Translator: Saitamsensei Editor:Ryunakama
21. Magic Swordsman and Black Organization [4] – part 1
As I one-shot the chimera – no, eight-shot it,
「Wh-What"s this, Allen? What was that power just now!?」
「You, were too fast!」
Ria and Rose pushed onto me forcefully.
「I-I am also surprised actually.」
At the minimum, it was on par with the genius swordsman – Sid-san – the same acceleration, sword speed, and arm strength.
It felt as though each one of those is now a step above compared to the past.
(Is it the experience of fighting the extraordinary genius, Sid-san? Or is it a byproduct of being taken over by the spirit core?)
Either way… it"s a plus for me.
I"m still a long way off – I can become stronger!
「Uh, I need to train my soul dress more…」
「I can"t let the difference in strength grow any further…」
For the time being, after successfully completing the three requests, we decided to return to Bons-san.
「Oh, you completed all three so soon? Way to go!」
Bons-san who was working on some paperwork, stopped and laughed delightfully.
As usual, it was a scary smile, but I got used to it.
「Now, as I said, monster extermination was the right choice, right?」
「Yes, thanks to you, it was a good experience.」
「Gahaha! I see, that"s good! But this time was just a warm-up. There are stronger monsters than chimera in that forest, and I"m going to have you guys take on more and more high difficulty challenges.」
「Yes, thank you.」
After that – we completed various requests.
Of course, not everything went smoothly.
In the subjugation of Giant Slime, the clothes of Ria and Rose were dissolved… and so on.
As a result, I prevented the disaster by lending the clothes I was wearing at that time.
I was really surprised when the two started sniffing the smell of the uniform.
I didn"t sweat too much, so it should"ve been fine… I hope.
A week has pa.s.sed since we started living as magic swordsmen.
People get used to everything unexpectedly, and even the frivolous building which clearly was an eyesore to the surrounding environments before, no longer bothered us.
And I also made a few magic swordsman friends.
While Ria and Rose went to the bathroom, as I was gazing at the request forms on the request board,
「Oi, Allen! Hang out with me a bit!」
Dread-san, holding a small gla.s.s in one hand, called out to me.
「What is it, Dread-san? If you want me to drink sake, no thank you.」
Since that incident, he seems to be reducing the amount of alcohol he had been drinking, and I"ve never seen him as drunk as he used to be.
「Hehehe, You"re as straight-laced as ever, you! Well, just sit down! There are talks which can only be had between men… isn"t there?」
He smirked as he said so.
We"re talking about Dread-san here, it most likely isn"t gonna be anything decent…
I had no choice but to sit next to him because I thought it would be rude to refuse.
And then,
「-So, which one are you going out with?」
「…Come again?」
Suddenly he asked me a question that didn"t make any sense.
「There you go again! Don"t try to dodge the question! That big-chested blond Rijou and the cool beauty Rose-jou! I"m asking which one you"re going out with! 」
「Eh, n-no, that"s not…」
I was caught off guard by that unexpected question.
(Is this the rumored, love gossip…?
Then, the people who have been secretly eavesdropping on us – acquaintance magic swordsmen began to join in on the conversation right away.
「Going by that reaction…! Is it the both of them!? Are you going out with both of them!?」
「Kuu, well if it"s a man like you, it is only to be expected… G.o.d, I"m so envious…!」
「Even if it"s two at the same time… you probably have your『first choice』, right?」
「No, wait! Shouldn"t we confirm how far they have gone first?」
The story went in a direction that I didn"t understand on it"s own.
(I-I have to stop them quickly…)
If such a rumor spread, it will cause trouble for Ria and Rose.
「E-Errr! I"m not particularly going out with either of them!」
I had to clearly state that.
If it"s a rumor that only I will suffer, I wouldn"t really care.
It is said that gossip last but 75 days, and it will be forgotten sooner or later.
However, it is necessary that I firmly deny the rumors that might cause trouble for my precious friends.
However,
「There you go again!」
「Saying『I"m not going out with either one』even though you"ve been so close with them all this time.」
「Aa! We won"t let you escape that easily, Allen.」
My voice did not reach these drunk magic swordsmen.
(This is why I don"t deal with drunkards…)
I doubt I could reason with them anymore.
No matter how much I try, they were not in the mood to listen.
Therefore I,
「Anyway–don"t spread any strange rumors, alright?」
With a gentle smile, I reminded them.
「O-Ou, of course we know that…」
「H-Hehe, it"s just a joke… Big bro Allen…」
「D-Don"t get too serious… O-Ok?」
They finally seemed to have understood, as they averted their gaze and diverted from the topic.
And then,
「Allen!」
「Let"s take the next request.」
Ria and Rose were waving to me from the reception.
「I"m coming.」
Then the three of us had Bons-san choose a request as usual.
「Well then… for the next request, I want you to take this one.」
「This is… an escort mission?」
A wagon escort from Orest to Drestia.
From the capital to the『Merchant"s Town』- a common escort request.
「Aa, it"s just a short distance from here to Drestia. It will be a simple request for you guys… but this has a bit of a special circ.u.mstance. This client"s grandmother has a weak back… So they want to request for a skilled magic swordsman, just in case something goes wrong… Won"t you accept it?」
Just to be sure, I exchanged glances with Ria and Rose, and both of them nodded in agreement.
We were thinking of the same thing it seems.
「-Alright, we will kindly accept this request.」
In the countryside like Goza village, everyone always helped each other.
When the rice harvest is poor, all other farmers bring their crops over.
Wheat and potatoes — the same is true for when other crop harvest is poor.
Everyone should come together and help those who are in need.
「Oo, that"s great! That"s very helpful! I know I can entrust this to you guys rea.s.suringly!」
Bons-san stamped a big seal on the request form.
「Oh, and one more thing – this is a personal request from me.」
Then he took three bills from his pocket – 30 thousand gold.
「I"d like you to do some market research」
「Market research is it?」
With that 30 thousand gold, he is probably going to request something of an errand…
To be honest, it didn"t seem to have much to do with training.
「You guys are going to Drestia in that escort mission, right?」
「Yes, that would be so.」
「In Drestia, a large festival called『Daido Commercial Festival』 will be held for three days from tomorrow. So I want the three of you to buy goods at various stalls and tell me your impressions of them.」
Saying that, Bons-san shoved the 30 thousand gold into my hand.
「…Eh?」
「T-That just means…」
「Go and enjoy the festival?」
「Noo, that"s not it. The festival over there is very popular. I want you to explore that secret a little. It is also for the festival to be held in the Magic Swordsman a.s.sociation in the future. Well, in other words, this is an important request. So don"t misunderstand, ok?」
With a serious expression, he reminded us that it was an important request…
「No, but…」
That"s too much of a stretch, unreasonable even…
It was so obvious that he was telling us to enjoy the festival.
Then, Bons-san shook his head and heaved a loud sigh.
「Haa… Listen, Allen… Pushing yourself head first into a wall is not all there is to training. You need to rest mentally too! This kind of『time off』is important too!」
「Hhaa…」
「Well, that"s the gist of it – you guys have been doing too much training every day for the past week! Take a break!」
His real intention had finally spilled out.
「E-Eh…」
「No, even if you say that…」
「We are currently in the middle of suspension.」
When Rose said the right answer,
「Right, that is exactly why this is my『request』. -If someone complains, tell me immediately. I"ll send them flying!」
Saying that, he cracked his knuckles.
…How intense,
「U-Understood… T-Thank you.」
I didn"t feel right to reject it after being urged this far, so we decided to indulge in Bons-san"s good will.
「Hehe, my best regards!」