Three weeks had passed.
We'd made it to D Rank.
--- I thought that was pretty quick, so I looked into it.
The promotion requirements were as follows: F → E 10 F-rank jobs 5 consecutive E-rank jobs E → D 50 F-rank jobs 25 E-rank jobs 10 consecutive D-rank jobs D → C 100 E-rank jobs 40 D-rank jobs 10 consecutive C-rank jobs C → B 100 D-rank jobs 50 C-rank jobs 20 consecutive B-rank jobs B → A 300 C-rank jobs 100 B-rank jobs 20 consecutive A-rank jobs A → S 100 A-rank jobs 20 consecutive S-rank jobs Also, there was demotion for continued failure.
Failing jobs of a rank below yours five times in a row meant demotion.
Failing jobs of the same rank ten times in a row meant demotion.
Failing jobs of a rank above yours didn't cause demotion, but after five consecutive failures, you'd be barred from taking them.
--- Jaril and Veskel had been handling all the F- and E-rank jobs between the two of them, and that's why we'd been able to climb so easily.
Our current rank: D.
Meaning we could now take on C-rank jobs.
C-rank requests were a cakewalk.
So we could promote to C-rank anytime.
Maybe it was about time to end our contract with Jaril and the others.
They'd stopped the pet kidnapping, but I had no idea what kind of negative effects job-sharing could have.
Our savings were growing, too.
This might be a good time to part ways with them and leave this town.
But...
I decided to keep using them until we hit C-rank.
Everything seemed fine for now, and it'd be a shame to give up a stable income.
Money was money—more was always better.
Current funds: 1 green iron coin, 7 iron coins, 14 scrap iron coins, 35 stone coins.
In stone coins, that came to about 1,875.
1,875 yen...
Even spending every last coin, that wasn't enough for two
No, let's not compare cost of living across continents.
Once we hit C-rank, we'd part ways with Jaril and leave this town.
That was the plan.
--- That was when I found this request.
B rank Job: Search and subjugation of a mysterious monster Reward: 5 scrap iron coins (+ 2 iron coins for subjugation) Details: Search and subjugate a monster Location: Southern Forest (the Petrified Forest) Period: By the end of next month Deadline: Urgent Client: Traveling merchant Berveiro Notes: A shadow was spotted moving deep in the forest. Determine its identity, and if it proves dangerous, eliminate it.
--- I stood with Jaril, hand on my chin, thinking it over.
A mysterious monster.
What a vague request.
There might not even be one.
Even if there was, how were we supposed to prove it was the monster in question?
But the pay was good.
Two iron coins.
Even without subjugating anything, five scrap iron coins wasn't bad.
"Interested?"
"The pay's good. But it's suspicious."
Jaril nodded.
"You don't always get paid with requests like these. You'd better pass."
Something like that had happened once before.
Two weeks ago.
We'd gotten a request to collect Acid Wolves.
As usual, we'd gathered their fangs and tails as specified.
But then we were told they needed the entire body.
The job details hadn't spelled that out, but we ended up having to pay a penalty fee.
Just thinking about it made my stomach turn.
To avoid repeating that, we really shouldn't take this, but...
I was blinded by the money.
"Ah, but, two iron coins...
Maybe it'd be worth 'studying up' one more time."
"You never learn, do you?"
"In cases like this, the penalty fee would be the five scrap iron coins, right?"
"That's right. The bracketed part is basically a special bonus."
By the way, Nokopara kept pestering
Veskel also didn't set foot in the Adventuring Guild.
No one tried to stop us.
"Well, if it's the Petrified Forest, we could sell whatever we find even if the monster's not there.
And you guys should be able to recoup the penalty fee. Why not?"
"All right. Then do your best on that end too."
Thinking back later, there was just something off about my judgment back then.
Familiarity had bred complacency.
Because things were going smoothly, I'd underestimated the risks.
Haste had made me chase profits.
I could have done it better.
But then again, at the time, I couldn't have done any more than I did.
That's what I told myself, anyway.
--- The Petrified Forest.
It took a full day from the town of Licaris.
The forest sat along the main road, full of sharp, bone-like trees, making the whole place look as though it had turned to stone.
