Aiming for a Cozy Life in a Dangerous Forest in Another World! - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Let’s Head Towards Town 2

Our main goal in visiting the town was to obtain cloth. I also wanted to find some metal cookware if possible.

And I was hoping to encounter new magical beasts and monsters outside our usual range of activity.

And if possible, I wanted to practice fighting together with Kaito and Pola.

Yesterday, I had confirmed that they were much stronger than before.

We should be able to fight together without any problems.

…Or rather, wouldn’t it be more dangerous for them if I was with them, considering my attacks were so heavy-handed?

Well, I would try it out tomorrow.

For now, I was satisfied with our goals.

And then, there was my personal goal, or rather, something I was looking forward to.

It had been almost two months since I was reborn in this world, and this would be my first time visiting a human town.

I was curious about what the town was like. It was supposed to be a fortress city, so I had a vague idea, but this would be my first time seeing one. I was excited.

I had also heard about races like elves and demons, so maybe I could meet them? I was looking forward to that as well.

We all looked human, so I just hoped we would be able to enter the town without any problems.

……Ah, but what about Rin?

Rin was my familiar. It was a precious member of our family, but to everyone else, it was a monster.

Kaito had been scared of Rin, or rather, of slimes, when I first introduced them, so maybe it was impossible to take it to town…

Lost in thought, Label came over and took over watch duty.

It was much earlier than I expected. Was that okay?

♢　♢　♢

Label woke me up, and when I opened my eyes, Kaito and Pola were already awake, helping him prepare breakfast.

Hmm, I had planned to wake up earlier, but maybe I was more tired than I realized?

After breakfast, we started our journey to the town.

I decided to bring up the fighting together idea before I forgot.

“How about we try fighting together today if we encounter a magical beast? It’ll be good practice in case we encounter something we can’t defeat alone.”

“Yeah! Let’s fight together!”

“Hmm, the thought of encountering something Onee-chan can’t defeat alone is scary… And how do we even fight together? Do we need to assign roles?”

Roles, huh.

Kaito was the physical fighter, the vanguard. And Pola was the magic user who attacked from a distance, the rear guard.

…And me? I usually just blasted things with magic, but with 『Dragon Transformation』, I could punch, kick, and slash…

“Kaito-sama as vanguard, Pola-sama as rear guard, and Kotoha-sama as… a free agent? There’s no need to explain Kaito-sama’s role. Pola-sama is highly accurate with her magic attacks, so she can support from the back without hitting allies. Kotoha-sama’s magic is… a little, no, quite bold, so it would be dangerous to have you attack from the rear. I believe it would be best for you to support the other two while also incorporating 『Dragon Transformation』 into your attacks.”

You really said it, Label. Though, calling it “bold” was probably putting it mildly, right?

Well, it was true.

“I agree with Label. I don’t think I can control my attacks well enough to have you two in front of me. And I’m not good at facing opponents directly like Kaito. It’s easier for me to move freely and support you two.”

“And to be honest, if Kotoha-sama were to be the vanguard, most battles would be over before we even had a chance to see how we would work together. Kotoha-sama also needs to practice observing the movements of both allies and enemies, distracting them, and creating openings for attacks.”

“…You’re right. Well, let’s give it a try.”

““Okay!””

As we were walking, we saw something crawling out of the river.

It was walking on all fours, its movements slow. Its limbs were short, and it was rather… large. Or rather, long.

Covered in green… skin? Or scales?

……A crocodile?

♢　♢　♢

『Grilobus』

A crocodile-type magical beast that inhabits the Great Forest of Chrys and surrounding rivers.

Swims at high speeds underwater to approach and hunt its prey.

Excels at 『Water Magic』.

♢　♢　♢

“You two, it’s a magical beast called a Grilobus. Do you know about it?”

They both shook their heads.

“Well then, how about we test our formation with that?”

We took our positions.

Kaito, the vanguard, was at the front. I was behind him, slightly to the side, taking Pola’s line of fire into account. And Pola was at the back, positioned so that she wouldn’t hit Kaito or me with her magic.

The Grilobus had also noticed us, and it seemed to have determined we were enemies. It turned to face us, its mouth open.

It definitely looked like a crocodile.

But now that we were up close, it was bigger than I had expected.

Everything in this forest was huge.

The Grilobus made the first move.

Water converged around its open jaws, forming a water ball that it launched at us. It was aiming for Kaito.

Kaito back-stepped to dodge, then jumped, attempting to strike the Grilobus’s head from above… but it dodged.

“What?!”

Kaito cried out in surprise.

“Onii-chan, above you!!”

Pola shouted, firing a stone bullet at the Grilobus, which had leaped into the air.

The stone bullet struck the Grilobus in the belly, sending it crashing back into the river.

“Where did it go?!”

Kaito approached the river, looking for the Grilobus.

And then, I felt that familiar cold, uncomfortable sensation.

If it was the same as before…

“Kaito, get down!!”

Kaito obeyed, dropping to the ground…

In that instant, the Grilobus leaped out of the river, jaws wide, aiming for Kaito.

It flew over Kaito, who had dropped just in time, and landed between us.

“Stay down, Kaito!!”

I shouted at Kaito and simultaneously created an elongated, spear-shaped stone projectile that was thinner and had a sharper tip than usual. I fired it at the Grilobus.

At the same time, Pola created a large ball of light and hurled it at the Grilobus.

Pola’s ball of light blinded the Grilobus, stopping it in its tracks. The stone projectile I had launched, no, the stone spear, pierced through its open jaws, skewering its body.