Volume 1 Chapter 15 – Young men’s foolish stories
The next morning, I head to the guild. I was guided into a large room by the receptionist guy. It was a fairly early hour, however the a.s.sistant guild master, the instructor and 5 adventurers were already present.
Among them two people noticed and approached me. We took the beginner’s training together, they are Kreuk and Silver. Kreuk is a warrior with light equipment, carrying a sword and bow. He’s around 170 cm tall. He’s got a slender and attractive face. Silver is around 180 cm tall with a tough physique, his equipment is a metal plate mail, a huge shield and sword. His face is of a hunk, however he has muscles for brains.
“Masaru! Did you accept this request too?” saying that Kreuk approached.
“Alas! I was called to carry the baggage.”
“Let me introduce my party, Alipour’s leader, Strong Sword Lazard. He’s C Rank.”
I was introduced to a big gorilla. He’s taller than Silver who is 180 cm. He’s carrying a big sword on his back and the muscles on his arms are amazing. Many nicks were carved on the metal plate armor, I infer he’s really experienced. We handshake when he presented his hand. Ouch! He put too much force, my hand is gonna break! If his appearance is of a gorilla, no doubt his strength would be of one too. Probably he didn’t intend to put that much force.
“I heard the rumors, what was it? Wild Rabbit Hunter?”
Please, stop. That’s already a matter sealed in history.
“Heh, this one?”
“This is Leeds and this is Molal. We all come originally from the village of Alipour.”
Hence the name of the party being Alipour? Leeds is a female swordsman. Her height may be between Kreuk and Silver’s. I believe she’s fairly beautiful, but a bit scary giving off vibes of being a vixen. Molal is a cat-eared beastman male carrying a spear. He’s taciturn and keeps bowing his head during his introduction.
I exchange information with Kreuk and Silver.
Both of them, it seems around last week have finished several requests nearby. They went into the forest too and looks like they experienced actual combat many times. The one talking is mostly Kreuk. Silver sometimes chimes in. I think probably Kreuk is in charge of talking. I talk about what happened at the beginning. They specially wanted to know about the wild rabbit hunting, so I tell them the details. And about the learning of healing magic.
“I thought Masaru was a swordsman. You could also use magic?” unusually Silver uttered.
“Uh-huh. On the mock battles it would take both of us or it couldn’t be a match. Being able to use both sword and magic is foul play.” said Kreuk.
Oh well, it’s a cheat after all.
“Oh, you have such skills? I would want to have a match.” said Lazard.
Hearing Kreuk’s remarks, Lazard started observing me with great interest. Please stop, I’ll end up dead. Despite being as different as minimum weight vs heavyweight, what are you thinking? [TL Note: minimum weight or mini flyweight vs heavyweight are reference to boxing’s weight cla.s.ses]
“No, back then all our bodies were completely worn out, right? I guess in perfect conditions there wouldn’t have been such difference in strength?”
“Is that so?” Kreuk tilted his head puzzled.
That is so! That’s how it came to be!
Noticing, other parties approached looking what was happening. Pointing at me and saying “Wild Rabbit, Wild Rabbit” in full harmony. I could only force a laugh while slightly trembling. Kreuk and Silver too started laughing. d.a.m.ned friends they are.
“Ohhh, it seems everyone has a.s.sembled! Everybody come here.” Drevin convoked with a loud voice.
Oh, I’m saved! Everybody in groups gathered in front of the a.s.sistant guild master and instructor.
“I’ll serve as the leader of this survey team, I’m instructor Vogt, a former A rank. As you’ve heard there is something inside the forest, monsters that don’t usually come out have spilled out into the gra.s.slands. Our goal is to investigate as well as eliminating the source of that. Currently, because the situation in the forest is extremely insecure, we plan to force our way through by brute force. Our first destination is here. The vicinity of the lake. After that we’ll flexibly deal with depending on the circ.u.mstances. The travel distance will be two days, investigate one day and take two days to return.”
