My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s - Chapter 167

「What is this.」

Looking around at the place that we arrived at, I muttered this.

There was nothing wrong with the marks made on the trunks of the trees.

Even without them, I memorized every detail of the trees that we passed by, and I believe that we went the right way.

If we followed the marks back, we should’ve returned to the meeting place.

Despite that, the place that we arrived at was not the slightly open rendezvous point.

「W, what’s going on!!」

Waki cried.

He turned around and looked at me.

「Did you trick us! Asahina!!」

Waki, who took the lead in following the marks back, should be the one who understood it best.

He was probably confused.

However, confusion in this kind of situation was deadly.

I cautiously surveyed the surroundings, and drew my white katana, “White Dragon”, that I wore on my back.

「Waki-kun, calm down. We’re surrounded.」

Waki, who was just about to say something, stiffened when he heard Hosoyama’s quiet voice.

I was surprised that Hosoyama realized that we were surrounded.

Unexpectedly, it seems that Hosoyama’s enemy detection had a wide range.

Her body could also disintegrate poisons, she was pretty talented for a cleric.

「The two of you, don’t leave my side.」

Left, right, I quickly and cautiously surveyed the surroundings.

There was a strong foreboding of death that was incomparable to the monsters that I’ve fought before.

This might be bad.

「They’re here!」

I drew “White Dragon” out just as Hosoyama’s voice sounded.

They were so fast that I could barely follow them with my eyes. 

It might be somewhat difficult to fight while protecting the two in the back.

Furthermore, I had yet to be able to see the appearance of the enemy.

It looked to be the tree branches, but were they tree monsters.

「…I’m not good at fighting while protecting.」

I grumbled in a voice low enough that the two people behind me couldn’t hear.

My occupation was not that of a knight, but a samurai.

My area of expertise was to hack at the opponent, not to protect others.

In other words, my defense was pretty weak.

Up until now, Tsuda had protected the three noncombatants in the back and the rear guard Nanase so that Satou and I could focus on fighting, but right now Tsuda wasn’t here, and there was only me to protect two people.

That guy was someone that you valued now that he wasn’t here.

「We should be able to see their appearance soon….」

Behind me, Hosoyama mumbled this.

Certainly, the enemy’s bloodlust and presence was gradually getting closer, but we had yet to see them.

No, this was….

「Damn it!」

Turning around, I cut down the tree monsters that were approaching the two from behind.

Those branches were drawing close to them.

「It’s a tree monster! Be careful of the branches!」

Although I knew who the enemy was, there were trees everywhere.

To begin with, I wasn’t able to tell the trees and monsters apart.

Perhaps it was because we were surrounded, their presence was scattered.

「It can’t be helped. I’m cutting them all, huh.」

I drew my other sword, that I wore on my back.

This was the katana that I was given at Retice Castle when I found out what my occupation was. 

A sword in each hand, it was the『Twin-Sword Style』skill.

I practiced it every night, but that didn’t mean that I had completely learned it.

However, this certainly was much more troublesome than when swinging one sword with both hands.

Defeat everything before you get attacked, so that you don’t have to worry about defense.

「I don’t think that this is the best time to say this, but Asahina, was he this much of a muscle-head?」

「U, u–n?」

It seems that the two people behind me were saying something, but the me who was focused couldn’t hear it.

「Twin-Sword Style—-『Cherry Blossom Blizzard』」

A strong wind blew; it was a technique that cuts from various directions and angles endlessly as if cherry blossoms in full bloom were falling.

The branches that stretched towards us were cut into small pieces.

Nevertheless, the main body of the monster had yet to arrive.

The monster who had its branches cut gave a pained cry that could be heard from all directions.

That’s why, I had to do it now that there were no more branches in the way.

「Twin-Sword Style—-『Whirlwind』」

A strong gust of wind swept over.

Behind me, I could hear Hosoyama giving a small scream and Waki’s surprised voice.

After the wind stopped, there were many trees that had been cut down.

There were no signs of life there. 

It seems that I had completely defeated the tree monster with that attack just now.

Fuu, I breathed out and then moved to sheath my swords.

「That was amazing, Asahina.」

When I turned around, Waki and Hosoyama were standing there, uninjured.

This time, it was truly dangerous.

If it were the me who had just left the castle, it would be impossible for them to be without a single injury.

It seems that I was steadily growing stronger as well.

「Just now, it was my bad for doubting you. I lost my cool.」

「No, it was because it happened so suddenly. It was natural for you to be panicked.」

Waki seemed frivolous, but in actuality, he was someone who could honestly apologize when he did something wrong.

Nowadays, wasn’t it rare for someone to be able to honestly admit their faults.

I think that this part of him was likable.

Perhaps it was because I was hardly concerned with life before we were summoned, but now, it was fun to see my classmates’ many good points.

「What should we do now? The marks that we went out of our way to make were probably moving along with the tree monster and changed.」

Hearing Hosoyama’s words, I looked around.

And moved towards a certain tree that fell down.

「…no, it seems that that’s not the case.」