CH 204

Episode 204 – Fighting from the Rear Guard

(TL Note: I made a slight translation error in the previous chapter. Instead of wielding one club in both hands, the Two-Headed Minotaur is wielding two cudgels, one in each hand. In Japanese, it’s sometimes difficult to tell whether certain nouns being mentioned in a sentence are plural or not. I apologize for the mistake. I only realized this after more information was given in this chapter that made it clear that there were two cudgels. I’ve already fixed this accordingly in the previous chapter.)

Aruna’s [Power Arrow] was several levels faster than the first arrow she shot. The arrow whizzed directly to the front of the Two-Mino, who raised its cudgel and blocked it. The speed and power of the arrow were in a completely different league, causing a massive boom to echo out the moment it smashed into the cudgel, knocking the Two-Mino back.

“Rosalie. A little bit after me, go for a pincer attack from the right side.” (Aruna)

“G-Got it.” (Rosalie)

In the time that the Two-Mino was staggered from the knockback, Aruna quickly gave out instructions. She unleashed a barrage of countless arrows that drove in towards the left side of the Two-Mino. While Aruna was drawing its attention, Rosalie managed to easily make her way towards its right side.

If this pincer attack works, it should put us in a pretty advantageous position in this fight. The Two-Mino had two heads, but only one body, after all. Even if it could see behind itself, defending itself was an entirely different matter.

“[Power Arrow].” (Aruna)

Despite the fact that there was no tank role in our party, Aruna was fighting against the Two-Mino directly head on with her bow, unleashing an incessant onslaught against it without giving it a chance to rest. At the right range, she would use [Power Arrow]. And if a bit of distance opened up between them, she would use [Heavy Shot]. At times when she was close to it, she would use [Wind Arrow], which didn’t expend any arrows.

…Her actions were smooth and exceedingly accurate, and she was overwhelming the Two-Mino to the extent that it seemed like she was just playing around with it. At times, the Two-Mino would swing its cudgel and miss, slamming the ground and causing pebbles to go flying at high speeds, which would sometimes do a bit of damage. Even though it was just small damage, I applied them with the eyeball-sized Medical Herb Pills that I made out of Adhesive Herb and Medical Herb, which would supply them with healing as required in the off chance that something happened.

If Aruna could keep the Two-Mino nailed down like this, it’ll be a perfect shut-out victory for us before long. I thought to myself by the time I had already applied the Medical Herb Pills to Aruna three times throughout the fight. I wasn’t the only one who thought this way.

The Two-Mino gave a roar that sounded closer to a groan, and it suddenly raised the cudgel it had in its left hand and threw it straight at Aruna. She was handling its attacks well despite there being two cudgels, but it seemed that even she didn’t expect it to make the decision to discard one of them. The cudgel flew through the air and cut a shallow wound into her unguarded right shoulder.

It’s just a slight graze. If that cudgel hit her head on… A chill ran down my spine just imagining it.

In order to prevent it from pursuing the attack on Aruna, I immediately started moving to step in between her and the Two-Mino, but it suddenly turned its back on Aruna as if it had decided that it couldn’t win. It changed its target to Rosalie, who was coming up from behind it.

―I almost panicked when we suddenly got into this pinch. Phew. Calm down. I have a lot of projectile weapons with me. I can do it. I have to do what I can!

The first action I took wasn’t to support Rosalie, it was to get Aruna out of there as soon as possible. From my holder, I took out a Balloon Flower with Recovery Slime Liquid inside of it and lobbed it at Aruna’s injured right shoulder. After that, I instantly whirled around and hurled a Paralysis Potion made from Curare Leaves at the exposed back of the Two-Mino, who was charging forward at Rosalie with incredible force.

“Rosalie-san! Just think about dodging, please!” (Lewin)

I really wanted to hit the front where the arrows were piercing out of, but at least Rosalie had already injured its back to some extent. As long as there was some kind of wound, the poison would be able to get in, which should make its entire body go numb. And if it was even slightly affected, then even Rosalie, who was still in her social anxiety state, would be able to handle its attacks.

These considerations were half wishful thinking, but I was relieved to hear Rosalie’s reply from underneath the end of the Two-Mino’s cudgel.

“I u-understand. I’ll focus o-only on d-dodging!” (Rosalie)

Hearing her reply, I drew my sword and began to take Aruna’s place. I’m going to slash at him with the intention of landing a decisive blow, without holding anything back.