“Do you know what is the cause?”
“It’s unknown. It’s a conjecture that it could be a big species of the dragon cla.s.s, but there’s no positive proof. Our war potential is the B rank party Dawn’s Battleaxe and another three C ranked parties have been gathered. Then to start with Dawn’s Battleaxe…”
The introduction of each party begins. The B Rank Dawn’s Battleaxe is the main war potential. The leader is carrying an axe. Despite looking like a female dwarf warrior, there’s also someone covered by the hood of a black robe giving off the impression of a little mage. The C ranks have Alipour led by the gorilla and the party called h.e.l.lvaughn seems to be mainly composed of archers. The last party is the Wings of Twilight in charge of scouting. Yea, Wings of Twilight. However the people themselves are very serious, there’s isn’t any particular response from those around. The introductions continued as normal. h.e.l.l-whatever and Strong Sword, even there was one called Fresh Blood, I guess I appear quite plain? [TL: The chuunibyou is strong among them.]
“The last one is, hey, come over here.”
Why am I being called to the front, instructor? I’m taken along to the front. I gather their attention.
“This time, it is Masaru who is in charge of transporting the supplies. Introduce yourself.”
“Ermm, I’m Masaru, E-rank and in charge of carrying the baggage, Wild rabbit hunter.”
Suddenly they raise up in laughter. I said it in desperation, but they really took it. In this situations it’s better to be honest than to secretly be weird.
“I’m fairly skilled with Fire and Healing Magic, and can make drinking water with Water Magic.”
Finishing the self-introductions it was time for questions.
“What’s the extent of the supplies prepared?”
Indicated by the instructor, I take out all the supplies. Ten boxes packed with food and 5 barrels of water. Some people open the boxes and check the contents.
“Enough for five days has been prepared. Furthermore, since there’s room to spare in the Item Box, pavilions and so forth have been prepared beforehand. In relation to the transportation of other things, come to discuss it.”
By pavilions they mean tents? I go store in Items the things piled up in a corner of the room. The party leaders come to discuss. Even though in my heart I’m getting cold feet, I promised to transport the spoils of war. The remuneration is 10% of the loot. We’re talking about a large amount for a first-come-first-served basis till I can’t carry any more.
I asked what would be done after I can’t carry any more, they said they’d cut it down to valuables and carry them back on their shoulders. As far as it goes, each one possess an Item Box, however after putting the minimum necessities they don’t have any s.p.a.ce to spare, thus I’m acting the role of a carriage or cart. This time because it’s the forest we’ll be traveling on foot the whole distance. Looks like they’re bringing a simple cart too, but it’s not something they can rely upon.
I joined the Alipour party. The gorilla is reliable, and I won’t be embarra.s.sed to have Kreuk and Silver as conversation partners. If they weren’t here, I’d be lonely!
Leaving the guild, carriages were prepared. It looks like we’ll proceed down the main road for some distance on the carriages and from there enter the forest. We depart on 3 separate carriages. Talking with Kreuk and learning that it’s my first time in the forest, it appears they’ve decided that the gorilla will train me. They tell me various stories. How muscles are not enough and the knowledge for battle. On the carriage there was no escape. There was nothing but to hear them quietly while answering uh-huh, uh-huh.
They even started a compet.i.tive show with my weapon and armor. They picked the darksteel broadsword from my back, “Oh, isn’t this a good sword? Can you handle it?” “No no, it’s important to get intimate with a good weapon from an early age…” “A master chooses his weapon. Since he has to rely on it to fight…” and so forth the other people added.
As might be expected from paying a high price, it appears the broadsword is of good quality. It cost 500,000 yen after all. Everyone had a high evaluation of it. I was shown the gorilla’s large sword too. The blade is approximately 150 cm. It’s heavy. It looks like I can’t even wield it with my strength. Recently I’ve boosted my confidence with fencing a bit, however it’s another matter with my body. No matter how much I struggle my Stamina doesn’t seem to increase.
