Vol. 10 - Ch. 514 - Magical Touch of Cat Ears

"Boss spotted.""Nice. You did well, Karua. Good job."

"Hn."

The boss' location that Karua reported, as she returned back with blazing speed, matched perfectly with the information in my mind, so my hand unconsciously moved to pat her head while praising.

Phew, man, this light, faint feeling of cat ears is so great. I can never have enough of it.

"Hn. Your hands are gentle, Zephyr. I like it."

However, the intruders appeared to protest against this act.

"Zephyr, stop your movements there."

"Sierra's right, Zephyr. What are you doing hogging Karua to herself! Let me pat her too!"

"I mean, you can, but let's wait for it later, Your Highness Lana."

Crap. I remembered how Sierra had given me an earful when I did something similar earlier. Stupid me, why did I have to do it in front of her!? Damn you cat ears, I underestimated your temptation skill! (This is just in his head.)

A-Anyway, a wise man has said smooth talking is the way!

"S-Speaking of, you have become quite good at handling the autonomous shields, Sierra! I was impressed to see you can even handle multiple long distance attacks easily. You have even got down the attacking pattern so well. The fact that you learned an offensive way without much prior knowledge is impressive! No, well, I should have expected since it's you, ahaha. This is why you're our No.1 tank! Now I have no fear even challenging the advanced dungeons!"

"............I hope this is not your attempt at dodging the question."

Crap. Did I line up too much praise that it sold me out!? But... unless I am having illusions, she didn't look that discontent. Was it my imagination, or was her face also slightly red?

"Hey, hey, what about me, Zephyr?"

"O-Of course you're great too, Lana. You're really amazing."

"Too simple, too crude!"

Hey now, I couldn't just make them out of thin air at urgent notice.

Lana, throwing a huff at me, next turned to Karua.

"And you, Karua. Is there no problem in letting Zephyr touch your cat ears? I remember you saying this is an act only reserved for family."

"Hn, that was adlib. Everyone's eyes were scary that time."

Ahh... recalling back, yes. This had been what she said when I introduced her. Now that I think about it, I think everyone's gaze was focused on her cat ears. It wasn't hard to guess what would have happened if they're allowed. No wonder, she might have felt scared.

"But casually touching anytime is NG. Zephyr's hands are gentle, so it's fine."

"I-Is that so? Then I guess maybe one more time..."

"Zephyr?"

"But let's prepare for the boss battle before that~. Let's see, the «MP Hi-Potion»."

"Hey, Karua. What about me? Can I touch them?"

"Lana...... if it's only for a bit. But later."

"Hurray! Then it's a promise, Karua!"

Lana rejoiced at receiving the right to touch Karua's cat ears. Even Ester appeared slightly fidgety, seemingly wanting to touch those ears. Indeed, Karua's cat ears were definitely magical. They're unbelievably good to touch, you know.

The air turned slightly stuffy with our banter, so I slightly cleared my throat, and brought everyone's focus to the main stuff.

"Ahem. We have affirmed the party's coordination to some extent, so it's time to challenge the boss. Karua, guide the way."

"Roger."

I knew the location, but the traps were placed randomly, and I had no way to discover them, so I had Karua lead the safe way. Smashing through occasional traps, we made it to the boss area.

"So that's the boss huh. It looks like the boss version of Bull-Orc we had fought earlier."

A 2.5m tall «Bull-Orc» had taken its position near the entrance to below floors. It held a hatchet like broadsword in its right hand while clad in full body armour, resembling a general.

I nodded at Sierra's question.

"Right. It's name is 'General Bull Orc,' and its speciality is to summon the 'Bull-Orc' using the 'Subordinate Summoning Horn' that was in its possession. If it blows it, 2~4 Bull Orc will randomly join the battle in the field which makes it a nuisance to handle. It also have buff skills like 'War Cry' to strengthen its comrades." Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"So you mean, we might face five opponents simultaneously, and they may also get their number replenished, right?"

"You're right. Subordinates until now would have been done for good once we eliminate them, but from here onwards, they might be revived despite slaying them, or summoned again to replenish the number. Plus, «General» is also in possession of a strong hatchet and armour, making it capable of using defence skill. It can parry your attack so keep your senses open. You may be inflicted with Down status if you receive the attack right after its parry. If that happens, you either open up the distance quick, or—"

"I tank them, is it? It seems like my shield is going to be a lot of work this time."

Sierra quietly gazed at her small shields.

Sierra was currently equipped with her four small shields, along with her «Shield Princess Full Equipment». Frankly, even without the floating shields, she was already looking hella cool.

The current small shields—«Snow Wolf Shield» and «Moon Shield»—were also taken into account for the interclass battles. There were two small shields of each type. Both sets of shields were a drop from Int-mid dungeon's «Silver Chest», with excellent performance. And since their status value also adds ability score, with the ratio of 2:1, they make up to be a terrific value.

Since they're designated as the extra-slot equipment, their ability could only be verified from status, so Sierra had chosen them based on their status value. Though, of course I had been one to suggest that method.

"I have great expectations from your shields, Sierra. Good luck."

"I will do the best with my ability."

"What, and there's nothing to say to me?"

Seeing that I only showed my expectation from Sierra, Lana pouted and raised a voice of demand.

On the sideline, Ester also gave the 'it would be great if Zephyr-dono can say something to Lana-sama' gaze.

"You know that's not true. Your healing and buffs and MVP that carry us through boss fights. We all expect timely healing from you, so do your best."

"Fufu, with finesse!"

After throwing the fitting line, I took a quick glance at Ester, and she had a smile on her face as she nodded in satisfaction. Somehow, Ester appeared more like Lana's parent, though she had been her guard.

I continued, and this time addressed Karua and Ester.

"Karua, you should prioritise evading the attack when the boss uses skill. I am sure it would be easy for you with your speed. Also, use that to confuse the subordinates and deal with them."

"Hnn."

"If the boss parried your attack, distance yourself using the cogwheels, Ester. You could take reference from the «Shaman Puppet» movement to move. There's nothing in particular except these points. Rest is at your discretion."

"Understood. I will keep that in mind."

We had two attackers; Karua's focus was the subordinates, while Ester was to deal with the boss.

With her new equipment, «Azure Cogwheel», she had quite a good compatibility with this boss, since she could easily roll blitz her way out after parry. The Beg-high dungeon's «Shaman Puppet» boss, riding the segway, was a headache to deal with. Whenever you parry its attack, it would flip back to ground level, like a daruma, which left no opportunity for follow up attack. So I was suggesting Ester to use that trick and dodge the attack.

This was basically the strategy. Rest, everyone was smart enough to know what to do.

"What are you going to do, Zephyr?"

"I will be your jack-of-all-trade. Pulling in subordinates if there's a need for an extra tank, or play as an attacker if there's a need for one. And healing...well, my turn isn't going to come for years."

"S-Sheesh. You aren't going to get any rewards with that much praise."

Lana blushed as I implied the greatness «Seraphic Saintess», her fingers slightly twirled around her hair, yet she also threw her chest in pride.

"Alright, this is all for me. What I haven't said is basically need to take on as usual. Now if there's no more question, and...... there's none, so let's go!"

" "Let's go!" "

Lana and Karua replied energetically at my announcement.

At a leisure pace, we walked in the direction of the boss.