Chapter 5: Too Strong, but I Want to Be Seen as Cute
“HEY, did you two end up bathing together?” I stealthily pounce on Kazuya to confirm it as soon as they come back washed and clean.
“As if we went in together. Gross. I just washed my face; he jumped into the pond,” Kazuya quibbles, clearly bothered by the question.
Aw, Luke jumped into the pond? Just like a little kid! It’s cute that he’s so innocent! Hold up. Does that mean Kazuya saw him naked?! He saw Luke in the nude?!
Yikes, easy, easy. I need to get a hold of myself. If I let myself get carried away by imagination, I’ll turn into a total pervert.
“What?” Kazuya asks, picking up on the fact I wanna ask something else.
“Hey, Kazuya. Luke’s cool, isn’t he? Don’t you think so, too? But I never expected I’d turn out to be, like, your rival or anything like that.”
“Rival in what?”
“You know! That! C’mon, you know what I’m talking about, don’t you?!”
“I think you’ve got a screw loose. Sakurako, you’re a menace to common sense.”
“Why? That’s so mean!”
“Put a sock in it. I’ll say it once and for all. I don’t like guys!”
Excuse me? He doesn’t?
“But I thought you liked Mr. Watanabe.”
Kazuya said he liked someone much stronger than himself, so who else could it be except for the long-time member of my dojo, Mr. Watanabe?
“No. Why would you think him of all people?”
“Because you told me that you like someone and that they’re stronger than you. So it has to be him.”
“Can’t you think of anyone stronger than Mr. Watanabe?”
I ponder for a moment. “No. Who?”
Kazuya strides off ahead at a brisk pace.
Is he in a bad mood?
✦ ✦ ✦
🌸🌸🌸
SINCE that conversation, Kazuya’s been acting weird while we walk through the forest. He keeps looking at me meaningfully as if he’s about to say something, but ends up staying silent. What’s up with him? If he has anything he wants to say, he should come out with it. After all, we’re family.
Eventually, we come upon a large tree that bears huge, deep scratches in its trunk.
“Look,” Ganzi points out nervously. “A monster did this with its claws. Maybe the owl demon we’re looking for. The scratches are fresh, meaning it’s close by.”
The marks do look like claw or talon scratches. If they are, the demon must be quite big.
Kazuya frowns at them and mutters to me, “Didn’t we see an owl demon as soon as we got here?”
So he still thinks that the monster I killed when we first arrived in this world was an owl demon, even though I’ve told him it couldn’t be because it was so weak. I’m taken aback that he doesn’t believe me.
“Where do we go from here? Can you tell which way it went?” Leila asks Ganzi.
“Yeah. These footprints show it was here not long ago. If we follow them, we’ll meet up with it sooner or later. When we do, we should strike first.”
Everyone nods at this suggestion.
“I don’t know. These scratches look too large for an owl demon,” Leila says uncomfortably.
Luke nods and says confidently, “Right, it may be an extra-large one. But we’ll be okay. We can beat it.”
Ganzi lets out a small sigh. “Uh-huh. Either way, we have to beat it. Let’s go.”
We set out, following the footprints. Ganzi leads, then Luke is in front of me and Kazuya after telling us to stick together in the center of the path, followed by Leila, then by Molozov in the rear.
Ganzi creeps forward slowly, fixed on the footprints. The terrain isn’t tough, but I’m nervous and tire quickly because everyone’s so wary of our surroundings. The others look exhausted, too.
“Wait here,” Ganzi says and scales a tree. He stops with his foot on a sturdy branch near the top of the tree and looks into the distance using an apparatus like binoculars. “There,” he mutters, and climbs down. “I saw it not far from here. There’s no doubt it’s the one that left these prints.”
“Let’s go, then,” Leila says. “We can launch a surprise attack.”
“No, we can’t. It isn’t an owl demon… I think it’s an Owl Demon Lord.”
Owl Demon Lord? What’s that? Kazuya looks as confused as me, but the rest of the Evenfall Lions draw sharp breaths.
“But that’s an A-class monster,” Leila mumbles, dumbfounded.
