-Pero’s POV-
(Early in the morning of the day after meeting with the client.)
We were heading to the area where the troll is said to be lurking. I wore black goggles over my eyes and I’m holding a ski pole in both of my hands.
“It’s much colder today even though the sun is still there.”
Exhaling white air, I see the morning sun out of the corner of my eye, turning the sky red. Every time I walked, my feet sank into the snow, and it was hard just to walk 10 meters.
When I looked back, I saw Freya-san and Liz-san lying in the snow.
“Pero-sama…… Don’t leave me……”
“I can’t do it anymore.”
It’s already been three hours of walking. In addition, the unfamiliar snowy mountain is also mentally exhausting. I think it’s time to take a break here. We decided to warm up in a cave that happened to be nearby.
“Why is Pero-sama so energetic?”
Freya-san is shaking as she hits the bonfire. Liz-san on the other hand, is probably sleepy rather than cold. She yawns repeatedly.
“Well, I have a lot of fur you see. Also, I guess it’s because I got ice element.”
“I see. Pero-sama is a race that is resistant to cold huh. Compared to that, I’m trembling and pathetic…… Oh, what a warm fluffy fur.”
Freya-san touches my chest hair as she says that. Then, she buried her face and began to snuggle on my fluffy fur in earnest. Her face was so loose and sloppy that it was hard to believe that she was shivering from the cold.
“Leave my fur for now. We are at work you see.”
“Pero-sama, please! Only for an hour! Let me snuggle in your fluff for an hour!”
“No. You always touch it for about five hours.”
“Pero-sama!”
I run away from Freya-san, who tries to hug me. Really, this person is addicted to fur. I’m worried that she’ll have withdrawal symptoms someday. Suddenly, a question crossed my mind.
“Come to think of it, Liz-san, you were able to move around on top of the dark cloud, why were you walking?”
“…………”
Her eyes slowly widened at my question.
Oh-, she probably forgot about this.
“Because you guys were walking…. I just followed what you are doing.”
“Then you won’t use dark clouds huh.”
“I didn’t say that.”
Liz-san quickly gets on the dark cloud right away. She also took out an eye mask and a pillow from her backpack and started to sleep. This person is also at her own pace, just like Freya-san. I feel like I understand a little bit of Father’s struggle to arrange them.
“But it looks like it’s going to be tough to fight trolls.”
“Why?”
“It’s such a struggle just to walk you see. I can see that it will be even tougher when it comes to fighting.”
I was relieved when Freya-san pointed it out. I had missed something important. The troll is said to be a humanoid magical beast of about five meters. Considering the size difference, we should have to fight while running away. However, the snow cover is as thick as 70~90 cm. It was clearly a disadvantageous situation to us.
“I think we need to come up with a good plan. It’s definitely dangerous to take on the troll head-on like this.”
“Yes. I think we should first create an environment where me and Pero-sama can have the upper hand.”
Liz-san is fine because she doesn’t depend on the scaffolding, but me and Freya-san can’t. We need to create a place where we can demonstrate our abilities.
I then made a proposal to Freya-san.
“Freya-san could use telekinesis, right?”
“Yes. Ten meters is the limit at most.”
“Can you move a lot of snow at once?”
She smiled, as if she understood the meaning of my question. Well, if we don’t have one, we could build it. We want to create an environment where we can compete.
◇◇◇
“I should have done it this way from the beginning.”
“Exactly! I’m a failure of the name Sacred Beast Moe Servant Knight.”
“Stop! It’s breaking my heart.”
With Freya-san in the lead, we steadily moved forward.
The snow up to five meters away was blown off by telekinesis, and the speed of our movement was greatly increased. Another big reason is that the slope has become gentler since we reached the middle of the mountain. We were about to reach the troll’s lurking point.
“Kanegi-san said that there is an entrance to the mine on the side of this mountain.”
“Mmmm. I’m sure it should be around here.”
“Zzz- Zzzzz-”
Liz-san, who is flying blindly behind us, is sleeping soundly. I’ve always wondered how she operates it while sleeping. It’s hard to tell if it’s a racial trait or it’s Liz-san’s special skill.
