Chapter 186

Now that the battle with the Demon Lord’s army is imminent, there is only so much I can do.

One of the few things I can do is to take Rose’s place as vie leader and organize all the members of the group.

At the central base, while Rose was participating in a strategy meeting with Sigurds and the others, I was reconfirming my role in front of the group and the three additional members.

“Olga-san and Ururu-san, in gray clothes. And Gerna-kun, Kate-san, and Sharn-san. You are all here to treat the injured. However, if the soldiers of the demon race come here, please run away as soon as possible. It’s not an exaggeration to say that your presence is a lifeline for those who are fighting.”

“Let’s save everyone!”

“Umm, Ururu ……, I don’t think you need to be so enthusiastic right now …….”

Ururu-san nodded to me, who replied cheerfully.

I’m sure she’s anxious too, but she’s still acting cheerful, which is great for us.

I looked from Ururu-san and Olga-san to Gerna-kun and the others.

Kate-san is smiling, but Gerna-kun and Sharn-san look anxious.

“Once again, if you feel your life is in danger, run away immediately. No, ……, if you want to run away at this point, I want you to be honest with me.”

“…… No, I’m here to help heal people who are hurting. I’m not going to get scared and start running away now.”

“Now that I’m here too, I want to fulfill my mission! I haven’t even met the hero Suzune-sama yet, so even if I die, I can’t die!”

Gerna-kun and Kate-san uttered words that expressed their determination.

Gerna-kun reminds me of Nack, although their ages are different. I was relieved to see how straightforward he was.

Kate-san is …… Yeah, let’s not let her meet with senpai until the battle with the Demon Lord’s Army is over. Even though it’s a joke, I really don’t want it to become a thing that I have no regrets about, or something like that.

Sharn-san nodded deeply at their words, so it would be foolish to say anything else.

Then, next, the strongmen and Ferum.

“I’m sure you guys know what you’re doing, but for Ferum’s sake, let me explain again.”

“…… Yeah.”

“The role of the black suits is to rescue the wounded from the battlefield and provide first aid with recovery magic. Do you understand?”

“You don’t have to remind me, I know exactly what I’m doing.”

With a huff, Ferum turned her head away.

She is a demoness who has been trained in the Rescue Squad.

I’m not sure if it’s the same as mine or the strongmen’s, but she has the ability to change her clothes with dark magic. Even if she loses the power of reversal, she is still invincible in terms of defense.

“Hey, Usato.”

“Yeah?”

I looked at Tong, who called out to me.

He had his arms crossed, but he relaxed his shoulders and opened his mouth with a smile.

“I’ve never called you before now. Since it’s before our battle, I thought I’d acknowledge you.”

“What?”

“Vice Leader. We’re going to save our wounded allies and bring them back alive. Well, it’s not really my style to call you vice leader, but I’ll call you that for the duration of this battle.”

When Tong said this, the other strongmen followed suit and smiled.

These guys, who until just now had only called me “kid” or “Usato,” were now calling me …….

I took a step back and held my mouth in shock.

“Are you guys …… going to die ……?”

“””We’re not going to die?!””””

The crisp atmosphere I had just been in was broken, and we were all chided at once.

I didn’t want to say anything like this either, but I guess I can’t help but be confused when someone says something like that.

“Can’t you really read the air?!”

“Are you kidding me ……!? We’re embarrassed too!”

“He’s got muscles in his head, …….”

“No, it’s like we’re parting for life. ……”

When a bad guy suddenly says something good —– it is commonly called a death flag.

I myself am frankly perplexed by the fact that I was suddenly and honestly called vice leader. I had thought that these guys were equals, so the way they called me as their superior was uncanny to me.

Still, how could I not be happy to be called vice leader?

“Well then, I’ll have to work hard to not get kicked out by you guys.”

“Oh, if you show me a disappointing appearance, I’ll take the vice leader’s position away from you as soon as I can.”

“If you can. I’ll avenge you.”

After exchanging a few words with Tong, I looked at my friends here again.

