SRALL c192

Ch. 192: Ferris’ Command

Ferris: “Mr. Henry! Giants are approaching from the south west and…….that’s a lot! 12 total!”

Henry: “What are the 1st Liners doing?! Fine! Whatever! I’ll take care of it!”

I rummage through my pouch and take out a strength and endurance potion and hurriedly chug them both.

Henry: “ーーーーtake this!!”

And as I enchant my spear with a Magecraft Spell, I do my usual ー throw it. I know I rely on this dull tactic too much, but it’s the most effective.

The Nyoiten Spear split into 30 clones and ravaged the oncoming group of Giants……..but they are still Upper-Tier, Upper Class. Around 5 survived.

Ferris: “ーー!! Jend! Team up with Teo and do what you can! Cyril! Changing targets! Aim for the Giants!!”

Jend and Teo were facing off with a pack of Ogres and Wild Bears. There were about 20 creatures total. Cyril was building up her song to annihilate that group, but nodding to Ferris’ directions, she turned towards the Giants.

Ferris: “Mr. Henry! Hold the Giants back! If they get past you, we’re in a bit of trouble!”

I knew what Ferris was trying to say, and I rushed towards the Giants.

Ferris would be able to defend herself against 1 Giant, but if 2 or 3 get past her, Cyril would be in danger. I would have to stand out in front and push back all 5 of them.

I rummage through my expanded dimensional pouch and pull out a bottle full of liquid.

I twist the lid open, and bracing myself, I sprinkle a few drops onto my body.

ーーーーー!! UGH?! IT SMELLS HORRIBLE!!

[ ーーー?! ]

[ Эй！　Аны лтр！]

The Giants were already angry at me for taking down their friends, but now, all 5 of them were gunning for me without a doubt.

When Ageha came to visit us in Flowtier, we used a similar perfume to hunt Griffins. It was a herbal scent that angered and attracted the attention of any Demonic Creatures nearby.

………and this perfume is an improved version.

If you use this in Ligaleo, unless you have absolute confidence in your ability to annihilate hordes of enemies, this item would lead to your untimely demise, so Teo adjusted the effective range of the scent. I also have a neutralizing scent to immediately erase the perfume if necessary.

Teo has been “training” with Ageha on her days off, so this must be one of the results of her hard work.

As expected, the smell was absolutely awful, but it wasn’t so strong that I couldn’t ignore it if I was focused on battle.

Now, there were no Giants who would ignore me and charge in Cyril and Ferris’ direction.

I faced off with all five Giants, and seeing a large weapon being swung hard in my direction, I jumped andーーwhoa?!

Ferris: “Mr. Henry!!”

Ferris shouted a warning as a Giant lunged out of the shadows of another Giant. It had hidden its weapon from my view ー a huge club ー which made contact with my body.

Henry: “ーーー!!”

………the blow blindsided me but I was faintly aware of their movements.

The hit came down diagonally at me, and I was able to block it with my Spear. The impact knocked me hard into the ground, but I was able to bounce back on my feet and create some distance between the group and I.

[ Die！]

ーーone Giant miscalculated and stepped forward too far to follow up with another blow, and I readied my spear.

My left arm was numb, but I protected my right arm from the impact, so I could still move it. My spear bounced away from the strike, but unfortunate for them, my ability to {Recall} my spear is pretty plain, but incredibly useful.

[ ?!?! ]

The Giant looked shocked, but it was too late.

I couldn’t use my left arm, and my left leg also took a lot of damage, but I have had plenty of experience throwing my spear in that kind of state. That’s why I chose the Endurance potion to help buffer me from the damage.

Henry: “HAH!!” (*sfx: exhale)

I countered the Giant’s charge with a spear throw and sent the spear right through the Giant’s skull.

Only 4 left.

Henry: “[Strengthen] {Hazac} + [Heal] {Teol}”

Seeing one of their comrades die made the group stop in their tracks which gave me time to cast a Healing Spell. ーーgood, I’m mostly recovered.

Cyril: (Henry! Just hold on for 20 more seconds!!)

Ferris: “ーーyou got that?! Hang in there!”

