第三十六話 デコボコパーティー
「〈曲芸連撃〉!」
ルーチェが回転しながらナイフの連撃を放つ。
「グゲェッ!」
マミーラーナはひっくり返って床の上にだらりと倒れ、そのまま動かなくなった。
捲れた包帯の奥から、干乾びた身体が覗く。
【経験値を639取得しました。】
ついに四体のマミーラーナの内の一体を倒した。
これで頭数の差は埋まった。
他の三体もHPは削れてきている。
ここから一気に畳み掛けられるはずだ。
「チッ......スキルで仕留めきって持ってかれたか。ここで三体はやりたかったんだが」
ケルトがぼそりと零す。
やはりトドメの経験値とドロップアイテムを狙っていたらしい。
ケルトは弓を構えながら大きく前に出る。
敵が減ったので、この数相手の警戒ならばもう少し距離を詰めても大丈夫なはずだ、という判断だろう。
ルーチェに一体目を狩られた後れを意地でも取り戻したいらしい。
だが、さすがに前に出過ぎていた。
とても遠距離クラスの間合いではない。
ケルトが矢を放ったと同時に、目標とは別のマミーラーナが紫の水をピュッと吐き出した。
スキルの〈毒液鉄砲〉である。
「しまっ......!」
ケルトが身体を反らす。
衣服を貫き、肉を抉る。
マミーラーナの〈毒液鉄砲〉は魔法系のスキルと違って予備動作が少ない。
おまけにマミーラーナは包帯で目や口許がほとんど隠れているので、目線や口の動きからスキルの発動を察知するのが難しく、初動が見切りにくいという強みもある。
威力も低くない上に、毒状態の異常付与まで有する。
かなり厄介なスキルであった。
たかがレベル下の遠距離スキル一発とはいえ、狩人のクラスはHPが少ない。
〈毒液鉄砲〉の毒状態の異常付与も、狩人クラスにはなかなか厳しいものがある。
毒はHPの持続消耗が最大の強みなのだが、加えて素早さの減少までついている。
狩人の強みである素早さが潰される形になった。
ケルトが先程までのように前のめりで戦うのはかなり厳しくなった。
「クソガエルめ! ポーションは回復に時間が掛かり過ぎる! おい、魔法で治癒しろ! 〈ポイゾヒール〉を持ってるだろ!」
ケルトがメアベルへと命じる。
「そ、それはちょっと......できないんよ」
メアベルが困ったように返す。
「なんだと?」
「〈ポイゾヒール〉の発動に時間が掛かってる間にHPの少ない道化師のルーチェちゃんが立て続けにダメージを負うようなことがあったら、カバーが間に合わずに前衛が崩れかねないんよ」
「この程度のレベルの魔物相手に、一瞬でそう簡単に崩れる前衛じゃねえよ! 仮定の上の仮定で話すな!」
「それに毒攻撃持ち相手に、そう簡単に〈ポイゾヒール〉の連打はできないんよ。戦闘が終わる前にまた受けたら、MPをまた消耗することになる。もう一つ言うと、後衛より、前衛の方が毒の被害は大きい。ウチとしては、この状況だと後衛の受けた毒状態は後で治癒した方が効率が......」
ケルトは殺気立った目でメアベルを睨んでいたが、ふっと表情を和らげた。
「わかった、わかった、僧侶の嬢ちゃんよ。......回復役は、取り分少なくて困ってんだろ? 後で貢献分はいいようにしてやる。な? 何も贔屓しろってわけじゃない。センパイの言葉をしっかり聞いてくれる柔軟な冒険者との方がやりやすいって話だ」
俺はマミーラーナと戦いながら、二人の様子を尻目に確認していた。
ケルトのやり口は巧妙だ。
最初は怒鳴って、効果がなければすぐに懐柔へと移行した。
やはりあの男、相当手慣れている。
人間心理として、恐れていた相手から優しくされれば、そのときの緊張感の解れから必要以上に相手を信頼してしまう傾向にある。
戦闘中にこんな足の引っ張り合いをされていては、いずれ大事故に繋がりかねない。
ケルトを野放しにしておくのは危険かもしれない。
〉探索に慣れているとは思うけど、回復役としての判断にはウチだって誇りと責任を持ってる。非効率だと笑われても、少しでも仲間の安全を優先する。それがウチの矜持なんよ」
メアベルがばっさりとそう返した。
ケルトは苦々しげに口許を歪め、舌を鳴らした。
ただの逞しい腹黒ヒーラーだと思っていたが、俺はメアベルのことを少し誤解していたかもしれない。
その後の戦闘中、ちらりとメアベルの方を確認したとき、彼女は冷たい笑みを浮かべながらケルトの背を見ていた。
〉突入前の言葉を思い返していた。
『ああいう人は、ポーズだけ頭下げて、理由付けて回復を後回しにし続けといたら、段々大人しくなるんよ』
......今のがメアベルの本性なのかと錯覚しそうになったが、正に今、あのときの言葉を実行しているだけなのではなかろうか。
状況に応じた最適解の評価は、クラスの専門家でもないと判断がつかない。
「メアベルさん、ちょっと怖い人なのかなと思ってましたけど、優しくて熱い人なんですね......!」
俺は何も答えなかった。
......ケルトより、メアベルの方が一枚上手で厄介かもしれない。
Volume 2 - Ch 36
"[Stunt Barrage]"
Luce kept slashing with her knife while spinning.
