Switching to a Reverse Harem, But the Male Lead Changed the Genre
“B-but I have to see the knight bring Mama and Maria back….”
Even as tears streamed down his face, Billy clenched his jaw and shook his head. It seemed his mother and sister had thrown themselves in front of the goblins to buy time for him to escape.
“Your mom and sister — those people will bring them back for sure.”
Natalie pointed at the squad locked in fierce combat with the goblin swarm, doing her best to reassure the boy.
“Spread out!”
At McLane's command, the Muki brothers fanned out wide to either side.
McLane, who had been charging at the head of the column, was already beheading a second goblin before anyone noticed.
Swish, thwick, thud.
Natalie watched, spellbound, as the man wove a dazzling flurry of arcs through the air.
As expected of a game-world possessor who's done nothing but grind levels.
There was something genuinely striking about the way he swung his sword, wrapped in the bright sunlight like a blazing halo.
He leapt over the goblins' heads, carving through them as if dancing — a supple, fluid blade-work, dancer-graceful yet so fast her eyes couldn't hope to follow. She couldn't help but click her tongue in admiration.
The well-honed muscles that flexed with every swing, and even the cold indifference with which he flicked the blood from his blade after felling a monster, only to sweep it around and cut down the next — the whole sequence flowed as naturally as water.
This was the male lead she'd hand-picked as her favorite before transmigrating, all right.
Granted, this was hardly the moment for such thoughts, but paired with that handsome face, the whole thing was — well, honestly, quite a show.
Even as their kin were hacked down without mercy, the goblins never stopped swarming. But the pitch-black horde was carved apart in an instant, hitting the ground with dull, heavy thuds. Wherever he passed, goblin corpses piled up in neat, relentless stacks.
McLane kicked the chest of the goblin he'd just impaled to wrench his sword free, then caught Natalie watching him and frowned. With a jerk of his head, he motioned for her to get inside the carriage, already.
Ah… and so the vision of my beloved male lead scatters into dust.
Natalie nodded reluctantly and hurried Billy into the carriage.
But she had no intention of hiding inside it herself.
“Good heavens! There are already so many!”
Turning back after settling the boy inside, she gasped at the sight of a dozen-plus goblins already reduced to dark-red lumps of meat.
At her exclamation, Orlando strolled over and spoke in the leisurely tone of a spectator at a sporting match.
“The Munash and Muki brothers are decent fighters in their own right, but honestly, our captain alone could wipe out an entire goblin village without breaking a sweat. He hardly needs us lifting a finger.”
His voice carried a quiet, undercurrent of respect and trust in his captain.
Yet there were simply too many goblins, and a few kept slipping through the squad's encirclement.
“Ah….”
So it's finally my turn, Natalie thought, stepping forward. Only one or two at a time — a Wind Blade or two ought to do it.
She was picking one of her pre-memorized spells to loose when Orlando moved faster.
Shwaaaak! Greaaagh!
Watching a goblin collapse with an arrow punched through its skull, Natalie looked back at him with obvious disappointment. Orlando shrugged.
“I don't think it's necessary for you to step in, Miss Pereira. Perhaps you'd better stay in the carriage with the child?”
Friendly as he acted, it seemed this man didn't quite trust her either.
Natalie pushed down a faintly bitter feeling and shook her head firmly.
“No. If I want to adapt quickly, I should contribute somehow.”
“Then shall the next one be a test run for you, Miss?”
“Yes, sure.”
Natalie gave a small nod and recalled the goblin facts she'd memorized back in Monster Physiology class at the academy.
If she remembered right, variant goblins occasionally appeared — ones that used shamanism or possessed regenerative abilities. A common goblin, though, shouldn't be any trouble with the low-tier spells she'd memorized.
It wasn't as if she'd run into a variant goblin here — that kind of rotten luck just didn't happen.
She was shaking her head to shake off the ill-omened thought when—
“GRAAAAAGH!”
A huge, brazen roar unlike anything they'd heard so far rolled closer. Then came the expedition members' urgent shouts.
