Chapter 364 They Who Were Forgotten
“Hey, when are we going to head back to Kehma-san’s village, Uzoh?”
“… Dunno. We still have to get his money though, Muzoh.”
The C-Rank adventurer Uzoh Muzoh brothers. Just then, they were being hunters in a certain town within the Demonlands.
What were hunters? They were the Demonlands’ version of adventurers. The reason they were called hunters rather than adventurers is that the only work available there was hunting monsters.
As most tasks were taken care of by [Demons]—the Demonlands equivalent of aristocrats in the empire—using their undead, other than those few individuals with essential trade skills or who work in the service industry, the only jobs available were to hunt and kill monsters.
Although the Uzoh Muzoh brothers were originally surprised at skeletons pulling carts all around town and cultivating fields, they began accepting it since everyone was able to live in relative ease because of it.
That day, Uzoh and Muzoh had just finished another monster hunt—Iron Toads (frogs with around half a meter thick flesh) for the Nth day in a row and were on their way back.
Uzoh and Muzoh had come to the Demonlands to complete commissions after giving Kehma the magic sword approximately one year prior.
Having accidentally ended up helping some Demon young master during one of their commissions, they became free loaders inside a town ruled by that Demon.
Uzoh wound up sustaining an injury while helping the Demon, so his medical fees were taken care of. Although it turned into them being dependent on others until they returned—it had been nearly a year since they’d been going at a reasonable pace.
… As for the commission, they were able to report it to the Hunter Guild that existed in the Demonlands. Although it was a separate organization from the Adventurer Guild, they apparently seemed to be in a cooperative relations.h.i.+p with one another.
“Still though, the Demonlands’ people and the humans in the empire are basically no different, Uzoh.”
“Yeah. I’d say the only difference from [Humans] is the magic stone in their bodies… By the way, I heard you went drinking with that Witch girl, Muzoh?”
“Just a bit, just a bit. She flat out refused me, anyway. Said all she cared about was magic.”
“Hahaha, serves you right.”
Uzoh laughed at his companion Muzoh getting rejected. As an aside, he’d tried hitting on the Harpy waitress at the bar but got rejected spectacularly, so this was a retaliation laugh for that time.
Just then, a Werewolf approached them.
“You made it back, newbies?”
Their senior at free loading, Sukujira. His partner was s.h.i.+ronaga, a Weretiger.
Although Uzoh and Muzoh were surprised at the Werewolf/Weretiger set at first, they took it in stride after realizing they were basically like beastkin that could transform in such a way that they highlighted their b.e.s.t.i.a.l features.
“Hey newbies, did you hear me?”
“… We’ve already been here for nearly a year. Yeah, Uzoh?”
“Yeah. We’d prefer to not have such a bad nickname, huh, Muzoh.”
“Mm, true. It’s kind of weird to still be calling you newbies, isn’t it? Let’s see… Uzoh and Muzoh? How’s that?”
Sukujira spoke, rubbing his hand on his chin.
“That works. We didn’t think you even knew our names. Right Uzoh?”
“Yeah. But we’re always saying each other’s names, Muzoh.”
Come to think of it, aristocrats tended to have long names and would usually refer to each other with pet names. Uzoh and Muzoh both realized that was probably what it looked like to others.
“I see. Don’t worry, that’s our real names. Not one letter short, yeah Uzoh?”
“Eh? I thought your name was Uzorudatto1 for sure… I’m joking. My name’s also the same, Muzoh.”
“Alright then. s.h.i.+ronaga calls you that, after all. Come on, Uzoh, Muzoh.”
They wondered what he wanted them for. It was probably something about training, though.
When they arrived at the training area that wasn’t so different than the one in the Imperial Capital a little way out of town, they saw s.h.i.+ronaga swing a wooden sword with a weight attached to it.
“Ooh! You came, you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
“Yeah, are you wanting us to train more, s.h.i.+ronaga?”
“Well yeah, but that’s got nothing to do with this!”
Being told it was another matter, Uzoh and Muzoh wondered what it could be if not training and put up their guards.
“There’s going to be a Fighting Tournament… and you two’re joining!”
Well, this was news to them.
“Huh? W-Wait. Fighting Tournament, you mean the Fighting Tournament that all those crazy strong people are going to show up for that everyone’s been talking about? Oi oi, we’re just ordinary, everyday C-Rank adventurers. Right, Uzoh?”
“Yeah. We can’t even do a think against you, Sukujira. There’s no way we could win, right Muzoh?”
“Idiots! Why’re you so sure you’ll lose without even trying!? Still, I’m not telling you to win the tournament, but you should at least be able to make it through the second round. That’d be enough.”
“Why then?”
Hearing Uzoh’s question, s.h.i.+ronaga responded.
“First, you’ve barely done anything to earn achievements despite being free loaders. You should help out the young master.”
“Ugu.”
“Th-That’s, well… we know…”
Although they were actually living with money they earned themselves, as far as the Demonlands was concerned, Uzoh and Muzoh’s social status was solidified as free loaders.
When it came to achievements, all they’d managed was saving the Demon young master when they’d first arrived—and that wasn’t something that went down on official records.
From the perspective of those who’d earned their status themselves, the Uzoh Muzoh brothers were living their lives in luxury.
“Besides, won’t it be a good experience? Hey, Sukujira. You tried the last time, how’d it go?”
“Hm? Right… it was definitely a good experience. Besides, even if you get injured, you’re not going to die or anything, the tournament’s management will heal you. You get money if you win… I think it was five gold coins or something for making it through the third round.”
“Which means that even if you just make it through the second round, you should be able to pay back your debt in full, yeah? You don’t have to save much more right?”
By partic.i.p.ating, they’d be able to show others that they weren’t cowards. Not having to worry about injuries was another good thing. They’d even get paid if they won.
They were pretty nice terms. The Uzoh Muzoh brothers didn’t have a reason to refuse at that point.
“… Guess we could give it a go. Right, Uzoh?”
“… It’s not like we’d die if we lost, Muzoh.”
Thus was how the Uzoh Muzoh brothers decided to take part in the Fighting Tournament.