"GUGEH!"
The Mummy Rana fell over with its back to the floor and stopped moving.
Below the cover of bandages, a dried up husk of a body could be seen.
[(You have gained 639 experience points.)] 
One of the four Mummy Ranas was finally defeated.
With this we managed to eliminate their number advantage.
The HPs of the remaining three were also on their way down.
We should be able to push on like this.
"Tsk......she took the final hit with a Skill. Damn, I wanted to take down at least three."
Celt grumbled quietly.
It seems he really was after the last hit experience and the drop items.
Celt got even closer with his bow at the ready.
He must've decided that as long as he's careful, he should be able to come a bit closer, now that the number of opponents went down.
With Luce taking the first one, he must be chomping at the bit to make up the difference.
However, he came simply too close.
It's not a distance where a long range Class should be staying at.
At the same time Celt let loose an arrow, a different Mummy Rana than the one he was targeting spit out a purplish beam of water.
It was the Skill, [Venom Shooter].
"Damni-!"
Celt contorted his body, but the purple line connected with his shoulder.
It punctured through his clothes and gouged into his flesh.
In contrast to magic type Skills, the wind-up time of the Mummy Rana's [Venom Shooter] is short.
In addition to that, the Mummy Rana possesses the advantage that its eyes and face are mostly covered by bandages, so it's difficult to notice any signs of Skill activations through them, making it hard to react to.
It deals a decent amount of damage and even inflicts a poison abnormal condition on its target.
It's a fairly troublesome Skill.
And even though it's just a single ranged Skill from a lower leveled opponent, a Hunter's HP is quite low.
The poison status effect is also pretty serious for a Hunter.
The greatest threat from the poison is the constant decrease of HP, but it also inflicts a decrease in speed.
It all but destroys one of the most important advantages of a Hunter.
It just became highly difficult for Celt to continue with his gung-ho fighting style.
"That damnable frog! A potion would take too long to heal me! Oi, use your magic to cure me! You have [Poison Heal], right!?"
Celt ordered Mabel.
"T-that is....something I can't do right now."
Mabel replied in a troubled manner.
"What did you say?"
"[Poison Heal] takes some to cast and if Luce-chan as a Clown with low HP somehow gets hit more than one time, I won't be able to cover her, which could lead to our front line collapsing."
"That's not a front line that would break in a moment from opponents at those levels! Don't just pile assumptions on assumptions like that!"
"I also can't use [Poison Heal] one after the other when we are up against an opponent with a poison attack. If you get hit again before the fight ends, I will have to use even more of my MP. Another thing is that the front liners are much more in danger from poison than the back line. In this situation I would rather hold off healing the back line until after the fight, since that would be much more efficient...."
Celt was glaring menacingly at Mabel, but then his expression suddenly softened.
"I got it, I got it, Priestess girl. You are bothered by the fact that healers only get a smaller share, right? I will make sure you get some extra later, okay? I'm not telling you to play favorites with me. It's easier to work with a flexible adventurer that listens to what someone more experienced has to say, right?"
I kept an eye on them while I was fighting the Mummy Ranas.
Celt was speaking very smoothly.
He tried shouting at first, and when it didn't work, he moved on to trying to placate her right away.
That guy is really experienced in this.
According to psychology, people tend to trust someone more when just after getting yelled at they get treated nicely, due to the release of tension.
If he keeps playing a verbal tug of war like this in the middle of combat, it could lead to a serious accident.
It might be too dangerous to let Celt have free rein like this.
"Celt-san, I can't do something like that. You might be a lot more experienced with delving into Dungeons, but as a healer I take pride in my ability and decisions. Even if you laugh at me and say that it's inefficient, I want to prioritize the safety of our teammates. That is my policy."
Mabel answered resolutely.
Celt looked like he bit into a lemon as he clicked his tongue.
I thought of Mabel as just a reliable black-bellied healer, but I might've misunderstood her somewhat.
After that, every time I glanced at Mabel during the fight, she was wearing a cold little smile as she kept her gaze on Celt's back.
I remembered what she said before we entered the Dungeon.
"That guy is the type that calms down in the end if I act subservient but keep putting off healing him for some reason or another."
....I almost believed there that it was her real self just now, but this current situation is exactly what she said she would do.
Only someone with the same Class could know what's the best move in each situation.
"Until now I thought that Mabel-san was a bit scary, but it seems she is a passionate and gentle person instead....!"
I couldn't say anything to that.
.....rather than Celt, Mabel might be the one who was more crafty and even more troublesome.
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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