The mercenaries heading to the Bandit’s Den Castle numbered a little over forty in total. This wasn’t everyone, as some personnel were left to guard the fortress, but according to Kyarun, there used to be about a hundred of them, but the number decreased for various reasons. Some became regular soldiers, but it probably also included humans who reverted to banditry and were about to be punished now.

While marching, I heard about the bandit group. As someone who understood the internal situation from the game, there was nothing new to me, and Sofia didn’t seem surprised either, perhaps having already inferred it. But she did feel a question and opened her mouth.

“Why did they betray us?”

“Who knows? Mr. Theol says there’s no room for negotiation since actual damage has been done, so we’ll never really know.”

…Well, there probably isn’t any deep reason.

“Understood. So, how should we proceed?”

“Their base is a cave, and Mr. Theol said he wants us to prevent them from escaping near the entrance. In some cases, we might have to be on the front lines. If that happens, he’ll tell us again.”

“Understood… Let’s do our best.”

Kyarun replied “Okay” to Sofia’s words… then suddenly made an apologetic face.

“Um… again, I’m sorry for stealing your wallet.”

At the mention, Sofia’s expression turned serious. At the same time, I felt as if Sofia’s gaze was fixed on Kyarun, yet also perceiving something else.

“…You should have gained a certain level of trust and be receiving wages as a mercenary. Your actions break that trust… I think you should stop.”

“Yes, I won’t do it again.”

Kyarun said. Sofia’s words felt more like advice than a reprimand… if she were truly angry, she wouldn’t be talking so calmly. While she wasn’t downplaying the act of stealing, she seemed to feel something more towards Kyarun.

Is it because Kyarun is a character who becomes an ally in the game, so there’s something special about her, and Sofia senses that? Was the lack of emphasis when her wallet was stolen related to that?

If that’s the case, I wonder how Gilbert felt. I should have asked about that in detail… I’ll ask after the battle is over.

During that exchange, the atmosphere among the mercenaries changed. It seemed they were close to their target location.

Sofia, sensing it, also fell silent. Soon, what appeared was a gaping cave, nestled against the mountain.

“Let’s go!”

As Theol shouted, the mercenaries all moved at once. It was truly like charging into the vanguard of a war—I saw the bandit guards near the cave entrance flinch and hastily retreat into the cave.

I don’t think anyone but me, who understood the event’s content, realized that it was an act. Theol and the others would never have imagined a connection to the Demon Race in the first place, and the idea of Lesser Demons ambushing them afterward would have been beyond their comprehension.

Following Theol, the others also entered the cave. The enemy’s strategy was to lure Theol’s group inside and hold them there, while Lesser Demons would ambush from the entrance, so we were to hold back the horde at the cave entrance.

Looking around, five mercenaries, including Kyarun, were guarding the entrance. Nogu seemed to have gone into the cave, and she was the only familiar face.

For a while, metallic sounds and shouts could be heard from inside the cave. In the game, Theol’s group dealt with the enemies inside the cave, so I probably didn’t need to worry about that… Just as I was thinking that, I sensed a presence. It was in the forest we had come through.

“…Huh?”

Sofia also noticed. Kyarun, who had remained, showed a similar expression, and the others guarding the entrance also looked in that direction.

At that moment—Lesser Demons appeared from the forest.

“What…!?”

Sofia was surprised. No, everyone else too… or rather, everyone except me had an unexpected look on their face.

“Why are there demons here!?”

Someone shouts. Then more lesser demons appear from deeper in the forest.

Well, time for battle… I don’t think there were any casualties in the game, but it’s better to be careful.

I look at Sofia. She’s got her sword ready for battle, so I give her some advice.

“If you can perform as well as you have been, defeating them won’t be too difficult. However, be careful with the weapons they carry. If they aren’t holding anything, their claws are probably their weapons.”

“Understood.”

Immediately after she nods, a lesser demon attacks. Three are approaching. However, more are appearing from the forest, so it’s clear they’ll keep coming intermittently.

“Take this!”

Kyarun moves first. She pulls out a throwing knife and hurls it at the lesser demon’s feet. It stabs into the ground—apparently missing, as she groans.

That was probably Shadow Stitch, a low-level dagger technique. It temporarily stops movement by thrusting a magic-infused weapon into the shadow… but the success rate isn’t very high. In this case, she couldn’t even stab the shadow, but even if it had hit, I don’t know if it would have successfully stopped it.

One of the three heads towards us at the cave entrance… Here, I tell Sofia.

“Sofia, hold off one of them. I’ll fight another.”

“Yes!”

At the same time as her words, two lesser demons move. In addition to the one charging straight ahead, the remaining two split left and right. So I target the one going left and shift my feet. Meanwhile, Sofia readies her sword and moves to meet the one on the right.

And the mercenaries take on the remaining one in the middle… and so the battle begins. It’s a defensive battle, but if I mow them all down alone, it’ll be too conspicuous… It might be unavoidable in a critical situation, but that’s a last resort. Remembering the battle with the Needle Wolf, I’ll aim to defeat them by destroying their body parts.

First, I raise my left hand. Then I unleash Holy Shot—as a result, the approaching lesser demon is hit directly in the right arm. From the shoulder down, it disappears.

While it’s still approaching, I chant magic and cast the same spell again. This time, I aim for its feet, blowing off its left leg from the knee down. But even then, the demon keeps coming.

But its movements are clearly sluggish… I add another strike with my sword and finally destroy it.

Good… I mutter to myself and shift my gaze. Sofia is engaging a lesser demon head-on. The opponent swung down its longsword, but she saw it coming and dodged.

Her counterattack. She unleashes Gale Sword, imbued with wind. The sword strike and wind blade explode, greatly staggering the lesser demon.

From there, her movements are fluid—she quickly approaches, delivers another blow, then points her left hand and unleashes Fire Lance.

Suddenly, the lesser demon is engulfed in flames. With that, its body collapses and disappears. It seems everything is fine.

And as for the mercenaries… Kyarun successfully lands Shadow Stitch this time, and the rest of the group finishes it off with coordinated sword attacks. The continuous attacks quickly destroy the lesser demon, and they win without a scratch.

The mercenaries here don’t seem to have the ability to fight lesser demons alone. But they’re handling them well with teamwork… It looks like they’ll be alright.

However, demons keep coming intermittently. It will definitely become a prolonged battle, and it will be more a test of stamina than ability.

“Another one’s coming!”

Someone shouts, and an unarmed lesser demon approaches. Just as I’m about to provide support, one of the mercenaries steps forward and confronts the demon. He takes the attack head-on.

“Ugh…!”

Though he groans, he pushes back and successfully counterattacks. Then Sofia moves in to follow up. She also lands a blow, and then, moving in front of the mercenary, continuously unleashes Gale Sword—and defeats it.

But then, two demons approach her. Their weapons are a longsword and a spear… I instinctively knew that leaving them alone would be bad, so I moved immediately.

Immediately after Sofia started fighting the demon with the longsword, I cast Holy Shot while running. My target was the demon with the spear, who was trying to flank her, behind Sofia from my perspective.

The projectile arced over Sofia’s head and directly hit the demon’s left shoulder. At that moment, Sofia blew away the lesser demon she was fighting with Aerial Sword and retreated—without a moment’s delay, I cut in.

The lesser demon, having lost its left arm, charges at me. Here, I use the low-level magic technique Holy Light Sword. It’s a technique that gathers light on the blade and delivers a slash. I dodge the demon’s thrust, close the distance, slash, and destroy it.

As for the opponent Sofia blew away—Kyarun successfully landed Shadow Stitch again, and Sofia defeated it with Thunderbolt.