The eyes looked at them without any fear.
It was like a different creature. Not the thing that looked stunned and quivered in fear before.
However, it was still just a kobold.
“You. Do you have any other friends?”
“No. You killed them.”
“See? I just need to finish this.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Koji.
Regardless of being an enemy or friend, everyone seemed to have the same emotion.
Pity towards a fool who did not belong there.
“You, bother. Step away.”
“…What!? What are you saying, you!”
“Please stand back. We will kill it.”
“A-Axle!”
“Haven’t you noticed it already? Your little princess is on the ground as if she is dying.”
He turned around then. Ril was no longer moving.
“Ri…”
Ga-kyun!
There was a strange sound as something pierced the back of his head.
The arrow had been shot by the kobold. It bounced off of his barrier and fell to the ground.
“The arrow earlier. It was poisoned.”
“You what!?”
“If you don’t hurry, she will die.”
Said the monster as he nocked an arrow.
“There is a small red bag in her saddlebag. Take it and mix it with wine, and pour it down her throat.”
“Leave her wound as it is, and lay her down in a flat area. If you can, wrap her up in a blanket.”
It was all so sudden, that his mind could not keep up. Still, Koji ran towards Ril.
“I’ll come back when I’m done! And so…”
What was he supposed to say?
In spite of the enemy being one kobold, the two were dead serious.
“Do your best!”
He sounded so stupid. But they smiled and nodded.
‘Surprisingly, these were not fools as well.’
“Yes. They are strong.”
Salia was surprised, but Sheto didn’t find it strange.
Ever since he had attacked, the two seemed like they were trying to find his location. He did his best to hide his presence and not be detected, but had worried that it would be in vain.
“Well, you are no ordinary kobold either. Perhaps you have a god vessel.”
“Do not have. I am a weak monster. That is all.”
“Stop that. With those horrible eyes. You cannot be modest.”
“What?”
‘Modest. When you hide your true ability…’
Sheto shook his head at the words humans used. And then he glared at them while still aiming with his bow.
“You should have brought a spear. Then you could have finished this with a thrust.”
“There’s no point in crying about what we don’t have. I’ll leave it to you.”
“Fine.”
“Salia.”
‘Understood.’
The knight kicked his horse, and it charged on light hooves.
“Hmph!”
His sword thrust out.
Sheto dropped low to avoid it, and the blade grazed the top of his head, sending bits of fur into the air.
He swiftly jumped up and moved back. And then he realized that he was standing right between the knight and the sorcerer.
The mountain path was wide, but the horse was blocking it while standing to the side. He could not go forward or retreat.
“You’re going to die here. I can feel it. Something ominous.”
He quickly aimed towards the sorcerer, but miscalculated the distance, which affected his aim.
“Let’s play a little longer. The Hero will be back as soon as Ril has been treated. And then you will be finished off.”
The knight slowly moved closer to him. The horse was protected in armor as well. So was the sorcerer’s horse.
Ten steps. Sheto raised his voice so that they wouldn’t notice his trap.
“Only the Hero I want to kill! You are not involved! Get away!”
“Yes, yes. As if we would do that.”
“All the more reason for us to stop you.”
The knights said. And then Sheto’s arrow flew towards his head.
“Gah!”
He brought up his shield at an alarming speed and blocked the arrow.
‘Sheto, the lark will cry!’
The goddess warned, and the kobolds body rotated in a swifty movement and he unleashed the arrow towards the sorcerer.
“O chains of admonishment, western wind―tsk!”
She quickly dodged the arrow and gripped the reins.
Sheto’s hand hurt from the pressure of the bow. And his nerves were screaming at him to get out of there. The armored knight and the sorcerer. Without Salia’s ‘eyes’ he would not be able to do anything.
However, the shadow of reinforcements were right there.
He just needed to keep their attention away from it.
“You two. Why are you with the Hero?”
He pointed the arrow at the approaching knight in order to slow him down.
“Obviously, it is to defeat the Demon King together and bring peace to the world.”
“By killing us?”
“…Exactly.”
While keeping the position, he moved his face slightly to look at the sorcerer. Her eyes focused on him as if to try and read his movements.
“It is kill or be killed in this world. You should know that, as a monster. You understand the way the world works. You have no right to be holding grudges.”
He focused on the reins and the words. He believed that his words could bind the monster more than magic.
By making the knight believe this, he might get an opening.
“But we, we do not think to kill humans! We do not know, Demon Kings or armies! We are weak! We live quietly! That is all we wanted!”
“And this world won’t allow it. It does not matter what you kobolds wished for. As long as you are monsters, you cannot be allowed to live.”
“Then, I’ll kill you and protect everyone!”
His brain felt numb. The blood ran viciously through him, and unbelievable words came from his mouth.
“For that, I’ll kill Heroes, Demon Kings and gods! I’ll kill them all!”
“Huh… This thing…”
“What resolve.”
They chuckled. And it somehow helped to calm the once tense situation.
“First you say you won’t kill us, and now you want to kill everyone. You are contradicting yourself.”
“I don’t care! I will do what I will do!”
“In that case, I will also do… Huh!?”
A tentacle slithered out and wrapped around the knight’s sword.
The war horse let out a terrible cry and it rose up on its hind legs.
“Arrhhhh!”
“Wha!? That…”
Still, the sorcerer was quick to understand the situation, and she prepared to unleash her magic.
“Scorching flames, strike his fle—”
“I won’t let you!”
Sheto dashed forward and unleashed an arrow.
“-sh!”
A small ball of fire exploded in front of his eyes. The sorcerer’s horse neighed and reared up.
“Shit!”
“Wha-what is this!”
As the horse screamed, the knight fought desperately against his bindings. However, the armor was clearly working against him. His sword began to turn red, as did the armor of the horse.
“Wh-why is a rust eater in a place like this… Could it be!”
Sheto was relieved that the plan had worked.
“Was hard to put them into barrels. Hard to make you not notice.”
“You used the filth to erase their smell, and disguise the unease of the horses!”
He pointed an arrow at the sorcerer who tried to activate a new spell.
“You. Shoot your magic. Kill the rust eater and save him. And you die instead.”
“Fool. Rust eaters do not kill living creatures. I should just kill you.”
“Really. In that case…”
Sheto thought of Salia then. And by doing so, a light of blessing appeared at the point of his arrow, making it something that could pierce through rusted armor.
“What is that!?”
“The knight will die by an arrow.”
“Sto-stop…”
While the once calm sorcerer was distracted, Sheto shot into her shoulder with precision.