This is completely different from how it is in games. Cute, cute, cute! Girls fighting in swimsuits are so cute!

  I don’t think I’ll ever be the same after this. This is nothing like seeing them on a screen. Every time Carol or Katja swing at the chameleon monster, there are jiggles and flutters that you can only see from up close. It’s so cute!

  I wonder if I can make this the new standard. It’s so nice… Oh, but what if it gets boring after a while? Yeah… I think the novelty would wear off after a while… I guess it’s the type of thing you save for special occasions. “Now, Iroha!”

  Between the two pools, Katja and Carol were fighting the chameleon to create an opening for me to jump. “G- got it!” I was able to focus after Katja’s signals, ran forward, and jumped on top of it.

  Even though we’re in the middle of an important mission, it’s such a good day outside that it feels kinda like a dream. If anything, it’s this thing’s fault that we can’t sit back and relax anymore. Time to make it pay!

  The chameleon’s body was cylindrical and uneven, but it was wide enough that I was able to find a way to place my feet. “Let’s do this!” I held my sword high before swinging it at its exposed back below my feet. The first strike barely did anything. As expected… I need to stack Blade Dance first, don’t I?

  Swing after swing, I moved my arms as fast as I could. Each consecutive attack increased the power of the next by such a small margin that it was barely noticeable. But it’s fine… No matter how long it takes, we can do this!

  “The tail’s moving!” After a few swings of my sword, the chameleon tried to stab me with its tail sword.

  “I can see, Narumi. Leave it to me.” The next second, a shot from Hecate’s sniper caused the sword to whiff.

  “Is it working?” Carol stared as the monster’s movements grew desperate. She and Katja were at a safe distance, out of range of its claws yet close enough to react if it tried to interrupt me.

  “Not yet!” It’d be so much easier if I could use the Butterfly’s Wings Slash Flurry combo! Too bad Carol’s the only one I can show my powers to. I could be hitting it like five times faster!

  The damage was steadily increasing. Eventually, the creature raised the left front leg and extended its claws for an attack. Katja ran forward and smacked it back down with her sword. “Focus on the enemy and forget about Iroha, Carol!” With its attack interrupted, it tried to retaliate against Katja. She had finished her objective, so she just backed away. “We can only trust that her plan will work.”

  “I- I know! I don’t need you telling me that!” Carol focused and saw the legs on her side twitch. Stupid thing is gonna try this side now… You’re not lifting a single finger on my watch!

  Carol approached before the lizard even did anything. Isn’t she moving a bit too early? I can almost damage it… Just need a few more hits… If they can hold on a little longer, it will all be over soon!

  Both legs looked like they were about to do something. Carol looked between them, ready to strike whichever moved first. “Woah!” Then, Carol heard someone’s wobbly voice. The legs weren’t going for an attack this time, but for a big movement.

  “What?!” With a violent jolt, the chameleon’s whole body jumped to the right. Carol tried to stop it but got pushed back until she fell back into the pool. “Iroha?” Dammit! She fell in the pool. Even the water could not cool her frustration. Katja was able to do it. Why can’t I? Was Iroha at least able to hold on? As long as she’s not interrupted, we…

  *Splash!* Her eyes widened as a face appeared underwater, falling roughly in the same spot as her. Iroha… Dammit… She was actually knocked off… Carol was ready to drown in her sorrows when she got pulled up by the wrist.

  “*Bwah!* Ahahahahaha! We were so close! The chameleon got pretty lucky… One wrong move and it would have been toast.” Carol looked frustrated even though the plan went great. We were pretty close to a perfect ending.

  “Sorry, Iroha… It was all my fault… I ruined everything at the last second.” Carol looked at the water, trying to hide her face behind her wet hair.

  “What are you talking about?” With one hand, I gently swept her hair to the side before continuing. “You just got unlucky… It’s not your fault. Who knew it’d be able to move so quickly after getting so bulky?”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “But your plan’s ruined now… All because of me.”

  “Ruined? I’m not hurt, and it’s all thanks to you and the others. It may have managed to knock me off its back, but we can just start again.” That said, I did lose my consecutive hit bonus. It will take a while to rebuild those stacks. “Don’t get discouraged, Carol. Let’s try again, okay?” Carol and I managed to get out of the pool. The other three were still fighting the monster, keeping it in place while waiting for us to return.

  “Right… We have to show the others the result of our ‘training’ too, or we’ll never hear the end of it. I’ll cover you properly this time, Iroha. Leave it to me.”

  “We’ll finish it off this time. I’m counting on you, Carol.” I smiled, and she responded with a nod.

  On the other side, without me on top of it, the chameleon monster was now able to go on the offensive. It knocked Katja to the side and rushed straight for Narumi and Hecate. Narumi took a step forward and met the monster’s charge head-on. The handle of her axe slid under its head and locked in front of its shoulders. “C- can I get a hand here? This guy’s hard to stop!” Narumi leaned forward while sliding across the deck.

  “Huh? I did it?” Her struggle paid off, and she managed to stop the charge by herself. “Wow… You’re even uglier up close.” Her positioning resulted in her being face-to-face with the monster. Then, its mouth opened. “Stinks too! Hey! Watch it!” Just like a bullet, the chameleon shot its tongue at Narumi from point-blank. Even more insane was Narumi’s reaction time. She dodged it. Without any issue. The tongue retracted, and she dodged it again. And again, and again. What the hell? I need to learn how to do that!

  “Hold it right there, Narumi.” I shouted as Carol and I returned to the fight. “Let’s try the same thing again, everyone! Buy me some time!” By jumping on its back again, the monster lost balance, and the clash with Narumi broke off. It immediately responded with a tail swipe over its back, but Hecate was in place to shoot it down again.

