Abandoned Reincarnation

Chapter 25 – Contingency

We went through the city and arrived at the gate that was on the opposite side of the gate I usually traveled through.

There were a lot of gatekeepers here, probably to make sure nobody tried to get past the gate while the road was blockaded.

Ms. Lily, the representative of our group, spoke to the gatekeepers and explained the situation to them. The gatekeepers then nodded and opened the sealed gate for us.

Beyond the gate, I could get a nice view of the highway ahead of us.

The forest was to the left of the highway, and monsters that should usually be within the forest were currently hanging out on the road.

Specifically, I could see Goblins, Horned Rabbits, Forest Wolves and Orcs on the highway… It was quite the large variety.

“Vanguards, follow me. I’ll take care of the nearest monsters, while the rest of you should be taking care of the strays and support us. Be careful to not make any mistakes, and be especially careful to not hit your allies.

“And please, don’t be reckless.” Ms. Lily told us.

“Those of you who aren’t confident in yourselves should just go to the corner and suck on your fingers! Don’t mess up, small fries!” Mr. Roland exclaimed.

It was decided that I would be at the rearguard during this operation, which I was thankful for, as it would be troublesome if I had to be at the vanguard.

Mr. Roland and Ms. Lily were the highest ranking adventurers in our group, so they were, understandably, the ones in charge.

Is it really okay like this though? Some of the other adventurers seemed to be a bit troubled… But perhaps they were just worried as they would be participating in a dangerous operation.

Though another portion of the adventurers seemed to be quite eager to move forward. They seemed to be determined to complete this mission at all costs.

“Alright, everyone, move out!” Mr. Roland exclaimed.

With his shout, the adventurers rushed forward.

It seemed like I was the only E-rank adventurer participating today. Everyone else seemed to be at least on D-rank.

At D-rank, one should have gotten used to clearing the easier subjugation requests to some extent, so it’s about when they start taking the harder and more dangerous subjugation requests.

Their movements may have still shown that they were a bit too tense here, but they could still slaughter one monster after the other with their practiced strikes.

As for Mr. Roland, who was taking the lead, he was doing a great job while using a hammer that was as tall as himself.

Ms. Lily was also performing fantastically, as she used her swift movements to toy with the monsters and steadily reduce their number.

It seems like this operation would have gone smoothly even if I wasn’t participating.

So, for the time being, I focused on defeating opponents that the other adventurers weren’t engaging with; and with helping out against the bigger monsters that some adventurers seemed to be struggling with.

But honestly, it really felt like I wasn’t needed.

And then, a while after the battle started, “Ms. Haku, aren’t you scared?” I heard a woman talk to me.

I was silently defeating the occasional enemy that tried to escape when she started this conversation.

When I turned to look at her, I saw that she was the baby-faced woman with light-blue hair, Sonia.

The monsters have already been thinned out to a decent extent by now, so she probably felt like it would be okay to hold a conversation at this point.

“I’m not really scared.” I replied.

“Is that so? Well, if things get tough, you can always rely on me, alright?” She told me.

To be completely honest, saying that I’m not scared at all isn’t true… It’s just that the current situation isn’t very scary.

The difference in ability between the monsters and the vanguard adventurers is very clear, so I don’t have much to worry about, and just need to pick up strays here and there.

Things would be quite different if the monsters were all baring their fangs directly at me. I’m sure that would be quite the terrifying experience.

And well, my magic would be useless if I wasn’t able to keep my cool and figure out what to do to handle the enemies.

“Ms. Haku, what do you think of Lily?” Ms. Sonia asked me.

“What do I think of her…?” I repeated her question.

I didn’t talk much with Ms. Lily… I mean, in the first place, we have only met twice.

So, it was hard to respond to this kind of question. I just didn’t have much to use as reference.

I don’t think she is a bad person though. And since she is a C-rank adventurer, I’m sure that she is fairly skilled.

In fact, I can see it quite clearly as she is defeating the monsters in this operation.

My first impression of her may have been a bit distorted because she was one of those people that were trying to recruit me to their party, but from what I have seen today, she was not a bad person.

“I don’t think she’s a bad person. Why do you ask?” I asked Ms. Sonia.

“Ah, well, she felt a bit down when you rejected her party invitation, so I was wondering over how you felt about her.” Ms. Sonia explained. *

Oh, so that’s what it was? I rejected all the party invitations pretty casually, but it was apparently enough to get her down?

