Legend

The summit of the mountain where the Harpies nested. There were few plants nearby and there were several large rocks in the area. It looked completely like a wasteland.

There was a cave at the top of the mountain. There were three Harpies nearby. Two stood to the left and right of the cave entrance. The last one stood slightly further away from the cave entrance.

In this situation, Rei and the others looked on from a distance further way where trees still grew thick.

「……There are Harpies on guard, it seems?」

Brazos nodded at Freon’s words as he watched the three Harpies near the entrance of the cave.

「Seems to be so. As you can see, Harpies have a human’s head and body and are intelligent monsters. It’s not surprising that they understand the concept of guards.」

「Is that so? Now that I think about it, even Goblins will have guards, so it’s reasonable if I think about it.」

「That said, these guards are still a nuisance. ……What will we do? I don’t want to kill them only to alert the rest of their friends.」

Rei turned to look at the cave as he muttered.

There were no plant around the cave, particularly where the Harpies stood guard. All there was on the ground were the bones of animals and monsters that the Harpies had eaten. ……There also seemed to be bones belonging to people. Harpies seemed to eat the internal organs and skin in addition to the flesh. This was a blessing for their party that there were only bones rolling around and no foul odour.

「……I don’t see anything that might burn near the nest, in this situation I don’t think we need to worry about causing a fire?　If that cave is the Harpies’ nest, I think it would be best to quickly take down the guards and then throw fire magic into the cave.」

Looking around after hearing Rei’s words, Freon thought about it.

Freon and Brazos had dismissed Rei’s previous proposal because they had thought that the Harpies’ nest was built on the tall trees growing near the top……the situation had changed now that the Harpies’ nest was in a cave.

Rei’s weapon was a scythe. Brazos’ weapon was a huge hammer. Set had a huge body over 2m in size. Although they couldn’t predict how much space was inside the cave, it would still be difficult for the three people and one animal to fight at the same time.

(Well, since the Harpies built a nest inside, there’s no doubt that there would be enough room for them to fly inside.

Freon grasped her long sword as she stared at the cave.

「……What will we do? I don’t really want to go inside that cave.」

Rei grasped his Death Scythe. Their weapons were all similarly large.

「That’s right. ……Freon, as Rei said, there’s no need to worry about causing a fire. All the more because it’s a cave. On the other hand, I feel that we can wipe them in one stroke like this.」

「That, is true. I certainly don’t know what would happen if we have to go inside the cave. It would be suicidal to have to fight inside there. As long as the Harpies are inside, there should be enough room to fly. But looking at the entrance, it’s quite narrow. ……In that case, the worst case is that the entrance is narrow but there is room for Harpies to freely fly further up inside. ……It can’t be helped. Let’s use Rei’s suggestion then?」

Freon said that with a sigh. At those words, Rei nodded and turned to look at the three Harpy guards.

「Well, then……what do we do with the guards. If we want to use my magic to make a surprise attack on them, the three of them will definitely try to stop me from casting magic into the cave.」

「……Rei, are there any projectile weapons in your itembox?」

「Hmm, that’s right. There are spears I can throw.」

Rei answered Freon’s question as he turned to his Misty Ring. In the bracelet, there were quite a few spear that he had collected from the bandits that had been killed during his rank up test. Regarding throwing the spears, he had already confirmed their usefulness when he had gone to the dungeon with Elena.

「Besides that, there’s also wind magic……but it would be a bit difficult from this range.」

It was about 200m from the bushes where Rei and the others were to the cave. It wasn’t much of a problem for Rei to throw a spear that far. Fire magic had an emphasis on power. However, it was out of range for the Death Scythe’s Flying Slash, which he was masking as wind magic.

Alternatively, if he could use a large scale fire magic, the distance of 200m would be nothing. However, there was no doubt that the Harpies inside the cave would notice if he did that.

「……Now then, what do we do? We can’t hesitate here.」

「Right now, it’s not like we have no options. But even then, we will need some luck.」

「What? We don’t have any other options so if you have a better idea, we will use it. Please tell us.」

At Freon’s words, Rei turned towards the quiet Set.

「The easiest way would be for Freon and Brazos to throw the spears to strike the Harpies……」

The two of them shook their heads at Rei’s words.

「To throw something like that, it would be impossible to hit our target unless we had taken special training.」

「That’s right. I’m confident in my strength, but even I have to say that it would be difficult hit them accurately.」

(In my case, I can easily hit them from here……)

Although Rei thought to himself, he knew it was due to the physical performance of the body that Zepairu had made so he didn’t say it.

「Then this is the other choice……first of all, I can kill one with a throwing spear from here so set me aside. Set will attack from above and take one of the remaining two. The last one……either Freon or Brazos, will attack while riding on Set.」

「What!」

「Are you serious!?」

Freon and Brazos raised surprised voices at Rei’s words. After all, they had just been told to ride on the back of a Griffon.

However, it was true that this was the best way to ensure that they killed all the Harpy guards. The two of them looked at each other to push the role of the surprise attacker to the other. But……

「Freon will conduct the surprise attack.」

Rei’s words decided who would conduct the surprise attack.

「Wait a moment!　Why was I picked!」

In order to avoid being heard by the Harpies, Freon grabbed Rei’s shoulders while shouting quietly. Next to her, Brazos gave a sigh of relief.

「Calm down, the reason is simple. Aside from strength, for a Dwarf to make a sneak attack……moreover, as a Human, Freon has the better agility required to attack while riding on Set.」

「Mu~, that certainly is true……what, like this……I don’t feel like I’m happy about it at all.」

「Why don’t you swap with me then?　I don’t mind at all. Or should I say, would you be fine with me riding on your back Set?　I heard that a Dragon Knight’s dragon would refuse anyone else riding on it aside from its knight.」

「Gururu~」

Leave it to me, Set seemed to say with a cry.

