Kazue POV
Assassins surrounded us.
They seemed to be threatening all of us but I am aware that their only goal is to kill Calm.
Yes, their target is Calm.
I quickly ran toward Calm and covered her behind me.
Aside from me, the one who recognized their target was Aaron.
He quickly stepped forward and protected Calm.
Rio and Condrad came next to me to cover Calm.
Then the others realized what we were trying to do and gathered around Calm in an attempt to keep her safe.
As the assassin appeared one after the other all of us knew that battle was unavoidable.
I, Aaron, Nikko, Coco, Yuma, Yoshiaga, Naonobu, Daisetsu, and Rio.
My familiars Isamu, Hayate and Kaori.
The people of the mansion are Condrad, Wally, and Joe.
We all readied our weapons and prepared for battle with the Assassins.
As I was assessing the situation, I noticed that Aaron did not shift his attention away from Razor.
He was making sure that the assassin would not have a chance to do something funny.
Without shifting his gaze, he slightly moved both his hands.
His right hand moved in a way as if he was reaching out for something out of the air.
His left hand shifted slightly away from his body, making room for something.
I noticed a glimmer of light out of the bracelet he was wearing.
Aaron's weapon appeared out of nowhere.
A sword and a shield appeared.
It reminded me of how I summoned my weapon from the guild ring.
It seemed that he had an item that acted like a storage device for him to carry his weapon from a dimensional space.
[As expected, making the weapon appear out of nowhere looked cool.]
[Were those bracelets works like the adventurer's ring?]
[Ah... I need to focus... focus...]
He grabbed a sword in his right hand, and a large shield appeared sticking on his left arm.
"!!!"
Out of a sudden, Aaron disappeared from my sight.
Only a trace of dust was left in the place where he was standing just now.
I felt a strong gust of wind, followed by a metallic noise from blades clashing.
I shifted my gaze toward the origin of the wind and sound.
There I saw Aaron and Razor clashing blades.
I knew then that the battle had started.
I knew, and everybody knew.
The most dangerous person from the enemy side was Razor, the leader of the assassins.
On the other hand, Aaron was the strongest one present who was protecting the saint.
Seeing that the two strongest people here have engaged in combat signified the start of the battle.
"Everyone, please protect Calm in my stead. I am counting on you all. Leave this assassin to me."
He yelled as he was locking his weapon with Razor.
Most of us were stunned by the sudden clash of blades.
To be honest I was a bit surprised and could not react properly.
A few moments ago, Aaron was doubting Condrad and Rio as enemies
Now he was asking us to protect Calm in his stead.
It seemed that he had calmed down.
He doesn't seem to be doubting Rio and Condrad's identity anymore.
He seemed to have realized their circumstances and decided to believe them.
Also, it is thanks to Calm pleading with Aaron to believe Rio and Condrad.
I could tell that Calm's silent pleading helped him realize that Rio and Condrad were allies.
"Uohh!!"
Aaron screamed and released a large amount of energy.
He swung his blade to push Razor away for a moment followed by placing his large shield in front of his body.
He burst forward toward Razor, slamming his shield at Razor's body.
Razor used his thin sword to block Aaron's charge but he ended up being pushed non the less
Razor tried to fight back the force pushing away from us.
But...
"Uohh!!!"
Aaron dragged Razor away by pushing him with his shield.
Razor could not stop Aaron from pushing him away from us.
"You will come with me! I need you to be as far away from the saint! I won't let you come near her like last time, Assassin!"
"Tsk!"
Aaron pushed Razor back away from us with his large shield.
Razor's back crashed into trees and large boulders destroying them in the process.
Nothing could stop Aaron from pushing Razor away from us.
-boom- -crash-
Not long after, the two were a hundred meters away from us.
I could see what Aaron was doing.
He was trying to keep that assassin nowhere near Calm.
After all, it was difficult to protect Calm while fighting a dangerous enemy at the same time.
I think that Aaron concluded that the best way to keep Calm safe from Razor was to keep him away from her.
As long as Razor was near Calm, there was always a way for Razor to shift his attacks toward Calm.
If that happens, Aaron might not be able to protect her effectively.
The safest way to deal with Razor was to keep him away from Calm.
With how strong Razor was, it would only take 1 hit for him to kill Calm.
It would be impossible for Aaron to protect Calm completely, thus he needed to keep Razor away from her.
Thus it was best to keep him away from Calm.
Plus, if he manages to defeat Razor, then protecting Calm from the other assassins is not going to be hard.
The fact that Aaron allowed himself to be separated from Calm and leave her safety to us, means that Aaron trusts us.
It is as if he was conveying to us that he is leaving the saint's safety in our hands.
From where Razor and Aaron were, I saw a reddish dome appear from where the two were.
"What is that?"
I muttered as I looked at the red dome.
"That's an Isolation barrier."
(Isolation barrier)
I knew what that was.
It was when I killed one of the assassins a few days ago.
The assassin used a crystal to activate an (Isolation barrier) when we fought in that dark alleyway.
"Sir Aaron must have used it to keep that assassin and himself isolated. Sir Aaron used a type of Isolation Barrier that wouldn't allow anyone within it to leave unless the caster dispelled the barrier or died. That barrier is usually used to subjugate elusive monsters."
"I see..."
[I was right. Aaron was trying to keep that assassin away from us]
I knew that Aaron was strong.
I just hope that he is strong enough to defeat that Assassin on his own.
Whoever wins within that Isolation Barrier will decide the outcome of this confrontation.
If Aaron wins, it will be our victory.
If Razor wins, it will be our loss.
Aaron and Razor were too powerful to be stopped.
The remaining assassins don't seem to be that strong compared to Razor.
