"Violet-chan!"

Tania and Lyssia both cried out to Violet in warning when seeing the orc turn towards her.

Asterios and Koi noticed the change and bombarded the King with much more ferocity than before.

Meh, I have to be honest with you but Koi's talent as a ranger is actually pretty decent! Since the ranger cla.s.s is a max of thief and archer, it's hard focusing on both skills at once. But to my pleasant surprise, he could grasp the theory very well.

Ah, but his narcissistic personality is just too annoying...

The boss mercilessly swung the heavy club at Violet, one hit and there was no doubt that she would be instantly killed. The priest paled while frozen in fear, watching her own death draw nearer.

"Asterios! Save Vio!"

"I can't, I won't get to her in time!? Koi's too busy saving himself already!"

All the other party member grimaced in despair when they realized that the mission would end in failure without Violet's healing capabilities.

Fumu…...DID THEY SERIOUSLY FORGET ABOUT ME!?!?

…..I'm not even in the mood to do anything anymore, tch.

Muuuu...but Vio is nice, so I might as well.

Pus.h.i.+ng off from the branch I had been observing on, I shot towards the orc and kicked his hand, knocking the club onto the ground before it could reach Violet.

Hah! Beat that, I better not be forgotten again. Fufufu.

I swiftly took out an arrow and stabbed it like a spear directly into the big guy's eye. Planting my foot on the end, I pushed it in deeper while vaulting off his head and then backflipped in front of Vio.

Equipping my bow, I rapidly shot the orc's vital areas one after another, successfully taking down 2% of the bosses health in an instant.

Pffffft, he looks like a porcupine! Hah!

...

Eh? Why is no one moving?

Hey! I'm working hard here stalling the boss but no one is taking advantage of that?! Is this party crazy?

"Hey hey! Why are you guys just watching?" I chided while hooking my arm around Violet's waist and narrowly dodging the enraged orc's fist. "Hurry up and kill the boss!"

Hearing my stern tone of voice, the party quickly snapped out of their daze and once again started attacking the boss.

Finally, geez.

Letting go of the priest, I agilely jumped into another tree and accurately threw a knife that stabbed into the back of the boss's kneecap. Which momentarily stunned it for two seconds and promptly saved Koi from a dangerous punch.

See, I'm a life saver.

Hiding in the foliage of the tree, I avoided catching the orc's aggro and then nocked three arrows at once. Of course, I made sure no one saw me doing this or else I would have become way too suspicious.

Not that I'm not already…

The arrows flew true to their target and hit both his eyes and wounded kneecap.

The boss lost his balance and his own momentum caused him to crash onto the ground right on his face, causing the arrows stuck on him to either snap or stab deeper.

Ouch…...King of the Forest, I congratulate you for evolving from a porcupine into a kabob.

Ack, I feel bad now, but I didn't want to steal the last hit from the party.

"Asterios," I said while still hidden in the tree. "Please end its misery, yeah?"

Trying to spot me but not succeeding, he gave up and nodded.

"Of course, that will be what I do."

Oh dang, what's with this solemn atmosphere? Did I do this by accident?

I don't know any more?!

I watched Asterios cut off the orc's head with a very troubled expression on my face.

Ummmm....isnt that a bit dramatic...no? All I meant was to finish it off, I guess my word choice wasn't that great.

Oh, I guess they're splitting the loot now, I'll join them.

Noticing me dropping out of a tree, Asterios turned towards me and gave me his heartfelt grat.i.tude.

"Yuka, thank you very much for helping with our quest. To be honest, I completely forgot about you."

I KNEW IT. Tch.

Suppressing my frustration, I put on a gentle facade.

Errrr, I'm not good with this type of stuff…" I shyly said while scratching my cheek. "I just did it instinctively to protect Violet yeah? No need to thank me."

There, that should do it, right?

Asterios bowed even deeper. Dammit.

"No, you also protected us from the crowd of monsters did you not? Your loyalty renders me speechless, I'm enlightened by this new tactic. If I was in your place, I would have lost my temper at being excluded."

Why am I mad? If only you were really speechless, for some reason I'm ticked off…

"Ehehe, no problem! I'm not part of the party so I understand. I don't need any loot from the orc either, I got plenty from the boars and I really didn't do much."

"No way. You are our benefactor, without you, we wouldn't have been able to slay the King of the Forest. I'll let you have the first pick of loot."

My smile was going to start twitching soon, I could feel it.

"I humbly refuse, I'm not in need of any of these things. The xp is more than enough."

I really don't need any of these things! Nothing for rangers, tras.h.!.+ And I'm not in need of gold either.

"Hey hey, Rios, we should listen to Yu-chan's wishes right?" Lyssia said while cutting in with a smile. "She does already have all those items from killing the mobs after all."

Ah, what an unexpected savior! Although I doubt her inner motives, I don't really care. Thank you for stopping that guy!

"Alright then, you can have the dropped gold instead. We will be in your debt, Yuka."

…

I almost coughed out blood. Well, the mini-me did.

Is this guy intentionally p.i.s.sing me off?

Because if he is, he's one scary berserker.

"ah, well, I guess I'll take it. Thanks!"

I took it anyways.

No, I'm not being greedy, it's a tactic to avoid suspicious okay? I definitely do not want gold to upgrade my house. Nope, your joking. Haha. I totally did not plan this from the beginning yeah? Hehehe. My inner self is doing the money making jig…

"Well, since Yu-chan is so amazing let's have her to hold our loot so that we don't lose it!"

Hmmm, I see what she's trying to do. What a terrible plan, but I have to admit she's talented at manipulation huh. Although the sharp glint in her eyes gives it away.

I guess I'll play along though, might give me a good window of opportunity to do what I was hoping…

"Hm? Sure, I don't mind holding the stuff. I don't need it so I'll give it back once we arrive."

"You have my deepest grat.i.tude, Yuka."

Wow seriously? Asterios must have quite a lot of trust in Lyssia to do what she said without asking or doubting. They must be friends in the real world as well...this will be very useful.

Asterios handed me all the loot and the party started organizing their inventories.

Hm? Oh my, Tania is fidgeting for some reason. This party is so interesting.

Alrighty then, let's set out for the town!

Lyssia, I will give you a one-way ticket. And you will choose if the destination is either Heaven or h.e.l.l.

The operation, commence!

Fufufu, I'm excited.