Chapter 11 - May I nibble your―――
To complete our monster extermination quest, Emma and I made our way to the Ahone grasslands. However, this time wasn't about hunting goblins.
Today's target was called "Big Rabite", a rabbitlike creature.
They normally don't appear in these plains, but it seems like every now and then they find their way here and set up nest.
There is a problem with that.
When big rabites discover a place to live in, they bring along others not long after and before you know it their number has increased manifold. They are stronger than goblins and because they eat the grass off entire plains they're also bad for the environment.
And thus the country employs adventurers, keeping them in check.
"I wonder where they are~?"
"Let's try over there."
These fields certainly were vast. We wandered them for a while until we eventually found not a rabbit, but a goblin. A lot of them moved around on their own around here, but this time two of them had grouped up.
"Giggoo!"
The two goblins charged at us while running side-by-side, visibly agitated.
"They're coming, watch out."
"I'll take the right one!"
The left one for me, then. They were level 10 and... males, evidently. There are male and female goblins, but it's easy to tell them apart with a look at their... groins.
Since there was still the big rabite battle ahead of us I opted to preserve some mana and just fired a stone bullet size 30 at my opponent's crotch. A direct hit.
With a "Giauun" the goblin stopped its charge, lowering its head and cowering in pain.
I stepped into close range and performed a downward swing.
*Zash-!!*
A clean cut―――would have looked cool.
Instead, its cranium was tougher than expected and my blade got stuck midway. Well, it was still a fatal attack so it worked out. However, if I were attacked by another goblin at that time I would've been in trouble.
"Iga!?"
The other one let out a short scream as Emma sent it flying with a cluster of wind. A magic spell, 「Wind Attack」.
From there she leapt at the goblin, defeating it with a stab to its throat.
Sure enough, her movements were smooth and without a hint of disorder. ...Well, no surprise. My battle career paled in comparison to hers. After all, unlike her, my levels were gained by comfortably killing gold slimes. Emma had always fought by freely switching between her daggers and wind magic.
"Uwa, as expected, you settled it first..."
"Haha, are you sure about that? Behold my glorious appearance,"
I said as I struggled with unlodging my sword from the goblin's cranium.
Emma came to lend me a hand by gripping the handle with me and the wind carried her fragrance along.
"...Nice smell, from your hair."
"Huh!? Wh-where'd that come from?"
"I don't mean it in some weird sense, I just thought you must be using some nice shampoo."
"Uh, yeah... I guess? Don't you use any?"
"No shampoo over at my family. And if there were, father would just sell it right away."
"That's..."
It hadn't been too long since Alice and mother got upset at him over it, resulting in father jumping into a kneeling position and apologizing.
That said, I suppose sniffing people's hair is a rather perverted tic to have,...
At that time I remembered a saying, "Put into action what you thought of today."
Precisely because we were childhood friends, there was a favor I could ask of her―――
"...You're not kidding around?"
"I'm telling you, it's necessary."
"Then it's fine if you do, but tell me why. You're hiding something important from me, aren't you?"
In the end, Emma knew when I was hiding things from her. After spending the majority of our lives together she easily saw through me.
And so I told her everything―――of the Hidden Dungeon, my powers, and the LP system. Of course, only after having her promise not to tell anyone else about it.
"―――Alright, so let's go to the Hidden Dungeon together!"
"Sorry, master prohibited that."
"Don't let anyone else enter, okay~?", is what I was told. In addition, I myself didn't want Emma to come along either, to be honest. Gold slimes aside, I wouldn't want her fighting something like a dead reaper.
"That's mean, won't you be the only one getting stronger then."
"Although as far as that goes I've also been trying to think of something."
"Boo, since that's how it is I'll be taking on the big rabite on my own, hmph!"
Acting as peevish as she could she walked ahead. Showing the childishness of someone our age like that was also part of her. A cute part.
Well, I could always lend her a hand when things got dangerous.
"Ah, found one."
In a particularly vast spot a big rabite was chewing on some grass. The ground around it was bare to the earth, probably because of its excessive eating.
Big rabites sure are huge.
Going by its appearance it looked pretty much like a normal rabbit, except with three horns, but its impression was far from a normal rabbit's cute one. Its vertical height reached two meters and it had a good amount of meat on it as well. For being a herbivore it did well in gathering that many nutrients.
With rabbit habits as the monster's base, its attacks were reckless; having seen a human it was certain to attack. This time was no exception.
With surprisingly light movements for a body of its size it came attacking.
"Here I go―――!"
She fired herself up and first of all, a wind attack!
Hoh, a hit. However, the rabite endured. With a sliding sound it shifted its legs, taking some distance.
"And another one!"
She fired again, but no luck this time. With a bouncy step the rabite dodged it. 'In that case!,' Emma charged at it. Her hands gripping a dagger each, blades facing downward.
There was a swishing noise as she moved her nimble arms across the enemy's white body, leaving red lines in her daggers' trace.
That's when the rabite itself switched to offense.
It whirled its head, trying to stab Emma with its three pointed horns, but thanks to her quick movements it couldn't even graze her. Incidentally, the rabite's level was 40. Not too formidable of a foe.
*Swish, whoosh, swoosh*
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