“Dossei!” Kuruni cried.
“Pugoh…” a saber boar screamed.
The beast charged at her, and Kuruni aims her zweihander at its head. The blade swung down in a straight line reached the center of the target without any deviation, and cracked the boar’s skull using its own momentum against it.
Yep, no matter how you look at it, it’s instant death. I definitely don’t want to take on a zweihander that is swung down with Kuruni’s full power. It was a strength that made me wonder if there was any creature in existence that could have taken it on.
“The saber boar’s skull is quite hard, but still…” Landrid muttered.
“Well, it is Kuruni…” I replied.
He had witnessed that sequence of events and said it with a wry smile.
Yeah, normally you’d be scared. There are probably many adventurers and mercenaries who fight like this. However, the power is too much for this. Landrid also has power, but it’s probably going to be hard for him to even try to imitate Kuruni. I don’t think I can do it, either.
Henblitz is the only one who seems to be able to compete against her, but he has a style that makes full use of his physical strength and steadily wears down his opponent, so his method is a bit different from Kuruni.
“But it was a good blow,” I said. “If you can hit the opponent like that, swinging down is a powerful move.”
“Roger-dodger!” Kuruni replied.
I gave Kuruni a lecture on how to use a two-handed sword before, but I think it’s okay to give her a passing mark in terms of judgment in battle. This was because of who she is, she wasn’t just swinging her sword thoughtlessly.
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And I think again that Valder is doing a good job. Of course, it is a premise that Kuruni’s swordsmanship is brilliant, to begin with, but even so, a weapon that responds well to such handling is wonderful.
“It’s easy if it’s an opponent who’s coming right at you, you know?” Kuruni said.
“I don’t know if I can call it easy…” I said.
She said it like she was second to none when it came to pure strength. Though, it is true you’ll scarcely find anything that can beat her in a head-on clash.
For the time being, Kuruni’s words have a point. It is necessary to assume that there is not much difference in ability, but in most cases, it is generally easier to fight an opponent who is coming toward you than an opponent who’s running away. In the case of an enemy who has an escape in mind, the chances of you being hurt are low, but the chances of hurting them are also reduced.
On the other hand, monsters such as saber boars are unlikely to run away from the first moment, so it may be said that it matches well with Kuruni’s fighting style.
As I said before, wild animals and monsters are basically ferocious. With the exception of the smart ones and the ones with small physiques, most of the first actions they take are offensive ones. Despite the mental exhaustion of having to constantly be on the lookout for surprise attacks, it’s an enemy category that’s relatively easy to deal with as long as you can put it in front of you.
In addition to that, it was also great that were able to kill the prey that was immediately hostile towards us.
Wounded beasts are already troublesome, and it would be a problem if they brought back information to the others that we were a significant danger. It’s the same with humans, monsters, and anything else, but it’s easiest to control the fight when someone isn’t wary of you.
“However, there are still many strays… How many of them have been banished from the herd…?” I asked.
The saber boar that was heading towards Kuruni earlier was also a stray without exception. There was no sign of anyone else watching us.
We should have dealt with a certain number of saber boars the other day, but I don’t feel like their numbers are decreasing at all. This means that there are a good number of saber boars present this year, and at the same time a good number of individuals have been driven out of the herd.
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How arrogant that boss is. I even felt sorry for everyone other than that alpha boar.
“It’s much easier than being surrounded, though,” Landrid said. “And it also reduces the wear and tear on us.”
As Landrid said, if the opponent is a lone rider, there will be times when we need to rest, so it’s a relief to us.
I’m the one who has to worry about stamina the most, but even I can still move. From the perspective of the other three, there is still plenty of room to manage.
At this rate, it is possible to march to the hollow, our endpoint, while preserving a lot of physical strength. I don’t know how much time that stupidly large boss will take us to take down, so I want to leave some energy left in reserve.
“As I thought, this place is suitable for training, isn’t it?” Henblitz said, nodding with satisfaction.
“Oh, is that so…?” I said.
Not only the saber boars but also the other beasts and monsters that inhabit the Aphrata Mountains are mowed down.
It seems to be fulfilling, but above all, I would like you to refrain from making this place a camp for the knights. There are also border issues, but if a full-fledged combat group ventures into this region for prolonged periods, even I feel that the ecosystem of the mountains will change.
By the way, this time we’re mainly hunting saber boas because we’re aiming for them specifically, but I usually hunt other animals and monsters if they get in the way. It’s not a good idea to reduce the population too much, so while I’m overlooking it moderately, I have to deal with the problems attacking us outright.
However, there seems to be a relatively large number of saber boas inhabiting this area, and I haven’t seen many other types of monsters.
