I Don’t Want to Be a Heroic Spirit

The Winter Shogun was, in fact, a remarkably magnanimous creature. As long as no one harmed or captured a snow spirit, it would neither appear nor attack.

Over time, adventurers had devised a strategy for dealing with the Winter Shogun if encountered:

First, capture a few snow spirits in advance. When the Winter Shogun appeared, release the spirits in its presence, then kneel, discard all weapons, and sincerely apologize to seek its forgiveness. This was the best way to ensure survival.

The most critical step was discarding one's weapon. As a noble samurai, the Winter Shogun refused to harm unarmed opponents.

Despite its benevolent temperament, the bounty on the Winter Shogun's head was a staggering two billion Eris.

For comparison, even the headless knight Beldia, a Demon King Army general that Nero had defeated earlier, was worth only three billion Eris. Beldia was an explicit enemy of humanity, with his bounty reflecting his clear threat. The Winter Shogun, though far less aggressive, was valued so highly purely because of its overwhelming strength—stronger even than Beldia.

If this world were likened to an RPG, the Demon King and his generals would undoubtedly be the final bosses.

But in reality, this world was rife with creatures even more powerful than the Demon King's forces—what gamers might call hidden bosses.

For this snow spirit extermination quest, the party had brought weapons and warm clothes. Only Aqua, however, had brought a bug-catching net and glass jars, resembling a child on a field trip hunting stag beetles.

Now, faced with the Winter Shogun, Aqua's captured snow spirits suddenly proved useful.

With practiced speed, Aqua released the snow spirits from her jar, then flung herself onto the snow-covered ground, pressing her forehead earnestly to the ground. To Kazuma, this display was beyond salvation.

You're a goddess, for crying out loud—how can you so naturally grovel before a mere monster?

"What are you all doing? Kneel and apologize! Quick! Throw away your weapons and beg for forgiveness! You too, Kazuma! Apologize now!" Aqua shouted at Kazuma and Darkness. Megumin, having used her Explosion magic earlier, was still sprawled in the snow pretending to be dead.

"…Hey, Aqua, doesn't this Winter Shogun seem a bit off? It's not even looking in our direction," Kazuma said skeptically.

"Really? No, wait! Kazuma, you're definitely trying to trick me into looking up so the Winter Shogun notices me! Hmph! Do you think such childish schemes will work on me? I'm a genius!"

"Genius? You and that word are galaxies apart! Just lift your head and check the situation for me!"

"Waaah! How dare you yank on a goddess's hair again?! Do you know how precious a goddess's hair is?! You're done for, Kazuma! I curse you to be constipated for a week!"

"Last week, you cursed me to run out of water in the toilet! You're definitely the goddess of restrooms, aren't you?!"

The Winter Shogun wasn't looking at Kazuma's party but had tilted its head toward something else.

Darkness, who had been bracing herself for battle, grew curious and squinted in the same direction.

"…Hey, you two, stop bickering. There really seems to be something over there."

Intrigued by Darkness's observation, the quarreling pair followed her gaze.

Though Aqua had lost most of her divine powers, her eyesight was still sharp, and Kazuma's Farsight skill allowed him to see far more clearly than anyone else.

"Kazuma, I can only make out a striking patch of red… Can you tell what it is?"

"I think it looks familiar… It might be Nero?"

"Nero? So… is Nero the one catching the Winter Shogun's attention?"

"No, wait. There's something behind Nero… Something… Oh crap, it's an avalanche!"

Nero, with her naturally high Agility of A-rank, and the ability to further boost it with Imperial Privilege EX, was effortlessly outrunning the avalanche.

It was said that avalanches could reach speeds of 500 kilometers per hour—terrifying for humans, but not particularly daunting for a Servant.

From a distance, Nero spotted Kazuma's party and immediately felt uneasy.

"Why are you all here…?"

Her question was abruptly cut off by a cold flash of sword light.

A crimson greatsword clashed against a snow-white katana, sparks igniting from the collision.

Unable to halt her momentum, Nero tumbled across the snowy ground, carving a long furrow in the soft snow.

Quickly getting back to her feet, she brushed off the snow clinging to her outfit and raised her blazing greatsword, Aestus Domus Aurea, to block the Winter Shogun's relentless follow-up attack.

"Hey! Darkness! Kazuma! What's with this monster? Why's it targeting only me?!"

With a twist of her wrist, Nero deftly parried the Winter Shogun's rapid strikes with elegant, precise swordplay.

"That's the Winter Shogun, a heavily-bountied monster! It's part of the winter spirits, like the snow spirits! It only attacks those who harm snow spirits. Did you kill a bunch of them earlier? That's probably why it's so fixated on you, more than anyone else!"

"No way! I haven't hurt a single snow spirit!"

Nero tilted her head to avoid a horizontal slash aimed at her face, countering with a swift kick to the Shogun's knee. As it staggered, she drove an elbow into its helmet.

In the next moment, Nero gripped her flaming sword tightly and swung it toward the Shogun's neck, the blade carving through snow as it burned.

At the last second, the Winter Shogun raised its left hand.

The greatsword cleaved through its wrist, severing it. However, the Shogun's gauntlet caused a brief deceleration in Nero's strike, giving it just enough time to evade the fatal blow to its neck.

Almost simultaneously, the Shogun thrust its katana forward with unerring precision, the blade piercing Nero's chest and emerging from her back.

Yet, the Shogun froze in shock.

The Nero it had struck began to shimmer like a reflection on water, then vanished entirely.

The real Nero had already retreated ten meters away, her wary gaze locked on the Shogun.

What the Winter Shogun had attacked was merely a mirage created by Nero's swift Reduced Earth movement skill.

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T/N: I've been thinking about playing around with how stats are emboldened...