  From there, Katja and Carol surrounded it, and we settled back into position. Time for me to start hacking away at it again. I think I can finish it off faster this time. “How are you after that hit, Carol? Can you keep going?” Katja asked her as the two of them got busy keeping the monster in place.

  “It was just a tackle. Keep an eye out for when both its legs twitch. That means he’s going to jump.”

  “Like what’s happening right now?” Before Katja could receive an answer, the monster started rampaging. As if moving my sword wasn’t hard enough already, I now had to make a big effort not to fall. If our progress resets again, we might need to give up on this idea. “Stop right there… Your turn, Carol!”

  Like Narumi, Katja slid through the floor until the lizard stopped pushing her way, then Carol did the same. “I’m trying! Guuuhhhh!” One of the chameleon’s eyes was focused on her, and that gave her an idea. She was stronger now, but what was her new strength? She sneakily looked and confirmed the other three’s positions.

  From a dead angle, she made a knife appear in her mouth. She flicked her head and threw it at the monster’s eye. “You reacted.” Nothing ever reached it, but that was all it took to slow its momentum. She sure likes playing with fire… What if the others saw her using magic? Either way…

  “Well done, Carol! Now that it’s stopped in place, I can…” Heart Piercer! And Heart Piercer! And another one. Instead of relying just on the small portion of damage that goes through defenses, with Blade Dance right now, I can actually cause some good damage with these. They’re probably doing full damage. “Go! Down! Already! Stop! Reinforcing! That! Part!” The last thrust went all the way through, and I jumped off the monster, landing next to the other two.

  “Did you finish it off?” Katja asked. Something told me the monster was dead after the last thrust, but its body was yet to go limp.

  “Y- yeah… I’m pretty sure I did…”

  “Why is it still standing then?” Carol looked at me for an explanation. “Huh? What’s going on?” She covered her eyes as the monster suddenly started shining.

  “It’s glowing?” We were blinded for a moment, then we heard a small metallic object hit the floor. “No way… It’s gone…?” In its place, all that was left was a small hand mirror. I- is that some kind of drop? Since when do monsters turn into drops? That’s not how this usually goes!

  “What just happened? I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Katja cautiously took a few steps forward. “Did the monster’s body dissolve? What was that light?”

  The five of us then gathered around the small object. “It left behind a mirror. That’s a bad omen.” Hecate commented.

  “Why would it leave behind a mirror? Are we sure the chameleon didn’t transform itself into the mirror just to trick us?” The unusual situation caused Carol to be on edge.

  “Hmmm…” On a whim, Narumi grabbed the mirror. “Looks like a regular mirror to me… It did manage to turn into a jumping board flawlessly, didn’t it? Can I break it?” Narumi raised her hand, ready to slam the thing into the floor.

  “No no no!” Katja rushed to grab Narumi’s hand. “Let’s take the mirror back with us. I’ll ask Shinji what to do. We should rely on him in a situation like this.” She took the mirror from Narumi’s hand and took a closer look before speaking again. “For now, I think we can say we accomplished our mission. Good work, everyone!”

  “Really? It’s over?” Hearing that made me breathe a sigh of relief. “Finally! That was such an annoying monster…” Constantly hiding then turning almost immortal… My arms are sore from swinging my sword so much… That’s what happens when I can’t use skills.

  “Are you tired?” Katja smiled faintly. “You did a lot of the work today, so you definitely deserve a nice rest. Going into the pool was also a great idea. I didn’t expect that would be what brought the monster out of hiding. Well done, Iroha.”

  “Thanks!” Going into the pool wasn’t exactly my idea, but I’ll take it. “Are we going back to the house now?” We can still make it in time for dinner if we leave now. Though, we might need to grab something along the way.

  “Well, we were given three days to finish this mission, remember? We defeated our target on the second day, but no one needs to know that… If you’re all fine with that, I think we can stay another day here and take tomorrow off. What do you say?”

  “We’re staying! This is my summer vacation, and I’m not letting anyone end it early!” Narumi stepped in front of us, speaking for everyone else.

  “Fufufu…” Hecate held up her umbrella again, quickly slipping back into vacation mode. “If that’s the case, leave dinner to me. I’ll prepare a celebratory feast tonight.”

  “Yes! More rich people food! Hey, Hecate, what ingredients are there? Can you use the most expensive things today? We deserve it, right?” Narumi started pestering Hecate with dinner requests, and Hecate was more than happy to oblige. She really is good at taking care of the others…

  “You did great, Iroha, but you did just as well, Carol. Your awareness during battle has always been good, but you focused your strength on the right things better than usual. Your raw power has also increased… I think we can say your training trip was a success. You should ask for permission next time, but it’s alright. You two did great.”

  “Really? We’re not gonna get in trouble? I’m so glad…” Another day, another dissection ending avoided.

  “Hmph! What did you expect? Iroha and I were together, so of course the training was a success. This is only just the beginning, though. I’m still going to catch up to Iroha and you one day.” There was happiness in her voice from having her efforts acknowledged, but Carol tried really hard not to let it show. I’m happy for her.

  Our time here has been incredibly fun… We had the monster to worry about and whatnot, but even then, I can’t complain. But what Hecate told me yesterday is still in the back of my mind. I’m not afraid anymore. The five of us being together is something good. Something really good… I want it to last forever. But I also want to be true to my feelings. And so, there’s only one path. I need to take a step forward and take a chance. No… I want to take a chance. A chance to create something great…