Chapter 52: The Bird in the Mockery (2)

“Why do I always have to be the one to do things like this──!?”

“Kieeeek──!!”

Ibi's desperate scream as she fled from several windbirds echoed throughout the dungeon.

Windbirds usually fly in the sky (of course, they're birds), so Miki's 「Taunt」, which has a short range, couldn't reach them.

Therefore, to bring them down to the ground where we were, we first had to steal an ‘egg’ from their nest at the top of a tall tree.

─ …Who?

─ Huh?

─ Who's going up there?

─ …(grin).

Anyway… it happened like that again.

Since Ibi was the only one among us who could nimbly climb that tall tree to the top, Ibi decided to sacrifice herself for us.

“Kyaaaak!? Save a half-elf!!”

“Everyone… let's have a moment of silence to commemorate Ibi's precious sacrifice for us.”

“I’m not dead, you bastard!!”

So, as Ibi came down after snatching the egg, the windbirds, who had noticed, had completely lost their minds and were chasing Ibi to death, which was the current situation.

“Quickly! Do something about these things!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

In other words, we had succeeded in luring all of them to the ground where we were.

『You shall not pass!』

Miki hastily ran towards Ibi and cast 「Taunt」.

However.

“Uh, huh?”

It didn't work at all.

The windbirds were still all busy chasing Ibi.

“Ah, what are you doing!? Get them off me, quicklyyyy!!”

“Ibi! The egg!”

It was because of the windbirds' habits.

Windbirds had a gimmick of unconditionally prioritizing the target holding the egg.

That's why 「Taunt」 didn't work.

To be precise, it was more like Ibi was casting a higher-level 「Taunt」 the moment it was cast on them.

“Throw the egg to Miki!”

So, in other words, if Ibi, who had stolen the egg, handed it over to Miki, the windbirds' aggro would naturally shift to Miki.

“Wouldn't it kill you to tell me that in advance, you bastard!”

“…I was afraid you'd just throw it from up there if I told you in advance.”

“Th-That’s──”

──From there, it was time for the traditional tank and healer combination to shine.

As you can see, the windbird is a small creature.

So, although its wind-like speed and the knockback from its 「Flapping」 are considered very powerful, the bird itself is not that strong in terms of stats.

And the powerful 「Flapping」 is only used to push away and chase off targets that are ‘chasing it’, not to the target it is ‘chasing’.

Of course, if you blow them away while trying to attack, you can't attack them.

And if it's the one who stole the egg, if you blow them away wrongly, the egg might fly away with them.

“Hey, wai, ah, ah!”

So they just peck at them with their small beaks.

The power of that 「Pecking」 is not weak, as befits a level 5 monster, but it was bearable.

Especially if you were properly clad in heavy armor like Miki.

「Pecking」 was ultimately a ‘piercing’ attribute attack, and heavy armor reduced that piercing damage by half.

And any remaining health that was lost could be immediately replenished by Lily, a professional healer.

The current Lily was in a ‘full’ state, so she could spam heals and buffs, and moreover, as I said before, since those birds unconditionally prioritize the target holding the egg, there was no need to worry about the aggro shifting due to heals.

Then, in the meantime, the remaining three of us dealers would hunt the birds pecking at Miki one by one──

“──Ah, f*ck! Boy, catch!”

This was our strategy to clear this dungeon.

--

Ibi

[Strength]

Difficulty 5

⚀

Critical Failure

--

“──?”

Thud!

Before the egg Ibi had thrown hit the ground head-on.

“──Ah.”

For a moment, silence hung in the air.

The windbirds that had been pecking Ibi to death all flinched, and then, as if by magic, they all stopped moving.

“…….”

Jureureuk──

A thick, viscous yolk flowed out from between the fragments of what… was a windbird's egg.

“Ki”

“hi”

“Kieeeeeeeek──!!”

“Hyaaaaaaaak──!?”

The screams of the birds and Ibi overlapped, and the windbirds' eyes began to turn bloodshot.

As if, flames were igniting.

--

The windbird has become 「Furious」!

--

Then, as I watched them begin to roar like ‘berserkers’, the ‘Voice’ suddenly added an explanation.

The windbirds that have lost their egg want bloody revenge.

Now they will continue to pursue until either they or the one who broke their egg is dead.

That meant that no matter what, the targeting would never change.

Never.

──Hwook!

“U-Uwaaaa──!?”

Ibi was sent flying far away by the 「Flapping」 of the 「Furious」 windbirds.

Before, they couldn't send her flying because of the egg, but now, there was no longer any reason to care.

“S-Sister Ibi!?”

Miki, flustered, belatedly kicked off the ground and ran, but the windbirds, without giving Miki a single glance, flew away like the wind with a shwoong!

Then they began to ruthlessly 「Peck」… no, 「Furious Peck」 Ibi, who had just been thrown to the ground and had not yet gotten up.

“Ah! Ouch! It hurts! Ouch!”

“……I guess we have to change the plan.”

Originally, the plan was to have Miki take over as the tank, and Ibi, along with me and Rine, would take care of those birds one by one… but as you can see, that plan had been scrambled into scrambled eggs along with that miserably broken egg.

And if we left her like this, Ibi might soon end up in a similar state.

“Y-You guys! Get away from my sister!”

Miki, who had run over in the meantime, was waving his arms and shield, shouting “Shoo! Shoo!” and trying to chase away the windbirds, but it was not enough.

“W-Whaaat──!?”

