“U- un…”

For now, I nodded my head in response to their question. I heard this from the people in the taverns and knight corps, but apparently, there is discord between the humans and demihumans.

The main reason is the humans’ and nobles’ greed. Kidnapping, discrimination, smuggling, slavery, etc… They treat the demihumans as inferior beings. This is also one reason why the demihumans closed off their borders to the human continent.

But right now, I am also in a predicament. They regard half-bloods as cursed children, because they possess strength stronger than the demihumans and humans. But the main reason is because they were born from a human.

At least, their hatred for half-bloods from the humans are less than the humans themselves.

“Is that so…”

They glared at me for a while with fear and hostility, before retracting their emotions and calming their selves.

“Please excuse us for our rude behavior against our savior. So, may I ask for your name?”

“… Sure, my name is Kouta.”

“Kouta, is it? Not an unfamiliar name amongst the dragonewts.”

There is one reason why I named myself as my true name. Since entering a town requires you to reveal your name via status. Of course, your parameters are kept hidden, only your name will be displayed.

A little lore about the dragonewts, it seems that they have culture similar to the Japanese in the Edo period. Their soldiers wield katanas instead of double-edged western sword. They also prioritize skill rather than quantity. That said, one common dragonewt soldier can match a hundred human soldiers.

But because of their low fertility rate, their population only number about tens of thousands.

“Then, would you also mind telling me your names?”

“Not at all. My name is Kiera. As you can see, I wield a sword and shield. Behind me is the archer, Liana, and the wounded mage is Phana. We are adventurers on an escort quest. Right now, Phana is recovering from her injuries so leave her alone for a while.”

Kiera explained about their guild quest. Apparently, their quest is to escort a high elf to the sacred tree where the high elves reside. The number ratio of elves to high elves is 1000:1.

In this world, elves have low fertility leading to low births, the same as the dragonewts. But high elves have lower fertility rate than the elves. It is said that a high elf is born once every 500 years.

But in exchange for low fertility rates, elves can live for a millennia, while high elves are said to live for about ten thousand years, that is, if they live that long. Most high elves die about 5000 years old, while some die just about a hundred years after their birth. The reason why some high elves die just about a hundredth of their lifespan is because of the rotten nobles and humans.

That’s enough storytelling for now.

“Is that so, than, could you please guide me just until the next town or settlement? In exchange for helping you defeat the bandits and of course, I’ll also help in defending the person whom you are suppose to protect.”

“… Please excuse me for a minute.”

She had a look of hesitation before deciding to ask her fellow party members. But just for a moment, I saw the door of the carriage open and close for a few seconds.

“Very well. You may accompany us to the next town, but only that. Of course, we’ll also provide food for you.”

Kiera came back and announced their decisions about me accompanying them. It was accepted and I also won’t have to worry about food until the next town.

Since the driver was killed, Kiera hopped on the driver’s seat and took the reins. The driver was burned to make him impossible to turn into a zombie and his ashed collected into an urn. The bandits were also burned to ashes.

They lent me an extra horse to keep up with the carriage when travelling. This was pretty much accepted as my feet hurts from walking.

But, did they not seem bothered by my clothes? My clothes must be different from the rest right? Right?

Well, no use complaining, for now, I’ll focus on the task at hand.

…

“We’ll stop here for the day and make camp.”

The sun sets and darkness begins to cover the world. Kiera, Liana, and Phana started preparing camp, setting up tents, picking up dry sticks for a fire, and setting up traps. Of course, I am no exception.

I picked up some dry wood for the campfire and gave it to Kiera. I didn’t notice it, but the carriage being used is a high class carriage. The carriage was adorned with jewels and gold, making it look gaudy.

The place we were camping in is at the side of the forest.

We ate, talked, and when the night was just getting darker, we heard some noise.

“… Prepare your weapons.”

Kiera, who also noticed the noise, whispered to prepare for battle. I readied my worn-out sword I took from the bandits, while Kiera and her party took their battle formation.

The noise was coming from a nearby bush behind me. Rattling noises could be heard from the distance. This sounds like a vehicle, is what I thought.

Just as I steeled myself for battle, an arrow flew towards Phana, piercing her leg. The same could be said by Liana, her wrist was pierced by an arrow shot at her. But Kiera was able to block the arrow aimed at her with her shield.

“Kyaahh!?”

“Gihh!!?”

“Ngghh!!!”

Me? I just block it with my harder than steel tail. Just as I blocked the arrow, numerous silhouettes appeared in the darkness. They were wearing dark clothes and were wearing white masks. Somehow, their get-up reminded me of ninjas. For convenience sake, let’s call them ninjas for now.

