Marco's younger sister came out of the hut, supported by him.

Since her legs were disabled, she leaned on her brother's shoulder, clutching a cane in her other hand. She was a slender girl who didn't look much like her brother.

Perhaps due to malnutrition, her hair was a tangled mess and her body was gaunt. Living in a mine without sunlight had left her skin pale and sickly.

In this world, she looked to be at an age where people usually started working, but outdoor labor clearly wasn't an option for her. At best, she might manage some piecework at home. Living in the slums, it was obvious their life wasn't easy.

"...Kid, have you been protecting your sister all by yourself?"

I found myself asking. A boy much younger than me had been supporting a disabled sister alone.

"That's right! We're family."

Family, huh? It would be tactless to ask what happened to their parents. Everyone has their own history, and I'm sure there was a story behind why these siblings ended up in this slum.

"...More importantly, big brother, didn't you hear about the Shiro at the Guild? Why did you come to help us?"

"Shiro" was the ore I had bought from Marco earlier. It was an ore found alongside gold dust, and the Guild had told me that in Lucraella, it was treated as a nuisance because it had to be manually separated from the gold.

Marco had been selling it to travelers as a "rare item." No wonder he'd bolted when I mentioned the Guild; the men at the entrance were busy sorting that very ore. It was an obvious scam.

Well, I have the Appraisal skill, and I'd bought it because it didn't actually seem that bad, so I didn't feel cheated. But to the boy, it must have looked like the person he scammed had come back to save him despite knowing the truth.

"I was asked by those girls over there. And, well... you could say it's fate."

I pointed toward Marina and the others, who were keeping watch.

There's a saying about "once-in-a-lifetime encounters," after all. Besides, I didn't dislike Marco. How could I hate someone working so hard to survive in a world like this?

"Regardless, let's get out of here. We don't know when the next wave of monsters will—"

"—Jirou!! Watch out!!"

Rebecca-san's scream pierced the air. Reflexively, I threw myself down, pulling Marco and his sister with me.

The sound of something cutting through the air at incredible speed whipped past my ear, followed immediately by a thunderous explosion as the wall of the boy's house crumbled into dust.

"W-W-What's happening!?"

I pushed myself up through the dust and looked toward the depths of the tunnel. There stood—

"An... Orc...?"

It had the head of a pig and a thick, bloated body like a Sumo Wrestler. It wore a pathetic excuse for metal armor that barely covered its vitals. It was the classic RPG race—the Orc.

"Are you serious? After goblins, we have to fight a giant like that...?”

The Orc was in a follow-through pose, clearly having just finished throwing a boulder. Seeing that I'd dodged, it fumbled around for another rock and launched it overhand without hesitation.

Its control wasn't great; the rock flew off in a random direction. Still, it was a simple and powerful attack. A direct hit from that would mean instant death.

However, the attack was linear. As long as I watched him throw, I could dodge it. But for a monster to be throwing things... once they reach a certain strength, they must possess some level of intelligence.

"Buhi! Buhi!" The Orc let out an angry cry, apparently throwing a tantrum.

In response to that cry, several more Orcs emerged from the shadows. There were four more. Five in total was bad news. If they started a synchronized rock-throwing barrage, we'd be trapped.

But we had to do it. I had no confidence in our ability to deal with rocks being thrown at our backs if we retreated now. As Shello-san taught me: "When things get tough, move forward!"

"Rebecca-san! Please get these kids to safety first! I have to deal with those pig bastards!"

"I get it, but what about you, Jirou?! We'll fight, you run with them!"

"No! I'll handle this alone!"

I couldn't let them fight.

"What are you saying?! Why are you acting so brave all of a sudden? You'll die!"

"Master-dono, please wait somewhere safe! Fighting is Marina's job, de arimasu!"

Both Rebecca-san and Marina were fired up. However—

"No, it's not okay...!"

Because—

"Female knights against Orcs is bad news...!"

All three of them—Marina, Rebecca-san, and Elepipi—were knights.

Female knights.

And the opponents were Orcs.

That was practically begging for that infamous "Kuh... kill me...!" scenario.

I know we just have to win, but still!

......

Alright, jokes aside, let's work together and take them down quickly.

Judging by their stone-throwing strength, their physical power was leagues above that of Goblins. Their physiques were like those of sumo wrestlers. Their weapons were clubs. It was like fighting a group of busy guys who were pitchers, batters, and sumo wrestlers all at once.

