There was a monster's reaction on my detection skill.
"Kyuu~n" (Both Kuma)
Kumayuru and Kumakyu came over to me.
"I know." (Yuna)
The monster's reaction was that of a Tigerwolf. The Tigerwolf's reaction was to slowly approach, as if stalking prey. As I was thinking about what to do, Lydia-san stood up.
"Something is approaching." (Lydia)
"A monster?!" (Zect)
"The sound of stepping on grass and trees is heavy. It's louder than a wolf." (Lydia)
Lydia-san checked, holding her hand to her ear.
"Weren't you holding back your mana?" (Marne)
Marne-san asked in shock.
"I was holding it back. I was worried that I might be attacked while collecting them." (Lydia)
"I told you it'll be fine because Yuna is here." (Marne)
"That's true., though" (Lydia)
"You can't stop long-standing behavior, aren't you?" (Marne)
Marne-san sighed.
"Yuna, so what about these kids?" (Marne)
"Like Tigerwolf" (Yuna)
The three of them turned pale at my words.
"We need to get out of here quickly. Lydia, which way is it coming from?" (Zect)
"From that direction." (Lydia)
Lydia-san pointed to the trees in the distance. She had really good ears. The detection skill also showed Tigerwolf in the direction Lydia-san was pointing.
"What's the distance?" (Zect)
"We're far apart, but if it starts running..." (Lydia)
Even if it was 100 meters away, if the Tigerwolf ran, it would catch up in no time.
"Let's slowly get out of here." (Zect)
As if this was normal, Zect-san started cleaning up. They were very efficient.
"Yes. We've gathered enough. Let's get out of here." (Lydia)
Are we running away?
It's been a while since I last saw Tigerwolf. It was a souvenir for Fina.
"Can't we fight?" (Yuna)
"What are you talking about?" (Marne)
They looked at me like I was a stupid child.
"Well, it's been a while since I last saw Tigerwolf." (Yuna)
"What, you're talking like you're meeting an acquaintance after a long time? Are you stupid? It's a Tigerwolf, right? The only option is to run away!" (Marne)
Apparently, she thought I was stupid after all.
"Marne-san, you're too loud." (Lydia)
Lydia-san warner her, but it was too late.
"It's coming!" (Lydia)
Lydia-san panicked. When I checked my detection skill, I saw that it was coming towards me at an incredible speed. It's better to fight back than to run away.
"All three of you step back! Kumayuru and Kumakyu please stand by." (Yuna)
If I looked in the direction the Tigerwolf was coming from, it would jump out.
"What? Are Tigerwolfs that big?" (Marne)
"I've seen a slain Tigerwolf before, but it wasn't this big." (Yuna)
It was one or two times larger than any Tigerwolf I had ever defeated. It's not huge enough to be called gigantic, but it did feel like it's boss-class. A growl escaped its mouth, and it looked at us.
"Sorry, I was yelling too loud." (Marne)
"What should we do?"
"Let's get on these kids and escape." (Marne)
"I'll fight, so you three don't leave Kumayuru and Kumakyu." (Yuna)
A Tigerwolf for a long time. It would be a souvenir for Fina. Even when it grew up, it would just a Tigerwolf.
"Yuna, are you okay?" (Marne)
"Marne-san, you heard the story from Ellelaura-san, right?" (Yuna)
"Even if I knew that, I would still be worried if I encountered a Tigerwolf in real life." (Marne)
"it's okay" (Yuna)
I smiled to reassure. The Tigerwolf started walking clockwise, checking out the situation. I also started walking diagonally. As I started walking towards the Tigerwolf, it turned its head towards me, as if it had recognized me as the first prey to be taken down. As we looked at each other, the Tigerwolf's legs tightened. The moment I thought it was coming, the Tigerwolf stepped forward.
It's fast.
The distance could be closed. It tried to bite me with its sharp fangs. I dodged to the side, turned my body around, and fired an air bullet, being careful not to damage the fur. The Tigerwolf twisted its body and dodged the air bullets attacking from behind.
