Chapter 15 - Glasses-kun is Astonished by Laila’s True Strength

Chapter 15 - Glasses-kun is Astonished by Laila’s True Strength

Laila and I split up to begin our search, and soon we found several clues.

Bent grass.
This was a sign that something had passed through. Judging by the size, it was wider than a human—something large, like a bear.

Faint, gouged lines on the ground—four of them.
These were footprints. The marks of a four-legged beast with claws.

And then, traces of blood that hadn’t yet dried.
Something had eaten an animal here. The remains of a predator’s meal.

We couldn’t be certain yet whether it was the Red Bear, but there was no doubt something bear-like was around.

—Actually, no, I was sure of it. Just a hunch.

"This must be it. Let’s follow."

Laila nodded. Sensing that a real battle was approaching, her tension seemed to rise. Though I thought it was still too early for her to stiffen up.

From here on out, I’d take the lead.

I suppressed my presence and followed the trail deeper into the forest. Well, I was hiding my presence, but Laila was completely exposed, so I wasn’t sure how effective this really was.

After a while, I started sensing something.
It was moving slowly somewhere ahead.

"Watch your noise."

Even from a distance, I wanted to close in until we could see it visually.
We had to confirm our target before making a move—if we messed up, the real prey might escape.

For now, there was still a chance it was just an ordinary bear.
I was sure it was the Red Bear, but hunting required caution. Especially right before engaging.

If Laila weren’t here, I’d get as close as possible to guarantee the kill.
But this time, her training took priority.

"Did you find it?"

"I’m about to check."

Moving forward with extreme caution—I saw it.

A large, red-furred creature, blurred by the dust. It was walking away from us, so it hadn’t noticed us yet.

The Red Bear.
I caught a glimpse.
Getting any closer risked it detecting our scent or Laila’s presence, so I held back.

"Laila."

I hid behind a tree, out of the bear’s line of sight, and pulled Laila in with me.

"Found the target."

"U-uh… t-too close, isn’t it?"

Hiding behind the tree, we were indeed pressed close together.
But this wasn’t the time to worry about that. If we messed up now, we’d be dead in seconds. Complaining about distance at a time like this just showed her inexperience.

Survival mattered more than Laila’s complaints, so I ignored her.

"Head back to the remains of the campfire we found earlier."

"Huh?"

"The trees are too dense here. Ranged attacks would be tricky."

A slightly more open area would be better for fighting.
But too open would mean no cover, which was also bad. A head-on clash with this thing would be suicide. That wasn’t how I hunted.

"Go back to the campfire and wait in the trees. I’ll lure the Red Bear to you."

At that, Laila seemed to understand what she needed to do.

"So I’ll ambush it from above when you bring it?"

Exactly.

When I nodded, Laila muttered "Got it" and swiftly retreated the way we came. Not bad movement. Despite walking all morning, she wasn’t even winded—seemed she had decent stamina.

What she really needed was experience.
Battle experience.

Well, that was something she’d have to work on herself later.

—Now then.

I waited until Laila’s presence faded, then readied my bow.

I didn’t like tormenting prey, but this wasn’t a hunt—it was Laila’s training. I had to accommodate her needs as much as possible.

I nocked a wooden arrow, keeping the string slack as I moved.

Once the Red Bear was back in sight, I stepped out from cover, drew my bow—then hesitated and ducked back.

"...?"

I felt the bear turn its head. It sniffed the air. Damn. At this rate, it’d notice me. So much for the element of surprise.

But more importantly—

"Those numbers…"

I saw them again.

I hadn’t forgotten, but I hadn’t seen those floating numbers since that time—the same ones that had appeared over Roroberu’s head.

This time, it was "11."

"...'5'?"

I peeked out again with one eye to double-check—now it read "5."

"GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!"

And it saw me. Busted.

With a ground-shaking roar, the Red Bear charged straight at me—just as I bolted in the opposite direction.

I zigzagged through the trees to escape.
In a straight sprint, the bear was faster, so I couldn’t let it chase me head-on.

"Hah!"

Occasionally, it caught up and swung its claws, but I dodged.
While dodging, I turned and fired a half-drawn arrow to keep it angry. ...Tch, wooden arrows don’t pierce deep.

Not that I expected damage.
The goal was just to annoy it into chasing me.

Incidentally, the number above its head was now "3." Not exactly encouraging, like a countdown to death.

After a few more wooden arrows, I successfully led the enraged bear back to the campfire where Laila waited.

"Laila!"

I shouted to signal my arrival, dashing into the slightly open area—

"—『Wind Blade』!"

An invisible slash flew from somewhere in the trees.

A split second after I passed, it struck the Red Bear’s neck with perfect accuracy.

"...Grrrrrr…!"

But it ignored it.

The bear growled, glaring at me as I stopped to watch.
Its supposedly slashed neck was completely unharmed. It didn’t even bother looking at Laila, who had attacked it.

No damage.
Absolutely none.
I’d expected as much when I heard her magic could only cut thin trees, but still.

Laila’s spells had no effect on the Red Bear. At best, it trimmed some of its red fur—like a bad haircut.

...Yeah.

This wasn’t even a training issue. She wasn’t ready for real combat. She needed more solo practice before thinking about live battles.

"『Wind Blade』! 『Wind Blade』! Haaah… 『Wind Blade』! UOOOOOOOH!! 『Wiiind! Blaaaade!!』"

So this is the power of magic? Impressive.

While I dodged and fired arrows to keep the bear occupied, Laila unleashed a relentless barrage of spells.

Of course, none worked.
The bear didn’t even glance her way. Turn around already. She’s trying so hard. Have some courtesy.

As this futile fur-trimming dragged on, my patience wore thin.

I considered myself fairly resilient, but standing in mortal danger just to buy time for this made me feel like an absolute fool.

If there was some damage, fine.
Even if she couldn’t land a fatal blow, enough hits could weaken it through blood loss.

But with nothing to show for it, this was pointless.

What was the difference between spamming spells from safety and practicing on stationary dummies? This didn’t need to be a real fight.

"Hey, Laila—"

While keeping the bear busy, I called out to where she was hiding.

"W-w-what?! I’m trying my hardest here! Just wait and see!"

Nah, I’ve seen enough.

"I can just finish it now, right?"

Actually, forget permission—I was doing it anyway.

I discarded the wooden arrows in my quiver, leaving only the iron ones.
No more distractions. Time to kill.

"—Huh?"

As I nocked an iron arrow, the number above the bear’s head changed.

It had been "3" this whole time—now it read "96."

……

Don’t tell me—