CH 94

Episode 94 – Shaking off the Threat

After I had swung my sword down, I was stunned as I looked down at the Angry Wolf dead on the floor with blood pouring out of its head. No sensation of that cut lingered in my hand at all. I went for that attack purely based on my intuition without visually confirming the Angry Wolf’s position first. I couldn’t hardly even process in my head what had just occurred. For a moment, I wondered if I really was the one who did this… maybe Lyra or Byrne came to my aid or something…? But there was still blood dripping from the sword that I held in the tight grip of my hand.

…….After standing there dumbfounded for a good moment, I suddenly remembered that two Angry Wolves were still chasing me. I immediately looked away from the corpse lying in front of me and brought my gaze forward. The two Angry Wolves that I thought were still closing in on me were standing stock still and just watching me, not taking a single step in my direction.

…Perhaps they’re wary of me because I slaughtered that Angry Wolf in one strike?

To be honest, I thought that it would still be pretty dangerous for me if they continued running at me, since I didn’t really think I would be able to repeat what I just did. I glowered back at the Angry Wolves who were just standing there staring at me, sword at the ready, as if threatening them not to come any closer. Eventually, Lyra and Byrne approached me from behind.

“Lewin!! Are you alright?! My bad… we didn’t get here in time― I mean, you managed to defeat an Angry Wolf all by yourself, didn’t you?!” (Lyra)

“I’m really glad that you’re safe. I got so anxious when it was catching up to you faster than expected and I couldn’t get there to support you in time. But when I saw you turn around and then blood coming out of the Angry Wolf in the next instant, I was so relieved that you managed to pull through.” (Byrne)

When the two of them rushed up to me from behind, they started expressing their concern for me. Honestly, I was so preoccupied with the two Angry Wolves in front of me that I had no room to respond. Still, I was glad from the bottom of my heart that they were worried about me.

“Lyra, Byrne. More importantly, there are still two Angry Wolves in front of us.” (Lewin)

“Yeah, we know. Thanks to you defeating that Angry Wolf instantly, the other two look pretty scared of you. If we chase after them a little bit, there’s a chance they’ll try to run away. How about we run at them after giving the signal, Lewin?” (Byrne)

“Yeah, of course. Let’s do it.” (Lewin)

“………………..”

I surveyed the area where they had run off to, but their presence vanished as if it had been a lie. It seemed that the two Angry Wolves really did run away.

Now that the immediate threats were gone, my whole body slackened as I sat down on the floor with a thump. This was already the third time I had encountered a life-or-death situation against Angry Wolves. How I was able to survive three attacks in a row… I had absolutely no clue. I felt that it was undoubtedly an accumulation of miracles one after the other.

“Lewin! We did it!! They went away!! Hey! You pretty much beat back that entire pack of Angry Wolves alone, Lewin! How did you do it?! Slicing that Angry Wolf’s head in two!! You were so freaking cool!!” Lyra raved, looking extremely excited, and unreservedly layered on the praise. She was firing off question after question without giving me a chance to speak, so I had no idea where to start.

“Calm down a bit, Lyra. Lewin’s having a hard time responding.”

“Calm down!? That’s impossible! I mean!! …I mean… I really thought I wouldn’t be in time to support him… I thought my friend was about to be killed right in front of my eyes. I’m j-just… so happy that he’s still alive. S-sorry that we put you in a tough spot, Lewin.” (Lyra)

Lyra’s ecstatic expression contorted as she apologized tearfully. This apology was probably for the fact that the decoy strategy that we went with in the spur of the moment didn’t go well and that I wasn’t able to get support in time. Lyra was the one apologizing to me, but honestly this was my mistake. I was the one who had proposed the decoy strategy, and I also misjudged the Angry Wolf’s speed. Lyra and the rest of [Iron Gear] did nothing wrong, and I almost let them experience the despair of losing someone they knew right in front of their eyes.

“Lyra, I should be the one saying sorry. If I didn’t propose such a reckless strategy, I wouldn’t have made you guys worry so much.” (Lewin)

“You did nothing wrong, Lewin! If you’re going to say that, then I should be apologizing for letting you take the role of decoy in the first place. In the first place… letting your client be a decoy is already a failure―” (Lyra)

While the three of us were talking, Nina and Porta, who were at the rear guard, joined up with us. After a short conversation, we decided to first dismantle the Angry Wolf that I had killed.

As we dismantled the gruesome carcass of the Angry Wolf that had its skull split open, the four showered me with praise. I was having a bit of trouble responding to their enthusiastic outpour of compliments since I honestly didn’t know what to say.

As I was talking to the members of [Iron Gear], I was thinking that, while it was great that my training had paid off, it would probably still be good to assess my real ability by fighting weaker monsters first. After all, I had been doing nothing but image training for a long time, and my first fight after that was against an Angry Wolf… so there was no way I would know what I was doing.

I remained lost in my thoughts as we finished dismantling the Angry Wolf carcass. The night was almost over, so we decided to take down the tents and pack up our belongings. Just as the sun began to rise, we started our descent down the mountain. After the Angry Wolves fled, there were no more signs of them, and we were able to safely get down the mountain without incident.