Did she already know what I would ask her for?

Ch 270: Agh, I hate grouping with strangers

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"He's right. It looks like there are three of them..." says Bernard, peeking over the rocks to stealthily look in the direction of the enemies.

"... We thought there were more of them. Now that we know where they are, we should go back and prepare an attack group. We can take advantage of Emir's ability to return in the afternoon."

'In the afternoon! What do they think? Do they think that I am their servant to wait patiently for them to decide they are ready? Well, they're wrong.'

"No. I'm going to attack now." I say pulling my bow out of my inventory as I ostentatiously wave my hand to make sure they think I'm pulling it out of my storage ring.

"Emir, there's no need for you to risk it like that...." Damien says, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"... I understand that you're confident in your abilities, but overconfidence can be a major flaw in an adventurer."

"There's no risk, really. Worst-case scenario, I could run away with Space Travel...." I say as I start to regret bringing these guys with me.

I brought them with me because they wanted to see ‘Alessia's master's capabilities’ and because I had the need to show off a bit to them to heal my wounded pride after they laughed at me when I told them I was a strong person.

"... Besides, I had already told you that I don't have much free time today. Like it or not, it's now or never. You can help me if you want, and if not, I'll do it alone."

"Haa... Okay..." says Richard as he looks with interest at my strange bow.

"... We'll help you."

"Really?..." asks Bernard in disbelief.

"... I think you should take another look at the size of those things before you decide. It seems to me that maybe your memory is failing you."

"It's true that they are less than we thought, but their size is still an important issue to consider..." says Damien thoughtfully.

"... And more so, when facing flying enemies, how tall do you think those things are?"

"About five or six meters tall, not counting the wings," says Bernard, peeking out from between the rocks.

'This is boring...

Should I launch a solo attack while they're still arguing about nonsense?...

No... It probably wouldn't be polite....

Did Alessia have to put up with all this when she was in a group with them? Poor thing; thank goodness she's with me now.'

Apparently Damien, Bernard, and Richard are the ones in charge of strategies in the team, as Fernando and Cael have simply laid down to rest as soon as we stopped walking and seem to fully trust the decisions of their three companions.

"Hmm... It's going to be tricky, but we've faced enemies of a similar size before. Besides, we can't let Alessia's boyfriend fight alone.... " Damien says seriously.

"... But, if we see that it's dangerous, we'll try to distract them and flee any way we can."

"It could also be that it's the damn monsters that decide to flee. Given what we know about them, I doubt they'll try to engage us directly...." says Richard, drawing his bowstring slightly.

"... Me and Emir can shoot at the griffins from afar, but you guys need to get closer. It's a long way from here to where the monsters are."

'Agh... Really? I'm already running out of patience....

If we keep waiting, we run the risk of the griffins going somewhere else, and I don't have time to keep walking that far up the mountain. I'm already running late....

Surely, right now, my girls must be wondering why I wasn't in bed with them.'

"I'm going to make sure the monsters don't escape..." I speak, unable to suppress the impatience in my voice.

I don't have a concrete plan to do so, but I think that my arrows with runes will probably serve to block the movement of the monsters' wings.

"... Are we ready to attack?"

I speak those last words eloquently, glancing at Fernando and Cael, who are still sitting on the ground with narrowed eyes.

"Fernando. Cael. Do you agree with the plan?" asks Damien, who gets my idea and looks with slight irritation at his companions.

"Yes, yes," says Fernando tersely as he slowly stands up.

"We'll do whatever you three decide, as usual. You know we're not at all good at that strategy stuff," says Cael, yawning and standing up.

"If I were you guys, I'd try to feign a little interest in the conversation," Richard tells them as he looks at Bernard and winks at him.

"And what's that for?" asks Fernando in a worn voice.

"You should keep in mind that Emir will probably tell Alessia what we're doing. Do you want him to tell Alessia that you were lying on the floor while we were discussing what to do?" says Bernard, catching Richard's intent.

