A few days later, as expected, the heat wave subsided once the summer was right around the corner.
　With summer on the horizon, the heat wave had died down for once, as expected, and I was climbing up a mountain in the south.

"Keep up with my speed, but don't break formation!　The scouting position doesn't have to be too far ahead!　Be mindful of the distance that will allow you to return to the main camp without fail!

　Nearby, a Zamrg is shouting at the top of his lungs.
　His ridiculously loud intervallic voice is so loud that you could hear it anywhere on the mountain.

　A total of twenty-one adventurers listen to the instructions and fine-tune their formations.
　It was a group that was aiming to defeat the southern boss.

　I accepted Zamrg's proposal at the guild's tavern that day, and when the heat had waned, I received another invitation to go on a combat mission.
　And now I'm climbing the mountain with this rapid-fire party.

　Of course, I had told Amu and others about today.
　Although they were surprised, they were not particularly worried. To take on the boss.
　It's a little complicated, that's for sure. I don't know what they think of me now.

　They looked rather lonely and bored, but I can't take them with me this time, so they'll have to be patient. And it's not safe.

''Don't miss the anomaly!　Report to me as soon as there is a hindrance to progress!

　Zamrg is shouting.
　I can't help but talk to him because of his loud voice, and I'm not busy.

If I shout so loudly, won't it be useless to bring in monsters?　It wouldn't be wise to wear out the party before the boss.
Huh?

　The Zamrg looks down at me with a displeased look on his face as he shakes the battleaxe he is carrying and says, "Amateur.

It's not a good idea. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of your time in the city. The problem is that they are out of step with each other.
...I see.

　If the veteran's experience would lead him to say so, then maybe it was.
　And Zamlug's actions were in fact in line with that policy.

　Ever since he entered the mountain, Zamrug had been skipping similar instructions over and over again.
　At first glance, it may seem useless, but considering that it was difficult to coordinate with a hastily formed party, this level of detail was probably necessary.
　Furthermore, he always has his eyes on the whole thing and has the prudence to stop the proceedings as soon as he sees something wrong.

　So.
　Zamrug was a cautious man, not unlike his appearance and crude speech and behavior.

　He had brought two entire parties into this attack party, and he had had many meetings with the two leaders of the two parties before they left, persistently and repeatedly. They had a perfect grasp of the terrain of the southern mountains, and had even checked the equipment of their companions themselves.
　Moreover, out of the twenty-one people in the party this time, a whopping eight of them were scouts. They are currently scattered in all directions of the party and are working to alert the surrounding area. Since they are inferior to swordsmen and mages in terms of strength, they have hired that many competent scouts and bandit positions just for the safety of the road.

　No one has ever seen the Southern Mountain Boss, and even his race is not clear, with only a few rumors.
　But even with that, he was unusually cautious.

　But----that might be why this man's party had risen to the top of Lacana.

''Tsk........Tsk, it looks like there's a troublesome little fish out there. Everyone halt!　Ready!

　Zamrug shouted as one of the scouts returned and rushed up to one of the party leaders in front of him.

　Not long after, an orc, perhaps twice as tall as a man, appeared up ahead, parting the trees.
　The figure was too large for its dark skin.
　It seemed to be a high oak, a higher species of oak.

　A high-oak looked down at our group and swung its thick club.
　It's a blow that could have snapped even a huge tree.
　But it was rebuffed by the shield of a slender female knight in the vanguard.
　The attack is blocked and the high orc steps on the tatara. Then arrows and magic from the rear guard attacked.

　The high orc, who was killed by the onslaught, fell to the ground with a heavy sound.

''Alright, let's resume our progress. Leave the materials alone!　I'll give you enough money to make the change!

　The group resumed their steps, avoiding the orc's corpse.
　It was quite a powerful monster, but everyone, including the female knight and her rearguard who participated in the battle, seemed to think it was only a trivial matter.

　Apparently, Zamlug had gathered a group of adventurers who were quite capable of doing so.
　No one is looking at them, even the carcasses of high orcs that would normally sell for a high price.

''You're very thorough. You could have at least collected the magic stone.''
'You'd be a huge idiot if you spent all your energy and time doing that and died in a boss fight.
Indeed. By the way, ever since we left, we've been letting the two parties in front of us do the fighting, and me and your party haven't done anything...is that correct?　It's something that could be antagonistic.
I'm the employer. What's your problem?
....
It's their job to get rid of all the little fishes on the road to begin with. The bosses are mainly killed by my party. That's the kind of contract I signed, and I've promised you a fair amount of money, so I won't complain.
...I see.

　This man. The conditions must have been carefully arranged when they brought him in.
　It's unlikely that we can expect him to turn back because of the discord, either.

　Zamrg adds.

