Securing a Guide

Lyla Hellner. In the hundreds of thousands of years during my imprisonment in that easy dungeon, I forgot almost all of my memories from before. Some memories returned upon clearing the dungeon, among them was my time with Lyla. Maybe that was just how important Lyla's existence was to the previous me.

Maybe because our parents decided to betroth us at birth, I've spent my childhood always by Lyla's side.

We ate lunch together, taking afternoon nap under warm sunlight together, even sweating together during our sword training. For me, her existence was akin to an older sister, although our ages were same.

That's why, it was only natural for me to get agitated when I came to knew she was in danger.

I stopped upon feeling undisguised killing intent directed toward me,

「Show yourself.」

Now that I'm pissed off, I yelled to the one who dared to show me hostility in this kind of situation. I grasped[Murasame]'s hilt.

「You noticed, huh.」

A baldie carrying a curved sword on his shoulder with a scarred body showed up.

「Well, yeah.」

That was only expected, he didn't even try to hide his killing intent.

「That stance, that attitude. Yeah, you're strong. Completely different from those young masters playing swordsman. Seeing you in reality, I don't think I need Skull to remind me――」

「Stop the useless chit-chat. Just tell me what you want.」

I'm racing against time after all. I didn't have the time to play along. Thus, I interrupted his speech and urged him to get to the point.

「YOU CHEEKY BRAT!」

The baldie's smile vanished, replaced with an enraged face as he raised his curved sword.

「Not good. Not good at all.」

To be enraged by that was a show of his immaturity. To be honest, even Riku had much better temperament as a swordsman than this guy. I mean, in my eyes, he was no different from those trash hunter who tried to rob me in back alley back then in Barse.

「HAH!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY NO GOOD!?」

「I mean everything」

「BULLSHI*T!!」

The baldie charged ahead like a wild boar and swung his curved sword. I twisted my body to dodge by a paper-thin margin.

A downward slash followed by a full-strength horizontal slash, and lastly a diagonal slash from to the nape of my neck. I dodged all of it perfectly.

「DAMMIT! WHY CAN'T I LAND A HIT!」

「Because you're too immature.」

「SHUT UP! OI, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!」

The baldie took some distance from me and then shouted.

How stupid! Didn't he literally tell me that someone has been waiting for an ambush all along? Well, not that I care about it since I've long since discovered the position of the greenhorn who didn't even know the "A" of ambush.

And just as expected, three fire spears came from diagonal left behind me. I parried it with [Murasame], and sent it back toward the caster.

The fire spears flew dozen times faster and created small-scale explosions upon hitting the target. What followed after was a painful wail as the baldie's helpers dropped down.

「I-impossible!」

I sent a glance at the retreating baldie,

「Both of you guys are no good.」

I unleashed [Deadline] and turn the trees around to ashes.

「Eh?」

The baldie let out a dumbfounded wail as he observed the area that had already changed into circle deadland. And then, color drained rapidly from his face.

「M-MONSTER!!」

In the end, he shouted such boring comments.

「If you have a time to get flustered like that, you should use it to escape, or try to land a sneak attack!」

The next moment, I closed the distance between us in few steps, grabbed his hand holding the curved sword, and twisted it.

「Ke?」

The baldie got pulledto the side. And next ――

「GUGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!」

I seized the screaming baldie with my right hand,

「So noisy. Shut up.」

I ordered him with an irrefutable tone.

「HIIIII!?」

The baldie, whose face was dyed in horror, raised a shriek.

「Well then, I need you guys to act as my guide. That's your job, right?」

I dragged the baldie as I walked to his colleague, but that person was nothing more than charred corpse at this point.

「HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!」

The baldie raised a shriek upon seeing the charred corpse.

「Am I clear now? This is the fate that awaits you if you dare disobey me. Now guide me to Lyla Hellner's location.」

I whispered into his ears in a bone chilling tone, the baldie nodded in no time with teary eyes.

I threw the baldie's body to the ground as he started walking despite trembling like newborn foal.

「RUN! FASTER!」

I shouted at him in an enraged voice…

「HIIIIIIIIIIII!」

The baldie sprinted with his face smeared with tears and mucus.

Wait for me, Lyla! I'll save you for sure.

I swore in my heart as I ran behind the baldie.