第四十二話 戦いの犠牲
後はルーチェ達の方の、二体目のパッチワークを片付けないといけない。
俺はパッチワークの亡骸の前で数秒息を整えて休憩を挟むと、彼女達の方へと目を向けた。
パッチワークが三本の剣を振り回す。
ルーチェがそれを右へ右へと逃げて耐え、ケルトがパッチワークの背や腕を狙って矢を放って動きを妨害している。
メアベルはMPが怪しくなってきたらしく、〈アイス〉の攻撃は止めてルーチェを回復させることに務めているようだった。
「ケルトさん、もう一歩前に出られないんね? どう見てもルーチェさん限界なんよ!」
「猫被るの止めたら滅茶苦茶言いやがってクソ僧侶が! 狩人は、そういうクラスじゃねぇんだよ! ここまで注意引いてることに感謝しやがれ!」
......態度はむしろ悪くなっているが、とにかくケルトもまだ残ってくれている。
「でもこのまま行ったら、ウチのMPがなくなって全滅なんよ!」
「そのときは俺だけ〈脱兎〉で逃げてやるよ! こっちは逃げ足があるんだから、ここまで死地に付き合ってやってるだけで感謝しやがれ!」
明らかにルーチェの負担が大きそうだったが、どうにか死者を出さずに済んでいる。
あまり攻勢には出られていないようだったが、HPは半分以上削れている上、パッチワークの撃てる〈デスソード〉も後一発だけだ。
今の〈死線の暴竜〉状態の俺が入れば、すぐにパッチワークを倒せるはずだ。
俺も走って彼女達の許へと向かった。
「きゃあっ!」
そのとき、剣を避けきれずにナイフで受けようとしたルーチェが、力負けして壁に叩きつけられた。
「ルーチェさんっ!」
「僧侶女! お前が急かすからだぞ!」
まずい......あの体勢だと、ルーチェは次の攻撃を避けられない。
パッチワークも逃げ回られて苛立っているはずだ。
確実にスキルで仕留めに来る。
俺の危惧通り、魔法陣が展開された。
この距離だと間に合わない。
「ルーチェ、逃げろ!」
俺は大声で叫んだ。
ルーチェは慌てて立ち上がろうとするが、明らかに〈デスソード〉の方が速い。
そのときだった。
「チッ......〈脱兎〉!」
ケルトが地面を蹴り、身体を丸めて飛ぶ。
逃げるつもりかと思ったが、そうではなかった。
綺麗にルーチェの許まで滑り込み、彼女の身体を弾き飛ばす。
「ケ、ケルトさん、ありがとうございま......」
「俺は恥知らずだが、恩知らずじゃないつもりだからよ。わざわざ逃げた奴助けに飛び込んできたときには、正直腹の中で笑ってたぜ。上の冒険者ほどクソ野郎が多い。B級で生きていくなら、せいぜい気を付けるこったな」
ケルトが寂しげに笑う。
直後、紫の刃が、彼の身体を引き裂いた。
周囲に真っ赤な血が舞った。
ケルトの身体が地面を転がる。
「よくやってくれた、ケルト」
俺はパッチワークの無防備な背を、全力を込めて斬った。
背中の腐肉が大きく抉れ、背側に生えていた腕の一本が宙を舞う。
パッチワークの縫い目が解け、巨体が崩れ落ちていく。
【経験値を2478取得しました。】
ついに二体のパッチワークを倒した。
初見殺しの〈デスソード〉の対処法をしっかりと共有できていたのがよかった。
半ば即死技の大ダメージスキルを持っている相手に長期戦をするのは、それが最適解だと頭では理解していても、精神の方が持たずに決着を焦ってしまう。
ルーチェが俺を信頼してくれていたことと、冒険者として経験の長いケルトが焦るメアベルを止めてくれていたのが大きいだろう。
「ケ、ケルトさんが、ケルトさんが動かないんよ!」
メアベルが青い顔で彼の身体を抱き起こす。
「ア、アタシのせいです......。アタシが焦って動いて、ケルトさんがその犠牲に......。身勝手な人だと思ってたのに、どうして......」
「まぁ......なんとなくわかるよ。こいつの考えていたことは」
狩人は器用貧乏寄りのクラスである。
一番の強みは機動力と遠距離攻撃にあるが、攻撃力に欠けるため補佐寄りの戦い方をするのが前提であり、決定打にはなれない。
パーティーで本領を発揮するには、基本的にちくちく攻撃して魔物の注意を引きつつ、その機動力を活かして広範囲の仲間のカバーを行う立ち回りが求められる。
ただ、機動力による広範囲のカバーが最大の強みである分、トドメの一撃を取るか譲るか、露骨に選べてしまうのだ。
譲っていればいいようにされるだけであるし、かといって一度でも掠め取れば恨みを買うことになる。
「どうせ嫌われ者なら、徹底してやろうと思ったんだろう。中途半端が一番辛いだろうし、かといって譲ってばかりで生きていけるほど甘い世界ではないからな」
『俺は恥知らずだが、恩知らずじゃないつもりだからよ』
ケルトは最後にそう言っていた。
最初から譲歩するのはただの弱腰だと舐められるからごめんだが、受けた恩は返しておきたいと、そう決めていたのかもしれない。
ケルトを直接助けたのはルーチェであったため、目の前で見殺しにするのは気が引けたのだろう。
「なっ! 何を平然としてるんよ、エルマさん! あんまりいい人ではなかったかもしれないけど、さっきまで仲間だった人が死んだんよ......!」
「いや、生きてるぞ、ケルトは」
「えっ?」
俺の言葉にメアベルが目を丸くする。
「つつ、つ......致命ダメージくらったせいで、ちょっと意識が飛んでたみてぇだな。おい僧侶、とっとと回復してくれ」
ケルトが目を開く。
「ケルトさん! よかった......生きてたんよ......」
メアベルは力が抜けたらしく、息を漏らしてその場に屈む。
経験値から、これは四人のときの減り方だなと分かっていた。
「狩人には〈擬死〉のスキルがあるからな」
俺の言葉で、ケルトの肩がびくりと揺れた。
〈擬死〉はダメージを受けてHPが残り僅かになった際、死を偽装してその場に倒れる、というものである。
魔物に付けられたターゲットを近くの冒険者に移せる上に、運がよければそのまま逃げられるかもしれないスキルだ。
「な、なんだ、俺を非難する気か! 当たりどころが悪かったら、あの魔法で死んでたんだぞ! どうせ動けなかったんだから、生き残る可能性のある方を選んだだけだ!」
「......気ぃ失った振りしてなかったらまだ見直せたんよ」
メアベルが呆れたようにそう零した。
Volume 2 - Ch 42
Now we just have to take care of the second Patchwork Luce and the others are dealing with.
