Quad Skeleton

The Quad Skeleton mercilessly brought its sword down toward her.

But before it could, I—

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

"—Fireball!"

Just before the Quad Skeleton's strike could cut her down—

The countless Fireballs I unleashed slammed into the Quad Skeleton.

Fireball is a Level 1 Fire Magic spell.

Against a powerful foe like the Quad Skeleton, it could inflict only negligible damage.

But it could stop the monster from moving for a moment.

And even tiny grains of dust, when piled up—

There was no room for hesitation.

I kept firing Fireballs frantically until the Quad Skeleton turned to ash.

How many had I fired...?

Unable to do anything, the Quad Skeleton eventually turned to ash and disappeared.

'We did it~.'

'Phew~~~.'

—That was close.

I let out a long breath, cold sweat trickling down my face, and looked at her.

She was still breathing.

I'd made it in time.

'Master, this girl is in danger~!'

'Yeah, we need to hurry.'

There was no time to bask in the afterglow of victory.

The girl had lost a lot of blood.

Her life was hanging by a thread.

I hurried over to the fallen girl.

"—Heal."

Her wounds healed a little, but she was still far from fully recovered.

So I—

"—Heal."

"—Heal."

"—Heal."

"—Heal."

"—Heal."

—I cast Heal over and over.

Her wounds disappeared in an instant, leaving her without a single scratch.

'She's safe~.'

'I'm glad we made it in time.'

MP and I shared our joy telepathically.

Meanwhile, the girl—

"Huh?"

Her eyes flew wide open.

She'd been rescued just as she'd resigned herself to death, then fully healed by an absurd barrage of Heal spells.

It was only natural for her to be surprised.

But she finally seemed to regain her composure. She sprang to her feet and bowed repeatedly.

"Th-thank you so much."

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yes. My wounds are all right now."

As the relief of being saved began to fade, despair clouded her face.

She'd been betrayed and used as a decoy by the companions she trusted.

Everything she'd worked so hard to build up was collapsing beneath her feet.

That despair... I'd only experienced it myself quite recently.

"For now, let's move somewhere safe."

"............Yes."

After picking up the Quad Skeleton's magic stone and loot, I started walking, and she followed me.

Her head hung low, and there was no life in her steps.

We kept walking without a word.

I saw myself in her, abandoned by her companions.

I was able to recover because I met MP.

Did she have anyone to support her...?

I spoke to MP in my mind.

'Hey, MP, was this girl what you meant by "the smell of profit"?'

'That's right~. She's an exceptionally promising investment prospect~.'

'A promising investment prospect?'

'Yes! We have to make her one of our companions, no matter what~.'

'I see...'

Even without the ulterior motive MP mentioned, I couldn't bring myself to leave this girl alone.

Because her situation reminded me of my own...

I hoped this wasn't just my own selfishness...

In the leaden gloom, we used Presence Detection to avoid encountering monsters and safely reached a safe area.

Dungeons had safe areas like this one that monsters couldn't enter.

I'd made sure no one was there, so the two of us went inside and sat down on the floor.

Her party members had already fled far away, and I couldn't detect where they were.

"Let's take a breather."

"............Yes."