Dangerous B-rank monsters like Almond Anacondas and Executioners inhabited the place.
Cutting through the forest would be a shortcut to the next town, but the only people who'd do that were merchants in a desperate hurry.
And even then, only with several capable guards in tow...
In this world, forests were dangerous without exception, but the forests of the Demon Continent were especially dangerous.
--- At the entrance to that forest, three parties had gathered.
One was the B-rank party "Super Blaze."
One was the D-rank party "Toclub Village Ruffians."
And the last was the D-rank party "Dead End."
Right now, the leaders of each party were facing off.
When parties bumped into each other outside a forest, it was customary to at least exchange introductions—so I'd heard.
Personally, I wanted to ignore them, but running into each other inside would be a pain.
So we at least showed our faces.
"So, what the hell are you guys?"
Opening words.
Blaze, the leader of Super Blaze, spoke with an irritated scowl.
I recognized that face.
If I recalled correctly, he was the pig-faced bastard who'd laughed at us on day one.
Oh wait, that wasn't meant as an insult.
He literally had a pig's face.
Probably the same species as that guard who'd been leering at Eris.
What was their species called again...?
In my head, I called them the Pigface Tribe.
They were a six-person party made up of various species.
Someone who looked like a Lamia, someone with fairy-like wings, someone who resembled a Centaur... and others.
To reach C-rank on the Demon Continent, you needed the strength to handle the surrounding monsters on your own.
And if you were B-rank, you were a veteran with the power to back it up.
"We got the commission, you know!"
Kurt, leader of the Toclub Village Ruffians, spoke with a scowl.
A good-looking boy with two charming horns.
"Same here."
The leader of Dead End nodded in agreement.
That would be me.
Hearing the two D-rank leaders, Blaze clicked his tongue.
"You bastards booked it too, huh?
I had a bad feeling about this..."
Blaze scratched his neck irritably.
"Wh-what do you mean, booked?"
"Hah!?"
When Kurt asked timidly, the pig blew up.
"Now, now, calm down, calm down.
Please, as fellow beginners, we'd really appreciate it if you could explain."
I stepped in with an apologetic gesture, and Blaze spat on the ground.
"Different people submitted requests at the same time, and the Guild screwed up and released them all together."
Ah.
Double booking.
Three clients, three requests.
We'd each assumed they were different, but they turned out to be the same.
Something like that.
Entirely plausible.
"By the way, what kind of request did everyone get?"
I asked.
Blaze's request: Subjugation of the White Fang Serpent spotted in the Petrified Forest.
Kurt's request: Collection of a mysterious egg sighted in the Petrified Forest.
"Search? Hang on, did a D-rank really have that kind of request?"
Kurt's question.
Of course, I'd thought this through.
"It's a C-rank request.
It was posted right after you left the Guild."
"I see... That would've been better..."
Muttering Kurt aside, I turned the problem over in my head.
The job details seemed to overlap, just slightly.
First of all, there was no White Fang Serpent in this forest.
But if a subjugation request existed, it meant one had been sighted.
Which meant the mysterious monster might also be a White Fang Serpent...
And the mysterious egg might be a White Fang Serpent egg...
Of course, the mystery series might have nothing to do with the White Fang Serpent at all.
Blaze was jumping to conclusions by declaring it a double booking.
"But still, how does this even happen?"
"Beats me. It happens sometimes."
Well, it couldn't be helped.
It wasn't computerized.
"So? What do we do in this case?"
"Nothing. First come, first served."
When Blaze said that, Kurt gasped.
"What!? If you guys take out the monster first, what happens to our request!?"
"Huh? The egg collection, right?
Well, if we find it, we'll smash it.
Can't have White Fang Serpents breeding everywhere."
Blaze grinned mockingly at Kurt.
"Hey, Rudeus, say something on our behalf!
If they kill the monster before us, our request is..."
Kurt turned his complaints toward me.
He had a point—if they killed the monster first, our search request would also fail...
No wait, our mission was search.
Reporting "we found a White Fang Serpent" might just be enough to wrap it up.
And even if that didn't work, hunting monsters in the forest and coming back should cover the penalty fee.