'If I go so far as to tell Alessia that I went to visit her former companions while she was asleep.... yeah, you don't have to be a genius to realize that's a bad idea.'

"Alessia already knows what we're like. So she won't be surprised by anything Emir tells her about us," Fernando says with an annoyed air.

However, Cael abruptly stiffens and begins to appear slightly more awake.

'Really? Haa... at least it's a bit comical to watch.'

As they talk, I take my first look at the griffins.

Now that it seems that finally my five companions have decided that they have to get ready to fight.

Griffins are creatures whose front side is that of a giant eagle, with white feathers, a sharp beak, and powerful talons. The back is that of a lion, with yellow-orange fur, muscular legs, and a long tail.

They are probably 5 to 6 meters tall, as Bernard said, and I estimate that they must be about 9 to 11 meters long.

The three of them are about 600 meters away from us, in a sort of gigantic nest surrounded by human bones.

One of them appears to be asleep, while the other two are tearing chunks of flesh from a lifeless human body that they likely got from Denir City.

After a while of useless chatter, the five guys finally give me the go-ahead to begin our attack.

"Justice Weapon," I say in a low voice as I point my bow towards the group of enemies.

Instantly, a glowing aura envelops my bow, causing the monsters to spot us right there and then.

'I didn't think the monsters would discover me so quickly, but whatever. It's already too late. Eagle eye. Activate Agility Profile!'

Using my Agility profile's speed and my Eagle Eye skill's accuracy, I fire three freezing arrows in rapid succession at lightning speed towards the sleeping griffin.

The first arrow hits one of the monster's wings, freezing its feathers.

But the effect is not enough to damage the monster's wing, which probably has some kind of resistance to cold.

However, the second arrow amplifies the effect of the first, and the monster's wing is suddenly enveloped in ice.

This enables the third projectile to shatter the monster's limb into fragments.

' - What? How can he shoot so fast?'

' - Where did that ice come from? Alessia hadn't told us that her master could do magic.'

The two remaining griffins, seeing their companion injured, leap into the air and begin flying towards us at full speed in an attempt to eliminate the threat, as they cannot escape without leaving their companion behind.

"You guys take care of the one that can't fly, and I'll take care of the other two," I say, as I ready a different type of arrow at full speed on my bow.

'If cold doesn't work, how resistant will they be to fire?'

I quickly fire two incinerator arrows towards the griffins.

One towards each of the monsters.

Flames cover the two monsters' chests, obstructing their vision and causing them to pause momentarily.

My companions take the opportunity to duck underneath the monsters and run towards the one that was asleep and is now forced to remain on the ground.

'It's good to see that they are at least able to follow simple orders when it comes time to fight. If they were to get into an argument with me right now... I think I'd leave them to their fate. My patience has a limit'

The single-winged griffin runs towards the boys with the intention of taking revenge for the damage I have inflicted on it, as blood spurts from where its wing used to be.

Richard has stayed by my side, firing arrow after arrow at the two griffins approaching us.

But his projectiles don't seem to be very effective against the monsters.

My arrows don't seem to do much damage to them either, but at least the flames distracted them for a few moments.

The griffins' feathers must also be heat-resistant, because the flames only stayed lit on their bodies for a few seconds before dying out, after which the two griffins resumed their aerial rush towards us.

"Erm, Emir. Are you sure it was a good idea to tell the others to leave us unprotected?" Richard asks with concern as he focuses on firing as fast as he can at the two monsters, who are already a few meters away from us.

I guess the four guys fighting fiercely with the one-winged griffin must be thinking something similar. 

But they can't come back to help us, as they would be turning their back on their enemy, which is continually attacking them with its pointed beak and sharp claws.

The wounded griffin appears to have understood that it has no possible escape, so it struggles desperately while the bleeding from its side slowly diminishes its strength.