While I took a moment to have a breather in front of the remains of the Patchwork, I turned towards the others.
The Patchwork was swinging its three swords.
Luce kept dodging those to the right, while Celt tried to impede its movements by targeting its back and arms with his arrows.
It seems Mabel was running low on MP already, so she stopped attacking with her [Ice] and kept focusing on healing Luce.
"Celt-san, can't you take over for a bit? Luce-san is obviously at her limit already!"
"You can be really nasty when you take off your sheep's clothes, you damn Priestess! Hunters don't work like that! Just be happy that I can divert its attention this much at all!"
.....his attitude got even worse somehow, but it seems Celt was staying with us for now.
"But at this rate my MP will run out and we will get wiped out!"
"If it comes to that then I will use my [Fleeing Hare] to run away! I could be running away right now, so just be thankful that I'm still here with you all in a deadly situation like this!"
It was clear that Luce was under a lot of pressure, but it seems they managed to avoid anyone dying.
Even without too many chances to go on the offensive, they not only managed to chip away its HP to less than half its maximum, but the Patchwork only had a single [Death Sword] shot left too.
If I enter the fight right now with my [Half-Dead Savage Dragon] active, we should be able to take it down in no time.
So I started running towards them.
"Kyaah!"
At that moment, Luce failed to dodge her opponent's sword and tried to block it with her knife, but she lost out in strength and got thrown back into a wall.
"Luce-san!"
"Priestess girl! This happened because you kept rushing me!"
This is bad....she won't be able to dodge the next attack from that position.
The Patchwork must be pissed at her too, having to chase after her all this time.
It will be going for a sure-kill move with his Skill.
Just as I feared, a magic circle was deployed.
I won't make it at this distance.
"Luce, run!"
I shouted as loudly as I could.
Luce tried to stand up as fast as she could, but the [Death Sword] was clearly faster.
It happened then.
"Tsk....[Fleeing Hare]!"
Celt kicked off from the ground, curled up his body and jumped forward.
At first I thought he was trying to run away, but that wasn't the case.
He arrived with a slide to where Luce was, pushing her out of the way.
"C-Celt-san, thank you very mu-"
"I'm a shameless person, but I don't intend to be an ungrateful one. I was laughing to myself when I saw you go out of your way to try to save someone who just abandoned you. The higher rank an adventurer is, the more they tend to be assholes. If you want to make it as a B rank, then watch yourself in the future."