"It's not confirmed to be a double booking yet.
There might be another monster besides the White Fang Serpent."
When I said that, Blaze made a sour face.
"So you want us to search together?
You're asking us to babysit?"
Huh?
How did that come about?
I was confused, but Kurt heard "babysit" and reflexively blew up.
"Who said we wanted you babysitting!?"
"Come on, you want us to protect you, don't you?
This forest is no joke for D-rank, you know."
Ah, I see. So that was it.
He thought our two D-rank parties were going to cling to B-rank Blaze's crew like remoras, free-riding our way to an easy commission clear.
It would just increase their burden, after all.
And naturally, I didn't want to team up with them either.
I didn't want anyone seeing how Ruijerd fought with a spear.
He was too strong—they might figure out he was really of the Speld race.
So...
"You're right. It's thoroughly unpleasant.
We don't need a babysitter. Dead End will be operating solo."
I declared that unilaterally and stepped out of the leaders' circle.
--- I went back to Ruijerd and Eris.
Ruijerd was looking toward the forest, and Eris was standing beside him, bored out of her mind.
"What was it about?"
Eris asked, as if she'd been waiting forever.
"Three parties got the same request. Double booking."
"Double booking?"
"The content overlapped."
"So what happens? Do you give it up?"
"No way. First come, first served."
"Right. Then it's a test of skill."
Eris was raring to go.
She'd been fed up with the non-hunting that passed for recent adventuring.
It wasn't really hunting—it was more like "work."
Before long, Blaze and Kurt seemed to have finished talking.
Kurt said something brief to his remaining two members, then headed into the forest.
Super Blaze went in a different direction.
"So, what do we do?"
"Hmm. Let's have Ruijerd do the scouting as usual, and we'll go find that mysterious monster."
That was my plan, but Ruijerd shook his head.
"Wait."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm worried about those three kids."
Three kids.
The Ruffians, presumably.
"With their abilities, they won't survive this forest."
"And?"
"Let's help them."
So that was the idea.
"...But if we stick together too much, they'll figure out he's Speld."
"I don't care."
Well, /I/ cared.
"If he's exposed as Speld, things could get ugly."
"Then you'd rather I watch them die?"
"That's not what I said.
Let's trail them from behind and step in when things go south."
Fine. Change of plan.
We'd give up on the two iron coins and focus on earning their gratitude instead.
But was it really okay to help so casually?
If we showed up while they were being attacked by monsters, the odds of Ruijerd being exposed would skyrocket.
Surely nobody would hold a grudge after being saved from certain death, right...?
But Dead End was a special case on the Demon Continent.
Who knew what would happen.
If the worst came to worst, maybe we could recruit them, the same way we'd done with Jaril and the others...
And so.
I decided to tail Kurt's group.
--- Well then, Kurt and his party ventured boldly into the depths of the forest.
Ruijerd watched them with furrowed brows.
"What's wrong?"
"Is this their first time entering a forest?"
"Couldn't say. I don't know them."
"Way too careless."
And sure enough, just as he'd worried, Kurt's party failed at scouting and ran into an Executioner.
An Executioner was a humanoid monster.
Inside, it was a zombie of someone who'd been an adventurer in life.
This zombie happened to be armed with a gigantic sword and full-body heavy armor.
It wasn't particularly fast, but it was incredibly tough and skilled with a blade.
Danger rating: B.
It typically appeared alone and wasn't that large.
And yet, B-rank.
A fearsome opponent.
Incidentally, the sword and armor vanished upon death.
No loot. A terrible enemy to face.
Kurt's party encountered this monster and immediately went into a full retreat.
"I'm going in!"
"Not yet."
I stopped Ruijerd from rushing out.
"Why!?"
"They're not in a pinch yet."
Despite its armored appearance, the Executioner was quick— but not quick enough to catch up with Kurt's group fleeing at full speed.
The distance was widening, and if things stayed the same, they'd escape.
That was when their luck ran out.
Waiting for them up ahead was an Almond Anaconda.
A monster that traveled in groups of three to five, with almond-shaped patterns on its body.
About three meters long.
Its fangs carried a potent poison, it was agile, tough, and there were many of them.
Hence, B-rank.
