Chapter 122

I was running through the trees when an assailant shot an arrow at me .

I’ve been asked by Amako to chase after it, and I was running between the trees .

I’m sure Arc-san and the others are catching up to me, but if I stray too far, I’ll get lost . If I’m going to catch it, I need to do it as quietly and quickly as possible .

However, this is the beastmen’s home ground . There are far too many trees for me to run as fast as I can .

“The trees are in the way . ……! I can’t run satisfactorily in this ……!”

“What are you talking about when you’re closing the distance instead of pulling away?!”

It’s true that the distance itself is getting closer, but only by little .

The beast running in front of me is much faster than I expected . From the back of her head, she looks like a girl, and from the gray beast ears and tail I can see, I’m guessing she’s a wolf .

Rose threw me into the forest, and even my legs, which had managed to escape even when I played tag in hell with a grand grizzly, could only catch up little by little .

“Phew, guess I’m not there yet…… . ”

Alright, time to go back to the drawing board today and add another running training .

Just thinking about my future training policy naturally makes a smile on my face .

“W-hy are you chasing me? H-Heeeelpp!!!”

“Hey, I wonder what you look like to that beastman right now…… . ”

“……”

Eh? Aren’t I the one who was threatened just now?

Why is it that the other side is the one asking for help?

…… Let’s take care of this before we instill any more fear .

I clutched my right hand, still wearing the gauntlet and stared ahead .

“Nea, hold on . ”

“Eh…… Kya!”

I lean my body forward and step hard on my right leg and take off at a brisk pace .

The beastman girl, whose face turned pale when she saw me rushing at her at breakneck speed, used her amazing reflexes to avoid my hand that was trying to catch her .

I couldn’t stop my momentum so I ran right past her… but

“B—ut!”

“Hiii!

I slammed my right fist into a tree and turned my head to look at the beastman girl .

I finally caught up with her . If I get this close, she should be able to understand me!

I smile as much as I can and talk to the girl, trying not to scare her .

“Calm down! I’m human, but I’m not going to hurt you!”

“No, you’re lying!　A human can’t move like that! I know what you are, you demon disguised as a human!”

The beastman girl shouted with tears in her eyes and climbed up the tree behind me with the lightness of a cat, and then moved from tree to tree with the agility of a monkey .

As I looked up at the girl, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh .

“Nea, that girl seems to have figured out who you are . ”

“For all intents and purposes, if you think about it . I mean, I’m an owl now . ”

“……”

That’s what I thought .

It’s not nice to be treated like a demon by a girl you’ve never met before .

That’s weird, I thought I smiled as much as I could .

“…… I can’t let her get away with this . Nea, prepare the restraining spell . ”

“Healing magic restraining bullets? Even you can’t hit it at that distance . ”

“It’s called a good shot with a bad gun . ”

“Huh?”

From my right palm, I create multiple small healing magic bullets .

Now that I have been assisted in manipulating my magic with the gauntlet, my healing magic bullets have been strengthened .

Originally, this technique was designed to heal multiple injured people in a melee, but when combined with Nea’s restraining spell, it becomes a technique that can inflict binding spells on multiple enemies .

And it’s name is—-

“Healing Magic Bullets!”

The magic bullets I generated are thrown in the direction of the girl, they split apart and hit the area around the tree where the girl jumped, making a thud sound .

The girl crouched down on the tree branch and screamed in grief .

“My hand, it’s stuck! Hiiii!”

“Uwaaa, So sorry to hear that …… . ”

Nea is donning it, but healing magic bullets are basically a harmless technique .

This technique has no power to kill or injure the opponent, just like the healing magic bullet . All that exists is a healing magic that is gentle on the body and a restraining spell that only stops the body from moving for a moment .

And that girl took a direct hit to her right arm, causing her arm to be temporarily restrained .

It’s a momentary gap, but it’s more than enough for me .

“I’m going to have to get you down from there!”

“I’m about to get knocked off!”

I charge at the tree with the girl at full speed .

Even if I climbed up the tree, she would escape in the meantime . But there’s no way I can convince her .

So, I’ll have to force her to come down even though she doesn’t want to .

“Hmph!”

With all the momentum I had, I kicked at the tree and shook it .

The girl is thrown off the tree, which is shaken just enough to not break, and falls headlong to the ground, but I catch her with both arms .

“Operation ‘Stag Drop’ was a success . ”

“You’re even more of a monster now that you’ve been to Mia Rak ……?”

