◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

[Hiiro]

“Winka Jio…”

Peeking at Wi’s 《Status》was enough to make Hiiro’s cheeks cramp.

Winka Jio
Lv 77
(Beastification Benefit 30%UP)
HP: 2543/2750
EXP: 588976
MP: 458/721
NEXT: 19707
ATK: 788 (1024)
AGI: 900 (1170)
INT: 220 (286)
DEF: 674 (876)
HIT: 511 (664)
《Technique》

The First Stage – Tempest
The Second Stage – Vortex
The Third Stage – Big Wheel
The Fourth Stage – Flash
The Fifth Stage – Gathering of Flames

《 Titles》

Natural Gift・Half-breed・Strong Idiot ・Familial Affection・Taboo・Animal Lover・Straightforward Girl・Gluttony・Slayer・Unique Killer・My Pace・Monster Killer・Wanderer・Lightning Fast・Master・Combat Lover・Moonlight

Hiiro was frightened when he saw the numerical values of her physical ability, which were not normal. He understood why Arnold couldn’t defend against her attack even though he was also a beastman. This much difference in their status would cause Arnold to receive damage even if he defended himself.

(Furthermore in my case, if I was to flat-out receive one of her hits…)

Perhaps that power difference would cause someone to leave immediately.

The other day Hiiro had fought Folse, the commander of 《Beast Cage》, who was also a powerful person. He was human so even if there was a level difference, it didn’t count for much.

Winka had beastman blood, a race that was far superior in strength. Moreover there was a big level difference. Even though he had better physical ability than normal humans thanks to the benefits of being from a different world, the difference still made him want to scream.

Anyway Hiiro judged that they should stop attacking her directly. He thought he had undertaken a troublesome job and he started sweating. Winka had no idea what Hiiro was thinking and gradually drew closer to him. Hiiro picked up the katana off the floor and got ready.

“… Anyway, should I try it?”

Hiiro muttered and concentrated magic power onto his fingertips. A bluish-white light lit up and followed his finger. The letter he wrote was 『Bind縛』. First he wanted to stop her movements. Clearly the current Hiiro couldn’t watch Winka if she moved around at full power.

(Please hit her!)

Hiiro thought as he shot the letter at Winka like a gun. At this rate it would fly straight towards her. Perhaps with this she wouldn’t avoid it and stop moving.

――― Hiiro’s thinking was overly optimistic. Winka had outstanding wild instinct and something was flying at her, there was no way that she would stand there and take it. She lightly turned her body and avoided the character.

“Guh! Cancel!”

Hiiro immediately cancelled the character. He could cancel it anytime he wanted as long as he didn’t activate it. Once written, his magic power would definitely be consumed. Since the character could only fly in a straight line, if it was avoided, Hiro would have to draw another so it was a risky move.

He was restricted from consecutively writing the same letter but that restriction had been lifted thanks to 《Multiple Chain Release》.

When Hiiro tried to write the same letter again, Winka rushed at him while extending her right arm.

(This is bad!)

Hiiro jumped to the slide

*IMPAAACT!*

He had hit the rock that was behind Hiiro. When Hiiro saw the appearance of the rock cliff he was shocked. A big hole had opened as if it had been taken away.

(Hey, hey. I can’t take something like that!)

He shivered, thinking about what would happen if he had taken that hit. He could predict and avoid her attacks because she attacked in a straightforward manner. But he couldn’t respond if she started to mix her attacks and used feints.

He needed to neutralise her as soon as possible. At this rate she would annihilate them all by herself.

“Hey Old Man! Are you alive?!”

Hiiro was looking at Winka but called out to Arnold. To be honest it was hard for him to face her all by himself. No matter how almighty his cheat magic was, it wasn’t the strongest.

His magic had various restrictions and he was a human being. It was really bad for him to have a one-on-one battle with someone who had a big level difference. That’s why he needed someone to cooperate with him. Even though Arnold was muttering, “ouch”, he still raised his upper body and turned towards Hiiro.

“Listen up Old Man, we’ll stop her together!”

“Puh ~, this is tough.”

Arnold also recognised Winka’s strength and sighed.

“I didn’t think that Wi would be this strong. I should also have more strength than usual from 《Beastification》.”

Yes, on the night of a full moon the strength of beastmans increase. Arnold was no exception. Even so Winka easily overpowered him so it was shocking.

“You know, no matter how much a normal half-breed rampages they don’t get that strong. What is going on? Seriously…”

Hiiro thought from the bottom of his heart about how she could really be level 77 with her small body. As he’d thought, level was an important factor in this world.

“But Hiiro we’re up against Wi. You can’t kill her, ok?”

“You may say that but I hope that we don’t get killed.”

The two prepared their weapons for defence. Winka looked at the two and smiled again like she was having fun and then instantly disappeared from the spot.

“… Eh?”

Hiiro was dumbfounded and suddenly felt the wind against his cheeks. He moved his eyes to the right to check what it was. There he saw Arnold attempting to defend against Winka’s attack with his sword.

(I-isn’t that too fast?!)

Hiiro admired how well Arnold was able to react. As a matter of fact Arnold might have been able to see where she had disappeared to. It was also high probable that he was able to defend on instinct. It wasn’t surprising that Arnold was blown away from the attack. But this was convenient for Hiiro. Her opponent was now Arnold so it was easy for Hiiro to aim at her when she stopped moving.