A fearsome opponent.
One of the top two monsters you absolutely did not want to run into in the Petrified Forest.
And they were caught between both.
The half-crying, half-laughing looks on Kurt's faces.
They'd probably figured that running into either one would be manageable on its own.
And honestly, the Executioner did seem escapable.
This was because they hadn't thought it through.
They were in a place beyond their skill level—they should have just stayed away.
But I understood the urge to overreach a little.
Shortsighted, though.
"I'm going in!"
"No, wait a bit longer."
I held back Ruijerd, who was about to leap out immediately.
I was engineering a last-second rescue.
The more desperate the pinch, the bigger the debt of gratitude.
We could patch up any injuries with healing magic afterward.
Heh heh heh.
My plan was perfect.
"Eris screamed.
A bird-like boy, sliced clean in half, soaring through the air.
One strike.
He hadn't been able to dodge the Executioner's attack, and was killed instantly.
My malicious grin froze.
And then I realized my mistake.
They were already in a desperate pinch.
The shortsighted one was me.
"That's what I told you!"
Ruijerd's voice, laced with frustration.
I immediately fired a Rock Cannonball at the Executioner.
At the same time, Ruijerd and Eris leaped out.
The Executioner took my magic head-on and survived.
It had withstood a Rock Cannonball— the same spell that one-shot a Stone Torrent.
Too hard, I thought, but looking closer, only its right arm had been blown off.
My aim had been off.
The thing picked up its sword with its left hand and charged toward us.
From a distance it had looked slow, but charging at me like that, its speed was nothing like what its lumbering frame suggested.
I calmly set up a patch of soft mud at its feet.
The Executioner stumbled, one foot plunging in, and toppled forward.
I summoned a massive boulder directly above it and smashed it down with force.
By then, Ruijerd and Eris had already finished off all the Almond Anacondas.
--- "…Haah…haah…seriously…haah…thanks."
Kurt was blue-faced and shaking violently, but he still managed to offer a proper thank-you.
"You…you guys…are…strong…"
The Executioner, crushed under a boulder.
The Almond Anacondas, cleanly decapitated.
Well, that was an easy fight.
But we'd been too late to help.
"Sorry…we were late."
A look of admiration was beginning to form in Kurt's eyes.
My chest ached, and I looked away.
Where I looked, there was the boy who'd been split in half.
That beaked face.
I think his name was something like Goblin.
If I hadn't been such an idiot, he wouldn't have died.
That thought was running through my head when Ruijerd grabbed me by the collar.
He pointed his chin at the corpse.
"That was your fault."
My heart was torn apart without mercy.
"…Yes."
"Both of them were saved, you know!"
I knew.
Of course I knew.
I never meant for this to happen either.
I was drowning in helplessness.
This wasn't the result I'd wanted.
I was reflecting on it.
I was consumed with regret.
So why was I being blamed when I was already blaming myself?
"I was trying my hardest too!
I was aiming for the best possible outcome in that moment!
Why do I have to be condemned for that!?"
"Because someone died!"
I'd raised my voice without thinking, but the comeback was dead-on.
"…!"
I couldn't argue.
It was practically the same as if I'd killed him.
"…"
Eris was silent today too.
She must have had her own thoughts.
She was staring at the goblin's corpse.
I had nothing left to say.
I'd failed.
At the critical moment, where life and death hung in the balance, I'd prioritized my own gain, and it was too late.
"H-hey, can we stop the fighting?"
In the end, it was Kurt who stepped in.
"This doesn't concern you. It's between me and him."
Ruijerd wouldn't hear it.
But Kurt didn't back down.
"It does concern me! I can tell—you were arguing about whether to help us or leave us for dead while we were fighting, weren't you!?"
No.
In fact, it hadn't even been a debate—I'd unilaterally decided to leave them for dead.
"Sure, you might be strong, but anything can happen.
And you have no obligation to save us!"
Ruijerd's hair seemed to bristle.
"Obligation has nothing to do with it! Protecting children is an adult's responsibility!"
I could tell that line hit Kurt right in the pride.
"We're not kids! We're adventurers!
Rudeus made the right call as our leader!"
"…!"