Did it avoid it?
It's different from the Tigerwolf I fought before. After dodging the air bullets, the Tigerwolf quickly turned around and attacked.
It's fast.
I jumped backwards and tried to escape, but the Tigerwolf stepped forward and closed the distance. The Tigerwolf's claws came charging at me. As it landed, I deflected the Tigerwolf's front paw with a bear punch. I stepped forward and punched it in the face. The Tigerwolf was sent flying after being hit by a bear punch.
To corner it further, I fired an air bullet before the Tigerwolf could get into position. The moment it seemed the air bullet had hit its target, the Tigerwolf landed on the ground and turned its body over.
Hey!
The Tigerwolf dodged the air bullets and attacked me. It opened its mouth wide. I unleashed a bear punch at its open mouth. The bear punch that was released was wrapped in electricity. The Tigerwolf bit the bear puppet, which was covered in electricity. The Tigerwolf's fangs were unable to crush my bear puppet, and it fell with a thud.
All right, I was able to take it down without damaging its fur.
"Yuna, are you okay!" (Marne)
Marne-san came running over.
"I'm okay" (Yuna)
"There's no way you're okay. You've been bitten." (Marne)
Marne-san touched my hand, which had been bitten by the tigerwolf, with a worried look on her face.
"There's no blood huh, but it's possible that a bone is broken." (Marne)
"It's okay, I cast a spell inside the tigerwolf's mouth before it bit me." (Yuna)
I shook my wrist in proof. If you had a broken bone or are in pain, you wouldn't be able to move your wrist.
"You seem to be okay, aren't you? I was really scared when I thought you'd been bitten." (Marne)
Marne-san looked relieved.
It seemed I worried her.
But I found myself feeling a little happy when people worried about me.
"What are you laughing at?" (Marne)
"Thank you for your concern. But I'm sure with a Tigerwolf I will be fine." (Yuna)
"About that..."
"If we had fought, we would have died." (Zect)
"I don't even want to fight in the first place." (Marne)
"Even so, it's pretty big, right?"
Looking at it again, it's the largest Tigerwolf ever seen. It was a great souvenir for Fina. I put the Tigerwolf in Bear Box. Now that the danger had passed, we resumed collecting Veltora Grass. After that, there were no monster attacks, and the harvesting finished safely.
"So, what are you guys going to do? Go home?" (Marne)
"If possible, I would like to go home with Marne-san." (Lydia)
"If we go back by ourselves, the herbs we picked will just be taken away." (Zect)
"Of course, if you two say we're in the way, we'll go home." (Lydia)
"If you'd like to come with me, I can show you where to find other herbs." (Zect)
"That's right. Yuna, it's up to you to decide." (Marne)
She also gave me the power to make decisions. Marne-san seemed to want to know where the medicinal herbs were and seemed to want to take me with her. That being said, she didn't force her feelings on others. She wanted my opinion as a proper guard.
Well, when said there were monsters, wolves or goblins. The the tigerwolves. There was also a giant Snake, but according to Lydia-san and Marne-san, it's not a monster you would encounter often. If an emergency occurs, just get on Kumayuru and Kumakyu and escape.
"Okay, but please follow my instructions, okay?" (Yuna)
"Yeah" (Lydia)
"Okay." (Zect)
So, Lydia-san and Zect-san decided to accompany Marne-san to the tree she was looking for.
"So, where is this tree that Marne-san is looking for?" (Zect)
"Unfortunately, I don't have any more detailed information. The adventurer who gave us the information was attacked by a monster and ran around as best he could." (Marne)
"So, you don't know which way it is?" (Zect)
Marne-san shook her head.
"All I know is that they headed west." (Marne)
Even though it's west, it's a wide area, but since that's the only information we had, we had no choice but to head west.
"Any other information?" (Zect)
"They said they passed by the explosive flower, I think?" (Marne)
"Exploding flower? What kind of flower has such a scary name?" (Yuna)
"Just as the name suggests, it's an explosive flower. It's a very dangerous flower." (Marne)
An explosion, like a bomb?
