CH 196

To begin with, although we had finally become an A-rank adventuring party, we had only just started. As for individuals, I was the leader, tank and the only A-rank member, while the other members were a B+ magic user and a B swordsman.

Our situation was caused by a little bit of greed, even though we have been accumulating steadily with safety as our first priority.

In the world of adventuring, those who get greedy die first. We were no exception to this rule, as we got caught off guard by the thought that we would make it if we attacked while they were asleep.

The original plan for us would have been to work together with other senior adventurers and steal their methods of defeating the enemy. However, the exhilaration of being in an A-rank party gave us the unfounded confidence that we could defeat it.

And even though I, as the leader, should tighten that careless mindset once again, I agreed with the other two.

This was clearly a misjudgment on my part as the leader.

But I’m still the leader, and I still have things I need to do, so there’s no point in regretting it forever.

I stopped to carry out my last task as the leader, which was to let the other members go ahead, and looked at the angry scary bird in front of me.

“I’ll hold it off here, but you guys get the h**l out of here and tell the Guild and my wife about this!”

“… Guuh… Make sure you come back alive!”

“I’ll bring reinforcements to save you, so just make sure you’re alive by then!”

The two members seemed to have understood my thoughts, and without wiping their tears, they turned their backs and started running away without even saying goodbye for the last time.

I felt really bad about putting you both in a lose-lose situation.

‘Ah, so this is it.’

I could see the fearsome bird raising a cloud of dust as it tried to attack me with its vicious paw claws.

This fearsome bird couldn’t fly. It attacked with its well-developed legs, covered in tough scales that were hard to pierce, and its black claws were so sharp that they could cut through rock like butter.

I was sure they’d tear through my armour with ease.

However, I was not willing to die just to let them go.

And just as I was ready, the bird suddenly collapsed, and I looked at its head.

“Thank God. I think we made it. Are you okay?”

“Mai… Maid?”