Hearing my words, Karl was startled and moved away from the rock.

Then he cautiously asked me.

“Are you saying this huge thing isn’t just a rock… but a monster?”

“Yes. As the sun is setting, it will soon wake up and start moving.”

After explaining that, I continued to address the captain.

“As you can see, it’s a rock-type monster. It’s tough, so attacks don’t work well. Once it wakes up and starts moving, it’ll be even more troublesome.”

“It would be great if we could finish it off in one go while it’s sleeping.”

“I have a method in mind.”

In my previous life, when I first encountered this monster, I used the ‘rapid heating and cooling method’.

The method involved heating the monster intensely with the captain’s ability, then rapidly cooling it with my ability to crack the monster’s hard rock body.

However, there was one drawback to this.

During the heating process, the monster would wake up and thrash about, making it difficult to apply heat properly.

So this time, we needed to try a more refined method.

“Elma, how many times can you use your ability right now?”

“About twice. Oh, are you planning to use my ability to lift the monster high into the air and drop it to shatter it?”

“No. It would take too much magical power to lift something that massive. So that method would be difficult.”

When Elma uses her ability to move objects, the heavier and larger the object, the more magical power it consumes.

Therefore, with Elma’s current strength, she wouldn’t be able to lift that massive boulder into the air.

However, that didn’t mean Elma’s power was completely unnecessary.

I pointed to the other rocks next to us and said.

“You see these three rocks sticking up here? Use your power to wedge the Queen between these rocks. It might be difficult to lift it into the air and drop it, but you should be able to move it slightly this way.”

“Yes, I think I can do that. What’s next?”

I then spoke to the captain.

“Once Elma wedges the monster in here, it won’t be able to move easily. During that time, I’d like you to heat it up as much as possible, Captain.”

“You want me to heat it with my ability, then you’ll rapidly cool it to destroy it?”

“Yes, it should crack that way.”

“Indeed, it’s a good method. No, there’s no other way but that method.”

In my previous life, we had destroyed the monster using the same method.

However, back then, we hadn’t properly secured the monster, making it extremely difficult to heat it.

No matter how well the captain controlled his ability, it was difficult to accurately target a constantly moving monster.

Therefore, to avoid repeating the same struggle as before, this time we decided to properly secure the monster from the start.

“Karl, watch and use your ability to recover us if the captain or I look like we’re about to collapse from excessive magical power use. And Elma, can you do it? Your role is the most important.”

Elma nodded with a serious face in response to my question.

“It won’t be easy, but I’ll try. No, I’ll definitely do it.”

After answering so confidently, Elma approached the monster.

It was still asleep.

As we needed to hurry before it woke up, Elma immediately placed her hands on the monster’s body and used her ability while maintaining contact.

Soon, Karl exclaimed excitedly.

“She did it!”

As Karl shouted, Elma had successfully wedged the monster between the rocks.

As its position changed, the monster seemed to have finally woken up.

Four legs and a head made of rock protruded from its rock body.

The turtle-shaped monster eventually stretched out its neck and began to survey its surroundings.

Grrrr?

It seemed to be trying to understand the situation, looking around, and finally spotting us, it began to roar.

But it was already stuck between three rocks.

No matter how much it struggled with its short legs, it couldn’t approach us.

While it was unable to move, I signaled to the captain.

“Captain.”

“Understood. You get ready too.”

The captain immediately activated his ability and began heating the monster.

Fortunately, the captain knew how to use his ability effectively.

He concentrated the firepower on the monster’s head as much as possible, and in the intense flames, the monster began to scream.

Grrrrrr……!!!

I built up my power while waiting for the monster’s head to be sufficiently heated.

I couldn’t cool it too early.

When it was sufficiently heated, I needed to exert maximum effort to cool it very quickly.

It was while I was waiting for that optimal moment.

Suddenly, there was a ‘crack!’ sound, and Karl shouted.

“The monster looks like it’s about to break free!”

Hearing Karl’s words, I looked at the monster’s side, and it was true.