Their numbers are not that many compared to the ones who attacked the mansion.
I count all of the remaining enemies.
There were 17 of them in total.
I carefully observed the remaining enemies.
I could sense two powerful individuals from the enemy's side.
One assassin with a partially different robe than the other assassins and the one guy wearing white clothes.
"Kazue, that's the one. That is the person who tracked you using your blood."
Rio points at the man wearing white clothes.
The one of the two dangerous people left that we have to deal with.
He was looking at me specifically with a disgusting gaze.
He was salivating at me and it was as if he was having a good time.
"Ugh..."
I felt uncomfortable looking at the man.
He looked like a pervert who was looking at me with lustful eyes.
He did not even try to hide his expression.
No, he was actually trying his best to show it to me.
"Ugh... what's wrong with him... He looks disgusting."
"I agree..."
His stare became more intense.
I could feel his gaze and I could feel that he had his full focus on me.
It was as if he was crazed and could not wait to pounce on me.
"Hihihi~ I've found you... Blood... give me more of your Blood! Hihahaha!"
He laughed in a high-pitched voice.
"Ughh..."
I let out a groan from my disgust at the man.
I let out a deep breath...
I knew that conflict could not be avoided.
The two servants from the Azurearozi mansion, Wally and Joe also pulled out their weapons.
They both pulled out a sword on their waist.
Nikko pulled his "intelligent sword" out of its sheathe.
"Hahaha, is it time for action de gozaru??"
His sword celebrated and showed a bright shine.
-sigh-
Nikko sighed at the sword.
He looked annoyed at the sword getting excited for a fight.
Coco and Yuma prepared themselves for battle.
Yuma yelled to activate a skill that enhanced his body.
At the same time, Coco took the large hammer on her back and got ready for battle.
"It can't be helped I guess we have to fight our way here."
"I guess we have no choice..."
Yoshiaga, Naonobu, and Daisetsu pulled out their weapons for battle.
Yoshiaga, a Knight pulled out his sword and shield.
Naonobu a Swordsman unsheathed his sword.
Daisetsu a Thief brought out his dagger.
These three had been working with each other since they left Artesia.
They have developed impeccable teamwork and they naturally covered each other's backs.
They moved supporting each other and making sure that they could easily cover each other's back.
At the same time.
Condrad pulled out a throwing dagger somewhere within his tuxedo.
He immediately threw his dagger at one of the enemies.
It was a quick and accurate throw aimed at the head of one of the assassins.
Even I could barely see how fast the dagger flew.
It would be hard for me to dodge such a dagger without activating my (Concentrate) skill.
[As I expected... This old man is really strong...]
I knew at once that he was the strongest one in our group aside from Aaron.
-clang-
The assassin was able to block his attack without saying anything.
Despite that, Condrad caught the man's attention after that attack.
"Leave that one to me..."
Condrad declared to everyone with a smile.
Somehow, everyone sensed the sinister meaning behind that smile.
We all nod at him and no one could answer otherwise.
Condrad and the assassin locked eyes, the two gave each other a killing gaze.
I knew that the enemy facing Condrad was a lot stronger than I was.
Aside from Razor, that individual and the one wearing white clothes were the two who triggered my sense of danger.
Out of all the enemies gathered around us, those two were the most problematic among them.
On the other hand, I also knew that Sir Condrad was strong too.
Aside from Aaron, he was the strongest one in our group.
No wonder Miss Alicia trusted him so much.
Now, he was about to face a dangerous enemy for us.
He probably knew that none of us here would be able to match that enemy.
It seemed that Sir Condrad also knew this and thus he faced that opponent willingly.
As if shielding us behind him, he stood between us and the man who seemed to be Razor's most trusted man.
In a way, he was doing the same thing Aaron did with Razor.
Condrad was trying to keep the strong assassin's attention focused on him and away from us.
Condrad immediately intercepted the acting leader of the enemies.
Their fighting ability seemed to be on par with each other.
Their abilities are on par with the same B-ranked adventurer I saw before.
Condrad using his dagger, and his enemy using a sword exchanged blows that even I could barely see.
Although Condrad was managing to interfere with him now, knowing that their main target was Calm, he tried his best to get past Condrad.
If he manages to get past Condrad, none of us will be able to stop him.
Thus I knew that I had to keep Calm away from him as much as possible.
I surveyed the surroundings once again.
It was bad.
The one problem remaining must be the man who was looking at me with such a disgusting expression on his face.
If I were to describe how he looked, he looked like a pervert who just found his next prey.
Unfortunately, that prey was me.
[Was it because of my blood?]
I thought.
I could not think of another reason why he would be obsessed with me.
According to Rio, he is the one who uses blood to track me using a skill.
[Is he like that because of the side effect of his skill? Or... is he just like that.]
I thought as I tried to reason why he was acting the way he was.
I wanted to believe that the reason why he was acting in such a way was because of a side effect of his skill to detect people by their blood.
No... I wanted to believe that such a person who looked at others in such a way did not exist in reality.
He looked too disgusting to be real.
Like a rabid crazy dog.
Like a lunatic who became crazy looking at the full moon.
Like a pervert looking at his next victim.
[Please be the effect of the skill.]
"ughh..."
"Everyone, remember our goal is the saint. Don't bother the other just focus on killing the saint!"
Declared the man who was about to face Condrad as he readied his weapon.
He pointed his sword at Condrad and declared these words.
"Kill the saint!"
-ROAR!!!-
The assassins roared at us as they all charged and attacked at the same time.
First and foremost, we have to keep Calm safe that is our top priority.
Failing to do so means that we failed.
We all know that they are after Calm's life.
We can wait here for Aaron to defeat Razor...
Once Aaron defeats Razor all things will be solved.
