Chapter 56: Sparks Flying

"You forgave them quite easily, didn’t you?"

Yuria, running with her armor clanking, gave a wry smile as she looked at me clinging to Master’s back.

"I could only imagine you getting caught up in trouble if we left you behind."

I couldn’t see Master’s face, but I could clearly tell he was sighing.

Honestly, whenever I get into trouble, it’s always when I’m separated from Master. Even in dangerous places, being by his side is safer—what a messed-up situation. It’s like being the only streetlight by a mountain path during summer nights—just asking for trouble to come swarming.

"Sora is just the type to attract attention!"

"Where did you even learn a phrase like that…"

Floating alongside us in the air with glowing, wing-like light sprouting from her back, Fere let out a cheerful laugh. I really want to sit her down for an hour and interrogate where she picked up that nonsense. Most likely from those maids who love gossiping about romance.

"Still, there were more adventurers around?"

"No, probably soldiers from the national army."

Kasai tilted his head, but really, adventurers have no reason to attack an embassy.

The stationed soldiers should be dressed in outfits roughly based on the Fourlith army, albeit with different colors. Most likely, the kingdom’s army is using adventurers as a diversion or to stall us, while trying to take down Arakis.

If you take out Master and Kasai from the equation, the kingdom’s side has the advantage in sheer numbers. From a tactical perspective, their move isn’t wrong. I just didn’t expect them to mobilize their army this quickly and at the same time.

"Humans are always pulling dirty tricks—it gets on my nerves."

That grumble came from Golan, whose big belly jiggled as he ran. Unexpectedly, it was Lulu who gave a wry smile back.

"If you only fight fair and square, you’ll lose fights you could’ve won. I think it’s better to praise the strategy here."

She’s been learning a lot from Master lately. Bit by bit, she’s shifting from a laid-back house cat to more of a sharp, wild cat—at least when we’re out and about. Losing without being able to do anything really got to her, I guess.

"—! Enemy sighted up ahead!"

Suddenly Lulu raised her voice sharply, and Master and Kasai immediately split left and right, disappearing into the forest.

"Alright, we’ll stay hidden and hit them with guerrilla tactics."

"Got it. Stay sharp."

Peeking out from behind a tree, Kasai gave a quick nod, signaling with hand gestures before quietly vanishing down a side path in the woods. After watching him go, Master and the others moved cautiously, creeping toward the confirmed enemy force.

Sure enough, the attackers were knights from the kingdom’s side. The embassy gates were broken down, and a skirmish had broken out. Among the enemy, I spotted that drill-haired girl and the little black-haired girl from before.

Commanding them was a tough-looking man with slicked-back golden hair.

A female knight with tiger ears, who should have been a close aide of Arakis, along with a few other knights, were trying to fight the drill-haired girl—but they were being easily outclassed. Just from looking, the enemy had the advantage both in numbers and strength.

"We are soldiers of the Moonforest Army! Explain this invasion—on what grounds do you commit this act!"

After signaling battle readiness with hand gestures, Master handed me over to Yuria. He erected a barrier, stood up, gathered a few subordinates, and stepped forward to confront them.

At the sight, the little black-haired girl and the drill-haired girl reflexively flinched, but the man with the slicked-back hair simply curled his lips into a mocking grin.

"How amusing, listening to livestock talk back. You’re nothing but a rabble of beasts pretending to be a nation—what a joke. A beast’s life suits you far better."

His sneering words instantly fired up the beastkin warriors. Despite everything, they were proud of their new homeland, their own nation. Being mocked like this was unforgivable.

"I asked for the reason behind your invasion."

Master’s displeasure was unmistakable, but the enemy didn’t flinch at all.

"Hmph. We don’t recognize you as a country. Therefore, we don’t have to answer to you for anything we do in this forest! Just wait quietly—you’ll get your turn. After we finish off the traitors, we’ll teach you livestock your proper place."

Ah, now this… this is what I like. Compared to that fake nice guy from earlier, this is a much more satisfying villain. If we’re gonna beat someone up, it’s way better when they’re like this.

“That won’t be happening. We are allied with Prince Arakis. More importantly, as King of Moonforest, I cannot allow such barbaric behavior in these woods!”

Master seemed to be settling into his role as king more and more. Drawing his sword, he pointed the blade straight at the man with slicked-back hair and raised his voice powerfully.

“Comrades of the forest! Now is the time to show our pride! Let these arrogant, thieving fools witness our strength!”

““OOOOOOOO!!””

The beastkin, who had been waiting impatiently, burst forward all at once. Round two is kicking off.

The musketeer squad was made up of elites who had survived brutal training. In close combat, they wielded their swords with incredible agility, using the beastkin’s physical prowess to dominate the battlefield. At even a slight distance, they switched to rapid-fire magic attacks with their handguns.

On top of that, being lightly equipped meant they could nimbly leap onto tree trunks and open fire from above, completely controlling the battlefield within the forest.

“Ughhh, this is exactly why I didn’t want to come here!!”

