Solution: Brennen Tiger Hunting

“You people! What did you do!?”

The beautiful blonde woman was furious.

Toying with an opponent whose level was far higher than mine felt a little good—after all the abuse she had hurled at us, thinking that much probably would not bring divine punishment down on me.

The woman looked around with displeased eyes, but in the end, she understood nothing and left after spitting out a parting insult.

“Phew…”

The tension drained out of my body.

I was facing a high-level opponent who could instantly kill us if she got serious. The mental fatigue was high.

But I only had to endure a little longer.

“Okay, I’ll make the wall.”

Misha used the magic “Earth Wall.”

Its drawback was that it took a little time, but it was magic that made a wall of a fair size.

Before long, the wall was finished—

And Nyankoromochi and I were trapped inside.

In an enclosed space.

I held my sword ready and quietly muttered.

“Schrödinger’s Cat.”

The instant I did,

“Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

With a roar, the Brennen Tiger appeared.

Once the trick was revealed, it was simple.

The wall Misha made had two aims.

The first was, as the woman had thought, to hide us by blocking the line of sight.

But that was a fake.

The real goal was the second one.

It was to turn this place into an enclosed space with the wall. My “Schrödinger’s Cat” had this effect.

Schrödinger’s Cat

It obscures the existence of one cat in an enclosed space.

I usually used it to put Nyankoromochi in a bag and carry him around.

But a Brennen Tiger was a tiger—

A tiger was also a cat.

In other words, the Brennen Tiger could also be targeted.

The operation was like this.

Lure a nearby Brennen Tiger into this space.

Misha made a wall with Earth Wall.

Nyankoromochi and I fought the Brennen Tiger.

If the dual-blade woman came, Misha called my name.

Before the wall was broken, I activated Schrödinger’s Cat and hid the tiger.

Once the woman disappeared, we returned to step 2 again.

That was all we had to repeat.

That was the strategy Misha had thought up. There was no way anyone would think I could make a tiger disappear, so its effect was enormous.

We engaged the Brennen Tiger in battle.

We had already worn it down quite a bit, so the goal should have been close.

As we continued fighting like that—

The outside grew noisy again.

I could hear the woman and Misha talking.

“Ios!”

From the other side of the wall, I heard Misha call my name.

Normally, I would activate Schrödinger’s Cat here, but this time was different.

Ground Shrink!

At ultra-high speed, I charged into the Brennen Tiger.

Then I activated a skill.

Peerless Sword Soul!

My defensive power was converted into offensive power. The soul of one who had mastered the sword dwelled in four slashes.

—I would settle everything in this instant!

The moment my four-hit combo landed as I passed by, the wall was smashed apart at the same time.

The Brennen Tiger was—

Still standing!

Even after taking the four-hit combo I had put everything into, its body still stood on the ground.

“Found you!”

The woman’s voice, filled with joy, echoed.

A black cloak raced through the air. A blow like a meteor cut through the Brennen Tiger’s neck.

With a heavy thud, the Brennen Tiger’s massive body sank to the ground.

But—

“…Damn it!”

What spilled from the woman’s mouth was dissatisfaction.

I looked at the woman.

“…Now then, let’s test which of us has the rights. Go ahead.”

I pulled out my retriever and asked.

When multiple parties defeated an enemy, priority for the spoils went to the one that dealt more damage.

While putting away her dagger, the woman answered.

“Hah, I was neatly made to help you. You go ahead.”

…So the woman had noticed too.

My Peerless Sword Soul had not been meant to finish it off, but to make the total damage I had dealt exceed fifty percent, as the final push.

The woman had dealt the finishing blow—but for me, that had merely reduced the work.

I brought the retriever close. Just as I had expected, the Brennen Tiger turned into spoils.

Without hesitating, I chose the Brennen Tiger’s Ore.

With a dry sound, the magic stone and ore rolled out.

“Tch…!”

The woman’s irritated voice. Ignoring that, I collected the ore.

“Sorry, but this time was our win. Let’s go, Nyankoromochi.”

“Meow!”

When I came outside, Misha held out her open right hand.

I slapped that hand with my left hand.

Smack! The sound of celebration rang out.

“Nishishishi! We did it!”

“Yeah, it feels a little good.”

Last time, we had only been on the receiving end of her words…. While other adventurers had been getting outplayed, being able to pay her back like this was not bad.

Now, there was no need to stay long.

We should hurry back to town—

But things did not proceed that easily.

When we had gone quite a way back through the dungeon, a presence—a presence wrapped in dense bloodlust—followed after us.

“…Hey.”

When we turned around, the blonde woman from earlier was standing there.

“That Brennen Tiger’s Ore, could you sell it to me? I’ll buy it for twice the market price, though?”

“…No way! Bleh!”

Misha said that and turned away.

…Last time, Misha had been truly angry….

The woman smiled pleasantly.

“Oh, really? And here I was thinking I’d settle this with negotiation.”

At the same time as she said that, the woman pulled a jet-black dagger from her waist. With that same momentum, she spun the dagger around and around—

Before long, she stopped the dagger perfectly still and pointed its tip at Misha.

“Die.”

At the same time, her bloodlust exploded.

The woman attacked Misha with terrifying force. The unleashed dark flash went for Misha’s neck—

Clang!

A metallic sound echoed.

The Magic Wolf Broadsword I thrust out deflected that blow.

…I managed to deflect it!?

While feeling something cold down my back, I inwardly rejoiced at my own good luck.

I had not been able to follow the woman’s attack with my eyes at all. The sword I had blindly thrust out in desperation had merely blocked the woman’s blow.

“Eek!?”

Misha screamed. The woman’s deflected slash split Misha’s conical hat in two and sent it flying into the air.

“Haaah! Not bad, Prince Charming!?”

The woman slammed a whip-like kick toward my flank.

Kah!

It hit directly, and an impact as if it would tear my body apart ran through me. It was a blow I could not think of as a mere kick! Part of it was because my own defensive power was zero from Peerless Sword Soul—but even in my normal state, there was no doubt it would have been major damage.

“Guoh!”

Having lost my balance, I rolled across the ground.

The woman leaped at me.

“Then how about I kill you first!?”

The woman attacked me at a speed that stirred up the wind—no, at a speed that seemed to overtake even the wind.

This was bad!

In this situation, there was no way I could block an attack!

“Ios!”

Misha’s voice, filled with anguish, echoed.

The woman swung her dagger up—

“Stop this at once!”

At that moment, a thunderous shout echoed through the dungeon.

The woman, whose movement had stopped dead, threw a sharp gaze toward the voice.

At the end of that gaze stood three men and women.

The moment she saw them, the woman squeezed out a voice like a curse.

“Twilight Lightblade—!”