Staring at the Contents of the Treasure Chest
Inside was a single arrow. Aside from the vine-like pattern drawn on the arrowhead, it was a perfectly ordinary arrow. I lifted the treasure chest with both hands, turned it upside down, and shook it several times. A single arrow fell out. That was it.
“Huh?”
I touched the bottom of the now-empty treasure chest. …Yeah! All that’s left is just the bottom! No hidden mechanisms or anything?
“Are you serious? The only thing inside is a single arrow? What about a bow? Isn’t this supposed to come as a set with a bow? Shouldn’t this treasure chest contain some kind of item to turn the tides in a desperate situation? Do treasure chests even have duds!?”
“Juaaaaaaahhh!!”
Crap! When I turned around, it seemed the enraged Red Great Snake had noticed me. It turned its massive head in my direction, letting out a furious roar that shook the air. I mean, it’s a snake, so what’s up with it making a roaring sound? Is it weird that part of me is oddly calm enough to think about that? Still, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m in a life-or-death situation.
“Aurora!”
“—!”
Even though I knew it was futile, I called out to Aurora to cast an ice spell. But it ended in failure. It looked like the spell had been activated, but the ice melted before it could take shape. Aurora gritted her teeth in frustration.
“Damn it!”
In desperation, I threw my last bear trap. If it could buy even a little time—yeah, that was just wishful thinking. The Red Great Snake wasn’t dumb. There was no way it would get caught by a bear trap it had encountered multiple times before. The trap was knocked down by its tail before it could even reach its face. At least it wasn’t destroyed… but trying to retrieve it would get me immediately crushed.
Maybe I made the wrong decision. If I hadn’t tried to save those two adventurers back there… If I had pretended I didn’t see anything, maybe I could’ve stayed alive. Maybe I overestimated the physical abilities I gained as an elf.
“Aurora, maybe you should at least—”
“—!”
No, huh? Okay, I get it. But even so, it looks like the snake doesn’t intend to let Aurora escape either. Even in its rage, it remains extremely calm, edging closer with its mouth wide open, ready to swallow us whole. Am I gonna die? …Yeah, I might. But I’m not planning to die without a fight. My last gamble lies with this arrow clenched in my right hand!
“If I’m going down, then you’re eating this first!”
Back in elementary school, I was part of a kids’ baseball team—though I was just a second baseman. Using a throwing motion like a back-home play, I hurled the arrow! Well, yeah. It’s just a single arrow. If I had a bow, it’d be different, but throwing it at the Red Great Snake? It’d just dodge or knock it down. Sorry, Aurora. I should’ve at least hidden you in a safe area.
A dull “thunk” echoed. Was that the sound of me getting eaten? No, that’s not it. The sound came from in front of me—from the Red Great Snake. I glanced up, and what I saw was unbelievable.
“J-Jua…”
“Huh?”
“—?”
There was a circle. And beyond that circle was the Red Great Snake, half its neck blown away. The circle itself wasn’t just any circle. It looked like the thick part of its tail had been cleanly punched out as if by a hole-puncher.
Wait, could it have been the arrow I threw? No way. But even if it was, it didn’t finish the snake off. It dealt a lot of damage, but the snake was still alive. Should I run away during this chance? I could escape—huh? At some point, my right hand was holding something. I looked down to find… the same arrow I had just thrown. …What? No time to think about that!
“Take this!”
This time, I aimed carefully and threw the arrow again. Despite being thrown, the arrow flew straight like it had been shot from a bow, piercing through the circle in the tail and lodging perfectly in the snake’s head. Its head exploded.
“……”
The Red Great Snake collapsed, emitting a final hiss-like sound as air escaped from its severed neck. Its body twitched in spasms, but it didn’t seem capable of attacking us anymore.
So… does this mean?
“Did we win?”
“—!!”
Aurora clung to my cheek, nuzzling it affectionately. The warmth brought me back to reality, and at the same time, I felt the strength drain from my body.
“Ah, ha ha. We’re alive. We’re alive…! I thought we were done for!”
Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face. I couldn’t stop them even if I tried. Thank goodness. I’m still alive. I can still stream with Aurora.
Aurora was crying too. It was the first time I’d seen her cry… well, except for that one time when she ate sashimi with wasabi and cried.
Oh, there’s another treasure chest near the Red Great Snake’s corpse, decorated ornately. Treasure chests like that only appear after defeating a monster. We really did kill it. Okay, let’s check the contents, clean up the snake’s body, and contact the guild. By now, the adventurers are probably searching for us—
“Heeeey!! Gooooorgeee!! Are you still alive!?”
…Huh, I hear a familiar Kansai dialect. And there are footsteps—more than one—heading this way! Oh no! I still can’t feel my legs!
George can’t escape from this spot!▼
