Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

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As I stand up, I sweep my spear sideways. Obviously, a spear is more deadly when you use it to thrust but the momentum of sweeping it sideways is also quite big because of the centrifugal force. As a sideway sweep consumes more stamina, it will be a waste of stamina if you miss the target. However, with my current distance and position, I don’t think I need to worry about that.

The quality of this spear is really good so I was able to stab the side of the skull of the Dead Swordsman that got its torso pierced earlier with ease. After that, I leave the reach of the other Dead Swordsman’s sword by taking a half-step back.

In this kind of open field, the spear has an advantage compared to the sword. Well, since my enemies have a mage, the advantages and disadvantages cancel each other out.

No, honestly, I might be at a disadvantage but I’m not stupid enough to feel depressed here. If I lose my fighting spirit, I’m going to lose this battle. Keep your mind calm and focused.

I take a quick glance at the girl. Her eyes are open but they seem unfocused. I wonder if it’s because she’s confused or they have cast some kind of debuff magic on her. I’m scared that she’s going to hit her head if I accidentally throw her to the ground. Come to think of it, she’s Mazell’s younger sister so she’s younger than me. I think she’s about 1 or 2 years younger?

Her face is slightly dirty… or rather this isn’t the time to be observing her face! For the time being, I’m glad that she isn’t moving around because of the panick.

“Come!!”

The two Dead Swordsman rushed toward me, I don’t think it’s because they understood my word though. Their target is my left hand which is holding the girl. Yup, death soldiers are idiots.

I want to take care of them before the Lizard Magician joins the fight.

While still facing forward, I jumped to the back.

As I predicted, Dead Swordmen stepped forward to close the distance. The distance I gained by jumping to the back is longer than their stride. Furthermore, I know my opponents’ aim – girl.

When I didn’t move, the opponents reacted by stepping forward, entering right into my striking range. I immediately dropped the girl down and swung my spear sideways using both hands. Because I put my full strength into that strike, I ended up leaning a bit forward.

Pieces of rotten meat fly as the end of my spear lands squarely on their face.

Without any delay, I followed up with a full strength stab on their heads. I fixed my stance and raised my spear in the direction of the mage.

“Now, it’s only you and me.”

I smiled, but the truth is I’m half bluffing. I mean I’m fighting a mage whose specialty is a long-range battle. We have a lot of distance between us and, to make matters worse, I’m even exhausted. If he decided to abandon the plan of capturing this girl alive and tried to kill us both instead…

At this point, I can’t afford to make him know that I’m bluffing so I held my spear brimming with confidence. Then, he asked, “Who are you?”

“Isn’t it a basic manner to introduce yourself before asking others names?”

So this guy is also a devil. I’m a bit surprised that he can speak but I guess it makes sense. If Dreax has devils subordinates, it won’t be strange if Beliulace also has some.

What surprises me more is the fact that he can grind his teeth. So lizards can grind their teeth? Is it because he’s a devil? Well, even the fact that devils can grind their teeth is something I just discovered now.

“…I’ll give you a deal”

Huh? I blanked out for a moment. A devil offered a deal? With a human?

Well, using the word ‘give’ is pretty arrogant. It was as if I had no choice but to accept it. Well, let’s ignore that for now. I never thought that a devil would propose a deal with a human. I keep silent as I still can’t wrap my head around it. The lizard continues, “I’ll let you and that girl go alive. Just leave this place.”

“I refuse.”

I answered without any hesitation.

I’m sure my answer is right. I don’t know why but it seems that this guy wants me to leave immediately. That means I have a lot of advantages here.

“You won’t regret it? I’m saying that I’m going to spare your life.”

“You’re talking as if I’m alive thanks to you.”

Slowly, we both started to move. I want him to get into my spear’s striking range but that’s going to be difficult. After all, I’m going to fight while protecting this girl so my movements will be hindered. On the other hand, that guy must also know that he was going to be at a disadvantage if he entered my striking range, but for some reason, he didn’t create more distance, as if he didn’t want to get too far from here.

Maybe he thinks that if he tries to gain any more distance, he’s going to leave an opening for me to throw my spear at him. But I think that’s not the only reason. I can feel him slowly guiding me away from here.

I seem like he’s trying to lead me away from something, but what? At first, I thought that he wanted to separate me from this girl but he offered to let me and this girl leave so that’s not it. 

He has a reptilian face plus my only source of light is the moonlight so I can’t tell where his gaze is directed to. Just what is he trying to get me away from?

Both of us are looking for an opening to make a move but this tense moment didn’t continue for long. In a way that benefited me the most, the balance between us broke.

“Welner-sama!!”

“Are you okay?”

“Don’t let him escape!”

To Neurath and Schunzel that appeared from the bushes, I gave an order as my answer. The Lizard Magician immediately turned away while the two closed their distance.

Their swords slashed at the lizard from both sides. Unfortunately, maybe because the quality of their weapons is lacking, they failed to kill the lizard. He turned to them to fight back but what he was doing is the same as showing his opening to me.

“TAKE THIS!!!”

I threw my spear with all my might but he dodged it at the last moment so my spear only managed to pierce his thigh. He glared at me, but you know Mr. Lizard, you should pay more attention to what’s in front of you.

Neurath and Schunzel closed into the distracted Lizard Magician and pierced him with all their strength. The Lizard Magician splurted out blood and collapsed on the spot.

