A Defensive Battle?

  “Distance… wind… good. Activating… [Snipe].” (Sirius)

  The distance was measured by my eyes and when I fired the [Snipe], the extended spell of [Magnum] that’s specialized in aiming at long distance enemies, the mana bullet directly hit the monster’s head. As its head blew up, it fell to the ground.

  Since they were furiously moving around, I had decided not to narrow down the targets, and I was always calm whenever I was sniping. Calmly foreseeing the movements, I shot them down, one by one. This action was indifferently repeated only on a number of flying monsters, and I let a breath out after I confirmed that I had shot down all of them.

  When approximately forty flying monsters were all shot down, the appearance of the monsters running on the ground was starting to be visible among the trees. The variety of monsters that were coming here included the ones that we had fought before, like the well-known Goblins and walking Lizardman.

  Although it wasn’t up to the Dyna Rhodia’s extent, there were several large-sized monsters mixed in. All of them were extremely agitated and single-mindedly coming here.

  Hokuto released an overbearing pressure, but since the monsters seemed to be too stimulated, it wasn’t very effective. I intended to let them go if they were intimidated and turned around, but it couldn’t be helped if they were coming at us. Hokuto was waiting for my orders while growling, but his turn would be a bit later.

  “Next is to wipe out the small ones…” (Sirius)

  What I imagined was a gatling gun.

  I had used it in the previous life, so I imagined that I was holding a gatling gun that could shoot thousands of bullets per minute.

  In general, a gatling gun was heavy. It was originally a thing to be attached to a gunship or a vehicle. Since the main unit didn’t exist when it came to magic, it was only possible to do it manually by preparing each finger, one by one, on both hands.

  And then, I spread both hands to release the trigger and the spell would activate.

  “Strafe… [Gatling]!” (Sirius)

  Mana bullets were shot in succession from both hands, and the monsters where my hands pointed at were shot by countless bullets, one after the other. I slowly spread my hands horizontally, scattering the bullets to clear the surroundings.

  The sound of the bullets couldn’t be heard since it was a spell. The only sound that reverberated was the sound of blowing winds. However, if I used the real thing, my ears would be temporarily deaf, due to the thunderous roar, and there would probably be countless cartridges falling to my feet.

  The bullets’ strength and accuracy were dropped to the minimum and they weren’t effective against tough monsters, but there were a lot of small monsters, like the goblins. The small monsters were almost obliterated when they got close to the surroundings.

  But… because the amount of mana bullets used to suppress them was exhausted, the amount of mana I had hit rock bottom, as was expected when firing thousands of shots, so there was no choice but to suspend [Gatling] before I was able to fire it in front of me.

  As the assault was interrupted, the surviving monster came closer, one after the other…


  “Hokuto!” (Sirius)

  “Woof!” (Hokuto)

  Without activating [Gatling] in front of me, Hokuto kicked the ground right when I gave him my orders, and he ran off.

  Hokuto reached his maximum speed with only a few steps. When he gave a blow under such conditions, he blew away the small-sized and medium-sized monsters that were stretched out like a meat wall, similar to bowling pins, and then he ran straight ahead towards the large-sized monsters that stood behind them.

  The target was a single-eyed giant called a Cyclops. It was a big monster that was said to be a hard fight, even by veteran adventurers, since it was strong and had enough strength to easily mow down large trees. It was more than twice as tall as me, but Hokuto attacked it without hesitation.

  When Hokuto, who jumped into its bosom faster than the Cyclops’ hurled fist, swung his paw, he scooped out a large amount of flesh from its flank. However, his claws didn’t penetrate it that deeply because of the monster’s mass, it seemed that it was far from a fatal wound, so it didn’t fall down.

  But, Hokuto’s attack wasn’t over yet.

  He kicked the tree that he had passed by earlier and hit the monster again from behind. Before the monster could turn around, Hokuto’s fangs bit its neck, and the sound of crushing bones was heard.

  The Cyclops that was caught by the neck was killed. Before the monster fell to the ground, Hokuto ran and aimed for the next monster.

  He tore the Lizardman with claws and broke the monsters’ necks with a single blow of its tail. He annihilated the monsters while running around the battlefield the whole time, without stopping in one place.

