CH 20

When I—who was left behind—was about to tumble down, Argo-san propped me up.

“Yuuri-chan, are you alright?!”

“I…I’m not so fine…”

Even if I didn’t use any offensive magic or even Heal, my legs were shaking that I couldn’t stand up straight.

This was…battle.

This was a real battle against monsters, different from the hunting in-game.

I was getting dizzy from the choking scent of blood mixed in the lukewarm wind blowing to my face.

But…I grasped my hands tightly.

I already decided to try my best here, in this world.

I will surely return to my original world, but right now, I am right here.

Let’s do my best here.

“It’s harsh for a small child like you, huh? But one won’t be able to survive here without being strong despite being small. Yuuri-chan will also get stronger.”

As I looked at Amanda-san whose deep crimson eyes were looking at me and her red hair blowing by the wind, I felt like she was a war maiden coming straight out from the fairy tales. The sword that she grasped without any negligence was blazing with red flames.

“But…to be honest, I expected you to either cry or faint…You did your best.”

“I…Did I do well…?”

“Yeah, exceptionally.”

My hands and feet were still trembling.

However…

Having someone recognizing that you worked hard…I was happy.

I only chanted the physical enhancement magic and was only protected afterward. But even so, I’d like to become everyone’s power later as I work harder.

“Amanda! Behind you!”

As I was thinking about that, Argo-san suddenly shouted.

“Haa!”

When I turned around, her sword that was clad in flames already slashed a werewolf who suddenly attacked. Then, she swung down her sword again.

The werewolf that had run away from the depth of the village then fell down with a thud.

Although Argo-san covered me with his back, some blood spurted to my face.

As I sucked a breath and stiffened, I heard the howling voice “Grrrouuu” from the fallen werewolf’s direction. When I peeked from behind Argo-san’s body, what I saw over there wasn’t a grey werewolf. It was a blue werewolf instead.

“Tch. A variant, huh?”

Variant? What is it?

I’ve never seen such a werewolf like this.

“Amanda, can you keep it on?”

“Yeah. Argo, continue protecting Yuuri-chan!”

“Ou!”

Still with Argo-san protecting me behind him, we retreated behind. The blue werewolf looked here for a moment before it switched its gaze towards Amanda-san who was holding a sword.

After it lowered its head, it sprung upon Amanda-san in the next moment.

“!!!”

I shouted, yet not a single noise came out.

Using her sword clad in flames, Amanda-san was pushing aside the blue werewolf’s fangs that were drawing near to her throat. But immediately after that, its sharp claws attacked Amanda-san’s left hand.

*Slice*

The sound of meat being torn could be heard.

At the same time, I heard Amanda-san muttering a shriek.

“Yuuri-chan, Heal…!”

T-…that’s right. I should heal her!

“Heal…T-…tar…get is Amanda-san.”

As Argo-san commanded, I chanted Heal with my trembling lips.

A silver light appeared from my fingertip before it flew towards Amanda-san.

Afterward, Amanda-san’s condition seemed to be better. She repaired her grip on her sword once again.

As for the injured left arm…From what I could see from the torn cloth, it showed a skin color. I think…it was already healed.

Amanda-san confronted the blue wolf again.

The blue wolf was still lowering its head, its sight was still fixated on Amanda-san as it lowly howled.

The blue wolf’s back was rising up.

Then, it jumped again.

Amanda-san set up her sword before her this time, then she pierced the werewolf’s eye that was facing her sword.

“Gyauuuuuuuuuu!”

The blue wolf raised its voice in agony.

*Slice, slice*

But the sound of the werewolf’s claws as they gouged Amanda-san’s skin resounded in my ears again.

“Heal, target is Amanda-san! Heal, target is Amanda-san!”

I chanted Heal many, many times until both the werewolf’s cries of agony and the sound of its claws tearing the skin could no longer be heard.

“Yuuri-chan, Yuuri-chan. Everything is fine now. There’s no need for you to keep chanting Heal.”

When I noticed, I was already hugged by Amanda-san, and my back was gently caressed by her.

“A…Amanda-san…”

As I looked up at her, I touched Amanda-san’s body.

“Is there any place that’s hurting? Nothing is hurting, isn’t it?”

“It’s fine, because Yuuri-chan healed me. Thank you. But you overdid it. At the end, you still healed me even though I was already fully healed.”

“Amanda-san, Amanda-san. Uwaaaaan!”

As I felt relieved since there didn’t seem to be any injury, my tears fell down from my eyes. Argo-san also patted my head while saying that I had done my best, so that only increased my tears senselessly.

“Yuurii, are you okay?!”

Leon-san, who had returned from searching inside the village, reached out to me as I was still crying. Behind him were the other knights. There didn’t seem to be any…villagers.

“…The variant ran off here, huh?”

He furrowed his eyebrows when he looked at the defeated blue werewolf.

“Luckily, its strength wasn’t at a king’s level.”

Argo-san said as he was also looking at the werewolf.

“It’s still too early for the king to appear.”

“Is that so?…The goblins’ appearance was also earlier, and the variant usually won’t leave the forest this early, right? The earliest should be 2 weeks after the omen.”

“Certainly, it was early for a variant to appear. …Did something happen inside the Demon Forest…?”

“We have to immediately prepare to explore the Demon Forest as quickly as possible in order to investigate that.”

Argo-san took out a piece of cloth from the bag hanging around his waist, wiped the blood on his sword with it, then he took the sword back to its scabbard.

“How many days will the preparation take?”

“At least three days.”

“Hurry it up, as quickly as possible.”

“Understood. By the way, what about the villagers…?”

Argo-san’s question was answered by Leon-san shaking his head.

“Well, it was already hard with the appearance of the variant. It was already good enough that one person managed to escape.”

“That’s right. …Ah, Yuuri and Amanda, you two should return earlier to the fort along with the other female knights. We still have some things to deal with after the incident.”

Things to deal with post-incident…

Aah, is it about burying the deceased…?

“Understood. Then, Yuuri-chan, let’s ride on a horse with me and return.”

“Yes. Please take care of me.”

Thus, my first demon subjugation along with the fort members ended just like that.