"What, I smell blood again?"
"uh."
"You're such a dog. I'm not."
"It's a bit cleaner this time. It's not blood mixed with pus like before."
"…You know so much? If other people heard it, they'd think you were a real Pleroma person…."
Leon shook his head.
I put my finger to my lips to signal for silence and walked away slowly.
When the voices stopped, only the rustling of small creatures and the wind rustling the leaves remained.
Ta-da-dak
'hmm?'
The moment I heard something strange in the silence, an unidentifiable mass jumped out from the bushes.
Bam!
I frowned, pushed aside the curtain, and stepped back.
"It's a surprise."
"what?!"
Looking at the situation, it seemed like they weren't trying to attack, but were just running around and colliding.
After making sure no other attacks were coming, I turned over the gray-brown lump that had fallen to the ground.
"It's a rabbit. It's not a contaminated one."
While I was pouring the water I had brought to wake up the rabbit, Leon shouted from behind me, as if he was not pleased with my defense.
"Hey, if you put that much distance between you, you can put all your strength into the curtain."
"When did you say you would kill me?"
"That's the curtain corner. And this isn't a duel. Don't forget to connect your lower body to the ground and apply strength to your lower body, considering the recoil!"
"Even in this situation, it's a class."
That's what he said, but what Leon said was something I also felt while using magic just now.
'That's why practice other than sparring is important.'
The most effective way to strike a balance between practicing magic as an academic discipline and using magic for killing was to have some practical time.
Of course, it is difficult to see the full effect in this place where such small things mainly appear, and if you cannot find a real battle later, you will have to catch Pleroma.
'however….'
It's ambiguous.
I got up again and watched the rabbit running away, lost in thought.
Can we really say that there are no dangerous people here?
The rabbit ran without even checking what was in front of him.
Besides, I smelled blood again earlier.
'I have to go back.'
The barrier I confirmed on my way here was a low-level barrier. This meant that no dangerous demons lived there.
Even if we say they are contaminated animals, they would probably be rats or rabbits like we met earlier.
Unless you're a demon, you probably don't have much to worry about, but there's no need to encounter a man-eating carnivore at this hour of the night.
I opened my mouth quietly, looking at the footprints on the dirt floor.
"Leon, prepare for defense. Let's turn around and evade."
"…I was going to say that. Are those footprints here?"
I haven't heard of any dogs living around here.
But anyone can tell that the footprints you see before your eyes belong to an animal of that size.
Leon adjusted his grip on the wand and increased the strength of his body shield.
[Ughhhhhhhhh…]
At that moment, a cry that was difficult to express faintly spread throughout the forest.
Even though I don't know what kind of animal it is, it's hard to say that it's a herbivore.
It's already too late.
I slowly walked back.
At that moment, two red lights formed a line and connected.
[Ugh!]
Bam!
"Ugh!"
I lowered my body and maintained my center of gravity.
The intensity itself was different from that of a rabbit.
Fortunately, since I had followed Leon's advice earlier, the caster was not thrown back by the recoil.
Instead… .
'There's a crack in the curtain.'
There's no way a normal animal could break my screen. The light I saw earlier was one of those, so it's likely something contaminated.
He rolled the wand in his hand and transformed it into a sword.
As they tore down a new curtain towards the sky, the place where the two stood briefly became brighter.
'…!'
Are you crazy?
Not only me, but Leon too was shocked by the sight we saw just before the light went out.
"…This is…."
It wasn't just this guy.
A hard horn grew inside Lee's ear. I couldn't close my mouth at the incomprehensible combination.
'You're crazy.'
Perhaps the reason the curtain cracked easily was because of those horns. But now I'm not surprised that it cracked. Up until that point, it was common sense.
My gaze turned to Iri's legs.
Unlike the chest, which was covered with long, thick, gray fur, the legs were covered with short, yellow fur.
It wasn't just the color of the fur that was different. Anyone could tell that it was the leg of a different animal.
There was no time to assess the situation any further.
The eagle began to react to our magic and started to grow more violent.
[Kuaaaaaaaaaah!]
Boom! Kwaang!
I continued to shoot magic, obstructing Iri's vision.
At that moment, the plants around him grew thick and long, clinging to the dog.
It was a spell Leon had used on me before. My attempt to grab the leg failed, but I was able to grab the bastard's horn.
The wolf easily lost his balance because it was attached to the leg of a herbivore rather than his own.
I took advantage of the gap and swung my wand. The tree behind me snapped in the opposite direction and fell over.
Bam!
The screams of the dog were drowned out by the loud noise.
Although he didn't control his strength at all, Leon didn't say anything special just now.
Leon, pale and exhausted, averted his eyes from the corpse, wiping the blood that had splattered on his skin.
"…Chimera."
"okay."
It is generally impossible to connect different animals so haphazardly and make them move as one body.
Only magic can make the impossible possible, but even so, magic does not occur naturally to join different animals. Anyone can clearly see that it was the result of human hands.
"I felt it in the barrier earlier, but according to the data you found, this place wasn't that dangerous. Why on earth is it like this…."
I nodded at Leon's words.
There was no such story even when the main character came and went in the novel.
I did think that the beasts that appear might be slightly different because of the time difference, but no one would have thought that such a sinister beast would appear.
"This barrier was low-level to begin with. It's not a place where dangerous people come out."
I made sure the bastard was completely dead, then knelt down on one knee and examined his hands closely.
"Leon, come closer and take a look. What do you think this thing is?"
"under…."
Leon sighed deeply, as if he really didn't want to open his eyes and looked, and sat down on the other side.
"…It's like this from head to chest. The horns and legs look like a mountain goat. Then this side must be the main body."
"Yeah, you think so too."
"Why, who on earth would do something like this…."
Leon's face distorted.
I shook my head and got up from my seat.
"Think about that later and get up. This is just the beginning."
"what?"
"Even if it's a chimera, its habits will follow those of the main body. Do you remember the footprints I saw earlier?"
"...."
Leon's face hardened in an instant as he realized what she meant.
The footprints of the carnivore, slightly smaller than a human palm, flashed through my mind. But they were not the wolves we had just killed, but those of another species.
Leon muttered softly.
"…The legs are like those of a mountain goat, so there's no reason for footprints to remain."
"Yes, as is their nature, they would have been living in groups."
"How many are there in a group usually?"
"Well, if we're lucky, there will be less than ten."
I fixed the wand.
A wave of magical power that was clearly different from that of a human touched my skin. It was getting closer and closer.
[Grrrrr…]
We can't call in support personnel now.
The moment you turn around, they will chase you like crazy without thinking about what will happen next. These magic-hungry wolves will never leave a wizard alone.
Even if we manage to shake them off somehow, if they go down to the houses, many people's lives will be in danger.
'There's a barrier, so let's give it a try.'
No, you can't. The barrier is just an auxiliary tool, not perfect.
Just hearing stories of rats occasionally coming down to houses made it obvious that the barrier would not guarantee safety.
I twirled the wand in my hand.
A single red-tinted bar was created.
"We have to take care of all of those before dawn, right?"