The drill-haired girl, who was combining swift movements with teleportation, complained loudly while running through a hail of bullets.

As expected of high-powered ranged weapons with rapid fire—they’re practically cheating in anti-personnel combat. That said, those with a certain level of power could easily block them with barriers, like that commander.

“Tch… resorting to cheap tricks… Even with that, your troops are pathetic.”

“I’m not some meathead like you, thank you very much!”

Even so, the drill-haired girl couldn’t do much about the gunfire. As she dodged and adapted, little by little, she began to chip away at our side’s forces.

The beastkin could endure as long as it wasn’t a fatal blow, thanks to their armor and always-carrying healing potions. Still, it would take time for them to return to the frontlines. This… might get dicey.

“Haaah… I’m starting to get used to it…!?”

The drill-haired girl suddenly threw herself to the side, rolling across the ground. A jet-black blade silently slashed through the space where her neck had been.

Lulu, who had somehow snuck up behind her, clicked her tongue and leapt back, widening the distance before glaring at the drill-haired girl.

“Oh my… aren’t you that cat from before? You’ve improved quite a bit… You even made me break into a cold sweat.”

“Thought I had you for sure, though. Oh well. Anyway… where’s that squinty-eyed bastard?”

Lulu twirled her black dagger in her hand as she spoke. So she was holding a grudge after all.

“…That guy? He’s renounced the world.”

“…Huh?”

We couldn’t help but blurt out in confusion. Renounced… what?

“Apparently, after being treated like garbage by the soldiers in the carriage ride back, it hit him hard. He holed himself up in his room for a while after returning, then shaved his head and entered a monastery as a trainee monk…”

“…Ehhhh…”

So… something inside him snapped, huh.

“Which means, he’s not here. What a shame for you.”

“Then I’ll just beat the crap out of you instead to get it out of my system.”

“Feel free to try, dear. I won’t take your life, so come at me without fear.”

Leaving me completely dumbfounded, the two of them, who had just been chatting a moment ago, both shifted to battle mode with clear, refreshed looks on their faces and clashed blades. Man… Lulu’s way more combative than I thought. A fresh discovery, for sure.

With swift, nimble movements, Lulu skillfully toyed with the drill-haired girl—closing in to slash with her dagger, then pulling back to fire her pistol—putting on a pretty stylish display of combat.

However, the drill-haired girl calmly fended off every strike, not taking any real damage.

Worse yet, just when Lulu seemed to vanish in an instant, the next moment she’d find the drill-haired girl right in her face. And when she thought she’d closed the gap, the distance would suddenly widen again.

The drill-haired girl expertly used teleportation to control the flow of battle, and from where I was watching, it was clear she was completely throwing Lulu off her rhythm.

It’s just that Master and Kasai are absurdly strong—under normal circumstances, these two would easily be considered overwhelming powerhouses in their own right.

The man who seemed to be the commander also looked powerful, but possibly wary of Master, he had withdrawn deeper into the area, surrounding himself with knights.

Master was mowing down the knights one after another, each swing of his sword taking them out in a single strike. Yet, the commander’s face still wore a calm, confident expression.

There were simply too many enemies. With our allies mixed into the brawl, it wasn’t possible to just blast them all away in one go. This was going to take some time.

Still… that confident grin of the commander—was he hiding some kind of trump card?

As I watched the battle unfold from a distance, a strange whooshing sound suddenly reached my ears—and then, a jet-black scythe came spinning straight toward me.

“Watch out!?”

Yuria reacted instantly, knocking the scythe away and saving me from harm, but it was enough to startle me. Wait a minute… I thought there was a barrier up—how did it just slip through like nothing!? What is going on!?

“Finally… finally I’ve found you…”

A voice, like it was echoing from the depths of hell, called out from the direction the scythe had flown in from.

“I’ve never once forgotten that humiliation… not for a single day… today I’ll rip you apart, limb from limb!!”

There she was—a black-haired flat-chested girl radiating a pitch-black aura, screaming her vengeance at me.

◇◆ADVENTURE RESULT◆◇
NO BATTLE
◆【Sora Lv.105】
◆【Lulu Lv.43】
◆【Yuria Lv.46】
◇―
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Sora Lv.105 [1057]
Lulu Lv.43 [431]
Yuria Lv.46 [461]

【RECORD】
[MAX COMBO] >> 40
[MAX BATTLE] >> 40

【PARTY-1 (Main)】
[Shuuya][Lv125] HP 3623/3700 MP 3450/4560 [Normal]
[Sora][Lv105] HP 70/70 MP 1245/1685 [Normal]
[Lulu][Lv43] HP 780/950 MP 25/42 [Normal]
[Yuria][Lv46] HP 2340/2540 MP 54/91 [Normal]
[Fere][Lv40] HP 445/445 MP 1290/1450 [Normal]
[Makoto][Lv85] HP 5310/5500 MP 103/170 [Normal]
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

“Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!”
“This is bad, that black flat-chest… she’s completely consumed by rage!”
“Milady…”