Chapter 28: Her Determination

While I was still being treated by Finia, the adventurers finally returned. Because of the scattered corpses of the vultures, everyone shows an astonished expression.

「What happened here!?」 「Ah, Leon-san! It was a close call here you know, vultures came and attacked right after you guys left to fight the Chimera Blobs!」 「Seriously!」

His surprised voice was raised furthermore, but a question mark popped on his head when he realized that the creatures in question were already defeated.

「Who defeated these things?」 「Can’t you understand seeing the situation?! Nicole-chan, are you ok? 」 「Un」

The adventurer Leon was supposed to be their leader, but a female adventurer rushed towards me after understanding the situation. On the other hand, the merchants were too excited about retelling the battle that happened a while ago to the other adventurers.

「Temuru-san, will you please calm down for now? Ellen, how is her condition? 」

The merchant Temuru-san was asked to be silent, and the other female adventurer asked Ellen about my condition. She looks at my scar and checks the first aid treatment done by Finia, she then nodded.

「Un, the wounds are not that deep. The first aid was also properly applied. In this condition, there probably won’t be a scar left behind when it heals」 「That is a good thing to know. Nicole-chan, did you fight them on your own? 」 「Um, with everyone」

I did stand up first to fight and was able to defeat one, and Finia only followed in order to protect me, and then two of the targets were finished off by Michelle-chan. I would have never been able to defeat all of them it was me alone, not to mention having a powerless body.

「I was able to defeat only one though」 「It’s not about being able to defeat one, considering your age, just killing one could already be considered a great feat」

Vultures are not really that strong as a monster. There are many adventurers that hunt them for their meat. But that is only true for the physically capable ones. It could certainly be said that for a powerless child like me to be able to defeat such a monster is a feat that can’t normally be achieved.

「How did you defeat them, could you tell us the methods you used?」 「Hmm, with Michelle-chan’s help, I guess. I probably won’t be able to do it on my own……」 「Wait a moment! Would you please let Nicole-sama rest and do this later, she was badly hurt from the fight after all」 「Ah, right. Sorry for not being considerate about that」

Finia’s words were right on the spot, but I also want to honestly tell them what actually happened. Well, when I was fighting against the first vulture, I did my best to support the katana to press it against the target, and as a result my right wrist really hurts. Adding to that, when I was lifted up by the second vulture, the wool thread used to anchor myself was held by my right hand. Right now, my right hand was on the verge of being broken due to the heavy burden that it suffered. There was also the impact that my whole body received and had to endure when I fell.

「Nicole-sama, over here」

On a spot inside the hooded carriage, Finia prepared a small space for me. After entering the carriage with the adventurer Ellen, they took off my clothes and thoroughly checked my whole body for injuries. The hood was placed not only for rain and wind, but was used to block sight by folding a part of it. When traveling with women, this mechanism is one of the necessary features.

「Oh my, your right hand is in tatters. What exactly did you do for it to end up this way……? 」 「Well, from blocking the vulture’s talons, then anchoring myself to the carriage, and finally using the corpse to break my fall.」 「Isn’t that too reckless…… for letting you do something like that when you were out of our sight…… we’re really sorry for that, ok?」 「You don’t have to. The vultures attacked knowing that there was no adventurer present on the carriage after all. You guys also needed to defeat those Blobs so it can’t be helped.」 「No, it’s very worrisome what reckless things you would do if you were out of our sight. It might have been much better if we let everyone come with us when we were fighting against those Blobs.」 「That probably won’t be a good thing though」

They won’t know what would happen if they brought amateurs to a battlefield. That’s why it was not a mistake when Leon-san decided not to bring us along. Speaking of which, it would have been better if at least one of them was left behind though.

「Ahhh, Nicole-sama’s body was full of…… I’m really sorry, if only I was a bit stronger」 「Finia, what you did was good enough. I was saved because you were able to hold back the enemies, so don’t blame yourself」

I was able to defeat two of them because she was holding one of the enemies. If it was only me tanking, I would have not been able to support the front line. After all, despite only having knowledge of defending herself, she was still able to hold off one of the vultures.

「Because Finia was able to hold off one of them, I was able to fight properly against the others. Thank you」 「But, but……」

Tears started forming on the corners of her eyes as I started to praise her. It’s also interesting watching her ears droop as she becomes more emotional. It makes me want to touch those drooping ears. After applying compress, my hand was wrapped with a bandage the same way my left hand was wrapped. After finishing, she clasped her hands then blurted out something really outrageous.

「I have decided! I also want to learn how to fight!」 「Wha!?」

Due to Finia’s sudden declaration, I could only respond in shock from the sudden event.