The sight of the left half of his body stained with blood must have made him feel demonic, even though he was very young. Kobolds flinched for a moment.
The Kobolds were originally only capable of the lowest ranks of monsters.
Nevertheless, they regained their composure, surrounded us and took up a posture to attack us.
As if in response to this move, we also lowered our posture and responded.
Just as we were about to leap at each other, a shadow jumped in between us.
'What are you doing to my daughter?
Silver light rushing with a cry.
The light, with its overwhelming mass and destructive power, bounced off one of the Kobolds and smashed it to pieces.
The heroic back that stood with us on its back was the very image of the hero I was aiming for.
It was my father in this life, Lyell, who had rushed to the scene.
'Rai--dad?'
''Are you okay, Nicole?''
''Uh, yeah--back!'
Kobolds pounced on Lyell's back as he carelessly turned his back on us.
It was no surprise. It is not normally possible to turn one's back on each other in a killing field.
However, there was a clear difference in strength between Lyell and Kobolds to the extent that there was no problem in doing so.
The two were not at all concerned about Kobold biting them on the shoulder, but saw that we were safe - not quite - but still alive, and let out a breath of relief.
Then, he suddenly grabbed Kobold's head with his open left hand and slammed it to the ground.
The Kobold, which had been slammed into the grass, which should have softly received it, was, however, shattered with impossible force.
This is because it was directly hit by Lyell's physical strength, which was so strong that it did not care about the softness of the ground.
The Kobold, whose head was smashed, trembled and expired.
At this point, Kobold must have finally acknowledged the difference in strength. They look at each other slightly and begin to plot their escape at once.
But even this was not allowed by the heroes of this village.
Suddenly, a wall of light surrounded the area and blocked Kobold's escape.
I've seen this magic before.
It's the magic that Maria uses, the Holy Jail of the Divine Cage of Sacred Magic. It is a magic that creates a cage with a force field of energy from sacred power to contain the enemy.
She doesn't have the same physical ability as Lyell, but she was able to use this magic to contain her enemies from a distance.
She approached with her usual, beaming smile on her face, but with a different kind of power than usual.
Seeing me with half my body stained with blood, her smile became even deeper.
But with a great deal of murderous intent.
'Ma, ma ......'
'It's all right - it's not. Nicole, wait a minute.'
I say one word and immediately activate the magic, and a pale light clings to me and the girl.
I finally perceive that Maria has used healing magic, as I see that my wounds have been healed in a short time.
Her magic activates faster than anyone else's, partly due to the Gift of Fast Chanting.
'There are only three Kobolds left, right?'
'Yes.'
'Well, then, dear. Do me a favour, will you?"
'Yeah, I'm on it. The bad dog that bit my daughter needs to be well disciplined in hell.'
He grips the sword with both hands and takes a swing.
With that, the meadow split open, exposing the ground beneath. It was a swing that was more than enough to remind him of the power of Lyell's sword.
'Gah, Garl--'
'Wah ...... cahn.'
The surviving Kobold had its tail tucked between its legs and was raising its fur in a frightened manner.
Of course, Lyell was not going to relent at such a display.
With a yell that was almost a roar, it slashed at them, slashing them down, crushing them and laying waste to them.
His appearance was truly that of a war demon.
It was the dynamic fighting behaviour of a 'warrior' that neither I now, nor I once was, could do.
Seeing that, I really felt it. In order to reach that position, I still have to train.
To do that, I can't do it by my own strength alone.
In my previous life, I had mastered the art of assassination. But that's not what I wanted.
That form of Lyell is the form of the warrior I wanted to be.
The shortcut to that, after all, would be to study under him.
I finally relaxed when the thought came to me.
Immediately after that, my vision fades to black.
The wounds should have already been healed by Maria. And yet - ?
'Oh, Nicole. The healing magic I cast was basic, so it didn't fully heal her until she bled out. So now you need to take a good rest."
Nah, so ......"
'In some cases, when you force tissue regeneration, all sorts of bad things happen to the body. So you have to let them heal on their own as much as possible."
Where I heard that much, my consciousness was cut off in a pause.
When I woke up, I was being carried to my room.
Lyell was by my side and Maria was nowhere to be seen.
And that girl was nowhere to be seen.
'Oh, you're awake, Nicole.
'...... dad'.
'Maria's a bit of a sober Spartan, too, looking like that. She should at least give her a refresh.'
Refresh is the highest level of healing magic that can even heal missing parts.
This can even supplement lost blood.
However, Maria had previously tended to apply only the minimum necessary healing techniques and encouraged people to heal on their own.
This was because it had been suggested that excessive healing magic could result in some kind of discrepancy between the healed area and the surrounding area, and conversely leave a subtle disorder.
'But you did heal me properly. Don't take it badly.'
Maria would never abandon an injured person.
She heals wounds that can be healed properly until the end.
She only refrains from refreshing them to be on the safer side.
Of course, even Lyell knows this well. The reason he is unusually complaining to Maria is because I - her beloved daughter - was injured.
'Oh, I know that, too. I wasn't blaming you, Mum.'
'Yeah--yeah, Dad. Can you do me a favour?"
'I'm going to try to beg her to do it with my special technique that I've learnt enough in the last three years, the 'superior eye contact'.
'Sure enough, the effect is outstanding. Lyell fell easily.'
'What is it? Dad, Nicole will listen to anything you say!"
Lyell responds to his daughter's unusual 'request' with a futilely enthusiastic answer.
The girl was so eager to get on with it that we were taken aback.
I was a little turned up, but I didn't lose my flirtatious attitude and connected my words.
'Will you teach me the sword?'
At these words, Lyell made a face like a pigeon had been hit by a peashooter.