The Male Lead Changed the Genre

He flinched ever so slightly, the corner of his mouth twitching upward, before hastily dropping his gaze again. He furrowed his brow and shook his head, then rolled his eyes this way and that, only to steal yet another glance at her.

Natalie, who had been watching the whole display, felt something odd stirring in her chest. She simply couldn't tell whether he was doing it because he liked what he saw, or because it grated on his nerves.

She'd braced herself for a scolding—why were you staring at me like that?—but instead, he was too busy sneaking glances at her to spare her a proper look.

The real problem was that she couldn't tear her eyes away from McLane, no matter how strange his reactions were.

In the end, it was McLane who turned his head first.

Natalie belatedly shook her head and looked away as well. Something had clearly gone wrong. An error—yes, that had to be it. An error in that man's affection rating alone. She tried hard to convince herself of that.

The closer they drew to the north, the more rapidly the scenery turned desolate.

"From here on, we're in Delloa Territory!"

Delloa Territory, for all its proximity to the northern mountain range, had once boasted broad, fertile wheat fields. But now the stalks leaned at drunken angles, their plump kernels never even harvested, rotting where they stood—and instead of abundance, they conjured only an air of ruin and desolation.

"Does no one live in Delloa Territory anymore?" Natalie asked, brow furrowed. Bertel, who was driving the carriage, answered in his gentle voice.

"The Erosion Zone has been spreading fast, apparently, so everyone's emigrated to other territories as of late. The lord's castle and the buildings should still be standing intact, though. In other words, we'll sleep more comfortably than we would out in the open."

Bertel's reply was meant to reassure her, but Natalie couldn't simply relax. The mood of the column grew noticeably heavier the closer they came to the Erosion Zone, and McLane's voice as he ordered everyone to stay alert had turned distinctly sharper than before.

"You all know this already, but from this point on, we may as well consider ourselves within the Erosion Zone's sphere of influence. Monster attacks will only grow more frequent—no one slacks off on watch!"

"Yes, Captain!"

McLane's fierce commands drove home, more than anything, the reality that Natalie was truly headed for the Erosion Zone. Monster attacks more frequent—the strongest monster she'd faced so far was, at best, a goblin. She couldn't guarantee she'd handle herself with any composure if something stronger showed up.

And besides, hadn't every message she'd received these past few days—apart from the first few—been exclusively about affection ratings? It was quite possible that, unlike McLane, who had transmigrated as a proper game character, she simply hadn't been granted a Status Window or a skill menu at all. Those first blurry texts she'd assumed were skill-acquisition notifications might well have been affection-rating messages all along.

Her tense expression must have shown, because McLane, passing beside her carriage, tossed a few words her way.

"Whether it's a defensive barrier or a concealment barrier—keep one on the carriage at all times from here on. It'll still have some effect until we enter the Erosion Zone."

It sounded curt, but the consideration beneath it was plain. And that was exactly what frightened Natalie.

It'll still have some effect until we enter the Erosion Zone.

Didn't that mean that once they crossed the threshold, no barrier of any kind would do a lick of good?

And as if to confirm it, Jorel's shout rang out from the head of the column.

"A pack of wolf-type monsters sighted ahead!"

"Everyone dismount and form ranks!"

Fighting wolves on horseback was apparently a losing proposition, because everyone scrambled down from their mounts in a hurry. Five knights, McLane included, formed a circle around the carriage, while Orlando grabbed a quiver and climbed onto its roof.

"Miss Pereira, please wait inside the carriage."

"Ah—yes. Understood."

Natalie complied without protest. Goblins at least walked on two legs; she had no idea how one was supposed to deal with beast-type monsters like these.

"Attack!"

The moment McLane's command fell, one of the wolves lunged straight for him. It seemed to know exactly who was commanding the enemy line.

From atop the carriage roof, the rat-a-tat of Orlando's rapid fire tore through the air in quick succession.

With a piercing shriek and a wet, heavy thud, the wolf-type monster that had so bravely appointed itself the vanguard died gloriously without ever reaching its target.

Howls and the clang of steel, and the sickening sound of blades shearing through bone and sinew, came in an unbroken rhythm. Natalie had hastily thrown a concealment barrier over the carriage, but a barrier didn't erase one's very existence—so the monsters charging at the convoy kept missing their targets and slamming into the carriage walls, the racket echoing on and on.

Wondering if she ought to lend a hand somehow, Natalie cautiously peeked out the carriage window—and nearly screamed.

"Gah!"

A monster with long fangs jutting past its lower jaw was peering inside, yellow eyes fixed on the carriage interior. Those ferociously gleaming eyeballs proclaimed its identity as a beast of prey loud and clear.

Don't tell me the concealment barrier broke? I haven't even attacked yet.

Fortunately, the barrier was still holding. The monster, rolling its eyes toward her side of the carriage, never got the chance to do more—McLane closed the distance in a blink and, with a single grunt, severed its head with one stroke.

"Kraaargh!"

The trouble was, whether the thing had alerted the others before dying, the other wolves kept shoving their faces in through the carriage walls after that. It was less like they were looking for something to eat and more like they were hunting for whatever was hidden inside. Of course, McLane or Orlando cut them down every time—but a conflict was quietly swelling in Natalie's chest.

Shame at having come all this way only to cower in hiding the entire time, and the sense of duty that she, too, ought to do something.

Beside herself, lips clenched between her teeth, Natalie reflexively poured a burst of flame down the throat of the wolf-type monster whose muzzle was thrust so close it nearly touched her face.

FWOOSH.

"KRAAAAAAA!"

The moment the monster, having swallowed a ball of brilliant fire, reeled back with a scream of agony, Natalie flung open the door and leaped out of the carriage. She had launched an attack, so the barrier would shatter soon enough—better, she judged, to come out and fight alongside the others.

"Oh, for the love of—Natalie!"

McLane, in the middle of grappling with a monster near the carriage, scrunched his face up fiercely and hurriedly motioned for her to climb onto the roof.

Orlando, already up top, seemed to see it too, and reached down to catch her.

"Miss Pereira! Here! Take my hand!"

Natalie reached up to grasp it—but before their fingertips could even meet, something happened.

Levitation magic she had never cast activated on its own and lifted her body into the air.

"Huh?"

This was not something she could shrug off. Magic required a procedure—chanting an incantation, inscribing a formula, drawing a magic circle, something. Granted, there were those who could cast spells instantly without any chant, but that was only possible if you'd memorized the specific spell beforehand, or if you'd reached an extraordinarily high level of mastery.

How on earth—

But there was no room to steady her bewilderment. There was no time to puzzle it out, either, because they were fighting for their lives, hemmed in by what looked like at least seventy or eighty wolf-type monsters.

She hadn't realized, listening from inside the carriage, just how many of them had swarmed in. To think six knights had been holding this line at all—she could only click her tongue in disbelief.

And now it was her turn to pull her own weight.

Calling to mind the spells she'd memorized in addition this morning before they set out, Natalie quietly picked out the monsters her attacks would be most efficient against.

"Orlando! I've got the rear! Stone Wall!"

The moment she cast the spell she'd memorized as a shield substitute, boulders surged up from the ground behind the carriage, forming a solid rampart. Better to wall off at least one side than to be assailed from all directions like animals driven into a corner.

She hadn't been expected to cast something like this—McLane's eyebrows shot up in surprise.