Today was an important day.

It was the day we were going to carry out the large-scale extermination request that I had chosen.

"…"

I suddenly recalled the moment we had selected the request yesterday. That accidental hand overlap...

'Pull yourself together. You've already held hands before.'

It was merely a natural physical reaction that occurred due to a momentary lapse in vigilance.

"Where exactly is today's request taking place?"

"First, we need to follow this path…"

I watched as Serlin and the hero went over the details of the request together. They really looked good together. Not just Serlin, but Aria and Lafirier too.

"…"

"Louis, is something wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look upset."

"Not at all."

"Really…?"

Anyway, I had to focus now. I needed to emphasize the necessity of having a new companion without wasting any time.

"Alright, as I explained yesterday, I’ll go over the request one more time."

The hero began explaining the request in detail.

"The target of the extermination is the Rascus—a monster that resembles a rat. It's currently forming a group of about five hundred in the center of the forest."

"No matter how many times I hear about the Rascus, it always gives me the chills."

"But they’re not that small, so it's not too bad, right? If they were smaller, your arrows would probably miss more often."

"Their size isn't the issue…"

"Their nests are underground and inside tree trunks, so they’re very good at climbing. We were asked to protect the forest as much as possible, but the adventurers’ guild seems to have pretty much given up on that."

"Well, it hasn’t been resolved for a long time…"

The Rascus is a monster known for its relentless breeding. Even if a few are missed, they can quickly multiply and form a new group. Many adventurers and even the guild itself have attempted extermination campaigns but ultimately failed.

'The hero's party will succeed, but it will be an extremely difficult victory.'

They would only succeed after being completely drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted, at which point they would truly feel the need for the witch heroine. Since I had prepared for this scenario, the success wouldn’t come as easily as before.

'Based on Lafirier's reaction, they seem to be quite grotesque creatures…'

Rascus didn’t appear in the area where I lived, so I had never seen one properly. They were only briefly mentioned in the original story, so I didn’t know much about their weaknesses or characteristics.

'Well, it should be fine.'

Aside from their breeding capabilities, Rascus are weak enough for even low-tier adventurers to handle.

"Shall we get going, then?"

"Let's go!"

As I watched the four of them march off energetically, I smiled mischievously. Today, the hero's party would move exactly as I had planned.

Like puppets dangling from the strings of a puppeteer.

...

"Eek!! H-hero-niim!!"

"Huh, what? Louis?!"

"Get this thing off me!!"

Slash!

The hero swiftly sliced the young Rascus that had been clinging to my robe in half. Thanks to him, I was able to stop the tears that had been welling up in my eyes.

'Why does it look so hideous?!'

Rascus.

They were disgustingly grotesque.

In my previous life, there was a notorious rodent species that caused a lot of problems—nutria. Rascus looked quite similar to them.

In terms of size, that is.

"Ugh."

I quickly pulled out a magic tool from my spatial storage and hurled it at an oncoming Rascus. The tool, which had been a failed prototype, exploded upon impact with the creature.

That took care of one Rascus.

'A rodent?! It’s too large to just be called a rodent!'

These things were the size of small dogs. At this size, I should rename them from mere rodents to “chaos-inducing beasts.”

"Louis! Is there any way you can make me run faster—?"

"Die, die…!"

Serlin seemed to be saying something, but I didn’t have the mental space to respond. At this point, I was throwing all my failed prototypes at the Rascus, focusing solely on wiping them all out.

"Mm."

Serlin turned around and began destroying nearby Rascus nests with her sword.

"Phew…"

After smashing about ten nests in the area, I had a moment to check on the others.

Lafirier was hopping from tree to tree, using wind magic to shoot down Rascus from above, while simultaneously taking out the ones on the ground with her bow and a backup dagger.

Serlin, on the other hand, had staked out a wide area, slicing through everything with her sword aura.

The hero… well, he was similar to Serlin, but with a more refined technique.

The most surprising, though, was Aria.

"Hah! Where do you think you're going!"

Without breaking a sweat, she pummeled the Rascus, all the while spreading holy water and using divine power to suffocate them.

'You're fighting too well.'

I had forgotten that before I joined, they had already been doing this for a year. They had taken on numerous requests from the adventurers’ guild and other organizations, likely including Rascus exterminations.

So they knew the best ways to handle them, and knowing that the creatures were weak, they weren’t even scared.

'I’m the one lagging behind.'

It was a shock.

I had thought that I’d have more exterminations under my belt than Aria, but she was actually outperforming even Serlin and the hero… which made me the weakest link.

"Louis, behind you!"

"Huh?"

Maybe I was too distracted, but I failed to notice a Rascus charging at me. Fortunately, it didn’t manage to bite or attack me.

Slash!

"Louis, are you alright?"

