Chapter 405: Threads get entangled unintentionally
““Ah.””
That came out from both of them.
One came from a vanguard of a group that came out from Tsige recently.
The other one was from one of the adventurer parties that were camping close to Tsige.
“This is…the Bronzeman Company? What’s going on here with the boss himself going to the wasteland?”
The man that looks like the leader of the adventurer party speaks to who seems to be the leader of the unbalanced group of people, moreover, a dwarf.
80% of the group of around 20 was made up of dwarves, moreover, their equipment had plenty enough quality.
It was formed of craftsmen and warriors, and it was clear that they were a group composed of several parties.
It is normally a sight that would make anyone nervous of speaking to them, but the leader of Birgit, Bir, saw a familiar face and the crest of the company, so he got curious about it.
“Bir, huh… You have gotten stronger again. Sorry, the katanas that you use are not something that are used much in Tsige, so we can’t sell you something that fits you. And so, what’s with that giant bear?” (Bronzeman)
“No, you are already a great help by following our detailed orders and customizing our stuff. Once the numbers of Ronin increase, the wind’s direction should change; I believe that. About this bear, well, let’s just say it is something that was left in charge to us by the Mist Town. We are having it accompany us due to a matter that’s hard to explain.” (Bir)
“That’s an unfamiliar lady…no, a boy, huh. So that’s its master.” (Bronzeman)
Bronzeman was responding to Bir in a friendly manner.
Birgit is currently an adventurer party that’s gathering attention.
The big companies want to become the sponsors of promising adventurers.
Obtaining enough ability to survive in the wasteland is one of the a.s.sured correct paths for adventurers in Tsige.
“You could say that.” (Bir)
“Haku, do you know him?” (Bronzeman)
Bronzeman suddenly looks back.
Bir was also pulled by that and looked there, there was a dancer wearing a costume that was a perfect fit for bars at night, or to put it in another way, it was a costume that didn’t fit the wasteland at all.
Bir was sure he hadn’t seen this woman before.
At the same time, he got a strange impression from this woman called Haku who looked at the new party member black bear and opened her eyes wide.
This place is somewhere that’s natural to encounter many unknown things, and yet, why was this woman so surprised?
Of course, her surprise would be explainable if she knew that it is a demonic beast that lives in the Mist Town, but Bir shook his head to the sides dismissing that impossibility.
“M-Moon Bear? Even if that’s the case, it is big. It is also a demonic beast with strong magic power…” (Haku)
“Haku?” (Bronzeman)
“Ah, no, this is my first time seeing this demonic beast. I do know one that’s similar to this, but the size is completely different.” (Haku)
“You know a similar creature to this? This Moon Grizzly?” (Bir)
Bir ended up interjecting in the conversation of the two.
Bronzeman may be treating them in a friendly manner, but he is still the representative of a big company in Tsige that holds political influence.
This interjection that could be taken as rude made his female party members, Ranai and Git, show bitter expressions.
“G-Grizzly, huh. I see, if that’s the case, I can understand this size. Apologies for the lateness, adventurer-sama, I am someone that has come recently to Tsige, name’s Haku Mokuren. As you can see, I am a dancer, so you might find me when having meals or drinks. Please do treat me well.” (Haku)
“Haku-san, then. I am for the meantime this party’s—” (Bir)
“Stop putting ‘meantime’ already.” (Ranai)
“…I am the leader, my name’s Bir Sheet. Nice to meet y—” (Bir)
“Aah! Isn’t that Haku-san! It has been a while!” (Akos)
“You are right, it is Haku.” (Git)
“…”
Bir was trying to introduce himself, but Ranai cut him off.
And then, when he was going to shake hands, Akos and Git spoke to her familiarly.
A number of dwarves were covering their mouths while facing the other way, their shoulders shaking at this sight.
Bir Sheet is exemplary at creating this kind of strange atmosphere on the daily.
You could say in a way that this is the best self-introduction.
“Gahahaha!! You guys are impressive. It may only be the entrance, but you can maintain your usual att.i.tude in the wasteland!” (Bronzeman)
“Really? I honestly am having my energy sapped here.”
“?”
Bronzeman had a questioning look at the unfamiliar voice, and then, after looking around, his eyes stopped at the demonic beast and he froze.
“What is it?”
What came back from the demonic beast was a throaty common language without a single shred of amicability.
“The demonic beast spoke?!” (Bronzeman)
“! Bir-san, have you met an amusing or weird knight riding a giant boar recently?!” (Haku)
“Wa? No, Haku-san, I haven’t met anyone like that. What’s the matter?” (Bir)
“Really?! ‘Fumu, it is true that listening to the words of many beasts and striving for communication is an advantage of tamers, but when thinking about it, wouldn’t it be faster to just teach demonic beasts and mythical beasts common language?’ Have you met a person that has said that?!” (Haku)
Bronzeman was surprised at how Haku was getting heated up there but at the same time was amused by it, but Bir was simply confused by this.
