—- Something’s wrong. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Nacht was repeating this in his mind as he ran away from the dungeon cave.
We [Crimson Lotus Fang] were supposed to be the strongest party.
We laid waste to all kinds of demons with our overwhelming firepower.
No one could stop our attacks, and we were even called invincible. We had never known struggle before, much less defeat.
And yet…….
And yet… I had to turn my back on the enemy again and run away helplessly.
A pack of demons was chasing us from behind.
They were giant worm demons — Deathworms.
They had sharp fangs and hard skin.
The poisonous liquid they spit out was powerful enough to melt not only armor but also bones.
The wizard Hannah, who was running away as well, shouted, “Nacht, if we continue like this, the demons will catch up with us! Since you’re a swordsman, you should hold them off for us rearguards!”
“…… our shield, please…”
The archer Irene left everything to me in a light tone.
“Don’t be stupid! Do you want me to stop that many of them all by myself!? You guys are irresponsibly forcing me to do this!”
“Ahh! Nacht is getting away!”
“…… you’re terrible. Not a leader.”
“Shut up! Don’t conveniently just call me your leader! Anyway, why are we even being targeted so much!?”
There had been many situations in the past where we’ve had to face a pack of demons.
They were far more powerful than the Deathworms that appeared this time. However, we were able to unilaterally overrun them without struggling.
That was because all of the enemies were full of gaps.
At that time, Nacth thought that the main reason was that they were strong. He thought that the difference in rank made the enemy’s movements seem slower.
But……
But the truth was that he was probably wrong.
Now that I thought about it…
The enemies all seemed to be distracted by something.
It was as if they were being forced to choose a target to attack.
As I recalled, the target of their attacks was…….
I tried to remember, but before I could, we were able to escape the dungeon.
…… Close call. If I had escaped even a little later, it would have caught up with me. We were about to become Deathworm feed.
Nacht and the others barely escaped with their lives and returned to the Adventurer’s Guild.
Their steps were heavy/
When the receptionist heard that they failed to complete their mission, she gave them a dumbfounded look. There was clearly a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
Nacht glared at the receptionist.
But since he failed the mission, there was nothing more he could do. He clicked his tongue and turned on his heel to go to the tavern.
He sat at a table with the other party members.
Since they had failed the mission, the atmosphere was not for a celebration party. On the other hand, they were not humble enough to hold a review party.
The only thing they could do was blame each other.
“Hannah, if you had released more magic, we wouldn’t have ended up like that. Isn’t your magic’s power too weak?”
“Haa!? My fault!? I told you that I can’t concentrate because you’re not holding your ground on the frontlines!”
“……I get it. It’s the fault of the vanguard when they make the rearguard feel uneasy.”
The members of the [Crimson Lotus Fang] were venting their anger at each other.
The adventurers seated around them began to grin and gossip as they watched them do so.
“Hey did you hear? The [Crimson Lotus Fang] failed another mission.”
“Again? How many times has this happened? Lately, they’ve been failing all the time. The strongest party has fallen quite a ways.”
“Didn’t they start to fail after one member left? It was that big guy named……. Sieg or something.”
“I’m sure those people of the [Crimson Lotus Fang] removed him from the party right? Could that Sieg guy be the actual key to the party?”
“You bastards! Stop spouting bullshit! Do you want to die!”, Nacht shouted and they all turned away at once.
Silence fell over the place.
Nacht clicked his tongue.
A scene came to his mind.
It was a scene where all demons were heading towards Sieg alone.
Nacht thought that it was because Sieg was being an idiot, but now that he thought about it, it looked like he was trying to get the demon’s attention.
“No. He was just standing there like a scarecrow. It just happened to look that way.”
Nacht dismissed Sieg.
“Hey, I’ll be taking an A-rank mission next.”
He told his party members.
“…Ha? What are you saying? We just failed a B-rank mission. A mission rank higher than that is impossible.”
“……Isn’t that… too much for us now?”
“Shut up! I can’t stand being ridiculed like this! I’m going to prove to everyone that Sieg’s power doesn’t matter!”
As Nacht stormed, Irene muttered uneasily, “……but, the next time we fail, it’s the end for us, right? We might be hung out to dry and never be able to take on another mission anymore.”
“If we succeed, there’s no problem at all,” said Nacht.
“Not yet……! We’re not done yet……! This time, we’ll complete the mission and make up for all the mistakes we’ve made.”
He clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails almost broke through his skin.
The other members were anxious, but one of them was burning with the will to fight.