  In the meantime, I restored my mana and shot the monsters that were approaching the cave, one after another, by shooting [Magnum] with both hands. Currently, I was like a fixed gun battery standing in front of the cave.

  Since Hokuto mainly took care of the medium and large-sized monsters, my priority was to take down the small-sized monsters.

  “Go right!” (Sirius)

  “Woof!” (Hokuto)

  And then, I gave some orders to Hokuto, while watching the whole situation. He moved and went rampant except at a place where I shot [Magnum]. We steadily reduced the number of monsters.

  While doing so, a rabbit monster with high jumping power was knocked down when it jumped and attacked at the same time. During that gap, a single goblin got close to me.

  It held a weapon while talking with strange voice, so I immediately switched the weapon on my right hand, and pointed my forefinger and middle finger at the goblin.

  “[Shotgun]!” (Sirius)

  The goblin that received the mana bullets at close range had its upper body cleanly blown away. What’s left was its lower body part.

  Switching to [Magnum] again, numerous stones and spears flew towards me when I was about to aim for my next target, so I changed the orders for Hokuto, while knocking down the thrown stones with [Impact].

  “Go left! Prioritize the archers!” (Sirius)

  The ones that threw the stones were Orcs, pig-like monsters that walked on two legs. Unlike Goblins, they were clever medium-sized monsters that used weapons that were similar to a human’s, and they stopped moving for a moment when they saw how skillful I was with weapons. Meanwhile, Hokuto jumped into the flock, preferentially aimed for the Orcs that held weapons and knocked them down.

  Since more monsters appeared from the direction where Hokuto no longer was, I activated the trap that was set in advance.

  “Activate [Claymore]!” (Sirius)

  As the name implied, the spell had an image of a Claymore Landmine, where innumerable iron balls charged inside were launched into a fan-shaped range when it detonated.

  When it was activated, the mana bullets were scattered in the form of fan shape similar to the real thing. It went through the enemies in a wide range and they became full of holes. By the way, the sphere-shaped mana was put on the ground and the [String] attached was used to detonate it.

  Because several of them were set up in advance, they were activated at the same time, and the small monsters that had no defensive means were blown away together with thunderous sounds.

  Excluding the place where Hokuto was fighting, the places where the smoke was cleared became a terrible sight because the stretched of trees and monsters were mowed down.

  “…Did I go a bit too far? Well, since the outcome was good, I guess it’s all good?” “ (Sirius)

  The scenery changed considerably, but it was better, since it became easier to see the monsters.

  Medium-sized and large-sized monsters seemed to endure the [Claymore]s, but since they released shock waves as well as mana bullets, they were blown back quite a bit and fell down.

  As I was shooting the vital points of the fallen monsters with [Magnum], I turned around, since Hokuto was loudly howling and there were two boar-like monsters with the bodies of regular horses rushing towards us.

  Hokuto struck the forefoot and held one of the monsters, but the remaining one was quickly approaching me. I immediately shot [Magnum], but even though the shot hit its head, it didn’t stop it’s charge.

  “Strong? No, did it repel it…?” (Sirius)

  Not only was the head of the monster covered with hard skin, it was also a round shape and it seemed that the shot was repelled. Since the effect from the front direction was light, I made a big forward jump and went over the monster’s head.

  I flew with my head facing the ground. When I went over its head, I pointed both of my hands and continuously released [Shotgun].

  Due to the successive [Shotgun]s being directly released from above, the monster’s back became totally wrecked and its life ended as its body dropped onto the ground. As expected, it appeared that only the front part was sturdy.

  However, I was far away from the cave because of the huge forward leap and I was about to get into the center of the horde of the monsters. Since the drop point was full of spears and swords pointed by the Orcs, I directed my hand to blow them away with magic, but… it looked like that wasn’t necessary at all.

  “Awoooo——!” (Hokuto)

  Hokuto lunged at that drop point and blew all of the standing Orcs with his body. I arranged my posture in midair and hopped on Hokuto’s back, who was standing by.

  After Hokuto confirmed that I got on his back, he immediately pulled out. He turned around on the battlefield and returned to the front of the cave. He turned around so that I could shoot at a long distance.

  After shooting and defeating the monsters and the troublesome enemies, Hokuto, who returned to the cave and let me down, jumped out onto the front lines again and started to rampage.