Within around two hours we arrived to our destination. We get off the carriages and we could see the forest nearby. I loosened my body and immediately departed. The Wings of Twilight in charge of scouting were at the lead while Dawn’s Battleaxe, Alipour and h.e.l.lvaughn followed. Everyone stopped gossiping and put on a serious face. Arriving at the forest there’s a narrow road, and we followed it. I stick to the gorilla and walk while looking restlessly around. Using Presence Detection at times there were reactions from small animals, but there was nothing else. I kept hearing it is dangerous, however it was a bit disappointing.
Suddenly Lazard stops. Takes the large sword from his back. As if calling out something he signaled with his hand. Soon Dawn at the front started moving and the march resumed.
“What was that now?” I asked after we started walking again.
“Seems like there was a battle at the front. It looks like it was finished quickly though.”
Soon after advancing forward I understood. Someone from Wings of Twilight was waiting with the loot. It’s a huge spider. With its legs stretched out it appears to be almost as tall as me. I store it in Items as said and the Twilight guy promptly ran back to the front.
“That now was a huge spider. As for it, it isn’t strong, but it’s quite a dangerous monster if attacked by surprise by it. If bitten one’s body will be paralyzed and unable to move, get wrapped in thread and turned into its food. That’s not a good way to die.”
Certainly that’s pretty disgusting.
“The spider’s thread is a high grade raw material and the legs aren’t too bad tasting.”
The fact is that people here can eat bugs without hesitation. I witnessed it many times being cooked in the city. It’s said they’re unexpectedly tasty if you try to eat them, although it’s a food I want to avoid if as much as possible.
Presently the file stopped again. This time Dawn’s Battleaxe kept going, however Lazard stayed. Asking about it,
“It appears a little bit of a tough one appeared. What, there’s nothing to worry leaving it to Dawn’s.” was the reply.
Advancing forward this time the corpse of a humanoid was awaiting. It’s bigger than an orc and red. It has no horns but it looks like a red ogre. One leg has been torn off. Its body was full of wounds. I store it in Items.
“It’s a troll. It’s not very large, might be a juvenile. However, they are really strong. It’s better if you don’t get too close to them. Seems this one was defeated after its leg was smashed.”
Are you telling me this one is a child even though it appears to be 2 meters tall?
That kind of occurrence happened several times. Each time I stored it in Items. Eight orcs, a bear, a monitor lizard. The goblins were left alone. We took 2 short breaks. We finally took lunch.
At a somewhat open s.p.a.ce, from the food’s wooden boxes bread, jerky and fruits were distributed. Took out a water barrel and each person was supplied with it.
“From here on the road ahead will get worse. Be sure to take a good rest.”
“If there wasn’t something like battles it would be completely boring, right?”
“Isn’t it a wonderful thing there’s almost no danger? It would be nice if nothing happened till the end.” [TL: triggering flags, death flags?!]
“All the spoils, if the party at the front take them all won’t the remuneration decrease?”
“Ah, there was an agreement. The defeating party gets 60 percent. You get 10%. And the other parties get 10% each. It’s a very rare thing to get remuneration by just walking, you know?”
More than the money I want experience though. Is there any way to get to the front?
It felt like the afternoon was very similar. The spoils were mostly orcs, also 4 wolves and one harpy. A gigantic green caterpillar called a Crawler was defeated, but I was afraid of what they’d want to do with it, so I didn’t ask. By the way, the wolves and harpy seems to be food too. As expected I don’t have the courage to eat a caterpillar. [TL: Yup, anything that moves is food. But WTF harpies, it all depends on how human like they look, but still. Do they taste like chicken?]
In the late afternoon we arrived at the camp site. The pavilions were taken out and the camp constructed. It was arranged that orcs were provided for dinner. The fresh orcs were skillfully prepared and their state looked gory, but the grilled meat smelled great and I gladly got some to eat.
I ended up sleeping in the same tent as Kreuk and Silver and the conversation about ‘anyone you like?’ started. Is this a senior high school field trip?! Silver was unusually talkative and spoke what he thought of the female warrior Leeds from the same party.
