“… Am I really doing the right thing…?”

“Just trust what I say.”

“But….”

Muyun placed her hand on her eyes.

“… Now I can’t see at all…!”

She said this while her eyes were covered by a handkerchief.

You could question what she was doing, but it was a rather logical conclusion reached through reasoning.

Muyun is strong; she could easily overpower most opponents with an axe.

However, she’s also very scared.

Why should she be scared?

If something is visible, it tends to be frightening.

So, let’s cover her eyes.

That way, Muyun can display her overwhelming power without hesitation.

Though she might feel a bit uncomfortable relying solely on her hearing, the flowers that swarmed around her (and the emoji-faced flowers that had been coming toward me) tended to succumb to sheer numbers, so it didn’t seem like a significant issue.

“So, does that mean when Tanton tells me to attack, I fight, and if he doesn’t, I just walk forward as guided?”

“You understood perfectly.”

“… This is still terrifying in its own way…”

“Then would you prefer to face those monsters directly?”

“… Ugh, I get it already.”

Is she feeling fear from not being able to see?

I placed my hand over hers, holding firmly until the shaking subsided.

Surprised, Muyun glanced at me before lowering her head in defeat.

“I’ve betrayed you once. How can you possibly trust someone like me…?”

Come on, is that really the issue?

You survived, didn’t you?

I might be thinking a bit too optimistically, but anyway, I’ve come to the point where as long as nothing bad happens, I don’t really care.

Could this be a result of the mode?

“It’s fine. I’ll be your eyes, so please be the weapon that defeats the enemies.”

We reached out and joined hands before stepping forward.

“Okay, let’s take it slow and move forward.”

“… Hoo, okay.”

With one hand, Muyun has enough strength to wield an axe.

Even if it’s a double-handed axe, it would become a one-handed weapon in her presence.

“There’s a branch blocking the path ahead; could you deal with that?”

As she swung the axe in her hand, the branch was cut in an instant.

Impressive, as expected!

“Alright, now it’s your turn, my friend.”

When I opened my pocket, the Outcast God peeked out.

“Where’s the exit?”

She pointed towards the direction of the gardener instead of the exit.

Though her abilities once seemed like they would bring me to death, perhaps it’s all about how you use them.

In any case, it’s been helpful, so I should probably pet her for about an hour as a reward.

Or maybe not.

Yeah, considering I nearly died, it should be at least thirty minutes of petting time.

“Wh-who are you talking to?”

“I’m just talking to myself.”

Anyway, all preparations are complete.

Now, let’s get down to business.

Even with the Outcast God’s help, I assumed the journey to the flower-filled area wouldn’t be smooth.

Yet, perhaps it’s due to being a talent-driven knight, Muyun, despite her discomfort, caught on quickly.

“… Whoa, watch out!”

“Oh, you dodged without me even saying anything!”

“Re-really? I just felt like something was there, and I dodged…”

How on earth did she manage that…?

Now it’s getting a bit frightening.

With each step, our feet sunk into the densely packed flowers, tickling my ankles each time.

The scenery before my eyes was truly beautiful.

If there weren’t any corpses among the flowers on the ground, people might have thought we were dancing as we leapt from flower to flower.

And so, we bounded across the flowers.

“Tanton!”

“What’s the matter?”

“There’s a strange voice… in my ear…!”

Now that her sight was blocked, were they attacking her sense of hearing as well?

Should I call them intelligent, or just plain annoying?

“It’s okay! Don’t worry, I’m here!”

 

“E-everything’s so loud…!”

To prevent Muyun from being distracted by the voices, I whispered into her ear.

After a while, I figured out what was causing that sound.

“Muyun, stop now.”

“The sound is getting closer, and my tinnitus is getting worse… it’s terrifying!”

“I know. So just trust me and don’t worry. From now on, just calmly follow my instructions.”

There was a swarm of those grinning flowers that seemed to have been created by the gardener.

Thanks to the Super Coward Mode, I couldn’t hear them, but they were definitely trying to mentally assault Muyun.

Meanwhile, they were shuffling around as if searching for something.

They were likely looking for me.

After all, they had gone through the trouble of locking the door just to catch me.

So, without knowing where I was, were we now wandering around aimlessly?

At this point, one wrong word from me could lead us to total obliteration.

After a few deep breaths, once I reached a state of complete focus, I shouted out.

“Muyun, run forward and swing that axe wildly! Just keep moving forward!”

“Y-yes?! O-okay!”

From here on out, everything depended on Muyun.

There was nothing more I could do.

Following my lead, Muyun dashed forward, letting out a scream of “Aaaah!” as she summoned her courage.

But why wasn’t she holding the axe?!

“W-wait?!”

What on earth was going on?!

My trust in Muyun was quickly wavering.

Sure, I said I believed in her, but how could I not feel uneasy about this…?

At that moment, perhaps because she was screaming, one of the flowers spotted Muyun and lunged toward her at full speed.

They were now so close that their stems could reach her.

Just as I was about to raise my voice to warn her, I heard a sharp *snip*.

