"...No matter how much I think about it, is this really the right way...?"
"Just trust me on this."
"But…."
Muyeon raised her hand and rubbed it.
"...If we do this, I won't be able to see at all...!"
Her own eyes, covered by the handkerchief.
One might ask what on earth we were doing, but this was the result of a rather logical deduction.
Muyeon is strong; she can subdue most opponents with her axe.
However, Muyeon is a coward.
Why is she scared?
If you see something with your eyes, it's natural to be scared.
Then, let's cover her eyes.
That way, Muyeon can unleash her overwhelming武力 to her heart's content.
She might be a bit uncomfortable since she has to rely solely on her hearing, but since the flowers that were swarming Muyeon earlier, or those flower faces with emoticon expressions swarming me, tend to rely on numbers, it didn't seem like something we needed to worry about too much.
"So, you mean I just fight when Mr. Tantun tells me to attack, or otherwise just walk forward as he guides me?"
"You've understood perfectly."
"...This is scary in its own way..."
"Would you prefer to fight while looking those monsters directly in the eye?"
"...Ugh, fine."
Was she feeling afraid because she couldn't see?
I covered Muyeon's trembling hand.
Strongly enough to make the trembling stop.
Muyeon looked at me, seemingly surprised, then hung her head dejectedly.
"I betrayed you once. How can you possibly trust someone like me...?"
Ah, come on, over something like that?
We're alive, isn't that what matters?
I seem to have become overly optimistic, but anyway, I've adopted the principle that it's fine as long as nothing happens.
Is this also an effect of the Mode?
"It's fine. I will be your eyes. So, you be the weapon that defeats our enemies."
We held hands and stepped forward.
"So, let's go forward slowly."
"...Hoo, okay."
Muyeon has the grip strength to wield her axe with one hand.
Even if it were a two-handed axe, in her hands, it would become a one-handed one.
"There's a branch blocking the path ahead. Could you please deal with it?"
The moment she swung the axe in her hand, the tree was instantly cut down.
She's really amazing, isn't she?
"Alright, friend, now it's your turn."
I opened my pocket, and the God of Ostracism peeked out.
"Where's the exit?"
It then pointed in the direction of the Gardener's room, not the exit.
Just moments ago, its ability felt heavily laden with intent to kill, but I guess it depends on how you use it.
Anyway, it helped, so I should probably pet it for about an hour as a reward.
Or not.
Right, we almost died, so I'll just pet it for 30 minutes.
"Who, who are you talking to?"
"Just talking to myself."
Anyway, all preparations were complete.
Now, let's get on with it.
Even with the God of Ostracism's help, I thought the process of getting to where those flowers were dense wouldn't be smooth.
But I guess it's because she's a talented Knight.
Unlike me, who can see, Muyeon instantly got the hang of it, even though it must be uncomfortable for her.
"...Eek, cha."
"Whoa, you dodged that on your own without me even saying anything!"
"R-really? I felt something was there, so I dodged..."
How on earth did she do that...?
It's starting to get a little scary now.
With each step, our feet sank into the densely packed flowers, and each time, the flowers tickled the tops of our feet.
The scene before my eyes was truly beautiful.
If only the flowers on the ground weren't corpses, others might have thought we were dancing, the way we leaped and moved about.
And so, we dashed across the flowers.
"Mr. Tantun!"
"What's wrong?"
"A strange voice...! In my ear...!"
So, having blocked her vision, are they now attacking her hearing?
Should I call them intelligent, or just downright nasty?
"It's okay! Don't worry, I'm here!"
"My, my ears...! It keeps..."
I kept my voice flowing into Muyeon's ears to prevent her from focusing on those voices.
It was only after quite a while that I realized the source of those sounds.
"Ms. Muyeon, stop now."
"The sound is getting closer, the ringing is getting worse, I'm sc-scared."
"I know. So trust me and don't worry. From now on, just stay calm and listen only to my instructions."
The smiling flowers, presumably created by the Gardener, were gathered in a horde.
Thanks to Super Coward Mode, I can't hear them, but they must be mentally attacking Muyeon.
And they were loitering around as if searching for something.
Probably looking for me, I'd guess.
Since they were so desperate to catch me that they even locked the door.
So, they're just roaming the entire area because they don't know where I am.
From this point on, if I make even one wrong word, we're finished.
I took a few deep breaths, and as soon as I reached a state where I could focus my mind completely, I shouted.
"Ms. Muyeon, run forward and swing your axe wildly! You just have to go forward!"
"Wha, what?! O-okay!"
From now on, everything depends on Muyeon.
This is all I can do for her.
Following my instruction, Muyeon sprinted forward, letting out a yell, perhaps to shake off her fear.
But why isn't she holding her axe?
"Uh, uhh?!"
Wait, what's she doing?
I'm starting to feel uneasy now?
I know I just said I trusted her, and I'm switching sides too quickly, but still, that's...!
Was it because she made a sound?
One of the flower figures noticed Muyeon and began charging at her at a terrifying speed.
It got so close that if the flower stretched its stem, it would reach her immediately.
Just as I thought we were in trouble and was about to raise my voice towards Muyeon.
Swish.
With a clean cutting sound, the flower was sliced in two.
What happened after that was relentless.
Whether they were angry because their comrade died, the flowers all charged at Muyeon at once.