Ganzi’s lip curls. “It could be the monster that’s caused all the damage that got reported in town, or there could be an owl demon and an Owl Demon Lord out here.”
“Either way, we don’t have any choice but to take it on now,” Leila retorts.
“But it’s an Owl Demon Lord!” Ganzi argues.
Leila returns his glare. “We’re an A-class party. We can beat it!”
“We only made A-class because we had Gale and Holly with us as a healer and sorcerer. They’re gone, and we aren’t prepared to fight an A-class monster. I won’t let you endanger yourself and Luke.”
“It’s now or never, Ganzi. I’m not a queen anymore, and Luke isn’t just a prince, but a hero. There’s no turning back for us. Not to mention, we’re the only powerful party who stands between that Owl Demon Lord and the town.”
“But…” Ganzi’s protests are losing steam.
“I’ll go. Let me go. I can beat it.” Luke puts his hand on Ganzi’s shoulder, a smile spreading on his face. “To tell the truth, I’m sick of only killing monsters that don’t stand a chance against me. I’m grateful for this opportunity.” His smile is different than his usual gentle one. This one is hard and a tad terrifying. Maybe he’s pumped for a shot to test his strength.
It makes Ganzi gulp. He nods. “Fine, but don’t overdo it. We’ll do what we can to give you the advantage in battle.”
“Good, that’s settled. What’s the monster doing now?” Leila says. “It’d be perfect if it were asleep.”
“Can you lend me those binoculars?” Kazuya asks Ganzi. “I’ve got appraisal magic, as well. I might be able to examine the monster in more detail if I can see it.”
“You can appraise from a distance?!” Luke starts. “Your magic is…something else.”
Kazuya coolly ignores Luke’s shock, grabs Ganzi’s binoculars, and ascends the tree. Once he’s near the top, he turns in the direction that Ganzi was facing, puts the binoculars to his eyes, and casts a spell. A minute or so later, he descends smoothly, his face as casual as ever.
“It’s sleeping right now. I appraised it and saw ‘Status: Sleeping’. And I can confirm its name is ‘Owl Demon Lord’. It’s the kind of monster that spawns naturally.”
“Oh. Th-thanks, Kazuya. You can tell all that from this far away? Wow.” Ganzi takes his binoculars back, looking shaken.
“It was nothing. I’ll make a map so we can come up with a strategy to slaughter it safely.” Kazuya shrugs off his rucksack, takes a piece of paper from it, and casts a map magic spell. In no time, a map appears on it, which Kazuya passes to Ganzi.
Ganzi looks even more astonished. “Thanks. You really can do anything, can’t you? From now on, whenever I’m stuck, I’ll come straight to you.”
“Go ahead, but I’m a merchant, so it’ll cost you.”
“Can’t you gimme a friend’s discount?” Ganzi jokes before the two of them get down to business with the map. “This red dot is the monster. And this… Does this mark show its status?” Ganzi places his finger on a ‘Z’ shape next to a red dot.
Kazuya nods. “It shows things as they are at present, meaning there’s a high chance it’s asleep. In the unlikely event it wakes up now, this mark would disappear.”
Luke whistles in admiration. “Wow. This is the first time I’ve seen a map this advanced. So it shows whether monsters have noticed us or not? Huh. Your magic’s both useful and off-putting… Ahem.”
“We appreciate this a lot, Kazuya. This’ll give us the upper hand in the attack.” Ganzi points a few inches away from the red dot. “First off, we should head here without being noticed, where Leila can launch a pre-emptive all-out assault. Can you do that, Ma’am?”
“Sure can. I’ll slam it with all my might!” Leila gives a cocky smile which soon falls. “But I don’t think I can defeat it with my magic alone.”
“I know, but it’ll at least weaken it. Luke and I will finish it off in melee combat.”
“Wait,” Luke said. “I can finish it off by myself.”
Ganzi shoots down this strategy with a composed nod at Luke’s sword. “That’s a no. Luke, if we give you space to rush in alone, you’ll go all out against it and your sword won’t be able to take it. If your sword breaks at a crucial moment, we’ll lose.”
Luke’s face contorts with frustration, but he reluctantly nods. “All right.”