Leaving Tia there, I ran through the village to the fence on the other side. Fortunately, this one was not breached, but the sight of countless Kuronuri biting and scratching at it was not something that could be left unchecked.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a close call, but it’s pretty bad…. Hahhh!”
I stabbed them through the gaps in the fence with my sword. But with the swarms of Kuronuris coming in one after the other, it seemed that this was not enough to buy me any more time.
“It’s no good. If I do it little by little I can’t make itー… Oi! Who’s there?!”
“Here!”
As I called, I heard a voice coming from the other side of the fence where the Kuronuris were. I proceeded towards the voice, cutting through the sword, only to find a Chemonian man standing there, his entire body covered in blood, holding his sword.
“Hairless!? What are you!?”
“I’m a friend of Doben. I’m here to help, along with the Hero Waffer!”
“With Waffer-sama?! Come to think of it, I think Doben-san said there was a hairless guy working with the Hero… I see, that’s you!”
“That’s what I said. Use it!”
Saying this, I took a recovery potion from my waist bag and tossed it to the man. But the man who received it stared at the vial with a puzzled expression on his face.
“What the hell is this?”
“It’s a recovery potion.”
“Like a nutritional supplement? Nhhh … UOOOOOOAAHHH??!?!!?”
The man who gulped down the contents of the vial shouted in surprise. He still looked bloody, but I could hear the vitality returning to his voice.
“Oi Oi Oi Oi, What kind of thing is this? The pain in my body just vanished?!”
“I told you it was a restorative, didn’t I? You’ve heard of it, right?”
“I don’t know! Wow, hairless can make stuff like this on the fly…. amazing.”
“I’ll give you three bottles of the same one. Can you still stick around?”
“Leave it to me! If you go around along the wall, you’ll find the others, so give them this too, if you can!”
“Okay!”
I gave him three more restoratives and left the place, clearing the way with my sword again.
By the way, the restoratives I gave him were a small part of the large quantity I couldn’t physically give to Alexis when I left him. I didn’t know if there were any similar quality potions available in this world but it was not something I was unwilling to give away in this situation. The expiration date was about a year, so even if I kept it, it would only deteriorate.
“Hey, anybody home?!”
“Over here!”
Like that, I circled the perimeter of the village, defeating enemies as I went. Of course, I met up with Waffer again on the way, and after confirming that everything was OK, I went further….
“Hey, I don’t see Doben. What’s going on?”
I asked the man in front of me, a Chemonian with drooping ears, when I had made what seemed like a full circle. I thought I would see him on the way, but I couldn’t feel Doben’s presence anywhere.
“Do-Doben-san is fighting further away from us. He said that if he took the bait and drew the Kuronuri away, we could manage to protect the village….”
“Tch. So that’s the reason!”
Careless. Sure if Doben was to defend the village alone, his range of attack would be limited. Nevertheless if only one person stood out and continued to attract the enemy, he could greatly reduce the density of Kuronuris attacking the village.
I handed the man a recovery potion and immediately activated [Akashic Compass] to locate Doben’s position. Knowing Doben was the only one there, I went there at full speed using [Hermes Dash] flicking off Kuronuris along the way.
“Doben!”
“Whoa!? Ed!?”
Doben shouted hysterically as he jumped into the center of Kuronuri, where the density was clearly different from the other places. The fact that he seemed composed even though he was surrounded by so many of them, made him fit for the Hero’s role.
“You. What are you doing here!?”
“I’m here to help! Waffer is on the other side, Tia is in the village! The nine fighting around us are safe!”
Ignoring the questions posed to me, I told him just what he needed to know. Then, Doben bared his fangs and grinned viciously.
“Good news! You know what to do!”
“Obviously, right? We’re friends!”
I grinned at him too, and no more words were needed. All that was left was to protect each other’s backs and cut down the Kuronuris around us.
“HAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
With a howl, Doben’s sword sliced through several Kuronuris at once. That powerful blow would be difficult even for me to take head on without [Invisible].
However, because of its power, the gap created after the attack was also large. A flea-like Kuronuri, large enough to be held in one’s arms, jumped at our defenseless backs, but I was not so naive…. to let it pass through.
“Blow away!”
Instead of cutting them down, I hit them with the hilt of my sword, and the fleas that were blown away hit the surrounding Kuronuris, knocking them out of their positions. I did nothing else and Doben, using the opportunity created, used the same wide range attack he had used before.
This was our first time fighting together. And yet we both knew what we had to do. Both of us were first-grade swordsmen, so it was only natural that we could read each other’s movements. Doben, who had the power, would control the situation, and I would fill in the gaps. The impromptu duo turned everything in sight into a storm of tyranny …. and finally, the wave came to an end.
“Hah … haaa … is it finished, haa …?”
“Probably.”
I quickly checked our surroundings with my banishing skills while my back was towards Doben, who was breathing heavily. There were no “Living Kuronuris” within a 500-meter radius… which meant that the enemy had been defeated.
“Hah … hah … phew. Let’s go back to the village.”
“Roger. I’ll take care of the perimeter.”
Doben, now breathing steadily, took the lead, and we headed back to the village. We soon reached the fence, and though it was covered in scars and tatters, there was no sign that it had been breached.
“… What happened to the others?’
“Maybe in the village? Like you, they are probably worried about their family.”
“Ah, I guess you could say that.”
Doben nodded and went straight into the village. Naturally, I followed him, and a large number of villagers were gathered in what appeared to be the square where Mimir had been.
“Hey, you guys! Are you alright?”
“Doben-san! We’re fine, some people got hurt, but no one died!”
“And the injured were healed by the hairless sister over here! She is amazing.”
“Ah, ahahahahaha ….”
When the villagers moved to the side, I saw Tia, surrounded by children and old people, with a subtly perplexed look on her face. From Tia’s point of view, she just used the supplies she had on hand, so I guess she didn’t feel like she was very useful.
“Good work, Tia.”
“Ed! I’m not at all tired. I just used the healing potion I had on hand to treat the wounded.”
“But still. I know kuronuris didn’t have any chance to come in because Waffer and others did a perfect job, but that doesn’t change the fact that Tia was protecting the people inside the village.”
“That’s right, Tia-san! Thank you!”
When I called out to Tia, Mimir, who was listening by my side, thanked her. With those sparkling eyes, even Tia, gave in and smiled broadly.
“Doben! ”
“Waffer…!”
And then Waffer’s voice came from across the crowd. The crowd on that side also parted, and Waffer and Doben slowly made their way to the center of the crowd where we were.
“Glad we made it in time.”
“… Ah, thank you for saving us. Thank you, Hero Waffer.”
Doben extended his arm with his palm facing up. But Waffer grabbed his hand and turned his wrist sideways. Doben’s eyes widened seeing this, and he nervously opened his mouth.
“I-Is it okay?”
“Of course it is. Me and Doben are friends! Oh, and of course, so are Ed and Tia! You are all my friends and comrades!”
“… you’re a very honest Hero.”
The hands that were shunned in the first round, even knowing that they would give up their lives, were now clasped together as equal friends. Ah, yes. This was the ideal scene I was aiming for, the end point of our journey in this world.
The day of separation was near. That was why I was determined to keep the image of the two heroes firmly etched in my mind.
(T/N:- A little form to comment on the Translation Quality. If possible please answer it : D :- Quality )