With a clean slicing sound, that flower was cleaved in two.

What followed was a relentless onslaught.

Seemingly enraged by the death of one of their comrades, the flowers all charged at Muyun.

But following my orders to swing wildly, Muyun simply executed precise and deliberate movements with her axe, and the charging flowers met instant demise without any resistance.

I-I was actually trusting her, damn it!

Who, in their right mind, doubted Muyun?!

Despite my thoughts, Muyun’s voice and body seemed to be operating on separate wavelengths.

“W-wait, what’s happening?!”

It seemed like she finally realized something was getting sliced at the end of her axe and cried out in terror.

“Wh-what am I doing? I-I’m hacking something…!”

Ah, now that I think about it, didn’t she mention those plants were corpses?

To my eyes, they just looked like flowers, but considering how scared Muyun is, perhaps it’s a blessing that it hasn’t gone any worse than this.

“Muyun! Over here, come to my side! To the left!”

“Aah!”

Following my command, Muyun turned her already swung axe at an odd trajectory, chopping down the flower that was charging at her.

Not stopping there, the tree behind the severed flower split apart, raining down debris.

Wait, what?!

What did I just witness?

Did she adjust the axe from an angle where the center of gravity was heaviest, shoving it sideways in less than 0.1 seconds?

“…Hah.”

She’s just scared—maybe I’m actually giving instructions to a ridiculously strong woman.

…If she weren’t scared, that gardener would’ve been sliced ages ago.

“Haah, haah…”

Gratefully, Muyun continued to follow my orders, but it was evident that her stamina was depleting as she fought off all those foes solo.

By the time the Outcast God hinted that her energy was running low, Muyun was panting heavily.

At least, could it be that the gardener has run out of flowers to summon?

There were no more flowers in sight.

 

“Muyun? Should we take a short break?”

“N-no! Let’s keep going quickly!”

So it seemed she preferred to make a speedy escape rather than linger in a frightening place. As a fellow coward myself, I wholeheartedly agreed with her. The problem, however, was that nothing seemed scary to me.

“Muyun, I think it’s okay to walk for now. There aren’t any enemies left. Let’s calm down and regroup for a moment.”

“Y-yes, okay!”

With her eyes closed, Muyun was totally trusting my words. Her expression immediately shifted from panic to calm.

We walked in silence for a few minutes. As the time wore on, I could see her shoulders starting to tremble more and more.

Even with my instructions, not hearing any other voices must have been unnerving for her.

Maybe I should make some conversation.

“By the way, about that ‘White Mask Senior,’ and your alias, Muyun. How do those names come about?”

“I heard there’s a man called the ‘God of War,’ and since your name sounds similar, could it be related…?”

“W-what?! How do you know… mmph!”

Uh-oh.

Muyun was definitely not the person to gamble with; she’d probably top the list of those who should never play.

She clamped her mouth shut, realizing she had spilled some beans, but it was too late, and there was no saving it now.

No, maybe I can pretend I didn’t hear…

“Aha! I was just guessing; I definitely didn’t hear you confirming anything…”

“You heard everything!”

Ah, so much for my cunning strategy.

I must have made it way too obvious.

I could only awkwardly scratch the back of my head.

Somewhat resigned, Muyun sighed deeply and said, “I know you won’t believe me, but my father’s alias was the God of War.”

Well, there it was. As I had surmised, definitely a case of being called the ‘daughter of the God of War’ in the community.

“He was incredible. He’d go out and fight the terrifying outsiders like it was a stroll in the neighborhood. As you know, during the expedition to the Snow Mountain, most of the knights perished.”

The expedition to the Snow Mountain? That was new to me.

“And the knights expect me to follow his glorious footsteps.”

But I don’t have what it takes!

I’m a coward who can’t even face the outsiders!

I leaned in to listen more, thinking this might be useful information.

But sadly, that wouldn’t be possible.

The Outcast God began making frantic movements as if to stop right before me.

“Muyun, wait a second.”

“Y-yes?”

The moment we stopped, I saw what had created such a commotion.

The Deer Mask.

The gardener we had been looking for was leaning against a tree, arms crossed.

Muyun must have sensed the overwhelming aura, as she spoke in a shaky voice.

“…Is the gardener over there?”

“Yes.”

Despite her frightened demeanor, her grip on the axe was tight, showing she was ready to confront the situation.

Out of sight? Not scary? The fear of the unknown now surpassed her fear of the outsiders.

“Muyun, the gardener…”

What transpired next was instantaneous.

“Wha—?”

Vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around Muyun and tossing her away.

Thanks to Muyun’s quick reflexes, I managed to avoid getting dragged along.

“Interesting. You’re unarmed and still mentally put together. Are your mental strength particularly strong?”

A sweet voice whispered into my ear.

It was right next to me—the gardener was looking my way.

“Even this close, the form is intact. No matter how dedicated her followers are, just my presence should turn them to flowers.”

A finger slid down my arm and grasped the hand that was holding Muyun.

“Who are you?”