Chapter 34: Fangs and Family Ties

The Matagot, at a glance, resembled a cross between a black cat and a beast.

Its fur was completely black, and its face resembled that of a black panther.

In fact, at first glance, it was difficult to distinguish this monster from a regular black panther.

Its fangs protrude slightly from its mouth, and its eyes were unnervingly large.

Because of these features, those unfamiliar with the Matagot often mistake it for a panther.

However, even the most untrained individuals would quickly notice the difference once they actually faced it in battle.

“That way, Rebecca!” I shouted loudly.

In urgent situations, there was no time to waste with formalities like “Your Highness” or “Lady Arnburrow.”

You needed to call out quickly, using simple and effective terms.

We had agreed to use each other’s names for situations like this.

“Got it!”

Rebecca nodded and grabbed a vial of holy water with the cap removed.

The Matagot’s troublesome feature was that, for a brief moment, it could “ignore physical force.”

The duration was short, only long enough for a single strike with a sword.

During that time, the Matagot turned into a shadow, scattering and reassembling into its original form.

But despite that, the fact remained that it was still a “monster.”

It was extremely weak to divine power.

The physical force wasn’t ignored entirely—its existence didn’t vanish—but it could still be affected by holy energy.

When divine power touched it, the Matagot would scream in agony.

Rebecca waited carefully, and as the Matagot charged toward her, she splashed the holy water in its direction.

“Kyahhh!”

“Rebecca, jump to the side!”

The holy water hit Matagot’s face, but it wasn’t enough to kill it outright.

“Ugh!”

Rebecca quickly leaped to the side as instructed, but she still took a hit from the Matagot’s blind kick to her shoulder.

Thud!

Fortunately, her armor prevented any fatal injuries.

Rebecca tumbled to the ground but sprang back to her feet almost immediately.

“Kyahhh!”

The Matagot let out a fierce cry, glaring at Rebecca.

However, it quickly turned its head away.

Chloe, who had rushed to the scene, unleashed divine power from her hands.

Perhaps the light was too bright for the Matagot to look at, but when it tried to turn its head to the left, it was met with Narya’s mace slamming into its back.

Matagot’s body was thrown forward briefly, but it wasn’t dead.

It quickly recovered and sprang into action again, charging forward.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Siwoo fired an arrow, and the small vial attached to its tip broke open upon impact, releasing holy water onto the Matagot.

The Matagot immediately changed its direction.

“You won’t escape, nya!”

Just then, Sasha, who had been waiting in that direction, quickly dashed forward.

The Matagot’s claws immediately aimed at Sasha, but she quickly shoved her shield between herself and the Matagot.

Thud!

If it had only been a matter of dodging with speed, she might not have been able to manage it.

However, as Sasha had claimed, her body was sturdier than that of a typical agility-focused character from the game.

“OLFLF!”

Sasha pushed against the clawed foot with all her strength, and for a moment, the Matagot lost its balance and staggered.

Although it could ignore physical force, the Matagot still needed physical strength to strike its enemies.

Perhaps thinking little of the small Sasha, it tried to regain its balance and swung both feet with all its might.

However, this time, Sasha quickly threw herself to the ground while simultaneously throwing a dagger with her opposite hand at the Matagot.

In an attempt to avoid the dagger, the Matagot scattered itself into smoke.

But that was only for an instant.

I threw my holy sword with all my might, using both hands.

It spun as it flew through the air, embedding itself into the Matagot’s back as it returned to its original form.

“Kyahhh!”

The Matagot, writhing in pain, rolled on the ground as I sprinted toward it, grabbed the holy sword, and twisted it outwards from its back.

Blood spilled onto the ground as the Matagot struggled.

Rebecca, now with her sword drawn again, was approaching.

The blade was gripped firmly in both of her hands, unwavering.

I had already thrust the holy sword into the Matagot’s neck, but it was still alive and moving, a true monster to the end.

Nodding to Rebecca, she also thrust her sword into the Matagot’s neck from the other side.

Crunch.

The sound of bones breaking echoed, and only then did the Matagot stop moving entirely.

“Definitely, when avoiding, you need to go all out,” Rebecca said, catching her breath.

“Right? Blocking with a sword is something you only do when there’s no way to dodge. It’s not really blocking, but more like reducing the damage. Instead of having one spot break, you’re better off having two spots crack or fracture,” she continued.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

I smiled and extended my hand to Rebecca, who smiled back and took it.

