The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker, Vol. 2

by Tôwa

  The two seemed to have taken a liking to me, and they were both watching as I swallowed the medicine. I couldn’t ask for Astarte’s help in the coming battle since Falma and the kids would need her protection, but I was hoping I could ask them if I could take Cion along.

  Theresia and Falma were working together to give the rest of the party some pills. Falma came back to where I was once she was done and seemed able to guess what I wanted to ask based on my expression alone.

  “Cion is still in your party. She thinks of you as a companion, which is why she was the first to notice that your party had come near,” she said.

  “Oh… I’m sorry; I forgot to return her to your house’s party,” I said.

  “No need to apologize. I’m the one who asked you to take Cion along with you. Actually, I think it’s quite wonderful that she protected you. Astarte is obviously brave, but Cion’s grown up to be quite the courageous guard dog as well,” said Falma as she petted Cion’s head. Even though Cion was sitting, her head was as high as a grown adult’s, so she had to lower it so Falma could reach.

  “…Then, I hope you don’t mind if he helps us again. I would ask her to use Covering while I support her to increase her defense, but…I feel really bad using your beloved dog as a shield.”

  “Silver hounds are regularly used as vanguards. They’re bigger than humans and have high vitality… So please don’t worry. Please feel free to put her in whichever position you think would best benefit your party,” said Falma.

  I really felt like Falma herself was quite courageous. She might have retired from seeking, but she would need to go into the labyrinth every once in a while to maintain her level and skills, so she probably had plenty of battle experience.

  “Mmm… Where am I…?” murmured Elitia.

  “Is this Falma’s shop…? S-sorry, it looks like we’ve caused you some trouble…,” said Igarashi. Misaki and Suzuna also started to open their eyes shortly after.

  “Ah… Arihito, watch out! That weird song—!” cried Misaki.

  “The monster… Did you defeat it, Arihito?” asked Suzuna.

  “Luckily, Theresia and I weren’t put to sleep. Cion and her mom helped out, so we somehow managed to defeat them… We actually captured one, too.” I explained about the dangers of Lullaby, and everyone looked warily at the Demi-Harpy. Apparently, many monsters became quite cooperative if you took away their sense of sight, so we’d blindfolded and gagged her and tied her wings to her feet… She’d be dangerous if we hadn’t, but I felt bad for her, so we didn’t bind her up any more than that.

  “Mommy, is this feathery girl a monster?” asked Plum.

  “Yes. I think it’s safe now, but don’t get too close to her. Mr. Atobe, since you captured her alive, do you intend to hand her over to the Monster Ranch?” asked Falma.

  “Monster Ranch…?” I asked back.

  “It’s a place that cares for and trains monsters to become allies of Seekers. It’s like a storage facility that houses the monsters until you use a specialized summoning stone to call them to help you,” explained Elitia. I hadn’t considered capturing monsters until now, but if it was like she said, it would be possible to get monsters to help us out… Monsters with special attacks would be particularly useful.

  I decided to try putting the Demi-Harpy into the Monster Ranch, partially so I could learn how the ranch worked. Also, the thought of her being dissected was just a little too grotesque for me to think about.

  “By the way, what do other Seekers do when they beat a Demi-Harpy?” I asked.

  “While there are many humanoid monsters like orcs that attack and prey on humans, Demi-Harpies just disturb humans, allowing other monsters to prey on them,” said Falma. “The Demi-Harpies themselves don’t eat meat. Because of that, Seekers don’t see them as an actual enemy. Many capture them, take feathers, clip their nails, then release them.” That part of the conversation was probably disturbing enough for the children, so Falma leaned in to me and spoke low for the next part. “Some people don’t like to engage in battle with them because of how they look, but it is standard practice to kill them as soon as they’re seen, since Lullaby is such a dangerous skill.”

  So there was the option of sending monsters to the Monster Ranch if I had a hard time bringing myself to kill them because of their appearance. Then, when we needed more strength, I could summon them to increase the skills available to us… I decided to think about whether or not I could fight alongside a monster whenever I came up against something in the future.

