My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s - Chapter 199

「Oi, hero! It went over there!! Don’t be slow!」

「Don’t, order me around!」

Without looking over at the hero who was on his knees and breathing roughly, I raised my voice.

The hero shouted gloomily and stood up.

Was this guy this slow.

Thinking up until there, I shook my head.

Come to think of it, this may be the first time I’ve fought together with this guy.

No, not maybe, it was.

In the Continent Dungeon, he was fighting on the front lines and contrarily, I slipped into the rear, and during the battle with the Minotaur, this guy had become unable to use both arms before I made an appearance and had withdrawn to within the barrier.

「Kyousuke! Be careful not to damage the horn that we need!」

「I, got, it!!」

Currently, the battle unit consisting of the hero, Kyousuke, Zeal-san, and I were gathering the materials requested by Noa that we needed in order to traverse the continent.

For the medicinal plants and items that were relatively safe to harvest and were not monster parts, Amaryllis, who could appraise them, and Amelia, who had time on her hands, were in charge of that, so our job as the battle unit was solely the procurement of materials from monsters.

Having said that, this was not such an easy thing to accomplish.

This was the forest closest to the demon territory. 

The monsters in this forest were much tougher opponents than those from the lowest level of the dungeons.

For example, we were currently being attacked by a group of monsters with the appearance of wild boars that had large horns on their heads.

Utterly reckless, when they discovered that we had trespassed into their territory, they ran towards us in a single line with their heads lowered and horns aimed at us. 

If we were to be skewered by that big horn, we would not be able to keep our lives.

In fact, the tree trunks that were so big that that I would not be able to encircle it even if I were to use both arms that were in their way were uprooted due to the impact when the horns pierced into them

The monsters easily got rid of the large trees that were stuck on their horns by shaking their heads, and then they once again turned to look at us.

Perhaps it was due to their means of skewering their prey, but it seems that they had great strength in their necks.

I could see through that quick charge, but I didn’t know if the heroes could.

「Akira-kun! We will be the decoy and create an opportunity, so please decapitate it!!」

Just as I was thinking about what to do, Zeal-san shouted this to me.

In regards to giving out instructions, Zeal-san, who served as the Vice-Commander of the Chivalric Order, was much skilled at it than me,

Neither Yoru nor Amelia needed me to back them up which allowed me to move as I liked, so I hadn’t cooperated with others like this since the training at the castle.

This was probably why, Zeal-san asked me to deal the finishing blow.

In this group, the one who was the most unaccustomed to cooperating with others and could defeat this monster was me.

「Got it.」

In an instant, my thoughts stopped there and then I used『Stealth』.

If cooperation was unnecessary, then I didn’t need to be visible.

I disappeared and perhaps it was because they could see the place where they ought to move to as the hero, Kyousuke, and Zeal-san whose movements suddenly turned agile herded the monsters towards a place where the trees hindered their mobility.

After that, it was my turn.

「『Shadow Magic』. 『Shadow Encirclement』.」

Our shadows, and the shadows created from the trees blocking out the sun gathered at the feet of the monsters, and formed a woven-bamboo pattern. 

TN: kagome (woven-bamboo/basket pattern) was translated as ‘encirclement’ in the last line, simply because the latter sounds better than the former as an attack name. This woven pattern is one where bamboo is woven in an almost circular pattern with an open area (hole) in the middle. There is also a children’s game called ‘kagome kagome’ where a group of children link hands to form a circle around the child who is the demon (oni).

-The following section has some gory details, please be advised-

If it’s monsters that were this large, then there would be a few days worth of food, but currently, we were all set on that front and as it was unnecessary, I, without mercy, chopped the monsters up into tiny pieces.

After the shadows withdrew, there were only lumps of meat falling onto the ground. 

「Oi, the horns…!」

As if flustered, the hero raised his voice, but when he saw me appear with the horns in my arms, he fell silent.

Of course, I did not forget about the materials.

I had taken them just before I used Shadow Magic.

The battle ended, and after confirming that there were no other monsters in the vicinity, we became less tense.

It was probably because I shredded them into small pieces, but the putrid smell of the corpses and the smell of blood permeated our surroundings.

It would probably be best if we left this place.

「Well then, you should probably understand with this, Akira-kun. It seems that you are, unfortunately, not suited for coordinating with others.」

I shaved off the bark from a nearby tree and cleaned the blood on my blade.

Truthfully, it would’ve been best to look it over after wiping it with a soft cloth, but it would be awkward to use a clean cloth in such a place, and I couldn’t just carry around something that had blood on it.

In that case, I would, inevitably, have to either wipe it using the tree bark, or with the cloth of what seemed to be the clothes worn by a humanoid monster that rarely appeared. 

As I was catching my breath, Zeal-san said this.

I nodded at those words, as I picked out the moderately-sized magic stones from the pile of monster flesh.

-End of section-

Even though my occupational level was the highest one among us, it did not equate to experience in cooperating with others.

「Under this thin veneer of cooperation, you are struggling all by yourself, which means that we won’t be able to go head to head with the demons.」

Kyousuke calmly added this.

Maa, it was as Kyousuke said.

I’m not up to Mahiro”s level, but I was also unable to compete with Aulum.

Against an opponent who you can’t even win against by yourself, attempting uncoordinated teamwork was just suicidal.

What couldn’t be forgotten, was that this was the place closest to the demon territory.

It wasn’t absolutely certain that there weren’t any of the demons’ annoying magic circles here, and in the first place, if they had that much magic power, then there might even be a demon who could fly.

I was of the opinion of wanting to decrease the number of enemies, even if it was just by one, before we entered the demon territory, but if they don’t agree with me, then that’s fine.

As I was thinking such things, perhaps I was misunderstanding something, as Zeal-san gave a follow-up.

「Maa, after hearing about Akira-kun’s experiences in battle, I understand that it would be difficult for you to coordinate with others. Cooperation is not necessarily always an advantage. It’s good that you can easily get support, but if the rhythm is disturbed, even if it’s just a little, that alone is enough for everyone in the party to be fatally wounded.」

Even so, if even one person soloed, then you would avoid total annihilation, hearing Zeal-san say that with a smile, I felt a chill run down my spine. 

It seems that there was a difference in the sense of values between the true inhabitants of this world and us.

I too did not want to die, but I would not calculate the hero and the others’ lives just to save my own.

「Even if that were to be the case, the most important thing is for everyone to survive, isn’t it. You too, seriously, not cooperating is not allowed.」

At the words of the hero who was preaching, I unconsciously grimaced.

Even I knew that cooperation was necessary.

However, I had completely no idea what Kyousuke was thinking and why he was at that place, and why Zeal-san brought that up at such a time.

「Maa, for now, let’s continue on like this, there’s no use in talking about it if I don’t familiarize myself with your movements as well.」

As if pushing it aside, I said this, and turned so that my back faced them.

At that time, I too insisted until the end that I was innocent, and if I had remained at the castle, would I be able to move like them.

I had never thought that my choice at that time was wrong,

However, them tacitly being able to do something that I couldn’t, I had undoubtedly felt envy or something similar to it.