Leaving the boy and his sister to Elepipi, the three of us—Rebecca-san, Marina, and I—engaged the Orcs. Rebecca-san and Marina's "chastity" (in a trope sense) was on the line; we couldn't lose.

"Jirou, Marina. Their weapons are clubs, but if they hit you, it's just as dangerous as a blade. Because of its size, it's even trickier than a sword. Keep that in mind."

That was Rebecca-san's advice.

She was surprisingly calm facing such an opponent. Maybe she wasn't the natural enemy of female knights after all... Wait, I'm thinking something unnecessary again.

"Got it!"

"Understood, de-arimasu!"

Even as we replied, Marina charged the Orcs with a war cry.

She really was fearless. Charging straight at a pig-faced old man built like Musashimaru... To be blunt, one means game over. Even a graze would cause massive damage.

The reason Marina wasn't flinching was because of our constant "don't take even one hit" training. I wasn't as scared as I thought I'd be, either. Since fighting such opponents had become our norm, Goblins felt incredibly weak, and Orcs just looked like "standard monsters."

I have to thank Shello-san and Rebecca-san for providing such practical training. Still, there were five of them. We needed some coordination.

Rebecca-san and I drew our swords and ran.

The Orcs chose melee combat as well, charging while squealing "buhi! buhi!"

Marina struck first. She swung her halberd from a high guard, slamming it down with terrifying force. The Orc tried to intercept the blow with its club—

CRACK!

—The thick wooden club was sliced clean in half.

And before I could even process that, Marina unleashed a second strike in a diagonal cut. The axe blade bit deeply into the Orc's shoulder, killing it instantly and transforming it into a fist-sized magic crystal.

"No way. Marina is making an Orc look like a piece of cake. What's with her?"

"Fufu. She's been training, you know. Training until she pukes blood."

Well, that was true. Ever since we hired Etowa, our mornings had been almost entirely devoted to training. After that bandit attack, our drills had become far too intense to be called a hobby, and Marina was the most dedicated of all.

While I trained with them sometimes, Rebecca-san handled the female members, often training them out of my sight. When I secretly asked Marina before, she said, "The Captain puts on an act when Master-dono is around, de arimasu!" So they're probably doing some seriously hard training.

But I've also been doing live-combat training with Shello-san, constantly fearing, "Wait, is this guy the type who doesn't understand common sense? I might actually die! He looks like the type to say 'Whoops! My bad, I killed him!'"

Yep. I absolutely won't lose to some Ogre!

While I was curious about Marina and Rebecca-san's fight, I wanted to take down at least one myself. I wanted to see the results of my training, and perhaps as a tendency of the [Swordsman] Vocation, my adrenaline was pumping.

I closed in on an Orc. It was huge. Huge vertically, huge horizontally. Its club was as thick as my torso. It was no exaggeration to call it a "Small Giant." A pig-giant.

Now I understood why Rebecca-san told me to choose a two-handed weapon when I first picked my gear. Against something this big, a one-handed sword would be too inefficient. A dagger wouldn't even be able to finish it off.

I raised my Magic Sword. Its special abilities are Absorption, Evasion Up, and Beast Slayer Bonus. I'd experienced them all during the bear fight, and every single one was useful.

Absorption, in particular, was insane. Even a semi-shut-in with no stamina could fight forever because the sword drains the enemy's vitality to refresh the wielder. It's more effective than a hundred energy drinks.

"BUHIII!!"

The Orc swung down a club that could easily be mistaken for a log. It seemed they weren't intelligent enough to speak human languages. Thank goodness. If it had laughed like "Ork-ku-ku-ku!" I don't know what I would have done.

I dodged the attack with a backstep. The Orc slammed the club into the ground. It was massive, and its strength was immense. That was a genuine threat... but that was all it had. I could handle this.

The Orc followed up with a clumsy horizontal swing. I dodged it, and the creature's momentum was so great that it ended up showing me its back.

I immediately brought my sword down on that greasy, undefended back. The Magic Sword was incredibly sharp. Its black-stained blade wouldn't dull from blood, nor would it chip from hitting bone. The obsidian blade sliced through the fat and bit into the pork with a wet sound.

By the time the sword passed through to the other side, the Orc had turned into a magic crystal.