“Stop it!”
“Don't let it out of the village!”
The confident expression Natalie had worn — waiting only for her chance to unleash a spell — crumpled in an instant.
Whenever she watched a drama or a movie where the hero stood frozen, staring dumbly at a truck blazing its headlights, she'd clutch her chest in frustration and wonder how anyone could be that stupid.
But right now, at this very moment, Natalie understood exactly how they felt.
Even with her spell fully prepared a heartbeat earlier, she could only gape at the grotesque, towering goblin closing in with every passing second.
It wasn't a question of being stupid or not. It was simply a question of how well you could handle a situation like this.
Fortunately, someone with veteran instincts for exactly these situations was standing right beside her.
“Damn it! Get back, Miss Pereira — now!”
Shwak! Shwaaak!
Orlando's arrows flew in rapid succession at the goblin bearing down on Natalie.
It was an astonishing rate of fire — she was watching, and still could hardly believe how fast he could loose arrow after arrow.
But unfortunately, even dozens of arrows weren't enough to stop the thing. Because, just as her ill-omened thought had suggested, the creature charging them at full sprint was a variant goblin — one that regenerated any wound in the blink of an eye.
“This won't do. Miss Pereira, get inside the carriage for now—”
Orlando was pushing her back, moving to shield her, when McLane — who had caught up with the creature unnoticed — cut it down in a diagonal slash and shouted toward him and Natalie.
“Damn it! There's a fair number of nasty ones mixed in. Orlando! Get Miss Pereira somewhere safe first, then—”
That was when Natalie, still rooted to the spot, went wide-eyed.
Because the variant goblins McLane had just cut down were rising back up behind him.
“Captain! Behind you!”
At Orlando's cry, McLane whipped around — and to Natalie, the motion seemed to stretch out in slow motion. Instinctively, she thrust her hand toward the variant goblins lunging for his back.
She wasn't thinking about which spell to use. It was a momentary, unconscious act born of pure desperation — the simple conviction that she had to do something, that she could not just stand there and watch someone get hurt in front of her.
The astonishing thing was what happened next.
FWOOSH! FWOOOOM!
“Wha—?”
What erupted from her fingertips was neither Wind Blade nor Wind Cutter.
It was a fire-element spell of tremendous power — one she had never even thought to attempt.
And it wasn't one of the second- or third-circle low-tier spells she'd memorized, either. Judging by its force, it was at least a fifth-circle intermediate magic. A spell that looked at least two full tiers above any offensive fire magic she had committed to memory was stretching out from her hand.
Even Natalie herself, the one who'd cast it, couldn't close her mouth at the power of the magic she had just unleashed without realizing it.
Screee! GRAAAH!
The three variant goblins that had risen back up behind McLane were instantly engulfed in searing blue-white flame, staggered, and collapsed to the ground as charred black husks.
Orlando, who had been firing off rapid shots beside her, showered her with praise at Natalie's unexpected feat.
“Oho! Miss Pereira! Magnificent!”
“Miss strong!”
“Miss Pereira powerful!”
The Munash brothers, who had caught up a beat late, burst into admiration as well.
McLane, saved from danger almost by accident, stared at her for a moment as if surprised — then quickly urged the squad back into motion.
“What are you standing around for! Plenty of them left — get your heads back in the fight!”
“Yes, sir!”
At his command, the members snapped back into flawless coordination. Perhaps Natalie's exploits made them feel the end of this fight was finally in sight, and the pace at which they cut down the remaining goblins kicked into high gear.
McLane shot a glance at Natalie, who was staring blankly down at her own hands, eyes round — his lips parting as if to say something.
Just then, a shout from Jorel, whom they'd sent around the back of the village, pulled his attention away.
“Captain! There's a whole cluster of variants over here! Looks like a shaman's hiding out somewhere inside the village!”
McLane immediately raised his voice and issued new orders.
“Everyone spread out and find that shaman! And, Orlando—”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Our new mage looks like she could use a little rest.”