But... am I certain that Aaron would win against Razor?
The answer to that is... No.
I am not being negative but...
What if it goes the other way around?
What if Razor defeats Aaron?
Then there is no way we could protect Calm from him no matter how hard we try.
If Aaron was going to defeat the assassin or not, it is best that we move away from them.
I can't just blindly put all of my hope into Aaron defeating the assassin.
Yes... it is best if we run.
We don't need to fight them to death here.
We can just run, we need to get away from here.
Aaron can just follow us once he defeats Razor.
If we stay here, more assassins might come.
This is also the same with the assassin fighting Sir Condrad be it to a lesser degree.
Sir Condrad is going to keep that Assassin away from Calm as much as he can.
We have to run.
No need to fight here.
"Isamu!"
I yelled the name of one of my familiar.
As we are connected by some kind of skill, I was able to convey what I wanted him to do with just my thoughts.
Isamu immediately leans down before Calm.
It was obvious what he was trying to do.
He wanted Calm to ride on his back.
Calm immediately understood Isamu and climbed on his back.
"Hayate! Kaori!"
I ordered my two other familiars.
They barked at me once then Hayate and Kaori moved right next to Isamu guarding him and Calm.
One can tell that the two were trying to protect Calm too.
"Isamu, GO!"
I ordered my familiars to move.
Calm hung on Isamu's back as if her life depended on it.
"That's right, Good decision miss Kazue! Go!"
The acting leader of the assassin noticed that we were planning to escape.
"Tsk... Stop them!"
He said to order the remaining assassins.
They all moved attempting to stop us.
In response to my will, Kaori cast a magic spell.
A powerful gust of wind blasted from her mouth blowing away bushes and dust.
The assassin was surprised as they did not expect a small blue-eyed wolf would be capable of casting magic.
In reality, the magic was not that powerful.
All it did was blast a strong wind capable of somehow moving people.
Unfortunately, it is not the type of magic that could kill anyone.
At worst, it could only push a person stumbling over a gust of strong wind.
That's it.
Thanks to the element of surprise, it managed to startle the assassin who was trying to block our escape.
They were pushed away by the wind.
Some covered their eyes for the dust was blinding their sight.
They were caught unprepared.
Hayate being the fastest amongst my familiars led the way.
He has a great sense of detecting enemies and dangers.
He will lead us in our escape.
Isamu followed behind him and Kaori right after.
I also started running, next to me was Rio.
As soon as the others realized what just happened they also followed suit.
We started running.
My familiars, my former classmates, and the servants of the mansion followed with Hayate and Isamu leading the way.
As expected the assassins realized what we were trying to do, so they followed us.
I soon managed to catch up with Isamu and my familiar and was running next to Isamu.
Calm was tightly grabbing on Isamu's fur trying not to fall.
We ran.
As we ran the assassins were trying to attack us.
We only block and push them back and prioritize running rather than fighting.
An assassin pounced at me.
I blocked his attack with my sword and kicked him away.
My friends were doing the same thing.
They would dodge, parry, and push away our pursuers.
We gradually managed to make a distance away from Condrad.
It was a safe distance.
We have a prior plan.
We originally planned to go to the west outskirts of Vestir.
There is a small military camp of soldiers protecting the city.
This is where Coco's dad should be staying.
Near that small military camp, was a hidden safe house built by the Azurearozi for this kind of situation.
We needed to go there.
As we ran, I was keeping an eye on one of the assassins.
He was just running after us.
He was not even trying to attack us for now.
It was as if he was enjoying chasing after his prey.
To be honest, I was thankful for that.
If he seriously wanted to attack us, it would be a big problem.
Yes, I knew that this man was going to be a problem if he tried to attack seriously.
Despite how he looked, I knew he was dangerous.
He must be stronger than I am.
Stronger than anyone running with me.
[Why is he not trying to attack Calm? He's one of the assassins, right? It seems that he is more focused on me rather than Calm herself...]
"..."
I watched the man.
Then I realized.
"ah..."
I realized.
I realized what that man was doing.
He was trying to play with his food.
A sadistic look.
As I realized this, I felt annoyed.
I wanted to slash him down, but...
Our top priority is to run as far as we can.
And so we ran.
We made sure that nobody got left behind.
We focused on dodging the attacks from our pursuers.
I try to keep my pace down so that I do not leave anyone behind.
But then...
"Kazue-san! Don't worry about us. We know that you can move faster than this!"
Yoshiaga yelled at me.
It seemed that he noticed that I was trying my best to keep my pace down to let them keep up with me.
Yes, I can ask my familiars to run faster than this.
A lot faster.
Since I was keeping my speed down to not leave behind my allies, the assassin are keeping up with us.
At this rate, we would not completely escape from them.
The Otaku boys noticed that they were being a dead weight.
"But..."
"The assassins are after Calm-san. There is no need for you to think of us. Just focus on keeping Calm-san safe! We can protect ourselves so please run as fast as you can..."
"I..."
That was right, I was keeping my speed down.
Yoshiaga knew this, after all, we all traveled for a month before I arrived in Vestir with them and Miss Alicia.
They know the extent of what I can do.
Thus, they noticed that I was holding back my speed so they could catch up.
It was because...
Because...
I did not want to leave my allies... my friends behind.
"Don't worry we can hold ourselves on our own. We'll follow from behind. Oh, we will do our best to slow them down! GO!"
I bit my lips.
I knew that they were right.
"... Fine... just... just don't die!"
Yoshiaga gave a surprised look.
He was not expecting me to say those words.
"Wow... Kazue-san is actually worried about us."
"That's an honor~ I knew it! I knew that Kazue-san was actually a Tsundere"
"My life is fully filled I can die now."
