As the sun started to glance at us from the horizon, we already packed our stuff and took back the course towards the forest. 

We would have to adjust our sleep schedule since the red moon time was abnormally dangerous here. Despite the distance, we had to deal with two attacks last night. Some kind of black wolf monster and a group of three goblins. These guys were literally everywhere. 

’Thanks to the Holy Tree, they are pretty weak now that I gained some experience and levels.’

It could not be helped. One might think about how they were able to grow like that. The answer was more shocking than one might expect. 

Basically, their fertility was so ridiculously potent to the point that they could breed with almost anything. They still prefer humanoid-shaped creatures but in the absence of that... Yeah, I didn't even want to think about it.

’Worthy of being called the cancer of fantasy worlds.’

I took a deep breath of fresh air and checked my bow one more time. After I prepared the arrows last night, I wanted to test one out of curiosity to see if it really works. 

To ensure my success, I spent quite some money on cheap fabric and some kind of inflammable type of oil.

The whole idea was similar to what I did with my spear back then. This time though, I took the idea and applied it for my arrows. The difference between a simple arrow and a flaming one wasn't something trivial at all. 

This time, my goal wasn't to kill them. I didn't have to cause huge damage, the point was just to hit them. I was almost sure that my strategy would work at least to some extent. 

Thinking logically about it, if they were a huge version of a normal wasp, their biggest weakness was that fragile pair of wings. If I set them on fire, that would be end game for them.

What I didn't expect though was for it to work too well. The resulting flame was so out of my expectations that I almost fell on my butt from the startle. 

I could not even call it a flaming arrow anymore. A huge burst of flames the size of a grown man wasn't something you usually shot with a bow...

It had a lot of issues too... After the arrow was shot, I could do nothing to control or stop it. The flame would die relatively quickly after the initial burst, too, and the arrow could not be recovered either. But that was fine. 

I could not ask for more from an improvisation. I was basically cheating the normal way to go here so I couldn't complain about the small details. 

*crack* 

My train of thought was suddenly disturbed by what I assumed to be a branch cracking sound not too far from us. 

” Fio... ”

” Mm. ”

Fiona prepared her sword and nodded her head to me. We quicken our pace to see what was going on. Most probably, something was fighting there. 

As we were approaching we could hear some kind of roars and a high pitched buzz. At that moment I was almost sure that something was fighting with the monster we were here to hunt. 

” Over there, Lizza. ”

” Yeah, I saw them too... ” I said and prepared my bow to be ready at any time. 

In front of us was a beast resembling a bear with horns and what I thought to be some kind of armor on his back and joints. It looked like a combination of an armadillo and a bear who managed to grow horns for some reason. 

’I doubt quite a bit that they were for an aesthetic purpose though...’

I counted around three or four angry wasps buzzing around the horned-armored-bear-thing in an attempt to attack it. 

The wasps were around a meter in length. I could not help but shiver a little looking at them. What was even worse was the fact that due to their proportions, they looked really disturbing. 

Like really, really disturbing. Whoever had the chance to see photos of insects up close might understand what I mean. Just imagine that in a one-meter version. No good.

Besides, these monsters had a row of sharp-looking teeth since they were supposed to be carnivores. On the front pair of legs, I could see some type of sharp-looking claws too. 

*shiver*

’Hell no... Oh my Holy Tree, no. Please, spare me. I don't want that thing around me.’

A normal monster was scary, but at least it resembled in most of the cases with a wild animal. There was an exception here and there but nothing to this extent. 

I wasn't scared of bugs and the likes of that in my past life but this thing was horrifying. I didn't want to stay a second more in this place. 

” Fio, how about we leav... ” I tried to suggest a strategic retreat but I was interrupted mid-sentence by her. 

” The armored bear is wounded. Look, there's a dead wasp too. ” she said and pointed her finger toward a wasp body. The body was severed in half and was lying on the ground not to far from the bear. 