Everyone here has a role to play. Some of them are dangerous, and some of them are important, where a moment’s slackness can make or break your life.

“Usato, what about me?”

As I was thinking about this, an anxious-looking Nea tugged on the sleeve of my group uniform.

I had barely forgotten about her, so I smiled and placed my shoulder on her shoulder.

“Nea is my support. That’s all.”

“Isn’t that a little too short!”

As I soothed her teary-eyed pestering, the moment was broken up.

It was the second night after arriving at the base.

When I went outside the tent, I could see the soldiers, but they looked somewhat tense.

Perhaps it was because the Demon King’s army was approaching. Whether it was fear or elation in the face of battle would vary from person to person, but without exception, everyone here was not in a normal state of mind.

Looking at them with a sidelong glance, I weaved my way through the tents that had been erected.

The reason why I had left the base of operations as a member and gone outside was because Rose had called me to the wall that had been built near the front line of the base.

If we wanted to talk, why not do it in a tent or something? I thought to myself.

“There you are …….”

When I arrived, Rose was standing on a watchtower built into the wall, quietly looking in the direction of the plains and the Demon Lord’s domain.

I silently climbed up the ladder installed in the wall and approached her.

“Usato?”

“Yes. …… So, what brings me here? If it’s about the strategy meeting, I heard about it earlier.”

What we have to do is not so different from the last battle.

In the early stages of the battle, the white-clad Rose and I would focus on treating the wounded at the base of operations, and when the battle was in full swing, we would go out and run across the battlefield to heal the wounded on the spot.

“I simply wanted to talk to you. You don’t have to put so much pressure on your shoulders.”

“I see. ……”

I did as I was told, relaxing my shoulders and placing my hands on the edge of the watchtower.

I look over the plains area again and think it’s a beautiful sight. The plains as far as the eye can see are illuminated by the moonlight from the sky, giving them a different look from the daytime.

I feel …… a little wasteful when I think that this place will soon become a place of battle and desolation.

“You’ve been left to my own devices since I got here, but are you doing well as vice leader?”

“Huh? Yes, of course.”

“Then good. I’m relieved to see you’re doing decently.”

“Leader.”

“What?”

“It’s …… creepy when you’re suddenly nice to me.”

The reply was an elbow to me.

I managed to keep my foot on the ground as I took the blow with centrifugal force to my chest.

“Which one? Give me your face. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. ……!”

I hurriedly apologized to Rose, who approached me with her hands clacking.

It’s too scary, like an elbow that ignores defenses.

“Hah ……, I was just trying to take care of you. You’ll always be a cocky little bastard.”

“Yeah, not so much …….”

“I’m not complimenting you.”

I’m not a big fan of this kind of thing.

Her gaze seemed to be looking not at the plains in front of her, but beyond them.

“Do you think Nero Argents will come ……?”

“It’s only a hunch, but I’m sure he’ll come.”

From what I’ve seen so far, this woman’s intuition is basically spot on, right?

It’s so accurate that it can even detect Falga-sama’s invisible magic.

But if a demon swordsman with tremendous power is coming, just from what I’ve heard, it could be…

“Is Leader planning to deal with them?”

“……”

Rose didn’t open her mouth.

She didn’t seem upset, nor did she pretend to deny it.

Just as I was getting worried by her silence, she finally spoke up.

“If he’s on his way here, I’m guessing his goal is to fight me.”

“Is it …… revenge?”

“I don’t know about that, but I don’t think he’s happy with the way that battle ended.”

In order to get rid of Rose and the people in the unit at the time, Nero Argents instructed his men to attack with death in mind.

And yet, they couldn’t defeat the all-important Rose. Is that one of the reasons why Nero can’t….ignore?

I’ve been wanting to ask Rose something since she told me about her past,…….

I think I can ask it now.

“Do you also have a desire to take revenge, Leader?”

“No, I don’t. That’s long gone.”

She answered so simply that I felt my shoulders relax.

