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Merlin and his group continued their journey on the horse-drawn carriage Mila was driving as usual.
After a while, Mila sensed something and stopped the carriage. She spoke, "Listen, everyone! There's a group of monsters right ahead."
Merlin and his girls on the carriage immediately stood up and prepared themselves for a fight.
Filia swept her gaze around and nodded as she saw everyone was ready. "We're ready. Go on. Carefully."
"I understand," Mila replied and drove the carriage slowly.
Before long, the carriage stopped again. A group of monsters was blocking the way.
"That's quite a big group..." Merlin commented, tightening his hold on his bow.
"They're still a bunch of weaklings, though," Llusse commented while preparing her bow and arrows.
"Don't get cocky, Llusse. Even though they are weak, their number is high," Filia scolded the elf.
"Although I'm not good with my offensive magic, I'm going to help!" Tianne exclaimed, holding her wand tightly.
"Hold on! I'll use my offensive magic! You should prepare your support type magic when it's needed!" Aina said hastily to Tianne while brandishing her staff.
Aina's staff was a polished wood with a fist-sized red jewel on the top. Just looking at that, anyone would understand that she was an accomplished mage.
"That's a good idea! Stay as support, Tianne! Prepare your offensive magic, Aina!" Filia ordered.
All the while, Merlin eyed the monsters.
"...those are Hellhounds and three Ogres," Llusse muttered to Merlin.
"The big ones are Ogres, right?" Merlin asked, never averting his eyes from the monsters.
They reminded me of the first monsters that he'd seen when he was summoned.
Llusse nodded and spoke, "Yeah. They have ridiculous strength but low speed. They are stupid, too."
"I see. Thanks for the information," said Merlin before turning his attention to Mila, "What will you do?"
Mila stared at Merlin over her shoulder and said: "I will guard our carriage and belongings, sir."
"I see..." Merlin nodded, understanding.
"Hey, Merlin, let's clean the small fry together!" Llusse exclaimed, pulling the attention of Merlin.
"Ah, yeah! Let's do it!" Merlin nodded and notched an arrow.
Meanwhile, Llusse notched three arrows at once.
They released their arrows and reloaded quickly before shooting off again.
"I'll help!" Aina exclaimed and raised her staff, the red jewel glowing with crimson light.
Aina launched several lightning bolts to the Hellhounds and one Ogre.
"Leave some for me!" Filia exclaimed as she dashed forward, approaching one of two Ogres left at a blinding speed.
She beheaded her target. Meanwhile, the last Ogre became a pincushion from the barrage of arrows that Merlin and Llusse released.
The fight ended. They defeated the monsters in no time.
"I told you so! They were a bunch of weaklings!" Llusse exclaimed smugly after the one-sided slaughter.
"Llusse, I told you not to get carried away. We're empowered by milord. Without it, we would have a hard time dealing with them," Filia corrected.
"Moo... I didn't get a chance to shine!" Tianne pouted as she complained.
"There, there. Don't be sad, Tianne," Aina consoled Tianne, patting the nun's back with her free hand.
Merlin was silent, eyeing the slaughtered monsters.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't bothered by the blood spilled there. Hell, he even helped to spill the blood.
That was the second time he saw gore. The first one was when he followed the original trio to Füs after getting to this world.
Although the blood belonged to monsters, it was still nauseating. Fortunately, Merlin could endure the nauseating sensation, though his face was tight and grim.
"Sir, are you okay?" Mila called Merlin, snapping him back to reality.
Merlin turned his head to her and gave a nod. "I'm fine."
"Do you have problems with gore and blood?" (Mila)
"Yeah. I lived peacefully before getting summoned there, so I'm not used to it..." (Merlin)
"Man, what a wimp..." Llusse jeered, but she quickly stiffened and averted her eyes when Merlin gave her a glare that promised a punishment.
"My Lord, do you need to rest?" Tianne asked, worried.
Merlin smiled at the nun and said, "No. Let's continue. The sooner we get to the capital, the better."
"Would you like to stay behind when we fight against another group of monsters?" asked Filia.
"No. Allow me to assist," Merlin insisted.
"You sure? You look like you're gonna puke..." Llusse eyed Merlin, concerned.
"Perhaps, you should listen to Filia, Sir," Aina added.
"No. I have to get comfortable with this. Let me help," Merlin stubbornly insisted.
The girls were troubled, but they let Merlin do what he wanted since he was so stubborn. They couldn't stop him.
After that, they continued their journey on the carriage carefully. A while later, they stopped again.
"Another one?" Filia inquired.
"Yes. But, this group looks bigger than before," Mila replied.
"How big is it?" Aina asked.
"They are twice... No, maybe thrice as many as earlier..." Llusse replied solemnly after counting the monsters.
"Thrice?!" Tianne was dumbfounded.
"And worse, there's a way bigger Ogre among them," Llusse added.
"The biggest seems like the leader of this group. Will it make them run off if we kill it first?" Merlin inquired.
"Unfortunately, monsters are persistent, sir. They won't stop even though the leader is dead," answered Mila.
"So, we gotta fight against them all, huh?" Merlin commented with a solemn expression.
"Looks like it can't be helped," Filia said and unsheathed her sword. "Let's end this quickly!"
Merlin and his girls began fighting against the big group of monsters.
Merlin and Llusse shot arrows like a machine gun. While Merlin only shot one at a time, Llusse shot three at once. Their arrows always hit their target's head, killing them instantly.
Filia danced with her blade, slashing all monsters that dared to get close to her. Blood splattered in the air, though she deftly dodged them, keeping herself clean.
Aina released various elemental spells. Fire, ice, lighting, rock, and wind. She showed her capability as an accomplished mage.
Tianne and Mila also joined the fight.
Tianne unleashed offensive spells, though the quality of her spell was lower than Aina's. She launched fireballs and lightning bolts at the monsters.
Mila used her fists, feet, and claws. High-pressurized wind bullets blasted off from her punch and kick, and sharp wind blades mowed down the monsters when she slashed her hands in clawing motions.
While shooting off his arrows, Merlin also kept his attention on his girls. Mostly, Aina and Mila. He was amazed by those two; Aina never appeared in Doujinshi and OVA, and Mila never fought in the media despite being able to fight.
Even though they had to squeeze out more effort than earlier, they finished defeating all the monsters that dared to block their way.
"Hey! Is it just me or do we get weaker?" Llusse said after they finished.
Filia nodded as she clenched and unclenched her free hand, saying, "I'm getting weaker too."
"I concur," Aina added.
Meanwhile, Tianne and Mila just stared at the three women. They didn't feel weaker. Then again, they rarely fought against monsters as often as those three.
"Any idea, girls?" Llusse swept her gaze on her friends.
Tianne had a pensive expression as she thought about the cause of the weakening. Moments later, she began sharing her hypothesis. "Perhaps, the enhancement wears off when we're fighting."
"So, not only it has time limits but can also wear off as we use it in a fight," Aina pinched her chin and muttered, deep in thought.
"If it's true, then it's troubling," Filia muttered, frowning.
"It will be a while before we exit the forest. Surely, monsters will block us," Llusse chimed in, her expression was troubled.
"I have a suggestion." Mila raised her hand as she said, gathering the attention of everyone. She continued, "How does... refilling the hero's power sound?"
Everyone stared at Mila questioningly.
"Surely, we will face against monsters as we continue, and our power-up is weakening. Then, we should do it with Sir Merlin to give us another power-up." (Mila)
Everyone exchanged pensive gazes. They couldn't reject Mila's idea because it sounded good.
Llusse spoke up eagerly, "Well? What are we waiting for, then?"