Chapter 97

"Eh?"

At that moment, Raphatalia felt something she had been trying not to think about, as I had warned her, come to the surface. Filo, for all her quirks, has a good intuition. Or perhaps it's because she lives by instinct, making her sensitive to such subtleties. Raphatalia felt as if all the inexplicable events up to this point had suddenly connected.

"What are you talking about?"

This is just like that. If Shu had really been holding back and waiting for Raphatalia and the others to be in a pinch, it would be just like that. A bit forceful, but it reminded me of a scene in an anime where the protagonist arrives just in time to save an ally from being killed by an enemy's blade. I used to be a otaku before coming to this world, and I think such scenes are cool. But in reality, such moments don't often happen.

"Filo, do you think the archer was holding back? He's been relaxed the whole time, hasn't he?"

"But why would he need to relax?"

"The spear user, the sword user, and even Raphatalia and Master sometimes relax, but the archer is way more relaxed. It's like he's too relaxed, and no matter what, he can't be defeated. His arrows were all weak."

Filo gestured the trajectory of the arrows with her wings. Shu, sweating coldly, tried to argue back.

"But I wasn't holding back."

"Then why didn't you use the skill you just used earlier?"

"Well, there are SP and cooldown times, you see."

"Then why didn't you prepare in advance? It would be faster to think and fight, right?"

Filo's barrage of questions began from there. Raphatalia, who was already half-convinced of her suspicions, did not stop Filo.

"Filo knows. The archer was waiting until Raphatalia was in danger before drawing his bow."

"What did you say?"

"That's not true! I would never do such a thing."

"Then why aren't you drawing your bow seriously?"

"But I am drawing it."

"No, you're not. When you used the skill just now, you didn't draw your bow as much as you did then."

Filo's questions kept pushing Shu into a corner. One after another, the issues with Shu came out of Filo's mouth.

"At first, I thought it was the kind of weapon. But the skill you just used showed it wasn't. Hey, why are you holding back?"

"But I'm not holding back!"

"Also, you seemed a bit excited when Raphatalia was about to be attacked. Why?"

"…Why?"

Raphatalia could feel the frustration she had been suppressing, as I had warned her, bubbling up. Filo's childlike questioning was enough to push her over the edge.

"That's not true. Why would this child say such things?"

"Hey, why won't you tell us?"

Filo continued to ask Shu, tilting her head with a curious expression.

"…That's not true. Why are you saying such things?"

"Hey, why won't you tell us the truth? The archer is lying. Filo can tell."

"…I see. What do you think?"

Raphatalia could feel her anger releasing magic power. Shu must have felt the anger radiating from Raphatalia, making his hair stand on end.

"Really, does firing an arrow reduce something?"

"N-no…"

"If it does, it can be recovered. I heard from Naofumi-sama that SP recovers quite quickly."

From the number of attacks Shu had made, even if it did reduce quickly, there was a limit. He had enough SP to continuously use skills and wipe out enemies. Even if he had been holding back on the way, the reason was insufficient.

"Hey, are you trying to look cool like the spear user?"

"N-no! Do I look like someone who would try to look cool like Motokatsu-san?"

Shu strongly denied it, a stark contrast to his earlier confused expression. But to the perceptive Raphatalia, it sounded like a direct hit.

"Well, when Filo and Raphatalia are in danger, your eyes light up, so I thought that."

Filo mimicked the pose of drawing a bow, her eyes sparkling. Her gaze was directed at Raphatalia.

"And when Raphatalia or Filo handle the situation, you draw your bow weakly and look disappointed."

"N-no, I would never do such a thing! I'm a hero!"

"Then tell us. How much power does the skill you used just now consume, and how long is the cooldown?"

"Um… using it once drains more than half of my SP, and I can't use it for 15 minutes."

"Your eyes are wandering. The archer, you always look like that when you're not telling the truth."

Raphatalia glared sharply at Shu. It felt like she might say something like, "If you lie, I'll kill you." But… Raphatalia probably wouldn't go that far.

"It's not a lie! Really, what is this child saying?"

"…Then the next time this enemy appears, let's have you use the skill first. Since you can wipe them out, we'll just watch."

"W-What are you saying!"

"I want to confirm if you're telling the truth. I believe you. Use your SP until you can't fire any more arrows. We'll protect you, and then we'll take a break in a safe place."

"A-Are you making me fight alone!?"

"There's no problem. I just want to see how strong the Archer Hero is. The Spear Hero did the same."

And so, Raphatalia made Shu fight while questioning him. The new Karmasquirrel Familia appeared. Raphatalia hid and started counting her heartbeats. Shu fought valiantly against the Karmasquirrel Familia, using an Arrow Shower to reduce them to half.

"The power seems much higher than before."

"W-Well, it was just a coincidence. That's strange."

"Filo can tell you're drawing the bow with more force than before."

Because Filo was watching, Shu was gradually cornered. And then—

"Falcon Strike!"

Shu wiped the sweat from his forehead after wiping out the Karmasquirrel Familia alone.

"Out."

"Huh?"

"Only six minutes have passed since our conversation. Even if we account for the time we talked, it doesn't add up."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence?"

"That's enough. I can't trust someone who lies."

Raphatalia left the party.

"Are you just leaving on your own?"

"I can't trust my back to someone I don't trust. I'm not out front to be saved by you."

The path back was safe. Raphatalia could make it alone, and Filo was with her. But Filo seemed very curious about why Shu was holding back and refused to leave the party.

"Raphatalia, Filo is fighting with the archer."

"Yes. It might be better to do so to avoid causing trouble for Naofumi-sama. But we shouldn't trust him."

"Okay."

And so, Raphatalia apparently left Shu on the first day to level up alone. She vented her anger on the monsters and calmed down. The intensity of her anger was higher than Motokatsu's or Ren's, I felt. She hates lies. Or maybe it's because Raphatalia is athletic and doesn't like being held back.

"I don't want to trust someone who lies to their comrades, even temporarily, and I don't want to trust my back to you."

Raphatalia said this to Shu. Her expression was so cold it made the air freeze. Her eyes were dead. I had never seen Raphatalia like this before.

"You! How dare you speak such insolence to Ituki-sama! I won't forgive you!"

Kaito, his armor torn, lunged at Raphatalia. Raphatalia, expressionless, looked at his arm.

"I don't like violence for the sake of pride."

Raphatalia firmly gripped Kaito's outstretched arm. The sound of metal bending came from his gauntlet. Even though I wasn't the one being scolded, I felt scared. It was a clear sign of how angry Raphatalia was.

"He's strong."

Raphatalia has a lot of arm strength, after all. All that self-training has paid off.

"Stop it."

Raphatalia gave Shu a final warning with a threatening voice.