Ruijerd fell silent.
But I didn't think my decision had been right.
"But one of your comrades died?"
"You think I can't see that!?
Sure, we were planning on staying as three forever!
But we knew we could die!
Every adventurer—whether young or old—accepts that risk!"
Something struck me in the chest.
I didn't have that kind of resolve.
I was only in this profession as a means of making money.
"Thank you for saving us.
But what happens to our members is our problem...
No—it's my fault for misjudging the difficulty of the request."
Kurt's words were green.
Youthful sense of justice, I suppose.
Or maybe the naivety of someone who hadn't been ground down by society yet.
But there was desperation there.
Something that had been glaringly absent in me lately.
Obsessed with my money and guild rank, I'd been treating requests like a game.
"You—the one over there. Kurt, was it?
I'm sorry for treating you like children. You're real warriors."
He seemed to find some understanding in Kurt's words.
"And Rudeus. I'm sorry."
He set me down on the ground and apologized.
There was no reason for Ruijerd to apologize for this.
"Don't apologize. The fact that I made a mistake doesn't go away."
"No. It wasn't a mistake.
You were trying to protect their pride as warriors.
I was the shortsighted one for wanting to jump in right away."
"That's not…"
I hadn't been thinking about any of that.
"You did the same thing with those petty crooks before..."
Ruijerd was reaching his own conclusions, entirely on his own.
I wasn't convinced.
This incident was something I needed to reflect on.
I should identify everything I'd done wrong immediately, and organize my thoughts so I'd never make the same mistake again.
But on the other hand, it was kind of lucky that he'd misunderstood like that.
If the outcome was good, everything was okay, right?
What a wretched thought.
I was starting to disgust myself.
--- Kurt and his party decided to carry the bodies back to town.
We escorted them to the forest entrance, at least.
I'd half-expected Ruijerd to say "Let us walk you all the way,"
but he didn't.
He'd acknowledged them as warriors.
"One man short, we might not make it back.
But we're prepared to die."
His retreating figure looked so forlorn that Eris couldn't help running after him.
"Take care!"
She called out, even though they couldn't understand each other.
But reading her expression, Kurt seemed to roughly grasp what she was trying to say.
"Thanks…um, is this right?"
He took Eris's hand and kissed the base of her thumb.
Then he smiled brightly and walked away.
Eris was frozen solid.
I didn't know what to do either.
Eris whipped around and looked at me.
Then she furiously rubbed the spot where she'd been kissed against the hem of her armor.
"It's—it's not what you think!"
Eris looked desperate.
It had been a kiss through a leather glove.
I didn't think it warranted that level of panic.
"I—I'm never using this again!"
She pulled off her glove and flung it into the depths of the forest.
Hey, that glove wasn't free either.
"Don't throw away your equipment!"
"It'd be a waste to buy a new one!"
Ruijerd and I scolded her in unison.
It was a reflexive outburst, but bringing up money at a time like this...
Hmm...
"Shut up!"
Eris's eyes brimming with tears, she stomped the ground.
I hadn't seen Eris like this in a while.
What did it mean to kiss the back of someone's hand?
"Rudeus! Here!"
She thrust her hand out in front of me.
I reflexively licked it.
"!"
Eris's face turned beet red, and she punched me square in the face.
It was a dead-serious punch—hard enough to nearly knock me out.
I thought my neck was going to break.
I thought I could win the world with that punch.
I crumpled pathetically to the ground.
What was I supposed to do?
As I lay on the ground after being punched, I saw Eris staring at the spot I'd licked, then she leaned in and licked it with her own tongue.
Then, turning crimson, she wiped her hand on the hem of her dress.
"S-sorry, Rudeus! But you're not supposed to lick it!"
That gesture was so cute that I forgave her for everything.
And as a bonus, the depressed mood from my failure lifted a little.
--- Walking through the forest, I thought about Ruijerd.
• He liked children. • He had a strong sense of justice.
That was how I'd perceived Ruijerd up to now.
But today, a key word had surfaced.
"Warrior."
"Ruijerd, what does it mean to you—to be a warrior?"
"A warrior protects children and treasures their comrades."
He answered without hesitation.