  I occasionally headed out in a similar manner, and the number of monsters was also decreasing, while repeating the hop-and-return on Hokuto. Afterwards, the remaining monsters were a few large-sized.

  The remaining monsters were four Cyclops.

  Hokuto went out and went against three of them, and the monsters were wonderfully tossed around without being able to follow Hokuto’s nimbleness. Since his paw attacks went through them when there was a gap, the conclusion had been decided from that.

  At the same time… the one that was aiming at me was somewhat smart. It slowly advanced while protecting its head with its arms. [Magnum] didn’t seem to be able to penetrate the skin and muscles of the Cyclops. I shot it a couple of times, but I clearly saw that it could endure it.

  I also thought of shooting both of its arms with [Anti Material], but I noticed that I hadn’t gone for a melee battle this time. It was mostly a battle with magic.

  “I should experience everything.” (Sirius)

  All of the monsters had almost been knocked down, so there was no need to face it in front of the cave.

  When I charged directly at it, the Cyclops noticed that the magic attacks had stopped. It undid its defense and swung its right fist at me.

  In the case of Hokuto, he jumped into the opponent’s bosom earlier than its fist, but, in my case, I adjusted by momentarily dropping the running speed and shifted the timing, and the monster’s right fist only crushed the ground before me.

  I flew over the body of the Cyclops with its arm as a foothold and stabbed my sword towards its eye, which was the vital point of the Cyclops. However, the monster defended its eye with its left hand, so I suspended the assault, and kicked its shoulder to make a high jump while making preparations, and then I jumped over the head of the Cyclops.

  I landed on the ground and the Cyclops slowly looked back, but it was disturbed with the sense of incongruity that was happening with its body.

  “Left arm or neck muscles… which is stronger?” (Sirius)

  Before jumping overhead, I used [String] to make a loop and connected the left hand with the neck, so when it tried to move the left hand, the neck was squeezed.

  I jumped into its bosom towards the gap where one of its arms was occupied as it trembled. Looking at the sturdy abdominal muscles, I hurled a fist loaded with mana.

  “[Zero Impact]” (Sirius)

  When my fist hit it, an [Impact] was released at the same time. It was a technique that imitated Garve’s [Wolf Fang]. Since my strength and mana were combined, instead of just multiplying the power, it was very effective against sturdy enemies because it penetrated the armor and gave a shock.

  The Cyclops was in agony, unable to endure the pain from the impact that went through its abdominal muscles. At that time, I jumped and landed on the monster’s head.

  “I will make you receive it this time.” (Sirius)

  And then, I pushed the sword against the Cyclops’ eye from above its head. The monster fell onto its back and was killed. If it was this much… Reus, alone, would’ve been enough.

  “Awoooo——!” (Hokuto)

  When I looked at Hokuto, he was shouting victory on top of stack of monsters.

  However, there was a Cyclops behind Hokuto that seemed to be alive, it was extending its hand to squeeze Hokuto.

  It seemed like it was going to be fine, since Hokuto noticed it, but I shot [Anti Materiel], blowing its head off to stop it.

  “Carelessness is one’s greatest enemy, you know?” (Sirius)

  “Woof…” (Hokuto)

  Hokuto weakly howled, he walked towards me with a drooping tail. He seemed frustrated.

  He might have been a bit careless at the end, but thanks to him, we managed to completely annihilate the monsters. I gently stroked Hokuto’s head with gratitude.

  “But, you did well, Hokuto. You are truly reliable.” (Sirius)

  “…Woof!” (Hokuto)

  His feelings probably got better when I stroked him, he tried to rub his face against my chest while waving the tail, but… he stopped when he noticed that his mouth was full of the monster’s blood.

  “What are you restraining yourself for? If you’re not doing it, I will do it for you, you know?” (Sirius)

  “…Woof.” (Hokuto)

  However, I embraced Hokuto’s head, and carefully stroked him. It would be fine to wash away the blood later, so there was nothing to do but to properly praise him.

  “The truth is, I’d like to brush you, but it looks like the battle inside is still on-going. Let’s go, Hokuto.” (Sirius)

  “Woof!” (Hokuto)

  I didn’t think that there would be any more battles in front of the cave, so I went inside of the cave again.