“If it is about a person that has said ‘it would be better for the others to also be able to communicate and not only the tamer’, then yeah, I have.” (Bir)
“Who is it?!” (Haku)
“Raidou-dono of the Kuzunoha Company. He is a pretty well known person in Tsige.” (Bir)
“…Raidou-kun, huh.” (Haku)
Haku looks at the sky as if her strength had drained.
“An acquaintance?” (Bir)
“Well, something like that. I see, he did… To think Raidou-kun would say the same thing as the person that made what’s most likely the only taming guild in the world… Whew…” (Haku)
After being drained, Haku Mokuren was speaking as if she were baffled from the bottom of her heart.
“Taming Guild?!” (Baretta)
Baretta reacts to what Haku said.
The tamer industry is really inflexible, so that completely unknown topic must have been something he wanted to grab onto.
It couldn’t be helped that he would interject.
“…Ah, you have a Tamer-kun, huh. Yeah, the Taming Guild. I say that, but it has already ceased existing a long time ago and it was more of an unofficial guild. I don’t think there’s anything like that as of present. What’s popular amongst adventurers changes by the era, but the era of tamers still hasn’t come. I would say it existed around the time when the Adventurer Guild was made.” (Haku)
“Puh! You must be making that up, Haku-san. The era of tamers, you say. There’s no way a Job that’s full on a hobby would be able to have an era where it was the mainstream for adventurers! You are being rude to the people of the past!” (Akos)
The spear user Akos retorts to Haku who was speaking as if she was remembering it.
Swords, spears, and bows are on demand no matter the era; you could say they are the leading role weapons at all times.
There’s a lot of school styles for them, and the research of their Skills are the ones that are the most advanced; they are the most blessed fields.
Of course, the person themself decides what weapons they themselves will be using.
Choosing your weapon then complaining to the other better off weapons would be completely blind.
“About that, Akos-kun, it did happen a long time ago. It was an era where all the top adventurers had tamed some sort of demonic beast or mythological beast. Of course, it is not like everyone was a tamer, but more like the tamed demonic beasts were obeying them though…” (Haku)
Haku Mokuren speaks as if she were remembering her childhood.
That figure of hers was as if she were in a play, and as if she were recollecting about a long past event that she herself knew.
It was a fearsomely mysterious sight.
“I think that…if tamers really had that much potential, they would be treated a bit better though.” (Ranai)
“Black Nurse… Aah, Ranai-san, right? Truly rare Jobs are being born in Tsige one after the other. It never fails to entertain.” (Haku)
“I thought the same way. It is because it is lacking in practical use that it is beginning to get weeded out, or that maybe it is getting a misfortunate treatment because it is a Job that’s not being researched. Am I wrong?” (Bir)
“You shouldn’t be the one saying that, Bir-kun. As someone who worked as a Ronin and arrived all the way to a Master Samurai, what do you think? Do you think that Ronins and variants of the Ronin Job have no practical use?” (Haku)
“Ugh.” (Bir)
“There’s a variety of reasons why they are not chosen by many. The katana is a weapon that is hard to master to begin with… For the Ronin, Samurai, and Master Samurais, you could say that it was because there was no foundation with the katana. What I can say for certain is that there’s no Job in the Adventurer Guild that isn’t practical. A variety of weapons and a variety of Jobs can achieve great things depending on your personal mastery in skills and ability, ye know~?” (Haku)
““!””
Haku Mokuren was pointing this out to them with a super serious face, but she ended it with a playful tone.
It was hard to tell whether this girl that was laughing with a ‘hm hm’ in a comical mood was her real face or a mask.
No one could get a grasp of her.
“For example, Baretta-kun there. What was your Job? If you tell me, I can give you advice, ye know?” (Haku)
“Eh, ah, Beast Cruiser.” (Baretta)
“Around the middle, huh. Then you would need to get around two cla.s.s ups more in order to become a specialized cla.s.s or ones that have whip skills that can fight directly in battle.” (Haku)
“!! You know about our Jobs?!” (Baretta)
“Of course. I have been travelling for a looong time after all.” (Haku)
“Then this Tiara will also have better cost?! Also, how much will it take before I can bring out his power?!” (Baretta)
“T-Tiara? Uhm…this Moon is a male, right? Also, it even knows common language, and yet, why that name? How did you make him accept it? I can only take that name as you putting your whole taste in it without any of his own input though…” (Haku)
Haku looks up at the giant bear while a bit apprehensive.
