Himeno saved Ameriko from her predicament. The black haired shrine maiden held a curved sword in her hand, which gave off a dull shine.
“Wonderful! A Japanese samurai sword! Whooo!”
Said Ameriko with her eyes wide open, contrasted to Himeno’s squint. She shrunk back at Ameriko’s stereotypical American reaction.
The pig-man, or orc, lost its right arm, and collapsed with a dull sound directly next to Ameriko.
“Ouu!?”
The orc lost its balance and fell forward.
“Bugyaahhh…!”
It attempted to stand up, and knelt while screaming. Apparently this monster that could use human words also had a more keen sense of pain. Its severed arm dirtied the soil with its black blood.
“Phantom blade, Japanese treasure Kurourushi Hirumaki.”
Some background on this sword.
It was a copy of a famous sword, said to have been made by Raikuni Toshi in the latter days of the Kamakura period. This short sword was easily handled by the small Himeno, and its blade proved to be sharp enough to sever the monster’s arm.
“Finish it Himeno!”
“…Begone.”
Himeno stood before the monster, pointed the tip of her blade at its nose, and stopped.
“Fah!? What are you doing Himeno!?”
“Gr… Grlll…!”
Himeno quietly stared at the monster, watching its every move, and Ameriko kept her gun pointed at it while moving to a position where she could have a clear shot without Himeno in the way.
“Idegaaaaaah…!?”
Ameriko stood at the monster’s side, while pointing her gun at its head.
She had her gun perfectly pointed at the knelt orc, and could put it down for good. She held the gun with both hands, put her finger on the trigger…
“This monster can no longer fight.”
“…What!?”
Himeno’s words stopped Ameriko from squeezing the trigger.
She could not understand what she was saying, and while keeping the gun pointed at the monster, turned her head to Himeno.
“We should not kill in vain.”
“…Are you serious? This monster was coming at us to eat us, and you want to just let it go!?”
“I did not say that.”
“It’s the same thing! It’s not just us either, it was going to eat that sacrifice too!”
Ameriko said in disgust as she grinded her teeth. Himeno’s naive way of thinking made her sick.
She started thinking about how she opened her heart to that ignorant girl due to her adorable exterior, but she knew nothing about fighting, and lacked the resolve to take a life.
This was a battlefield, and they had no idea if they would ever return to their normal lives. In a world where monsters ran rampant and death was always peeking around the corner, someone who lacked the resolve to fight would not live for long.
“This thing has friends in the forest. Rather than provoking them, we should dampen their will to fight and prevent this from happening again.”
“Ahh, you romanticist… Himeno, do you actually think a monster is going to have a change of heart if you spare it?”
Ameriko shrugged, as she wondered if Himeno thought the pig monster would feel indebted to them if they let it go. It was the way of thinking of a girl that had read too many fairy-tales.
The naivete necessary to let a dangerous enemy go made Ameriko dizzy.
“Bugyurllrll!”
The orc saw an opening and stood up in a second. It bared its fangs and hostility and charged forward.
“Tch!”
“…!?”
It was after the one who cut its arm off, trying to grab her with its remaining arm. The delicate Himeno would not last a second if she was caught by that tree log of an arm.
“Himeno!”
Ameriko pulled the trigger three times with no hesitation, right into the orc’s head.
“Bugyuuuu!”
A short shriek accompanied a spray of blood.
The 45 caliber rounds shot from a range of two meters smashed the monster’s skull. With its brain stem obliterated, the monster collapsed as if the strings of a puppet had been cut.
Two sounds were heard. The heavy sound of the monster’s lifeless body hitting the ground, and the light metallic sound of bullet casings.
“…Thank you.”
Himeno awkwardly thanked Ameriko while waving her short sword and painting the ground with a line of blood.
Ameriko silently pointed her gun at the forest and emptied the magazine. As the shot hit a tree trunk, the small orcs hiding behind trees scattered.
“Hyu… Run…!”
“L-l-lightning user…!”
It seemed the big orc was the leader of the others. Seeing the strongest member of their group dying to a strange power put fear in the remaining orcs, who disappeared deep into the forest.
