Chapter 195

An arrow shot from the front was not likely to hit its target.

The Loup-garou avoided it with ease before charging towards me again.

“Hah!”

And like an idiot, I blocked him with an Ice Shield. The Loup-garou was surprised at the sudden appearance of the thing, but instead of crashing into it, he jumped.

But Daniela was quick. She unleashed another arrow as the Loup-garou was in the air. But this was a forest wolf. Wind blew all around it. But I had the same skill and understood how he would move.

And so I unleashed a volley of Ice Arrows of my own, blocking its path.

“GGGRRAAH…!!”

Luckily, two of them hit. One in its back and one in its stomach. The Loup-garou was unable to ignore the pain, and it crashed into the ground.

“I’ll get it!”

“I will cover you!”

I ran with the sword in my hand. Behind me, I could hear Daniela pulling her bow. I was able to charge like this because I knew she had my back.

The Loup-garou had shot towards me at an incredible speed, and so it was now sliding across the ground. Its claws were in the dirt, but there didn’t seem to be much strength in them. It hit a tree and leaves fell.

“Damn you…human…”

“I’m usually very sympathetic to your kind, but if you insist on trying to kill me, I’ll have to return the favor!”

“Fool!!”

It was not great that I wasn’t wearing my armor, but I now used my AGI to its fullest as I dashed towards him and slammed my sword down just as it tried to get up. I meant to take off its head, but in a flash, he moved out of the way. But he wasn’t unhurt either. Part of his front right paw had been cut.

Blood ran from the wounds. The smell of raw flesh was in the air, as was the smell of iron.

The last blow seemed to have done a lot of damage, because his body shook as he got up. Seeing my chance, I activated Jack of all Trades, Master of None and ran simulations of my new skill. The four screens showed four versions of me and taught me the movements. It was very similar to the old skill. However, the output was not. It was high-power and very efficient. I silently thanked Rachel.

Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.

Just then, an arrow shot out from behind me and went straight into the belly of the Loup-garou. The beast was capable of speech, but it now wailed like an animal.

“Now!”

“Aye!”

Daniela really was reliable. Even when it would look like I was just standing there, she understood that my brain was making calculations through Jack of all Trades, Master of None. The arrow came at just the right timing.

And I had my opening.

And I would not let it pass. I concentrated and activated ‘Legs of the God Wolf.’ Then that familiar sensation of wind around my legs came. From what I could see, it was also silver and green. However, the silver looked like there was a little white in it as well. The green also looked clearer and perhaps more vibrant.

But that wasn’t important. I had to concentrate on what was ahead of me.

“You…I knew it. A wolf…!”

The Loup-garou saw the wind and glared at me. I ignored him and moved forward. It only took a second. The distance between us seemed to vanish. The shocked eyes of the Loup-garou faced me. And then my blade was buried in its face.

“GGGGGGGGGGAAAAARRGHHH!!!!”

It roared and thrashed. Its limbs tore at the ground violently, and I frantically backed away and returned to Daniela.

“You are even faster now.”

“I feel like I’ve exceeded any standards of what is fast.”

“We will talk about it later.”

She prepared another arrow. I also created a dozen Ice Javelins. I thought they would be more effective, given the size of the target. The forest wolf, the Loup-garou, would die. I felt bad, as it was the same species as Beowulf, but there was nothing else we could do.

“DAAAAAAAAAMMMN YOU!!!”

“Sorry. You must die.”

And with that, the wind arrow and ice spears were unleashed. There was a thunderous echo as they tore into its flesh. The Loup-garou died, its hateful glare never leaving me.

□ □ □ □

I stood there for quite a while. When I looked up, the sun was high in the sky. We had left in the morning, so that meant a lot of time had been spent here.

“I’m tired…let’s…sit down…”

“Yes. That gave me quite a fright. We did not even have our armor…”

I looked down at myself. Questions concerning the Loup-garou had been in my head, but meeting Lehaty had distracted me from them. And so I had gone out in ordinary clothes and a sword. Daniela was the same. She wore her one-piece and leggings. She looked good. She had her rapier and bow and arrows. Something about the whole ensemble looked fashionable. The clothes had been from the White Lilly. I kind of felt that they prioritized fashion a little too much, but I couldn’t complain about these results.

“While this isn’t the best time to evaluate clothes…”

“You are looking too much, idiot.”

Daniela said as she adjusted her skirt. It was cute.

Perhaps it was an aftereffect of surviving the battle, but I wasn’t able to think straight. I had to snap out of it. We had to think about the Loup-garou.

“We should probably tell the guards first.”

“Hmmm… Do you think we should let them take it apart too?”

“I think that they should do it.”

Daniela glanced at the Loup-garou.

“After all, this thing was a terrible threat that killed and ate many of their Adventurers and citizens.”

Right. What we had killed it, it had terrorized the town for so long…

Well, then. We should hurry.

“I’ll run ahead.”

“Do not go too fast.”

“I know.”

I had not been thinking earlier. And so I tried running another simulation and saw that I could run at my usual speed with half the energy I used to use. I see. It really was much stronger than Legs of the Forest Wolf. I had leveled up.

But how would I explain the differences on my status card… Well, I’d think of something.

□ □ □ □

Someone called to me from on top of the walls when I reached the south gate.

“Hey, Asagi!”

“Hmm? Mister Saragi?”

I looked up to see him standing there. He was waving a spear.

“You’re alive!”

“Yeah, I’m well!”

“I’ll open it now! Just wait!”

He said, then disappeared. I then heard him moving noisily behind the gate. He could have just opened the small side-door… After a while, there was silence, and the heavy gate creaked open.

“Ah…yes. That’s nice…”

A thin crack appeared in the center of the great gate. The light pouring through illuminated the dust in the air as it widened.

“It is pretty…”

Then the south gate was opened. The town spread out behind it. It somehow looked more beautiful than usual.