It was a warm day for winter.
I was walking down the road under the sunset sky with my wives.
“Meow, Douglas. Do you think we’ll see the next country soon, meow?”
Miina, the beastkin girl, held my right hand.
“I’m tired of sleeping outdoors. I miss my bed, bath, and warm meals.”
Elen, the swordswoman, walked freely near me.
“According to the signpost we saw earlier, the first village in the Holy Kingdom’s territory should be visible soon. Just a little further – right, Douglas?”
Seraphina, the sage and princess, clung to my left arm.
“I wish I could soak in a bath in my transformed state too. Heavens, I, the Holy Axe Lombardia, have become completely addicted to human culture and pleasures.”
The Holy Axe Lombardia, in its axe form, was slung over my shoulder.
“Yeah, it should be just a little further to the village. If possible, I’d like to rest at an inn today.”
In the center of my wives was me, the adventurer Douglas.
I may be a humble old adventurer, but I’m the happiest man in the world because my incredibly cute wives inexplicably dote on me.
My wives and I were on our way to the next country, chatting about trivial things.
Our next destination was the Holy Kingdom Divaldi.
It’s a country where faith in the Supreme God Militia, the god of devotion and justice, is strong.
It’s said that the de facto supreme ruler of this Holy Kingdom is the Pope of the Militia Church.
Furthermore, the current Pope is apparently someone who was once revered as a saintess for saving people with her great power, and she enjoys deep trust from the citizens.
There is a King, but he seems to be merely a figurehead.
This is my first time in this Holy Kingdom, and my wives say it’s their first time too.
Now, I wonder if the strict doctrines of the national religion won’t leave any room for indulging in carnal pleasures.
“Ah, Douglas! I see the village, meow!”
At that moment, Miina pointed ahead.
Where the beastkin girl pointed, a village sprawled across green wheat fields appeared beyond a gentle hill.
But—
“Huh…? Hey Douglas, doesn’t something seem off? I don’t see anyone in the village…”
Elen tilted her head.
Indeed, even though it wasn’t that late yet, there were hardly any people out and about in the village.
Furthermore—
“Look, Lord Douglas! Someone is fighting over there!”
Seraphina exclaimed, her voice laced with panic.
Looking where she pointed, a scene resembling combat was indeed visible in a corner of the village.
It seemed to be a single girl with a sword fighting three monsters.
Details were unclear from this distance, but the monsters were large humanoids, each nearly twice the girl’s height.
“Could that be… Trolls?”
I muttered.
From a distance, the three monsters appeared to be of the Troll species.
But if so, it’s dangerous.
Even a skilled individual would have trouble defeating one of them, let alone three.
Fighting three at once would be sheer madness for an ordinary person.
However, the girl facing them seemed to be an extremely powerful fighter, skillfully holding her own against the monstrous horde with inhuman agility and finesse.
But even so—
“I don’t know the situation, but that looks bad. I’ll go help. Seraphina, cover me.”
“Yes, Lord Douglas! Grant the mighty warrior even greater swiftness—Haste!”
As I timed my run, Seraphina’s magic took effect a moment later.
It was a spell that significantly boosted my agility for a short time.
I further—
“—God Speed!”
I used Lombardia’s skill for an additional acceleration.
I descended the gentle slope towards the village with a speed like a diving bird of prey.
***
“Haa… Haa… Haa…!”
Holy Knight Aurora, holding her holy sword, breathed heavily in front of three giant monsters.
The monsters slowly tightened their encirclement around Aurora.
“Ah, haha… Honestly… three gentlemen attacking one frail maiden… Aren’t you ashamed…?”
Although she knew they wouldn’t understand, Holy Knight Aurora made such flippant remarks.
But there was no composure on the girl’s face.
Her face was flushed, her breathing labored, and sweat dripped down her forehead and neck.
The monsters, on the other hand, pressed closer to Aurora, as if they had her cornered.
Though they possessed only beast-like intelligence, their faces seemed to grin.