I just threw, ran and kicked, why must she be so harsh ……?

Anyways .

It’s a good idea to check the girl . I had cast a healing spell on her as soon as I caught her, but if anything happened to her, I’d be in trouble .

“Are you okay?　I’m sorry . I have to do this to talk to you . ……?”

“—“

“Eh …… . ”　

The girl had whites of her eyes .

She was dazed and limp and unmoving . Nea, who noticed the girl’s condition, looked into her face quizzically and turned to me awkwardly .

“She’s passed out . ”

“……”

This is similar to the symptoms of the injured knights who were brought in by the thugs during the war with the Demon King’s army .

Their expressions are tinged with fear, as if they’ve seen something terrible . …… I see now .

“You poor thing, you must have been so scared of falling from a high place . ”

“You definitely know what you just said right? It’s obviously your fault, isn’t it?”

“Are you saying that I’m in the same league as those face-deadly weapons? I’ll never forgive you for that!”

“Why are you so angry?”

I’ve been called a monster for a long time, but I can’t stay silent if I’m lumped in with the real monsters of the Rescue squad .

I’m still human .

With the unconscious girl in my arms, the bickering that had begun continued until Amako and the others arrived .

Unwillingly, we were able to catch the beastman girl unconscious, and we temporarily rested there waiting for her to wake up .

In the meantime, I talked to Amako and she told me that the girl was an acquaintance of hers .

The girl’s name was Rinka .

She’s a werewolf with gray ears and a tail, and she was someone he had been friends with before she left the beast country . As for why she targeted me with an arrow, she was probably trying to help Amako, who was with a human .

I understood why she attacked me, but there was one thing that made me wonder .

“Why did she target me?”

The unconscious girl in front of me had tried to kill me first .

If she had just targeted me by accident, that would have been the end of it, but she was clearly concentrating on me, and that bothered me .

Amako took one look at Rinka, who was passed out on a pillow with the body of a relaxed Bluerin, and returned her gaze to me with a troubled expression .

“Maybe it’s because Usato looks the weakest, right?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, the Rinka I know wouldn’t hurt an animal unnecessarily . On the other hand, Usato is normal in appearance only, so she probably thought it would be better to target him compared to Arc, who seems to be stronger from his atmosphere . ”

“I see . Usato only looks like he’s weak, right? Once you open the lid though, it’s actually a monster who can grab an arrow on sight . ”

“You guys, it’s funny to emphasize on that right? Why do I have to take all this heat from my allies?”

You know I can cry sometimes, right?

No, I’m aware that my appearance makes me look weak .

“I wonder if I should be more like the leader of the group, so I don’t get arrows suddenly shot at me . ……”

I should give off a predatory vibe and always look at people like I’m about to shoot them .

As I tried, I imitated Rose as I imagined her while brushing my hair, and the three in front of me paled in unison with a surly look on their faces .

“Usato, I’m sorry . It’s fine the way it is . ”

“I’m sorry . You don’t have to change . ”

“Usato-dono, the current you is the best . ”

I don’t know if it’s Arc-san, but it’s creepy that he’s suddenly being nice to me .

What? Did I really look that bad? I wasn’t aware of it at all .

“…… Everyone, Rinka’s going to wake up . ”

Amako turned to look at Rinka . Apparently she had seen her wake up with her premonition .

Quickly, Amako moved to Rinka’s side to hide us, and gently shook her shoulder .

“Rinka, are you okay?”

“Uuuu . …… Monsters, monsters are chasing me . …… Uuuuu, what?”

Rinka opened her eyes in a fit of swoon, stiffened when she saw Amako’s face, then started to hug her .

I guess she didn’t see us, but she was crying with relief .

“Oh, Amako, it’s been so long–!”

“Hmm, long time no see, Rinka . ”

We heard that they were the same age, but Amako was shorter than her, so she couldn’t get out of it and was left to her own devices .

“You were captured by that demon in human skin, and you were able to escape!”

That’s a terrible thing to say at the start of a conversation, this girl .

“No, actually–“

“Oh my god, what the hell is that! I’m the fastest beast in the wolf tribe, and he got the cunning to try and trick me, and the magic to curse me! Also… . also… . he’s so scary!!! Uuuuuu . . sniff……”

“Yes, it was scary, wasn’t it? I understand . ”

That’s a terrible thing to say .