  “Please keep in mind that only a portion of monsters can become allies with humans, since the majority can’t communicate with us,” explained Falma. “It would be best to consider those tentacle monsters in the sky untrainable, for example. Even though there may be people with the necessary skills to accomplish that.”

  “Right, I see… Thank you very much for the information. Now, you mentioned some sleep prevention equipment…,” I said.

  “Yes, that would be these accessories. I have earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Thankfully, accessories that protect against Sleep 1 are fairly common, so I have enough for the whole party.”

  Sleep 1—that meant there were attacks that had even more powerful sleep effects, and we weren’t set for sleep protection from here on out. I filed that information away in my mind, but this should be plenty for now.

  I was considering the possibility that the Named Flying Doom was also capable of inflicting status ailments, so I wanted to ask Falma if she had anything else.

  “Sorry to ask for more, Falma, but do you have anything that protects against other status ailments?”

  “Let’s see… This headband protects against Confusion. Would you like to use this as well?”

  “Could we borrow it just in case? I don’t know what the enemy will come at us with, so I’d rather have the insurance.”

  “That’s a good mind-set to have. Please take it, then.”

  “I think you should wear it, Arihito, since you’re the leader. I want to make sure you have a strong defense since we take our orders from you,” said Elitia, and I accepted the headband and put it on as she suggested. It had a metal plate on it to protect my forehead, so I felt more protected after securing it in such a way that it wouldn’t slide around.

  “All right… Let’s keep an eye out for any other Demi-Harpies and go beat that Named Monster,” I said.

  “I wish you all luck. Are you certain you don’t want to take Astarte with you?” asked Falma.

  “There’s always a chance something might happen here, so I think it’s best if she stays with you. There are other Seekers and mercenaries outside,” I replied. “We’ll definitely be able to push back these monsters if we meet up with some of them.”

  “Good luck, Arihito!” said Eyck.

  “Be careful! Don’t get hurt!” yelled Plum.

  We headed back outside, encouraged by the children—only for the Flying Dooms circling in the sky to notice us and start heading our way, one after another.

  “—Let’s keep moving as we defeat these ones! Don’t do anything reckless!” I ordered. I couldn’t forget to activate Morale Support. Elitia and Cion made up the front line of our party, reducing the number of enemies coming at us. Any that made it through the front two were forced back by Theresia and Igarashi, and then me, Suzuna, and Misaki would attack with our long-range weapons.

  “Boooowwow!”

  “You’re pretty capable… Good girl. Let’s do this!” said Elitia as she ran alongside Cion. The mob of Flying Dooms coming at us from high in the sky weren’t going to be any match for my party.

  We fought our way through a number of small encounters and were able to reduce the total number of monsters by a fair amount. There weren’t any more small groups of Flying Dooms left, leaving just the large mass with the Named one. I’d been regularly using Morale Support, building up everyone’s morale, but something happened when we got near the square in front of the entrance to the Field
of Dawn.

  “Ribault! …Madoka!” I shouted. Ribault spent his time rescuing Seekers who’d gotten themselves in trouble in the Field of Dawn, the labyrinth where most newbie Seekers started out. He’d helped me out a few times as well, and now he was up against the monsters in the city. And then there was the weapons seller, Madoka, hiding in the shadows of one of the buildings.

  “Arihito, don’t come any closer! The monster— The monster’s song…!” warned Madoka.

  “Take cover! It’ll attack the second it sees you… Agh!” shouted Ribault, holding a shield up as a laser-like beam of heat shot at him.

  ♦Monsters Encountered♦

  DEATH FROM ABOVE

  Level 5

  In Combat

  Dropped Loot: ???

  18 FLYING DOOMS

  Dropped Loot: ???

  2 DEMI-HARPIES

  Dropped Loot: ???

  3 SWEET BIRDS

  Dropped Loot: ???

  Based on the Named Flying Doom’s actual name, it would be coming at us with every intent of annihilating us. It had also solved one major weakness of the Flying Doom, which was that it had no long-range attacks. Instead, it was breaking the trend by having a high-firepower attack.

