Chapter 4 (2/2)
Hiro repeatedly sucked in air ild, ragged gasps On the other hand, though drops of sweat gli was not disturbed at all
“Are you ok?”
“I-I’m, I’m fine”
“Are you sure? Tell me if it’s too hard, ok? If it’s only for a little bit, we can take a break……”
“That’s no good, Hime-sama If you spoil boys, they will unavoidably becorow fro thrown off of a cliff”
Though Hiro wanted to interject(2), seeing how his en, his wish to do so was left unfulfilled
As if ridiculing Hiro, Cerberus ran around merrily
“Hiro is still a kid If you were to throw him off a cliff, he would die”
“Mm? Is that brat not 16 years old? I heard this from Dios, but……”
“But his appearance is childish, right? We need to treat hiently”
“M……but 16……furthermore, a child? Hmm, I’m not too sure”
Turning his gaze away froh uproariously, Hiro looked behind him
He could see the large number of soldiers who had followed them
Whilst wearing heavy ar was not disturbed, nor had any of them fallen behind
Even the senior, Tris, had yet to break a sweat
—this old man’s definitely a monster
“Were there any that withdrew?”
“We don’t have such weaklings”
“I see, thank goodness……”
“Right now things are going alright It should be possible to start walking into the mountains by sunrise Looks like it’ll end without anyone catching a glimpse of us”
“I wonder if everything’s alright on Dios’s end?”
“There’s no need to worry Because he’s strong”
After walking for a while, the sky began to brighten, exposing a large mountain before them
As always, Hiro’s hand was being gripped by Liz
Whether he had gotten used to it……or had forgotten about it, Hiro was no longer as embarrassed about it compared to when he had first held her hand
As soon as they had stepped into the ht her face close to Hiro’s
Hiro’s face turned red as he waited for Liz to speak This alone was soet used to
“Once we cross over this mountain, we’ll reach the Country of Baum It’s pretty peaceful, and there’s a beautiful town overfloith nature Though there’s not enough tiht now, so on’t be able to visit it”
I really wanted to show him around–Liz muttered in a disappointed manner as Tris spoke up
“Hasn’t your Onii-sama’s reach extended to the Country of Baum?”
“There’s no need to worry about that……or so I would like to say, but I can’t be so sure of that It’s still possible that they’ve seen through our strategy”
Tris ain
“Additionally, this ti the country any unnecessary stirave Grinda’s territory as fast as possible”
“……that’s true Our group is about the size of a squadron, so I feel like we’ll be exposed rather quickly though”
“Even if we’re noticed, they can’t do anything against the E at us under their breath”
“It feels like we’re taking advantage of their weakness Can’t help but feel a bit guilty”
“Once things calrave Grinda’s territory, there shouldn’t be any probley”
“Either way, it’ll still become a story of our impoliteness”
As he listened to the two’s conversation, Hiro scaled the gentle hill road
Though he had heard that it’d be a hard journey, in reality, it was a mountain that was extremely suitable for a picnic
Along the roadside, numerous flowers bloomed, and cute animals could occasionally be seen
“You look like you’re having a lot of fun, Hiro”
“Yeah Because I heard it’d be rough, I had prepared myself, but……it’s a nice mountain Feels like the perfect place to have an afternoon nap”
“Fufu, I agree This Mount Hist all of the Grauzare But since a lot of h that not even peddlers can pass through it Well, this area’s still safe, though”
“Mo-Monsters?”
“Yup The closer to the suet, the more ferocious they becoet to the other side, so it’ll be a hard journey, you know?”
It was a word that I’ve only heard within gairl made me feel a sense of fear
Because her features had rehout her delivery(3), there was a strange intensity behind her words
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you, so it’s fine for you to walk proudly in the back(4)”
“Woof-!”
Cerberus barked
‘I’ll protect you’–is what the wolf’s gallant figure expressed
Leaving time for a short break in between, we set out for the summit within 4 hours
The sun had cos became completely clear
At this time, we had already travelled a distance where, if you raised your head, you could directly see the mountain’s summit
But then—that appeared
Its two large, bloodshot eyesto evaluate them
Peeking out of its tornfallen out
Its neck was thicker than Hiro’s waist, and as it rose up, its exposed belly swelled up like a balloon
It was a hideous, humanoid monster
“An ogre It was originally a human, but it’s been said that because of a spirit’s curse, it was transfor driven out from human lands, it inhabits mountains like these and attacks travellers It’s a monster that lusts for human flesh”
Liz calmly delivered an explanation
“Also, even though it’s strong, because its intelligence is low, it’s not that hard to take down”
Just as Liz spoke, Cerberus ran forward
“Guruaaaaa!”
Cerberus brandished his sharp fangs towards the ogre’s neck, and then――he landed on the ground with a light noise
Together with an eerie splurting noise, the ogre’s head disappeared as blood ca out
Grotesque……Hiro averted his eyes
However, what appeared before him was a scene that made him want to cover his eyes
The sight of the ogre’s head rolling gently down the hill road
Watching over him, Liz’s side profile suddenly bloomed like a flower as she smiled
“See!”
“……yeah”
“As expected of Cerberus-dono An unseeable execution(5)! We’ve been given the honour of being shown quite a wonderful thing”
“Woof-!”
After being praised by Tris, Cerberus’s tail wagged in response
“There’re er than that”
Upon seeing Liz’s cheerful expression as she said that, Hiro had absolutely no idea what kind of face he should make in return
Footnotes:
Banzai = CheersTsukkomi in the RAWなまじ顔が整ってるせいで妙な迫力があった。 | Honestly, the translation of this line was a bit iffy, because this doesn’t seem to make sense in japanese either (either that, or perhaps I’e)Liz is mean Or maybe she actually meant that he could walk at ease in the back of the troop safely But that’s not what the RAW says目にも見えない牙捌き | Quite literally, a “Fang Judgement” that couldn’t be seen by the naked eye