Janek's blade swung towards the truiecheval. The pig monster slashed back. Its weapon far outreached his and would probably just shatter the noble's sword if they made contact. At the last second, Janek jumped out of the way. He started moving towards the creature's left eye.

  The truiecheval smashed its cleaver at Janek, the massive blade impacting the ground. Bits of dirt slammed into the noble. However, he kept going despite that.

  My comrade danced in and out of the creature's reach. He never hit the monster, but he made enough jabs at it to keep its attention. As the truiecheval followed Janek, it moved away from Millia.

  Despite my body being in nothing less than sheer agony, I recognized what Janek was trying to do. Augusta was likely on her way. So, all he had to accomplish was hold off the truiecheval until then.

  By that point, the orb returned to my hand. I hesitated to use it. While slower than other attacks, the sphere would always hit its target, going through or around any obstacles. And Janek was the type of barrier it would go through.

  The truiecheval lashed out with its leg. I thought Janek would jump to the side. He started running back. Panic flashed through me.

  "Janek, don't! It's..."

  Before I could warn him, the cloven hoof of the monster collided with Janek's body. The boy went flying back, crashing into the ground. He started standing on shaky legs. But fear and panic flashed through me. This was exactly what I was trying to prevent.

  "Janek, grab Millia and get out of here!" I shouted.

  I tried to force my way through the pain, to get closer to the truiecheval. But with the agony...I could barely move at a snail's pace. Even the slightest bits of breathing sent waves of ache through me.

  "No. I will not run," Janek said. "I'm not leaving anyone behind. Not Millia and not you."

  The truiecheval charged at Janek, blade at the ready.

  "You idiot! Run while you still can!" I shouted.

  Then, another voice came to my ears, even as the scent of blood flowed into my nose.

  "I might not like nobles, but even I don't think they're idiots or cowards."

  Robert rushed into the clearing, bill hook at the ready. He swung it into the creature's back. A pig-like squeal came out of the monster's mouth as blood and fat sprayed from its body.

  The truiecheval turned around. Its cleaver collided with the wooden shaft of the billhook. Normally, a polearm like that could take dozens of sword strikes before breaking. But this cleaver was just too big.

  I heard the sound of splintering wood as Robert's billhook snapped in two. The boy rushed back. However, as the truiecheval turned its attention to him, Janek ran forward. He slashed his saber into the monster's leg.

  After that, the creature turned around to deal with him. Robert took this chance to stab it in the back with the splintered shaft of his polearm. A faint hope entered my heart as I saw this. Maybe they could do it?

  But no. It was nothing more than a false expectation. If we had ganged up on the truiecheval, we'd have won for sure. We might have even won if Millia didn't have a panic attack. As things were, the truiecheval only had to deal with one or two of us at a time.

  One of its legs lashed out at Janek. He dodged it, just for the truiecheval's massive elbow to slam into his chest. I saw Janek cough up blood as he was thrown back and fell to the ground.

  The truiecheval's cleaver swung around. Its side hit Robert. If the blade caught him, he'd be dead. But even without it, I heard Rober's bones snap as he was flung away from the monster.

  Hope left my eyes as I looked at our group. I was a wreck of a person, a pile of broken bones and pain. Millia was clawing lines of red in her own face. Janek was struggling to get up. Robert was lying on the ground. There was no way we could turn this around. Not without...

  A flicker of heat flowed over my skin. I watched as a lance of fire blasted across the air and slammed into the truiecheval. It squealed so loudly that I felt like my eardrums would burst.

  When the flame was gone, I watched as its skin boiled, bubbled, and burst. Melted fat poured out of its chest like a cauldron being pushed over.

  Augusta came running out of the trail. She moved twice as fast as a horse. Her expression was calm, but pure rage filled her eyes. The girl's rapier was molten white but somehow maintained its shape. Seeing her, the truiecheval did not hesitate to swing its cleaver.

  To my complete and utter shock, Augusta blocked the blow. She pushed the cleaver back with incredible ease. Then, Augusta swung her thrusting sword while stepping closer to the monster.

  Its weapon arm fell off in a shower of blood, colliding with the ground. Augusta's rapier cooled down, returning to its normal color. The girl swept it across the truiecheval's belly. She turned around as the creature's intestines spilled out.

  But it was not dead yet. With the last life in its body, the truiecheval swung its fist at Augusta while her back was turned.

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  In that instant, I forgot all my pain. My feet moved as if on their own. Every protective instinct in my body screamed at me. In truth, I doubted getting punched by the truiecheval would do anything to Augusta. But I couldn't stop myself.

  "You bastard!" I shouted as I punched. "Get the hell away from Augusta!"

  A spectral fist collided with the truiecheval's hand, knocking it back. The monster's strength was expended. And it fell dead. I was taking heavy breaths, even as agony returned to me.

  "Dante!" Augusta shouted.

  "Don't worry about me. Make sure the others are safe."

  I used the last of my adrenaline to hobble over to Robert, who was the most injured. Thankfully, he was still breathing.

  "You said my name," Augusta said.

  "Of course, I did," I replied. "I always call you by your name."

  Then, I shouted out to Janek.

  "Hey, Janek, are you alright?" I asked.

  "Barely," he answered.

  "This is the first time someone saved me and called me by my name," Augusta picked up Robert as she spoke. "It was always 'get away from the princess' or 'get away from Her Highness,' never 'get away from Augusta.'"

  I shook my head, the pain starting to get to me. Sitting down because that was all I could bear to do, I muttered. My words were the truth, the undeniable truth. No matter how much I didn't want them to be the case, there was no denying it after seeing how easily Augusta beat the first boss.

