Chapter 36
Even if I went back, I couldn't do anything.
Even if I went back, I'd only be a burden.
...Those were all just excuses for not fighting.
With my current abilities, I could cast one or two spells, though there was a risk of running out of magical power. I could even snipe at it from cover. That should at least let me draw the dragon's attention away, even briefly.
But my legs simply wouldn't move in that direction.
(Even if I was reincarnated, even if I'd obtained a ten-star Skill, even if I could learn other people's Talents...)
I trudged forward. In a crowd of people desperately running away, I was the only one walking.
(...Without courage, I can't do anything.)
What came to mind was what had happened at the mine.
My sister had stepped between the Duke, sword drawn, and me, who was about to be killed—
What would Lark do?
—Would he run away, saying, "Ah, screw this, I'm done with it"?
—Would he put that devious mind of his to work, saying, "Damn this. I won't be satisfied unless I hit back at least a little"?
"I want to see you... I want to see you, Lark..."
My cheeks felt cold in the breeze. At some point, I had started crying. How pathetic. How stupid. Even so, my feet kept carrying me farther from the battlefield. There was truly no helping me.
The second intersection was a large one. If I turned right here, I'd reach the Adventurer's Guild.
This was the final crossroads.
If I turned here, I was sure I'd never look back again.
"Run! Standing around won't do you any good—little brother."
I heard a voice.
Startled, I stopped and looked around.
But all I saw was the crowd trying to flee: people running with their belongings, people bumping into each other and starting fights, and soldiers from the domain rushing in to mediate—
Lark couldn't possibly be here.
What I'd just heard was only a hallucination.
"...Yeah. I only heard the words I wanted to hear from my own mind."
I hadn't understood why the adventuring party 'Silver Balance' was risking its life to fight. Had they never intended to live long in the first place? To repay the debt of being 'picked up'? To keep their father alive a little longer?
Or—because it was their duty as adventurers?
Calling it a "duty" or a "mission" sounded noble, and let you bask in a sweet afterglow.
But now I felt that perhaps, at the heart of it, there was no reason at all.
Perhaps adventurers' bodies moved on their own because there was an enemy in front of them, because there was a threat, because defeating it would earn them honor.
Even in a battle where victory clearly seemed impossible, even 'Eternal First Star,' which seemed obsessed with appearances, was fighting instead of fleeing. Maybe it was because they weren't thinking about anything complicated.
"Walking around like this won't do any good. If I'm going, I have to run."
I rubbed my eyes with my sleeve.
To clear away the tears obstructing my vision.
To wipe away the most pathetic version of myself.
"I'm done thinking."
And then I turned around.
"I'm coming now. I'm a member of 'Silver Balance,' too."
I drew a breath, crouched low, and took off at a sprint. The 【Sprinting】 Skill activated on its own, driving my body onward.
As I wove through the crowd, the people gradually thinned out, and I emerged onto an empty street.
I ran at full speed.
How could the situation have changed so much in the short time I'd been away...?
The area of collapsed buildings had expanded, and fires had broken out here and there.
A nearby food stall was burning, and the flames had spread to the flower shop next door.
"The seriously wounded are to withdraw from the front! I'll treat the lightly wounded right away! This way!"
"A healing mage? Thank goodness. My leg got hit..."
"It's my right hand over here. I can't grip my sword."
"Damn it, what the hell is this thing...?"
Behind cover, Non-san was treating people as if this were a field hospital. Several adventurers nearby were waiting for treatment.
"Rikila! You're too close!"
"Otherwise I can't hit it!"
"If you get hurt, the whole line will collapse. Watch yourself!"
"Tch...!"
On the front line, Rikila-san darted left and right, keeping the dragon distracted. Whenever an opening appeared, the adventurers rushed in to attack.
The dragon's body was scarred in numerous places, and blood was flowing.
(So I don't have to foolishly take its attacks head-on.)
Rikila-san was essentially an evasion-type tank.
"That one's amazing."
"Who the hell is that?"
"I hear they're a member of the 'Hard Silver Greatshield' party."
"Beastfolk are no joke."
Apparently, it didn't matter whether someone was human or beastfolk; the adventurers were offering Rikila honest praise.
But even Rikila-san wasn't dodging the attacks effortlessly.
Even without 【All Creation】, 【Visual Enhancement】 let me see well enough to tell that Rikila-san was drenched in sweat and beginning to breathe hard.
"Ngh."
Rikila-san botched the landing and tumbled to the ground. The dragon wasn't about to miss its chance, and its tail came crashing down from directly overhead—but Rikila-san narrowly dodged it.
But the dragon's mouth was already open, ready to breathe fire.
"Crap—"
Just before it unleashed the flames—
Pop.
A flower bloomed right at the dragon's snout.
I threw over a branch I'd borrowed from the flower shop and made it bloom with 【Flower Magic】.
The dragon stared blankly for a moment.
That was more than enough of an opening for adventurers of Pure Gold and Gray-Silver rank.
"Take thaaaaat!"
"Raaaaah!"
Josef-san's two-handed axe severed the dragon's wounded tail partway down, while Dantes-san's greatsword drove into the dragon's body through the wound.
Roooooooar!!!!
The roar became a wave of sound pressure, blasting nearby adventurers away and sending even the rubble rolling. I instinctively hid behind a building, but Rikila-san was there too, where I'd hidden.
"You little—Reiji! Why'd you come back!?"
"Ow!"
I took a knuckle to the head—and the next moment, Rikila-san's thick arm had wrapped around my head.
"That helped. Thanks."
"...Yeah."
His arm was soaked with sweat, and his fur was sopping wet, but Rikila-san was definitely alive. Rikila-san might have escaped even if I hadn't done anything, though. Still, I was glad to be thanked.