“But Leeds, she likes Lazard.”
Kreuk isn’t going easy on him. Silver gets sad. It’s Kreuk’s turn to speak up. It looks like he thinks the girl who took the beginner’s training with us is a very nice one, although she ended up going far away. He says recently he’s found a new love. Seems to be a cute smiling waitress in the dining hall he frequents. [TL: Obviously the daughter of the owner’s of the inn where Masaru stays]
“A girl with a ponytail? But she’s been seen to be friendly with the cook.”
Silver says in retaliation simply because. Are you guys really friends? Well, I’m not fond of informing you the truth ahead of time, maybe because I think of them as friends.
“What about you?”
“That’s right, you start talking”
Umm. I’d talk all night if I think about 2D ones, but what to do?
If we talk about girls I’ve got to know, it’s limited to Tilika-chan and Angela-chan. It it already good enough with Angela-chan? But certainly if I think of her as cute or so, they won’t think it’s weird, could they?
“A sister in the temple…”
How cute she is. How gentle she is with children, I tell nothing but a little helping of the menu. Of course I don’t tell them about being stabbed with a knife.
“You should already confess to her.”
“Yeah yeah.”
“Hey, you guys. Listen. I started to get along with her a little, only to the extent that she smiles to me, if I were to make a confession it’s inevitable that something bad will happen. It’s out of kindness because I’m her pupil. She smiles because I bring presents every time. She couldn’t think much of me. After a month she should have forgotten about me. Suppose I try to confess. I don’t dislike Masaru, but that kinda thing… or something like that. I like Masaru but let’s stay as good friend, ok? she would reply, I’m 100% sure. I have no doubt. And somehow it would become an awkward relationship and be impossible to stay as friends!”
“I-I see.”
I’ve resurrected the trauma from my days as a student. It was after that I started to get into 2D.
“When I was in my village.” Kreuk abruptly speaks out. What, you’re gonna change the topic. That’s prudent.
“An old man in the neighborhood who was an adventurer had retired and came back. He came back with a bride.”
Oh, I see. And what else?
“You see, she was cute and much younger than the guy, their married life was good and were also very very happy after having children. I learned afterwards, that bride was in fact a slave. He purchased her with the money he earned as an adventurer after all.”
“Is that even possible?!”
“And Kreuk lived next door?!”
“It was unusual for my village, but it seems to be common. Look, because after being an adventurer for many years, the girls you know will all end up being married, you’ll grow old and acc.u.mulate wounds and you’ll pretty much be unable to marry.”
I and Silver were absorbed in interest.
“Because of that. I went to look. To the slave trader.”
“When did you?!”
Silver is extremely surprised. That Kreuk, did he went there in secret? We thoroughly listened to Kreuk’s detailed account.
“What I saw was around 40 to 50 thousand Gold. It isn’t a sum you can’t save if you work hard.”
I check the menu.
“I have around 30 thousand…” 31979 Gold to be exact.
Dammit, if I hadn’t already squandered 10,000 Gold in a weapon and armor!
“What?!”
“How are you carrying that much?!”
“No, wait a second, gentlemen! To get the girl you love like that, it’s no good if you buy her as if she were an object.”
“Hmmm”
“You’re right on that, but…”
“However. If you buy a big house, no, if you’re renting too. It’ll be hard to do the cleaning alone. You’d want a maid, wouldn’t you? And buying a slave could be said is one of the options. No, I absolutely couldn’t have lewd desires. I wouldn’t dare to touch her. But, we’ll be living under the same roof. It might be possible we suddenly fall in love. Yup, in that case there’s no helping it.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“That’s a very possible story!”
“Gentlemen! I’m going to rent a big house once I return. Surely!”
“W-What?!”
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, are you going to betray us?!!!”
The instructor got angry from all the noise.
“You maggots, we’ll start early tomorrow too. Go to sleep now.”