I’m relieved to hear that answer, but then I have a question.

Nero Argents was Rose’s important enemy, and he was also the avenger of her friends. Isn’t it natural to want to take revenge on someone like that?

“I’ve got things to do. I don’t have time to worry about revenge in the first place.”

“Is it about the rescue squad …….”

“Yeah. And there is no way they would want that.”

…… You mean Aul-san and the others?

Once again, as I was reaffirming the magnitude of Rose’s former subordinates, Rose suddenly let out a laugh.

“But I’d like to punch his clear face again.”

“You’ve suddenly become very boisterous, haven’t you?”

I don’t pity Nero Argents, who would be seriously beaten by you.

No, when you were more than evenly matched with this person, that’s a bad opponent too.

“Um, Leader. If Nero Argents and I were to encounter each other–“

“You should run away. You’re not ready yet.”

“…… What if I can’t escape?”

I could immediately imagine a situation where there was a seriously injured person near Nero Argents.

If I ran away, that person would surely lose their life, and even if I fought to save the injured person, there was no way I could stay unharmed in a fight with someone as strong as Rose.

When I asked such a question, Rose answered without looking at me.

“Surpass it with all your might.”

“By ‘surpass’, you mean fight?”

“Even if I tell you to run away, I know you’re going to try to fight. Then do your best to surpass him and wait for help.”

How belligerent do you think I am? ……

But if I go on the defensive at all costs, I might be able to buy myself some time, even if they’re as good as Rose or better.

The moment I go on the offensive, though, I’m more likely to get my head blown off.

“I thought I’d ask you while I’m at it ……”

“Yes?”

Rose’s voice made me turn towards her.

“Are you going to use your healing punch?”

“My healing punch, huh.”

A punch that heals the person you hit.

I immediately understood what Rose was getting at.

“I have to admit, teaching you that technique was a mistake. After all, it’s an attack that heals the enemy. It consumes a lot of magic power, and more importantly, it heals the enemy you are trying to defeat. You understand that, don’t you ……?”

“Yes, of course I understand that.”

The healing punch could not be more useful in terms of leaving the opponent unharmed and incapacitated.

But it’s also a useless technique in a fight.

In the first fight, I used it as a means of self-defense so that I wouldn’t overdo it, but this time, the scale of the fight was too different.

There are far more people for me to heal, and the area I have to cover is much larger.

Under such circumstances, there was no way I could use a healing punch that would consume unnecessary magic power.

“I’ll use the applied techniques I’ve developed during my travels, but I’m not going to go out of my way to heal my opponent. I also have a mission as a white suit, you know.”

“…… I see.”

“And besides, I don’t need to use a healing punch to stun my opponent. I think I’ll be fine there.”

It’s not like I’ve been traveling around just delivering letters.

The Wicked Dragon, we have stunned the brainwashed Arc-san, at Samaria, Fegnis-san and his men, and at Hinomoto, the beastmen soldiers who protect the country.

….Huh, now that I think about it, those are quite some achievements.

“You seem to be more okay than I thought.”

“…… Were you worried about me, by any chance?”

The moment I turned to Rose with a smile on my face, a shock slammed into my forehead.

I groaned at the unexpected shock, and Rose let out a laugh as I held my forehead.

“Ha, I wasn’t worried about you. I was just nailing you so you wouldn’t screw up.”

“That said, I don’t think I’m going to be flicked on the head ……”

“It doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

It certainly didn’t hurt that much, though.

Rubbing my forehead, I leaned my back against the edge.

As I relax my shoulders and look up, I can see the entire base from here, which is in the opposite sight from where the plains are.

“…… We’re going to have to work hard.”

Looking at the many tents, the light from the bonfires, and the people dotting the landscape, I made up my mind once again.

Author’s Note:

Healing Punch, sealed.

I’ve been using a technique that has only demerits since the beginning.

The next chapter will be a side story from a different perspective.

I have written an activity report on the second volume of “The Right Way to Use Weather Magic”.