Zoemi and four wolf puppies were waiting for Mizoe, Rokiana, and Roiso's arrival at the edge of the forest a fair distance away from the next village.
"...!"
When the sounds of two horses' hooves became audible, the puppies' ears perked up and they all turned towards it.
"You need to be more attentive, you noticed them far too slow – if they were monsters or enemies they would already complete the encirclement."
The black-haired boy declared while cleaning monster blood from under his fingernails with the end of the heavy dagger without raising his head.
The puppies flinched and their tails stopped wagging and lowered at the scolding.
"I will not always be with you to keep watch, so you need to start paying more attention, you know? Stone armor and earth wall are good spells, you have a lot of mana too, but you musn't think that it alone can guarantee a victory. This guy had more mana than all of you combined and still let himself be ambushed. See what it got him?"