'Besides, do those guys think this level of combat is a hardship? They're the kind of guys who can walk for three days while killing monsters.
Yeah. I wish I could have been part of it anyway.
What? Don't be silly.

　Zamlug says.

'I won't bother bringing you in for that. You fight.'
....
I don't know what you can do. But if things go wrong you'll find out what you can do.
....

　Apparently, it seemed that they were buying a lot of power.
　Well, releasing monsters and destroying guilds and making Amu and his party active, and so on, it's not without some idea.
　
　It's possible that this man has a strange intuition for this as well.

　I sighed inwardly.

　It's not good.
　The summit was near. I had hoped that some natural cause would cause them to turn back on the road, but I'd have to try my hand at it.

　I made a small mark with one hand, sending the invisible Hitogatas far ahead.

The Call. Nurikabe.

　After a while, a few scouts who had been dispersed in the direction of travel returned with a change in their blood.
　At the oddity of the situation, Zamlug stopped the party's progress.

''What's the matter, what happened!
Yeah, that's the leader, the wall...
The wall?
'There's a wall in the woods!　I can't go on like that!
What?　This is ridiculous!　Tsk ... tell our scouts to return. I'll slow you down to half speed from here and draw your weapons. We'll proceed with caution.

　Zamrg was as cautious as he could be.
　At the report of the unusual situation, he brought back all the scouts he had dispersed and ensured their safety, while at the same time reinforcing the strength of the main camp.
　Although the speed of progress was slowed down, it was a natural precaution when an unidentified enemy was nearby.

　Well, it wasn't like that.

　Eventually.
　Even from the main camp, their majesty becomes visible.

''What, what is this........''

　Zamlug, who looked up at it with his friends, muttered in dismay.

　It was a huge wall that rivaled the height of the trees.
　A wall of dull white, seemingly plastered over with plaster, stretched endlessly on either side. It was clearly out of place in the forest, but it didn't look man-made at all.

　At the very least, I can say that it would be difficult to advance past this.

''What do we do, leader...?''
"...tch. Everyone step away from the wall. You don't do anything until I tell you.

　Zamrg raised his battle axe heftily and slammed it against the wall.
　A dull sound could be heard, but it didn't leave a single scratch on the wall.
　Zamurg swung the battle-axe again and again, but the result was the same.

''... magic. And arrows. Whoever can use it, do it.

　Immediately, fireballs and arrows attacked the wall.
　However, there was not even a scorch mark left on the wall, and the arrows were just bounced off.
　Eventually, the rear guard's attacks stopped, and a silence fell between the group.

''We're in trouble. It's unlikely we'll be able to proceed in this way.''

　I just said it with a blank stare, and it didn't bother me.
　Of course it doesn't bother me. It was just as I had intended.

　Nurikabe is a wall-shaped demon that stands in front of people on the street, blocking their steps.
　This wall stretches endlessly in that direction, no matter how hard you try to get over or around it. Its essence is close to illusionary magic using divine power, and no physical attack can be understood.
　It's not going to do any harm, but it's an extremely depressing demon that's almost impossible to break through with force.

　Although there are several ways to eliminate this guy, it's not something you can immediately come up with in this place.
　It will be impossible for Zamrugs to break through.

I'm not sure if it's a good idea. The use of Nurikabe was a 'good idea', was it?

　In her hair, Yuki said, slightly disappointed.
　That's right. I'm sorry for being so simple. I'm sorry for being simple, but we're going to get what we came for.

　Ignoring Yuki, I say coolly, "Is it the boss monster's ability?

"Is it the boss monster's ability...?　Either way, it's unforeseen. We'd better turn back here...

　And then.
　Suddenly, I felt a great flow of power.
　From the top of the mountain, it was approaching us at a tremendous speed in the sky.

　It was an unforeseen event.
　I panicked.

"Uh-oh!
You're right, you're right. You're right, we can't turn our backs on them and we can't even go forward in this situation. I can't help but do nothing........sorry, guys. Because I didn't do enough research, I didn't foresee this situation. It's too risky to persist any longer. We have to turn back while we're still prepared...

　Before Zamrg could finish - - a huge shadow appeared from the sky.
　They all looked up at it.

　Flying in the sky above was a lizard-like figure with wings.
　But it was not like a dragon.
　It had no forelimbs, instead it had feathers, and the way it flew was similar to a bird.

　A monster that resembled a dragon but was different from a dragon was called a sub-dragon in this world.
　That's a type of it - a wyvern.
　Originally, it was not a monster to be feared, although it was powerful. Even the imperial army, which is not supposed to specialize in them, has occasionally defeated them.

　But that one was different in size.
　Vine like vegetation hung from various parts of its body, and the torn wing membranes at the edges told the story of how long it had lived.

