“Who’s there?! Y-You’re...” As expected, Liliana was engaged in battle at the remberry field with a swarm of insect monsters. She was taking on a countless number of them while protecting her younger sister behind her.
“Yes, we made it!” I said, relieved.
“The bear cavalry (no horses) has arrived!” my brother agreed.
He fired his Gatling gun again in grand style. The insects that had been encircling Liliana started to fall at an incredible rate.
I was worried he might hit the two of them, but he handled his Gatling gun skillfully, and there wasn’t even a ricochet. He easily wiped out the encirclement of insects, and we made it safely over to the two sisters.
“Are you all right?” I asked, repeating back the same words Liliana had said to me earlier.
“You’re the one from before... Why are you here?” She looked at me in surprise.
Hm? She’s reacting as if she just realized who I was, I thought. So then when she said “Y-You’re” a moment ago, was that directed at... my brother?
“And you, as well...” Liliana said. “Really, why?”
“We came to help,” said my brother. “My little brother was saying, ‘I can’t leave them alone! I’m going to go rescue her, no matter what!’ so I figured I’d bear with him.”
I didn’t say that! I thought. I don’t recall saying anything that embarrassing!
“Your little brother... so that’s why,” Liliana whispered to herself as if she had understood something.
The mood here... I think Liliana and my brother just might know each other.
Liliana turned to me and bowed deeply. “Thank you very much. If you two hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have been able to protect my sister, Milia.”
“O-Oh, no,” I said. “All I did was watch from behind...”
“Still, please let me thank you,” she said. “Even though I caused you trouble, you brought reinforcements to come save me... I won’t forget this kind deed.”
Her words went beyond making me feel embarrassed; they made me feel a sense of guilt. The quest had been automatically accepted for me, and all I had done was stick safely behind my brother like a parasite.
That guilt caused me to avert my gaze from Liliana, and when I did, it landed on her sister, Milianne.
She’s as cute as she was in the picture. No, even more so.
“Loli?” my brother asked. “Lolicon?”
No I’m not! I fumed.
“Sniffle, sniffle...” Milianne was crying.
Well, yeah, she would be, I thought. She was surrounded by a bunch of insect monsters, and her life was even in danger.
However, given that there were still about five fruits — most likely the remberries — inside the basket she was holding, she really had her stuff together.
“A-Anyway, let’s get out of here,” I suggested. “It’ll be dangerous if more monsters come.”
“Very well,” replied Liliana, and a change occurred on my menu screen.
“NPCs have joined your party.
Liliana Grandria has joined.
Milianne Grandria has joined.”
Ahh, NPCs can join parties, too. And their stats are...
Milianne’s stats were lower than mine were at level 0. Liliana’s stats, however, were very high. Her Paladin level was 60, and her total level was 210. She even had over 5,000 HP.
Well, then again, she is the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Royal Guard, which means she’s ranked second out of all the knights in this kingdom, I thought. So it shouldn’t be a surprise she’s this strong.
I then noticed that Bro Bear was silent and his expression was serious. I couldn’t actually see it directly, but given how long I had known him, I could tell from the mood.
“Ray, the quest still hasn’t been completed, has it?” he asked.
“Um, yeah,” I said. “It hasn’t changed at all.”
“I see.” Bro Bear readied his Gatling gun and looked about our surroundings. He appeared far more serious than when he had been mowing down insects earlier.
“Bro...?”
“Ray, the difficulty levels of quests are calculated individually by the control AIs in charge of them. The control AI takes into account information about the surrounding environment and people related to the quest.”
“What?” I asked.
So the difficulties are calculated with information on the environment and related people? Control AIs really are impressive to be able to do that for every quest... but what does that have to do with anything?
“So, I was thinking the difficulty for this quest was high due to a time limit.” My brother started to put his thoughts into words bit by bit. “I thought we cleared it easily because I’m suited for fighting against large numbers, but...”
His gaze fell to one spot on the ground.
“...we met up with Liliana and eliminated the swarm of insects. And yet, the quest still isn’t complete. In other words, this quest has a difficultly of 5 even after taking into account that Liliana’s total level is 210.”
Right after he said this, the ground where he was looking exploded. Something huge and long flew out from it.
“GYULUUUUUUUUAAAAAAA!” It was a giant centipede almost thirty meters long. “Clink!”
The giant centipede had large, stag beetle-like jaws growing on its face in all four directions. Its skin was also covered in reptile-like scales. The bullet my brother had swiftly fired at it had been easily repelled.
It was completely different from the bugs my brother had been trampling over earlier. Even a beginner like me could tell.
This thing is strong.
I could hear Liliana’s shocked voice beside me. “A Demi-Dragon Worm!”
“GIIIEEEEAAAAAAAA!” The ground exploded again, and another Demi-Dragon Worm appeared.
“A Demi-Dragon class monster, huh...” my brother said. “I get it now. If we need to protect this girl while facing off against several of these, then I can see why it has this difficulty rating even with some help. But even so!”
His voice sounded cheerful, almost as if his worries had disappeared. I, on the other hand, was intimidated by the two monsters and was at a loss for words.
“If you’re up against me, that amount just isn’t going to cut it!” My brother then lifted up both his arms and said, “It’d be fine to just smash them to pieces, but this is a good opportunity! Baldr! Activate your fourth fo—”
“GIIIEEEAAALEAAAAAA!”
“GYULUUUUUUUUAAAAAAA!”
“GYUIIILUUUUAAAAAAAAAA!”
“GYULUUUUUUUULOOAAAAAAA!”
Just then, four more Demi-Dragon Worms appeared from the ground in each direction, trapping my brother.
“Hey, wait, I can bearly move right now!” he protested. “Really though, there are still—” The newly appeared Demi-Dragon Worms locked their jaws onto my brother and then disappeared into the ground.
“.........Huh?” I couldn’t process what I had just seen.
“Ah!” gasped Liliana, as she bit her lip at the unexpected turn of events.
I checked the party status, but my brother’s stats were still blacked out. I couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead.
“Um, Bro, I’m sorry for triggering a flag, but... isn’t this a bit sudden?” I hesitated.
With my brother missing, the remaining two Demi-Dragon Worms drew toward us.
I was terrified. In an instant, I had been cast from the safe zone behind my brother into danger.
The biggest animal I had ever seen in my life was an elephant. Now, monsters far larger than that were bearing down toward me with cold hostility. Even if I knew this was a game, my legs shook.
“...There’s something I wish to ask of you,” Liliana said to me.
“Wh-What is it?”
“I’ll hold back one of them. Both, if possible. During that time, could you please take my sister to safety?”
“But...” I paused.
There are two of them, I thought. Even for Liliana, by herself that’d be...
No, I’m thinking wrong, I reminded myself. At level 0, I won’t be of any help to her. In fact, I’d just get in her way if I stayed behind. That would put not only me, but Milianne in danger as well.
“...All right.” I pulled Milianne’s hand and started running. Behind us, the battle between Liliana and the Demi-Dragon Worms commenced.