The Minotaur (1)
It was one of those days.
"Hero, is that all you can do?"
"Could you stop blocking my view? It's interfering with my magic."
"···How filthy."
Days of being mocked without end, threatened with forced resignation. Then, out of nowhere, the Saintess Yulise began taking my side.
"Please don't be so hard on him. I'm certain the Hero is doing his best as well."
"Hmm?"
The feeling that washed over me wasn't gratitude, but confusion. Normally she would have joined the others in tearing me down. Suddenly shielding me made no sense. More than anything, I knew my own condition better than anyone. I was covered in every kind of repulsive curse, and in actual combat I really was falling short of the others. The skills I'd received focused on growth potential and versatility, so at this early stage I was inevitably weak. I'd been ready to brush off the usual criticism during battle, but now someone was actually defending me.
'What is this?'
Thanks to her, I could only stand there bewildered.
'What's her angle?'
Confusion quickly turned into suspicion. This wasn't like her at all. Maybe she pitied me after watching me get picked on so much. That would fit the compassionate Saintess she was. She had always given money freely even to vagrants in back alleys.
"Come now, let's not dwell on it and get moving again. We still have a long way to go, don't we?"
She even stepped in to mediate. It was the first time I'd seen this side of her in the past six months.
"Well then, Hero, you should start moving too."
"Ah, r-right··· Thank you."
A small doubt lingered, but I decided to set it aside for now. After all, it was a favorable situation for me. No need to dig deeper. Just not being criticized when I expected it was enough to overlook the little things. She could probably afford to help me once like this.
But the problem was that her kindness didn't end with just one instance.
"Are you perhaps thirsty?"
"The terrain here is certainly difficult to walk on. Are you all right, Hero?"
"Oh dear, I see a cut on your forearm. Come here for a moment. I'll treat it for you."
Every time we walked, she would suddenly turn around and fuss over me. It felt like she was looking after a pitiful vagrant, leaving me with an odd, uncomfortable feeling.
"Ah, uh, thank you. I'm not thirsty, so I'm fine."
When kindness comes without reason, suspicion is the natural first response. If it were anyone else, I might have taken it as simple goodwill, but that premise was impossible for me. I had no choice but to wonder what intention lay hidden behind the favor. In that sense, her current attitude was nothing short of baffling. Since I couldn't guess her motive, even the kindness she showed felt uncomfortable.
"Hey, Hero. Could you be quiet? You're distracting me while I'm trying to concentrate."
On top of that, Lily, who was walking ahead, snapped at me.
'I wasn't the one talking···'
I felt a twinge of unfairness, but decided to let it go. We really did need to stay focused right now.
"There, you heard her. Saintess, please look forward and keep walking. We need to stay alert."
"Ah, yes···"
I used Lily's words as an excuse to send Yulise back to the front. For the briefest moment, she glanced back at me with a pitiful look, but she still returned to her position without another word. I had no idea why she was acting this way, but I decided to move on. As our mage Lily said, it was time to focus. We were almost at the castle where the Insect King resided. The battles ahead would be far harder than anything in the past six months.
I could only give a bitter smile inwardly.
'Of all the Heavenly Kings, it had to be Valcan first···'
As I'd mentioned before, this game was a roguelike with heavy randomness. The order in which the Four Heavenly Kings appeared was also randomly determined. Of course, balance patches ensured the first one, Valcan, was always the weakest··· but even among the Heavenly Kings, matchups existed. Depending on who appeared in what order and how the characters had grown, the difficulty could vary wildly. In that regard, facing Valcan first was literally the worst possible scenario.
'Insect King Valcan.'
The king of all insects. A being who earned the title of "king" by commanding the most insignificant creatures. His fighting style was simple.
'A variety of poison status ailments and an endless swarm assault.'
Of course, more patterns would appear if we met him later in the game··· but right now, that was probably all he had. Even so, it was more than enough to torment a hero's party. Status ailments and swarm tactics. Just looking at it, the fight promised to be annoying. Moreover, once an opponent reached the level of a Heavenly King, most cheap tricks no longer worked. The best strategy was simply to break through the incoming insects as best we could and strike the main body. At least Valcan's main body itself was weak—that was a small mercy.
'But even that requires a certain level of specs···'
The problem was that reaching those specs was absurdly difficult. If Valcan appeared second or third, maybe. But with our current strength, we didn't have the specs to make it possible. We lacked both poison resistance and the firepower to punch through the swarm. In that sense, facing Valcan as the first Heavenly King was literally the worst opponent imaginable. Even just for the sake of growth time, matching specs against the first one was nearly impossible.
'Can we even do this···?'
The ominous thought rose automatically. But only for a moment—I shook my head. It wasn't a question of whether we could. We had to. Otherwise, we would be the ones facing tragedy in the end. If I didn't want to see something horrific, I had no choice but to find a way to win, no matter what.
It was right as I was steeling my resolve again that it happened.
"Shh. Enemies."
In an instant, Adel, who had been walking ahead, stopped. She must have detected them with her exceptional senses. They weren't visible to me yet, but I could already picture the enemy waiting ahead. There was only one type of monster in this area, after all.
'We've finally arrived.'
Thinking that, I stepped forward to the front of the party. Following Adel's gaze, I spotted a single massive monster standing motionless, waiting for us. A muscular humanoid body with the head of a bull. In one hand it held a double-bladed axe as large as its own torso, and two enormous horns sprouted from its head. It was a monster anyone would recognize.
Minotauros.
The gatekeeper of the Demon Realm guarding the castle entrance. At the same time, it was the mid-boss monster that marked the true beginning of the story. In a way, it was almost the only pure physical-attribute monster in this castle. Naturally, as its massive double-bladed axe suggested, its strength was overwhelming. Enough to confidently call it a mid-boss. Honestly, if you didn't know the strategy, few enemies were as difficult for new players as this one.
'Thanks to it, I died plenty of times back then.'
Its attack power could put you in a near-death state with a single hit, and its health pool was ridiculously large. On top of that, it could clumsily defend with the double-bladed axe, making it a surprisingly tricky monster. That wasn't all. It also had a hidden trump card called Rage, so if you didn't know the strategy, the difficulty would skyrocket dozens of times over.
'That's why I'm here.'
Of course, that didn't apply to me. I knew how to seal its Rage and fight it. The battle would be a bit annoying··· but in the end, this was the best approach.
"Hmm, it looks strong just from a glance··· and of course it's guarding the gate."
"What should we do? How about we just try to break through?"
"Wait, I think we should decide on a strategy here first. It might be in the monster encyclopedia."
Watching the party members debate, I opened my mouth.
"Everyone, I know how to deal with it."
Clap, clap. I clapped my hands to draw their attention. Four pairs of eyes turned toward me at once. They seemed displeased that I'd suddenly butted in—the irritation was clear in their gazes.
"What is it?"
Still, since they didn't say anything else, they seemed willing to at least listen. I took a deep breath and spoke.
"First, we cut off its horns."
Yes. That was the strategy against it. Destroy the two horns rising high from its head first. That would let us skip Rage entirely and weaken its combat power as well. It would be a little troublesome, but it was the most reliable method.
But the reaction from the girls, who didn't know this···
"······?"
"What?! Cut the horns first? They look incredibly tough."
"Rejected. Wouldn't it be better to aim for a vital point like the heart instead?"
Right. The problem started with convincing them. Damn it. I'd forgotten my position.