  "You'd have been fine. You're a late-game boss, after all."

  "A what? Dante, what are you talking about?" Augusta asked.

  "Never mind," I shook my head. "Just let me rest."

  It wasn't long before the captain arrived with some mercenaries to find the dead monster, Millia having a mental breakdown, me unable to move due to the pain I was in, and Augusta trying to get everything together.

  We were swiftly brought back to the boat. The camping trip was canceled.

  On the vessel, I was being given preliminary treatment by some medics, along with the others. Millia had to be restrained to keep her from clawing herself. I felt awful. And not just because of the pain.

  This was my fault. There was no denying it.

  I should have known that Millia would freak out like that if I learned magic. There was no way I could have known, but I still should have. That was no excuse.

  As for the rest of my party, I should have gotten stronger before fighting the first boss. I shouldn't have let any of them get hurt. Now, they'd need magical healing at the academy. And I was the only one to blame.

  "By the gods!" one of the women tending to my wounds shouted. "I have no idea how you're alive!"

  "What?" I asked.

  "You're the worst off of your entire lot, by far!" she declared. "You should be dead!"

  Augusta ran over, moving down the ship's deck. Her hair was almost completely white now.

  "Will Dante be okay?" there was terror in her voice.

  "He survived this. I'm sure he'll make it," the medic said.

  I heard footsteps in the distance. Captain Edward's voice came to my ears.

  "Augusta, do ye' have a moment, Your Highness?"

  "What is it?" the girl asked.

  I turned my head to look at her. The motion sent a fresh wave of pain through my body.

  "Your Highness, could you tell me exactly what happened?" Captain Edward questioned. "Millia's in a delusional fit, and the lads are all injured. I presume they got that way makin' sure she wasn't hurt. But I do not know for sure."

  Well, his guess wasn't wrong. At least, in the case of Janek.

  "I arrived last, so I can't say much," Augusta said.

  "Well, just say what you can," Edward replied.

  Then, the full gravity of the situation hit me. I'd be in deep shit if they found out I wandered into the woods on my own. Honestly, I'd deserve it. It would be a fitting punishment for my weakness.

  "I heard a voice in the woods," Augusta stated. "And I felt compelled to follow it."

  Edward grimaced. He scratched his chin.

  "A voice? All the others said the same thing. I thought they were delusional, but it might be that the truiecheval was workin' with another monster."

  Then, Edward turned to me.

  "Did ye hear a voice too?" the captain asked.

  "I did," I answered, playing along with Augusta's story.

  Yes, I deserved to get in trouble. But the others didn't after they risked their lives to save me. And they clearly coordinated this story before running to all the different places I could have fought the boss. So, I couldn't let that effort go to waste.

  "A compelling voice. Yar, that be bad news," Edward commented. "The woods shall be off limits for the time bein'."

  We made it back to the academy, and magical healing was given to us. However, while I had avoided getting in trouble with the teachers, that didn't mean I was off the hook with my party.

  I was brought to an isolated room. Robert, Millia, and Janek were with me. Augusta wasn't present. Taking a deep breath, I spoke.

  "I'm sorry. This was my fault. I should have been strong enough to kill the truiecheval by myself," I said.

  My party's jaws dropped.

  "You think that's why this is your fault?" Robert sputtered out. "It has nothing to do with that!"

  "Then, how is this my fault?" I asked.

  He jabbed a finger at me.

  "You shouldn't have run off on your own like that! What you did was completely reckless! If we had ganged up on the truiecheval and hit it at once, we'd have killed it easily! Hell, if Augusta was there, she would have slaughtered it by herself! You could have gotten killed out there on your own!" Robert declared.

  Janek nodded.

  "A lone person is not as much of a threat as a group," he said.

  I shook my head.

  "None of that matters. Not one of you should have risked your lives to save me," I replied.

  A stunned silence came over the group.

  "You risked your life to save mine," Robert broke it. "Fighting those soles."

  "We both know I need you alive," Millia added.

  "I do not abandon my comrades. It would be dishonorable," Janek said. "And you are my classmate. That makes you my comrade."

  "You keep saying things, but it's all irrelevant," I told them as anger started to well up in me. "The problem wasn't that I went on my own. It was that I should have been stronger. None of you should have gone after me. In fact, you should have left me there to die, Augusta included."

  Millia grabbed me and yanked me close.

  "What the damn hell are you talking about, Dante?"

  There was rage on her face.

  "I already fucked up by not telling you about the magic thing, but this? Augusta could easily have saved you, so why should she let you die?"

  With fury welling through me, I pushed Millia away.

  "Because I'm worthless! I don't matter!" I almost shouted. "My value is less than zero! You all have higher value than I do! None of you should risk even the slightest bit to save me!"

  Silence overtook the room. My party looked at me as if I had lost my mind. I didn't care. This was the truth, and I said it.

  "Dante, you're broken, aren't you?" Janek was the first to speak.

  "What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.

  "There's something hidden in your lost memories that made you not value yourself," he answered.

  Robert let out a deep sigh.

  "I thought you were just reckless or self-sacrificial, but Janek's right," he said. "You're broken."

  Millia looked away.

  "Dammit. Aside from Augusta, I'm the one you talk to the most, Dante. I should have realized it sooner," she stated.

  Robert shook his head.

  "I was mad at first. Now I just feel bad for you, Dante," he said.

  Somehow, that was worse than anger.

  "We will need to be careful with Dante from now on," Janek commented.

  Just when I was about to object to this, a knock came on the door.

  "Excuse me," Augusta said. "But I need to talk to Dante. Alone."

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