CHAPTER 47: MORNING OF THE EAST WIND

“Nyango, you’re missing something…” (Jill)

　Jill complained as she looked up at the sky, but the direction of the wind is not something I can control.

“I’m sorry, but it looks like the weather is heading downhill. It’s going to rain around noon.” (Nyango)

　At this time of year, westerly winds blow most days around Atsuka village, but when the weather breaks, easterly winds blow.

　If we use our knowledge of the past life to think about it, a low-pressure system is approaching from the west, and the easterly wind is blowing toward it.

　We are going into the mountains in pursuit of the Bronze Wolf, which is most likely hiding in the mountains to the west, but with this wind direction, we will be approaching from upwind.

　The sky is starting to be covered in clouds and maybe the rain will start to fall sooner than expected.

　When I told Jill about my weather prediction, he began to consider whether he and Laius should go out of the mountain.

　I would have advised them to call it off, but it was a three-party operation, and as I was not a member of any party, it was hard for me to speak up.

“The Bronze Wolf is observing the village, and once it’s done observing, it might attack, right? Then, considering the safety of the village, shouldn’t we subjugate it as soon as possible?” (Teodoro)

　Teodoro, the leader of the Raging, strongly urged us to take action.

　As Teodoro said, the Bronze Wolf had a habit of circling the villages they attack to see how they are doing, and they are about to circle the village of Atsuka.

　The village is well defended by the Knights, but it is unlikely that they will be able to hold them off if they rush forward, and if they enter the village, the residents are likely to be harmed.

　Moreover, if the Knights were to finish off the Bronze Wolf, the adventurers would receive only a small reward, and would not receive any money or honor.

　Teodoro would probably want to finish off the wolf himself, or at least have a record of having contributed to its subjugation.

“But the opponent is a Bronze Wolf. We don’t want to make the conditions worse…” (Jill)

“We should enter the mountain for now, and if the situation seems to be getting worse, we should turn back. It’s too late once the residents have been harmed.” (Teodoro)

　While Jill was cautious about the plan, Teodoro seemed to be considering the safety of the residents and wanted to go ahead with the plan.

　In response to Jill and Teodoro’s opinions, Laius came to a conclusion after some thought.

“Let’s go as far as we can, but if the situation seems to be getting worse, we will turn back early. And, considering the direction of the wind, we will head west, starting from the north and working our way around. Is that okay?” (Laius)

　When everyone was ready to leave, the morning sun had begun to rise, and the eastern sky was tinged with an eerie morning glow.

　We followed the route we had discussed with Laius and the others over the map before our departure, guiding them from the northern mountains to the western mountains.

　First, we climbed along the stream, and then gradually changed direction to the west.

　Today, I am guiding and scouting from the top of the trees, following the branches, but the strong winds that blow from time to time shake the branches.

“Nyango, don’t overdo it. Come down if you think it’s dangerous.” (Laius)

“Yes, I’m still okay, but the leaves and dust are flying around and the visibility is not good.” (Nyango)

　The branches and leaves are rustling in the strong easterly wind, so it is difficult to detect any presence by sound.

　The swaying branches and rolled-up fallen leaves seem to hide even the sight of moving objects.

　The wind would occasionally blow in my face, so I made goggles with void magic and put them on to keep the dust out of my eyes.

　By the time we started to turn around from the northern mountains to the west, it started to rain.

　The sky, which had begun to brighten when we started climbing along the stream, seemed to be getting darker again.

　As expected, the wind was getting too strong, so I climbed down from the tree and lined up next to Serge.

　After confirming that I had landed on the ground, Laius looked up at the sky and seemed to have decided to suspend the subjugation.

“Jill! Teodoro! We’re going back.” (Laius)

“Mr. Laius, let’s just do a little more, just a little longer.” (Teodoro)

“Teodoro, it’s hard to use fire magic in this wind, and the sky is getting darker.” (Laius)

“But isn’t it rather dangerous to descend with your back turned? If I remember correctly, the view of the mountain to the west is good, right?” (Teodoro)

　Hearing Teodoro’s advice, Laius turned his attention to me.

“What do you think, Nyango? Do the mountains to the west offer better visibility than here?” (Laius)

“Yes, it does. It’s a little better visibility when you go around the ridge up ahead… but it’s not that good.”