[I want to retract my words...]
"Oi~ Oi~ Kazue-san said that we should not die here so we shall grant that request."
""Yup""
The three boys turned around and attacked the assassin chasing after us.
They replied with a thumbs up and turned around and attacked one of the assassins.
The otaku boys decided to stay and slow down the assassin.
"Isamu!"
I ordered Isamu to run at top speed.
Without looking back I focused on running.
I was confident with my speed.
As expected, most of the assassins fell behind.
Aside from the man wearing the white robe, I was gradually pulling distance.
Also, I was leaving behind most of my friends.
Nikko, Yuma, and Coco could barely catch up to me.
But at this speed, I will soon leave them behind as well.
Aside from Rio, none of my comrades was able to match me and my familiar's speed.
"Wow... she was holding back... she's fast."
"Indeed..."
"Kazue-san don't worry about us, just keep running!"
Yelled by Nikko as he found himself lagging behind me Rio and my familiars.
"GO! We'll just catch up to you later."
"Yeah, we will try our best to slow down the enemies for you!
We'll make sure that no one will catch up to you!"
Just like the Otaku boys did, Yuma, Coco, Nikko, and the two servants of the mansion stayed to keep the assassin off my back.
Only Rio was able to keep up with my pace.
I continued running.
It did not take long for me to leave them in the dust.
Soon I could not see an assassin behind me.
Now I was running in a grassy field.
Only a few trees and bushes were around.
There was not a lot of obstruction.
"Isamu..."
I called for my familiar and he gradually slowed down.
Calm was doing her best to grab onto Isamu's back and she felt the speed slowing down.
As my familiar ran at full speed she was doing her best not to fall, thus he hugged Isamu with her whole body, desperately clinging to the wolf's back.
After all her life depended on it.
She had her eyes closed and kept her grip on the wolf without looking forward.
Feeling the speed slowing down, she slowly pulled his head up to see what was going on.
The moon was illuminating the open grassy field.
There, Isamu, Kaori, and Hayate my wolf familiars stood.
Panting hard, they were a bit out of breath after sprinting as fast as they could.
Next to them was Me and Rio.
I was surprised to see Rio managing to keep up with my speed.
In all honesty, I was impressed.
I glared behind us.
Only one enemy was able to catch up to me.
It seemed that my friends did manage to slow down most of the assassins chasing after us.
Only one remained.
The man wearing the white robe.
The man who tracked me.
I realized.
The man was tracking me.
He was not after Calm.
It was me.
Then... what I need to do now is simple.
"Isamu, Hayate, Kaori... Keep her safe."
I said looking at the worried Calm.
I petted each one of my familiars.
I was trying to encourage them to do their best too.
"Kazue?"
Calm looked at me with a pained look.
She must have an idea of what I was about to do next.
"That man is the one who managed to find us. He managed to find us because he is using a skill to track me by using the blood I used when I made a diversion back when we were in the forest..."
I said to Calm who had a questioning look as she stared at me.
"If we separate now, no assassin will be able to locate you if you manage to escape."
"But... that means..."
"Yes, I will stay here."
"Kazue!"
"Don't worry you have my familiars, they will protect you."
"That's not what I mean!"
I shook my head and looked at her in the eyes.
[I know what you mean...]
Calm knew.
She knew that I know that she was worried about me.
I am putting myself on the line to protect her.
But...
As long as we are together this man can locate us wherever we go.
We will not be able to completely escape from him.
That leaves us with one thing.
We need to deal with this rabid man.
Sooner or later, we have to deal with him.
If we don't he will just follow us to the edge of the world.
To prevent that, I just need to get away from Calm as she escapes.
Like Rio said, this man can only track me.
Without me, they could not track Calm.
If I am not with Calm, they will have no means of finding her.
In that way, the assassin would not be able to find her.
In the meantime, my familiar will protect Calm.
I trust my familiars, they kept me safe when I was traveling on my own.
They can keep Calm safe.
As long as this man can track me, I can't leave him alone.
Either I deal with him here or keep him away from Calm to let her escape.
Either way, Calm needs to be away for a while.
If I fail to stop the man here, at least I can make sure that Calm could escape.
[This is so not me. I was never the type to sacrifice myself for others. It just so happens that at the moment, it is best to keep Calm away from me as she escapes.]
I redied my sword.
"Rio, Go with Calm and protect her."
"No..."
"Huh?"
"I will fight with him with you here. With the two of us, it's much easier to deal with him right?"
"..."
Rio gave me a determined gaze.
"That's..."
To be honest, I think even with the two of us here we might not be able to defeat that man.
He was strong.
I knew that from the start.
That is why I ran.
I am not confident I would win against him in a fight.
No matter what I did, I knew that I would not be able to escape from this guy.
The fact that he managed to keep me running at full speed is a testament that I could not outrun this man.
That only leaves one choice.
I need to fight him while letting Calm escape.
No, I need to slow him down and make sure that Calm escapes first.
Once I am sure that Calm is safe, I will do my best to run too.
I know that I can't beat this man.
I am not a fool to refuse Rio's help.
With her here, there is a higher chance for me to succeed than when I fight him alone.
Thus I replied to Rio.
"Fine... But I hope you won't slow me down..."
"Haha... You might not know this but I tried my best to get stronger. You'll never know, you might be the one slowing me down..."
Rio said confidently.
"Hee~ I see..."
[This reminds me back when I was still in our world.]
Rio would lose her shyness once we played games together.
She would stop stuttering and she would sound confident.
It is what I call Rio's serious mode.
Just like she is now.
"Okay... If you say so."
Without a word, I swung my sword.
(Swordwave)
I unleashed a skill toward the man.