  On our way back, I lightly wiped away the blood on the battle dress in the river inside of the cave, while Hokuto took a dip after jumping into the river. When he got out, and shook his body, there was no more blood on him. I thought that it was a very convenient fur.

  “Well then… shall we see how much Emilia has grown?” (Sirius)

  “Woof!” (Hokuto)

  I had already confirmed Emilia’s location through [Search] and I knew that she was about to fight the Dyna Rhodia.

  In order to see how she overcomes the mental block, Hokuto and I headed for Emilia.

  — Emilia —


  Strength was overflowing within me when I wore Sirius-sama’s coat. As Reese and I went back into the cave, Reus and Ojii-chan’s battle fell into a difficult situation.

  “Jii-chan! It’s coming here!” (Reus)

  “Urgh!?” (Garve)

  Although their limbs were still attached, there were scars here and there on their bodies and their movements were getting dull. I was relieved because they had no fatal injuries. They seemed to be obviously tired and there was no break in their movements.

  I nodded when I met Reese’s eyes, and then we hurled our spells at the same time.

  “[Air Impact]!” (Emilia)

  “[Aqua Pillar]!” (Reese)

  The Dyna Rhodia’s jaw sprung up because of my [Air Impact]. Furthermore, the water column spewing out from its feet had toppled it down.

  “Nee-chan!? Reese-ane!” (Reus)

  “…You came back?” (Garve)

  The two quickly returned to us. I calmly nodded and stepped towards the monster.

  To be honest, it was still… scary.

  My feet and hands were likely to tremble, but I brought forth the strength within me and forcibly suppressed the trembling.

  It was just… I knew something scarier, and the warmth that I felt from Sirius-sama’s coat supported me.

  It’s alright. I… can fight.

  “Sorry for making you worry. But, it’s alright. I, too, will fight with you…” (Emilia)

  “But, you…” (Garve)

  “Nee-chan, can you do it?” (Reus)

  “Of course!” (Emilia)

  During the time that Reese was healing their wounds, I thought about some strategies while observing the monster.

  Reus had cut several of its fingers and toes off of its hands and feet, it seemed that it was far from being fatally wounded, since it calmly got its big body up and groaned. Besides, it didn’t really take much damage from Reese’s and my magic at all. It appeared that the effect was light, with respect to the impact.

  After treating the two, Reese stood by me while boosting her mana.

  “Yeah… it’s going to be alright with this much. So, Emilia, did you see something?” (Reese)

  “Well, after all, there seems to be no other choice but to depend on Reus’ blow, but I’d like to try with Reese’s and my spells first to see if it will work or not.” (Emilia)

  “Reese-ane is going to fight too!?” (Reus)

  “Yeah. Isn’t Reese our friend, thus our family? There is no way I won’t allow her to join in.” (Emilia)

  It was true that I really wanted to kill the enemy of my parents with my own hands. But I didn’t want to turn Reese’s kindness down, so if we were going to beat it on our own, I don’t want to be responsible for getting us injured.

  Now, we will combine everyone’s strengths, defeat that powerful monster… and that was it.

  “…Understood, Nee-chan. Reese-ane, sorry. Will you fight together with us?” (Reus)

  “That was my plan since the beginning. Leave the support and recovery to me.” (Reese)

  “Ojii-chan, Reese is going to fight too. Will that be alright?” (Emilia)

  “…Have it your way.” (Garve)

  That was a sulky response, but he seemed to have approved of it. Ojii-chan went out before me and grasped his fists. It looked like he was going to attract the monster again.

  Reus went out next. When they separated to the left and right and rushed towards the monster, it loudly roared and revealed its anger.

  The moment I heard that roar, my breathing became ragged and the sight of the past came back.

  Okaa-san and Otou-san were eaten by that monster, and this time, Reus and Ojii-chan…


  No!

  Absolutely not!

  I will absolutely not let such a thing happened.

  I won’t… let it!

  I dispelled the fear by slapping my cheek, and concentrated my mana to use a spell. And then, I took a step forward while trampling the fear, and hurled the mana towards the monster.

  “[Air Slash]!” (Emilia)

  First, I released numerous wind slashes to cut down the monster, but all it did was cut its skin without giving it too much damage.

