three Werewolves appeared out of the brush and approached us. The people of [Iron Gear] immediately entered their battle stances. In the vanguard were Lyra and Byrne, while Porta and Nina were in the back. Porta was standing directly next to me as the last line of defense.
“Byrne and I will keep them busy, so we’ll leave it to you Nina!” (Lyra)
“Leave the right side to me. Lyra, if it’s too much for you, let me know. I’ll cover for you.” (Byrne)
“Got it. Let’s go!” (Lyra)
“Here comes [Anti-Heal]! Lyra, dodge to the left!” (Nina)
At Nina’s call, a bolt of magic was released. From Nina’s palm, an emerald green orb flew in a straight line at a tremendous speed, colliding into the Kobold with great force. The Kobold screamed out in painful agony.
“Byrne, next is your side. Don’t move from that spot!” (Nina)
After confirming that her magic hit the Kobold, Nina completely ignored its cries of suffering and immediately directed her attention to Byrne’s side as she started chanting to prepare the next spell. Byrne was standing directly between her and the Werewolf she was aiming at, but for some reason she told him not to move.
In the next instant, another orb of [Anti-Heal] flew from Nina’s palm, but instead of flying in a straight line like earlier, it curved in an arc above Byrne’s head as it whizzed towards the Werewolf. The moment it passed over his head, Byrne charged in to match its timing. I see! She used Byrne as a screen so the Werewolf wouldn’t be able to react to her magic. While I was still marveling at Nina’s clever tactic, Byrne moved in with a quick slash to the left side of the Werewolf. When it moved to dodge the slash, it received a direct hit from the [Anti-Heal] orb, causing it to writhe and suffer in intense pain. On the right side, Lyra, who had already finished off the Kobold that was hit with the first orb of [Anti-Heal], had rushed in to finish off the remaining Werewolves. I was so fascinated by their amazing teamwork that I wanted to applaud, but, seeing that there was the chance that the noise would attract more monsters, I held it in.
…All things considered, Nina was amazing. With precise magic and precise instructions, she executed the fight perfectly. Her sharp figure in battle was so unimaginably different from her usual timid and nervous state. After seeing her fight so boldly, I started wondering if her habitually shy, reserved state was perhaps related to her incident at the academy, but… that would probably be an unjust suspicion.
“Yay, a complete shutout! As expected of Nina, your instructions were perfect this time too.” (Lyra)
“Because Lewin was here this time, I was a little nervous about not being able to fight normally, but… looks like it was fine.” (Byrne)
“Thanks. Because you two worked together so well as always, it was easy.” (Nina)
The three of them were giving each other high-fives and complimenting each other. The atmosphere was great, and it was fun to watch them.
“You three looked really cool. Thanks for guarding me, Porta.” (Lewin)
“Alright, let’s proceed onwards just like this! Sorry Porta, you probably won’t get a turn on our way up.” (Byrne)
“Don’t worry about that… I’m not always itching for a fight like you and Lyra.” (Porta)
Proceeding just like that, we reached the middle of the mountain without any problems. We were attacked by more Kobolds and Werewolves on the way up, but, with the party’s outstanding teamwork, the monsters were all slaughtered without much danger. Even though they were an F-rank party, they seemed far more stable than [White Feiler], although the people in [White Feiler] had higher individual strengths in comparison.
“We’re here! Lewin, is this place alright?” (Lyra)
“Here is fine. There’s a mountain stream nearby, so setting up a base here would be best.” (Lewin)
When I was here with the [Azure Alliance], we decided on using this clearing as our base as well. I had already picked this place clean of plants and herbs last time, but monsters did not come here that often, and there was a stable source of drinking water. It was a perfectly suitable place to settle down.
“Then, let’s set up our tents, make some food, and then hear Lewin’s story… how does that sound?” (Lyra)
“No, there’s still some time left in the day. I know we’re all curious about Lewin’s story, but we should let him gather some plants and herbs while it’s still bright out.” (Byrne)
“Eeeeh, I wanted to hear the story though!” (Lyra)
Putting my story on hold once again, I ended up leaving the camp to gather plants and herbs with Byrne and Porta as my guards.