I was Reincarnated as the Youngest Child of a Villainous Noble Family Who Controls the Kingdom from Behind the Scenes

Upon entering the cave, there was no sign of monsters at all.

There should have been Steel Bats and small fry monsters everywhere here.

Suddenly, I noticed that the surface of the cave walls was strangely smooth.

The walls had been worn down by worms passing through.

This means there's likely a worm deep inside this cave that's about the same size as the passage.

Depending on the type of worm, what should we do if it's a high-level species beyond our capabilities?

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

"They can move around in the dark without any issues. We need to be careful here... Lilysha?"

"Ah, ah..."

Lilysha was trembling uncontrollably.

I knew this setting would come into play. She's really bad with dark places.

She has trauma from being trapped in a dark underground area during her childhood.

I recall that her character, who usually acts tough, has this unexpected side.

Of course, I knew about it and specifically chose to bring Lilysha along.

Lilysha is a high-spec character, but this is pretty much her only weakness.

In battles, she's extremely weak in dark conditions and becomes less effective inside caves.

In such a state, she's not much use in combat.@@novelbin@@

Lilysha was using fire magic as a torch, but her trembling didn't stop.

"Lilysha, give me your hand."

"Huh, why...?"

"You're scared, right? I'll hold your hand."

"W-who said I'd hold hands with you...?"

Despite her words, Lilysha hadn't moved an inch since earlier.

Since we weren't getting anywhere, I forcefully grabbed her hand.

"H-hey, what are you doing?"

"We don't have time to waste. If this doesn't help, wait outside. I'll handle everything."

"Don't underestimate me... I can..."

"Then prove it to me. You're getting stronger, right?"

Lilysha gulped.

Then she started to move forward, one step at a time, placing her hand on the wall and moving slowly.

For now, I'll match her pace.

As we progressed through the cave, we came to a fork in the path.

I ran my hand along the wall again to check.

The left path, with its smooth surface, was likely where the worm had come from.

"I-I'll take the lead. You can't see in front of you, can you?"

"Don't push yourself. Thanks to dark magic, I can see in the dark."

"Oh, I see..."

"Besides, if I couldn't, I wouldn't have made it this far. Leave the fighting to me."

"No way!"

Despite her words, she wasn't making much progress forward.

Lilysha thought I was making fun of her, but I didn't feel that way at all.

"It's fine to act tough, but fighting in that state would be difficult, right?"

"It's not difficult! Are you really making fun of me!?"

"I'm not making fun of you. In fact, you're trying to overcome your weakness. That alone makes you strong."

"...Huh?"

Lilysha's face, illuminated by the torch of her fire magic, looked puzzled.

So she really thought I was making fun of her.

"Weak people tend to avoid their weaknesses. They don't face reality. But you're trying to move forward. That already makes you strong."

"Is that... so?"

"If you were truly weak, you would have run away before even entering the cave. Be proud, you're strong."

Lilysha fell silent.

She's always been fiercely competitive, so hearing this from me might feel humiliating.

But this is how I truly feel.

"I respect that about you. That's why I want to protect you."

"You want to... protect me...!?"

Just as Lilysha was flustered, a voice echoed from deeper in the cave.

"Wooooooah! Damn it!"

That voice... it's Galeo.

I have a really bad feeling about this. What did he do?

"Ooooh, you guys are first-years! Run! This is a worm nest!"

"We already know that. So, what did you bring...?"

Sure enough, Galeo appeared.

The problem was the swarm of worms behind him.

They weren't particularly large, but they were Earth Worms.

They're monsters that specialize in earth-based attacks and shouldn't be in a first-year field.

Plus, I remember them being unusually tough for worms.

"Th-they're coming!"

"Lilysha, I'll handle this. You take the rear."

"O-okay!"

Even if I told her to run, she probably wouldn't listen.

So giving her a role, even if it's just for show, would help preserve her pride.

I thought Galeo would run past us, but instead, he stood his ground.

Hey, is he serious?

"First-years! Leave this to me and run! It's dangerous here!"

Wait a second. What's he doing?

We don't need his help.

Besides, he's in more danger with that number of worms.

Galeo launched an attack at the approaching Earth Worms.

"Earth Fang!"

Galeo's body was covered in a rocky armor, and claws extended from his hands.

This is Galeo's fighting style. His affinity is earth, and his weapon of choice is claws.

He excels in close combat and, while he can't do anything fancy, he's a straightforward and effective attacker.

"Raaaaah! It's tough! Damn it!"

Well, the problem is that earth-based attacks aren't very effective against Earth Worms.

But he's not backing down, probably out of pride as an upperclassman.

Facing that many worms without flinching, even trying to protect us...

"Don't push yourself, Galeo-senpai. I'll handle this."

"Shut up! First-years, get out of here! Huh? Did you just call me senpai?"

I slashed at the Earth Worms with my magic sword, and the severed worms split into two.

The remaining heads tried to attack again, but it was futile.

The severed worms were enveloped in darkness and disappeared one after another.

"Huh...?"

"Phew, that's that."

"F-first-year... did you just do that?"

"Who else would it be, Galeo-senpai? You were pretty cool too, by the way."

"Y-you called me senpai again, didn't you? Haha, so you finally acknowledge me! Hahaha!"

When I praised him, Galeo seemed to cheer up and laughed heartily.

Despite all the chaos, he's not a bad guy at heart.

I was thinking of using him as bait if things got tough, but maybe I'll reconsider that a little.