“I see… We’ll go to the end of that ridge and then head back to the village. Got it, Teodoro?” (Laius)

　The Bored Men members, who were about to gather once again, began to search again with a wider interval.

　If I climbed down from the tree, the bushes would get in the way, and my short stature would make it difficult for me to see.

　I was equipped with full air armor just in case, but my body was getting stiff from the uncertainty of when the Bronze Wolf might attack.

　After all, it was when I thought it might be better to view the situation from above… Even if I had to use [Step].

“Gyaaaaa!” (Voice)

　I heard a scream from the direction of the Bored Men on my right.

“Let’s go, Nyango!” (Serge)

　I started to run after Serge, who was aiming for a place where he could secure a line of fire, but the bushes were in the way and I couldn’t see what was going on.

“Come here!” (Serge)

　Serge, who was running around, stopped his feet, so I ran up to the tree behind him and looked at the situation, and it seemed that the number of Bored Men had decreased.

“Nyango, find an opening and set it ablaze!” (Serge)

“Yes!” (Nyango)

　Last night, on the way home after the strategy meeting, I worked out some of my own strategies.

　As Bronze Wolf tried to swing its paw down to the Shield user, I executed my first strategy.

“[Airbag]!” (Nyango)

　A large bag of thick, flexible material with several air holes was placed between Bronze Wolf and the shield user.

　With a whoosh of air, Bronze Wolf’s blow loses its power.

“[Rubber Ring]!” (Nyango)

　A thick loop of rubbery material was made to secure Bronze Wolf’s neck and torso.

　The Bronze Wolf, feeling something strange around its neck, lashed out, but the elasticity of the rubber pulled it back into place.

“What’s going on? Nyango, are you doing that?” (Serge)

“I’ll explain later. Please go.” (Nyango)

“Leave it to me! [Homing Arrow]!” (Serge)

　Serge fired the arrow in the completely wrong direction, but halfway through, it drew a large arc and stabbed the back of the Bronze Wolf from behind.

“Gauuu!” (Bronze Wolf)

　The Bronze Wolf jumps up, but the strength and elasticity of the rubber ring pull it back to where it was.

　The escape prevention strategy seems to be working well.

　I thought that if I continued to add thickness to my attack, I would be able to… but the Raging guys had not moved from their original location.

　On the contrary, Teodoro seemed to be stopping them from moving.

“Mr. Serge, Raging seems…” (Nyango)

“Don’t worry about them. Concentrate the subjugation!” (Serge)

“Yes!” (Nyango)

　I told him how the Raging was doing, but he only glanced at them and returned his gaze to the target.

　Or perhaps this situation had been factored into the strategy.

　Near the Bronze Wolf, Laius and Jill were flanking and attacking, but the thick legs of the Bronze Wolf were swinging around making it difficult for them to get close.

“[Lance]… [Burner]!” (Nyango)

“Gruuuuu…” (Bronze Wolf)

　I created [Lance] diagonally from behind near its right side and burned the left eye that had been crushed by Serge’s arrow with [Burner].

　The Bronze Wolf lets out a pained roar as blood drips from its flank.

“It is working!” (Nyango)

“This is your chance, attack!” (Serge)

　This time, I created [Lance] on the opposite side and burned its right face, but the Bronze Wolf just shook its head and didn’t move much.

　I seem to be able to learn faster than I predicted.

　It started raining, a pounding deluge, and the power of the fire attribute magic on the attacker’s side was reduced, but in this situation, the subjugation could not be interrupted.

　Even so, the attacks of Laius and Jill came through, and the Bronze Wolf began to bleed from all over the place.

“It’s on its final breath!” (Laius)

“Go, all at once!” (Teodoro)

　Seeing that our side had the upper hand, the Raging men approached.

　They were probably trying to minimize the damage to themselves and just take the best part of the fight.

　Not wanting to hand the credit to Teodoro, I was thinking of launching a surprise attack when the Bronze Wolf suddenly fell to the ground.

　The moment the attacker cheered, thinking that it had finally run out of power, Bronze Wolf leaped with all its might.

　The rubber ring was pulled apart beyond its strength limit, and the Bronze Wolf flew over the heads of Gad and the other shield users.

“Grrraaaaaa!” (Bronze Wolf)

　The Bronze Wolf bared its fangs at the members of Raging, who met up with it at its landing point.

T/N: Hahaha! Karma.