Volume 6, Chapter 44 – The Charge

“Chris-san, Shizuku-san, Lu-chan. Let’s charge in by ourselves.”

“Wha—!? Saint-sama!”

“Understood.” “As expected, that is the way.” “Yes!”

I made the proposal after several dozen minutes of fighting had passed.

Captain Lazare let out a cry of surprise, but the three of them seemed to be thinking the same thing and agreed without hesitation.

The truth was, the difference in strength between us and the knights was simply too great.

It felt rude to say, but the knights were getting in our way.

Whenever we fought alongside them, we were constantly preoccupied with providing cover, which meant I couldn’t let the three of them fight as freely as they had when we faced the Goblin King (Self-Proclaimed) in Chi Tien.

Furthermore, our fighting styles were completely different.

The knights fought in a tight, disciplined formation, but we did not.

Of course, it wasn’t that the knights were weak; they all seemed capable of handling any monster short of an Ogre or a Goblin Lord without issue.

Because they fought in a strict formation, they had suffered almost no casualties.

However, they lacked suppressive power.

For better or worse, it was a way of fighting designed not to lose a war.

In contrast, our style was a specialized method for a small number of people to take down a vast number of enemies.

I acted as the center, deploying a Barrier; from within that, Lu-chan would break the enemy lines with long-range attacks, and then our two vanguards, Chris-san and Shizuku-san, would cut through and eliminate them.

This was our way of fighting, a strategy that made the most of each person’s strengths.

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But when we were integrated into the knights’ style of combat, we suddenly became unable to exert our full power.

“For Saint-sama to charge ahead alone—!”

“Lazare-dono, my apologies, but you are all a hindrance. We shall venture to the front and crush the majority of them, so we leave this place in your hands.”

“Wha—!?”

Before I could speak, Shizuku-san said exactly what needed to be said.

“Let’s go! Lu-chan!”

“Yes! Mashiro!”

Mashiro-chan launched Wind Blades to carve a path, and we all dashed through it with Chris-san and Shizuku-san leading the way.

“S-Saint-sama! Please wait!”

I could hear Captain Lazare’s voice from behind, but I created a Defense Wall to block them and prevent them from following.

As a result, the path we had carved was immediately swallowed back up by the monsters and disappeared.

“Curse it, we must rescue Saint-sama!”

Captain Lazare’s voice echoed from afar, muffled by the groans of the monsters, but honestly, I wanted him to stop.

Shizuku-san had told him so clearly that they were a hindrance.

That said, we should be about a hundred meters away by now. It was about time. It’s about time.

“”Fiene-sama (dono), it’s about—””

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Chris-san and Shizuku-san spoke at the exact same time, harmonizing perfectly.

“Barrier.”

I deployed a Barrier to serve as our base while drawing the monsters toward us. From here, it was our usual strategy.

“Mashiro!”

Lu-chan and Mashiro-chan attacked the enemies with arrows and Wind Blades, while Chris-san and Shizuku-san cut down the enemies that drew near, as well as those the long-range attacks couldn’t quite finish off.

My job was basically maintaining the Barrier.

Besides that, I supported the two of them with Defense Walls and blinding flashes, while also dealing with Lu-chan’s Friendly Fire.

“Haha, now I can move to my heart’s content!”

Between yesterday’s and today’s battles—and perhaps even during the forest hunt—Shizuku-san seemed to have built up quite a bit of frustration.

She looked even faster and deadlier than usual.

In fact, she was moving so fast that I couldn’t even tell what she was doing. Even so, the number of monsters was undeniably dropping in the blink of an eye.

Chris-san, for her part, was also eliminating monsters with great freedom. In an instant, every monster within several dozen meters had been turned into a motionless corpse.

“Fiene-sama, it’s taken care of.”

“Good work. Now, toward the back—oh, that’s right. Purification.”

I purified the monster corpses.

“Fiene-sama?”

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“I heard that some monsters turned into Zombies last night. So, I thought I’d purify them just in case.”

“I see. As expected of Fiene-sama.”

“Now, let us move on.”

Shizuku-san said eagerly.

“Yes. Please, go wild.”

“Leave it to me! For I am Fiene-dono’s sword. I shall cut down every last enemy!”

“Fufu. I’m looking forward to it.”

And so, we continued deeper and deeper into the forest, wiping out monsters as we went.

◇ ◇ ◇

Meanwhile, Captain Lazare, who had been left behind, wore a look of obvious panic.

If, by some misfortune, he were to lose Fiene, there was no telling what kind of trouble the other nobles would stir up for him—or for his family, House Manteni.

She was a Saint of High Elf lineage whom no one had been able to lay a finger on. Nobles and powerful figures across the country had their sights set on her.

Furthermore, it was unprecedented for a Saint to voluntarily charge into the heart of a Monster Stampede with only a handful of companions.

Irritated, Captain Lazare barked an order to Alois.

“Curse it, Alois! Rescue Saint-sama! It will be too late if something happens!”

Captain Lazare had been commanding with composure until now, but it seemed that in this moment, he had lost the ability to make a rational judgment.

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“Captain Lazare, please calm down. Now that they have pushed that far ahead, it is already impossible. If I move my squad now, the monsters will break through this gap and head toward the town of Airoll.”

Alois calmed Captain Lazare with a steady voice.

“Curse you! Even so, how can I just leave Saint-sama to die!? In the first place, she came here because we asked for Healing! Why on earth is she charging in!?”

Captain Lazare’s face turned bright red as he pressed Alois.

“Sir. It is because our knights’ strength is insufficient. To put it bluntly, even if all the knights of Airoll attacked together, they would likely be defeated by Mieshiro Shizuku-dono alone. That is the extent of the difference in power.”

“Wha—”

At Alois’s calm observation, Captain Lazare recalled the words Shizuku had said earlier and fell silent.

“I have traveled with the Saint-sama’s Party, and the difference in strength is obvious. Christina-dono is one of the most skilled knights in our country. Then there is Shizuku-dono, who tears through enemies with terrifying speed and swordplay; Saint-sama, who wields the world’s most powerful and versatile Barriers and Healing Magic; and Lumia-dono, the Elf who commands spirits and controls the wind at will. Those four operate as a team, each fully aware of their respective roles.”

Captain Lazare gradually regained his composure and listened quietly to Alois’s words.

“Therefore, I believe Saint-sama and her party intend to clear out the majority of the monsters in the forest by themselves. As proof, please look over there.”

With that, Alois pointed toward the depths of the forest.

In the direction he pointed, a white light flickered and flashed occasionally.

“That light is likely Saint-sama purifying the monsters after defeating them. She must have heard about the Undead transformation of the monsters last night, and I believe this is a preventative measure.”

“Guh… ugh… hmph. True. It is as Alois says. Let us trust in Saint-sama.”

Thus, Captain Lazare rescinded the order to rescue Fiene and decided to push back the monsters according to the original plan.