Larger species are often located deeper in the mountains. On that, I really don’t know how ones like Xeno Glaive were where we found it.
In terms of only the status of the opponent, a Named boar is much rarer than it.
It’s true that its size is amazing, but it doesn’t use magic or fly in the sky. I don’t think I’ll lose initially with this force, this time.
However, the location in the mountains is inevitably the biggest drawback. If this was on a plain, then I definitely wanted to bring my disciples with me.
To the extent that I thought about the same thing over and over again, various conditions did not mesh very well. I can’t help but regret it, but it’s hard to say that I’ve always made the best choices, so I still think about it.
I don’t know, it’s over, so I have to adapt.
“Master, what are you going to do with that big guy after you kill him?” Kuruni asked as we took down saber boars and scattered other smaller threats.
“Hmm… If it seems impossible to transport, I guess I’ll call Mr. Rob and have it collected again,” I said.
As expected, it’s hard to imagine that Kuruni could carry something of that size alone. There’s no other choice but to carry it with multiple people, but then the safety on the way home will be questionable. Depending on the exhaustion after doing it, there will be a possibility of calling reinforcements and recovering it with a larger team.
And even with escorts, we can’t let ordinary people into the mountains, so we can call hunters like Mr. Rob. Or maybe after we’ve thinned out the saber boars, we might want to bring in the disciples. Getting them to do it isn’t subjugation, it’s just physical labor.
“There’s our landmark. It’s about time we got back to it,” Landrid said.
“Got it,” I said.
I see the scar on the tree trunk, the one Landrid made in advance. The familiarity of it means that depression with the herd is close by.
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With this, it would be nice if that boss was in the hollow. Even if it’s not there, I’d like to stick around there until the last minute, taking into account the time we’ll be descending. No matter how much we hunt small fry, I can’t get rid of my anxiety if we don’t beat that boss.
“… Oh, over there,” I said.
It was after walking for a while past the landmark. Although the visibility was somewhat poor, I could see the characteristic topography through the gaps in the trees.
“The boss… he’s there. He’s lying down,” I said.
“I still can’t believe this thing is that huge,” Landrid said.
“I’d wager he’s the strongest one here,” I said.
That saber boar was twice the size of a normal one, the last time I found it it was standing gracefully.
I’m not trying to imitate Kuruni, but that guy has a really bossy attitude. I’m sure the guys who didn’t like that treatment ended up banished from the herd.
There are advantages to driving out those who don’t follow you, but if you overdo it, you won’t be able to maintain a functioning society. Surely, if we just wait and see this situation, there is a high possibility that they will not be able to maintain their cohesion as a herd, and the group would collapse.
I’d like to see the ending for a bit, but that could also have the detrimental effect of scattering saber boars here, there, and everywhere. I feel uneasy about it, but we end this here and now.
“What are we going to do, do you want to attack?” Landrid asked.
“If you want to push in, we can push in. But let’s scatter and move, too. I want to close in from each direction, to corner it at that steep part,” I said.
“Understood……” Landrid said.
In a one-on-one battle with a saber boar, we can never outdo it head-on. It has been proven by the results to date. So, rather than sticking together and creating a gap for escape, I’d like to crush the possibility of fleeing by encircling them as much as possible with the four of us.
“When I see that everyone has finished moving, I will throw this stone in,” I said. “That’ll be your signal to charge.”
“Roger that. No problem,” Landrid said.
The number in the herd is slightly larger than when I checked the other day. It’s limited to what I can see, but I still feel like there won’t be more than 20 of them.
Considering only numbers, 4 to 20 is usually impossible to take on at once. That’s why I want to take the first step by ambushing from here and cutting down the opponent’s headcount, even by a little.
And if you spread out our positions, you have to shout out loud to get help, so we can’t help them knowing our positions. That’s what the stone-throwing is for. You can check this visually, and there should be almost no lag. Although it is a fairly primitive method, it is enough to just signal the battle’s start.
“Fuuu…”
Now that the other three have left the field and I’m alone, we unify our spirits again.
I can beat him. We’ve been winning all this time. But even so, there is no guarantee that you will definitely win today. Slight carelessness, arrogance, conceit. They can easily overturn the victory that should have been certain.
“… Alright.”
I put strength into my left hand holding a fist-sized stone. A mere stone-throwing battle signal is not much to look at.
But I don’t care. Whether it’s not much or something flashy, fighting is about hitting the best you can and leading to victory.
“Heave-ho!”
With a big swing, I make the first and last pitch.
It was almost at the same time that the four shadows, including me, jumped out of the gaps in the trees.