One down. Monsters are easy to fight because they don't bleed.

Three left.

I wanted to retreat before reinforcements or more waves appeared, but—

"Alright! Let's pick up the crystals and go!"

Rebecca-san's voice rang out.

Looking around, not a single Orc remained alive. Marina and Rebecca-san had finished the rest. They were strong!

"Whoa. I missed seeing you fight, Rebecca-san!"

"Eh? It was just the usual. Get close, then stab."

"Ah... right."

The fact that she could do that to a monster that big was amazing... but as long as they were dead, it was fine. No sense lingering—we had to get back.

We ended up with a significant haul of magic crystals from the Goblins and Orcs. If a managed hunting ground yields this much, it would be incredibly profitable. But right now, the variables were too high, and apparently, "Hitotsuzuki" class monsters were spawning too.

Getting greedy just because things were going well would always come back to bite you.

"Master-dono."

"Hm?"

"This belongs to you, Master-dono. I want you to take it de-arimasu."

On our way out of the mine shaft, Marina held out the Spirit Stone she had just obtained.

It was proof that she had cleared her Guidance—"Defeat a Monster"—which she had received quite some time ago. Marina had lost her "First Spirit Stone" during the battle with the bear—to be precise, Diana had used it as a power source for spirit magic to treat Marina's injuries a while ago.

Normally, people keep their "First Spirit Stone" as a memento. I hadn't thought much about it, but the Lapis Lazuli I got first is still in my possession. For Marina, this stone today was, in a sense, her real "first" stone.

...She obviously wants to keep it for herself, yet here she is, forcing herself to give it away.

"Alright. Then I'll leave it with you, Marina. Can you hold on to it for me and make sure you don't lose it? If I need it someday, I'll let you know."

"...Is it alright for Marina... to keep it, de arimasu?"

"I let Diana carry a bunch too, right? Managing Spirit Stones is part of a slave's job."

At those words, Marina's face lit up.

"It's a job, de arimasu? Then I have no choice. Marina will manage it herself, de-arimasu!"

"Yeah. I'm counting on you."

If I told Marina, "I don't need it, just keep it yourself," she wouldn't listen anyway. Saying it this way would make her treasure it for a long time.

* * *

We met up with Elepipi and the others along the way.

Marco's sister's legs were bad, so they couldn't move fast. In a mine with such rough terrain, even a wheelchair—if they even existed—would be useless.

"...Are you okay, Young Master?" Elepipi asked.

She's a hard girl to read, but even to an amateur, that Orc must have looked terrifying. She looked at me with genuine concern.

"Surprisingly, yeah. We managed somehow."

"You defeated them?"

I pulled the fist-sized magic crystal from my pocket to show her.

"Elepipi, Rebecca-san, and Marina are insanely strong, you know."

"...I know. I have to work harder too."

"Well, Elepipi, no need to rush. You're just getting started, right?"

I wondered if Elepipi had actually wanted to fight as well. She'd gone to the trouble of borrowing a weapon from the smithy, after all.

If it weren't for Marco and his sister, even just letting her see that battle might have been a valuable experience for her. Still, there was no way I could throw Elepipi—who'd only trained for a few days—into real combat.

Goblins might be fine, but an Orc was impossible. She'd probably lose without even having the leeway to shout "Kuh, kill me!"

* * *

Almost at the same moment we exited the mine, a huge bird swooped down from the open sky. Riding atop it was a dark-skinned woman in an exotic, Arabian-style, provocative outfit, with ivory-colored hair and unreal horns on her head.

It was Shamash-san, the Nightmare (of the Demon race).

It seemed she had already sealed one mine... She works fast.

Drawing everyone's gaze, Shamash-san gracefully dismounted the bird and walked straight toward me. I signaled Marina and Rebecca-san to stand down and stepped forward.

"Good work, Shamash-san."

"You as well, Ayase-kun. Sorry, it took longer than I expected. The people on-site were slow to understand the situation. I had to drop about four lightning bolts on them."

"Same here. We've managed the evacuation for now, but no one understands that this is just the beginning."

She said she was late, but it had only been about an hour since we parted. I didn't know the distance to the other mine, but she was definitely fast enough.

"...Master-dono. Is this person an acquaintance? She looks a bit like a Turk, de arimasu."

Marina asked curiously.