The momentum of the Two-Mino’s charge was still carrying it forward, and I dashed forward, propelling off the ground with all of my strength, unleashing an overhead slash at the Two-Mino’s vulnerable back.

…The feeling is spot on. The sword is cutting deeply into its back.

Feeling the perfect tactile response in my hands, I was about to start making my next attack. But at that very moment, two anguished roars, one from each of its heads, resounded thunderously through the air, clashing with each other in a harsh dissonance as it reached my ears.

“Lewin, duck.” (Aruna)

Amidst the cacophony of noises that made me want to plug my ears shut, I heard Aruna’s voice. I immediately did as she said, dropping to the ground.

“[Heavy Strike].” (Aruna)

An arrow whizzed over my prone body, directly striking one of the Two-Mino’s heads that were still crying out in agony. It pierced through the Two-Mino’s head, causing it to explode. The Two-Mino still had one more head remaining, but from the beginning, it had already tanked countless arrows in addition to some injuries to its back.

On top of that was my well-placed paralyzing poison and now the arrow through one of its heads. The amount of damage it had accumulated must have reached its limit, as it fell to the ground with a magnificent, earthshaking thud.

“It’s showing no signs of moving…right? Phew…” (Lewin)

Somehow, we managed to defeat the Two-Mino. It was scary when it suddenly changed focus from Aruna to Rosalie, but I think it turned out well in the end because of those split second decisions.

I had thought that it would be an easy victory when Aruna was perfectly overwhelming it, too. As expected of a boss, it was quite a tough opponent.

“Good work. Thanks for the healing.” (Aruna)

“It’s nothing. I should also be thanking you for your flawless marksmanship.” (Lewin)

Unlike Aruna, who was staggering, Rosalie just seemed tired and weary. Having to play the role of tank at the end there must have been exhausting for her.

“Good job to you too, Rosalie-san. Sorry to leave you with tanking at the end there.” (Lewin)

“P-please d-don’t apologize! If I h-had just gotten a h-hold of myself, that fight w-would have g-gone so much e-easier. I’m terribly sorry f-for holding you back even though I’m the one filling in for your party at your request.” (Rosalie)

“No, not at all. You’ve done more than enough, so you don’t need to apologize, Rosalie-san. Hm…? Is your right foot injured?” (Lewin)

While we were talking, I noticed that her center of balance was leaning towards her left foot, so I asked Rosalie about it, who had a rather blank look on her face. Judging by the deviation in her body axis, she must have twisted her ankle or taken a hit while dodging the Two-Mino’s attacks…

“No. I didn’t take any direct hits, and I’m not injured anywhere.” (Rosalie)

“Can I examine it for a moment?” (Lewin)

When I took a closer look at Rosalie’s right foot, there was a light swelling on her ankle that was beginning to change color. It looked like a light sprain.

“You are injured though. I’m using a potion.” (Lewin)

“E-e-eeeeh? I don’t need it! Something of this level will be fine if kept fixed in place for a while, a potion is too much of a waste!” (Rosalie)

“How is it? Do you feel better?” (Lewin)

“Umm, yes. But… is it really okay? Using a potion on this kind of an injury, I mean.” (Rosalie)

“It’s fine. These medicines are all handmade, so there’s no cost at all for me. That’s how it is, so if you’re injured anywhere, please let me know, Aruna-san.” (Lewin)

“…You won’t demand a fee afterwards or anything?” (Aruna)

“I won’t!” (Lewin)

“Then if I get injured I’ll tell you.” (Aruna)

Perhaps because of her surprise just now, Rosalie’s social anxiety seemed to have gone away, now that the battle was over. I shifted my gaze to Aruna, who was still skeptical that I wasn’t going to charge them for anything.

Perhaps… there’s a gap between me and these two about the concept of money…

I mean, even a Low-Grade Recovery Potion was 2 silver coins at Elf’s Tears. To a beginner adventurer, of course that would seem expensive, so I could understand her hesitation to some extent.

For the time being, we had managed to safely defeat the Two-Mino, although I managed to discover several challenges while I was at it. The first priority was figuring out Rosalie’s social anxiety… Well I can think about the problems after we return, so for now let’s check out the 8th layer a little bit before then.