Celt said with a forlorn smile.
In the next moment, a purplish blade of light tore into his body.
Crimson red blood splashed out.
Celt's body rolled down to the floor.
"You did good, Celt."
I used all my power to cut into the defenseless back of the Patchwork.
A large gash appeared in the rotten meat of its back and one of the arms that was stitched to it went flying.
The stitches of the Patchwork opened, allowing its large body to fall apart.
[(You have gained 2478 experience points.)] 
We finally took down both Patchworks.
I'm glad I was able to tell them how to deal with the [Death Sword] that tends to kill people that have never seen it before.
It's easy to comprehend in theory that it's best to stretch out the fight when going against an opponent that has a Skill that can deal so much damage that it can almost be called an instant death Skill, but mentally you can easily find yourself impatient to finish it faster.
The fact that Luce trusted me and that the more experienced Celt stopped Mabel from overextending were important in this fight.
"C-Celt-san is, Celt-san is not moving!"
With a pale face, Mabel moved Celt's body into a sitting position.
"It-It was my fault.....Because I was too impatient, Celt-san fell victim to....I thought he was an egotistical person, so why did he....."
"Well....I can somehow see what his thought process was."
The Hunter Class has a tendency towards being a jack of all trades Class.
Its main strength are its mobility and its ranged attack, but since it lacks in attack power, without any decisive blows available to it, it works best as a support dps.
Generally, the best use of his abilities in a party is making use of his mobility to cover for his teammates in a wide area, while distracting and steadily chipping away at each monster's HP.
However, even though being able to cover multiple people in a wide range is one of the Class' main strengths, he can also pretty blatantly decide whether to take a last hit or let someone else have it.
If he keeps letting others have them, then they will just keep taking advantage of him. However, if he snatches away even one of them, the others might hold a grudge about it.
"If he gets hated anyway, then he must've thought that he might as well go all the way. Doing something like that in half measures would've been even harder on him, and this world isn't nice enough that he would be able to make a living if he just keeps letting others have all the monsters all the time."
"I'm a shameless person, but I don't intend to be an ungrateful one."
Celt said this at the end.
Perhaps he decided that he wouldn't start out by making compromises, since that would just make others look down on him, but if someone does him a favor, then he would do his best to return it.
Luce was the one who actually saved him, so he must've felt reluctant to let her die right in front of his eyes.
"Wha-why are you so calm, Elma-san! He might not have been that good of a person, but someone who was our teammate just died....!"
"Nah, he's alive."
"Hah?"
Mabel's eyes went wide from hearing my words.
"O-ouch.....It seems I lost consciousness for a bit there due to that critical blow. Hey, Priestess, heal me now please."
Celt opened his eyes.
"Celt-san! You're alive....I'm so glad....."
Mabel let out a large sigh and her knees gave out in relief.
I was able to tell because of how much experience points we got. It was how much we would get as a party of four.
"The Hunter has a Skill called [Fake Death]."
Celt's shoulders twitched from my words.
When on low HP after receiving a large amount of damage, [Fake Death] can mimic a death-like state by collapsing to the ground.
It shifts the monster's focus from the user to another adventurer nearby, and if lucky, this Skill may even allow the user to successfully escape from the fight altogether.
"D-Do you want to blame me!? If that magic hit me in a bad place, I could've died just now! If I was about to be out of commission either way, then of course I chose the method that may allow me to live!"
"....if you didn't feign to be unconscious, then I may have reconsidered my opinion of you."
Mabel grumbled in exasperation.
The Reincarnated Heavy Knight Who Was Exiled After A Supposed Big Miss Is Unparalleled With His Game Knowledge
大ハズレだと追放された転生重騎士はゲーム知識で無双する
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-reincarnated-heavy-knight-who-was-exiled-after-a-supposed-big-miss-is-unparalleled-with-his-game-knowledge/
Action Adventure Fantasy Romance Shounen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alchemy Arrogant Characters Artifacts Blacksmith Calm Protagonist Clever Protagonist Determined Protagonist Dungeons Fallen Nobility Fantasy World Game Elements Guilds Hot-blooded Protagonist Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Lucky Protagonist Male Protagonist Mystery Solving Naive Protagonist Nobles Poor to Rich Previous Life Talent Reincarnated in a Game World Romantic Subplot Skill Books Strategic Battles Strong Love Interests Strong to Stronger Sword Wielder Underestimated Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8465gx/
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