Among the Matagot variants, there were some more troublesome ones that could change their form, but at least I hadn’t encountered those yet.

If they could change their appearance completely during battle, it would be incredibly annoying.

At the very least, they would pay more than twenty-five silver coins.

The quest fee, excluding the guild’s commission, was twenty-five silver coins, and the Matagot’s corpse had been purchased for five silver coins, supposedly to be made into a trophy by some noble.

So, today’s total for the boss was thirty silver coins.

“Let’s divide the five silver coins.”

I said this, handing out five silver coins to each of them.

In reality, for the effort it took to take down the Matagot, it was a bit of a small payout for each person.

After all, it wasn’t like we were tackling it alone—six of us had participated in the battle.

However, this was Rebecca’s first time joining, and to be honest, none of us were in it solely for the money.

We could hunt more advanced monsters once we were all more experienced.

“Oh, that’s right.”

As I was dividing the money, Chloe suddenly spoke, as if she had just remembered something.

“Rebecca, you got hit on your shoulder earlier, right? Let me see.”

“Huh? Oh, there’s no need for a special treatment.”

“There’s no such thing as a wound that doesn’t need treatment. What if it leaves a scar?” Chloe responded sternly.

“A small scar is a badge of honor for a knight…”

Rebecca started, but when she met Chloe’s intense gaze, she simply fell silent and removed her armor sleeve.

When she rolled up her sleeve, there was a definite bruise in the spot where she had been hit.

“Well, at least it’s not too bad. I’ll treat it right away, so stay still.”

“Ugh…”

As Chloe examined her arm carefully, Rebecca, slightly embarrassed, turned her gaze away.

“Alright, then, since we’re here, how about we grab a drink before we head out?”

“Sounds good!” Sasha answered quickly.

“Mm?”

Rebecca, who was still receiving treatment, also lit up at the suggestion.

“Are we having something like beer?”

“Huh?”

I looked at Rebecca, who seemed confused, with a blank expression.

“Wait, aren’t we all underage?”

Despite being in a medieval world, the game strictly follows Japanese-style age regulations, meaning minors aren’t allowed to drink alcohol.

Well, I guess they could have included that kind of detail, but the developers made their choice, so what can you do?

Maybe they were being cautious about something?

“Of course, it’s not alcohol, it’s milk,” Sasha explained confidently.

“If you want, there should be tea as well,” Chloe, who had just finished healing Rebecca’s arm, said with a smile.

“Hmm… I see…”

Seeing Rebecca looking a bit deflated, we all chuckled.

We had returned not too late, since we had left in the morning.

Initially, Rebecca had been quite upbeat, but as adventurers passed by, remembering the events of the morning and offering her compliments, her face turned bright red each time.

I was about to stay and watch her struggle, but worried she might explode on her own, I decided to head back a little early.

Also, it was the weekend.

If we didn’t take a rest, Monday would be tough.

I hadn’t been able to enjoy the academy’s weekend properly last week because I was in the hospital, so today I wanted to relax in the dorm and tomorrow, go around with Siwoo.

“Rebecca.”

“Big Brother.”

Before meeting Rebecca’s brother…

His hair color was the same shade of purple as Rebecca’s.

His impression was also quite similar to hers, so at first glance, he looked like the typical disciplined knight type.

“It’s been a while, little sis. Is this the first time since I entered the academy?”

“Yes, it is.”

But upon closer inspection, there was a strange vibe to him, as though he was pretending to act a certain way.

Had he been waiting on purpose?

Rebecca had two older brothers, both of whom saw her as an ‘obstacle’ they had to overcome.

Her oldest brother, a knight in the royal order, was someone she rarely encountered, but her second brother was already a student at the academy.

While it was mentioned in the story that he didn’t deliberately seek her out…

Just as I was thinking this, I met the gaze of Rebecca’s brother.

He immediately smiled and walked toward me.

He didn’t seem to care about my party members at all, even Siwoo, who was standing right next to me.

“Are you the Hero?”

With an innocent look, he greeted me lightly and then extended his hand.

“I’m Landon, Rebecca’s older brother. I’m a second-year student here at the academy.”

Wow, even the prince stepped back when Siwoo was around.

Isn’t he being too obvious about trying to get close?