Now, not just in RPGs but also in action games, mystery games, and any works where characters fight, the existence of bosses is an important game element.

  In FBO, there were a variety of bosses.

  The most common ones were the dungeon bosses found deep within dungeons.There were also field bosses periodically pced throughout the fields.Event bosses set up during story events or special events.And then there were quest bosses encountered after meeting specific conditions through quests.

  There were so many that I could list examples like this.

  Now, despite being at the lowest status of Css 1, I’m about to challenge a field boss.

  Field bosses can be broadly divided into two types: wandering types and lurking types.

  Wandering types are bosses that patrol a certain area, moving around their territory.Lurking types are bosses that rarely move from their irs.

  "Alright, this is the third location. Time-wise, can I find one more?"

  Having left the royal capital a week ago, today Shikako will return to her owner, but I’ve managed to find three locations, fewer than pnned.

  It’s still early morning, so I can say I’ve achieved the minimum goal.

  Comparing the hand-drawn map I made from my FBO memories, the points I’ve marked on the Transfer Pendulum during this exploration are all lurking spots for field bosses.

  I’ve confirmed the presence of bosses in all those areas.

  "Thanks for helping me move around. And seriously, you were a great pillow when I slept.""Meh.""You want more nuts?"

  I didn’t fight, but confirming the presence of bosses is still a big deal.I managed to get this far thanks to Shikako, who became my pillow at night after the paths that should have existed in the game era disappeared, forcing me to traverse uncharted paths.

  I’ve grown attached to Shikako, who rubs her face against me begging for food, so I take out the st of the nuts from my bag.They were supposed to be my snack, but ever since Shikako took a liking to them, I haven’t eaten a single one.

  I can only smile wryly as she munches on them happily.

  "This is the st one, okay? There’s not a single nut left in the bag.""Meh."

  While I’m grateful for the means of transportation, I think I’ll just head back using the Transfer Pendulum.

  "?"

  I hear the noisy cries of wild birds in the distance.

  "What’s that?""Fuu!!""Shikako?"

  Standing on a small hill away from the water’s edge, I try to locate the direction of the bird cries, but the trees are in the way, making it hard to pinpoint.

  But it seems Shikako’s wild instincts have figured it out.

  "This doesn’t feel good. Shikako, let’s run!""Meh!"

  Something’s coming.A bad premonition that something’s about to happen.

  To escape for now, I mount Shikako and immediately take the reins to start running.

  "Up the mountain! Let’s see what’s going on first!!""Meh!"

  Shikako starts climbing the mountain at full speed.

  Rapidly ascending, the view quickly rises.

  And just as luck would have it, when the view opens up.

  "Ah, is someone fighting?""Meh."

  Explosions echo, and white smoke rises.Not just one, but two, three explosions ring out.

  Why are they using fire magic in the forest?What if it starts a wildfire?

  "Who’s the opponent?"

  Some adventurer or maybe a noble.

  Being a mage doesn’t necessarily mean being a noble.In this world, if you allocate your stats towards magic and acquire magic-reted skills, anyone can become a mage without issue.

  However, during the game era, especially among the noble NPCs of the southern continent, it was common for lower nobles to fight physically as knights, while middle and upper nobles oddly became stationary artillery-like mages.

  The kind of fshy, continuous fire magic explosions happening in the forest is characteristic of noble mages.Adventurer mage NPCs tended to use more practical wind or water magic.

  Fshy fire magic has high destructive power, but it consumes a lot of mana, making it hard to use repeatedly, and the explosions attract nearby monsters.

  In contrast, adventurers use water magic for drinking water and wind magic for scouting—practical spells with lower power but high utility.

  "The only enemy around here that requires such reckless magic use would be an FB field boss, right?"

  There shouldn’t be any wandering FB types within a week’s travel from the royal capital.Well, if this world is real, it’s possible they migrated, or the ecosystem has changed.

  Riding Shikako, I strain my eyes to see the distant battle.

  "The magic’s power isn’t that high, but the trees are falling, so the opponent must have considerable strength."

  Ahead, explosions and falling trees indicate a battle raging in the forest.

  Trees being knocked down unnaturally, not just by explosions.

  "...That’s not from limbs. More like they’re being swept aside by a tail or something."

  I’ve seen that kind of destruction before.

  "Ah, the opponent must be a Crawling Dragon."

  Crawling Dragon, written as 這竜.

  And with that information, along with the glimpse of a long body.Scales mixed with earth tones and bck.

  From that, I realize what the mage is fighting.

  "Ugh, the Crawling Dragon should be nearby, but it’s on the other side of the mountain. Did they drag it all the way here?"

  The Crawling Dragon is essentially a giant snake.Usually nocturnal, it hides deep in caves during the day and comes out at night to silently hunt prey, making it a rare assassin-type among dragon species.

  It looks like a snake, but its face is distinctly draconic, and while its physical strength stats are the lowest among dragons, it still possesses corresponding stats and skills.

  Above all, its drop items are named "Crawling Dragon’s ~," so it’s definitely a dragon, not a snake.

  "They probably lured it out of its ir, but is that okay? Crawling Dragons get extremely aggressive when woken up during their sleep, and their attacks become ferocious."

  The best way to defeat a Crawling Dragon is to max out stealth skills, sneak into its cave during the day, and assassinate it.

  But if you fail and wake it up with an attack, it becomes enraged and relentlessly pursues the intruder until it kills them.

  "Well, it’s none of my business. Shikako, let’s get out of here.""Meh."

  It’s bad manners to interfere with someone else’s monster hunt.Unless they ask for help, but at this distance, they probably haven’t even noticed me, and there’s no rescue request.

  At my current level, I’m not prepared to take on a Crawling Dragon.

  As they say, a wise man keeps away from danger.

