After lunch, we walked around the forest again. We repeatedly encountered and defeated monsters.
The most common were Violet Boars, and I think we defeated about five of them.
"One of the knights said happily, 'We'll have a meat feast tonight.'"
"Yeah, I understand. Knights love meat, don't they? I do too."
The holy women, as usual, sat at a distance when the battle started and repeated the act of healing once the battle was over. When the sun had tilted slightly to the west from its peak, I spoke to Hector, the squad leader, for the first time.
"I'm tired. Let's go back."
"Understood! We will return as quickly as possible!"
Thus, we returned from the monster hunt. On the way back, unlike the way there, we did not actively seek out monsters, only defeating those we happened to encounter. The knights around me seemed to relax a little, as if the tension in their shoulders had eased.
However, misfortune often strikes when one lets their guard down.
"Monsters are approaching!"
The scout suddenly raised his voice in a panic. He was a user of attack magic and could detect the positions of monsters to some extent with magic.
"W-What?! From which direction?! Be on guard..."
Hector, the squad leader, who was about to speak, was blown away.
I gasped and turned around to see a deer-like monster about three meters tall standing there, its blue eyes gleaming brightly.
A Flowerhorn Deer. A deer-like monster whose horns spread out like flowers as it grows, it is a unique species that only inhabits this forest.
It is a B-rank monster, said to require thirty knights to defeat, and is clearly stronger than the other monsters we defeated today.
The stronger the monster, the deeper it hides in the forest. A B-rank monster should be even deeper. Encountering one within a day's travel distance is unusual. Today's hunt was not expected to encounter such a monster, which is why the squad was composed of only twenty members.
The greatest misfortune was that the squad leader, the commander, was blown away and was now unconscious.
But this didn't seem like a coincidence. B-rank monsters are intelligent. They can instantly identify the leader and deliberately target them to create chaos.
The knights were scattered in an ellipse, and the monster had stepped into one corner of it. The deputy squad leader was standing frozen at one end of the ellipse.
"Fabian, can you take command?"
At my question, Fabian blinked as if coming to his senses.
"No... I've never seen that monster before. I don't know its characteristics, so I can't."
That's right...
It's a unique species of this forest, usually living deep within it. It's normal not to know its characteristics.
The knights around us seemed to come to their senses as we started talking and began to draw their swords. However, because the monster's attack was unknown, they couldn't move recklessly and were in a standoff.
"Kyaa―――――!!!"
Suddenly, the three holy women started screaming and ran in different directions.
"Ah, no!"
The Flowerhorn Deer has the habit of chasing moving objects. Without thinking, I drew my sword and stood in front of the Flowerhorn Deer, which was about to run towards the holy women.
"《Body Enhancement》 Attack power tripled! Speed tripled!"
I whispered and held my drawn sword horizontally to block the horn that was swung down.
"Ugh...!"
I managed to block it, but the impact pushed me back.
"I have experience in defeating Flowerhorn Deers! I will take command!"
I shouted, staring into the monster's blue eyes and bracing my entire body to prevent being pushed back.
For a few seconds, we remained in that state. Suddenly, the monster's eyes changed from blue to red. In an instant, I jumped back.
"Fall back!!"
At my voice, a radius of about three meters around the monster was engulfed in flames.
"What! It suddenly released flames!!"
"Danger! Fall back!!"
The knights shouted in panic and retreated.
"There's only one thing to be careful about when fighting a Flowerhorn Deer! Look at the color of its eyes: attack if they are blue, and retreat immediately if they turn red! That's it!"
This monster can only control fire when its eyes turn red. While it is controlling fire, it won't attack, so staying away is safe.
"However, this monster has tough skin, so it will take time to defeat! Fabian, sound the rescue whistle and call for reinforcements! We don't have enough people to fight a B-rank monster!"
Immediately, Fabian and another knight who was free started sounding the rescue whistle.
I hope there are other squads nearby. With the squad leader down, we are clearly short of people, even with the original twenty members.
The Flowerhorn Deer's flames were getting smaller. Soon, the flames would subside, and its eyes would turn blue again. Then, the monster's attacks would begin.
"Three of the attackers, block the horn with your shields from the front! The rest, surround the monster! This monster has exceptional jumping ability. If there's even a small gap in the circle, it will jump through it and escape. Once outside the circle, it will attack us one by one! So, absolutely do not let it escape!"
The trained knights immediately responded to my voice and formed a circle around the Flowerhorn Deer.
"When attacking, aim for the white part of its belly! Its back is too tough, and the sword won't penetrate!"
--- A few minutes later, perhaps.
While we were struggling with the monster's tough skin, an unexpectedly calm voice called out.
"Oh, I heard the rescue whistle and wondered what was happening, but it's a rare monster..."
I turned around to see a knight called the "Kingdom's Dragon," who shouldn't have been there.