I almost collapsed because of relief, but right at that moment, the girl suddenly started to flail like being hit by an electric current so I immediately reached out to check her. It seems like the Lizard Magician’s death lifted the debuff magic that was cast on this girl.

I once again picked up the girl in my arms.

“Welner-sama. Are you alright?”

“I only got some light injuries.”

I answered the worried Schunzel with a tired voice.

“Thank you for coming.”

“We heard an explosion, so we rushed here.

“So that’s how you found me.”

To think that the Lizard Magician’s magic ended up saving me. Whatever the reason is, I almost died so I’m thankful to them.

Actually, I really want to just sleep here but I can’t since the girl that remained silent the whole fight was gripping my sleeve tightly with her trembling fingers.

She almost got kidnapped by demons so, of course, she’s scared. Until she calms down, I can’t leave her alone and sleep.

“Neurath, Schunzel, check the belongings of those two. The swordsmen can wait.”

“Yes, sir.”

I pointed at the corpses of the robbed and hooded demons with one hand and lightly patted the girl’s back with the other. I’m wearing a mental gauntlet right now so my pats might be a bit rough, but well, I can’t do anything about that.

“Welner-sama, there’s nothing that seems important among their belongings.”

“I see.”

“U..Um…”

The girl that was resting in my arms raised her trembling voice. It seems like she wanted to say something. Me, Neurath, and Schunzel looked at her.

“That… that guy held something in his hand.”

“Something?”

“Yes. He tried to force me to swallow it.”

I exchanged gazes with Neurath and Schunzel. Something that the Lizard Magician was trying to make her swallow? Is it poison or something? I don’t know but I’m curious. The trembling girl and I proceed to approach the Lizard Magician’s corpse together.

Once I looked at him closely, I realized that he was a Black Mage, though a different one than the guy I met at the Veritza Fortress. Why is a Black Mage here? In the game, I don’t think Black Mage appeared here.

While I was frowning, Schunzel said, “Welner-sama. There’s something that has fallen here.”

“What is it?”

“It’s not… a magic stone.”

A black gem that radiated an ominous feeling was lying not far away from the Lizard Magician. It’s definitely not a magic stone.

Maybe this thing is the reason why the Lizard Magician didn’t run. Now that I think about it, when we fought each other I got a feeling that he was trying to lead my attention away from this direction.

“Neurath, Schunzel, just to be safe don’t touch it directly. Scope it up along with the soil around it and put it away in some clothes.”

“Yes, sir!”

I think touching it directly is fine but being careful won’t hurt. I mean this thing is a devil’s belonging so it’s probably nothing good.

“Other than this thing, I can’t find anything that seems important.”

“Ok, let’s go then. Ah, please bring my weapon and their swords along with us.”

In the game, the sword dropped by Dead Swordsman is a pretty rare piece of equipment. It’s basically useless for me though.

We were about to return to the village after Neurath picked up the 2 swords when I noticed something. This girl, she’s barefoot. This world doesn’t have the custom to take off your shoes other than when you’re going to bathe and sleep so her shoes probably fell off somewhere. I don’t have any choice then.

“If you don’t mind the fact that I’m not a dashing prince, I will carry you on my back..”

“Ah…um…but..”

“Neurath, Schunzel, protect our surroundings.”

“Understood.”

I don’t have enough stamina to carry her like a princess so she has to be satisfied with this. I carried the girl without waiting for her answer. I can’t let her wear the dead demon’s shoes. I doubt she would want to plus it’s dangerous since who knows their shoes might be cursed. Well, the game didn’t have cursed shoes, but at this point, a lot of things have deviated from the game so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

She was acting reserved at first, but she gave up not long after. Now, she’s obediently being carried on my back. She looks shy though.

By the way, I wonder how bad the injury on my back is. I can feel a prickling pain, but I am not sure whether the magic has managed to destroy my armor. I need to check it later.

“Mom!! Dad!!”

“Lily!!! Oh, thank God!!”

“Are you alright!?”

On our way back, we didn’t suffer from any demon attack. When we finally arrived in front of the inn, the girl ran to her parents. I see. So, Mazell’s little sister is called Lily. It was the first time I heard her name. I don’t think the game ever mentioned her name.

Near the family that hugged each other while crying are my knights that surrounded the destroyed inn. They seemed to be relieved when they saw me.

“Sorry for making you all worried. Please give me the report.”

“Yes, sir. We succeeded in eliminating all demons inside the village. We have yet to confirm that all fire has been extinguished, but for the time being the village should be safe.”

The most senior knight answered me. As expected for someone that Max recommended to me, he’s pretty calm. He must have done a pretty good job in my absence.

“What about the injured?”

“Some villagers are injured but we are still in the middle of confirming the total number of people. The injuries of the innkeeper have recovered, and his life is no longer in danger. We used all our potions. As for us, 2 people suffered minor injuries.”

“Thank you for your report.”

“Please, raise your head!”

I bowed my head out of habit and the knights were panicking. I know that as a noble, and a commander to boot, I can’t easily lower my head. However, this time, they were dragged here because of my recklessness so I need to do at least this much.

“U…Um… Thank you for saving her…”

When Mazell’s mother is about to bow, Neurath and Mazell suddenly become alert. It’s not because of Mazell’s mother. In the direction, they are both gazing, there’s a wrinkled old man who brought several male villagers rushing towards us.

As I began to wonder if that old man appeared in the game, the old man pointed to Mazell’s family and shouted, “IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!!”

Excuse me??