The trees grew larger and larger as we went further into the south. Their green leaves covered the sky, as if seeking the blessing of heaven. It’s like we were marching in the middle of the night despite it still being daytime.

  Me and Aaron immediately activated the Night Vision skill, while Miria relied upon the fire produced from her magic sword. We followed the trace of the Goblin Shaman’s magic.

  [This, this is the first time I’ve come this far into the forest.]

  [Yeah, me too. The trees here are on a different league compared to those growing near the capital.]

  The thick tree roots rolled and tangled over the ground like snakes. If one was not careful, it’d be easy to trip themselves on those roots.

  Since we were running so fast, a little slip up might lead to a huge accident.

  Aaron seemed to be familiar with this condition already, as he easily made his way through the jutting roots on the ground. When I tried to imitate him, I slipped my toe a bit, but luckily I managed to keep my posture.

  [O Fate. You are using Roxy’s body now, so please take better care of yourself.]

  [That’s right!! If you hurt Roxy-sama’s body in any way, I won’t forgive you]

  [I’ll be more careful……]

  I was just trying to let myself get more used to Roxy’s body, but was reprimanded. Now I wonder if Aaron will really protect me……

  Since he seemed to be familiar with the place already, I asked where we were now.

  Aaron, keeping it simple, explained.

  [This is the oldest section of the hobgoblin forest. According to the researchers, it is four thousand years old. Look at that huge tree. The trunk is at least 3 meters in diameter.]

  [Ee, how many houses could be built if that tree was turned into building material]

  [Hahahah, the capital will punish you severely if you do. When the capital was established, the hobgoblins had not settled here, and the forest itself was not called hobgoblin forest. Apparently it was originally a sacred ground. The ancestors of those who currently live in the capital were also said to be buried here. As time went by, that custom also disappeared. Now this place becomes the ground of the hobgoblins]

  [The ancestors of those who currently live in the capital were buried here……?]

  [It is just an old story. No need to keep that in mind. But the capital wishes to cherish the memory of those who fought and worked for the founding of the country, even if its’ people no longer remember]

  [Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. Miria should too!]

  [I get it already, alright? But it’s scary to imagine what if some zombie-san actually rose up from within the ground around this place?]

  Miria quickly shook her head. Probably she had some bad experience with undeads.

  I wonder why.

  [So zombies are a no-no for Miria?]

  [Uhuh. Because……they smell bad when I cut and burn them with Flamberge. The smell sticks to my clothes……I can’t even get rid of it after taking several baths……just from remembering it, I feel my skin is crawling. On the other hand, skeletons are alright. They don’t smell bad when cut or burnt, because they’re just bones. If it’s skeleton, then I’m all for it!]

  [I see……]

  My initial guess was completely off. Turns out……she was overly sensitive and scared of it for a very girlish reasoning.

  Nothing less from Miria. She’s always beyond my expectations.

  [Well then, if zombie appears later on, I’ll fight it.]

  [No can do. You’ll only blemish Roxy-sama’s body. If that happens……]

  Miria will fight it instead……? How sweet of her,

  [We’ll just have to leave it to Aaron-sama!]

  [Me!?]

  Not expecting that he would get the short end of the stick, Aaron’s eyes went wide in near disbelief.

  A girl who could use her mouth as adept as when she uses her sword! Miria will most likely grow into an outrageous woman in the future.

  That said, Aaron soon smiled. Perhaps he had already considered Miria like his own granddaughter.

  He also acted like this when Myne was still around. To Mimir who he had adopted, and even Shara who was just a maid. I’ll treat these girls like my own daughters, he once told me.

  After the fight against the Lich Lord at Hauzen――Aaron was able to reorganize his feelings. What had been kept pent up until recently, was released all at once.

  He once said to me when we were enjoying our drinks together. [I want to have a big family before I die!] . At that time I thought it was just random ramblings of a drunken man, but nowadays I came to wonder if Aaron was really serious about it.

  Since Miria was an orphan, it’s possible for Aaron to adopt her into the family. That means she and I would be siblings!? With Mimir I already having a distanced relationship, that alone would……

  Unaware of my worries, Aaron replied with a reliable yet mild face.

  [Very well, if zombies come out, I will exorcise them all with my Grand Cross.]

  [How reliable! Huge difference from a certain someone……somewhere]

  [Shees, stop looking at me like that.]

  Then she stuck out her tongue a bit, her face was that of someone who had pulled a prank. Miria then said with a crisp laugh.

  [I’m just joking. You actually fall for that so easily. Just as Roxy-sama said,『Fai is a bit gullible, he’s easy to joke around with.』]

  [Hahahah, that is true. Fate is indeed really gullible to women. You should learn more from Miria.]

  [Eeeee……I wonder about that~. But, since it’s Fate-san we are talking about, I guess he should just give it up already.]

  Kuuuu~!! There will be a day when I can proudly look down on Miria…… when that day comes, I’ll already become a gentleman who is good at wooing women left and right like Aaron! One day for sure!

  As if seeing through that, Miria said to me

  [It’s no good if Fate-san becomes flustered just from holding hands with Roxy-sama]

  [Wha, what the hey!? Why……that]

  [I’ve been observing. How about holding hands with me as a practice?]

  [Gunununu……this must be your revenge for the head-patting earlier]

  Miria grinned a fresh smile in response to that.

