The sun in the sky was like fire. Although the dense foliage blocked the direct rays, the high temperature still made the air swelteringly hot. However, the group traveling through the forest seemed not to feel this annoying heat at all—but that wasn't surprising.
The Lycoris Geis near Lancer's collarbone was working its magic, sending ripples of coolness out into the surroundings. Zero, who usually slept in her suitcase, was lazily draped over Lancer's shoulder, enjoying his role as a human air conditioner. She even waved her hand in the air occasionally. The two of them looked like a father and daughter taking a stroll in a park—though it would have looked better if one ignored the giant insect Zero was stuffing into her mouth...
As for Olga Marie, who had blushed and refused Lancer's 'air conditioning' invitation, she had her own way of coping. Although she had a physical body now, she was essentially a 'ghost.' As long as she wished, she could deactivate her physical form. The heat naturally didn't affect her, and it saved mana to boot—killing two birds with one stone.
However, her expression right now was a bit strange.
"Today is the eighth day. Are you sure we aren't going the wrong way?"
She had asked similar questions more than once over these eight days. Lancer's answers were basically the same; the only difference was that his tone was becoming less and less confident until today ——————
"Ahem~ it's fine. All roads lead to Rome. If we have to, we'll just force our way through. I refuse to believe it—no matter how bad my luck is, even if I don't find a village, I should at least find some human tracks!"
Even though Lancer had only hung around Pokke Village before, he was still clear on the common sense of this world. Normal human nations existed here, and the human population was quite large. He didn't believe his luck could really be that bad!
At Lancer's words, Olga Marie let out a helpless sigh.
Although he had joked about his 'luck' more than once, she hadn't paid much attention to it at first. After all, Lancer wasn't cursed, and she hadn't seen him trip over flat ground during battle or anything. She had always taken it as a joke, but now she was starting to consider something ————— maybe he wasn't lying to her.
At that moment, the bushes at Lancer's feet suddenly rustled, and a black-and-white cat head popped out.
"Meow~ Meow~"
"Did you find a campsite?"
"Meow~!"
In response to Lancer's question, Jack nodded with a face full of pride. Lancer blew his horn, and soon Tiger and Aru gathered as well.
Though one could replenish stamina with jerky in the wild, since Tiger was here, Lancer wouldn't mistreat his stomach. He didn't obsess over food, but he didn't ignore it either. Just as an excited Zero jumped down from Lancer's shoulder to run off with Jack, Lancer suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Olga Marie, who was following behind Lancer, was about to ask what was wrong when Lancer stopped her with a hand gesture. At the same time, the three cats ahead stopped and gripped their weapons, looking around warily. Suddenly ——————
Rustle, rustle~
The sound of branches rubbing together came from the bushes in the distance. Everyone looked there with full alert, until a figure wearing strange clothing burst out of the thicket with a look of sheer terror. Lancer let out a huge sigh of relief and then turned to Olga Marie behind him with a look of pleasant surprise.
"See! I told you I didn't lead us the wrong way, didn't I?!"
Lancer's expression right now was as arrogant as someone who won 20 dollars on a lottery ticket and then spent 15 of it on milk tea. Olga Marie, looking at the stubborn, child-like Lancer, just sighed helplessly and delivered the 'killing blow.'
"And it only took you 8 days of leading."
Stab~
Lancer felt as if his heart had been pierced. But just as he was about to explain, the figure that had suddenly appeared looked at them in terror.
"Run! It's! It's a Kirin!"
After shouting that, he gritted his teeth, grabbed a nearby tree trunk, made a sharp turn, and ran back the way he came.
Almost at the same time, a blue-and-white figure appeared in Lancer's field of vision.
On a horse-like body were blue-and-white patterns, and the single horn on its forehead was incredibly conspicuous.
The moment he saw it, Lancer recognized it as the 'Kirin' the stranger had mentioned. That Kirin seemingly hadn't expected the man to run right back into it. As he neared the Kirin, he suddenly dropped to the ground and slid right under its belly. After pulling a stone from his shirt and hurling it at the Kirin, he didn't even look back as he sprinted into the distance.
The Kirin seemed provoked by his actions. It turned its body, set its four hooves in motion, and chased after him, leaving the three humans and three cats standing there, seemingly not having reacted to what just happened.
However, Lancer was the first to snap out of it. It looked like that guy had lured the Kirin away.
Lancer's personality was exactly as he described it: he didn't mind helping others within his power, but he hated people controlling his actions. He loved the feeling of being unfettered.
Generally, when he saw someone being attacked, he would help first and ask questions later. However, for those who maliciously caused trouble or "trained" mobs onto others, Lancer would abandon them without hesitation. Just because he was easy to talk to didn't mean he was a pushover. If you planned to screw someone over, you'd better be prepared to get screwed yourself.
The strange man before him had undoubtedly won his favor through his actions.
"I'm going to save him! Olga! Don't step in for now!"
Olga Marie was stunned for a moment. Aside from that first time where he had her stay back to protect the egg, Lancer hadn't stopped her from participating in the last few hunts; he'd even explain the enemy's attack patterns while fighting them.
But since it was Lancer's order, she chose to obey.
Lancer didn't think too much of it; it was purely because he was 'afraid of trouble.'
Olga Marie had never asked 'if there is magic in this world,' and Lancer had forgotten to brief her on that. But when he saw that man, he realized: if that guy saw Olga Marie drop a PoM-Pyroblast on the Kirin's head, it would probably cause no small amount of trouble, right?
So, he simply told her not to act for now. If he really couldn't handle it, it wouldn't be too late to step in.
Of course, the main reason was that this was the first 'Elder Dragon' Lancer had encountered. He didn't want to miss the chance to trade blows with it properly!
Zero, who had been by Lancer's side for quite a while, saw that familiar excited expression on his face from the side. She crossed her arms and let out a helpless sigh. She had been looking forward to lunch, but it looked like it was going to be delayed...