But a party… Well, if I were to enter a party, it would have to be with someone who Aria trusts at the very minimum.

There’s nothing more important than Aria to me right now, so I don’t want to team up with anyone that could trouble Aria.

“So, about the party invitation, are you still sure that you don’t want to?” Ms. Sonia asked me.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think that it would be good for me right now…” I replied.

“H-hey! Just what is that!?” Someone shouted.

We instantly stopped our conversation and looked ahead after hearing this sudden shout.

The battle’s frontline had been moving further and further away from our position until now. They were approaching the forest as they chased the fleeing monsters.

However… Something was wrong. Something changed.

The adventurers that were meant to be suppressing the monsters were now running towards us. They seemed to be fleeing from something.

Their expressions looked quite desperate, as if they had seen something truly horrifying.

What is happening?

I immediately activated Physical Reinforcement magic and Detection Magic, then tried seeing what was happening on the forest ahead.

And then, I heard its roar.

The monster had a tremendously large body. It was well over two meters tall and had countless scars carved all over its reddish-brown body.

It was a monster that I had never seen before. One that carried a giant club in one of its hands and had horns growing from its head.

“An ogre! An ogre has appeared!” An adventurer exclaimed.

Everyone heard that panicked shout as they saw the monster approach us.

The swings of the ogre’s club made the monsters around it quickly scatter… And to make things worse, it wasn’t alone.

Following the leading ogre, two more ogres came out of the forest, and then another two came right after that. The five ogres were quite fast, and they were quickly approaching the fleeing adventurers.

“Be careful!” I shouted.

“Damn it!” An adventurer exclaimed.

Before I realized it, I was already running and had physical reinforcement magic applied on my legs, so I closed the distance between us with a jump-like sprint.

“A-a-aaah!” The adventurer cried.

That adventurer seemed to have had his spirit crushed. He had fallen down and was desperately trying to crawl away from the ogre, but his struggle was futile.

The ogre was right above him and raised its club, ready to crush the adventurer below it.

Please, let me be on time!

I knew it would be impossible to intercept the ogre’s blow, so I instead crashed onto the adventurer with all my might.

Due to the physical reinforcement, I was able to push both of us away with enough force to barely avoid the ogre’s attack.

The soil that the adventurer was on just a second ago has now been gorged out, and a huge depression could be seen on the previously plain earth.

There is no way we’d be able to survive that.

“Run away!” I shouted.

I didn’t have time to look at the adventurer I shoved, so I just hoped that he was able to recover enough to get up and run.

I myself had already stood up and looked around to try assessing the situation.

Two of the five ogres were headed towards Mr. Roland and Ms. Lily, who were fighting in the frontlines.

I could see Ms. Lily fighting while protecting some of the weaker adventurers, while Mr. Roland was actually showing that he was quite strong too, for he was facing an ogre head-on in a one-on-one battle.

As for the remaining three, one was right in front of me, while the other two… Huh!?

I noticed their presences with detection magic and I immediately jumped to the right.

A club was swung down on the spot where I had been standing on until just a moment ago.

When I turned around, I saw two more ogres looking at me… I was surrounded…!

This was dangerous. No matter how much physical reinforcement magic I applied, it would still be impossible for me to match their strength.

I should still be able to handle it somehow if I was facing a single one, but what am I supposed to do when facing three!?

As I thought about it, the ogres mercilessly swung down their clubs.

I managed to avoid their attacks due to my physical-reinforcement magic, but I can’t let things keep going like this.

“G-go!” I exclaimed.

I had no time to think. I just had to reduce their number somehow.

I unleashed a familiar magic circle and fired a water blade at the ogre in front of me.

However, once it hit, the water blade disappeared… The water blade doesn’t work against them!?

This is a beginner-level spell, after all, so if it’s not working, then this monster must be at least of a medium-level or even higher.

What do I do then? A weapon-type spell? Or a ranged-type? What do I do? What magic do I use…?

“Ugh!?” I groaned.

As I was panicking, trying to figure out what to do, I felt a strong pain in my left arm.

Apparently, a club had grazed it.

Even though I was barely hit, I could feel a strong force spread across my entire body, and I almost fell over from that.