　Someone shouted.

'E, it's the Ancient Wyvern!　What my grandfather said was true!

　I pull a face.
　I hadn't expected this. I didn't expect the boss monster to have the ability to fly, since it hadn't moved for a long time.

　If it was true, even the approach from the boss's side should have been blocked by a painted wall.
　However, no matter how many wall demons, they couldn't stand in front of a flying one.

　Well, this is not good.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

"Everybody get ready!　There's your man!　An Ancient Wyvern can breathe!　Don't get stuck in one place!

　At the same time, the wyvern that looked down at us opened its jaws wide, revealing a red oral cavity.
　Then, a scarlet flame was spat out.
　It wasn't a band of flames like a dragon, but a fireball that resembled a person's fire magic.

　Above the heads of the fleeing adventurers-----but the fireball disappeared without a hitch. When I confirmed that the fire had not spread to the trees, I scattered the Hitogata that I had used as the starting point of the wards.
　It's not as bad as the dragon, after all.
　But....what should I do with this?

　The wyvern must have come out of the woodwork after a few years and obviously came after us.
　I'm not sure what made the sub-lord of the sub-long term quiet in the depths of the forest, whether it was a bad idea to send out the painted wall, or whether it was because we were so close to the territory with this many people.

　Whatever.
　Anyway, right now, we need them to go back behind the wall.

　The Ancient Wyvern, which is looking at me and has begun its descent to attack me directly, I fly a Hitogata.

The Phases of Fire, Earth and Gold - The Art of Shining Heavenly Light

　A light as intense as the Little Sun burst in the air.
　Suddenly, everyone moaned and held their eyes.

　The 《Shintian Light》 is a technique that mixes metallic powder with gunpowder and ignites it to produce a dazzling light and explosive sound.
　The silver (magnesium) powder of magnesia burned up in an instant to produce this much light. It is difficult to even stand if you eat it up close, but on the other hand, it is a very low-powered, unkillable jutsu.

　No matter how much the boss's wyvern, that was indeed going to flinch.
　I'm sure that if I just fired a few shots, they'd be able to escape back to their territory..., I thought as I moved my arm in front of me.
　I opened my mouth.

What...?　Gee!

　The Ancient Wyvern was falling.
　Its flap of wings was weak and wobbly. It seemed that with a single 《Shaking Heavenly Light》 shot, he was completely unconscious back and forth.

　Weak!

　Although I had expected that he would not be that strong, even if he was the boss, since he was being defeated by a human, I didn't expect him to be this strong....
　Moreover, if I continued like this, I would unexpectedly fall to this side of the wall.

　Oh no, this is not good........

　However, the humans are also flinching from the 《Shaking Heavenly Light》. If I can beat them back to the other side of the wall in the meantime...

　And that's when I thought.
　In the midst of the group, I saw one moving shadow.

　A large man with a battle-axe in his hand.
　The leader of the group, a heavy warrior named Zamrg.

　I'm not sure if my eyes have returned to their full potential, but the Zamrg, whose eyes had been dilated, nevertheless ran to the fall site of the wyvern with an agility that is not commensurate with his size.

　And.
　That battle axe is held at the lower level.

''Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

　The battle axe that was released as if it was raised ------ cut off the neck of the falling wyvern with a single blow.

''Ehhh!''

　I shouted to myself.

　Sure enough, all signs of power vanished from the entire forest, as if a light had fallen on them.

　The headless wyvern's wings collided with the momentum of the momentum and the Zamrg fell with a hunch.
　As it is, he doesn't move.

''Li, leader...?
Zamrg... oh, hey, are you okay...

　A few of his companions, who could move, called out to Zamlug fearfully.

　The big man put his arms on and slowly stood up.
　He is limping on his left leg, probably injured when he was shot off. But with sure steps, he approaches the head of the wyvern he dropped himself.
　And beside it, he thrust his battle axe, smeared with dirt and blood.

''Who defeated the boss........''
'Eh....'
'Who beat the boss!　Say it!
The Zamrugs.
Leader....
That's not true. It's not like that it's all of them.
....!
You all beat them. I wouldn't be here without you guys! Everyone in this room beat the boss.
Oh, I... I thought we were...
South, the boss...
That's right. That's right, we took down... We defeated the boss!　I've conquered the southern dungeon in its entirety!　Rejoice!
'Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Leader!
"Zamrg!　Zamlug!

　Amidst the cheers, I was stunned.
　How did this happen?

You guys, let's celebrate when we get home!　I'll buy you a barrel of tavern wine until you finish it!　Don't let up until you're out of the woods!

　There was another cheer from between the lines.
　I was the only one who wasn't happy, of course, but I seemed to be the only one who wasn't happy.