...Curtis was putting too much force into his body.
That's what I thought to myself as I looked at Curtis's completely relaxed expression.
He was glaring at the Bird Imitator as if he had a personal grudge against her, but it was probably the first time Curtis and this demon had met.
Nevertheless, the reason why he was glaring at Bird Imitator with such hatred was probably because he regretted not being able to protect me in his previous life and burning with enmity towards demons in general, wasn't he?
Curtis wasn't in the Demon King's castle when I confronted the Demon King in my previous life, so there was no need for him to feel responsible, but I felt sorry for him because he was a loyal person.
Then, I shifted my gaze to the demon I was facing, trying to help as much as I could to repay Curtis.
The Bird Imitator stood with her feet pressed together and her arms sticking out as she glared at Curtis and the three people surrounding her.
However, as if sensing her gaze, I quickly turned my head and found her staring at me with a hateful expression on her face.
"Red hair, who are you!? Why can you use lost magic?"
...That was a very legitimate question.
There were many saints in my previous life, but I was the only one who could strengthen the body and use defensive magic, so everyone must have thought that everything was lost with the death of the Great Saint.
And yet, when she saw me using magic that was supposed to be lost one after another, it's only natural that she had doubts.
While I was wondering how to answer, Curtis cut off Bird Imitator's question in a cold voice.
"That's rude. She's not someone a demon can talk to, so please be careful with your words." (Curtis)
...Ah, that's right. Just because I was asked didn't necessarily mean I had to answer.
It was dangerous, I almost said something unnecessary, but as I was thinking about it, I saw Curtis raising his sword and heading towards the Bird Imitator.
Bird Imitator tried to block Curtis' attack by tying her hair into a bun like before, but with a high-pitched sound, her hair was cut off.
"What!?"
The Bird Imitator looked up at Curtis in surprise, but he remained expressionless as he brushed the sword aside and cut off a new strand of hair.
I was impressed by his courage and the sharpness of his sword skills.
...Actually, the difficulty of fighting as a saint changed more depending on the combat skills of her companions than the strength of the enemy.
If you were not used to attacking jobs, you might make unexpected movements and got caught up in the enemy's attack.
However, in that respect, Curtis was an extremely easy comrade to fight with.
This was because he was my escort knight in my previous life, and not only did he spend more time with me than anyone else, but he also took part in most of the battles I participated in, so there was no one else could understand each other with as much as we do.
...No, there was only one person, but he was an exception because he was too strong to begin with.
Reminding me of the silver-haired, silver-eyed commander of the Imperial Guard from my previous life, I shook my head and chased that figure away, thinking that such a substandard knight was of no use to me.
Then, I focused on the battle in front of me.
Although he was able to rip off the Bird Imitator's wings, there was no doubt that this demon was still frighteningly strong.
As proof of this, half of the hair that was cut off had already grown back, and there were almost no scratches on other parts of the body.
Not only Curtis, but also Green and Blue were clearly top-notch attackers, and if the opponent wasn't a demon with a crest, the battle would have ended quickly, but this time it was the opponent's fault.
This was because the crested demon was not an opponent that could be defeated by just three people in the first place.
Even so, none of the three seemed to have weakened at all, and they were calmly chipping away at the Bird Imitator's life force little by little.
They carefully blocked the Bird Imitator's attacks, and when they saw an opening, they delivered a heavy, sharp blow.
"...You're really strong." (Fia)
I looked at the three fighting men with admiration.
Their courage to not back down in a situation where their life was at stake, their insight to assess the situation calmly, and their high level of skill as an attacker were all high-class.
However—there was still one more step left to make a decisive blow against the Bird Imitator.
Then, perhaps because they understood this and became impatient, or perhaps because fatigue was accumulating, Green and Blue started making mistakes, and the Bird Imitator started attacking them.
Of course, I immediately healed the wounds they sustained, but I didn't think the situation was very good.
If we didn't maintain this, the gap would only widen.
And, as there was no way a demon who had been alive for a long time would miss this opportunity, the Bird Imitator stiffened her arms like swords and stepped in, inflicting wounds on Green's side and Blue's thigh.
The wounds on both of them were deep, and fresh blood splattered out.
"Recovery!" (Fia)
Although they were instantly healed, there was no way they could erase the feeling of their bodies being gouged, and the psychological damage continued to accumulate.
And with each attack, the fatigue seemed to accumulate.
The Bird Imitator, on the other hand, showed no signs of fatigue and continued to attack with the same agility as at the start of the battle.
Her expression seemed both triumphant and relaxed.
——The Bird Imitator's absolute confidence was probably due to her attributes.
Each monster had an attribute such as earth or water, and was influenced by their own attribute, but all demons had a dark attribute.
This dark attribute fed on it, and although it was extremely weak against light attributes, it was strong against others.
That's why the three's attacks were weakened and didn't do much damage.
In order to overcome this situation, it would be best to lower the demon's attributes, but... it was possible to lower the attributes of the opponent you were fighting, but only the dark attribute required technique.
If you didn't time it at the moment when your opponent used a large amount of magical power—for example, when you're about to activate a big technique, the effect wouldn't show up properly.
...We're in trouble.
I was not very good at guiding people, I thought, but since I didn't have anyone else to help, I gave up and quickly raised my hand.
In short, all I had to do was make them think there was a gap.
"What?! When I raised my hand, for some reason my outstretched hand got caught in a tree—and I fell down!!" (Fia)
While uttering explanatory words out loud, I leaned forward and tried to fall.
Then I heard Green and Blue's confused voices.
"...Fia?" (Green, Blue)
When the sound of the attack stopped, I looked up a little from where I was lying on the ground and saw Green and Blue, who had distanced themselves from the Bird Imitator, looking at me with puzzled looks.
I didn't have the courage to check on Curtis, but I felt a strong gaze on me, as if he were staring at me intently.
From behind, I heard Zavilia's exasperated sigh.
……I thought so.
I was trying to put my best foot forward, but no one made a sound of surprise, so I guessed they noticed that I had fallen on purpose.
Hmm, normally my acting wasn't bad, but this time I felt like I had to act as a guide, so I felt a strange force in my acting, and it ended up being a bit of a joke.
However, even if Curtis and the others could see that it was an act, there's no way the demons, who didn't really understand humans, would think it was an act, so I remained on the ground, thinking that I would get caught.
Then, as expected, I fell to the ground, casting strange magic one after another, and Curtis and the other three moved away from the Bird Imitator. Thinking she had more time, the demon arched her back, tried to grow wings from her back again.
Then, the moment some of the wings started to bulge out from the demon's back, I stood up with a full force and proudly opened my mouth.
"I caught you, demon! It was an acting that I fell!!" (Fia)
"Huh!?" (Gree, Blue)
Green and Blue's eyes widened in shock, as if they thought the demon believed my performance.
No, no, as I said, the demon is actually being deceived.
Demons didn't understand humans at all, so they could easily fall for acts that seemed contrived to both of us.
While saying this in my mind, I spread my arms toward the demon in order to fulfill my role.
"Sink, O rich power that belongs to you—[Physical Weakness] Dark attribute reduced by 30%!" (Fia)