"Oh, then we might know." (Zect)
"Do you guys know?" (Marne)
"I can guide you as far as you can." (Zect)
So that's how we ended up heading for the exploding flowers.
"There's a ribbon, huh?"
"That's what we put on." (Marne)
"Is the ribbon black and dirty?"
The tip of the ribbon is black.
"It's dangerous up ahead."
"Dangerous?" (Yuna)
What do you mean?
"Even though this girl is an adventurer, she doesn't know the meaning of ribbons." (Marne)
That's because I'm a rookie adventurer who hasn't even been here a year, right?
"If after tying the ribbon, we discover that the path you are travelling towards is dangerous, we will make the end of the ribbon black, warning any adventurers who pass by of the danger." (Marne)
"That's what it means." (Yuna)
"Of course, it's up to the adventurer whether they trust him or not." (Marne)
"Sometimes we put them on if we find treasure up ahead and don't want other adventurers to get too close." (Zect)
"It's up to you to decide whether to trust it and turn back, or to go ahead, thinking that there might be treasure hidden there." (Marne)
To prevent others from stealing the treasure. Now I'm starting to get suspicious.
"It's about it." (Zect)
"Are we getting closer?" (Marne)
"I think so. I just want to check it out from a distance." (Zect)
We moved as far as we could see.
"They really are explosive flowers, right?"
Tulip-like flowers were blooming. To be precise, they were still in bud.
"This is dangerous, right? I was thinking of picking them if they were in bloom." (Marne)
"How powerful is the explosion?" (Yuna)
I asked, and saw a deer coming towards me head on. A deer hopped and just as I thought it had entered a group of flowers with buds, it collapsed.
"What!?" (Yuna)
I couldn't see it clearly, but the buds had burst.
"Did the flower explode?" (Yuna)
"When a living thing approaches the explosive flower, the buds will explode, releasing the seeds contained within. These seeds are powerful enough to pierce the body of any nearby creature." (Marne)
"Then what about that deer?" (Yuna)
"It died with holes ripped all over its body." (Marne)
I mean, like a shotgun[1]? What is that? That's scary.
"And they grow by feeding on dead organisms." (Marne)
Scary.
"Well then, should we dispose of this explosive flower..." (Yuna)
"It's better to leave them there. They'll kill any monsters that get too close. These plants will help reduce the number of dangerous monsters." (Marne)
Certainly, it would be helpful if they could defeat the monsters. If they knew the location of the flowers were here, they just have to stay away.
"By the way, they are said to be powerful because they grow from the flesh and blood of fallen monsters and the power of magic stones." (Marne)
That was why I was scared.
"I thought I'd just get one for my research, but that seems difficult." (Marne)
"Shall I go get it?" (Yuna)
"Yuna, did you hear what I said? It's dangerous. If you go near it, you'll meet the same fate as that deer." (Marne)
"I think I'll be able to manage it." (Yuna)
As I said this, I turned my attention to the exploding flower. All you had to do was stay away. When I put mana into it, I created a mini bear golem.
Author's Note
It's been a while since we got a Tigerwolf. It's a souvenir for Fina.
*Posting will occur every 4 days.
If I will be taking a break, I will announce this in the postscript, and if I am suddenly unable to post, I will let you know in an activity report or on X (the former Twitter).
[Book release schedule]
Book volume 20.5 was released on May 2, 2024. (The next volume, volume 21, is planned and in the works.)
The 12th volume of the comic was released on August 3, 2024. (The release date for the next volume, 13, has not yet been decided.)
The second volume of the comic spin-off was released on March 5, 2024.
The paperback version, volume 10, was released on October 4, 2024. (The deadline for the campaign to win a big acrylic stand featuring Yuna and Sanya on the cover is August 20, 2024. 20 lucky winners will receive a prize.) (The next volume, volume 11, is scheduled to be released on October 4.)
*Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Some of the kanji have been corrected to match the book, so please understand that there are some parts that have not been corrected.
Translator's Comment
[1] I think it's more like claymore or landmine?