We turned around and started walking back. And as if on cue, they turned around too.
They’re totally stalking us!
“What do we do?” said Shiro.
“Run for it?” suggested Kuro.
“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s run and lose them!”
We kicked on our body enhancements and bolted. But the self-proclaimed cheaters weren’t just talk—they kept up without breaking a sweat.
I still didn’t know how strong they were, but one thing was clear: They weren’t pushovers.
“So much for outrunning— Huh?”
Just then, I sensed a magical beast up ahead—one with strong mana too.
“We screwed up!” I said.
In all the chaos of trying to shake those two, we’d let our presence leak. The beast had definitely noticed us. Its presence was closing in fast.
Fight or flee? As I weighed our options, a terrible idea popped into my head.
What if we lure the beast toward the black-haired duo and let it go after them? No, aggro dumping on someone like that is not cool. And with a beast this strong, it’d basically be attempted murder. Yeah, I don’t like them, but that’s going too far...
“They’re moving too!” said Shiro.
“They’re coming heeere.”
“What?”
Sure enough, the black-haired duo had started running toward us, just like the beast.
Are they trying to pull a pincer maneuver on us?
“This way!” I said. “We can’t let them sandwich us in!”
With the beast charging from the north and the duo from the south, we veered west. Both parties adjusted their course to follow.
Now it’s less of a pincer attack and more of a three-way battle. We can’t keep running like this because we might drag other mercs or monsters into this mess.
We slowed down and started prepping for a fight. Luckily, we’d found a good spot—a dense patch where the trees and underbrush were thick, even for the forest. The beast would have to slow down here.
If things went as expected, the beast would reach us first, with the black-haired duo following behind. In a way, we’d be sandwiching the beast between us and them.
“Let’s see how the black-haired duo plays this,” I said.
While prepping our defensive spells, we kept an eye on their movements. We’d already located an escape teleportation circle nearby, so if things got bad, we could blast our way through with magic and make a run for it.
Once we reach the circle, we’ll be home free.
“M-Myah!”
“Wuffu.”
Shiro and Kuro were fired up, flaring their mana.
And then, after just ten seconds or so, the magical beast appeared.
It was a massive, six-legged creature. Its body looked like an anteater’s, but its head was like a furry mantis’s. It stared us down with four compound eyes, red and bulging like an insect’s.
It was called a bloodsucker tongue. Its tongue was long, like a frog’s, and strong enough to whip around like a weapon; it used the spear-like tip to stab prey and drain their blood.
While a bloodsucker tongue looked like a mammal, it was actually an undead-type—a corpse of a magical beast that had gained a new life through a curse. It was the kind of thing you’d never find in the wild, but rather in a special place like a dungeon. And because it fed on blood, its body was full of viruses. Naturally, it wasn’t edible—even if you purified it, the meat would still be rotten.
The only reason I knew all this was because the bloodsucker tongue’s mana stone had decay-type mana, which could be used in magic for aging meat. That’s why the knowledge had been put in my brain.
Killing it’s not gonna get us food, so I feel like we should just run.
But just as the beast showed up, the black-haired duo appeared behind it.
“Hold it!” the delinquent said, hurling something at the beast.
It must have been a big rock. It hit with a loud thud, making the bloodsucker tongue stagger. The delinquent must’ve had high physical enhancement abilities.
But why attack now? If he wanted to swoop in and steal the kill, it’d make more sense to wait until we were already fighting.
While I was still trying to figure out what the delinquent was going for with that attack, the bloodsucker tongue shifted its gaze back toward the duo.
It had decided to take them out first.
At the same time, the delinquent turned to look at us. Is he signaling for us to attack from behind? No. That wasn’t it.
“We got this!” he said. “You go on ahead!”
“Huh?”
“Go! Don’t worry about us!” he shouted, grinning fearlessly.
He’s trying to act all heroic, but yeah, I’m not feeling it. They must’ve been tailing us all this time for this exact moment. His smug expression’s perfect for the wannabe protagonist. I bet he doesn’t have the slightest clue that we’re standing here thinking how cringeworthy it is. Maybe this is his way of apologizing for the whole thug attack thing?
I glanced at the girl beside him. Her shoulders were slumped, and she looked unsure of how to handle the situation. She was definitely getting dragged along for the ride.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Okaaay.”
“Off we go.”
Kuro and Shiro have the same blank expression as me—totally unmoved. I can’t blame them though. Honestly, they look bummed that their prey was stolen.
“Machina!” said the delinquent. “Use poison!”
“O-On it!”
Wait, she’s a poison user? Yeah, now I really don’t wanna make enemies of those two. A delinquent with high physical stats and a girl in the rear guard using poison—maybe they’re actually a well-balanced team.
“Let’s just head back for today.”
“Huuuh?”
“Head back?” said Shiro.
“It’ll be a pain if we run into them again. Let’s switch to gathering stuff in the middle layer.”
“Got it,” said Shiro.
“Boo.”
I’m just as disappointed as you are, but from now on, we should keep an eye out for those two and avoid them as much as possible. They’re not evil, sure, but they’re nothing but trouble.