And from that, I finally understood why Ruijerd had been so angry all this time.
His wasn't the righteousness of thoughtlessness.
He was demanding a warrior's pride.
A warrior must not harm children. A warrior must protect children. A warrior must not abandon their comrades. A warrior must protect their comrades.
That was the code that lived inside him.
That was why the pet kidnapper who'd kicked me had been branded a villain.
And why the two who'd begged for their lives instead of fighting had been branded villains beyond redemption.
Kurt's group, too.
At first, Ruijerd had seen them as children.
And I, who'd abandoned those children, was a villain in his eyes.
But after Kurt's outburst, he'd changed his mind.
He'd shifted from seeing them as children to seeing them as warriors.
By doing so, he'd forgiven my actions.
In fact, he'd reflected that he shouldn't have seen them as anything less than warriors.
The line between "child" and "warrior" in his mind was something I couldn't quite grasp.
Eris, it seemed, still saw them as children.
Where did that leave me?
Should I ask? Or should I not?
"They're fighting up ahead."
As I was mulling this over, Ruijerd called out a warning.
"The ones from earlier…Blaze's group?"
"Yes."
It was Blaze's party.
I didn't know what Ruijerd's third eye actually saw.
I knew it was visible even when covered by a helmet, and that it wasn't just a radar—it could identify individuals, too.
Handy.
I wanted one.
"Should we help?"
"I don't think it's necessary."
At B-rank, Blaze's group apparently qualified as warriors in Ruijerd's book.
Ahead in the forest, a massive serpent was coiled.
And around it lay four corpses.
"…Huh?"
They're dead.
Oh—"not necessary," that kind of not necessary.
Blaze's body wasn't among them.
He must have escaped.
"The other two?"
"Dead."
Total annihilation.
Rest in peace.
"But that monster?"
The one that had wiped out Blaze's group was enormous.
"That's a Red-Eater Serpent."
The red snake had a torso so thick that Eris and I couldn't have wrapped our arms around it even together, a length of at least ten meters, and a flared neck spread wide in intimidation.
Midway along its body, there was a bulge.
That was probably pig.
Wait—wasn't it supposed to be a white serpent?
"I didn't know there were Red-Eater Serpents in this forest. And a big one at that."
"Are there usually not?"
"Not usually. But they can appear on rare occasions."
The Red-Eater Serpent was a higher species of the White Fang Serpent.
Larger than the White Fang Serpent, yet far more agile.
Its entire body was covered in fire-resistant hardened scales, and its fangs carried lethal venom.
Nobody seemed to know what it consumed to mutate, but it occasionally appeared in places where White Fang Serpents were found.
White Fang Serpents were B-rank, but the Red-Eater Serpent was a formidable A-rank enemy.
Against a B-rank party, it would have been an instant kill.
That was apparently what had happened.
The creature was engrossed in its meal and didn't seem to have noticed us.
It was about to go for its third helping.
"You can take it, right?"
Eris drew her sword with total confidence.
"Are we doing this?"
Ruijerd asked me.
"…Is it okay for me to decide?"
"I'm leaving it to you."
"Who else is going to decide?"
I'd been entrusted with the choice.
Let me think.
The request was to find or subjugate a mysterious monster.
It was pretty much certain now that the White Fang Serpent or the Red-Eater Serpent was the mysterious monster.
Neither was supposed to live in this forest.
Having found one, we could go back and call it a success.
But subjugating it would earn us two iron coins.
If possible, I wanted to take it down.
Then again, there was the saying "you have to be alive to enjoy things."
Just moments ago, I'd watched someone die in front of me.
Losing meant death.
I didn't want to cross that dangerous bridge.
"If you want, I could take it down alone."
As I was deliberating, Ruijerd made the offer.
"Ruijerd. Could you really handle it alone?"
"Yeah. I can manage by myself."
Now that was reassuring.
He sounded almost like a certain Dash.
"Could you do it while protecting Eris?"
"Same as always. No problem."
Facing an A-rank with this kind of composure.
Well, if Ruijerd said so, it should be fine.
All right.
"Then let's do it."
Decision made.
--- I'd attack from range with magic while the two of them fought up close.