I didn't know if brown skin was a specific trait of Turks, but their physical characteristics were certainly similar. A provocative body and brown skin. Though Shamash-san's ears weren't elf ears (though they were a bit pointed).

"Hm? Ayase-kun, is she your slave? She's a Turk, isn't she?"

"That's right. Her name is Marina. Go on, Marina, introduce yourself."

"I am Marina, Master's slave! My Vocation is [Knight], de arimasu!"

Marina was full of energy. A virtue, really. Or rather, she truly wasn't easily intimidated... even by someone with horns who rode in on a giant bird.

"Thank you for the introduction. I am Shamash of the Demon race. Shamash Aureole."

"A Demon... is it? Marina feels we are a bit similar, de-arimasu..."

"The skin color, yes. Turks have the same skin tone as Demons and the ears of Elves. It's a race that finds it hard to live in this world... But you look happy."

Shamash-san narrowed her eyes, looking at Marina as if she were seeing something dazzling.

Was that part of the reason behind the persecution of the Tarc race? Not just being 'false elves', but having the same skin color as demons as well? I'd never heard that, so it might be a case where the original reason is forgotten and only the discrimination remains.

"Marina is very, very happy, de-arimasu... So happy that Marina cannot put this feeling into words, de-arimasu."

Marina flashed a melting smile that made even me—who sees her every day—skip a beat. I could see Shamash-san catch her breath. Perhaps seeing a Turk looking so genuinely happy was unexpected for her.

"I see... Is that so. This is a miscalculation... But a happy miscalculation..."

Shamash-san muttered to herself, as if to no one in particular.

"...I wonder if a day will come when I can smile like that too."

"Can you not smile, de-arimasu?"

"No... it's not exactly that..."

Struck by Marina's directness, Shamash-san's eyes darted around. She shook her head, reached out, and offered Marina a handshake.

"In any case, I suppose that makes me your 'junior slave'. I may cause trouble since I'm unfamiliar with how things work, but I look forward to working with you."

She said it.

Of all the timings! I was going to bring this up after things settled down!

"Junior slave... de-arimasu?"

Marina's face went blank. Yeah. I get it. It makes no sense. It makes no sense to me either!

"It means I'm going to become Ayase-kun's slave as well. In exchange for accepting a few conditions, that's how it turned out. And honestly, I'm completely willing—perhaps this is the first time I've ever felt this way. I see now... this feeling truly can't be put into words."

Shamash-san crossed her arms, speaking with deep emotion. In contrast, Marina's lips trembled, and she stood there in a daze. She probably hadn't even considered the possibility of more slaves.

"...I-It is because Marina took her eyes off him, de arimasu. Marina had a vague feeling this would happen, de arimasu. A superior version, de arimasu... Marina has no chance of winning, de arimasu..."

"You had a vague feeling...?"

She's making me sound like some scoundrel who picks up women the second no one's looking!

...Well, with Elepipi, it was basically a pick-up. And this time, it's not just Shamash-san, there's Ion-san too... I might not have an excuse.

"Please don't run ahead on your own, Shamash-san. This hasn't been fully decided yet. I told you, didn't I? I need to talk it over with my companions first."

"That's true. My apologies, I just... got ahead of myself. I was already fully in the mindset."

Ugh. It's hard to be firm when she says it like that. I don't feel like I can turn her down at this point. But if Marina hates the idea, I'll have to refuse... And I still have to persuade Rebecca-san and, most importantly, Our Princess Diana...

I glanced at Rebecca-san. She was keeping an eye on the mine entrance, but she had clearly been listening. She smiled at Marco and his sister, telling them to move further away for safety—Then, she turned her smile to me.

A bright, beaming smile.

Wait... Why do I feel so much pressure?! It's as if she's looking at a total lowlife!

"A-Anyway, putting that aside, Shamash-san. What's the plan? Are you going to seal the mine now?"

"Yes, that's right. Better hurry. I need to go a bit deeper; it's too wide here to set the Twilight Mimic."

"Should we help?"

Monsters were still spawning. Even for Shamash-san, it would be dangerous.

"No, there's no need for concern. I can sense there are no strong ones nearby."

Leaving those words behind, Shamash-san gallantly entered the mine.

Behind her remained Marina, Rebecca-san, Elepipi, and myself. I could painfully feel Diana's gaze from a short distance away.

Guess I have to explain...