Just like when the extermination started, the hero had saved me again.

"Thank you…"

This time, my gratitude was sincere. Honestly, having fought vampires and giant spiders, I had thought Rascus would be a piece of cake.

'But to think I’d be scared of a rat.'

It was similar to how I had suddenly started hating bell peppers after taking over this body. Not that I actually hate bell peppers, though.

"It should be fine now. There aren’t many left."

"Really…?"

"Y-yeah."

I looked up at him, still clinging to his chest. Perhaps due to the last ambush, my tear ducts had been unlocked again, and my eyes were glistening.

"S-so you can relax now."

"…If you say so."

"…??"

Was the Rascus extermination really over? That meant it was my time now. I quickly pulled away from the hero and took out my master key.

"Detect."

I used a simple magic spell I had designed to detect any remaining Rascus that might still be hiding. Sure enough, I sensed similar entities underground.

"There are still some left buried underground."

"Really? Then…"

"I’ll wait here. Let me know when they’re all cleared out."

I pointed to a low tree and spoke.

"Ah, uh… okay."

Ignoring the hero’s gaze, I climbed up into the tree with great effort.

"Phew… huh?"

I had climbed up into the tree to avoid any Rascus that might pop out of the ground, but now there was one perched on the branch, glaring at me.

[Their nests are in holes underground and inside tree trunks, so they’re very good at climbing.]

"…"

Squeak.

I trembled in silence, relying only on the robe's protective barrier. My savior, who took a deep breath and turned her gaze towards me, was Lafirier.

"Phew, Louis! You can come down now—huh?"

"…"

"…"

Could you help me out?

Without a word, I sent my plea to her. She gave me a dry look before firing an arrow and killing the Rascus above me.

The extermination was finally over.

After running one last detection spell around the forest, I announced the end of the extermination.

"There are none left. Not a single one."

"Phew~! It’s finally over…"

"This was tougher than last time in the eastern village…"

Everyone was completely exhausted after running around exterminating the Rascus. It wasn’t exactly how I had planned, but in the end, the hero’s party had used up a lot of energy.

'Everything’s going according to plan.'

"Everyone."

"Huh…?"

"I’m sorry for not being of much help during this extermination request."

The plan remained the same, but I decided to tweak it slightly. Now it was the “I’m useless, and it’s my fault” strategy.

"If only I had learned combat magic… or at the very least, if I didn’t find the Rascus so… no, if I didn’t dislike them, I could’ve been of some help…"

A crucial part of this strategy was acknowledging my own shortcomings first.

"Uh, well…"

That way, the others would feel awkward pointing out my mistakes.

However, there was one important thing to be cautious about—finding the right balance.

'If I push it too far, they might kick me out.'

Hah! You’re useless. You’re expelled from the party.

Even though the hero always seemed kind-hearted, there was always a chance, no matter how slim. Just in case.

But the party's reaction was strange.

'Normally, they should be comforting me or showing some sympathy.'

Instead, they were all wearing odd expressions. It was Serlin who spoke up first.

"Um… Louis?"

"Yes?"

"I think you’ve forgotten, but didn’t you join the party on the condition that you wouldn’t participate in combat?"

"…Oh."

"So honestly, we don’t mind if you didn’t help…"

Ah, um. What?

"Yeah, we’ve actually been really grateful to you all this time."

"Same here."

Something felt off.

Sure, I did join the party with that condition, but…

'…Huh?'

I wasn’t sure how things had ended up like this.

"Louis, what they’re saying is that you don’t need to push yourself so hard."

"Oh…"

"Exactly. You’ve already done so much during the Alphares incident. Honestly, even if you just hang out in your lab until we get to the north, no one would complain."

The party members all nodded in agreement with Lafirier’s words. This left me in a strange position. If I tried to explain the need for firepower, they’d probably think I was volunteering to handle it myself, unaware of the witch heroine’s role.

"…Thank you for your consideration."

"Don’t mention it."

And so, I simply expressed my gratitude, signaling the end of the extermination request.

'…It wasn’t a total failure.'

Even if they didn’t show it outwardly, they must be thinking about the need for greater firepower by now. After all, they had been planning to hire a mage even before I joined.

With that in mind, I returned to the village with the four of them.

A week later, we arrived in another village.

"H-hero-nim! Is the hero here?!"

A man burst into the inn where the hero's party was staying.

"What’s going on?"

The hero, who had been reading a swordsmanship manual while comfortably seated, asked with a serious expression. The man, still catching his breath, uttered a single word.

"From the north… a fire giant…!"

"A fire giant…?"

I stood up the moment I heard those words.

'She's here.'

The fire giant was her doing.

The witch who would soon join our party—the one who could control all flames at her will.

The witch of embers, Niavella.

The time had finally come to meet her.