"What could go wrong?" was what I thought. Right after thinking I shouldn’t jinx it, I ended up doing exactly that.

First of all, Camula and Alicia’s relationship wasn’t the best, and I only discovered that when we were walking through the forest alone.

Of course, I had noticed that Alicia got along better with Diane than with the others. That much was expected, but from what I could see, she tried to maintain a good relationship with the others. That wasn’t the case here.

For several minutes, as we headed towards our first prey, we had to deal with an awkward silence. Looking back, I realized that the two of them had been avoiding looking at each other.

Maybe it was because one was a Saintess and the other was a Demon. I remembered that Camula hadn’t wanted to stay near Alicia when she first appeared. Fortunately, this time, she wasn’t using me as a shield to protect herself from the petite woman.

But that wasn’t even the worst part. My biggest mistake this time was that I had underestimated the bond between these Boars.

I didn’t believe it was because of team spirit, but it seemed like they liked working together to kill other creatures that entered their territory. Just as we took one of them down, that pig let out a guttural sound that drew more of them towards us.

Now five of these monsters were near us, staring at us with their red eyes, grunting at us and scraping the ground beneath their hooves as they prepared for battle.

"Can’t I get a break?—Although they’re not really that big of a problem."

[

Monster: Boar

Level: 22

Health: 240 points

Mana: 80 points

Strength: 18 points

Defense: 10 points

Magic: 1 point

Agility: 8 points

]

They didn’t seem like much against me. If I could, I would just cut these creatures down with a simple Flash Thrasher. But this wasn’t about me. It was about making my Valkyries stronger. Fortunately, both of them seemed well prepared for action.

’Good morning, Ri—Aaah, y-you’re already fighting.’ A voice I hadn’t heard in a while called out to me through telepathy.

’Aah, Brandish. It’s good to hear your voice again.’

’I-It’s... likewise.’

It was good to hear her timid voice again. The only thing that would make me happier than hearing it was seeing her face again, something I hadn’t done since the night I had spent with her and Freya. It felt like an eternity since we had seen each other face to face, and there was certainly a considerable difference between who I had been then and who I was now.

’Brandish, I need Camula and Alicia to level up using these Boars. What are my options?’

’In this case, they only need to assist during the kills. You were right to split the group. Thanks to that, they’ll be more likely to gain experience, but if you accompany them, you can still steal their experience if you land the final blow. Ideally, you should only support the two of them.’

’Understood.’

If I had to limit myself to assisting them, that meant Camula would have to be the spearhead of the team and our main source of damage. Alicia didn’t have any attack skills, so we would have to rely on the other girl’s skills.

[

Name: Richard Forster

Class: Valkyrie Tamer

Level: 50

Valkyries: 6/6

Health: 520 points

Mana: 280 points

Strength: 73 points

Defense: 25 points

Magic: 72 points

Agility: 40 points

Status Points: 0 points

]

[

Name: Alicia Ludvila Von Astrea

Level: 22

Class: Saintess

Title: Valkyrie

Master: Richard Forster

Health: 145 points

Mana: 250 points

Strength: 1 point

Defense: 10 points

Magic: 53 points

Agility: 22 points

Status Points: 0 points

]

[

Name: Camula

Level: 27

Monster: Demonic Slime

Title: Valkyrie

Master: Richard Forster

Health: 408 points

Mana: 180 points

Strength: 17 points

Defense: 48 points

Magic: 8 points

Agility: 22 points

Status Points: 0 points

]

I could use Ero Boost on Camula, but that would give me more work, and we were in the middle of the grind, only at the beginning. It wasn’t the best time to deal with the side effects, so she would have to tough it out.

It was also a good opportunity to test the synergy between them. Both of them had important roles in the team, but their biggest interaction so far had been Camula running away from Alicia out of fear of being healed. My hope was that fighting together would strengthen the bond between them.

Of course, if things started getting more complicated, I would step in and kill all our enemies without mercy.

’Fortunately, they’re weaker than the bees we faced before. But they’re higher level, so the leveling up is greater, right?’

’That’s right.’

I smiled. "Excellent. Looks like we found the perfect place for our hunt. Alicia, I’ll cover you. Don’t use healing magic on Camula. Since she’s a type of Demon, she’ll take damage if she receives your Heal. If you’re going to help her, use your defensive magic."

"U-Understood."

"Camula, you’ll be responsible for landing the final blow on the creatures. My role in the fight will be more like support so you two can gain as much experience as possible. If either of you feels like you can’t endure the battle anymore, tell me, and I’ll end the fight."

"Right."

"Then let’s go. Fight with everything you’ve got!"

The moment I said that, one of the Boars charged towards Camula, ready to hit her with one hell of a headbutt.

"Iron Skin!" Camula shouted, calling upon her skill.

Her body was enveloped in a gray aura, granting her increased defense against physical attacks.

The Boar leaped towards her, not intimidated in the slightest. All the girl could do was meet it with brute force.

Camula crossed her arms in front of her chest, forming an X, and took the creature’s attack head-on.

"Ugh!"

A strained sound escaped Camula’s mouth as she felt the impact of the enemy’s attack, and her feet were dragged backwards by the force of the blow.

"Uraah!" But despite that, she was fine, pushing the beast back with her arms.

Camula’s defense was high enough that there wasn’t a single scratch on her, not even where her skin had met the monster’s tusks. Now it was time for payback.

"Poison Touch!" Her hands transformed into somewhat amorphous claws, as if they were made of modeling clay, but I knew very well that they were capable of wounding and poisoning anyone she touched.

She then went after the wild pig, which was still recovering from the abrupt recoil of its body. Camula was fierce, cutting into the side of its body with her claws.

"Squeal!" The monster cried out in pain as its skin was torn open. The spot where Camula had wounded it took on a purple hue as a consequence of the poison.

Coming to the defense of its own kind, one of the Boars leaped towards my wife, aiming for her back.

"Barrier!" Alicia called upon her skill, intercepting the Boar, which slammed headfirst into my Saintess’s magical shield.

"Good job, Alicia!" I praised Alicia for the cover she had provided her companion. Camula only stared at Alicia’s barrier, looked at her in surprise, and went back to fighting the Boar. If she had thought about saying something, she chose not to, and even her expression was hard to read.

Regardless of that, this wasn’t the time for idle chatter. The Boars wouldn’t stay still, and two of them were closing in on Alicia. There was no way I would let those foul creatures lay a hand on her.

When one of the creatures leaped towards her, I stepped between her and our enemies, raising my sword with both hands as I prepared to intercept the attack.

When the Boar’s tusks collided with my blade, I felt the pressure of that pig’s weight trying to force me to give in to its charge. Fortunately, I was stronger.

I put strength into my arms and pushed the Boar back. The beast toppled to the side, but it was still alive.

I didn’t intend to kill these creatures, only to protect the girls while they leveled up. So far, everything seemed under control. Even though they weren’t talking to each other, their synergy seemed good enough for now.

"I’m not done yet!" Camula rushed towards the Boar she had poisoned.

The animal’s legs looked like they were close to giving out, probably because of the poison spreading through its veins. Camula gave it only a little push, sending its body down to the ground.

Camula pressed the Boar’s torso down with her amorphous hands, making the creature’s body succumb to the pressure. The poison had weakened it to the point that it couldn’t break free from Camula.

"Drain!"

At that moment, an aura appeared around the Boar’s body right before my eyes, and that ethereal form flowed into Camula, who absorbed both the monster’s HP and MP. When she released the creature, there was nothing left to drain from it. Its body then dissolved into black dust.