“Gugaaaa”
We heard a growl from not far away. The ground also shook slightly, and the snow on the trees fell due to the vibrations.
“Freya-san, Liz-san! Get ready!”
“Got it!”
“Mmm, I’m awake.”
Gradually, the footsteps grew louder and closer, until the owner of the voice is withing our sight. With its huge physique, it knocks down trees and sends the snow beneath its feet flying up with tremendous momentum.
It has a nose that takes up most of its face partnered with large green eyes. Its open mouth is lined with sharp fangs, and its tongue was constantly drooling. It is about 10 meters tall and has gray hair all over the body. In addition, the look on its eyes was full of greed that made me feel even more disgust to it.
I use Holy Roar to keep it in check.
“Awwoooooooo!”
I howled. That alone makes the troll stop moving and flinch. Holy Roar, a holy elemental magic, is extremely effective against hostile opponents. It’s a powerful spell that can make some opponents lose their will to fight. However, it didn’t seem to work for long on this troll. It started running towards us again.
“Let’s run away for the time being!”
We’re going back the way we’ve come. The Holy Roar didn’t work, probably because it was driven by appetite, not hostility. I guess this troll is eager to eat us.
“It’s faster than I thought. Pero-sama, if we keep going like this, it will caught up!”
The troll is running furiously from behind as we continue to run forward. With such a huge body, it seems that even the thick snow will not stop it in its tracks.
“Grab on both of you!”
Liz-san flies in the sky and reaches out to us. I grabbed her hand and my body floated in the air for about a meter. Just like that, we move to the destination while flying.
“I’m tired.”
At a certain point, Liz-san lets go of our hand. When I landed on the ground, I raised my fist to the troll who is still chasing after us.
“Alright. I think I can fight with this.”
“Right. I’ll show that thing the combination of me and Pero-sama.”
This is a snow arena with a diameter of 30 meters. It’s a place that was created in advance by Freya-san’s telekinesis. The bare ground is a little muddy, but it is not a problem for fighting. The troll looks at the arena curiously, but when he realizes that it is still in his favor, he stomps on the ground with a cry of delight.
“Be careful. I don’t know what skills it have.”
“Then, I’ll attack first!”
Freya-san ejects two spears controlled with telekinesis at high speed. The Mithril spears pierced the troll’s chest. Immediately after that, I leap and slammed a mid-air roundhouse kick into the giant’s face, causing him to fall into a wall of snow.
“It’s not moving…… Did we do it?”
“I don’t think so. It’s not the kind of magical beast that can be killed like that. And in some way, it’s different from the troll I know of.”
“You mean… it’s not a normal troll?”
“Yes, probably. The average troll doesn’t have that kind of body hair. Also, it seems to be twice as tall, so I think it is most likely a mutant specie.”
Just after Freya-san said that, the troll gets up. It pulled out the spear stuck in its chest and threw it to the ground. It then let out a roar that could be called a sound barrier at us. The air vibrates and my eardrums are about to burst.
It is definitely mad. When it jumps to us, we scattered almost instinctively. As it landed with a thud, the ground shook and my body lifted up slightly.
“Meteor thrust!”
Freya-san, who flew higher than the troll’s head, spun the magic steel spear in her hand at high speed and aimed for a one-hit kill. However, the troll dodged the attack by bending its body.
“Oops―, gah!”
Freya-san, who was defenseless in mid-air, was directly hit by the troll’s powerful slap. She is knocked off and plunges into a wall of snow.
“An opening!”
Liz-san throws a number of weapons called shurikens on it. They curved and pierced the back of the troll. An explosion occurred immediately afterwards. Apparently, it is a set of shuriken with gunpowder.
Next up is my attack. I activated the Acceleration skill and I sprint to it.
“Gale Storm!”
I jumped into its chest and unleashed a move. The wind-charged fist digs into its flesh and damages the inside of its body. After receiving 30 consecutive blows, the troll fell to the ground on his back.
“I’ll finish it.”
Liz-san jumps on the beast and raises her dagger. She’s aiming for its neck.
This is the end of this job. After this, I’ll spend another night or so and draw a picture of the city. That’s what I was thinking when it happened.
―Yes, I was careless.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!”