The monster was breaking one of the three rocks that were confining it by repeatedly slamming its massive body against them.

If that broke, the monster would regain its freedom.

I hoped the rock wouldn’t break, but sadly, that wish wasn’t granted.

Crack―!

With a chilling sound, one of the rocks confining the monster shattered.

The monster, which had been wedged in between, immediately broke free and started charging towards us.

More precisely, towards the captain who had been showering it with flames.

I quickly called out to the captain.

“I’ll take over from here!”

Judging by the redness of the monster’s head, it seemed the heat was already sufficient.

If so, there was only one step left.

Soon, the captain withdrew the flames he had been using to heat the monster, and I immediately shot a concentrated blast of cold towards the monster.

Shhh―

The sharp cold air flew and hit the monster’s head.

If it had been just cold air, it wouldn’t have been enough to destroy it.

However, its head, already weakened from being intensely heated, couldn’t withstand the cold blast that followed.

Crack―!

With a loud noise, cracks appeared on the monster’s hard stone head.

The monster, which had been charging towards us, finally hesitated.

It didn’t seem to have realized yet that its head was starting to crack.

In that moment, I said to the captain.

“I’ll finish it.”

“Wait, I’ll do it. It’s too dangerous.”

“But this is something only I can do. Cooling down its heated head.”

I told the captain this and then dashed forward, kicking off the ground.

Then, leaping with all my might, my body seemed to float high into the air.

After jumping up, I spun once in mid-air and landed on the monster’s back.

Grrrrrr!!

The monster roared with its cracked head.

I held my sword vertically, filled with cold energy, and thrust it into the crack in the monster’s head.

Then, I poured all the cold energy I had through the embedded sword.

Crack―!!

The monster’s head shattered in an instant.

The heated rock couldn’t withstand the cold energy that rushed in suddenly and scattered fragments in all directions.

“Yulia!”

The captain called out my name in a loud voice.

He seemed to think I had been hit by the fragments, but fortunately, they had just barely grazed my cheek.

“Phew……”

As I sighed and climbed down from the monster’s corpse, my comrades immediately rushed towards me.

“Vice Captain, are you alright?”

Elma approached me first and examined my body.

Then Karl also asked me.

“Oh no, there’s blood on your cheek. I’ll treat it right away.”

It seemed a scratch had appeared on my cheek from the fragment that had just grazed it.

I roughly wiped away the blood that was uncomfortably trickling down with the back of my hand and shook my head.

“It’s fine. Don’t waste your magical power unnecessarily. It’s just a scratch―”

“No.”

Just as I was about to say there was no need to treat it, the captain interrupted me.

The captain approached and carefully reached out his large hand to hold my face, then began to examine the wound with equally careful eyes.

His gaze seemed sterner than usual.

“Get it treated properly.”

“But for such a small wound…”

“You really don’t know how to take care of yourself, do you?”

The captain continued in a slightly stern voice.

“Would you say the same if Elma or Karl got a wound on their face? To not waste magical power?”

“…No.”

“Take care of yourself as much as you care for others.”

After he said that much, I had no more words to argue back.

I obediently offered my wound to Karl.

Soon Karl used his ability, and the stinging pain I had felt on my cheek quickly disappeared as if washed away.

The captain, who had been watching the entire process from the side, came up to me and examined my now-clean cheek again.

“Is there anywhere else that hurts? Don’t try to hide anything, tell me everything.”

“I’m fine now. That slight scratch was all there was.”

“I wish I could believe you when you say you’re fine. You never show signs of pain even when you’re seriously injured.”

He scolded me like that while stroking the area where my wound had been with his thumb.

For some reason, I felt embarrassed and ticklish, so I instinctively moved away from him.

“Shouldn’t we prepare for camping now?”

“…That’s right. It’s already dark, so we can’t climb down the mountain.”

The captain slowly withdrew his hand that he had extended towards me.

Then he ordered Elma and Karl.

“You two spread out the sleeping bags. The vice captain and I will hunt for some meat we can eat.”