  Shikako seems to agree, as she turns around and starts descending the mountain to leave the battlefield.

  After about ten minutes of heading back towards the royal capital at Shikako’s pace.

  "Huh?"

  For some reason, I can still hear the explosions behind me.

  Since we’re off the beaten path, Shikako can’t run at full speed, but she’s still moving at a decent pace.

  We should be leaving the battlefield, so why aren’t the explosions getting quieter? If anything, they’re getting louder.

  I gnce back but can’t see anything.

  "...Meh."

  But Shikako speeds up a little.

  Which means.

  "It’s coming this way?"

  Never underestimate wild instincts.

  The battle sounds are getting louder.

  "It’s coming this way!? Shikako!!"

  This is a mountainous area.Surrounded by hills on both sides, it’s not easy to escape to the left or right.

  Shikako might be able to climb, but the Crawling Dragon can easily scale the mountain slopes.In terms of mobility, it might be the fastest in these mountains.

  "Crap!? Did that party run away!? Don’t come this way!!"

  No offense, but I’d rather fight a group of goblins than a Crawling Dragon.

  Among dragon species, there’s a hierarchy, and while the Crawling Dragon is at the bottom, that’s only within the dragon species.

  The lowest-tier dragon species are three: Crawling Dragons, Flying Dragons, and Swamp Dragons.

  Among them, if you ask which is the most troublesome to fight without preparation, I and other pyers would definitely say the Crawling Dragon.Why is the Crawling Dragon the most troublesome? It’s because of its attribute.The Crawling Dragon’s attribute is darkness.

  The troublesome thing about the darkness attribute is that its skills are mostly stealth-based and debuff-heavy.The Crawling Dragon uses stealth skills, poison debuffs, and vision-impairing debuffs.

  Do you get it?The Crawling Dragon has the tough body of a dragon while spreading debuffs, impairing vision, and attacking with poison.

  And it’s aggressive to boot.

  Without countermeasures for dark attributes, you’re in for a world of pain.I speak from experience—during the game era, I carelessly entered a Crawling Dragon’s ir and was instantly killed. When I went back for revenge, I got wrecked by its dark attribute attacks.

  This is not a monster you fight with leather armor and a bamboo spear.

  "Ah! I’m using the Transfer Pendulum to escape! Shikako, stop somewhere safe!"

  I’d like to find one more field boss lurking spot, but if I get greedy, I’ll get caught up in the battle approaching from behind.

  Life comes first.Thinking that, I was about to tell Shikako to stop so I could escape, but.

  "!? A boy in a pce like this!? Run!!"

  A voice calls out from behind.

  Gncing back, I see a knight-like man running while carrying an injured companion.

  And one by one, his companions start appearing.

  SHAAAAAAA!!!!!

  The enraged Crawling Dragon also appears.Though it’s a dragon, it lets out a snake-like roar.

  "Ahhh!! Damn it!! Shikako, full speed ahead!!"

  And the Crawling Dragon clearly spots me.The moment I confirm that, I order Shikako to run at full speed.

  The Transfer Pendulum can’t be activated while moving.It takes about five seconds to activate.

  Meaning, I need to be stationary for five seconds to use it.

  There’s no way I can activate it while a boss monster has spotted me.

  If I’m interrupted, the transfer fails, and I can’t use it again for an hour.

  It’s not something to use on a whim.

  Gncing back, I see three knight-like figures running at Shikako’s speed, and a girl desperately running ahead.

  One knight is carrying an injured person, likely a healer given their priest-like attire.Losing the healer is bad luck.

  The other two knights are trying to fend off the Crawling Dragon while retreating, but they clearly ck firepower.

  And the girl.

  "Hit it!!"

  She’s acting as a mobile artillery.

  "Enough already!? Just give up!!"

  Her explosion magic momentarily staggers the Crawling Dragon, but it’s not enough to deal real damage.

  While running—no, while jumping—her magic aim is unstable.

  "Ha, it’s my first time seeing a real-life blonde drill."

  Seeing the girl’s hairstyle as she curses at the Crawling Dragon, I can’t help but comment on it, even though it’s not the time.

  "Wait, this isn’t the time for that."

  The party has three frontliners, one healer, and one mage—a banced setup, but they clearly ck the firepower to take down the Crawling Dragon.

  Calmly analyzing the situation, it’s only a matter of time before everyone here is wiped out.

  "My dy!! We’ll act as decoys!! Please escape!!""I won’t!! Abandoning the retainers who came to help me save my sister would tarnish the name of House Edelgard!! I’ll hold them off!! You escape!!"

  Wow, is this an event trigger? Maybe it’s because I have a gamer’s mindset.From what I see, their master-servant retionship isn’t bad.

  They both seem like good people, and there’s some backstory here.

  The dy who’s clearly raising death fgs mentioned House Edelgard.

  Hmm, that name sounds really familiar.

  Wait, am I about to meet a named character?

  And the named character I know is...

  "Young man, don’t worry about us and keep running!! This is my fault!! I’ll hold them off, so you escape!!"

  Iris Edelgard.The girl desperately fighting the Crawling Dragon has the same blonde drill hair.

  "This Esmeralda Edelgard will handle it, so don’t worry!!"

  Yeah, no doubt about it.

  This is that character.Famous among us pyers and quite popur.

  The older sister of the viliness Iris!?

  And isn’t this the past event that becomes the reason for the death of Iris’s beloved older sister, which you can see in the story event if you raise Iris’s affection!?

  The older sister’s character wasn’t depicted in the game, but I remember Iris always smiled brightly when talking about her.

  That gap was so endearing that I was a big fan of Iris!

  And now, the event that might heal the wounds of my favorite character’s past is happening here.

  Looks like I’ll have to risk my life a little.