“Damn assassins.”

A ninja assaulted Kiera with speed and finesse, also with extreme skill.

“Shit! Gahh!!”

Kiera was unable to follow the ninja’s movement and was slashed from behind, causing blood to paint the ground.

What is the deal with these ninjas? They are too skilled for attacking just adventurers, unless, their target must be inside the carriage.

Finally realizing this, I ran straight towards carriage door in order to protect the person inside, as per my promise with the three adventurers.

The ninja who was about to open the carriage door paused his action and lunged himself at me with insane speed. He held a dagger in his right and some sort of liquid was smeared on the blade. Appraisal!

(Paralyzing Venom) – When inside the body, causes paralysis for an hour.

Thank goodness it was just paralysis. If it was poison, then the three adventurers would be goners. The ninja slashed at me with speed almost impossible to react to.

“Nghh!!”

At the last moment, I put my tail in between the path of the blade, causing the blade to shatter upon colliding with the scales.

“What!?”

The ninja was surprised about seeing his dagger being shattered by my tail. But his surprised reaction caused him dearly. Using the tiny gap, I swung my sword at the ninja, lopping his head off. Again? Well, anyway, my job is to protect the person inside the carriage so this counts as protecting, right?

The ninjas, who saw one of their own dying by my blade, became wary of me. Mostly, they were wary of my tail. The ninjas observed for a while, and I observed them. They numbered four, excluding the one I killed earlier, but I can’t see a ninja holding a ranged weapon. There must be more hiding in the forest.

This is bad, I am at a disadvantage. I have little to no information about these guys. Perhaps Kiera and the others know about this, but since they are paralyzed now, they aren’t of any help. I need to do something, and fast.

If I use [Breathe Fire] in the forest to create a forest fire, I might be able to create a chance to get away with the person in the carriage, leaving the three adventurers to die.

Next is if I fight them all head on, there is a chance I may die, but I am able to defeat them, that would be the best case scenario.

Last is using [Elder Dragon Form]. Since this brings too much attention, this will be my last resort.

For now, I’ll try attacking them head on, and while I am at it, throw the paralyzed adventurers on the roof of the carriage, so in any case I need to create the forest fire, we can leave safely.

I ran to Kiera, who was lying on the ground, motionless. She was muttering some words that are hard to understand because of the paralyisis.

When they saw me move, a ninja ran straight to the carriage while the remaining ones ran to intercept me.

Damn! This is getting nowhere fast! I reached Kiera, quickly picked her up and threw her to the ninja nearing the carriage.

“Sorry about this Kiera.”

“!?”

Forgive me for this Kiera. Shout at me all you want later.

Kiera collided into the unsuspecting ninja, causing both of them to crash to the ground. By some miracle, the sword that Kiera was holding pierced the ninja’s head, killing him in an instant. How were you able to hold your sword even when paralyzed?

The remaining three ninjas froze at the scene, before resuming chase. One of them split up, heading to the direction of the carriage. I quickly chased after the ninja and threw my sword at him.

The ninja was slow to react and was pierced by my sword. But during that time, the other two ninjas closed the gap between me and them and slashed at me with their daggers.

I used my tail to block their daggers, but it seems that they were able to predict my moves and shifted the daggers trajectory. Shit! This is bad. I could easily take them down now with my [Breathe Fire], but behind them is Kiera and the carriage, I can’t risk it.

As I rapidly calculated the way out of this situation, I remembered the skill that can save me from this, at least, just barely enough.

[Dragon Tail]!

My tail immediately reacted to the skill and smashed against one of the ninjas, causing him to fly towards a tree. The last ninja, because of the air pressure from the tail strike, was shocked, causing his dagger to shift its trajectory, barely missing my body.

“You lose!”

Since I didn’t have any weapon left, I used my fist to uppercut his undefended face. He flew up for about two meters before crashing into the ground. I could see that his mask was cracked and his jaw, dislocated by the punch.

“Phew… That takes care of that…!?”

Shit! I forgot! But there were probably more than the ninjas I fought earlier. The carriage door was open and Kiera was gone, along with her party and the person inside the carriage. They probably left me here as I was not in their target list.

I have the option of not heading off to their rescue, but I did say that I would protect their client. And I don’t want to go back on my word, because I am a man.

And I will not die, not until I meet with Kayaka and Alexis again.

Thinking that, I set off to where they were kidnapped. By what means you say? I don’t even know where they went you say? Of course, with my secret weapon, I can figure out where they went! Appraisal!!!

(Unable to give information)

WHATT!!!???