  [Are you understand now? It’s just patting my head, don’t think that it’s gonna be that simple. I’m not that easy of a girl!]

  [Fu~hn, are you sure~]

  [What’s with that doubting face! Don’t make such an expression with Roxy-sama’s face]

  [Should I~]

  [Mou, Fate-san!]

  Travelling in such a high speed, apparently we were nearing our destination, as Aaron gave us a hand signal to stop.

  Then, he shouted at the both of us.

  [It was fun to watch, but sorry, we need to be more cautious from now on.]

  [ [ ……sorry ] ]

  Again…… My flow was disturbed when I am with her. The girl also seemed to feel the same, as she threw a glance at me.

  The battle against the goblin shaman was just around the corner. What would Roxy say in times like these?

  [Miria, are you prepared? We won’t know what is going to happen.]

  [Why the!? Suddenly acting like Roxy-sama…… But it did make me more motivated somewhat]

  It appeared to be effective, as Miria began to move more cautiously with Flamberge tightly clasped in her hand.

  Me and Aaron once again traced the goblin shaman’s magic power. Apparently it’s moving southward in a slow manner. It couldn’t travel fast due to its condition after all.

  [In addition, I also sensed some monsters. Probably, hobgoblins.]

  [Umu, no goblin king around. Perhaps it already used up all of them in that last ambush.]

  [How neat……I wish I can detect my enemies that way as well.]

  [When everything is over, I’ll teach you how]

  [Really! ? Yosh, it’s a promise.]

  [Well, we should first finish this battle shortly then.]

  [Yes]

  As before, Aaron took point. Me and Miria stood behind him as support, creating a triangle formation.

  Aaron would go straight to the goblin shaman, while I and Miria would fend off other monsters coming from the flanks.

  Our main target was not visible yet, but it’d be quite obvious to tell that we were getting closer as the number of enemies kept going up. When dealing with larger number of opponents, the best way to settle things faster is to take down their leader.

  If their leader is gone, with nobody to control them, the monster swarm will disperse on its own.

  Whilst looking at us each with a sharp gaze, Aaron said.

  [Are you ready?]

  [ [ Yes ] ]

  [Well then, let us go]

  We got up from our crouching position, and rushed ahead like lightning. Ignoring the bad footing due to the jutting out tree roots.

  As I said before, I tried to get used with my current body during our travel to this spot, so I could afford to increase my speed now.

  I’m currently using Roxy’s body, who was a holy knight, so it could somewhat follow through without much problem. But what about Miria? When I glanced sideways, I saw her following despite the desperate look on her face. Before this, she had just consumed a lot of magic power from creating the huge fire wall. Yet she tenaciously followed to this stage.

  At this point, asking [are you alright?] seemed pointless.

  The hobgoblins who had been hiding behind the huge trees attacked as we rushed forward. Surprisingly, their numbers were well over one hundred.

  We had no time to deal with all of them. So me and Miria just cut down all the arrows and spears that came towards us.

  [Mu, what a nuisance. O Fate, can you still go on?]

  [Of course]

  The hobgoblin horde formed a meat wall in front of us. It’s like there is no end to them…… I don’t know whether it’s something out of their desperation, but it’s the shaman’s last line of defense.

  I poured my magic power onto my holy sword. It’s the signature skill of the holy knights―― 《Grand Cross》. A powerful attack that deploy a high power holy attack in a wide area.

  This would be my first time of using this technique while in Roxy’s body, but I found it extremely easy to control magic power. The compatibility between my soul and her body maybe was extremely good. To be able to do this much in less than a day, could I do the same if it’s other people’s body?

  Circulating more magic power, the 《Grand Cross》 emanating from the holy sword also became more intense as I finally released it.

  The ground under the hobgoblins’ feet started to emit bright light. Before they felt something unusual, the light that purified everything exploded out. The level of Roxy’s Holy Sword Mastery was actually fairly surprising. It has a quick activation time due to continuous training. The monsters blocking our path were instantly swept clean.

  A lot of experience spheres obtained from defeating those monsters flew in. Although it’s not as large as that previous fight, it still sent an exhilarating feeling to every corner of my body.

  Hunting monsters was actually this fun……no wonder there were many warriors and holy knights, this was probably one of the reasons.

  With the way ahead opened, Aaron rushed forward over the strewn about hobgoblin corpses.

  I could tell already――that hole among the roots of that huge tree was where the goblin shaman resided.

  It’d be dangerous to just jump to that hole without any precaution. Aaron also knew that without me telling him.

  Yes……Aaron didn’t just run ahead recklessly. Even now he’s still charging more and more magic power to his 《Grand Cross》. Not to mention that his status already belongs to Area E.

  The power would be even more powerful than what I unleashed just now. There is this slight hesitation from the fact that it may also end up evaporate the tree growing in this sacred ground as well.

  But if this monster was left unchecked, the people on the capital will also be in danger. In that case, which one to choose. Knowing Aaron well, it’s obvious to me what his next course of action is.

  Raising his voice, Aaron shot the holy sword technique into the place where the goblin shaman is lurking.

  [Grand Cross!!]

  The light of purification which power has been raised dramatically was released in a focused manner rather than in a wide area. Raising a huge pillar of light that shoot out to the sky around that big tree.