After our little fiasco, we had a small meeting. Princess Luna and Mister Hilos were still watching everyone perform, and judging by their expressions, things are… not that great.

“Askaaa!? H-how do you feel?” Julia flusteredly asked.

“I’m fine. Though… it still hurts,” I replied.

Again…

Things are looking somewhat… bleak? I injured myself pretty badly, and while I used some healing capsules and… it was enough, the pain still lingered.

With all of that said. Hilda was hugging me from behind with teary eyes. Isak didn’t even want to say anything as he sulked a bit further away from us. I’m sure he’s blaming himself for some of my injuries.

“Isak, c’mon, it’s not that bad. I’ve used these healing capsules, so… I’m fine.”

He turned to me. He, too, was teary-eyed. “I…. You’re right,” Isak said. “But that doesn’t mean you should jump in whenever I’m in a bind. Unlike you, I can take a hit or two.”

“See? It’s my bad~,” I somewhat casually replied.

“You’re a massive idioooot,” Isak told me while frowning.

“Isak is right, Aska, you’re a massive idiot, and… Hilda, how long are you going to hold him? It’s not like he’s flailing around anymore….”

As Julia said that, Hilda distanced herself and apologetically looked at me. “I-I’m sorry, I… was in deep thought,” she apologised while bashfully casting her gaze downwards.

“Hmpf,” Julia huffed with crossed arms. “...Well, I’d take advantage of that too if I were in your shoes,” she jokingly said out of nowhere.

“...Julia….”

“B-but I’m not saying you should!”

“...Aww~,” Hilda expressed with a warm and softened look.

Isak chuckled a little, and so did I. Things were back to normal now.

— :::: —

After things had calmed down, we decided to give it another go. This time, however, being extra cautious.

“How’s things looking?” Isak asked the three of us.

“Hmm, there is a beast not too far from here. It’s a bit larger than the one we fought,” I replied.

“...and what element is it? Can you tell?” Isak inquired while flipping through his book.

“It’s wind, from the looks of it. It has horns and looks like a reptile—actually, it kinda looks like one of those from Jurassic Park.”

“...okay…? It’s a Nejol. Wind type. E-5. It’s basically a D.”

“Hmm… does it taste good?” I asked while tilting my head.

The others look at me like I’m some sort of psycho….

What…? We’re going to eat it! Of course, I want to know!?

“Aska… it apparently tastes pretty good. The meat is tender as well,” Isak replied.

See!

“Noted. Julia, Hilda, wanna… go for this one? Or did any of you find a better one?”

The girls shook their heads, “Well… unless you want to go for a flaming bull made out of rock,” Julia replied with a shrug.

“...is that edible?” I asked, turning to Isak.

“No, it’s… metals and rocks.”

“...did you find anything, Hilda?”

“A giant toad.”

““.......””

“Let’s go for the wind lizard, shall we?” Isak got up.

And we began heading toward it.

“Say, you can use those strings, right?”

…I can, ohh. I see where it’s going!

“Sure, you want me to use you as a puppet?”

Isak frowned. “…couldn’t you have worded that in a better way?” He let out a soft sigh, saying, “Well, sort of like that. You’ll have to steer me a little when things go south. And this time, you’ll hold some distance doing whatever to CC to make it easier for the rest of us. Can you handle that?”

“Sure,” I replied.

“Hilda, you and Julia have a lot of firepowers. Try not to obliterate our targets—especially you, Hilda….”

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Got it…” Julia said.

“Got it,” Hilda replied with a somewhat sad look.

…Isak is in boss mode again… well, it suits him better than being in the dumps.

And so, we rearranged things a little. Hopefully, things will get better.

We were closing in on the beast, and it didn’t seem like it had noticed us yet. I attached strings to Isak, and Julia was preparing her arrows.

Isak and I got closer to the beast, signalling Julia to shoot the Nejol. She hit it in the head and momentarily stunned it.

Isak and I rushed out. And despite being hit in the head, the Nejol recovered pretty fast as it noticed our approach.

It tried to run away, but Hilda had already cast a spell, terraforming the surrounding, and its escape path was cut.

At least, that’s what we thought….

The Nejol infused itself with wind and jumped over the tall walls Hilda made, making us a little confused.

“Damn! We’re chasing!” Isak yelled.

With a nod, I agreed. “I’ll propel you!” I said as I thew him up in the air.