—- Something’s wrong. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Nacht was repeating this in his mind as he ran away from the dungeon cave.
We [Crimson Lotus Fang] were supposed to be the strongest party.
We laid waste to all kinds of demons with our overwhelming firepower.
No one could stop our attacks, and we were even called invincible. We had never known struggle before, much less defeat.
And yet…….
And yet… I had to turn my back on the enemy again and run away helplessly.
A pack of demons was chasing us from behind.
They were giant worm demons — Deathworms.
They had sharp fangs and hard skin.
The poisonous liquid they spit out was powerful enough to melt not only armor but also bones.
The wizard Hannah, who was running away as well, shouted, “Nacht, if we continue like this, the demons will catch up with us! Since you’re a swordsman, you should hold them off for us rearguards!”
“…… our shield, please…”
The archer Irene left everything to me in a light tone.
“Don’t be stupid! Do you want me to stop that many of them all by myself!? You guys are irresponsibly forcing me to do this!”
“Ahh! Nacht is getting away!”
“…… you’re terrible. Not a leader.”
“Shut up! Don’t conveniently just call me your leader! Anyway, why are we even being targeted so much!?”
There had been many situations in the past where we’ve had to face a pack of demons.
They were far more powerful than the Deathworms that appeared this time. However, we were able to unilaterally overrun them without struggling.
That was because all of the enemies were full of gaps.
At that time, Nacth thought that the main reason was that they were strong. He thought that the difference in rank made the enemy’s movements seem slower.
But……
But the truth was that he was probably wrong.
Now that I thought about it…
The enemies all seemed to be distracted by something.
It was as if they were being forced to choose a target to attack.
As I recalled, the target of their attacks was…….
I tried to remember, but before I could, we were able to escape the dungeon.
…… Close call. If I had escaped even a little later, it would have caught up with me. We were about to become Deathworm feed.
Nacht and the others barely escaped with their lives and returned to the Adventurer’s Guild.
Their steps were heavy/
When the receptionist heard that they failed to complete their mission, she gave them a dumbfounded look. There was clearly a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
Nacht glared at the receptionist.
But since he failed the mission, there was nothing more he could do. He clicked his tongue and turned on his heel to go to the tavern.
He sat at a table with the other party members.
Since they had failed the mission, the atmosphere was not for a celebration party. On the other hand, they were not humble enough to hold a review party.
The only thing they could do was blame each other.
“Hannah, if you had released more magic, we wouldn’t have ended up like that. Isn’t your magic’s power too weak?”
“Haa!? My fault!? I told you that I can’t concentrate because you’re not holding your ground on the frontlines!”
“……I get it. It’s the fault of the vanguard when they make the rearguard feel uneasy.”
The members of the [Crimson Lotus Fang] were venting their anger at each other.
The adventurers seated around them began to grin and gossip as they watched them do so.
“Hey did you hear? The [Crimson Lotus Fang] failed another mission.”
“Again? How many times has this happened? Lately, they’ve been failing all the time. The strongest party has fallen quite a ways.”
“Didn’t they start to fail after one member left? It was that big guy named……. Sieg or something.”
“I’m sure those people of the [Crimson Lotus Fang] removed him from the party right? Could that Sieg guy be the actual key to the party?”
“You bastards! Stop spouting bullshit! Do you want to die!”, Nacht shouted and they all turned away at once.
Silence fell over the place.
Nacht clicked his tongue.
A scene came to his mind.
It was a scene where all demons were heading towards Sieg alone.
Nacht thought that it was because Sieg was being an idiot, but now that he thought about it, it looked like he was trying to get the demon’s attention.
“No. He was just standing there like a scarecrow. It just happened to look that way.”
Nacht dismissed Sieg.
“Hey, I’ll be taking an A-rank mission next.”
He told his party members.
“…Ha? What are you saying? We just failed a B-rank mission. A mission rank higher than that is impossible.”
“……Isn’t that… too much for us now?”
“Shut up! I can’t stand being ridiculed like this! I’m going to prove to everyone that Sieg’s power doesn’t matter!”
As Nacht stormed, Irene muttered uneasily, “……but, the next time we fail, it’s the end for us, right? We might be hung out to dry and never be able to take on another mission anymore.”
“If we succeed, there’s no problem at all,” said Nacht.
“Not yet……! We’re not done yet……! This time, we’ll complete the mission and make up for all the mistakes we’ve made.”
He clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails almost broke through his skin.
The other members were anxious, but one of them was burning with the will to fight.