I heard both Cyril’s telepathy, and Ferris’ instructions at the same time.

Since Cyril is the main user of the [Link Ring], Ferris, who is commanding our group, cannot directly speak to me in telepathy - a problem for sure - but Cyril was able to use the ability while she sang.

Henry: “20 seconds, got it!”

I was prepared to stop twice or three times the size of this group.

And we continued our fight against the Giants.

<<<<>>>>

Ferris: “{Healing Light}”

A refreshing light poured out of Ferris’ Spellcall Stone on her bracelet and wrapped around my body.

I had cast some Heal Spells on myself, but the remaining pain scattered across my body began fading, and by the time the light was gone, I had fully recovered.

Ferris: “Mr. Henry, how do you feel?” I opened and closed my hand and moved and stretched my body to confirm.

Henry: “Wow, as impressive as always…..actually, have you improved?”

Ferris: “Well, the Clinic in Ligaleo is a battlefield in and of itself. If you work there, you would improve from the experience no matter what.”

Ferris shrugged at my question.

Ferris would volunteer half her day during her days off……..but every time she returned, she would be pale and gaunt, so I could only imagine what she was going through.

Cyril: “Is it really that bad?” Ferris: “You’re expected to treat 10 to 20 people per hour. That’s just on normal days. And I am given the more severely injured, so I can’t let my guard down at all.”

Cyril let out a gasp hearing Ferris’ words.

Ferris: “Well, Miss Eustacia would go around treating at least 100 patients in that same hour, and she would then go on a raid to the 2nd and 1st line. I still have a long way to go to catch up to her.”

An Assault Medical Priest. They would go out into the battlefield, and as they annihilate any enemies that cross their path, they would go around healing the wounded. For those who live on the battlefield, they are nothing less than goddesses.

Even so, it is still way too dangerous in Ligaleo, so the Knights guarding the South Gate would usually follow along as guards.

Henry: “Well, I’m sure that with more experience, you’ll catch up with her. Besides, your command of the Party has gotten much better. There’s been fewer mistakes lately.”

Ferris: “Ah, yes. Sorry about those.”

Ferris fidgeted uncomfortably as the memories came back.

……Ferris had learned how to lead and direct a Party from Yuu, and some time passed.

Lately, she has been practicing on the actual battlefield but…….in the beginning, she made a lot of errors.

There were times when she misunderstood the Party formation and allowed creatures to reach our backlines where Cyril was. There were other times when she miscalculated Jend’s ability and threw him into a situation against too many creatures. And when she tried to cover her own mistakes by stepping into the fight, she lost perspective of the battle and could not send any instructions to the rest of the Party members.

But everyone is like that at first.

I was expecting these mistakes, and I had to make sure she saw her mistakes during the heat of battle while covering for the group to keep anyone from getting injured……and now, it’s all starting to come together.

Ferris: “I need to thank Jend too. He stayed up with me to do the strategy review and planning every night.”

Jend: “Oh, don’t worry about that. In the end, a better strategy means I’ll be following safer strategies, so it’s a win-win.”

I knew about their late night discussions about Party battle strategies.

……and it would have been better if I joined in that discussion, but that would have been impolite.

I scratched my cheek imagining how awkward that situation would have been when Teo raised her head from the binoculars. She was inspecting our surroundings up until now.

Teo: “I do not see any creatures in our vicinity. It should be safe to continue resting.”

Henry: “Okay. ……Ferris?” I am the official Party leader, but Ferris is taking command today. I will put in my two-cents or objections occasionally, but she needs to be the one to say what we’re going to do next.”

Ferris: “Okay, in that case…….sorry, Mr. Henry, but can you stand guard? While you’re on guard, the rest of the Party will rehydrate and have a light meal. Once we’re done, we’ll switch with Mr. Henry.” Henry: “Understood.” It was a sound decision, and I nodded approvingly.

Teo reached inside her godly equipment bag and brought out sandwiches and water bottles for 4, and they sat down to quickly eat.

I was a little hungry, but this was an order from the Party Commander. I had to bear it. Plus, I’m used to these kinds of situations. In some cases in the past, I had no food to eat for days.