  The monster was attacking me probably because it was angry due to the attacks, but Reus struck its side with his sword and stopped his feet.

  “This time… take this!” (Emilia)

  I released the same [Air Slash], but this time, it was a spell with stronger slashing power and with the number of slashes reduced. The section that was hit directly was cut, but it looked like it still didn’t reach the inner part of its body. Since it was a blade of wind, its strong point was that there was no such thing as escaping from these weapons. However, this also seemed to be ineffective.

  “I’m here! I won’t let here to go over there!” (Garve)

  Ojii-chan struck its jaw to draw its attention.

  Next, I fired continuous [Air Shotgun]’s at the monster’s body, but again, it seemed that the spells didn’t do much damage as well.

  It was still a spell that penetrated like Sirius-sama’s, but it couldn’t help kill it without a speed that the monster wouldn’t notice… kill?

  “I also can defend! [Aqua Wall]!” (Reese)

  Since the monster was rushing towards us, Reese produced a number of water walls to stop it. However, the water walls were not thick enough. The monster easily passed through them as soon as it hit the walls.

  But, the rushing momentum was lost when it collided against the walls. It was at a walking speed when it passed through the last wall.

  “Go over there! [Aqua Pillar]!” (Reese)

  When its momentum was lost, Reese activated [Aqua Pillar] from its feet again, and the monster was blown away to the opposite side of the cavern.

  She said that her spell was activated with the help of the water spirits, and it had a tremendous amount of power. No, if the spirits went all out, this much was natural. I was really grateful that Reese was our friend and family.

  Anyway, we had time, thanks to Reese. I recalled the two who were in the front, and told them the strategy that I came up earlier, while looking at the monster.

  “What are we going to do, Nee-chan? Should I slice it?” (Reus)

  “But your sword will be stopped by its flesh. Do you have any other ideas?” (Reese)

  “…I do. It is almost same as before, but please do not let the monster get closer to me when I give the signal. And then…” (Emilia)

  I looked at Reus and told him.

  “Please transform.” (Emilia)

  “Eh!? But Nee-chan, that is…” (Reus)

  Reus was surprised with my instructions, but when I seriously appealed, he consented and firmly nodded. It seemed that the things that I wanted to say had been transmitted.

  Although Reese was also surprised, she attentively watched over us and didn’t say anything, maybe because she trusted us.

  “Transform? What are you…?” (Garve)

  “Ooooo—!” (Reus)

  While Ojii-chan was the only person who didn’t comprehend the situation, Reus completed the transformation with an outcry.

  With bulging muscles, fur grew out from Reus’ body and his face became wolf-like. He released a roar that was comparable to the monster. If he was in this state, the speed of his sword swing would increase and it could probably cut its flesh.

  But… Ojii-chan had an unbelievable face after seeing the transformed Reus.

  “It can’t be… Are you… a Cursed Child?” (Garve)

  If a Cursed Child appeared in the silver wolf tribe… there was a law saying that they must be killed.

  I heard from Aery-san that, in the past, Ojii-chan killed his friend, who became a Cursed Child, with his own hands. And Otou-san, too, he killed his friend, who became a Cursed Child in front of me.

  Because of that, Reus must be killed according to the law. The reality of killing one’s own relatives flashed back, and I also understood Ojii-chan’s unbelievable feeling.

  But, I also left it in the past.

  I couldn’t choose between killing or being separated in those days, and I could do nothing but cry. Whichever I chose, we would be separated in the end.

  “Ojii-chan, the law of killing a Cursed Child is…” (Emilia)

  “Jii-chan, such a law of killing a Cursed Child…” (Reus)

  But… Sirius-sama stopped everything with a single word.

  ““It is nonsense!”” (Emilia/Reus)

  When Sirius-sama said that the law was nonsense, he was laughing with his nose, we were together even though we were supposed to be apart.

  We swore under the moon that we would be together with such an important person.

  That was why, if Sirius-sama said it was nonsense, we, too, would say the same thing.

  Besides, whatever he was or whether he was a Cursed Child, Reus was Reus. Thus, there wouldn’t be any problems if we could walk, worry and laugh together.