-BOOM-
Kazue POV
Assassins surrounded us.
They seemed to be threatening all of us but I am aware that their only goal is to kill Calm.
Yes, their target is Calm.
I quickly ran toward Calm and covered her behind me.
Aside from me, the one who recognized their target was Aaron.
He quickly stepped forward and protected Calm.
Rio and Condrad came next to me to cover Calm.
Then the others realized what we were trying to do and gathered around Calm in an attempt to keep her safe.
As the assassin appeared one after the other all of us knew that battle was unavoidable.
I, Aaron, Nikko, Coco, Yuma, Yoshiaga, Naonobu, Daisetsu, and Rio.
My familiars Isamu, Hayate and Kaori.
The people of the mansion are Condrad, Wally, and Joe.
We all readied our weapons and prepared for battle with the Assassins.
As I was assessing the situation, I noticed that Aaron did not shift his attention away from Razor.
He was making sure that the assassin would not have a chance to do something funny.
Without shifting his gaze, he slightly moved both his hands.
His right hand moved in a way as if he was reaching out for something out of the air.
His left hand shifted slightly away from his body, making room for something.
I noticed a glimmer of light out of the bracelet he was wearing.
Aaron's weapon appeared out of nowhere.
A sword and a shield appeared.
It reminded me of how I summoned my weapon from the guild ring.
It seemed that he had an item that acted like a storage device for him to carry his weapon from a dimensional space.
[As expected, making the weapon appear out of nowhere looked cool.]
[Were those bracelets works like the adventurer's ring?]
[Ah... I need to focus... focus...]
He grabbed a sword in his right hand, and a large shield appeared sticking on his left arm.
"!!!"
Out of a sudden, Aaron disappeared from my sight.
Only a trace of dust was left in the place where he was standing just now.
I felt a strong gust of wind, followed by a metallic noise from blades clashing.
I shifted my gaze toward the origin of the wind and sound.
There I saw Aaron and Razor clashing blades.
I knew then that the battle had started.
I knew, and everybody knew.
The most dangerous person from the enemy side was Razor, the leader of the assassins.
On the other hand, Aaron was the strongest one present who was protecting the saint.
Seeing that the two strongest people here have engaged in combat signified the start of the battle.
"Everyone, please protect Calm in my stead. I am counting on you all. Leave this assassin to me."
He yelled as he was locking his weapon with Razor.
Most of us were stunned by the sudden clash of blades.
To be honest I was a bit surprised and could not react properly.
A few moments ago, Aaron was doubting Condrad and Rio as enemies
Now he was asking us to protect Calm in his stead.
It seemed that he had calmed down.
He doesn't seem to be doubting Rio and Condrad's identity anymore.
He seemed to have realized their circumstances and decided to believe them.
Also, it is thanks to Calm pleading with Aaron to believe Rio and Condrad.
I could tell that Calm's silent pleading helped him realize that Rio and Condrad were allies.
"Uohh!!"
Aaron screamed and released a large amount of energy.
He swung his blade to push Razor away for a moment followed by placing his large shield in front of his body.
He burst forward toward Razor, slamming his shield at Razor's body.
Razor used his thin sword to block Aaron's charge but he ended up being pushed non the less
Razor tried to fight back the force pushing away from us.
But...
"Uohh!!!"
Aaron dragged Razor away by pushing him with his shield.
Razor could not stop Aaron from pushing him away from us.
"You will come with me! I need you to be as far away from the saint! I won't let you come near her like last time, Assassin!"
"Tsk!"
Aaron pushed Razor back away from us with his large shield.
Razor's back crashed into trees and large boulders destroying them in the process.
Nothing could stop Aaron from pushing Razor away from us.
-boom- -crash-
Not long after, the two were a hundred meters away from us.
I could see what Aaron was doing.
He was trying to keep that assassin nowhere near Calm.
After all, it was difficult to protect Calm while fighting a dangerous enemy at the same time.
I think that Aaron concluded that the best way to keep Calm safe from Razor was to keep him away from her.
As long as Razor was near Calm, there was always a way for Razor to shift his attacks toward Calm.
If that happens, Aaron might not be able to protect her effectively.
The safest way to deal with Razor was to keep him away from Calm.
With how strong Razor was, it would only take 1 hit for him to kill Calm.
It would be impossible for Aaron to protect Calm completely, thus he needed to keep Razor away from her.
Thus it was best to keep him away from Calm.
Plus, if he manages to defeat Razor, then protecting Calm from the other assassins is not going to be hard.
The fact that Aaron allowed himself to be separated from Calm and leave her safety to us, means that Aaron trusts us.
It is as if he was conveying to us that he is leaving the saint's safety in our hands.
From where Razor and Aaron were, I saw a reddish dome appear from where the two were.
"What is that?"
I muttered as I looked at the red dome.
"That's an Isolation barrier."
(Isolation barrier)
I knew what that was.
It was when I killed one of the assassins a few days ago.
The assassin used a crystal to activate an (Isolation barrier) when we fought in that dark alleyway.
"Sir Aaron must have used it to keep that assassin and himself isolated. Sir Aaron used a type of Isolation Barrier that wouldn't allow anyone within it to leave unless the caster dispelled the barrier or died. That barrier is usually used to subjugate elusive monsters."
"I see..."
[I was right. Aaron was trying to keep that assassin away from us]
I knew that Aaron was strong.
I just hope that he is strong enough to defeat that Assassin on his own.
Whoever wins within that Isolation Barrier will decide the outcome of this confrontation.
If Aaron wins, it will be our victory.
If Razor wins, it will be our loss.
Aaron and Razor were too powerful to be stopped.
The remaining assassins don't seem to be that strong compared to Razor.