Our usual coordination.
So I made rock cannonballs as usual.
This time, since we were up against an A-rank, I'd up the power a notch.
Shaped like a wedge.
Fire magic embedded inside for a post-impact explosion.
Fire.
The projectile flew at tremendous speed, stabbed into the red serpent, and detonated in a massive explosion.
Or so I thought.
"What!?"
The Red-Eater Serpent twisted its body sharply and dodged the projectile.
It had evaded.
Not by accident.
The Red-Eater Serpent had clearly seen the projectile flying toward it and dodged.
Far off in the distance, the projectile exploded.
"You've got to be kidding…"
First strike: failed.
But our assault team didn't stop.
Ruijerd led the charge, with Eris following from a diagonal rear.
The formation was different from usual.
Normally Eris would be in front.
"Shaa!"
"…………Hmph!!"
Ruijerd lunged at its head.
His usual thrusting attack with a short spear.
The Red-Eater Serpent dodged with a sway, then used the momentum to snap at Ruijerd.
Those fangs—capable of punching a massive hole in one bite—were deflected lightly by Ruijerd's spear.
At the same time, Eris circled behind the Red-Eater Serpent and swung at its tail.
Eris's slash, however, failed to cut through.
The red snake's flesh or scales, or both, were too hard.
"Shaaaa!"
The Red-Eater Serpent's attention turned toward Eris.
In that instant, Eris and Ruijerd split apart.
In the brief window, my magic flew toward the Red-Eater Serpent.
1. Me 2. Eris 3. Ruijerd Steps two and three had swapped, but the flow followed the coordinated pattern we'd established.
"Missed again!?"
But the Red-Eater Serpent dodged yet again.
The projectile, sharpened to a point for extra speed, whizzed past the serpent's flank and smashed through several trees behind it.
Again. It had dodged after seeing the attack.
But even missing wasn't a problem.
Ruijerd and Eris pressed their wave assault.
Ruijerd targeting the brain and heart with relentless precision, Eris gradually whittling away from the tail to draw its attention.
The occasional magic attack that would be devastating if it landed.
Our pattern was simple, but the serpent couldn't exactly counter it easily.
If it focused on Eris, it might find an opening, but Ruijerd's aggro management was flawless.
The Red-Eater Serpent was forced to ignore both me and Eris.
Ruijerd's and my attacks couldn't land.
But the Red-Eater Serpent gradually fatigued, its movements growing sluggish.
And finally, a rock cannonball found its mark on the serpent's body.
--- By the time we'd finished skinning the Red-Eater Serpent, the sun had long set.
That night, we dined on Red-Eater Serpent meat.
We didn't know which parts would sell, but we pulled out the fangs, skinned the hide, and rolled it up like a carpet.
We also found the egg that Kurt's group had been looking for.
But it was enormous—no way to transport it.
After some deliberation, we decided to break it.
Adding more monsters to the world was strictly off-limits.
As for Blaze's group's bodies, after stripping anything worth selling, we burned and buried them.
If we'd left them as-is, would they have become Executioners?
This phenomenon of rising as zombies—I still couldn't quite wrap my head around it.
(The Red-Eater Serpent was really something.)
I thought back to the fight.
I thought about the Red-Eater Serpent dodging my magic.
Dodging.
It had dodged, again and again.
Until the final hit, I'd barely even grazed it.
Come to think of it, the Executioner had been the same.
I'd thought I'd scored a direct hit, but it dodged, and the result was blowing off just one arm.
Against monsters B-rank and above, apparently dodging magic was par for the course.
The Red-Eater Serpent was said to be A-rank.
It had even dodged Ruijerd's spear... but that was probably because he'd been holding back.
If he'd been serious, he could have killed it in one strike.
The reason it hadn't bothered dodging Eris's sword was probably because it judged her threat level too low to bother with.
But really, the creatures of this world were all monsters.
Humans could deflect magic, too, and monsters could dodge projectiles they saw coming.
If it was an S-rank monster, a direct hit from a rock cannonball might leave it completely unscathed.
Terrifying thought...
I should stay away from dangerous places as much as possible.
--- And so, we completed the request.
And this request turned out to be our last one in this town.