During the time that Dagger, Buster, and Archer were away from the settlement, the other three left behind were…

“Wafau~, woruwaouu woaan”  (It’s so peaceful~ It’d be nice if it were always like this.)

Said Ax as he threw his body weight into the swing while cutting the trees and soon he dozed off under the filtered sunlight underneath the tree canopy. Of the six unique individuals within the settlement, he was the only pacifist.

Recently, he had been following the Boss’ orders, to cut down the trees into timber every day, so that he became used to cutting the trees with the Battle Axe. However, Ax didn’t realize he had developed this strange habit of thinking while he specialized in felling trees with a Battle Axe.

With his main occupation as a lumberjack, there were so many things that didn’t quite fit.

Behind him, a suspicious figure lurked within the shadows…

“Fu, woaa faruoon, guoorua!!” (Fu, you’re so full of openings, you’re going to be knocked off guard!!)

“Wafuh!?” (Eh!?)

Ax hurriedly got up but was lightly hit with a wooden sword on the back of his head by the assailant. 

“Waoofu, waoaan! “ (What the hell are you doing, Blazer!)

“Kuu, ruaru, guoru faruoou guuooan”  (No, sorry, it’s just that you were so full of openings that you were practically begging to be attacked.)

The one who scratched his head as he apologized was the Kobold who wielded the Long Sword, Blazer.

While his weapon, the Long Sword, had a regal feel to it, his personality was totally opposite to normal sword wielders. He believed in winning matches by “playing dirty”. But nothing could make Blazer intentionally throw away a match, because, for Kobold males,  fights are something that they simply cannot lose. To put it simply, he was a “sore loser”.

If an opponent still stands strong no matter what hand one uses, wouldn’t it be more reasonable to confront an enemy in an unorthodox way instead?

From his point of view, it was not worth it if both parties were on equal footing when squaring off. Rather, it was more ideal to either lay a surprise attack, to strike from the shadows, or to lay a siege at night and run away at dawn.

In other words, this Kobold’s disposition was completely opposite Buster’s disposition to crush the enemies head-on, but… 

“Wafioaan, guruofau” (What the hell are you guys doing?)

Carrying a raccoon she hunted from the forest, Lancer sighed at the two Kobolds who were messing with each other.

“U, kuaan~” (Ah, welcome back~)

“N, kuuau, guruaruau uaruoaan?” (Hnn, Lancer, are you okay with being in charge of taking care of the Boss’ mother?)

“Gau, guoa kuurufuaoufu “ (Well, it’s already that time of year after all.)

The Boss had asked her to fight off the males approaching his mother during the breeding season.

“ Why don’t you just beat them yourself?” She had asked.

“Guruaouu, guruuofann” (That’s so childish and embarrassing, isn’t it?), was the reply that came back.

Why is it that men are like children no matter how old they become?

Looking at Ax and Blazer who frolicked in front of her, Lancer sat on a tree stump and used an obsidian knife to prepare the raccoon she caught from a hunt. 

“N, guaou kuugakuarufu woaann” (Yeah, it would have been easier if Dagger lent me her short sword though.)

As she struggled to cut with the dull knife, an alarming howl suddenly echoed from the forest.

“Guanoh!” (On your guard!)

“Wafuh.” (Yeah.)

“Waonn.” (Yes.)

The three of them looked at each other for a moment and ran to the location of the howl, but what they found there was the Grey Bear whose memory was burned into their childhood and traumatized them.

“Gaoaaaaah!!”

“Gua, guruuoah!” (Whoa, it’s the Grey Bear!)

While they have heard from their childhood friend who led the pack that he intended to hunt it down eventually, Blazer and Ax were not mentally prepared to face the Grey Bear and momentarily stopped in their tracks.

Running past the two of them was Lancer, who used her momentum to stab the Grey Bear with her Spear. 

“G-guuh!?”

The sharp spear attack pierced the grey bear’s arm. Lancer landed back on the ground, preventing the grey bear’s advance into the settlement and saving her friends from their predicament.

“Garuu.”  (Don’t lose focus now!)

“Guu, ruauh…” (Nnngh, sorry…)

The other wounded members from the settlement fled as soon as they heard the roar and the Grey Bear reacted to the movement by swinging its claws down towards Lancer who took on a defensive stance.   

“Guruaaaaah!!”

Lancer jumped back and ducked away from the sharp claw strike, but the grey bear placed all four paws on the ground and made its way towards her, leaping with its jaws wide open and drool dripping all over the place.

“Kuruuh!?” (No way!?)

She was slow to respond as the movement caught her by surprise, and the grey bear’s fangs were about to close in on her! If it bit her, she would be done for.

“Guruoaaaaaaaah!!” (Uoooooooooh!!)

Clash

Ax swung his Battle Axe down between Lancer and the gray bear, blocking the latter’s fangs by a hair’s breadth.

“Kuruau, kuaann” (Thanks, you saved me.)

“Uofuh.” (Don’t mention it.)

“Kuu, gurua auruo voruaaau…”  (I can’t believe we ran into you while Boss was not around…)

Lightly exchanging words, Lancer and Ax both slid away while positioning themselves along the bear’s left and right side respectively as it stood on its hind legs again.

“Guruaaa!!” (Eat this!!)

Aiming for the Grey Bear’s flank, Ax swung his Battle Axe horizontally, but it clashed with the mighty swing of its arms. However, the instantaneous attack and defense caused the gray bear’s stance to collapse, and Lancer took advantage of the gap to follow up with a spear attack.

“Wonn!” (There!)

“Guuh!?”

However, the Grey Bear avoided the stab to the head by a paper-thin margin and caught the spear shaft between its powerful jaws.

“Gauh, guruoauh” (Ah geez, you’re pointlessly good at this.)

The moment she provoked it, a black shadow descended from above the grey bear!

“Voaruoonn!!” (Drop dead!!)

Blazer, who had hidden his presence from the moment of contact, climbed into a tree and looked for an opening. Launching himself and using the acceleration of the freefall, he clutched the Long Sword in an underhand grip and pierced the crown of the Grey Bear’s head.

“Gauh… nngu…”

“Garuuaaah.” (This is the end.)

Slash

Ensuring that the wound inflicted was fatal enough, Ax swung his Battle Axe down and with a thud, the Grey Bear sank into the sea of its own blood.

And like this, the subjugation of the Grey Bear which was the main reason that the other three Kobolds ventured out, was fulfilled unbeknownst to them.