“Liz-san!?”
The troll’s big hand catches Liz-san. It sat up and looked at me. Its eyes seemed to say, “Your comrade has been caught, surrender quietly.”
I was careless. I should have taken the responsibility of dealing the final blow.
“A-a-…… aaagh!?”
The magical beast slowly tightens the hand that grips Liz-san. If I don’t help her quickly, she will die. But its eyes were fixed on me. It seems to be saying that if I make a move, it will kill Liz-san.
The troll stomps on me as I can’t attack. Then another stomp, and again then again and again. Right now, I’m managing to protect my body with my arms, but I don’t know how long I can last.
“Ho….. ld……on…. Help……co…”
Liz is saying something.
Hold on? Help is coming?
In this situation….relying on help is…..
At that moment, a burning hot air blew from behind me. The troll moves back, away from me. When I turned around, I saw Freya-san standing there with the spear of the water god.
“I’m sorry. The magic steel spear broke so it took me a long time to get back.”
“That’s…… Freya-san you-…”
“Un. I was able to hold it when I grabbed it and shouted with all my might.”
Eh!? Shout!? Can you use the great treasure if you just shout?
I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t accept the situation. The troll was also confused when Freya-san, who was supposed to have been defeated by it, appeared again. Its gaze wanders between her and me, and it seems not sure which one to be wary of.
“Wait, I’ll finish it soon.”
“But Liz-san.”
“Don’t worry. Right now, I’m not even an opponent of such a despicable beast.”
When she said that, hot steam erupted from the Spear of the Water God. The water magic jewel shone as if in response to her.
“Secret technique, White Snake!”
White steam began to wrap around the troll’s right hand like a snake and slowly began to roast its fur and flesh. Two more white snakes extend from the spear, entwining around its neck and left arm.
“Gugaaaaaa!?”
The troll appeared to be resistant to cold, but weak to heat. It let Liz-san go, and it was struggling to escape. Now is the biggest opportunity.
I circulate magic in the water element gauntlet I am equipped with. The gauntlet, which trembled with magical power, changed color from marine blue to sky blue. It’s a mixture of my ice attribute and the water attribute of the gauntlet.
“Mysterious technique, Ice Fang!”
The thrust I unleashed on the spot instantly froze the surrounding ground and created a single gigantic thorn. The icicle pierces the troll’s heart, and bright red blood drips onto the ice. The magical beast gave a long final cry and soon stopped moving.
“You did a great job Pero-sama! The final attack was worthy of the strongest Sacred Beast!”
Freya-san hugs me and snuggles on my fur nonstop.
I’m not aiming to be the strongest sacred beast, but I’m relieved that I was able to accomplish the request safely for the time being. Now I can report this to Father proudly.
“It’s all thanks to me. You should be grateful.”
Liz-san, who came down the dark cloud, said that. I tilted my head, not knowing what it means.
“Pero-sama, it was actually Liz-san who woke me up with her skill when I was unconscious. If I hadn’t responded to the call at that time, I would have collapsed.”
I finally understood Liz-san’s meaningful words. While I was being caught by the troll, she was calling Freya-san with her telepathy skill. I would like to express my gratitude to Liz-san.
“Oh no! My body!”
Freya-san’s body is now vaguely enveloped in light. This is a harbinger of evolution.
“Congratulations Freya-san, you have finally made an evolution.”
“I’m happy about the evolution, but I don’t know what it will be!”
“Huh? Did it start all of a sudden? I wonder if Father chose to evolve you on his own.”
Liz-san then talks to Freya-san, who is now flustered.
“I just contacted Oniichan. He said he chose it because that’s the option.”
“He can’t just choose my evolution arbitrarily!”
“Oniichan says that there was only one evolution destination.”
“Uh-, it can’t be helped then.”
I was almost stunned by the speed of Freya-san’s emotional change. Erna-oneechan is quite positive, but Freya-san is quite a positive thinker as well huh.
“Now then, let’s go back to the nearby cave and watch my progress there.”
“Yes, no matter what form you take, Freya-san is still Freya-san.”
“Thank you, Pero-sama!”
Having fulfilled the request, we start walking towards the cave.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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