Not Quite Perfect

"URAHH!"

I hear the screams of an enemy behind me, but I don't pay it any mind. All that my vision covers are the two adventurers attacking me in tandem.

"Compared to a beast, this is slow."

I push forward slightly before stepping aside. The oncoming blade strikes only air while still being far enough away for Peo to be unaffected. I attempt to slash at his neck, but I'm blocked. The man at the other end of our clashing swords seems to smirk.

"We've killed monsters of all sizes and defended against ten times the number of bandits. Don't expect us to go down easily!"

Behind me, I can tell that Peo is also stuck on the defence. I can hear her soft grunts as she pushes back, but something about her is lacking. The swords fail to break through her defences, but they still keep the beast from attacking back. The board needs a reset or things will only get worse.

"Peo! Switch!"

I push the pair of adventurers back on my side and turn to swing on the set of three. Peo hears my words and also tries to turn.

"Urk…"

She turns, but not without slamming her shoulder into my stomach. The manoeuvre left our enemies with a moment of surprise that we were unable to capitalise on.

Peo's original targets try to swing at her back but I defend her just in time. Her tail is still under my shoulder when I hear the same thing happen behind me. We're back to this awkward situation except with me at a major disadvantage. I'll need to improvise once more.

"Peo! Duck!"

I take a wide swing over the short girl's head. It would have made contact with one of the adventurers' throats, but Peo knocked the man backwards before my sword could connect.

"Tch!"

There isn't a clean way to block the swords aiming for my chest, so I attempt to evade to the side. Unfortunately, Peo chooses the same direction to dodge in and collides with me once again in this narrow alleyway. At least we avoided the attacks.

"This isn't working…"

We continue to dance with death at the hands of these unhappy adventurers. Whenever I try to use the space to our advantage, Peo finds a way to accidentally obstruct my progress. The two of us often see the same optimal move, but fail to act in sync.

Neither of us have sustained any wounds, but we still find ourselves surrounded without a single enemy casualty. Two swords throw themselves at me once more.

"Forget this…"

The dagger in my right hand falls to the ground. Instead of coming up with another means of evading, I reach over and grab the silver scarf around Peo's neck. Her tail seems to puff up as I swing the girl's body around in the way of my attackers.

"Huh!?"

The adventurers are unable to process the current state of the field. The three on Peo's side strike the air at my back while the ones on mine are blinded by blue. This provides me the opportunity to thrust my sword past Peo's hip and into one of my targets.

"AHHH!"

"Peo."

The first hasn't even finished screaming before his friend joins him. Two now lay bleeding on the floor, one from my shortsword to the chest and the other from Peo's blue scale in his forehead. The beast kicks off the body of her target and sends me rotating into our next set of prey.

"Wait—AHH!"

One is caught by surprise and downed by Peo's scale. The other two are unable to block my attacks from behind this living shield. When I finally place Peo back on the ground, all of the adventurers are on the ground in pools of red.

"Let's go."

The young girl nods and we walk over the already unconscious bodies towards one end of the alleyway.

"Curse…you…"

The man with many words tries to crawl after us, but we pay him no mind. While turning the corner, I don't even glance back at the once aggressive adventurers.

* * * * *

Clouds paint the sky above Melior a murky grey. Peo and I are back in the safety of the open streets where a majority of the vendors have moved out. The remaining pedestrians seem to be on their way to find shelter from the coming rain.

Peo is slow to follow as we chart course back to the castle.

"Peo."

"Hm?"

Her hood is back on, but I can tell that her ears are drooping beneath. Considering our performance against a group that might as well have been a band of thugs, she likely expects a scolding. As much as I want to give one, something else has been bothering me.

"You're still injured, aren't you?"

Her tail shoots up beneath the black fabric and she averts her gaze.

"How did…you know?"

"I've seen you attack with an explosive force. Were you at your best, you should have had no issues killing those guys."

The fact that they still drew breath after her scale dug into them is an obvious sign that something is wrong. We should have also recovered quickly from each of our blunders with her speed, something that she lacked the entire fight.

"Where is it? I'll apply the ointment."

"But…"

"Just sit down and show me where it hurts!"

My voice uncharacteristically reaches a louder volume. It wasn't close to a yell, but its firmness was enough for the beast girl to willingly sit on a nearby crate. She pulls open the cloak and motions towards a spot on her hip.

"Grr…"

I carefully feel around the spot covered in tanned animal skins. Between Peo muffled groans and the unusual feel, I can assume that the bone is broken.

"You should have told me earlier. This injury could have gotten us killed."

I'm not sure why I'm lecturing the young beast. I can tell from the way she hangs her head that she already understands what I'm telling her. Something in the back of my mind won't feel satisfied until I tell it to her aloud.

"We're heading back to the castle. Take these."

I hand Peo our luggage and prepare to carry the young girl back. Before I can crouch down and bring her up, I notice something off in the distance. One of the vendor carts has just begun packing up before the rain.

"Wait here."

I make a quick stop at the stall before returning to pick up Peo. Her green eyes peek out below the coat as I hand her one extra sack to carry.

"What…is this?"

"Just something I forgot to purchase. Let's go."

Crouching onto the pavement, I allow Peo to climb up onto my back. She wraps her arms around my neck whilst I support her legs through the journey. Compared to a full grown man in military gear, this weight is nothing.

"C?"

"What is it?"

"Why?"

I can hear the uncertainty in her soft voice. Her question lacks all forms of context, but I shouldn't be too surprised by it. One day I arrive to kill her and the next I'm doing my utmost to protect her. My actions make no reasonable sense, not even to myself.

"Just like I told them, you're my responsibility now. That's all."

"…Okay."

I'm not sure if she finds satisfaction in these words, but they are able to last us the rest of the way back.