But, following my instruction to swing wildly, Muyeon simply wielded her axe with precise movements, and the charging flowers were mercilessly cut down without being able to offer any resistance.
S-see, I knew I trusted her, damn it!
Who on earth doubted Muyeon?!
Contrary to my thoughts, Muyeon's voice and body seemed to be operating separately.
"Uh, uhh? What, what's happening?!"
Muyeon, seemingly feeling that something was being cut by the edge of her axe, cried out in a frightened voice.
"Wh-what am I doing right now? Is someone being cut...?
S-sorryyyyy!"
Ah, now that I think about it, I was told the originals of these plants were corpses.
To my eyes, they just look like flowers, making this situation utterly absurd, but considering how much of a coward Muyeon is, perhaps I should be grateful it's only to this extent.
"Ms. Muyeon! To the side, come to the side! Left!"
"Eek!"
At my instruction, Muyeon twisted the axe, which had already been thrust forward, in an abnormal trajectory, cutting down a flower that was charging straight at her.
Not stopping there, the tree behind where the slash landed split in half and came crashing down.
No way, that's insane.
What did I just see?
She forcibly pulled the axe from the angle it was thrust—the direction with the heaviest center of gravity—and swung it sideways?
And she did it in a fraction of a second?
"...Hic."
She might be a coward, but perhaps I'm giving orders to an impossibly strong woman.
...If she weren't a coward, the Gardener might have been sliced up long ago.
"Huff, huff..."
Thankfully, Muyeon continued to follow my instructions, but as she was fighting all those enemies alone, her stamina was visibly depleting rapidly.
By the time the God of Ostracism gestured that we didn't have much left, she was even breathing heavily.
The only silver lining was that perhaps the Gardener had run out of spare flowers to summon?
No more flowers were visible.
"Ms. Muyeon? Shall we rest for a bit before going?"
"N-no. Let's go quickly."
I guess her opinion is that rather than staying in a scary place, it's better to escape quickly.
Being a coward myself, I could strongly empathize with Muyeon's opinion.
The problem was that nothing looked scary to my eyes.
"Ms. Muyeon, I think it's okay to walk for now. There are no more enemies. Let's calm down and regroup for a moment."
"O-okay. Understood."
Since Muyeon, with her eyes covered, trusted my words completely, her agitated demeanor subsided instantly.
We walked on like that without speaking for a few minutes.
The longer that time passed, the more I could see Muyeon's shoulders beginning to tremble.
Even with my instructions, having no human voice at all in between must be a bit frightening for her.
Shall we try talking a little?
"By the way, things like 'Senior White Mask?' and your alias, Muyeon. How are those kinds of aliases chosen?
From what I've heard, there's someone named Musin, and since 'Muyeon' sounds similar, are you related to that...?"
"Wha?! How do you know... eep."
...Oops.
Muyeon was candidate number one for someone who should absolutely never gamble anywhere.
She seemed to have covered her mouth as if she'd said something she shouldn't have, but it was too late, I'd already heard it all.
No, maybe if I pretend I didn't hear it even now...
"Ah, ahaha. I was just guessing, I didn't hear anything that sounded like you were confirming it, Ms. Muyeon..."
"You heard everything, didn't you!"
Aha.
Unfortunately, my strategy didn't work.
Did I make it too obvious?
I could only scratch the back of my head awkwardly.
Muyeon finally seemed to resign herself, letting out a deep sigh as she spoke.
"You might not trust me after hearing this, but my father's alias was Musin."
As expected, it was something I had anticipated, given she was called Musin's daughter in the community.
"My father was amazing. He would go out to deal with Outsiders, whom everyone feared, as casually as going for a walk around the neighborhood, and defeat them.
As you probably know, Mr. Tantun, most of the knights died during the Snow Mountain Expedition."
The Snow Mountain Expedition. This is my first time hearing about that.
"So, the knights want me to follow in that glory.
But, I'm not worthy of it.
I'm just a coward who can't face an Outsider, a half-wit..."
She seemed to be starting a story with a sad preface, so I tried to listen carefully.
There might be something in it that could help me.
But unfortunately, I couldn't do that anymore.
Because the God of Ostracism suddenly started flailing in front of my eyes as if telling me to stop.
"Ms. Muyeon, wait a moment."
"Y-yes?"
The moment we stopped, I could see why it was causing such a fuss.
The deer mask.
The Gardener we were looking for was standing there, leaning his arm against a tree.
Muyeon, seemingly sensing his overwhelming presence immediately, spoke in a trembling voice.
"...Is the Gardener over there?"
"Yes."
Despite her seemingly frightened demeanor, she tightly gripped her axe, showing her resolve.
After all, if you can't see it, it's not scary.
It was the moment when the fear of not being able to see what's ahead was surpassed by the fear of the Outsider.
"Ms. Muyeon, right now the Gardener..."
What happened next was instantaneous.
"Huh?"
Stems rising from the ground wrapped around Muyeon and flung her far away.
Thanks to Muyeon's quick thinking in letting go of my hand, I was left unharmed.
"How curious. You have no protective item, yet your mind remains intact. Is your mental strength exceptionally strong?"
A sweet voice reached my ears.
Right beside me, the Gardener was looking at me.
"Even when I get this close, your form remains intact. Even if you were her follower, you should have turned into a flower just by my approach."
His finger trailed down my arm and grasped the hand that had been holding Muyeon.
"What are you?"