Chapter 9 - Demonstrating Ability

The protagonist was quite strong. I was an extra and not particularly strong. So this situation might seem strange.

After all, an extra had just defeated the protagonist. But in fact, this was only natural.

Didn’t I currently possess the Spirit Sword? This overpowered weapon that the protagonist would obtain much later in the story. Since I was holding it now, there was no reason I should lose to the early-stage protagonist.

"I'm sorry... I was certain you were with the bandits..."

And somehow the misunderstanding was resolved. After I explained the situation well, Tigna finally realized her mistake and bowed deeply to apologize.

"It's okay. I can see how it could be misunderstood."

"Thank you... for forgiving me."

It didn't really matter. During a fight with bandits, it was understandable to think a man holding a sword was one of them. I probably would have misunderstood, too.

So the misunderstanding was cleared up through conversation. 

Now I should leave, right? 

As I was about to wrap things up and leave...

"Well then, I'll be..."

"Hey! Are you also here to subjugate the magic beast?” Tigna suddenly asked an unexpected question.

"Huh?"

"Ah, I see. That's why you were carrying a sword."

"Uh... well... I guess so."

Was that how the conversation was going? I ended up agreeing without thinking. It was true that I had come to subjugate the magic beast.

So I affirmed it, but... somehow the conversation took a strange turn.

"I came to subjugate the magic beast too."

The protagonist looked at me with sparkling eyes. She grabbed my hand.

"Wow, that's great. I was just looking for someone to subjugate it with. Since we've met like this, why don't we go down to the village and have a strategy meeting? I'll share the information I have."

"Uh... sure, why not?"

And just like that, I ended up accompanying the protagonist.

***

The protagonist took me straight to the village. She ordered plenty of food and started telling me about the magic beast.

"I think the magic beast is probably near the foot of the mountain. When it runs out of prey, it might attack the village."

"Hmm."

"I plan to fight the magic beast then. If we fight from our side, we can minimize casualties... it's quite dangerous, but if we defeat the magic beast, the reward should be substantial..."

She said that according to her guess, the magic beast would surely attack the village. She said that people with power like us should take responsibility and protect the villagers. She showed quite an enthusiastic attitude.

Of course, the bounty on the magic beast probably played a part too.

Is it right to get involved with the protagonist at this point?

Anyway, we had suddenly formed a magic beast subjugation party with the protagonist. I was feeling quite bewildered.

Meeting the protagonist wasn't in my plans at all.

What if this causes big trouble due to the butterfly effect?

I felt uneasy. 

How big of an aftermath will this event cause later? I'm already getting scared.

I was trying not to get involved with the protagonist in the early stages... Although I sighed at this unexpected situation, what could I do?

The situation has already unfolded, hadn't it? Nothing was as meaningless as regretting too late.

Since it's come to this, there's no choice. Let's try to subjugate the magic beast.

And I think it might actually be a good thing. Why not just defeat the magic beast together? Thinking about it, subjugating the magic beast with the protagonist might be the best move I can make.

It had worked out well, I guess. 

Anyway, I've finished organizing my thoughts.

"Hey... are you listening?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry. I was listening. Where were we?"

"We're going to check this area now. There have been many reports of sightings here."

When it was time to discuss the magic beast subjugation again, the protagonist pulled out a map and pointed to a location.

"It's here, you say?"

"Yes, that's right."

A ridge deep in the mountains. If it was there, I thought the magic beast would likely be there. That was where the protagonist had her second battle with the magic beast and finally subjugated it.

"Normally I wouldn't think of charging in alone, but together we might be able to subjugate it."

Of course, even knowing its location, she wouldn't have thought of charging in. Walking into the lair of a magic beast was almost suicidal. But now that she was with me, the protagonist seemed to think we could attack where the magical beast was.

Certainly, if I take action, we could easily subjugate it right away.

And that judgment was quite accurate. Of course, at this point, the protagonist didn’t know about the Spirit Sword. So she probably said that thinking I was just a swordsman with good skills.

