The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
A few days later.
After finishing our preparations for the journey, we left Horizon and set out for Kreigland.
Our mode of transportation was a carriage.
There was also the option of passing through the Spiritfolk's village... but since it was uncertain whether Yuki and Gray would be granted permission, we decided to go with the carriage this time.
"Good girl, good girl. Just a little more, hang in there, okay?"
Tania was sitting in the driver's seat.
She seemed quite accustomed to it, communicating smoothly with the horse.
Kreigland wasn’t a tourist or commercial destination—it was closer to a military facility.
Not many carriages head to such a place, and it would be unfair to involve a coachman in any potential danger.
So, we rented a carriage and decided to handle the driving ourselves.
"Uboraa..."
"Uboraa..."
Tania was pretty skilled as a coachwoman, but even so, she couldn't completely prevent the carriage’s subtle vibrations, and both Sora and Luna were getting carriage-sick.
They stuck their faces out the window, looking like something no girl would want anyone to see.
I wanted to help somehow, but there really wasn’t anything I could do.
They had taken some anti-motion sickness medicine just in case... but it clearly wasn’t working.
Seeing the two of them like that, Yuki looked concerned.
"Are they going to be okay...? Shouldn’t we take a break?"
"Don’t... worry about us..."
"This always happens... urgh..."
Though their faces were pale, they answered bravely.
They said they were fine, but I couldn’t just take those words at face value.
"Yuki. Sorry, but..."
"Yeah, got it. Let's stop at the next rest area and take a break."
"Thanks."
"No worries. I'm a bit tired too, so a break would be nice."
Yuki said that with a smile, but it was obvious he was thinking of Sora and Luna.
People who can be considerate like that are the kind I really respect.
"Lord. Taking a break is fine, but..."
"Looks like monsters."
"Doesn’t seem like many of them, though."
Almost as if on cue, we all got out of the carriage.
For a little while now, a beast-like, rough hostility had been directed our way.
Most likely, some monsters were hiding in the thicket up ahead.
"Tania, look after the carriage and the horses. Iris, I’ll leave Sora and Luna to you. Leave the monsters to us."
"Got it."
"Lord Rain, your weapons."
Iris held out Kusanagi and Kamui to me, but...
"...No, I’m fine this time."
There was something I wanted to try, so I chose not to take Kusanagi or Kamui.
Iris seemed to understand what I was up to and didn’t say a word.
Tania, on the other hand, didn’t seem to get it and looked a little flustered.
"Wait, Rain, are you planning to fight barehanded? I mean, the monsters don’t seem that dangerous, so you’ll probably be fine, but still..."
"Nah, I’m going to fight with a weapon."
"You mean Narukami? But it doesn’t have any built-in offensive mechanisms, right?"
"There might be heavy fighting once we reach Kreigland... so before that, I want to try something out. These monsters will be the perfect test subjects."
Leaving the puzzled Tania to handle the carriage, we moved ahead.
Yuki drew his twin swords.
They were the disassembling kind, easy to carry around.
Gray, on the other hand, wielded a greatsword as tall as he was.
Its blade was broad—more like a giant slab of iron than a sword.
"Number of monsters... hmm, probably about seven?"
"You can tell?"
"I’ve had proper combat training. And my instructor was Gray—he’s taught me a lot."
"Just knowing how to fight isn’t enough in a real emergency. I’ve drilled everything I know into the Lord."
"I see."
Since Gray was boasting about him, Yuki's skills were probably quite impressive.
"How about I take three, and you and the Lord take two each?"
"Got it."
"Sure, works for me."
"Alright then... here I go!"
Without delay, Gray charged forward.
Effortlessly swinging his massive sword, he launched a preemptive attack.
"Gyuaa!?"
The ones hiding in the thicket were War Rats.
They were D-rank monsters, so not particularly powerful.
However, due to their small size and agility, there are plenty of stories about adventurers letting their guard down and suffering unexpected counterattacks.
"Oraaa!!"
Gray, without the slightest bit of carelessness, let out a fierce battle cry and brought his greatsword down.
He turned the blade sideways and slammed it down like a hammer.
One that had been slow to escape was crushed on the spot.
Startled by Gray’s preemptive strike, the remaining War Rats leapt out of the thicket.
They must have intended to ambush us, but having been beaten to the punch, they were clearly flustered.
"There!"
Yuki kicked off the ground and surged forward, thrusting both of his swords with that momentum.
Sharp enough to tear through the wind, his strike moved so fast it left the sound behind.
One War Rat was pierced straight through the torso and died instantly.
Yuki quickly pulled back his blades and launched a second strike, taking down a second one.
They’re both impressive.
I can't afford to fall behind, either.
I focused my mind...
And then “summoned” the daggers I had previously bought from Gantz’s shop into my hands.
I threw them.
Two more War Rats were cleanly taken out.
"Whoa, whoa... what kind of magic trick was that just now?"
"It looked like those daggers just appeared out of nowhere..."
After we’d finished clearing out the War Rats and confirmed the area was safe, the two of them looked at me in shock and asked.
Well, that reaction makes sense.
I hadn’t been holding anything a moment ago, and then suddenly I pulled out daggers from nowhere—it’s only natural they’d be surprised.
This is the power I gained from my contract with Iris... the ability called "Summon."
I can summon any object marked with a magical seal at any time, and to any location I choose.
It only works with inanimate objects—I can’t do absurd things like summon flames or another version of myself like Iris can...
But, as I just demonstrated, I can instantly resupply weapons or tools in the middle of combat.
It’s a pretty... no, very useful ability.
If I master it, it’ll become a powerful asset.
"Well... let's just say it’s one of my trump cards."
Not wanting to bring up Iris more than necessary, I left it at that and brushed off their questions.
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