The bear, Tiara, raised his head up slightly, and his expression was shadowed so it was hard to tell what face he was making.
But his body was shaking slightly.
“Nicely said… Nicely said, you so-called Haku-san! This heinous failure of a tamer Baretta attacked me while I was asleep, and on top of succeeding with his taming skill, he gave me such a name, and then because he couldn’t look after me, he abandoned me without listening to my opinion at all! This ain’t about his Job anymore! His morals as a person are in question here!” (Tiara)
“You sound like a completely heartless person from the side of the demonic beast. Of course you wouldn’t be close. Or more like, I am impressed you made a pact again with such a tamer.” (Haku)
“…I have my own circ.u.mstances. Boss has given me a job. And due to that, I am now joining hands with this bunch that are around as strong as me, and my fourth rate master.” (Tiara)
Haku was listening to the story of Tiara, and directed a glance at Baretta.
He was hanging his head down and couldn’t look directly at the face of Haku, so even if there might be a bit of overdramatization here, it was proof that Tiara’s account was the truth.
Haku let out a long and heavy sigh.
(If there’s no pioneers, even tamers at the very top like this one end up in this state, huh. With the matter of the magic bag and meeting these guys here…it is not like there will be a change in the future of tamers with him as the trigger, but…it can’t be helped, big sis will help out a bit here.) (Haku)
“Representative! South-east, distance 200! 2 medium sized Gain Crabs!”
“Hooh, so they have come! Then, you guys—” (Bronzeman)
“Ah, Bronzeman-san, leave this to me.” (Haku)
Right before Bronzeman could give detailed orders, Haku slid to the front.
“I am thinking about helping out the young ones for a bit. First, proof about my words from before.” (Haku)
Haku was all smiles in the face of the cloud of dust approaching at quite the speed.
“There’s no ‘hobby’ weapon for adventurers. Katanas were originally weapons that pursued both practicality and beauty, but…for example, this whip that I use…if trained, it can become an extremely powerful weapon, you know?” (Haku)
“…”
Birgit and the dwarf group were at some point in time paying attention to Haku.
For some reason, her voice had the ability to draw the ears of the surrounding.
“!”
Bir opened his eyes wide.
Haku ran at a speed that reminded him of Toa from Alpine who showed him the difference of their strength.
Even though she was running faster than the Gain Crabs that were raising clouds of dust, Haku wasn’t raising any dust at all from her feet.
It only took a few seconds for her to arrive at the enemies.
“Of course, a whip doesn’t have a blade like swords, but if you hit the joints and weak points sharply and accurately…!” (Hakui)
One of the Gain Crabs fell to ground while making a heavy sound with its two pincers.
It definitely didn’t self-destruct there.
Haku had swung her long whip.
“It isn’t as sharp as a spear, but if you capitalize its reach with speed and skill…!” (Haku)
The peculiar sound of something snapping was made, and there was a clear dent and cracks on the stomach of the crab that stood back up.
The second attack was made without any lag, and this time it punched into the hard carapace, and immediately finished the Gain Crab.
These attacks that had the heavy power of a blunt weapon and the sharp piercing power of a spear had hit from a far range the Gain Crab that should be considered powerful against physical attacks.
But obviously the other remaining Gain Crab wasn’t just playing around.
Haku was. .h.i.t by the sweep attack of the giant and heavy pincers from the crab that had approached to close range, and was sent flying to where Bronzeman and the others are.
“Oi, Haku! Are you okay?!”
“I simply utilized the super strength at hand to return. As you can see, I am a frail dancer, so if I had taken that on full, I wouldn’t have been able to endure it~.” (Haku)
She simply placed a foot on the pincer and took distance with that momentum.
Haku used a Skill to create an arrow in her left hand.
2 arrows shining faint blue.
“Arrows?” (Bronzeman)
Bronzeman’s questioning tone.
It couldn’t be helped.
Haku doesn’t even have a short bow with her after all.
“Fortunately, the weak points are still in the same place as before. I thought that maybe they had evolved somewhat, but it looks like that was an unnecessary worry.” (Haku)
Haku throws out the arrows she created to the front.
The next instant, someone had noticed that she had slightly dropped and had swung her whip with her right hand…
The 2 arrows floating in the air disappear.
Precisely speaking…she hit them both with her whip.
They were now sharply pierced in the Gain Crab that was going to charge again, and after foaming grandly from its mouth as it shook heavily, it collapsed.
“Well, that’s how it is. There’s some things in my mind, so I will help out a biiit in the request of Bronzeman, and the Bear-kun and Baretta-kun.” (Haku)
Haku Mokuren makes an ‘a bit’ gesture with her thumb and index finger as she turns around.
The request of the Mist Town was advancing smoothly(?) with the addition of the mysterious dancer.