My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

"Hahaha..."

While Jing had been blown away and we glared at the demonic beasts, a faint laugh echoed from afar, and Mr. Zeal and I exchanged looks.

For some reason, the beasts also seemed surprised and paused.

They're demonic beasts, yet they move in a strangely human way.

"Did something happen?"

Mr. Zeal asked worriedly; I shook my head.

I think that laugh was just because Jing was enjoying himself.

When I told him that, Mr. Zeal looked puzzled.

I only guessed—there's no way to know exactly what Jing felt when he laughed.

But Jing is a battle maniac; he’s probably thrilled to fight strong demonic beasts.

"It doesn't look like we can take them out one by one."

Assuming Jing would be fine, Mr. Zeal turned back to the beasts facing us.

These two were smaller than the one Jing had gone after deeper in the forest, but still far bigger than us.

I nodded at Mr. Zeal’s calm voice.

With Jing likely to defeat that other beast, the two of us had to take these down.

If we prioritized survival, we should wait for Jing’s aid, but we might not hold out until then.

"I'll go first. Take the left one each. Provide cover."

Mr. Zeal said without taking his eyes off the beasts. I answered and readied my weapon.

The pure-white blade of "White Dragon" I’d brought from the castle flashed in the light.

I usually used a different sword, but for some reason I wanted to use this one now.

Probably my skill 'intuition' was at work.

I’d seen earlier that 'intuition' had advantages over Jing's presence detection and danger sense, but it doesn't provide precise locations of enemies.

It doesn’t detect by presence; likely concealment-type skills don't affect 'intuition'.

"Haaaa!!"

Ducking past the beast's clawed strike, Mr. Zeal slashed through a tentacle protruding from its mouth with his sword.

I parried a claw aimed at Mr. Zeal with my blade.

Mr. Zeal kicked off the ground and leapt higher than the beast, aiming to sever its head with his sword.

He intended to kill it before it could react.

He brought his sword down toward its neck with the momentum of his fall.

"Mr. Zeal!!!!"

I shouted, feeling something wrong and wanting to stop him, but Mr. Zeal—certain of victory—brought the sword down.

There was a clear snapping sound: his sword broke.

Not at the hilt, but around the middle—just where he’d brought it down.

Mr. Zeal’s sword had been forged by Mr. Crow and well maintained. After Jing's group reached the stronghold, Crow had inspected everyone's equipment, so there shouldn't have been an issue with the sword.

That meant the beast's neck was hard enough to break the blade.

I couldn't tell which part or how hard, but since I couldn't allow a sword to be snapped like that, we had to be cautious about slashing wildly.

So that’s how they can keep moving through this forest full of strong beasts.

Thinking that, I gathered the now weaponless Mr. Zeal and retreated to a range outside the two beasts’ attack.

"......"

He stood stunned, still gripping the broken sword, as if shocked that something he treasured had been destroyed.

I didn't know what to say.

I didn't know the sentiment Mr. Zeal had about that sword.

I especially wanted to avoid saying something dumb that might make him rush the beasts with the broken sword.

I'm not good with words; I tend to say exactly what I think, and because my face doesn’t show much, I often provoke others' anger.

I hadn't realized this flaw for a long time, and I noticed people became uncomfortable after talking with me. Until meeting Jing, I deliberately kept interactions minimal.

If Jing hadn't pointed that out to me after we became close, I might have stayed disconnected and never left the castle with the others on this continent.

I wanted to repay Jing, and more than that, help him as a friend.

But Jing was strong, and Ms. Amelia and Yoru were here—so my help was probably unnecessary.

At least I should repay Mr. Zeal, who gave me the chance to leave the castle.

I drew the unused sword from my waist with its scabbard and forced it into Mr. Zeal's hands.