Day-27
...
After the conversation ended, we hurried toward the northern gate of Ortana, where Mary usually waited.
Walking behind everyone else, listening to their conversations while simply observing without much reaction.
For some reason, being at the back of the group felt right for me. I mean, by doing this I could make sure everyone went ahead first, even if they left me behind. I don't think I would mind that much.
If it could make me useful, sacrificing my life didn't seem like such a bad thing, right?.
Well... even I didn't know about that.
I love my life, I'm afraid of dying... But, dying for someone else—
"—sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? " I thought.
Actually, thinking about it again, perhaps... maybe they would be sad if I died.
Even though that possibility wasn't zero, so I guess I should try to live as much as I could, while trying to protect this party.
We didn't encounter anything particularly interesting along the way, and eventually we arrived at the northern gate of Ortana.
Mary could be seen standing there, waiting for us.
We walked toward her.
"Morning." Unexpectedly, Haruhiro initiated a greeting toward Mary.
How brave.
Mary then looked at Haruhiro with her sharp, cold gaze.
Before finally replying, "Morning."
"Hurry up, let's go. I'll follow you. "
Well, as usual, trying to get closer to that girl felt incredibly difficult.
Even so, during our journey toward Damroww, Yume and Shihoru tried to talk with Mary. They asked where she lived, what she usually ate, how long she had been a member of Crimson Moon, and so on.
Mary only responded with short answers like. "I don't know." Or. "Whatever I feel like. " But whenever she got angry, she would answer. "Does it matter to you? " And that immediately ended the conversation.
Such a cold girl, I thought.
After a while, we arrived at Damroww and began searching for our prey, with Haruhiro leading the way.
And today we were quite lucky, we immediately found 3 goblins without having to search for too long.
"Mogzo, Ranta, each of you take one. Haruhiro and I will take the third goblin. Yume, Shihoru, and Mary, support Mogzo and Ranta from a distance! And Yume, get closer if necessary. "
It was the usual strategy we used. Mogzo and Ranta were strong enough to fight one goblin each, while Haruhiro and I would hold off the third one so it couldn't interfere. Yume, as a fighter with plenty of flexibility, could choose whether to help from a distance or up close, while Shihoru supported us with her magic, and Mary watched over Shihoru while also being ready in case anyone got injured.
We began the fight.
Mogzo and Ranta each headed toward their respective goblin targets, while Haruhiro moved ahead first, followed by me.
Here, I wanted to try something, since I was only armed with a sword and wasn't using a shield like I usually did.
In Monster Hunter, there is a skill called. "Art of Unsheathing. " Or it can also be called. "Sword Draw/Crit Draw. " The skill makes an attack have 100 percent Affinity when drawing the weapon, meaning it will be a critical hit.
It's usually used with weapons like the Greatsword, but well, this isn't a game, so the mechanics obviously aren't the same, and there is no such thing as a critical hit here.
But I thought the Greatsword playstyle would suit me, if I thought about it. It was a very safe style of fighting.
Therefore.
I ran toward Haruhiro, who was currently clashing weapons with one of the Goblins, intending to help him.
With the sword sheathed at my waist, my hand gripping its hilt.
Ready to draw it.
Even though it wasn't a particularly sharp sword, which made drawing it less smooth, it should be fine.
At that moment, I called out to him. "Haruhiro! Switch. "
Haruhiro turned toward me, before jumping backward afterward.
Then, when I thought the timing was right, when I was standing in front of the goblin.
I drew my sword as quickly as I could and immediately swung it sideways.
The goblin blocked my attack with its sword.
Ha ha ha... Looks like that didn't work, huh.
Even so, I continued my attack, pushing my body forward until I was face-to-face with the goblin.
Then I knocked its sword aside and raised my right leg to kick the goblin away from me.
Meanwhile, on the other side. Although there was some commotion, things seemed to be going well.
I never thought that someone who once had trouble fighting goblins would become increasingly better at fighting them.
Even if I was using a few tricks, I didn't mind doing so.
After all, there was no such thing as fairness here.
I had to live for their sake.
Haruhiro attacked the goblin again, and I decided to join him and gang up on the goblin.
The goblin, which was already having trouble dealing with Haruhiro, now had to deal with me as well.
Various attacks were launched by the two of us, cuts and impacts appearing across the goblin's body.
Until Haruhiro suddenly performed a cool-looking move. He jumped until his back was facing the goblin, then quickly turned around and pressed himself against the goblin's body before thrusting his dagger into it.
Killing the goblin instantly.
That must be a skill that exists in this world.
Amazing.
...
The battle was over, won by our side.
Sitting on the ground, I looked toward the others.
"Muwahahaha! " Ranta laughed strangely to himself while pulling the claws from the goblin's corpse. "Teamwork is bullshit, we won because of my greatness! I'm the best! I guess if everything was easy from the beginning, this adventure wouldn't be fun. Ouch, my hand hurts! Mary! Heal me right now! "
Mary ignored Ranta and instead went over to Mogzo.
"Sit." She said to Mogzo.
Mogzo obediently sat down on the ground. "Okay."
Mary examined his forehead and the back of his head, then touched the wound on his temple.
She then formed a symbol with her hands and said something resembling an incantation.
"Oh light, under the protection of the God Luminous... [CURE]"
The wound slowly began to close until it eventually disappeared.
Yes, she healed Mogzo.
"Hey, woman! Enough with Mogzo, hurry over here and heal me! " Ranta demanded.
"There are no wounds on your body, only scratches. " Mary replied.
"That's not true! Look! I'm bleeding everywhere! It's just that.... The blood has already dried.... "
"Then how about tearing your wounds open again so the blood can start flowing? And don't call me woman. You're really testing my patience. "
With that, Ranta backed away. He seemed afraid of Mary.
That made me realize something. Unlike Manato, who healed us immediately whenever we were injured, Mary...
Suddenly, an understanding came over me. Perhaps Mary only healed us when the wounds could be considered serious. And I also remembered that the energy used for a spell would eventually run out.
That meant—we were the ones who caused Manato's death.
Because we were injured so often, Manato had to keep healing all of us.
And because of that, his energy ran out, and he couldn't heal himself.
Weren't we being incredibly selfish?
If we hadn't been injured, Manato wouldn't have needed to heal us, and he could have healed himself back then.
But what could we do? That regret had already been left far behind. Manato was dead, and that was simply how things were.
It couldn't be denied, and as those who were still alive, we had to keep living for his sake.
It took me so long to realize this...
Ahh, I—I really was a terrible friend, wasn't I?
...
-
Hey, I'm back to posting chapters here; I'm doing a bit better, even though my brain still feels sluggish, as usual. I suppose you could say I'm feeling better. This chapter is nothing special—just a standard one, and I honestly don't even know if it's any good or not.