But right now, I had the Spirit Sword, and with it, I was much stronger than the current protagonist. Something like a magic beast would be no problem to eliminate.

"Let's depart immediately."

I decided to move right away. Since we had decided to eliminate it anyway, we should clear it out without dragging things on. I said let's go quickly now that we know the location.

"Yes...! Let's go right now."

The protagonist immediately stood up, looking excited.

***

Deep in the mountains. Crossing through the mountains, Tigna and I searched for traces of the magic beast. We were almost at the ridge we had set as our destination.

"Here, this... is it a footprint?"

We were able to easily find traces of the magic beast. Tigna discovered huge footprints between tree branches. They were incomparably larger than normal wolf tracks.

Deep claw marks were visible, and the surrounding soil was compressed. Moreover, the branches around the footprints seemed to have been broken by some strong force.

"There are so many footprints, and they're incredibly large... And there are some ominous-looking tracks too. What could have made these? This doesn't seem like an ordinary magic beast," Tigna muttered seriously. 

Well, up to this point, she probably thought we were going to defeat an ordinary magic beast. We'd only realize that the magic beast we were about to face wasn't just an ordinary one after we encountered it directly.

"It's definitely in this area."

"If we follow this, probably..."

We continued to advance. At that moment, Tigna's words stopped.

And suddenly, the surrounding air changed. A chilling aura permeated the area. Rough breathing sounds could be heard from the undergrowth.

"Tigna."

"Yes...!"

Tigna and I immediately took battle stances. At that moment, red eyes began to shine one by one from within the forest. Slowly revealing themselves from the darkness were none other than a pack of magic beasts.

Large wolves were crouching low, forming an encirclement.

"About 30 of them... This is quite a lot. It won't be an easy fight with this many," Tigna said, drawing her sword. 

She seemed more excited than afraid of the battle.

The wolves didn't stay still either. When the magic beast at the front let out a fierce roar, the surrounding magic beasts all leaped at once.

"Here they come."

The moment she shouted those words, the first magic beast lunged at Tigna, baring its sharp teeth. She quickly swung her sword, precisely cutting the wolf's neck. Blood splattered, and the first magic beast fell to the ground.

But that was just the beginning. The rest of the magic beasts charged at them all at once. Tigna moved quickly.

She ducked to avoid an incoming magic beast, then swung her sword without a moment's hesitation. With a flash of blue light, she sliced across the magic beast's abdomen, and it fell with a scream.

"There sure are a lot of them."

Tigna continued to take them down one by one with her characteristically quick footwork.

"This might be quite a struggle."

But perhaps because she felt there were too many opponents? Tigna's expression showed some concern. Even for her, facing 30 magical beasts was overwhelming.

No matter how excellent her swordsmanship was, as long as she had to defeat them one by one, she'd inevitably tire from lack of stamina.

She failed the first subjugation due to sheer numbers.

And that was the decisive reason why she failed to subjugate the alpha magic beast. She expended too much energy on the minions before facing the alpha. So in the second attempt, she executed the crazy tactic of ignoring the minions and charging straight at the alpha, which succeeded.

That was how the alpha of the magic beasts was barely subjugated.

But what does that have to do with me?

Of course, this had nothing to do with me.

"Magic Release."

I raised the Spirit Sword high. Masses of mana spread from the tip of the sword. These masses scattered and struck the wolf pack directly.

Simple.

The pack of magic beasts disappeared at once due to the Magic Release. Actually, these guys were no big deal once one learned area-of-effect skills. At this point, the protagonist was getting tired because she didn’t have AoE skills and had to cut them down one by one with her sword.

"Alright, let's go."

And so, the pack of over 30 magical beasts was dealt with. Now we should go defeat the alpha. As I was about to suggest we go further in...

"Wow...! That's amazing. How did you do that just now? Please! Teach me too!!!"

The protagonist grabbed my hand. And she started looking at me with very intense eyes.

"More than that, why don't we continue to party together? Let's work together to save the world...! I plan to become a hero, please become my companion."

What are you saying…?