Ferris: “And well…..please don’t take this the wrong way, but…..Mr. Henry really is very useful and dependable overall.”

…….it was the same opinion Yuu had of me.

Cyril: “Useful….? Dependable…..? Wait, do you mean?!”

Cyril’s eyes opened wide with realization.

Cyril: “Miss Ferris? Even I can’t allow you to just order my Henry around as you please!”

Ferris: “See? I didn’t mean it that way.”

Ferris did preface her statement to avoid this misunderstanding, but Cyril still fell right into it. Ferris couldn’t help but chuckle and shrug.

Ferris: “Mr. Henry can work on the front lines, and he has long-distance attacks with his spear throw. He can also stand guard, and……he has very high stamina, and is adept at making sure he reduces the damage he takes longterm. So no matter what the situation might be, he’s able to handle most situations where help is needed. For someone commanding a Party, that’s an invaluable asset.”

Henry: “Well, I can’t do everything.”

Ferris: “I know, and that’s not what I meant. You know that.” Ferris waved and disregarded my comment.

Teo: “.......yes, you’re right. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, but Mr. Henry does not have an obvious weakness.”

Cyril: “Hmmmmm, well, I do understand what you’re saying, Teo. But no one can beat me when it comes to fire power!”

Cyril’s firepower can match even the Highest-Tiers in Ligaleo, so I never thought of competing with her in that area.

Ferris: “Well, yeah, that’s normal. When you have differences in strengths and weaknesses, it can be a challenge and a headache to figure out effective formations, but if you have someone who can fit into all aspects of your Party’s needs, you get much more flexibility in how the Party can fight. …….but I’m just repeating what Miss Eustacia taught me.”

Henry: “Are you just trying to make me feel better because I’m the only one not able to rest?”

Ferris: “No, I mean those compliments sincerely.”

Henry: “Right, right.”

I just nodded and waved off her words.

I did shrug off her compliments, but I still appreciated them.

As Teo mentioned, it’s hard to find an obvious weakness…….and it’s because I did everything I could to overcome them.

Back then, all I could think about was, “I’m going to take down that Demon General and avenge my country!” And I poured everything into my training. I didn’t hesitate to try something new that seemed possible with my skills. I did whatever to make myself stronger.

Because I never had an extraordinary skill, strength, or talent I can boast about, I decided that I needed to be good at everything.

As a result, I can do most things at an acceptable level. That’s why my title is “Jack of All Trades.”

…….but in the end, if all my training helped bring together the people in our Party today, then it was all worth it.

Jend: “Wow, that was amazing. Food definitely tastes better after a fight……oh! Sorry.”

Henry: “No, that’s okay.” Jend had finished consuming his portion, and let out a breath of satisfaction. ……and then felt the pang of guilt after noticing me.

Today, Mrs. Patricia from the Cries of the Stars Inn gave us roast beef sandwiches for lunch. I could tell it was delicious by watching everyone unwrap their sandwiches.

But well, as soon as they are done, it’ll be my turn, and……..wait!!

Henry: “Everyone up! …….there’s a Dragon on the way here!”

The King of Demonic Creatures flew elegantly through the sky.

It had red scales so it was a Fire Dragon……..and its gaze was locked onto our Party.

Cyril: “Mmph!! ……*glug glug glug*.....fwew! I’m ready! Let’s take it down!”

Cyril had stuffed the rest of her sandwich in her mouth and washed it down with water as she readied her staff.

Ferris: “Okay, everyone ready?! Let’s go!!”

And Ferris took command of the Party and sent us into battle.

I readied my spear at her command……..and with plenty of anger and resentment from my growling stomach, I launched myself towards the Dragon.

<<<<>>>>

CREDITS

Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely

Written by Hisagushien

Translated by: ChonkyTranslator

Japanese Title:

セミリタイアした冒険者はのんびり暮らしたい

作者: 久櫛緑（ヒサグシエン）

http://kuontenrin.ehoh.net/

Original Source:

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n1161ft/192/

Book 15 - The Strong Ones

Ch. 185 - 199