“Do you get it now? Power is justice, and justice without power is powerless.”
Ameriko said with a grin while tapping her shoulder with her gun.
“…Uuu…”
Himeno had nothing to say in return. All she could do was press her lips tight and look down.
“Say something Himeno.”
“Y-yes… I was being naive… Probably…”
“Hm?”
“What!? Did I not save you as well!?”
“I guess you did. Let’s call it even then, and let’s keep helping each other, Himeno.”
“I agree.”
“Alright partner. Let’s help each other and keep the spirit of cooperation strong.”
“Ah, geez, I get it!”
A sadistic desire to see her troubled face a little more started rearing its head, but Ameriko decided to have more fun with the little samurai girl later.
“Let’s go help her, Himeno.”
“Yes.”
They ran towards the girl in the altar, and Himeno used her sword to cut the ropes. She lightly slapped her cheeks to wake her, and the girl started to regain her consciousness.
“…Hnn…”
Her consciousness still seemed hazy, but it appeared as though she would be alright.
“Himeno, look at her ears…!”
“Hou, this is…”
The girl’s blue hair was hiding slightly pointed ears.
“She’s a Vulcan like Mister Sp●ck!”
“I think these are commonly known as elven ears. Since we are in a world with goblins and orcs, it stands to reason that this is an elf.”
The girl had slightly tanned skin, but not enough to be a dark elf. The length of her ears probably meant she was a half-elf.
The existence of elves also hinted towards the existence of humans in this world.
“So she’s not human?”
“She is more or less a human. We also have different skin and hair color, don’t we?”
“Hm? This race usually uses magic in games, right!?”
“So you do know about this sort of thing.”
“Well, I guess! They did originate in my country after all.”
It would not be strange for magic to exist in such a fantastical world. They could not rule out such things just because they had not encountered them yet.
The girl in the altar was still not fully awake.
Ameriko grabbed a fruit from the altar and took a bite. Appearance-wise, it looked like a papaya.
“Sweet…! This is pretty good!”
“You’re going to be cursed, grabbing fruit from an altar like that.”
“There you go again being all stiff. Here, have one too.”
Ameriko threw one of the fruits at Himeno, who caught it. She took a bite, and felt it tasted like fine South American fruit like papaya or mango.
“Still, a tanned loli elf…”
Mumbled Himeno as she looked at the girl in the altar. Her face was beautiful and cute like a doll, and her body was thin and flat, and lacking in curves.
Himeno saw no wounds or bruises on her limbs, and lifted her one piece to check if she was wounded elsewhere.
“…Nu? This…”
“What is it Himeno?”
Ameriko saw the strange look on Himeno’s face and became concerned. She rushed over to her side, and also looked under the girl’s one piece.
“Hn…? Uwah!?”
The small elf opened her eyes and saw the two girls peeking under her clothes. She quickly jumped back.
“Oh my, she is awake.”
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to…”
Whatever explanation they had was not very convincing after they were caught looking at her crotch.
“Kyaah!? W-who are you two!? You perverts… Ah, geez!”
The girl was mad. As her face became red, she pressed the bottom part of her clothes down.
She sat down in the middle of all the fruit, and finally looked around her.
“I guess we don’t have to worry about her if she has that much energy.”
“Yes.”
They understood her words. Ameriko and Himeno were relieved to finally meet another person.
“Hey! Are, you, okay?”
Ameriko said with a gentle tone. The girl was still wary of the two people she had never seen before, but it seemed she understood they were not trying to hurt her.
“…They tricked me. They drugged me… They were planning to feed me to the orcs from the start…”
Said the girl in the altar while holding her knees.
“Feed? The way you’re dressed leads me to believe you were going to be its bride or something… Even the orc was saying the word bride.”
“Ah? Bride!? I’m a guy!”
“Oh!? You’re a boy!?”
Himeno had noticed this before. She saw a cute protrusion when she looked under the elf’s clothes.
“A tanned shota elf… Fu… Fufu.”
“Himeno…?”
Himeno’s shoulders shook as she tried to contain her laughter, while silently striking a triumphant pose.
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