And as Isak was closely following the Nejol, wind blades were coming his way, but he cut straight through them on his own.

Hilda and Julia were chasing behind us, and as I passed the wall, I immediately prepared more water threads to bind the Nejol.

But… unfortunately, my attempts were denied as they easily cut through them. Isak, who’d just descended, was cutting through its attacks, and when he came into melee range, the Nejol became even more aggressive.

It was now using its claws infused with wind and slicing at Isak. Julia launched arrows one after the other, and Hilda made the ground uneven, making it difficult for both Isak and the Nejol to properly move.

Though… it was easier for Isak since I corrected his movements. But… I just can’t stand this… as it seems very even and goes nowhere.

…..

“Isak!” I screamed. He noticed my call as well and decided to back off a little. Which was good since I was rushing in with a giant crystalised sword.

The Nejol noticed it, and its claws connected with my giant ice sword, and the sound of screeching winds sure wasn’t pleasant… Hilda was casting protective barriers around me, stopping the wind blades.

Of course… this was overwhelming since I don’t have Isak’s strength. But that was fine.

Julia shot another arrow, but it was redirected by the Nejol’s winds. However… that didn’t matter as Isak had gotten to its blindspots when it focused on Julia and me.

“Got you,” Isak said, slashing it with a radiant red sword.

The attack knocked it away, and it clashed with some trees. Isak rushed toward it, tearing up the ground beneath the Nejol, knocking it up in the air.

“Aska!”

“Got it!”

While the Nejol was up in the air, still stunned, I used water threads to bind it and froze its limbs. With a loud thud, it hit the ground.

“Is… it dead?” Hilda cautiously asked.

“Probably not,” I replied. “I can still see its active mana flow, but… it’s not moving, so… it’s probably just unconscious.”

“I see…”

“...how are we going to kill it? When Isak slashed at it, it was tough—”

As Julia was about to finish her sentence, Isak had already beheaded the Nejol. But right after he beheaded it, he had a sick look on his face.

“What are you all doing?” Isak asked, “Get over here.”

The three of us stared at him. “G-got it…” we replied.

“So… what are we going to do now…?” Julia inquired.

“Ugh…” Isak rasped, “Dismember it… I suppose?”

““......””

The girls turned to me, “Asak… do you… know how?”

“No clue,” I replied.

“Ugh… I know a little,” Isak said, looking while still looking dizzy at the sight of the carcass. 'She would’ve been able to do this…’ Isak uttered under his breath, thinking nobody heard him.

Note: we all did.

I decided to ignore that part for now and asked, “What do we do then?”

“Uaah….”

Hey, don’t regurgitate now! Please!

“I mean… first off, let’s… take out the intestine and drain its blood. While we're at it… actually, I don’t know whether the intestine is good or not. Do any of you want to eat it?”

Immediately we all shook our heads.

“Figures…” Isak sighed in relief. “Well, just bury it so that we don’t attract predators.”

“Got it… but… there’s a slight problem….”

“Hm?” Everyone looked at me, asking, “What problem?”

“It’s… a little bit… big”

“Oh…”

At that moment, Mister Hilos appeared before us. “Good job.” He clapped his hands. “But how are you going to take it back?”

“.....”

I didn’t think of that….

Everyone was just in a daze and stared at Mister Hilos. He shrugged. “Sorry, no can do, you’re on your own,” he replied.

We all knew he was able to store it somewhere, but since he had a non-interference rule, it was a given he’d turn it down.

“In the first place, why did yer hunt something so large anyways? There’s plenty of fish and smaller animals.”

…now that he mentioned it… why did we hunt a beast instead of an animal? I looked at the others, and they seemed to think the same.

“We… our priorities were in the wrong place… weren’t they?” Isak asked while facepalming.

I can’t blame him. After all, we’re inside a labyrinth, so I suppose we were doing the labyrinth thingi of hunting monsters….

And seeing our sad faces, Mister Hilos began to laugh, “Hahaha, well, yer group ain’t the only one. Pretty much everyone did the same.”

We all sighed in relive at that. “Well, we’re not the only ones,” Isak chuckled.

“Njihihi, I suppose~,”

Julia and Hilda did a high-five, as well, and the mood was pretty nice.

Until…

“—So, what are you going to do?” Mister Hilos asked.

Right…

We forgot it was kinda huge….