Judging by her attitude towards the disturbing scene that was performed in front of us, I could fell that my ’strategic-retreat’  wasn't something she even took into consideration. 

Looking at the unfazed younger girl in front of me, I felt like my pride as a former man was a little hurt.

 It was just a strategic-retreat. It totally wasn't because I didn't want to face these atrocities.

”Hm!? Did you say something, Lizza? ” 

” Ehhh, no... Let's see how the situation evolves first. The bear made a lot of noise and if it continues like this is possible to attract more wasps. That would be dangerous. ”

” Mm. That would be dangerous, but the bear was stung by that dead wasp. He's not going to resist for too long. ”

’Shit... Bear, you are so useless. Kill them already.’

*Sigh*

There was no way out of the situation. That would be just me evading the issue. Sooner or later I had to confront them anyway. We came here for that exact reason. 

I thought that since I already fought a respectable number of monsters, I could go on with this one too, as long as the victory odds would be by my side. And it might be true to some extent. If that monstrosity would have been the first monster I encountered in this world and not that goblin, things would have ended very differently.

But that was all. At the end of the day, I was still a normal person. I wasn't a battle-junkie madman fearlessly charging at my enemies. 

’Though, me being here right now proves that I'm not an entirely normal person either.’ 

No normal person would willingly come to hunt monsters if they could choose to do something else. I was an enchanter to some extent. It shouldn't be too hard to earn money working as one. But back in the city, I didn't even spare a glance at that possibility when I heard about this quest. 

” Maybe I'm not so normal in the head as I thought... ”

” Lizza? Are you ok? What are you saying there? ”

” Ah, sorry... My thoughts slipped out for a little. ”

” Slipped out? ” 

” Nothing important anyway... The bear’s movements seem to be considerably duller than before. ”

” Mm. The wasp poison is finally taking effect. He's not going to last for much longer. ”

” Hmm... Listen, Fio... ”

” Mm. What it is? ”

As I turned my eyes to look at the cute wolf-girl next to me, I felt like she looked a little different than the usual. 

Unlike me, she was calmly examining the fight in front of us, providing useful information. I was the only one distracted by useless thoughts in a critical moment. 

Thinking back at the night before to arrive in the city and how I foolishly deceived myself by thinking that I need to take care of Fiona from now on, it almost made me laugh at this moment. 

Yes, she had her issues here and there and became dependent on me in a not too healthy way but that didn't change the fact that I was depending on her as much as she was on me. 

I was the only fool who broke our equality relationship by thinking that I should take care of her when in reality, it might be the other way around. 

” What it is, Lizza? ”

” Nothing much... I just thought that I was a fool. ”

” Hmm? No. Lizza is not a Fool. Did something happen? ”

” Yes, I am. But that's not something we should debate right now... How do you think we should deal with them? ”

” Wrong! Lizza is smart, not a fool. ”

” Ehh? Umm... yeah, you are right... Sorry. Anyway, about the situation in front of us? ” 

”Mm. Better. ” she said with a smile and shifted her attention to the fight that was about to be concluded with a pondering expression on her face. 

I had to give up on my ’fool’ status since she started to deny it with an expression even more serious than the one she was looking at the fight in front of us. She was even a little scary. 

” We should wait a little longer. Even with that big flame, it's harder to hit them in the air, and after the first shoot, they'll know about us too. ”

” Yeah, so... ”

” Mm. After the armored-bear is dead, they should come down to cut it in pieces to carry it back to their nest. Lizza needs to hit them at that moment so we could take down most of them in one hit. ”

” Oh... Yeah, thanks Fio. You are smart too. ”

” Mm, but Lizza is smarter. ”

Smiling wryly at the girl who was beaming with happiness just because she was slightly praised I shook my head and prepared my bow once again. 

At least, I was right. I should take into account her opinion more from now on... After all, her experience at surviving in this world was far greater than mine. And when I said ’surviving’  I meant exactly that, since her life until now was everything but easy.