  “Nonsense… you said? Are you saying that the law is nonsense?” (Garve)

  “That’s right. What Ojii-chan is worrying over is something nonsense to us. Instead of that, it is more important to beat that monster.” (Emilia)

  “Nee-chan is right! Since it is nonsense, just shut up and watch, Jii-chan!” (Reus)

  “We will take care of Okaa-san and Otou-san’s enemy, so, please, rest assured. Well then…” (Emilia)

  Since he was still in shock, we left Jii-chan and headed out.

  The monster was rushing towards us, but since the explanation of the strategy hadn’t been completed yet, Reus swung at its shoulder with his sword while laughing, and then he turned around.

  “I’m going to try a spell, so please, fight without reservation, until I give the signal. When I give the signal…” (Emilia)

  “I won’t… let it get close to Nee-chan. Leave it to me!” (Reus)

  “Let me add a bit more, it’s not good if the monster is too far away from me. Fight well!” (Emilia)

  “Eh!? Don’t say such a difficult thing! But, I got it!” (Reus)

  “Please, Reus. Don’t miss the chance.” (Emilia)

  After the briefing was over, Reus rushed forward and attacked the monster.

  The monster opened its mouth to bite its prey, but since the speed of the transformed Reus had greatly increased, he jumped into its bosom before the monster opened its mouth.

  And then, the sword, swung with full power, tore the monster’s flesh. It was completely torn off without stopping.

  “Alright, if it’s this much, I can do it!” (Reus)

  Reus was pleased, but the enemy was too big and that didn’t give it a fatal wound. As expected, I had no other choice but to use that.

  I stopped at once, and then adjusted my breathing and focused my mind.

  What I was going to release was a single wind blade.

  Unlike the previous ones, it was thin… sharp… a deadly blade that would be released quickly.

  “…[Air Slash]” (Emilia)

  The wind blade that was released tore the monster’s belly and a lot of blood spewed out.

  By concentrating the mana and thinning the wind blade to its limit, the blade cut very deep and the monster roared in agony. The blow seemed to be quite effective, but that current spell was far from the real thing.

  But now, I could grasp the feeling. I thought I should release it for real next time, but my mana was exhausted beyond my expectations. I dropped to my knees, while being unable to bear the condition of my body.

  “Nee-chan!” (Reus)

  “Aah…” (Emilia)

  The monster that saw the current blow as a threat was approaching me, so I tried to get closer to hit it with magic, but I fell to my knees again and the reaction was delayed.

  I could do nothing but watch as the monster’s jaw opened up to eat its prey, and when those fangs tried to bite me…


  “I won’t let you do it… to my grandchildren!” (Garve)

  Ojii-chan interrupted the monster with a [Wolf Fang] from the side, and I got out from the crisis.

  The monster was beaten back by Ojii-chan’s deadly technique, rolled on the ground, crashed against the wall and stopped moving. In the meantime, since Ojii-chan held out his hand, I grabbed that hand and got up.

  “Ojii-chan…… thank you.” (Emilia)

  “Don’t mention it. If I wasn’t stupid, you probably wouldn’t have encountered such a dangerous situation.” (Garve)

  “But, you helped me. Besides, your grandchild is…” (Emilia)

  “That is… a-anyway! You guys were right, the law about the Cursed Child doesn’t matter anymore now. The only thing that matters now is killing that enemy, and that’s alright. Dear me, you guys really have a good Shishou and friend.” (Garve)

  Ojii-chan’s left cheek was reddening when I saw him. That made me suddenly remember. When I turned my eyes to Reese, she nodded in satisfaction while waving her right hand. It wasn’t only me, Ojii-chan was there… Reese was also, somehow, doing great.

  During that time, the monster moved again and approached us. Ojii-chan, then, turned to Reus and loudly shouted.

  “I will create an opportunity! Use your sword to pin its tail onto the ground!” (Garve)

  “!? Got it, Jii-chan!” (Reus)

  Ojii-chan made a big jump over the monster’s head. But, there was no reason for that monster not to aim at a defenseless prey in mid-air. Large amounts of water gushed out, from Reese’s [Aqua Pillar] spell, at the feet of the monster that was waiting for Ojii-chan to fall into its wide open mouth.

  The balance of the monster was disturbed because of the water. When Ojii-chan struck its unprotected back, the monster was beaten down to the ground, while creating tremors.

