It was still dark outside.
When I went downstairs, I found Fina already up and about.
「Good morning, Big Sis Yuna.」
「Good morning. Where’s Noa?」
「She is still sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her up.」
「Then, I’ll be preparing breakfast, so please go wake her up.」
I asked Fina to take care of Noa and began preparing the soup and bread that we had eaten for breakfast yesterday.
A drowsy Noa appeared in the dining room.
「Good morning.」
「Sleepy.」
「That’s because you’re usually still sleeping at this time.」
「After we eat breakfast, we’re heading out, okay?」
Today, I mounted Swaying Bear before we continued towards the Royal Capital.
We left after I purchased some fresh vegetables in the village.
On the third day after we left the town:
「Stop for a moment.」
I made Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear halt.
「What’s wrong?」
「There are people battling against monsters in front of us.」
「Really?」
I couldn’t see them from here.
When I defeated the Black Viper, I went up a level. The power of the detection skill also went up, so I could now detect normal people, in addition to dangerous elements like monsters and thieves.
Furthermore, I also became able to differentiate the type and rank of monster.
「How does Noa want to handle this?」
「Me?」
「My job is to be Noa’s bodyguard, which is why I don’t want to go towards dangerous places. Leaving you behind and going ahead is also out of the question. If something dangerous appears while I’m not around, I won’t be able to protect you.」
「What if you leave the bears to guard us?」
「It’s impossible for them to fight with you two riding on top.」
「Then, what if we go to a place near the monster attack together with you?」
「If the attacking monsters end up attacking you, it will be problematic for me, as your bodyguard.」
「Do the people being attacked seem like they can win?」
「Well, even I cannot be sure from here, you know. Although, I can tell when a person or monster dies from the reaction.」
In other words, do we go out after people have died, or rush in while knowing that it’s dangerous?
「……」
The 10-year-old Noa was seriously troubled.
「That was a joke. Let’s go save them. I’ll scout from afar. If it looks okay, we’ll leave them be, and if it looks dangerous, we’ll save them. However, if they are dangerous monsters, you must run away. Is this okay?」
「Un.」
I made the bears run.
Some adventurers were around it, fighting orcs.
「One, two, three, four, five, six.」
There were six orcs.
A magician adventurer had been knocked down by one of the orcs.
The remaining two people were surrounded by four orcs a short distance away.
「Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear! Guard these two!」
I asked the bears to guard the two girls.
I kicked off the ground and accelerated even more.
This is bad.
The orc’s eyes were entirely focused on the woman in front of it. My blades of wind easily sliced through its fat neck and the orc died without noticing me at all.
I ran past the magician and headed toward the adventurer fighting close to the carriage.
I stopped the movement of the orc’s lower body by using earth magic instead.
「What?!」
The swordsman was surprised.
「I’ve sealed his movements, so deal with the rest by yourself somehow!」
After raising my voice, I headed towards the slightly distant location where the four orcs were battling the adventurers.
Even if I used earth magic, it was possible that they would still receive an attack from the orcs’ upper halves.
I gathered magic power in my hand.
「Shotgun.」
I fired a ball of air towards the orcs.
When they came into contact with the orcs’ bodies, the orcs were blown backwards.
As for the adventurers, who got caught up with the orcs that were being blown away, it could not be helped.
The orcs, which fell down, stood up again.
The adventurers were also going to stand up.
「It’s dangerous, so stay down!」
I shouted out towards the adventurers.
Their bodies were neatly sliced in half, and the orcs fell down.
I approached the adventurers, who had become all bloody from orc blood.
「Are you alright?」
「You are?」
The two who had been surrounded by orcs were also female.
In that case, maybe they were a little pitiful after becoming all bloody from the orc blood.
「Marina!」
The adventurer who had been fighting near the carriage rushed over.
「Are you all right?」
「Eh, I’m alright, since this weird-looking girl helped us. What about you?」
「I, as well as Elle, were also saved by that girl, so we’re okay.」
「So Elle is safe as well. Let’s talk about a reward another time. Thank you for helping us.」
「You’re welcome. We only happened to pass by, so you don’t need to worry about it.」
「I’m the leader of this party, Marina. The guy with the big sword over there is Masurika, and that one is-」
「Euri.」
The magician I had helped first seemed to be called Elle.
Along the way, I called out for the bears.
I don’t know if it’s telepathic communication, but I can issue instructions to the bears even if we are separated.
「Elle, are you okay?」
「Eh, I’m okay, though just a little longer and I would have been killed.」
Maybe it was because she had been caught, but her clothes were torn, and her fair skin could be seen.
An enemy!
「Thanks to your assistance, I was able to avoid being killed. Thank you.」
「You don’t need to worry about it, since it was just a coincidence that I passed by.」
While we were having such a conversation,
「What is that?!」
The adventurers saw Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, who had arrived, and readied their swords.
「It’s alright, they are my summoned beasts.」
「A summoned beast?」
Noa and Fina, who were riding on top of Hugging Bear, rushed over.
「Yuna-san! Are you okay?」
「I’m perfectly fine, you know.」
「Thank goodness.」
The two of them dropped down from Hugging Bear and embraced me anxiously.
Both of them were just 10-year-old girls, so it could not be helped.