Before long, he was sent flying by the 「Flapping」.

“…Rine.”

Shwik!

As if on cue, the moment I called her name, the magic Rine had shot flew towards the windbirds.

It was the 「Magic Arrow」 we had agreed on.

The 「Magic Arrow」 that had flown through the wind directly hit the windbird's body──

“──!”

But it only grazed its wing and passed by.

As if she hadn't expected it to miss, I could see Rine's eyes widen slightly.

It was understandable, since the windbird that had been the target of the arrow just now was completely open, with its eyes fixed on pecking Ibi.

And yet, as soon as the arrow came, it had instinctively dodged it by doing an aerial somersault, as if it were a fighter jet dodging a missile.

Then it started to peck Ibi again as if nothing had happened.

This was because windbirds were very ‘agile’.

It was the same reason why Ibi, who had been able to easily act as an evasion tank before, was now completely exposed to those ruthless beak attacks.

Therefore, it was difficult to catch them with ‘attack roll’ skills.

Because they would often miss like this.

“They say, ‘a little bird told me’.”

It's a proverb that teaches you to be careful with your words at all times, as there are ears everywhere.

I fully agree with that statement.

There were ears everywhere.

『Should I break your head like that egg, you birdbrain!』

“Kiek!?”

Even on that windbird, which had finally broken down mentally and fallen to the ground powerlessly.

“The most effective way to catch a bird is, after all, with a ‘mocking’.”

That's why they ‘could not dodge’ my 「Vicious Mockery」, which was not an attack roll.

“Ah, Rine. That was a pun just now, did you get it?”

“…Pardon? Was it… so?”

“Yup. I used the fact that the ‘mocking’ of words and the ‘cage’ of a bird have the same pronunciation.”

“……! Ah… Aah. I see. I understand. ──Huhu.”

“W-What are you guys doing── Ah! Ouch! Ouch! Sorry! I’m sorryyyy!!”

…The problem, however, was that, as I've said all along, 「Vicious Mockery」 was a single-target skill.

Therefore, while I was waiting for the cooldown of 「Vicious Mockery」 and chatting with Rine, Ibi was still being pecked.

And as if they had heard the news that the egg was broken, the number of windbirds, which was about ten before, now seemed to have almost doubled.

“I-I’ll heal you, Sister Ibi! Just hold on a little longer!”

“Hold on?! You want me to hold on to this even longer!?”

“Ah, th-that is, what I meant was…!”

Lily was somehow managing to keep healing her, but that didn't mean the pain of being attacked itself disappeared.

In fact, the current Ibi was Prometheus. In the sense that… every time she was pecked by the birds, she was 「Healed」, so she was continuously being pecked in the same spot.

“Kyaaaak! M-My secret base! It's hidden in the underground sewers of Tiaria!!”

Seeing her readily confess the information about her secret base that no one had asked for, it was clear that if this continued, Ibi's mind would break before her body.

“…I have no choice.”

There was only one way now.

“Use that, Rine.”

Rine, as if she understood, quietly nodded her head, and then immediately raised her staff high.

The reason Rine had promised to use 「Magic Arrow」 was because it was the magic that would least damage the windbird.

Of course, since we needed to pluck the feathers.

If we used a magic that was easier to clean up with, like 「Fireball」 or 「Lightning Bolt」, we would get a crispy roasted chicken… or something similar, instead of 「Windbird Feathers」.

So, while Miki and Lily were tanking and healing, the plan was to take our time and take care of them one by one with Rine's 「Magic Arrow」, Ibi's real arrows, and my 「Vicious Mockery」…

“The way to find the door is ouch! the simplest ouch! ouch! ouch!”

…Unfortunately, we didn't have the luxury for that now.

That's why Rine had stepped up.

A magic that was absolutely ‘undodgeable’ as long as you were within its range, and therefore, instead of an ‘attack roll’ that determined whether you dodged or not, you had to make a ‘resistance roll’ that determined whether you endured or not, just like my 「Vicious Mockery」.

The first 3rd Circle magic Rine had learned when she reached level 5──

“──「Pillar of Fire」.”

Hwareureureuk──!!

The moment it was cast, a fierce flame shot up from the ground.

The flame that had instantly shot up engulfed the windbirds that were on top of it, and the small birds' low HP could not withstand the power of the 「Pillar of Fire」.

Tadak, tadak…

And so, the crispy roasted windbirds… or what was left of them, began to fall to the ground one by one.

--

「Roasted Windbird」 (x 19) has been acquired!

--

Thanks to that, our already sufficient campsite supplies had increased even more.

* * *

──Crunch!

The moment I took a bite of the golden-brown 「Roasted Windbird」, the aroma of the moist juice that flowed out filled my mouth.

--

[Environment] Success

--

The meat of the windbird is famous for its good taste and was a popular prey for many predators, including the human species.

Therefore, in order for them to survive, they had to evolve in a somewhat extreme way── you have heard such a story before.

“Indeed.”

It was a taste worthy of it.

If it hadn't been for its wind-like speed or the flapping of its wings that created wind, it would have surely gone extinct long ago.

“…….”

Sure enough, Ibi had a slightly troubled expression, thinking that the thing on the skewer she was holding was the one that had been pecking at her until just now, but.

“…It’s delicious.”

After chewing for a moment, she soon muttered.

Then, as if she were about to take another bite, she suddenly seemed to get angry and stuffed the rest into her mouth in one go, and then quickly skewered another one.

“Sh*t, why is it delicious.”