CH 10

―――Gasagasagasagasagasagasa…

I could hear the sound of leaves rustling from the trees all around.

「W-What!?」

「It’s coming!」

「Eh? Kyaa!?」

―Supan… Dosa…

「Fu ~u. That was a close one」

「What a surprise… Thanks, Aya!」

「You’re welcome, Suzu!」

It tried to sneak up on me from a tree behind Suzu, who was diagonally behind me, but I cut off its head.

「Hey, Suzu~」

「What?」

「I’ll leave you to handle the wolves around us, okay?」

「How long?」

「An hour… No, 30 minutes」

「…… I got it. Leave it to me!」

「Thank you!」

「I don’t mind! I wasn’t that active, so I still have a lot of MP and, speaking of which, some recovery potions!」

「Un! I’m off then!」

「Be careful!」

You, too! I faced Liefel as I replied.

The time limit is 30 minutes. Let’s trust Suzu and focus only on the enemy in front of me.

『Gau!』

Instead of lunging, Liefel walked on two legs and began attacking with both of its claws.

I fought it off with my sword. It was getting frustrated that it couldn’t hit the target, and its attacks were becoming more and more clumsy.

But with it comes an increase in speed.

――Gyi~in… Kyinkinkkyi~in… !

I’m on the defensive, but I’ll think of a countermeasure in the meantime.

First, the premise is not to cut off the remaining left eye. I don’t want to let it get out of control by being blind.

That’s just a cover, what I really want is some eye material…

Liefel is furry. The blade doesn’t go through that at all either. The neck, torso, and legs are all covered in fur.

But what about inside the body?

There is no such thing as fur inside the body. I figure that when it opens its mouth to attack with its fangs, I can attack its insides… ? This would be high risk, high reward.

The second option is to slash the same spot over and over again. It’s the same spot, but it requires skill and takes too much time. But the risk would be low.

I would say the first one if I plan to end it early, but it’s a bit overwhelming.

Therefore, I chose the second one.

Once I’ve decided on a strategy, the next step is to find the right spot.

The safest place to start would be the neck. Legs are out of the question because it moves around, and I don’t think the torso would be lethal.

Okay! Come on!!

There were many leaves wrapped around its neck. However, no matter how much they are wrapped around it, they are still leaves. There will be gaps between the leaves.

I just need to aim there.

I’ve been blocking it off so far, but I’ll try to dodge it so I can attack.

「… Fu!」

――Zashu~

I avoided the right paw swinging down like a kesagiri by moving to the left with minimal effort and slashed it with the sword I held in both hands.

T/N. Kesagiri – slashing a sword diagonally from the shoulder.

This causes the green fur to drift through the air.

――――

――

I don’t know how many minutes it took… Or how many hours… ? After repeating this several times, dozens of times, the green fur finally started to ooze with blood.

「At last… Finally!」

――Zan~…

「Too shallow… !」

After a few quirks, it would turn its head away and dodge.

As I lament about this, I hear a familiar voice behind me as I struggle.

「《Water Cutter》!!」

A blade of water flies from behind me.

I ducked and it went straight to its neck.

『Gyau!!』

I calmly and accurately thrust my sword into its neck, where the wound had opened up while it was frightened.

――Supan…

『Gya……』

Dosu~u~un…

Liefel fell down. And…

Pishipishipishi… Pakin… !

The sword eventually broke due to slashing the fur, something that could not be accomplished moderately for several dozen times.

「Thank you for everything… I couldn’t have done it without you」

「I like that about you」

「E~e!? W-What’s with you all of a sudden?」

「Nothing~? … Oh, did you name the sword?」

「…」

Okay! Its name will be Zanmaru!

T/N. Zanmaru (斬丸) – zan(ざん) means beheading/decapitation.

… You there! Don’t say I don’t have a good naming sense!

「… You didn’t name it yet」

「It’s Zanmaru!!」

「The name sounds like it was just thought up」

「U~u~!!」

《World Announcement: The BOSS in the Forest of Fanst has been defeated》

《LV. 7→9》

「N? Something came… World Announcement?」

「It’s a message that is announced to all players」

「Oh, I see」

Liefel was very strong. Magic to the fur that a blade can’t get through──It didn’t use it this time, though, probably because it was a very close fight. I was at a disadvantage.

I’m glad Suzu is here.

I love Suzu.

「Fu~e!?」

「What’s wrong, Suzu? (Did I say that out loud…?)」

「N-No, I suddenly feel embarrassed…」

「… Fu~un. Let’s go home!」

「Un!」

It was a good thing I was enthusiastic about it, but since we came here after getting lost, we naturally had no idea how to get back…

In the end, we didn’t make it out of the forest until two hours later in real time.

Moreover, it is not located in the city of beginnings, Fanst, but near the second city, Selkadia.

We had come to the next city unintentionally.

「… This is… I wonder if the result is okay?」

「Isn’t it good? There’s a city, which means there’s roads, which means we can go back!」

「If we can stay on course, right?」

「Ugu… That’s Ayano too!」

「Ahaha! That’s true too!」

And so we entered the second city, Selkadia.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

【Name】 Ayane LV. 7→9

【Race】 Human

【Job】 Blacksmith LV. 2

HP: 1300→1400

MP: 800→900

STR: 18

VIT: 10

DEF: 10

AGI: 12

INT: 10

【Skill】 《Smithing LV. 4》 《Swordmanship LV. 5→6》 《Physical Enhancement LV. 3→4》 《Mining LV. 5》 《Lumbering LV. 2》 《Woodworking LV. 3》 《Appraisal LV. 3》 《Alchemy LV. 1》

SP: 20→30

【Equipment】 Beginner’s Clothes, Short Sword, Zanmaru(Damaged)

【Title】 『Someone Who Has Defeated the Forest Wolf』

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

△△△△△△△△△△

【Name】 『Someone Who Has Defeated the Forest Wolf』

【Effect】 Increased damage dealt to the wolf race (Average)

【Acquisition Requirements】 Defeat Liefel

▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽

Some of you may notice that there is something wrong with that bulletin borad session and this conversation.

Somewhere in the Kingdom of Heaven

??? 「Who said there’s only one BOSS??」

Liefel 「Yeah, I know. We are one and the same. It’s called having a turn!」

??? 「Liefel…」

Liefel 「You…」

So in short, there were two BOSSes, one male and one female!

By the way, the male BOSS was defeated by a group of players who came across Liefel when they were looking for food.

The world announcement will be broadcasted when two of them are defeated.

Maybe it’ll come up again…?

And as for the title, those who defeated the male one also got it.

The name of the title is『Someone Who Defeated the Forest Wolf King』

△△△△△△△△△△

【Name】『Someone Who Defeated the Forest Wolf King』

【Effect】 Increased damage dealt to the wolf race (Average)

【Acquisition Requirements】 Defeat ???