Their numbers are not that many compared to the ones who attacked the mansion.
I count all of the remaining enemies.
There were 17 of them in total.
I carefully observed the remaining enemies.
I could sense two powerful individuals from the enemy's side.
One assassin with a partially different robe than the other assassins and the one guy wearing white clothes.
"Kazue, that's the one. That is the person who tracked you using your blood."
Rio points at the man wearing white clothes.
The one of the two dangerous people left that we have to deal with.
He was looking at me specifically with a disgusting gaze.
He was salivating at me and it was as if he was having a good time.
"Ugh..."
I felt uncomfortable looking at the man.
He looked like a pervert who was looking at me with lustful eyes.
He did not even try to hide his expression.
No, he was actually trying his best to show it to me.
"Ugh... what's wrong with him... He looks disgusting."
"I agree..."
His stare became more intense.
I could feel his gaze and I could feel that he had his full focus on me.
It was as if he was crazed and could not wait to pounce on me.
"Hihihi~ I've found you... Blood... give me more of your Blood! Hihahaha!"
He laughed in a high-pitched voice.
"Ughh..."
I let out a groan from my disgust at the man.
I let out a deep breath...
I knew that conflict could not be avoided.
The two servants from the Azurearozi mansion, Wally and Joe also pulled out their weapons.
They both pulled out a sword on their waist.
Nikko pulled his "intelligent sword" out of its sheathe.
"Hahaha, is it time for action de gozaru??"
His sword celebrated and showed a bright shine.
-sigh-
Nikko sighed at the sword.
He looked annoyed at the sword getting excited for a fight.
Coco and Yuma prepared themselves for battle.
Yuma yelled to activate a skill that enhanced his body.
At the same time, Coco took the large hammer on her back and got ready for battle.
"It can't be helped I guess we have to fight our way here."
"I guess we have no choice..."
Yoshiaga, Naonobu, and Daisetsu pulled out their weapons for battle.
Yoshiaga, a Knight pulled out his sword and shield.
Naonobu a Swordsman unsheathed his sword.
Daisetsu a Thief brought out his dagger.
These three had been working with each other since they left Artesia.
They have developed impeccable teamwork and they naturally covered each other's backs.
They moved supporting each other and making sure that they could easily cover each other's back.
At the same time.
Condrad pulled out a throwing dagger somewhere within his tuxedo.
He immediately threw his dagger at one of the enemies.
It was a quick and accurate throw aimed at the head of one of the assassins.
Even I could barely see how fast the dagger flew.
It would be hard for me to dodge such a dagger without activating my (Concentrate) skill.
[As I expected... This old man is really strong...]
I knew at once that he was the strongest one in our group aside from Aaron.
-clang-
The assassin was able to block his attack without saying anything.
Despite that, Condrad caught the man's attention after that attack.
"Leave that one to me..."
Condrad declared to everyone with a smile.
Somehow, everyone sensed the sinister meaning behind that smile.
We all nod at him and no one could answer otherwise.
Condrad and the assassin locked eyes, the two gave each other a killing gaze.
I knew that the enemy facing Condrad was a lot stronger than I was.
Aside from Razor, that individual and the one wearing white clothes were the two who triggered my sense of danger.
Out of all the enemies gathered around us, those two were the most problematic among them.
On the other hand, I also knew that Sir Condrad was strong too.
Aside from Aaron, he was the strongest one in our group.
No wonder Miss Alicia trusted him so much.
Now, he was about to face a dangerous enemy for us.
He probably knew that none of us here would be able to match that enemy.
It seemed that Sir Condrad also knew this and thus he faced that opponent willingly.
As if shielding us behind him, he stood between us and the man who seemed to be Razor's most trusted man.
In a way, he was doing the same thing Aaron did with Razor.
Condrad was trying to keep the strong assassin's attention focused on him and away from us.
Condrad immediately intercepted the acting leader of the enemies.
Their fighting ability seemed to be on par with each other.
Their abilities are on par with the same B-ranked adventurer I saw before.
Condrad using his dagger, and his enemy using a sword exchanged blows that even I could barely see.
Although Condrad was managing to interfere with him now, knowing that their main target was Calm, he tried his best to get past Condrad.
If he manages to get past Condrad, none of us will be able to stop him.
Thus I knew that I had to keep Calm away from him as much as possible.
I surveyed the surroundings once again.
It was bad.
The one problem remaining must be the man who was looking at me with such a disgusting expression on his face.
If I were to describe how he looked, he looked like a pervert who just found his next prey.
Unfortunately, that prey was me.
[Was it because of my blood?]
I thought.
I could not think of another reason why he would be obsessed with me.
According to Rio, he is the one who uses blood to track me using a skill.
[Is he like that because of the side effect of his skill? Or... is he just like that.]
I thought as I tried to reason why he was acting the way he was.
I wanted to believe that the reason why he was acting in such a way was because of a side effect of his skill to detect people by their blood.
No... I wanted to believe that such a person who looked at others in such a way did not exist in reality.
He looked too disgusting to be real.
Like a rabid crazy dog.
Like a lunatic who became crazy looking at the full moon.
Like a pervert looking at his next victim.
[Please be the effect of the skill.]
"ughh..."
"Everyone, remember our goal is the saint. Don't bother the other just focus on killing the saint!"
Declared the man who was about to face Condrad as he readied his weapon.
He pointed his sword at Condrad and declared these words.
"Kill the saint!"
-ROAR!!!-
The assassins roared at us as they all charged and attacked at the same time.
First and foremost, we have to keep Calm safe that is our top priority.
Failing to do so means that we failed.
We all know that they are after Calm's life.
We can wait here for Aaron to defeat Razor...
Once Aaron defeats Razor all things will be solved.
