Raid
We’ve apparently gotten fairly close to where the frog people live, and I can feel the air around us shifting. Even though I’m a machine!
Water droplets are sticking to my body. It seems terribly humid. I wonder if I’ll start rusting…
The ground under us seems to be dirt and mud, making it hard to walk. Lammis is buried up to her knees because I’m too heavy. I wonder if she’s all right.
“Gugegugagwegwe!”
“Get theeeeem!”
Valiant shouts and the frog people’s cries are going up all over. The leading hunters must have gone into battle. I would think they’d be at a disadvantage because of the bad footing, but I’m sure they’re already aware of the situation.
They foresaw victory despite that, so it’s presumptuous for an amateur like me to worry. I can only pray for my customers’ safety.
I think I hear the sounds of feet splashing through mud getting closer. The faces of the escorts taking up positions surrounding the boar cart have become serious.
“Boxxo, I think the enemy’s here. Let’s do our best.”
Lammis knows I’m no use to her in battle, but she said our best. As a man, I have to rise to that kind of expectation. Though I don’t think vending machines have genders.
She seems to want to fight without putting me down first. Since carrying all this weight doesn’t bother her in the slightest, she should be fine in theory, but if she’s made the decision already, then I have only one answer to give her.
“Welcome,” I reply, keeping the volume as low as possible. You focus on what’s in front of you, and I’ll watch your back. I can stop any attack they throw at me.
Oh, and there’s the enemy. A decent number of frog people are running at us, I think—I’m on Lammis’s back, so I’m facing the other way, and I can only judge by sound. Wait, one just appeared from the side that I can actually see. Its webbed feet must allow it to skim across the mud without sinking into it.
Lammis turns and readies herself for the enemy approaching from the side, so now I can see the ones standing in our way in my peripheral vision.
“We get a bonus depending on how many we kill, so put your backs into it! Attack!”
“Let’s do this!”
Following the leader Kerioyl’s command, arrows, throwing knives, and hand axes begin flying at the frog people approaching from ahead.
Wow, these folks seem fairly skilled. Almost all of them land their shots, nailing the frog people. Half of their targets are already down; the enemy can’t even get close.
“Water, form vortex and pierce!”
That must be the lady in magicians’ clothes who called Kerioyl “Captain.” She thrusts her staff out, and as if thrown forward from the momentum, water blasts straight out like a hose.
The stream, ignoring gravity, flies parallel to the ground. On closer examination, the leading tip is sharpened like a drill. Despite being made of water, the stream shoots straight through a frog person’s head and skewers a second one behind it.
That must be magic, huh? I wonder if I could use it like that if I’d gotten it as my Blessing. That would make me a fighting vending machine… Not a terrible future. But wait, my magic stat is zero. Yeah, don’t think that’ll work.
My carefree train of thought underlines how easily we’re winning. My vision is shaking hard, probably because Lammis was fighting, but it’s really inconvenient not to be able to see behind me. She might as well have carried me facing the same direction.
She was always grumbling about not being able to land her attacks much, likely due to her low dexterity. Is she doing better now?
I’m worried, but I’m not hearing anything bad, and none of the escorts looking our way are panicked or running to our aid, so Lammis must not be in a bad position.
Hmm, I just realized this. She didn’t bring a weapon with her. She has rather large gloves on her hands, but could they be for…?
“All right! I managed to get him. Boxxo, I was trying to move as little as possible so I wouldn’t shake you, and my attacks are hitting more. It’s a cinch!”
I hear Lammis’s gleeful voice behind me. She turns around halfway and sets herself up to take on a new enemy. Since my field of vision has moved, I get my wish—I can now see the enemy she was fighting before.
Oh, wow. Never seen a dent that big in a face before. The frog person’s corpse is lying atop the mud. Its face is so misshapen you’d think it was bashed in by a giant hammer. That must be what happens when you get punched by her Might. I…I see. If you really think about it, it’s not that surprising.
She carries me around easily, and she has the endurance and leg strength to keep at it without so much as a grimace. It makes perfect sense that she could deliver blows with that much force.
As mentioned earlier, I’m currently on her back. That’s forcing her to act with subtlety and refrain from making any unnecessary movements, which is doing wonders for her efficiency. Combining her raw strength with calculated movements and precise strikes makes her a force to be reckoned with.
I’m pleased beyond words that I’m indirectly helping Lammis like this.
It looked like we’d be able to finish off the frog people in a bit, but ten more have shown up as reinforcements. They said we wouldn’t see much fighting, since we’re at the rear. Isn’t this strange?
“It’s not natural for so many of them to be here. If the front lines are seeing even more of them, then… This is getting suspicious.”
I hear Captain Kerioyl muttering, his voice uneasy. The situation really is abnormal.