“Don’t let her go, Old Man!”

“Eh? Ah, what’re you planning to do?!”

Hiiro tried to stop Winka by writing 『Stop 止』and immediately fired it. Just when it was about to touch her,

“Gah… Hey!”

Hiiro was dumbfounded. The character had hit Arnold’s broadsword. Winka had sensed his presence and quickly dodged.

“Mhm ~! Hey what’d you do, Hiiro?! My sword! I can’t move my swwooooooord!”

Arnold tried to desperately move his sword, which was frozen in mid-air, but it was unyielding.

“Sorry, just wait for a minute.”

“Wwhhaattt?!”

“What’d you do?!” Arnold whined. If Hiiro could have cancelled it, he would but once activated the effects remained until time ran out.

(She avoided it at point-blank… Her intuition is too good.)

Winka remained at a fixed distance from Hiiro and Arnold and cautiously circled them. But thanks to that, time passed and Arnold’s sword returned to normal.

“Fuh ~, I’m so glad ~, it’s back to normal. Anyway don’t you have something you wanna say to me, Hiiro?!”

“Don’t worry. Things can be restored even if my magic hits it….”

Hiiro stopped in the middle of his sentence so Arnold asked, concerned.

“He-hey, what’s wrong?”

But Hiiro didn’t answer.

(… Return to normal…? She’s not her normal self, right now. She’s strange. So…)

Hiiro smiled as if he was convinced.

“Hey Old Man. There’s a way to change her back to normal.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yeah, but I have to hit her with this character.”

Hiiro write 『Origin 元』and showed it to Arnold.

“Wo-would that really return Wi back to normal?”

“If it directly hits her then sure. I’ve got the image down perfectly.”

Yes, to Hiiro, her original image was that of an expressionless girl.

“But there’s a problem.”

“Wh-what problem?”

“I’m sure you saw earlier, I’ve tried several times to hit her with characters. But she keeps dodging.”

“Ri-right…”

Arnold nodded, remembering what had happened before.

“That’s why I’m going to be focusing solely on hitting her with this character. Even if it’s just for a bit, stop her from moving.”

“…”

Arnold looked troubled. Hiiro understood how he felt. She was messing about until now. It was too difficult to stop her movements.

“Wi’s strength is currently outrageous. You’re saying you can stop her? To be honest this feels impossible with common sense…”

“Hmph, I’ll distort that common sense with my magic.”

Arnold opened his eyes wide at Hiiro’s confidence but instantly stiffened.

“… Will that really turn Wi back to normal?”

“Yeah.”

“Got it.”

Arnold said fortifying his resolve then he clenched his teeth.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

[Arnold]

When Arnold grabbed the handle of his sword and prepared himself, a voice called out from behind him.

“Uncle…”

It was Muir. She was also blown away early and was injured in various places.

“Don’t come here, Muir. Go back.”

“Listen Uncle!”

“… What is it, Muir?”

Muir looked very serious so Arnold couldn’t refuse her.  Muir gulped,

“L-let me help too, Uncle!”

Her eyes didn’t waver but of course Arnold couldn’t allow her to help.

“You can’t, Muir. Wi’s not sane right now and she’s stronger than any of us. No matter how much you ask, you can’t.”

Muir kept staring at Arnold. Hiiro silently watched her.

“… I know I’m weak. But I still want to do something for Wi-san.”

“It’s not that I can’t understand how you feel. You’re a kind girl, but right now you’ll just get in the way, right…?”

Arnold didn’t want to say the last sentence. However even though Muir had heard what he’d said, her resolution didn’t change.

“Yeah, I know that. But Wi-san… Is crying.”

“… Hah?”

“Wi-san… Has been crying this whole time.”

“Muir… You…”

Muir stared at her sadly. Arnold looked at Muir, shocked.

“I can tell… It’s coming through to me.”

She brought both hands to her chest.

“Wi-san is very sad… Pain… And guilt… She’s crying…”

Arnold silently listened to Muir.

(Muir is a really sensitive girl and she’s also the only survivor of that family… She can hear Wi’s inner voice, huh…)

He thought as he remembered the time when he decided to raise Muir as his daughter. She was a timid girl who couldn’t speak up for herself. She was gradually changing on this trip.

Yes, she’d grown, her body as well as her heart. It wasn’t something that Arnold should be thinking about at this time but Arnold was glad that he’d set out on an adventure with the girl. He’d never imagined that she would grow this much and was very happy.

(No, she’s his daughter. This kind of growth might have been inevitable.)

Arnold gently smiled and softly put his hand on top of Muir’s head.

“… I got it. If that’s what you say then I won’t stop you.”

“Uncle!”

Muir smiled happily.

“But we’re currently in combat. There’s nothing you can do.”

Muir stared at Arnold. Arnold really believed in her so she answered with her best smile.

“Okay!”

“Okay!”

The two settled the problem somehow and Hiiro finally entered the conversation.

“I feel bad for interrupting your harmonious mood, but Antenna Girl is growing impatient, you know?”

“Al-alright!”

“Ah, ahhh!”

The two were pulled back into reality by Hiiro’s words and once again faced the girl who possessed great violence.

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