And why are you agreeing, Amako?

I was so upset by Rinka’s words, which cut into my mental health, that I slammed a flick into Nea, who was laughing beside me .

For now, let’s wait until she calms down .

After a few minutes of watching Amako comforting the crying Rinka, she finally stopped crying and Amako cut in on us .

“Rinka, I know you want to know a lot about me, but there’s something I want you to know first . ”

“Yeah, say anything?”

“For now, look behind you . ”

“What, what’s behind ……?”

Rinka followed Amako’s words and turned around .

Her eyes meet mine, which I’m sure has a subtle expression on it .

I awkwardly apologize to her, who has frozen in place like a stone with a smiling expression on her face .

“No, um, ……, I’m sorry about earlier, okay?”

“–“

“I didn’t mean to scare you . …… Hmm?”

“…… Rinka?”

Amako taps her on the shoulder as she freezes and doesn’t move . She still doesn’t respond, and Amako lets out a sigh and looks at me with a frown .

“She’s fainted again . …… Usato, what did you do to Rinka?”

“I just took her down from the tree . ”

I can’t say that I kicked her down the tree and caught her after I hit her with a healing magic bullet to stop her .

“No, you didn’t . You hit her with a magic bullet with a restraining spell and then kicked her off the tree and caught her . ”

“I know you had no choice, but that’s just too much ……”

I was quickly exposed by Nea .

Amako was right, no matter how many arrows the kid had shot at me, I’d gone too far .

“Anyway, let’s wake her up again . This time, I’ll tell her about Usato and then we’ll meet face to face . Usato and the others can stay away for a bit . ”

“Okay . ”

I followed Amako’s words and left, disgusted that my treatment was completely against something horrible .

After a few minutes or so, Rinka wakes up again and says almost the same words to Amako as before . She added new sounds of fear, such as “he gave me a nightmare” and “he tried to trick me again,” but I didn’t need to be told why .

Afterwards, when Amako had finished explaining about us, she took Rinka by the hand and brought her to where we were .

“…… A-are you sure it’s fine? Amako . ”

“Yeah, it’s fine . We’ve traveled this far together, so you can trust me . ”

She still feels uneasy, and shrinks down to hide behind Amako’s back, but Amako’s back is too small for her to hide at all .

…… Amako is too small for her age . I’m not sure she’s the same age as the girl behind me .

As I was casually thinking about something rude, Arc-san approached the frightened Rinka and looked at her .

“Nice to meet you, I’m Arc, traveling with Amako-dono . ”

“N-Nice to meet you . I’m Rinka . ”

“I’m Nea . I’m the demon you’re referring to that looks like a person . ”

“What? You are?

“Gua!”

“Hiaa? Why is there a blue grizzly here?

Each of them introduced themselves . Now that they’ve introduced themselves, it’s my turn .

I’ll try to make a good impression with a 100% smiley face that will wipe out my previous image .

I don’t want Amako’s friends to be scared of me .

“I’m Usato . Amako’s—“

“S-Sorry . I’m not scared of you, so don’t get mad at me . ……!”

I’ve only told her my name, but she’s already scared of me .

Eh, that’s strange . I heard that Amako gave a good explanation about me too .

“Amako . How did you explain her about me? I’m not mad at you, just tell me honestly . ”

“I told her roughly what kind of journey I’ve been on . ”

“Ah, that makes sense . That’s the kind of reaction I’d have if I knew that the person I was fighting with was someone who’d had an unusual journey . …… And I’m sure the beastmen would know about Karon’s outburst . ”

Yeah, I didn’t solve the problem on my own . ……

I guess I still imagine it in a bad way based on my first impression .

“Oh and I told her you’re actually a human . ”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but you’ve been pretty much poisoned by Usato too . ……”

I’m not sure why Amako said this so confidently, but Nea was taken aback .

For my part, I’d like you to question the fact that we have to prove from the point of view of being human .

…… At this point, I don’t mind being frightened . For now, just being able to meet Amako’s acquaintance, Rinka, is good .

It’s better than being hated, and it makes me feel a lot better .

I let out a small sigh when I saw that Rinka was still wary of me and hadn’t come off Amako’s back .

Author’s Note:

Rinka: “Oh ……, that guy looks weak . Okay, let’s start with him and save Amako!

↓

Rinka: “He’s not human! It’s not human!

This is roughly what she sounds like at the time of the attack .