Chapter 19: Lessons
TL: Scaramochi
***
"Oh~ I'm enduring, I'm enduring."
Frey, who had kicked away the monster she was fighting, was looking at Athena, who was fighting the last remaining monster, with a grim face and gnashing her teeth.
She wanted to join the fight from the side, but she was probably holding back because she would be in the way.
She knew this in her head, but it wasn't in her nature to remain silent, and her body was rejecting the idea.
What a funny kid, wasn't she?
It's like a dog being told to wait for it's master to feed it, even though the food is right in front of it.
"Haaaaah!"
"Guehee......"
Athena's slash caused the monsters to grunt and die.
With all the monsters down and able to catch my breath, I handed Athena and Frey a drink and a towel.
As I did so, I spoke to Frey with a grin and a sickening smile on my face.
"Oh wow, you're holding back a lot, aren't you? Great, great, great."
"Shut up! I really wanted to touch him, but you guys wouldn't let me, so I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut!"
"I'm sorry, I'm doing better today, but I still can't keep up with Frey's speed."
"Yes, Athena!"
"Blame Athena again. I thought you've matured a bit, but you don't understand anything at all."
"What the hell, elf? If you have a problem with me, you can make Athena stronger!"
Frey bared her teeth at Mirialia, who warned her from the side.
Well ...... she was finally starting to listen to people, maybe it was time to teach her a little something about party coordination.
"That's right, Frey, you can't blame everything on others."
"Huh! You told me not to act selfishly, so I put up with it! Why should I be blamed for your selfish behavior?"
"I only told you not to act selfishly, I never said "don't cooperate.""
"What the hell is that? I don't get it."
Frey's short red hair was ruffled.
I continued, "Well......," to the pouting little horse, "I'm going to teach you a little about party coordination. I think I've just found the perfect enemy for you."
"Huh?"
I pointed a finger in the distance, and Frey and the other two looked after me.
There, we saw a blue ogre carrying a golden bar.
"Blue Ogre......"
Athena, who saw the blue demon, muttered with a grim look on her face.
Blue ogre was a demon-type monster that was categorized as intermediate, and was more agile and intelligent than ordinary ogres.
It was weaker than the labyrinth lord, but strong enough to be a challenge for a silver-ranked party.
"Everyone, brace yourselves. If you're not careful, you'll get killed."
"Oh, about that, Athena, can't you let me and Frey do it alone this time?"
"What...... are you talking about, Dale? There's no way we can do that."
The leader of the group refused my proposal with a disapproving attitude.
Even a full party would have a hard time defeating it, but they couldn't let just the two of us do it.
But here, for the sake of Frey's growth, it'll help us a little.
"If it looks like it's going to be tough, join me right away, and I'll leave that to Athena's judgment. So let me do a little bit of that."
"......I understand. If I sense any danger at all, I'll get out."
"Thank you. I'm sure you can do it, right?"
When I saw her, she was a little agitated and asked Frey, who was unable to follow the unexpected turn of events.
She bared her teeth and clenched her fists together. "I'm not afraid of that. It's okay if it's just me."
"That doesn't make any sense. Well, you can do whatever you want. I'll follow your lead."
"Don't get in my way."
"I'll do my best."
So, blue ogre.
I'm sorry, but you're going to have to be the tool to teach Frey a lesson.
"Gaaaahhh!"
Blue ogre, discovering us, rushed forward with a gut-wrenching yell.
Not intimidated by this, Frey also started running on the ground, and I followed behind her.
"Nga!!!!"
"Oops, that was close, Oraa!"
Frey calmly avoided the gold bar that swung down from directly above her and twisted her body to strike a fist strike to the abdomen.
Blue ogre reacted to the powerful attack as if the damage had taken effect, but it immediately struck back.
Blue ogre unleashed a barrage of blows at a speed that was unbelievable for a man with a gold bar, but Frey managed to duck all of them with a single stroke of the paper.
"ORRAH!"
"Gugagh!"
Frey dodged the onslaught, dived into the pocket, and fired an uppercut to the jaw.
The moment the blue demon, which had been hit, tried to move backward to adjust its posture, I, who was approaching from the side, aimed a slash at its calf and hit it with a slash.
The damage was shallow, but blue blood flowed from the cut.
It swung his club at me as I interfered, but I had already retreated and didn't even graze it.
As the blue ogre's mind was caught up in me, Frey jumped in and delivered a storm of fist blows.
"Ora ora ora ora ora!!!!"
"Ggggggghh!!!!"
Blue ogre crossed its arms and concentrated on defense to withstand the rush of the fury.
It tried to release a counterattack fist at the moment when Frey's breath stops and the attack is interrupted. Frey, who was too close and was drained of energy, chose not to evade but to defend herself as quickly as she could.
But before the blue ogre's fist could reach me, I had released another slash at the spot I had just slashed.
"Guuuu......!!!!"
Unable to ignore the pain, the blue demon interrupted its attack and staggered.
I told the startled Frey, "Don't be a blabbermouth," and stepped backward before an angry leg kick flew at me.
