Largorin, The Ice Guard

“We have arrived at the rest stop! We will depart in thirty minutes, so please gather on schedule!”

The carriage conductor said loudly.

Even though it was an A-rank carriage with plenty of space, a journey where you stayed seated the whole time was bad for the body. That was why they proceeded while taking breaks like this.

Together with the other passengers, Misha and I got off the carriage.

“Mm! The sunlight feels nice!”

“Meow.”

At Misha’s feet as she shouted, Nyankoromochi meowed in a comfortable-sounding voice.

“Nishishishi! Nyankoro-chan likes being outside too, doesn’t he!”

Misha crouched down and stroked Nyankoromochi’s head.

In order to investigate clues about the mysterious cat cloaked in a force field—Nyankoromochi—we had left Piptat and set out on a journey.

Our destination was the town with the adventurer school where I had studied.

That was where Nyankoromochi and I had met. Perhaps we might learn something there.

“…Still, this brings back memories…”

I looked around and voiced my emotion.

Misha looked up at me.

“Memories?”

“Yeah, it reminded me of when I came to Piptat…”

Back then, I had come by carriage like this too.

Carrying the dark feelings of having been driven out of my previous party.

But now was different.

In Piptat—no, on that carriage journey—I had reached “my own destiny.”

Thanks to that, the current me existed.

The me who carried feelings of pride in myself.

Misha stood up while holding Nyankoromochi.

“Ios working hard like a street performer back then was funny.”

“Huh, that’s the part you remember!?”

“Since we have the chance, should you go back to your roots and try it?”

That fast in-and-out trick with Nyankoromochi, huh…

I scratched my cheek and muttered.

“No… I think I’m good…”

It wasn’t as if I had become successful and was putting on airs.

It was simply embarrassing.

Back then, Misha had gotten me carried away, and I had only done it in desperation…

“Nishishishi! You, you! Acting all high and mighty!”

As she said that, Misha poked me with her staff.

“No, no, that’s wrong, I said!”

I dodged Misha’s attack and ran away. There was no way Misha, a mage without stamina, could catch up to me—

“Ah! He ran! Go, Trooper Nyankoromochi!”

“Meowwwww!”

“Whaaaaaat!?”

As expected, a cat was hard to deal with. I ran away rather desperately.

In the middle of that escape—

“That mountain over there is the one where Largorin the Ice Guard appears, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I heard two men having that conversation. Judging from their appearances, were they adventurers?

…Largorin?

At that mysterious sound, I unintentionally stopped in my tracks.

Taking advantage of that opening—

“Meowwwww!”

Nyankoromochi charged into my side.

Hey, Nyankoromochi—you deployed your force field… Are you serious!?

I screamed and fell over just like that. Nyankoromochi stood with a clean landing on my chest and let out a victorious roar.

“Good, good, you did well, Nyankoromochi!”

Misha, who had run over, poked me with her staff!

The two men, who had noticed the commotion, stared at us.

“Sorry for being noisy—!”

As I said that, I asked a question, letting my curiosity take over.

“Um, I happened to hear you just now, but what is Largorin?”

“Hm? Ah, it’s a named monster.”

A named monster!?

At those words, my body stiffened.

Seeing me like that, the man smiled wryly.

“It’s good that you got fired up, but fix your situation a little. Even if you make a serious face like that, you know.”

…Situation?

I was lying on my side, a cat was riding on my chest, and a female mage wearing a triangular hat was poking me with her staff—

With my face bright red, I muttered.

“S-sorry…”

After we stood up and introduced ourselves, we listened to the man’s story.

“On that mountain, Largorin the Ice Guard appears—a named monster, that is.”

Named monster.

That was the general term for “rare monsters.” They usually only appeared in a specific place at a specific time. Monsters with the same name never spawned at the same time, making them one-of-a-kind monsters in the world.

Defeating one was an honor as an adventurer.

A named monster, huh…

Misha asked a question.

“How strong is it?”

“Maybe around upper B-rank… It’s on the weaker side among named monsters, but its defense power is incredible, and apparently that part is equivalent to A-rank.”

“High defense power is tough.”

In this world, unless attack power exceeded defense power, damage wouldn’t go through. That was an absolute rule.

“Yeah, but you know, apparently its back is its weak point.”

“Its back?”

“Apparently, there was once a case where it was defeated in one blow by landing a ‘Backstab’ on its back. …Though it seems that’s extremely difficult.”

Backstab.

It was a skill used by “Assassin,” a higher class of Scout. As the name implied, it granted a special bonus to an attack from behind.

I threw a question at the two men.

“…Are you two aiming for Largorin?”

The two laughed off my question.

“Even if it’s weak, for C-rank guys like us, we wouldn’t have enough lives no matter how many we had.”

“And besides, apparently the ‘Twilight Light Blades’ are aiming for it.”

“The Twilight Light Blades—!”

Without thinking, I repeated the man’s words.

“The Twilight Light Blades” was the name of a famous party, and many adventurers knew about them. They were exceptionally skilled adventurers who boasted A-rank ability at the young average age of thirty.

Their level was—probably over 70.

To me, who still hadn’t even reached 30, they were existences above the clouds.

“Well, I guess we’re planning to enjoy watching whether the Light Blades guys successfully hunt Largorin or not as something to drink over.”

After saying that, the men said farewell and went somewhere.

I didn’t move right away and stared intently at the mountain.

Was it there—the named monster, Largorin the Ice Guard?

And would they come here? Those Twilight Light Blades.

My chest grew hot. Even the breath that spilled out felt as if it carried heat.

“Hellooo?”

Misha, grinning, peered into my face.

“Could you please not get excited all by yourself?”

“Huh?”

“You had a face that was trying to look a little cool, Ios-san.”

“Huh, no…”

With my momentum cut short, I rubbed my face vigorously.

“Was I looking like that?”

“Yeah. You had the face of a boy.”

Nishishishi! Misha laughed.

“Then, how about we take a little detour and use this place as our base?”

“…Is that all right…?”

“There’s no right or wrong! It was originally a journey where we weren’t in a hurry, right? Isn’t it fine to take a detour if we feel like it?”

“That’s true.”

Misha’s words made my heart feel lighter.

…I had wanted to go.

The existence of a named monster that couldn’t be seen often. Rumors of a top-class party aiming for it. After hearing such things, I couldn’t bring myself to leave.

I couldn’t suppress the excitement in my heart.

Of course, I didn’t think I could become the center of the scene in a place like that.

I would only be a minor role, or rather, I didn’t even know whether I would be at the edge of the stage.

But I wanted to be there.

Even if I gained nothing, I wanted to be in a place where I could feel that atmosphere against my skin.

Surely nothing would happen, but—

There was nothing wrong with dreaming a little.

Holding in my heart the hope that something might happen.

“Let’s get off the carriage here, Misha.”

“Yeah, yeah! We have to tell the conductor!”

After telling them our intention to get off, we started walking toward the town at the foot of the mountain.