"Contestant Wendy: five points!" "Contestant Wendy: nine points!" "Contestant Wendy: eight points!"
Geez, that flugel girl's super strong.
The hero Haruto shivered at the thought as he continued to fight and defeat monsters. He knew who Wendy, who was currently dominating the contest, was. He'd seen her yesterday. She was the cute, white-winged girl who'd been with the strange group. Even before the contest, her pure-white wings andl blue hair had stood out, as had her surprisingly nervous demeanor. Haruto's sense of justice had burned brightly as he'd made a note to help her out if she were in danger. He'd had to remind himself not to bring ulterior motives into it. Haruto was a man, too, after all.
But he'd been too naive. Rather, he'd been foolish and lovestruck.
Save? Who again…? That one there, who's been using hit-and-run tactics to easily poach monsters from the air? Surely you jest. That girl was far and away stronger than Haruto himself. In fact, she was probably the strongest participant here.
Haruto wondered just what her nervous appearance was for. Was it an act? It was basically a fantasy trope for someone weak-looking to turn out to be strong, but that was especially jarring with her. Haruto figured she could even be stronger than the Sword Saint.
Haruto shook away the idea; there was no way that was true, but the sight of her complete dominance over this event certainly made it seem plausible.
Ah, she killed a wyvern just now. Apparently they're weaker than real dragons. But still, that thing was over level 80!
As an aside, Haruto's current level was 35. He was at the level where he could be easily one-shotted by Wendy. It's so hard to level in this world. I want to cry!
Shouldn't it be, like, way easier to level in cases like this? The shield girl main character in that isekai light novel I read a long time ago leveled up super easily compared to everyone else. She had a mega-easy time. So what the hell is this? Like, what even is a hero?
"Contestant Wendy: twelve points!" "Contestant Bunny Dandy: three points!" "Contestant Bikini Muscle: seven points!"
One after another, the contestants's point gains were being called out, causing Haruto to rush himself.
Crap. I can't even think about going for a high rank like this. I'll be sitting at the bottom.
Actually, Haruto was working pretty hard and was currently holding on to a high-ranking spot by a hair, but he himself didn't know that.
Haruto swung his sword as if possessed, continuing to defeat monsters. He was still resistant to taking lives. Some might feel exasperated at how long Haruto had chosen to carry that particular cross, but it was a tall hurdle for a modern Earth person. He even lost his will to fight at all against his current enemy, which was something like a cute fox monster.
Hey, stop that. Don't come closer. I'm a dog lover! No, don't wag your tail at me! Don't stand up on your hind legs to try and play with me! Stop following me! Haruto thought while fighting desperately when a scream from some distance away brought him back to reality.
"Wh-what was that?"
Is there a strong monster there?
Haruto turned to face the direction the scream had come from. Then, he froze. There was something huge there, right in his line of sight. Several hundred meters ahead in some grassland was a dinosaur so large that Haruto could see it clearly even at that distance. And it was on a rampage.
"A-An accident! An accident has happened! A dinosaur—a dinogigant—has wandered in from the nearby forest that was its territory! Please stay away from it, everyone. This is not one of the hunting festival's targets!"
This world have dinosaurs?!
Haruto's face paled as he watched the rampaging dinosaur off in the distance. While he wasn't sure whether it was categorized as an animal or a monster, he did understand that the danger it represented was incomparable to the hunting festival's monsters. After all, that thing was eating the monsters. Everything around it was fleeing. Even the wyvern had lost all will to fight. The scene of the dinosaur chasing them down was exactly that of a predator, something that reigned at the top of the food chain.
The biggest problem was that it considered humans food as well. No adventurers or travelers had become its victims yet, but it was only a matter of time. If someone didn't stop it, it was basically guaranteed that human lives would be lost. And unfortunately, there was a female adventurer who was probably a participant currently on the ground in front of the dinosaur, shivering like a leaf.
It's obvious she's in danger. If I don't do something, she'll get eaten.
"Dammit!" Haruto spat before running towards the dinosaur. For some reason, the fox followed after him.
That dinosaur will take a couple seconds at most to finish that monster it's eating. So in that time I'll need to get there, grab that girl adventurer, and drag her away. As if I'd fight that thing. I know how weak I am.
Haruto knew full well that the best he could do was make sure no one died until some warriors or something were dispatched to kill it. As long as he bought enough time, Plue or Teuchi should arrive. Haruto was confident they'd be able to turn things around.
"Hey, we need to run! Get up!" Haruto reached the woman and grabbed her hand, trying to pull her up. She didn't move other than to shake her head from side to side.
"I-I can't… My legs. They've given out…"
"Aggghh!"
Haruto immediately decided to carry the woman, but it was no good. She was too heavy. Rather, it wasn't the woman herself but what she was wearing.
Her sword was heavy too. There was no way Haruto could pick all that up. "Hey, drop your sword and armor! I can't carry you like this!"
"B-but this was expensive… I haven't even paid off the loans I took out to buy it."
"Is this the time for that?!"
Each second was precious. Haruto knew they needed to run away before the dinogigant finished eating the monster it was working on. But it was already too late. The dinosaur swallowed the last of it and looked their way.
Haruto knew it was too late to run now, so he readied his sword and tried to intimidate the dinosaur. The fact that he refused to abandon the woman and run even now showed his mettle as a man. Although, it seemed like the woman herself wasn't so noble, as she immediately tried to crawl away, leaving Haruto behind.
"GIGAAAAAAAAA!"
The dinosaur howled and charged. It was fast and heavy.
Even though each step shakes the earth like this… what the hell is with that speed?!
Haruto prepared himself, gripping his sword tightly as he tried to calmly observe how the dinosaur moved in order to avoid death.
I need to watch out for its mouth! I need to dodge its bite at all costs. If I manage to wound its legs, I think I can run away somehow.
In a flash, a white form came in-between them. It swept an arc with the sword it wielded, and the resultant wind blew the dinosaur away. Its white wings seemed as if they were dancing as Haruto bore witness to an angel's descent.
Later, he'd realize that it hadn't been an angel at all but Wendy. At the time, however, the girl was undoubtedly an angel in Haruto's eyes.