32-Wood dragon

By the time Mei Fan finally defeated the demon, it was already close to nightfall.

Mei Fan breathed relievedly as he breathed on his shoulder.

''I did........it's done, Mr. Gerald,''

Oh, yeah, well you're done.

When I called out to him, Mei Fan had a bitter look on her face, but a slight smile on her mouth. He looked like he was somehow smiling.

Well, that was as it should be.

The request started in the morning, with a lunch break in the middle of the day, but the rest of the day he was fighting the caterpillar.

However, that doesn't mean that the caterpillar was particularly strong. After all, they are the lowest class of monsters. I can use my magic to get one shot at it, and I have enough power to defeat it with ease, even with my meal.

There is only one reason why Mei Fan struggled against such a caterpillar. Due to the fact that he was too close in time when fighting the demon, he was almost always striking at it with the hilt of his sword.

If that happened, naturally, the hand holding the hilt would touch the poisonous needles of the caterpillar. If that happens, the place it touched would be paralyzed and would not be able to touch the sword properly. Such an abomination had been repeated many times by Mei Fan against the caterpillar.

I tried several times to interrupt him from the side to say that he should attack from a space where his hands couldn't touch, but whether it was clumsiness or lack of sense, or whether he didn't listen to the advice, he couldn't quite get out of the habit of closing the distance too much, and it took him until it was this late.

The best way to do this is to have a look at your website. Mission accomplished.

Yeah, yeah, well, I guess so.

After all, the number of times I've detoxified this girl is far more than the fingers on my hands.

It's like using half a year's worth of antidote magic in one day.

I'm not going to be able to say that I can be an adventurer now, right?　You can get a registration card like Mr. Gerald, right?

Despite being a bit sneaky, Mei Fan gives me a glittering look.

That sparkle was filled with the conviction that I am now an adventurer too.

''Ugh........''

It's so dazzling, I can't help but be frightened. This is because the only answer I had was to thrust my face, which had been so blatantly full of anticipation and joy up to this point, into melancholy and disappointment the next moment.

'Oh, um, hey,'

Yes!

But honestly, how could he not tell her? The reality that was too cruel for her - for Mei Fan.

''Well, um ... I have to tell Mei Fan something.

What is it?

But I don't want to talk about this either. And I don't want to make her hardships a mere waste of time. Still, it's my job to teach her this lesson.

"Your.........Mei Fan's 'Adventurer Registration Mission', but you didn't complete it.

Huh?

'This mission is to collect the collected materials and the proof of defeat part of the demon and bring them to the guild. That's why today's request isn't finished yet, and this mission must be reported to the guild by the end of today for completion. If the report comes tomorrow, it will be considered a mission failure.

Well, why don't you just go home right now and tell them...

Look at the position of the sun.

When I interrupted Mei Fan's words, she looked up at the sky and turned her gaze to the sun, which was tilted considerably to the west.

''We've been moving around looking for demons after many failed attempts. From here, it would take us over an hour to get to the city, but with the way the sun was looking, we wouldn't have another hour left before the guild closed. It pains me to say this as an examiner, but--you've got to give up for today.

The words you didn't want to say, if you could.

If possible, I didn't want to tell you the reality.

Still, I knew I couldn't just say the deception here. I knew that if I let her get my hopes up, I would make her even more sad.

At the words I told her, the joyous color faded from Mei Fan's face more and more, and despair replaced it. Her eyes, which used to sparkle, become dimly glazed and her gaze gradually turns down.

I feel a pang of guilt rising in my chest as I look at her as she is losing her color like a model. As if to cover it up, she hurriedly mouthed comforting words.

''Well, well, you see. You can always take the adventurer registration mission again, right?　There's no reason why it has to be today anyhow, and we'll change the day again--

"................ ...is.

What?

I need to be an adventurer right now!　Because I'm going to be an adventurer and I'm going to make a promise, an oath, an oath.......!

'Mei Fan...?　Hey, what are you--

There's still time to run!　We have to do it in time, because if we don't...

Mei Fan suddenly ran out of the room while talking about something incomprehensible. In a flash, I couldn't hold him back.

''Mei Fan!''

He shouted his name and hurriedly chased after his back.

Even though I've been fighting all day and accumulating fatigue, as expected of a beastman. His running speed is quite fast. However, it wasn't so much that he couldn't catch up with it.

''Acceleration.''

Chanting the words, I increased my speed quickly and easily, and easily captured Mei Fan.

''Please let go!　Let go of me!　We won't make it in time!

I told you to calm down!　What's the matter with you?

'Why do you bother me?　Because... because I promised... because I promised... because I made a vow... and I couldn't keep it... and so!

I grab her arm and force her to stop, but she still shakes me off and tries to go on.

I don't know what is driving her to do this, but I don't know why. But I couldn't just let her go with this unusual situation.

"Don't feel bad, Mei Fan--'Body Enhancement'

I can't talk to her without calming her down anyway.

So I try to physically restrain her by strengthening my physical abilities and trying to wrestle her to the ground.

But that's just when it happened. They've covered us, and they've cast a shadow of their massive bodies over us.

For a moment, our vision darkens. I wondered if the sun had already set, but when I looked up above my head, a demon that looked ten meters tall was looking down on me with vicious eyes.

''Wood dragons ... they're swarming in a place like this?

Their name was the Wood Dragon.

They were the appearance of a higher-ranked individual monster with scales like bark, mimicking trees and attacking people in groups.