These monsters were of the Troll species.
They usually walked hunched over, but when standing upright, they were large humanoid monsters about three meters tall, with grotesque green skin.
Their weapons were their long arms, nearly touching the ground, tipped with sharp claws, their sharp fangs like those of a carnivore, and the brute strength they wielded from their massive bodies—but the most distinctive feature of these monsters was something else entirely.
Aurora glanced at an “arm” twitching on the ground nearby.
It was the arm of a Troll she had cut off earlier.
But the Troll’s arms were already back. They had “grown back” after some time.
Their abnormally high vitality and regenerative capabilities—that was the true essence of the Troll monster.
The Adventurer’s Guild rated them as Monster Rank C.
This classification meant that it would take ten ordinary adventurers working together to defeat a single Troll without casualties.
And here there were three of them.
Even for a regular Holy Knight, facing them alone would be unthinkable.
But still, usually, Aurora should have been able to win.
The power of the holy sword wielded by Holy Knight Aurora was that overwhelming.
However, there was another miscalculation.
(I was reckless… I never imagined my condition would worsen this much…)
Aurora muttered to herself, her mind hazy.
It was just overwork, a common cold, albeit a rather severe one.
She had pushed herself too hard for the past month, trying to protect as many people as possible—that was all.
But what did it mean to fight a powerful enemy while suffering from a high fever and on the verge of collapse?
“—Shiiiiigaaaaaaahhh!”
“Ngh…!”
The Trolls finally attacked.
Aurora moved her body more on instinct than her sluggish mind, swinging her sword.
She dodved the arm of one Troll and, with her holy sword, cut off both of its legs in a single blow.
The Troll, severed at the thigh, its upper body crashed heavily to the ground, while its severed legs lay on the ground, twitching.
But at the same time, the claws of another Troll’s attack struck Aurora’s torso.
“Ah…”
The girl was sent flying and rolled on the ground.
The Holy Knight’s armor she wore was easily torn, and a gash ripped through her side.
“Ugh… Ngh… Ngh…!”
It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it wasn’t shallow either.
Blood seeped into her clothes, and the dull pain assaulting her abdomen tormented the Holy Knight girl.
(Is this…? Am I going to die here…?)
As Aurora shakily stood up, the scene before her unfolded in slow motion.
Two grotesque giant bodies lunged at Aurora, attempting to grab her.
It was impossible.
Dodging both was out of the question.
Aurora swung her holy sword almost unconsciously.
Her diagonal slash severed the arm of one of the attacking Trolls and deeply gouged its chest.
The Troll shrieked and was blown away, landing on the ground, but—
“Aguuu…!”
The other Troll grabbed her body, and the girl was pinned to the ground helplessly.
Moreover—
“Wh—!? It’s crawling with its arms!?”
The upper body of the Troll whose legs she had severed earlier grabbed Aurora’s ankles with its hands.
It was no use.
She couldn’t escape like this.
Meanwhile, the Troll pinning Aurora’s upper body contorted its grotesque face into a grin.
It opened its saliva-dripping mouth wide to bite off the girl’s head—
At that moment, the head of the Troll in front of her flew off.
“Eh…?”
A questioning voice escaped Aurora’s lips.
Blood gushed from the neck of the headless Troll, showering Aurora.
But someone grabbed its massive body and pulled it off Aurora.
“Jeez, what incredible vitality. It doesn’t die even when its head is blown off?”
A man with a shining axe casually gripped the three-meter-tall giant in one hand and tossed it to the ground.
The man then swung his axe, meticulously finishing off the three severely injured Trolls.
Meticulously crushing them to the point of being little more than lumps of flesh, the Trolls finally lost all their vitality and ceased to move.
“Phew, well. —Oh, sorry for getting blood on you. It was a close call, so I had no choice. Can you stand?”
The man extended a hand towards Aurora.
A large, rough hand.
“Y-yes… Thank you…”
Aurora, having no idea why she had been saved, placed her hand in the man’s outstretched hand.
