Reina, unusually meek, muttered in response to Mavis's words.
The other three, who had intended to fight from the start, wondered why Reina was so disheartened by the rock golem, but since Reina was the most experienced in the party, they assumed there was a reason and were prepared to follow her instructions.
On the other hand, Myle was staring intently at the rock golem, which he had only seen in simple drawings before but was now seeing for the first time.
A massive body nearly four meters tall, with a rocky, boulder-like build. A small head, and spherical joints.
Yes, spherical joints.
Myle should have recalled the "spherical joint doll exhibition" he was taken to by his mother with his sister in his previous life, but what came to mind was the giant robot with spherical joints from the late-night TV show "Nostalgic Anime Special" he watched with his father.
"...The weak point is probably the joints, right..."
He remembered learning this in the training school.
"No choice, we're fighting! The goal is not to defeat the enemy but to open a path for retreat!
Everyone, prioritize not taking damage over dealing damage to the enemy!"
"Understood!"
Reina's swift instructions, with a changed mindset, were met with affirmative responses from the three.
Reina continued giving instructions.
"Pauline, hold down the golem in front! Mavis and Myle, attack the joints of the golem's legs in the back, and slip through the gap!"
This time, there were no verbal responses, just a nod from Pauline as she began her incantation, and Mavis and Myle drawing their swords. Reina also began her incantation, targeting the golem in the retreat direction.
Myle thought to himself,
(Still, it's the joints, right...)
Myle had been curious about golems since he learned about them in training school.
Goblins, kobolds, orcs, ogres?
Yeah, maybe such creatures exist. It is a different world, after all.
Wyverns, earth dragons, ancient dragons?
Yeah, maybe they exist too...
Rock golems? Iron golems?
What are those? Living beings? Silicon-based life forms? Do they have self-awareness?
In this environment, which is centered around carbon-based life forms, isn't that a bit far-fetched? Maybe it's something the gods set up?
However, no matter how much he thought about it, it remained in the realm of imagination.
He could ask the nanomachines, perhaps getting an answer, but that wouldn't be interesting.
Mysteries should be solved by oneself, not just by asking.
Thinking this, Myle left the mystery unsolved...
(I really want to dissect it...)
Myle, with a strong curiosity and a scientific mind, thought to himself.
"...Green Mist!"
To obstruct the golem's vision, Pauline used water magic to create a mist.
Myle thought (Fog would be better than mist...) but the people of this world wouldn't understand.
Following Pauline, Reina cast her spell.
"...Flame Bullet!"
The Flame Bullet, a fire attack spell, explodes upon impact. It is a higher-level spell than the Fireball, which is just a ball of fire. However, in this world, where people are not familiar with the concept of a full-scale explosion, they only recognize it as a small-scale burst, and the explosion itself does not have much destructive power. Most of the damage comes from the flames that swirl after impact, which is why it is less effective against golem-type monsters.
However, as a means to distract, it was quite effective.
"Now!"
At Mavis's signal, Myle and Mavis simultaneously lunged forward.
Four meters may not sound very large, but in reality, it is more than 2.5 times Myle's height. It was literally a towering figure, and even Mavis could not reach the golem's head with her sword.
The sturdy torso and limbs seemed impervious to sword strikes, and a normal sword would likely break. In the end, there were no other places to attack except the joints.
(I remember, the spherical joints themselves are incredibly hard, and the areas around them, which are thinner to hold the sphere, are where you need to deal damage to prevent the sphere from moving properly...)
Myle reviewed what he learned in training school in his mind as he slashed at the golem's left knee.
At the same time, Mavis thrust at the right knee.
Ideally, targeting the hip joint would significantly restrict movement, but it was a bit too high to deliver an effective strike. Besides, the hip joint seemed sturdier than the knees.
Still, causing some damage to the knees to hinder movement and create an escape opportunity was sufficient.
Thud!
Crack!
"Wait, what?"
Myle and Mavis's voices overlapped.
The rock golem, with its left knee blown off and right knee shattered, fell forward with a loud noise, the spherical joint rolling away.
Myle and Mavis, momentarily stunned by the unexpected ease of the golem's fall, quickly recovered and ran to the fallen golem, delivering strikes and thrusts to the hip and shoulder joints from the back.
Crack!
Roll...
The joints were destroyed one after another, and the rock golem gradually became immobilized.
Reina, who had been watching in shock, quickly gave new instructions.
"Change of plan! Retreat is canceled, we'll take down another one! Pauline, use fire magic on the head! Myle and Mavis, stop that one and attack this one!"
Reina cast a short incantation Fireball to keep the other rock golem at bay.
Shortly after, Pauline used a Fire Wall to block the golem's vision.
Myle and Mavis, once again, dashed to the golem's feet and swung their swords.
Thud!
Crack!
Whirr...
"......"
The rock golem, with its knees shattered and easily toppled over. After a moment of eye contact, Myle and Mavis silently began destroying the joints.
When they stabbed the head with their swords, the golem seemed to stop functioning and ceased moving. They decided to stab the head of the other one later.