  As it was hit onto the ground, the tail of the monster also touched the ground. Without missing the opportunity, Reus stabbed his sword, aiming at the base of its tail, and the monster was pinned to the ground.

  “Nee-chan!” (Reus)

  “Leave the pinning down to me!” (Garve)

  “Thanks, I’m going!” (Emilia)

  The monster raged and attempted to pull the sword out, but Reus was holding it down with all his might. Although there was a difference in physical strength, it could be done with the transformed Reus.

  Moreover, since it was attacked by Reese and Ojii-chan, the monster was completely held down on the spot.

  While confirming my remaining mana, I slowly approached the monster.

  What I imagined was… the technique that was shown to me, in the past, by Sirius-sama.

  In the past, when we went to the school in Elysion, Sirius-sama gave advice to the blacksmith, Grant-san, on how to make a certain weapon.

  It was a sword called… a Katana, but it was thin, unlike the sword that Reus used, and it was a difficult sword to use.

  But, when the Katana was put away inside a scabbard, the technique Sirius-sama used was… exactly like a blade of wind. I thought that the terrific cut was dreadful, but when he swung it for a couple more times, the Katana broke.

  It seemed the strength was weak because there wasn’t a thing called Tamahagane(1). Eventually he seemed to give up the creation of the Katana, but I thought that the technique could be reproduced by the Wind, so I asked Sirius-sama many questions and tried it. But… the result didn’t turn out satisfactory. I thought that my ability wasn’t enough at that time.

  But, if it’s the present me…


  I lowered my back after approaching the monster, taking a stance similar to what Sirius-sama showed me when he swung the Katana. It was a few years ago, but I could immediately remember if it was Sirius-sama.

  All of my remaining mana was concentrated on my right hand, rather than releasing a blade of wind… I deeply imagined cutting it with a knife.

  Now, there was a thin… thinner than earlier… and sharper blade like a katana held on my right hand.

  “Now, Emilia!” (Garve)

  And then, Ojii-chan uppercutted the monster’s jaw. Aiming at the exposed unprotected belly… I released my right hand that I put on my waist.

  It seemed that the name of that the technique taught by Sirius-sama was Battojutsu(2).

  And what I released was not a Katana but a blade of wind.

  Thus, the name of the spell that held these two points was…


  [Batto Kazaha(3)!]

  —


  Presenting Hokuto

  It seemed Hokuto-kun was increasingly fired up today.

  First, at the beginning of the battle, the Master shot the monsters one after another with a spell that imitated a gatling gun.

  Hokuto-kun thought that his turn wouldn’t come, but he felt relieved because there were still a lot of monsters left.

  And then, the Master finally gave the order. Hokuto unleashed the power that had been accumulated.

  For Hokuto-kun, the walls of Goblins and Orcs were as good as a paper. Blowing away such paper easily, he wielded his paw, while aiming for the Cyclops from the back.

  However, his claws didn’t work well because the opponents were bigger than him, so Hokuto bit the neck of the monster and crushed its bones. Although he didn’t want to use his fangs so much, he had to do it since he was in a hurry.

  As he preferentially aimed for large-sized enemies, the Master was about to jump into the horde of monsters that was on their way.

  Hokuto-kun though that there wouldn’t be any problems if it was the Master, but he wanted to let the Master ride on top of him, so when he landed on a group of monsters, he blew away the obstructive monsters and put the master on his back.

  Hokuto-kun was pleased because he felt the weight of his Master on his back, and he ran around the battlefield in a good mood.

  After that… Hokuto, who knocked down all of the monsters ,loudly howled and was pleased with his victory.

  But, he missed finishing the last one. Even though he was in a position that could save himself, the Master helped him out.

  Hokuto-kun was so sad, but the Master praised him a lot, saying he did well.

  Hokuto-kun was pleased when he was diligently stroked. He tried to spoil his face by rubbing against his Master’s chest, but he had to give up. His mouth was full of blood because he used fangs this time, but… the Master didn’t care about that at all and embraced him.

  Because he was such a Master, Hokuto-kun wanted to follow him anywhere.

  Although Hokuto-kun made a mistake at the end, he really enjoyed the patting while savoring the pleasure of being with his Master.