But... am I certain that Aaron would win against Razor?
The answer to that is... No.
I am not being negative but...
What if it goes the other way around?
What if Razor defeats Aaron?
Then there is no way we could protect Calm from him no matter how hard we try.
If Aaron was going to defeat the assassin or not, it is best that we move away from them.
I can't just blindly put all of my hope into Aaron defeating the assassin.
Yes... it is best if we run.
We don't need to fight them to death here.
We can just run, we need to get away from here.
Aaron can just follow us once he defeats Razor.
If we stay here, more assassins might come.
This is also the same with the assassin fighting Sir Condrad be it to a lesser degree.
Sir Condrad is going to keep that Assassin away from Calm as much as he can.
We have to run.
No need to fight here.
"Isamu!"
I yelled the name of one of my familiar.
As we are connected by some kind of skill, I was able to convey what I wanted him to do with just my thoughts.
Isamu immediately leans down before Calm.
It was obvious what he was trying to do.
He wanted Calm to ride on his back.
Calm immediately understood Isamu and climbed on his back.
"Hayate! Kaori!"
I ordered my two other familiars.
They barked at me once then Hayate and Kaori moved right next to Isamu guarding him and Calm.
One can tell that the two were trying to protect Calm too.
"Isamu, GO!"
I ordered my familiars to move.
Calm hung on Isamu's back as if her life depended on it.
"That's right, Good decision miss Kazue! Go!"
The acting leader of the assassin noticed that we were planning to escape.
"Tsk... Stop them!"
He said to order the remaining assassins.
They all moved attempting to stop us.
In response to my will, Kaori cast a magic spell.
A powerful gust of wind blasted from her mouth blowing away bushes and dust.
The assassin was surprised as they did not expect a small blue-eyed wolf would be capable of casting magic.
In reality, the magic was not that powerful.
All it did was blast a strong wind capable of somehow moving people.
Unfortunately, it is not the type of magic that could kill anyone.
At worst, it could only push a person stumbling over a gust of strong wind.
That's it.
Thanks to the element of surprise, it managed to startle the assassin who was trying to block our escape.
They were pushed away by the wind.
Some covered their eyes for the dust was blinding their sight.
They were caught unprepared.
Hayate being the fastest amongst my familiars led the way.
He has a great sense of detecting enemies and dangers.
He will lead us in our escape.
Isamu followed behind him and Kaori right after.
I also started running, next to me was Rio.
As soon as the others realized what just happened they also followed suit.
We started running.
My familiars, my former classmates, and the servants of the mansion followed with Hayate and Isamu leading the way.
As expected the assassins realized what we were trying to do, so they followed us.
I soon managed to catch up with Isamu and my familiar and was running next to Isamu.
Calm was tightly grabbing on Isamu's fur trying not to fall.
We ran.
As we ran the assassins were trying to attack us.
We only block and push them back and prioritize running rather than fighting.
An assassin pounced at me.
I blocked his attack with my sword and kicked him away.
My friends were doing the same thing.
They would dodge, parry, and push away our pursuers.
We gradually managed to make a distance away from Condrad.
It was a safe distance.
We have a prior plan.
We originally planned to go to the west outskirts of Vestir.
There is a small military camp of soldiers protecting the city.
This is where Coco's dad should be staying.
Near that small military camp, was a hidden safe house built by the Azurearozi for this kind of situation.
We needed to go there.
As we ran, I was keeping an eye on one of the assassins.
He was just running after us.
He was not even trying to attack us for now.
It was as if he was enjoying chasing after his prey.
To be honest, I was thankful for that.
If he seriously wanted to attack us, it would be a big problem.
Yes, I knew that this man was going to be a problem if he tried to attack seriously.
Despite how he looked, I knew he was dangerous.
He must be stronger than I am.
Stronger than anyone running with me.
[Why is he not trying to attack Calm? He's one of the assassins, right? It seems that he is more focused on me rather than Calm herself...]
"..."
I watched the man.
Then I realized.
"ah..."
I realized.
I realized what that man was doing.
He was trying to play with his food.
A sadistic look.
As I realized this, I felt annoyed.
I wanted to slash him down, but...
Our top priority is to run as far as we can.
And so we ran.
We made sure that nobody got left behind.
We focused on dodging the attacks from our pursuers.
I try to keep my pace down so that I do not leave anyone behind.
But then...
"Kazue-san! Don't worry about us. We know that you can move faster than this!"
Yoshiaga yelled at me.
It seemed that he noticed that I was trying my best to keep my pace down to let them keep up with me.
Yes, I can ask my familiars to run faster than this.
A lot faster.
Since I was keeping my speed down to not leave behind my allies, the assassin are keeping up with us.
At this rate, we would not completely escape from them.
The Otaku boys noticed that they were being a dead weight.
"But..."
"The assassins are after Calm-san. There is no need for you to think of us. Just focus on keeping Calm-san safe! We can protect ourselves so please run as fast as you can..."
"I..."
That was right, I was keeping my speed down.
Yoshiaga knew this, after all, we all traveled for a month before I arrived in Vestir with them and Miss Alicia.
They know the extent of what I can do.
Thus, they noticed that I was holding back my speed so they could catch up.
It was because...
Because...
I did not want to leave my allies... my friends behind.
"Don't worry we can hold ourselves on our own. We'll follow from behind. Oh, we will do our best to slow them down! GO!"
I bit my lips.
I knew that they were right.
"... Fine... just... just don't die!"
Yoshiaga gave a surprised look.
He was not expecting me to say those words.
"Wow... Kazue-san is actually worried about us."
"That's an honor~ I knew it! I knew that Kazue-san was actually a Tsundere"
"My life is fully filled I can die now."