To Set, someone riding on his back wasn’t that special a thing.

「In that case, wait here with Rei.」

Rei shook his head at Brazos words and handed him a spear he had taken out from the Misty Ring.

「Rei?」

「With my throw and Set’s attack, we will definitely kill two Harpies. However, Freon riding on Set……I mean, won’t this be the first time she has flown in the sky?」

「Of course! I mean, this isn’t something you can experience easily!」

Freon shouted loudly at Rei’s words.

「That’s why. Just in case, Brazos needs to be ready to throw a spear at any time as well. If Freon’s surprise attack fails, then it’s sink or swim if we want to stop them from calling for help.」

「Wait a moment. If I fail to kill the Harpy I’m aiming for……in that situation, I’ll be right next to the target Brazos is aiming for!　You know that Brazos almost never throws spears right?　Do you want to kill me Rei!」

「……About that, I can only ask you leave the area as soon as possible if you fail to kill the Harpy.」

「Tch, seriously. I understand. ……Brazos. If you hit me, no drinking for three months.」

「Mu……mu……」

Brazos wanted to retort, but felt that he would be hit if he talked back right now. However, even being forbidden to drink for a few days would kill him. If he couldn’t drink for 3 months, he would die for sure. While feeling the dilemma, he received the spear from Rei without any complaints.

「Anyway, these are some cheap spears Rei.」

Brazos muttered when he touched the spear Rei passed him. He could understand the quality of the spear just by touching it. Maybe that was one of the advantages Dwarven blacksmiths had.

「They belonged to the bandits I defeated during my rank up test. I know the quality is bad. Or rather, if they were of good quality, I can’t throw them as disposable weapons.」

「No, throwing spears are usually lighter, it’s common to use short spears. In the first place, as projectile weapons, bow and arrows are better.」

「But don’t you have to use both hands with a bow and arrow?　Not to boast, but with my strength, I can kill them with a single blow.」

Taking out a spear for himself, Rei turned to look at the Harpies.

「Set will attack the one closest to the cave entrance……that is, the one on the right.」

「Guru~」

「Freon will take the one to the left of the entrance.」

「Ahh, okay. I understand. You should be prepared for the worst!」

Freon half nodded in mild desperation.

Looking at Freon, Brazos mumbled.

「In times like this, experience adventurers would normally be the ones giving instructions.」

「Don’t say that. In the first place, it’s wrong to call Rei a rookie.」

Saying those words out with a sigh, Freon went towards Set.

「Set, I’ve never rode a monster like you. So, I’m not familiar with it……is that still okay?」

「Gurururu~」

Leave to me, Set seemed to say with a cry.

「Well then, because Set and I will go up……that, I’ll leave the Harpies inside to you.」

「Ah. ……Right, I forgot to mention. In the end, this is only a surprise attack.」

Freon lightly tapped the hood over Rei’s head when he said that.

「I know already. You don’t have to worry about all that. Don’t tell me that because it’s a surprise attack that you can still defeat them if I fail.」

「……Sorry. That’s right, you’ve been an adventurer much longer than I have so you know what you can do.」

As Rei said that, he remembered that he had only been in Gimuru for several months. Because of that, he had only been an adventurer for several months.

Normally, he would still be stuck at F rank.

「Well, I’ll show you want an expert can do. ……Set, let’s go.」

「Guru~」

Giving a cry, Set went back down the path that they had come up with Freon. He needed to go somewhere where he could fly up without the Harpies seeing him.

Seeing them off, they watched the Harpies as they hid behind the trees bushes. About five minutes later, Brazos spoke up.

「Rei.」

「Is there anything wrong?」

「No, that’s nothing wrong. ……That is, pardon me. After this request is over, why don’t you stay with Crushing Warriors?」

Brazos turned to look at Rei intently with a serious expression.

「In other words, not as a temporary member?」

「Ah. You’re smart and you have good judgement. There’s no need to talk about fighting strength. There is also Set.」

「……」

「You won’t say that you will work solo forever right?　You’re still D rank so you can manage somehow. But with your skills, you’ll eventually reach C, B and A rank. At that point in time, if you were still solo……you know what I want to say?」

(It’s true that I can get along with the two of them quite nicely. ……Liquor aside. But……)

Thinking to himself, Rei eventually spoke up.

「Well, I will give an answer after we finish this request.」

For now, he decided to shelve the issue.

「……Well, that’s fine. That aside, it should be time soon.」

Regardless if it was an ability peculiar to Dwarves, Brazos looked up into the dark night sky.

Rei turned his eyes to look as well and saw Set flying above. On his back, he could see Freon clinging to Set.

For an ordinary human, they wouldn’t be able to see that far in the dark. However, the body that Zepairu had made for Rei easily broke that common sense.

From Rei’s movements, Brazos realised that Rei had night vision as good as his. However, he now focused on the surprise attack and clenched the spear that Rei had given him in one hand without saying anything, ready to throw it at any time.

Beside him, Rei stood by, ready to throw his spear at any time.……

「Here it comes!」

With Brazos’ voice, Set glided down without a sound and use his sharp forefoot to crush the head of a Harpy protecting the cave entrance. At the same time, Freon jumped off his back and swung down at the head of the other Harpy.

As expected, it was impossible to control her posture in the air so she couldn’t cut it’s head off. Even so, the Harpy Freon targeted was slashed from its neck down to its body, killing it instantly.

「Kyi~!?」

The last one was standing a bit further away. The moment it tried to turn around to see what had happened, the spear thrown by Rei destroyed its head, splattering brains, body fluids and the rest of the contents in its head into the surroundings.