"Don't worry, I have everything under control." I say as I put my bow away in my inventory and pull out my great sword.

' - A two-handed sword? That's your plan? All under control my grandmother! Agh, shit.... We're screwed. I should have followed the rest to help them with the one-winged griffin, but I didn't want to leave Alessia's master alone. Who knew Alessia's boyfriend was a fucking suicidal?'

'Justice weapon. Sword Breathing style. Activate profile Agility + Strength.'

This profile releases all the points invested in my experience discount and deactivates the extra classes that are not very useful in combat or that overlap with others, like Barbarian or Knight.

All this with the purpose of investing those points to boost my Agility and Strength as much as possible.

It is a profile that does not help me to level up my classes, but it allows me to make use of all the potential that my user interface gives me.

A glowing aura of bluish-gold covers the blade of my weapon as I leap towards the two monsters, covering the two meters that still separate us in an instant.

' - Shit! At this rate Alessia's master is going to die really fast. I should help him, but I don't want to die. I'm not married yet, nor have I found true love. What should I do?'

The nearest griffin tries to receive me with its claws, but I dodge them with millimetric precision, contorting and turning my body in an incredibly athletic way in the air, while in the process I cut off one of the wings of the monster that tries to attack me.

The griffin begins to fall to the ground while I keep spinning in the air, thanks to the momentum of the cut I made on the monster's wing.

The second griffin tries to help its companion by attacking me with a peck, but I move my two-handed sword to use the residual force from my spin, plus the momentum from the monster's attack, to deliver a slash to the center of the enemy's head.

As a result, the monster's head splits cleanly in half, after which its body begins to scatter into golden particles.

'I love the edge of this sword! No wonder it was a guild leader's weapon.'

I land on the ground with my knees bent and take two quick strides towards the body of the griffin whose wing I cut off, which has fallen on its side and is already starting to recover from the fall.

But I don't give the griffin time to do so, and with a quick vertical slash, I cleanly cut the monster's body in half.

'I'm getting used to this activating and deactivating Sword Breathing style now.... It's not that hard, really. It simply requires concentration.'

The griffin’s body explodes into a thousand golden particles, and I turn to look at Richard with a smile.

Then I see that the archer is looking at me with his mouth open, as if stunned.

' - I see... He's quite the man. Now I understand why our fierce Alessia gave herself to him.'

' - That's cheating! How am I going to compete with that?'

' - Wait. You're telling me that he's better than me with a bow and can skillfully use a sword too...? That's... That's a bit depressing... But I'm alive! Who cares if Alessia's master is some kind of genius who can use all weapons?'

' - How is it that a traveler can move so fast? He took out the two monsters single-handedly, just in a few seconds.'

' - Looks like Alessia's master sure knows how to fight after all.... I thought what she told us in her letter were exaggerations'

"I told you I had it all under control," I say as my smile widens from the feeling of power that surges through my body.

I feel incredibly light and strong.

It's been a long time since I activated this profile, and now that I have so many stat points available, the effect is exaggeratedly greater than I remembered.

'It's a pity these two griffins won't present me with a bit more of a fight.'

Then I remember that there was a third enemy, and I quickly turn to the four guys.

However, I see that the four have already taken care of the remaining enemy, and they look back at me with the same expression of dumb amazement that Richard has on his face.

'Hmm... Maybe I overdid it a little bit.... But that doesn't matter now; I have to get back to my girls.'

With a thought and a wave of my hand, I begin to store in my inventory the arrows I shot a few moments ago, which are now scattered on the ground.

Alessia's friends: !!!

'Well, now I think...

What’s wrong now?....

Why does it seem like every single thing I do surprises these guys even more?....

I clearly moved my hand so they would think that I'm wearing my storage ring....

Come to think of it...

Can storage rings store things that are not being touched by the person?....

Since I never tried it, I'm really not sure about it....

But judging by their expressions, it looks like that's not the case....

Agh, I hate grouping with strangers'