[I want to retract my words...]
"Oi~ Oi~ Kazue-san said that we should not die here so we shall grant that request."
""Yup""
The three boys turned around and attacked the assassin chasing after us.
They replied with a thumbs up and turned around and attacked one of the assassins.
The otaku boys decided to stay and slow down the assassin.
"Isamu!"
I ordered Isamu to run at top speed.
Without looking back I focused on running.
I was confident with my speed.
As expected, most of the assassins fell behind.
Aside from the man wearing the white robe, I was gradually pulling distance.
Also, I was leaving behind most of my friends.
Nikko, Yuma, and Coco could barely catch up to me.
But at this speed, I will soon leave them behind as well.
Aside from Rio, none of my comrades was able to match me and my familiar's speed.
"Wow... she was holding back... she's fast."
"Indeed..."
"Kazue-san don't worry about us, just keep running!"
Yelled by Nikko as he found himself lagging behind me Rio and my familiars.
"GO! We'll just catch up to you later."
"Yeah, we will try our best to slow down the enemies for you!
We'll make sure that no one will catch up to you!"
Just like the Otaku boys did, Yuma, Coco, Nikko, and the two servants of the mansion stayed to keep the assassin off my back.
Only Rio was able to keep up with my pace.
I continued running.
It did not take long for me to leave them in the dust.
Soon I could not see an assassin behind me.
Now I was running in a grassy field.
Only a few trees and bushes were around.
There was not a lot of obstruction.
"Isamu..."
I called for my familiar and he gradually slowed down.
Calm was doing her best to grab onto Isamu's back and she felt the speed slowing down.
As my familiar ran at full speed she was doing her best not to fall, thus he hugged Isamu with her whole body, desperately clinging to the wolf's back.
After all her life depended on it.
She had her eyes closed and kept her grip on the wolf without looking forward.
Feeling the speed slowing down, she slowly pulled his head up to see what was going on.
The moon was illuminating the open grassy field.
There, Isamu, Kaori, and Hayate my wolf familiars stood.
Panting hard, they were a bit out of breath after sprinting as fast as they could.
Next to them was Me and Rio.
I was surprised to see Rio managing to keep up with my speed.
In all honesty, I was impressed.
I glared behind us.
Only one enemy was able to catch up to me.
It seemed that my friends did manage to slow down most of the assassins chasing after us.
Only one remained.
The man wearing the white robe.
The man who tracked me.
I realized.
The man was tracking me.
He was not after Calm.
It was me.
Then... what I need to do now is simple.
"Isamu, Hayate, Kaori... Keep her safe."
I said looking at the worried Calm.
I petted each one of my familiars.
I was trying to encourage them to do their best too.
"Kazue?"
Calm looked at me with a pained look.
She must have an idea of what I was about to do next.
"That man is the one who managed to find us. He managed to find us because he is using a skill to track me by using the blood I used when I made a diversion back when we were in the forest..."
I said to Calm who had a questioning look as she stared at me.
"If we separate now, no assassin will be able to locate you if you manage to escape."
"But... that means..."
"Yes, I will stay here."
"Kazue!"
"Don't worry you have my familiars, they will protect you."
"That's not what I mean!"
I shook my head and looked at her in the eyes.
[I know what you mean...]
Calm knew.
She knew that I know that she was worried about me.
I am putting myself on the line to protect her.
But...
As long as we are together this man can locate us wherever we go.
We will not be able to completely escape from him.
That leaves us with one thing.
We need to deal with this rabid man.
Sooner or later, we have to deal with him.
If we don't he will just follow us to the edge of the world.
To prevent that, I just need to get away from Calm as she escapes.
Like Rio said, this man can only track me.
Without me, they could not track Calm.
If I am not with Calm, they will have no means of finding her.
In that way, the assassin would not be able to find her.
In the meantime, my familiar will protect Calm.
I trust my familiars, they kept me safe when I was traveling on my own.
They can keep Calm safe.
As long as this man can track me, I can't leave him alone.
Either I deal with him here or keep him away from Calm to let her escape.
Either way, Calm needs to be away for a while.
If I fail to stop the man here, at least I can make sure that Calm could escape.
[This is so not me. I was never the type to sacrifice myself for others. It just so happens that at the moment, it is best to keep Calm away from me as she escapes.]
I redied my sword.
"Rio, Go with Calm and protect her."
"No..."
"Huh?"
"I will fight with him with you here. With the two of us, it's much easier to deal with him right?"
"..."
Rio gave me a determined gaze.
"That's..."
To be honest, I think even with the two of us here we might not be able to defeat that man.
He was strong.
I knew that from the start.
That is why I ran.
I am not confident I would win against him in a fight.
No matter what I did, I knew that I would not be able to escape from this guy.
The fact that he managed to keep me running at full speed is a testament that I could not outrun this man.
That only leaves one choice.
I need to fight him while letting Calm escape.
No, I need to slow him down and make sure that Calm escapes first.
Once I am sure that Calm is safe, I will do my best to run too.
I know that I can't beat this man.
I am not a fool to refuse Rio's help.
With her here, there is a higher chance for me to succeed than when I fight him alone.
Thus I replied to Rio.
"Fine... But I hope you won't slow me down..."
"Haha... You might not know this but I tried my best to get stronger. You'll never know, you might be the one slowing me down..."
Rio said confidently.
"Hee~ I see..."
[This reminds me back when I was still in our world.]
Rio would lose her shyness once we played games together.
She would stop stuttering and she would sound confident.
It is what I call Rio's serious mode.
Just like she is now.
"Okay... If you say so."
Without a word, I swung my sword.
(Swordwave)
I unleashed a skill toward the man.
-BOOM-