  “Gah… Agh…”

  “Ribault, pull back!” I shouted.

  “R-right… Thanks…”

  Ribault was carrying a kite shield he’d borrowed from one of his party members and had rushed out to draw the enemies’ attacks. Unfortunately, the shield wasn’t enough to completely block the attacks, and Ribault’s vitality was getting whittled down.

  In the middle of the square were a number of injured demi-human mercenaries and Seekers. Some had taken direct hits from the laser, suffering horrendous burns all over their bodies. They still seemed alive…but we couldn’t waste a single moment. If we didn’t defeat these monsters soon, people would die.

  “—Look out!” I shouted as my heart skipped a beat. Madoka had been hiding by a building after her stall had been burned down, but she was now leaping out from cover. She was trying to protect one of the fallen Seekers that a Flying Doom was swooping down to attack.

  “Cion!” I cried.

  “—Woof!”

  Cion followed my command and used Covering to guard Madoka. With my Defense Support 1, a Flying Doom’s tackle at least would be reduced to zero damage.

  “Get back into cover by the building!” I shouted. “Elitia, can you draw that thing’s fire to yourself?”

  “I can dodge it if I use Sonic Raid… Okay, Arihito! I can draw it with Force Target and then finish it off when it comes down to attack!”

  “All right… Everyone, be careful of that laser fire! I don’t know if my Defense Support will be able to deflect it!”

  The Death from Above was flying slowly around in the sky, seeking its next target. But like Elitia said, the moment that thing came down, we wouldn’t be letting it fly up again.

  Part IV: Protection

  Cion used Tail Counter, her big fluffy tail whipping out to knock back the Flying Doom, then she and Madoka ran into cover by one of the buildings. But we weren’t out of the woods just yet.

  “Ribault, get out of here! You’ll die if you take any more damage!” I shouted.

  “Like hell I will… You’re the ones who should run! That thing’s got its sights on me; I can take at least one more shot! You run. I’ll follow after!” he yelled back.

  “But, Mr. Ribault, you’re not even a Shield Knight— What are you saying?!” called Misaki.

  “You’re right; I’m a Lumberjack! And that’s why I’m not about to leave without cutting this thing down!”

  I understood Ribault’s insistence, but I simply didn’t see a need for him to risk his life here… Although, I empathized with the guy. Ribault was not the kind of person to go quietly when face-to-face with a monster.

  “—Elitia, can you dodge that laser?!” I shouted.

  “I got this! Let me help you in your time of need! …Kyouka, use Force Target on me!” replied Elitia.

  “No, I’m going, too! There’s no way you can handle that many!” said Igarashi.

  “Igarashi… I’ll back you up! Just make sure you dodge that laser!”

  ““Understood!””

  The two rushed out, and we could suddenly hear the song of the harpies that were hiding on the roofs of the buildings surrounding the square, almost like they’d been lying in wait for us.

  If those monsters use Lullaby now, Ribault and his party will… Wait, no… Oh, if the Demi-Harpy isn’t essentially right overhead, then they’ll be outside of Lullaby’s range. If the Demi-Harpies just come this way…!

  But the Demi-Harpies weren’t going to be so kind as to take to the skies and show themselves without getting ready first. The three Sweet Birds responded to the harpies’ song, using their own Flurry of Wings to enhance all their abilities. Two of the Sweet Birds came our way, the last heading toward Ribault, who couldn’t see it coming because the shield was limiting his field of vision. Elitia saw it approaching and went to cover him.

  Fights were breaking out across the square, and I was at my limit trying to take in everything and issue orders. The moment I thought that, my field of vision seemed to expand, so much so that I seemed to even be taking in the sky.

  ♦Current Status♦

  > ARIHITO activated HAWK EYES Increased ability to monitor the situation

  I suddenly realized I was looking at the Death from Above almost like it was right in front of me. It had a cooldown period after it shot off its laser. Its entire body glowed white from the heat. After that, its brightly colored, spherical, tentacle-covered body faded to a red-hot color… But considering there were only about fifteen seconds before it could shoot again, we couldn’t waste any time. I also realized it could use Self-Destruct if its vitality was low, which meant we needed to give it everything we had when it got down to half its vitality, in an attempt to kill it in one shot.