Although they could easily say "stab the head" with their swords, a normal sword would not penetrate and would likely break. Therefore, the common weak point of golems was not the head, which is difficult to attack and sturdy, but the joints, which are reachable and less sturdy.
"Maybe we're strong..."
"Unless the rock golems are weak, I guess so..."
Mavis and Myle were half-believing, half-doubting.
"......"
Reina and Pauline also had complex expressions.
"Anyway, let's collect the materials. We've hunted enough for now, so let's return to the campsite afterward..."
Reina's instructions, which seemed to have lost some energy, were met with silent nods from everyone.
Each seemed to have their own thoughts.
Incidentally, the materials to be collected from the rock golem were the spherical joints.
Myle wondered what they could be used for, but according to Reina, they were to be used to make some kind of tool when collected in different sizes.
(Well, bringing back the stone body wouldn't be useful. You can't eat it, and it's not suitable for construction materials, and it's not that sturdy...)
However, the spheres were quite large and heavy. Moreover, there were a considerable number of them per golem. Carrying them back would be difficult without a large storage capacity.
Still, since they wouldn't deteriorate over time, they could be carried back slowly with a cart or wagon.
Myle thought they might sell for a good price, but it didn't seem very promising.
The members of "Red Oath" were back at their campsite from last night, preparing dinner.
Although the hunting ended a bit earlier than usual, they had enough prey, so it wasn't a problem.
The meal, with the crispy rock lizards as the main dish, along with fruits bought in the capital and reconstituted solid soup, was quite luxurious for a camping meal. It was to celebrate the success of the job and the victory over the rock golems, or rather, because there was no other suitable food.
Since the cooked rock lizards would be undervalued, they could eat them without any issues. They could only eat a small portion, but they could sell the rest cheaply to an inn. Besides, they had many in perfect condition...
As soon as the meal began, Mavis muttered.
"...So, are we strong? Or are we weak?"
"It depends on the situation, I guess."
"What do you mean?"
Myle and Pauline were also listening to Mavis and Reina's conversation.
"Our sword attack power is at the lower end of B-rank. Magic is at the upper end of C-rank without restrictions, but in a forest where fire magic can't be used, it's at the mid-C-rank. Our defense relies on magic, so we're weak against physical attacks that can't be blocked with swords..."
This was a clear weakness of the party, as they lacked a sturdy shield and were all young women. ...If not for Myle.
However, Myle had shown the other three some of his magical knowledge but had not demonstrated his full magical abilities. Reina and the others perceived Myle as having "magical knowledge on par with a royal magician, and skills two levels above Reina." As for sword skills, Myle strongly insisted that "Glen was just playing around and adjusting to my level," so they thought he was just newly B-rank.
"Still, with Myle's storage as an added value, considering our lack of experience and various weaknesses, I'd say we're at the mid-C-rank.
We're exceptionally strong for newbies, but average for hunters. That's about it."
"But we easily took down the rock golems with four of us?"
"That was just a good match-up. You, with your speed and strength, used a rule-breaking sword to one-sidedly beat the slow, hard rock golem.
What if we faced a wyvern attacking from the air where swords can't reach? Or an iron golem that swords can't penetrate? Or a small, fast poison rat? Do you have any other strengths besides sword power?"
"Ugh..."
Mavis, questioned by Reina, was at a loss for words.
"...I see..."
"That's right."
Mavis seemed to understand, but Reina continued.
"And there's another weakness in our 'Red Oath'..."
"What? What is it?"
In response to Mavis's question, Reina looked around at everyone and asked.
"Hey, everyone, have you ever killed anyone?"
"......"
Their reactions suggested they hadn't.
"From the looks of it, you haven't.
If you can't kill someone without hesitation in a critical situation, you'll die. You'll take your companions with you..."
Reina's eyes, instead of looking at everyone's faces, were fixed on her hand holding the branch that had pierced the meat.
Late at night, a small figure slipped out of the campsite.
It was Myle.
There was something he couldn't get out of his mind, so he secretly left to go to the place where they had fought the rock golems.
Upon arriving at the scene, he approached the remains of the rock golem, drew his sword, and cut off its head.
This would be quite gruesome with other monsters, but fortunately, golem-type monsters lack the biological characteristics that make it disturbing.
"Hmm..."
The head, with four eyes evenly spaced around it, was fixed to the torso and didn't need to move.
He further divided the head into four parts with his sword, examined the inside, and dug out the eyes...
"Hmm, the head is just a sensor. In that case, there's no need to shut down just because the head is destroyed..."
"What are you doing?"
"Ah!"
Myle, suddenly addressed in the dark, let out a scream.
Then, from the shadows of the trees, Reina, Mavis, and Pauline emerged.
"Why are you here...?"
"I followed you because you sneaked out at night. I was worried you might be attacked by a monster."
"Uh, I wanted to see what Myle was up to..."
"So, what are you doing here?"
Pauline's words were silenced by Reina.
"Well, I, um, just came to pick some flowers..."
"Hmm, picking flowers, huh..."
Reina, looking at the golem's eyes Myle had dug out, said,
"Sure, the eyes are out. Next, will the teeth come out, and the nose open?"