A wyrm is a dragon-type monster.
In other words… it's a species of dragon.
Dragons are called the most powerful monsters in this world.
With the exceptions of Sage-class magicians, individuals like Sabnock who absorbed mana from the demon realm and underwent abnormal growth, and the like, they have no natural enemies in this world.
The wyrm, which should have been a dragon that once dominated the skies. The reason they supposedly live underground is that they lost turf wars against other dragons and fled beneath the earth.
Wings gone, eyesight atrophied, a weak dragon that digs through soft ground like that of marshlands to survive. That was the monster known as the wyrm.
"Even if they're weak, they're still a dragon-type monster… I thought it ended way too easily, but it turns out it was a baby, huh…"
"What a surprise. I'm shocked too."
Rest and Yuri both sighed in unison as they looked at the wyrm's corpse, scorched and collapsed by flames.
It hadn't been a tough fight, but… this wyrm was no pushover either.
They'd had to fire off multiple mid-tier magic spells to finally bring it down. Without at least court magician-class firepower, a solo subjugation would be impossible.
*(And that was just a hatchling… When you're told that thing was a kid, it kinda kills your confidence.)* As Rest wore a troubled expression, Urla leaned in and tilted her head.
"Twice the size… can you do it?"
"It seems the parent wyrm is more than twice the size of this one, and Urla is asking whether you can still win… What do you think, Rest?"
"Yeah…"
Rest pondered for a moment.
Receiving the contrasting gazes of Yuri and Urla, he voiced his thoughts.
"…I can't say for certain that I'd win against an enemy I've never even met. But I haven't shown everything I've got either. If I use my trump card, I've got a chance."
"Oh, then I'm relieved. Sounds like you can win."
Yuri said with a look of relief on his face.
He hadn't exactly declared that he would win, but... Rest blinked at the unexpected reaction.
"No, I didn't say I could definitely win or anything—"
"You can win. If it's you, Rest, then as long as there's even the slightest chance of victory, you'll seize it for certain. I believe that."
"Mm... don't worry. It'll be fine."
Following Yuri, even Urla was nodding along vigorously.
What was this? This inexplicable trust.
The two of them unquestionably believed in Rest's victory.
There was no hesitation in their words—it was almost frightening.
(Had I really done anything to build up that kind of trust...?)
With Urla, who he'd only just met, that was one thing, but he didn't recall having built that kind of relationship with Yuri either.
The trust from Yuri and Urla seemed to run even deeper than Rest's own belief in himself.
"If you're going to say that much... then I'll win. Let's do this."
When two beautiful girls said something like that to you, all you could do was declare that you would win.
Regardless of what kind of relationship it was... Rest wasn't heartless enough to betray the expectations of the women who believed in him.
*Young*... or perhaps, *green*—that was the word for it.
"For now, let's continue exploring the wetlands. We'll look into the worms' ecology and weaknesses, and try to track down the parent creature."
The elemental attribute of their weakness. If they could get a handle on their ecology and such, a strategy would likely come into view.
If possible, he wanted to fight a few of the larvae before facing off against the parent worm.
"GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Ah, right on cue. It showed up already."
From a short distance away, a worm's cry could be heard.
He probed for their presence with magic... A worm of roughly the same size was about twenty meters away.
"Well then, shall we fight?"
(When a cute girl puts her expectations on you, you can't help but want to deliver... Flatter a pig and it'll climb a tree. Men really are simple creatures...)
Even if he had infinite mana.
Even if he had secured the title of count.
In the end, Rest was nothing more than a man.
When Yuri and Urla placed their full confidence in him, his only option was to give it everything he had.
Rest shook his head with a pained expression, feeling inexplicably pathetic.