“Everyone, form up. Get too far out and they’ll cut your legs out from under you!”
“Yes, Captain!”
The hunters in our escort make a circle formation around the boar cart. It’s the right choice, since even more frog people pop out of the mud to surround us.
By just a quick estimate, I see thirty of them. Will each of us have to take on five? Isn’t that pretty bad?
“Captain, I think this is a little much!”
“Save your whining. We’ll abandon the buar cart if we need to. That’s our motto—life comes first!”
“I’ve never heard that before.”
Kerioyl and the blue-haired Filmina are making small talk, but their faces are entirely deadpan. Does that go to show how tense the situation is?
If Lammis is really in danger, I’d want her to run away. And to leave me behind if she needs to.
But she goes up and stands next to a hunter wielding a bow. Does she plan on full-out close-quarters combat?
“I’ll do something about the ones that get through.”
“Thanks, that’s a big help!”
I can’t see the person, since they’re wearing a hood, but this ranger-like hunter must be a girl. Wait, I only just realized how many female hunters there are in our escort. They were all calling Kerioyl their captain, which means they all work for him.
Of the six, three are female. Is their team a harem, or…? I’m going to call Kerioyl “Stubble” from now on.
Meanwhile, as I think about dumb stuff, the situation is getting worse. They don’t call Stubble their captain for nothing. He handles his two short swords with amazing skill, quickly building a pile of frog corpses.
Filmina is skillfully using her water to prevent enemies from approaching. The others, too, all seem fairly adept, forcing the frog people back.
The issue is the archer Lammis is covering. She’s pretty proficient in her own right, but it doesn’t seem like she’s skilled at loosing arrows rapidly. She takes her time between shots, and several of the enemies have gotten through.
Lammis steps in to cover her, and she’s managing to deal with the frog people now. She seems to have figured out their movements from before, and one-on-one, she should easily crush them. But taking on two at once seems difficult for her.
Another one comes around behind her, sticks out its long tongue, and licks its own eyeballs. Is it provoking her? Now in her blind spot, it raises an ax, then tries to hit me with it.
I can withstand the damage without doing anything, so I purposely take the strike without putting up my Force Field.
[4 damage. Durability decreased by 4.]
With the body-rattling impact, letters appear. It’s the damage display I haven’t seen in a while.
Axes seem to have high power, but I have plenty of points left. I’ll take another dozen, please.
“Wait, one got behind me?! S-sorry, Boxxo! Are you okay?!”
I hear a flustered voice. You don’t have to panic like that, you know. No need to worry. I’m actually happy I took the hit in your place.
“Welcome.”
“I’m really, really sorry!”
“Stop worrying and focus on what’s in front of you” is what I want to say. Annoyingly, I can’t. My efforts will have been for nothing if she gets distracted by me and loses focus on the battle.
I can’t see what’s happening over there, but I feel through the shaking that she’s upset. She’s so impatient I can feel it. This isn’t going in a good direction.
“Eek!”
The archer seems to have failed to dodge an attack; I see her fall, out of the corner of my vision. A frog holding a spear jumps above her, aiming to impale her.
“Noooooo!”
When Lammis sees this, she jumps in without thinking. She gets on top of her to protect her, and…well, I’m perfectly in between them now.
Ack, that spear with the frog’s weight behind it is closing in. Time to activate my Force Field!
A pale-blue light spreads out around me, repelling the spear’s tip a hair away from my body, and sends the frog person flying as well.
“Wait, what was that light…? Was that you?”
“N-no!”
The archer shakes her head, confirming her response. I can just barely see it out of the corner of my vision. Ah, this is a pain in the butt. Why can’t I see farther? Shouldn’t there be a function that’ll let me do that?
It’s so inconvenient that despite the situation, I skim the list of functions. There it is—Omnidirectional Vision. A thousand points isn’t cheap, but beggars can’t be choosers. I acquire it without hesitation.
Ohhh, my vision is suddenly expanding… I feel sick. I’m happy that I can see in every direction, but it’s going to be tough-going until I get used to this.
“Then who made this wall of light?”
“Get one free with a winner.”
I try to imply that it was me. I don’t want to brag, but they’ll have trouble moving if they don’t know who did it.
“Wait, Boxxo, you’re doing this?!”
“Welcome.”
“Wow. Okay. Thanks, Boxxo!”
Believing me so readily is one of Lammis’s good traits. A metal box that can have an ability like this, and communicate its intent, is an absurd idea. Normally, no one would believe me.
“Then will you do that for us if we’re in danger?”
“Welcome.”
I turn up the volume and give a clear answer. Now she knows I have the ability to protect her.
This is where the hard part starts. Let’s work together to wipe out the frogs.