  “Theresia, push back just one of the birds! We’ll take care of the other one!” I ordered.

  “—!”

  Theresia used Wind Slash, separating the two Sweet Birds and knocking one back. The other one flew toward us rearguards, but an arrow, a die, and a slingshot bullet mercilessly pierced its head. The three of us long-range attackers were just about able to take down the bird by working together.

  Theresia waited until the last second before the other bird’s counterattack to use Accel Dash and dodge. It wasn’t able to slow its flight and ended up crashing to the ground. Only I would be able to follow up with an attack; Suzuna wouldn’t have an arrow ready, and Misaki wasn’t yet used to preparing ranged attacks that quickly!

  But at that very moment, something came flying from behind me—a metal ball attached to a long chain. It was a direct hit on the Sweet Bird and bought enough time for Suzuna and Misaki to add in their attacks.

  Behind the Sweet Birds came the Demi-Harpies, even though their Sweet Bird cover had been destroyed. They assumed they could still win if they could just put us to sleep.

  “Dumb move. We’re pretty good at staying awake!” I shouted at them.

  “—Cheep?!”

  ♦Current Status♦

  > DEMI-HARPIES activated LULLABY

  > No effect on ARIHITO’s party as they are all immune

  It appeared they hadn’t considered their song wouldn’t be effective, because both of the young-girl-looking Demi-Harpies seemed shocked. By then, we had all had time to get ready for our next attack.

  “Everyone, fire!”

  “Dice Attack!”

  “—Hyaa!”

  “—!”

  My slingshot and Misaki’s die hit one of the Demi-Harpies. It took an extra eleven support damage and lost its balance, making it stall in midair and crash clumsily to the ground. Suzuna’s arrow pierced the other’s wing, tearing off feathers. It fell and tried to get control of its flight again, but in that moment, Theresia leaped toward it and launched a Wind Slash
. Forced off-balance, it used the last of its strength in one more vain flap of its wings but gave in, falling slowly to the ground.

  That got rid of some of the more dangerous enemies here, but we needed to capture the unconscious Demi-Harpies. Afterward, we retreated to the cover of the buildings, where we saw the person who’d helped us out earlier with their chain flail.

  “Leila… Good, you’re all right,” I said.

  That person was Leila, the assistant manager of the Mercenary Office. She gave the impression that she was fairly strong, but her red hair was in disarray, sticking to her skin from sweat, her leather armor broken in several places.

  “You all right, Arihito?” she asked. She’d come from behind us, but now I could see her eyepatch was torn. Below it, I could see her eye… It didn’t look injured, but there was no life in it, like when you looked into a blind one.

  “Leila, your eye…,” I said.

  “Oh, this… A long time ago, I fought a monster that steals your senses. I took an attack on my sight, and it was lost. I can still fight a bit, though, since I have the other one.”

  “All right, want to fight together, then? Do you have any skills to help with evasion? If you don’t, then right now… Igarashi!” I shouted when I looked over and saw the attack.

  “It’s all right, Atobe! I can do this three… No, four more times!”

  ♦Current Status♦

  > DEATH FROM ABOVE activated BRILLIANT FLAME

  > KYOUKA activated MIRAGE STEP Dodged BRILLIANT FLAME

  In a flash, the Death from Above’s whole body was cloaked in brilliant light, which then gathered into a single point. The next moment, it shot out a beam of flame toward Igarashi, but she created a mirage of herself and dodged the attack. With her entire focus set on evading, she was unable to attack the Flying Doom that followed as well. She couldn’t use Double Attack, nor could she knock back the monsters coming for her. She knew the risks she faced if she didn’t defeat her enemy with a single hit.

  Before the Flying Doom that’d attack Igarashi could return to the sky, Suzuna let loose an arrow, and Misaki took a gamble and threw one of her metal dice at it, doing at least some damage… But without the vanguard’s attacks, there was no way we could take down a monster in one go, and so we couldn’t reduce the enemies’ numbers.