Sharp toes brushed my bangs.
I was on a roll, but that was pretty close. I expected to be able to lose more time, but I guess you can never underestimate the physical ability of monsters.
But, well, from the other guys' point of view, it looked like I was avoiding them in a cool way, so I guess I was happy with the result.
"Shaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"G......gaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!"
While Frey closed the distance to pursue at my urging, blue ogre conversely tried to use its agility and mobility to take the distance.
It's a little late for that, blue ogre.
You were one move too late to take that measure. You could move faster than Frey if we were to have a proper fight, but right now, you're at least as weak as Frey.
I cut you so that you would be.
So even if you try to keep your distance, you can't shake Frey off.
Without the strength in your legs, you won't be able to stand your ground, and the power and speed of your attacks will be reduced.
"Heat knuckle!!!!"
Frey's fist burned bright red.
Frey, a dragonman, was skilled in fire- and wind-attribute attack magic. A fist covered in flames can't just hurt if it hits you, you know.
Of course, they would sense the danger and take evasive action. But before it did so, I "pretended" to aim at its calf from the side diagonally and sent out hostile intent.
"Ggagh!"
No, you shouldn't look at me.
"GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?"
Blue ogre, alarmed by my repeated attacks, was unable to defend itself in time and was hit in the chest with a fire fist.
It must had been convinced of victory by the feeling of it's skin being burned and bones broken.
"We did it!" Frey looked on smugly, while blue ogre tried to swing its bar down with all its might, even as smoke poured out of its mouth.
"--?
"I guess I didn't pack it in well enough."
--Before I could do that, I cut off both of its calves this time.
"Gah!"
Suddenly missing one of its legs, blue ogre knelt on the spot, unable to maintain its stance.
I looked at the dazed Frey and urged her on, and Frey slammed her heat knuckles into Blue ogre's face.
The blow settled the matter, and this time the blue demon died, falling on its back.
"Hah...... hah......."
"Good work. Sorry I'm tired, but I'm going to reflect on this before I forget."
I told Frey, who was gasping for breath on her shoulder, and she nodded her head while clicking her tongue in annoyance.
"Question one: what are the characteristics of a blue ogre?"
"I don't know....... All I know is that it's stronger than a normal ogre."
"Bubu, then I can only give it one point out of ten for service. Who else knows?"
Athena, the honor student, answered as she asked the two who had approached her after the battle.
"The characteristics of a blue ogre are that it is quicker and more intelligent than a normal ogre."
"Bing bong, you are correct. Then question two, what did I do to reduce the blue ogre's mobility and reverse it's high intelligence?"
"Slashed it's legs......, right?"
Frey replied, unsure.
"Whoa, you got it half right this time, congratulations. But that's not enough."
Instead of Frey, this time Mirialia answered.
"He slashed it's leg and reduced it's speed. He slashed twice at the same spot, diverting blue ogre's attention to the leg. That's why Stupid Frey's attack hit him decently."
"Ping pong great answer! Quite a feat, Mirialia, you've been watching so well."
"Damn, I didn't get that far."
Athena didn't get it either.
Well, it couldn't be helped, it was a pretty sophisticated tactic, so it was hard to notice. I was rather surprised that she could figure it out.
"And well, that's about all I did in the current battle. That's mostly Frey's credit. So here's the thing. Hey Frey, how did you feel about the fight? Did you think I was in the way?"
"I didn't think you were in my way, on the contrary, it was very easy to fight....... attacks came in interestingly, and even when I thought I was in trouble, they didn't attack me. So I was able to fight as hard as I could."
"Why do you think that is?"
"Because...... you were there."
"Bingo, you are so right."
I was glad she understood that. If she had told me that I was only strong because I was strong, it wouldn't have been worth the class.
"This is what I call collaboration, Frey. In your case, one plus one may become zero, but if you do it right, it can become two, three, or ten. Even an opponent that's hard to beat alone, you can win with ease."
"......"
"But this is just the beginning. Other parties, even the bronze-ranked chicks, can do it. The better ones trust their friends and work together. You may not have experienced it yet, but there's nothing like the feeling you get when you're in sync with all of your friends."
"......You want me to do that?"
I said in a provocative manner, placing my hand on Frey's head as she turned away in a teasing manner.
"I'm not saying you should do it right away. I just wanted you to know what cooperation is. Not to be the best and get in the other person's way, but to read your friends' thoughts and cooperate with them. I'm not saying that because I want to be a good friend, I'm saying it because if you're going to fight in a party, you're definitely stronger that way."
"If you're going to be so glib, you're going to have to teach me, aren't you?
"Don't be naive, kid. I've told you before, I'm not strong enough or good enough to teaching someone else. You have to worry, search and seek for yourself. You will be stronger that way."
"Shut up, don't talk like you know what you're doing, or I'll kill you. I'll do it! Watch me, I'm going to learn how to do it and make you look like an idiot!"
She declared with a victorious look on her face as she flapped her hands on top of her head.
Oh, yes.
"I'll look forward to that day when it comes."
0 Comments