And when I checked my arm, I could see that blood was dripping down from it already…

[Haku, calm down. Don’t panic.] I heard Aria tell me.

[Aria!] I exclaimed.

Just as I was panicking as I felt the pain spread through my left arm, I heard Aria’s voice in my head.

Right, I need to calm down. If I let my guard down for even a second, I’ll meet my end here.

[Okay, listen. Ogre’s have very tough skin and also have a high magical resistance. Weak spells will be repelled, so don’t bother with them.] Aria told me.

[W-what do I do then?] I asked.

[Aim for the nape of the neck. Its resistance is thin there.] Aria replied.

[Okay! I’ll try it!] I nodded.

I evaded an incoming club attack by jumping backwards.

Aim for the nape of the neck… I now know their weakness at least, but how do I aim at that point?

The Ogres most likely know about their weaknesses, so they won’t easily show their back to me.

In that case…! “Take that!” I exclaimed.

I ducked under a club swing and slammed my hand on the ground.

The magic was released with this movement and it quickly reached the ogre’s feet.

With this, an earth pillar rose at the place the ogre was standing on, which made it lose its balance.

Now’s my chance!

I used a leaping spell to get behind the ogre, and once I saw its exposed nape, I unleashed as many spells as I could all at once.

Countless water swords emerged from my magic circles and mercilessly flew towards the ogre, beheading it.

With this, the ogre collapsed.

“Alright, two more to go!” I exclaimed.

I tried using the same tactic against the next one… However, it seemed to have understood what I was trying to do, so it quickly reacted to my spell and moved itself appropriately to maintain a stable footing… This ogre did not fall down.

To think it would learn this quickly after just one of its comrades fell… Even if I try this again, the result will probably be the same, then.

In that case…!

I deployed a double magic circle and unleashed a salvo of countless water arrows aimed at the ogre’s feet.

In the meantime, the ogre swung its club horizontally towards me, but I used jumping magic to avoid it while shooting even more arrows.

Alright, preparations complete.

“Fall!” I exclaimed.

I rose the ground below the ogre’s feet again.

Just like before, it tried to react to it and stabilize its footing, but… This time, there was a quagmire near it due to the large amount of water arrows that I shot. There was no way the ogre could keep its balance like this.

So, the ogre slipped and fell violently, so I used the water swords to attack its nape and behead it.

Okay, just one more!

And that’s when I noticed something… The last ogre was missing.

I immediately tried searching for it with detection magic, but before I could get any results, I heard Aria’s voice, [Haku, to the left!]

When I turned that way, I saw an ogre about to bring its club down… But not at me.

In front of it were Ms. Sonia and the adventurers that had run away earlier.

I couldn’t understand why it was there or why Ms. Sonia was so close it or why the ogre had ignored me and targeted them instead.

But before I could even start thinking about any of that, my body had already started moving.

[Haku!?] Aria shouted.

I put as much strength as I could into my jumping magic, and used it to make a swift leap towards the adventurer group.

I passed in-between the ogre’s legs, turned around, then intercepted the club that was moving downwards.

I didn’t know why I decided to do that. Maybe there was a better solution available to me, but… In that moment, all I could think of was that I had to protect them somehow.

I heard the sound of bones cracking as the club connected with my crossed arms.

The defensive spell that I put up on the spot could not resist the ogre’s strength, so I could clearly hear the sound of my bones breaking.

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!

I increased the magic output to try distracting myself from the pain, but my nerves continued transmitting the unbearable pain of having one’s bones broken.

“Aaaaah!” I screamed.

The ogre was just too strong. Its club was quickly approached my face and… I couldn’t stop it…!

“Haku!” I heard a shout.

Just as I was about to give up, the weight on my arms disappeared and the ogre quietly collapsed.

Behind it, I could see an out-of-breath Ms. Lily appear.

When I saw her, I instantly fell on my knees. I could no longer move my arms, and I could hardly feel them at all.

I think I was supposed to be in a lot of pain right now, but that sensation felt like something that was really far away.

“Ms. Haku, please stay with us!” I heard Ms. Sonia say.

“Sonia! Hurry up and use healing magic on her!” Ms. Lily exclaimed.

“R-right away!” Ms. Sonia replied.

I had reached my limit.

While hearing Ms. Lily’s hurriedly give out instructions, I gently let go of my consciousness.

————–

* See chapter 18.