Chapter 22
Me “Mantis”
Meg “Erm, apple”
Jean “Go, go,go….goblin!”
Yes. It’s Jean’s loss.
As you can see we are playing shiritori.
We are definitely not trying to escape reality.
We have not left the room yet.
We were able to escape the enemy and make our way to this room.
After a while, I did try to open the door but it only opened 5cm before stopping.
Something huge has stopped by the door and blocked us in.
I wonder what it is?
I observe it for a while. It’s something blue with a hard body.
I think I know what this is.
It’s the huge blue mantis that attacked the camp and killed the 3 guards.
I gently close the door.
Luckily it didn’t seem to notice me.
What’s the blue mantis doing? It’s been outside the door for over an hour.
That’s enough you d.a.m.n blue mantis!
Aah….I want a cup of coffee.
I desperately wanted to escape but all my baggage was back at the camp.
Fortunately, me and Gobu kept the potions in our waist pouches including my body strengthening potions.
In my case losing those potions is losing my life.
It was definitely the right decision to keep them on me.
“I’m hungry. You got anything to eat ossan?”
“What exactly do you expect me to have given our circ.u.mstances? I can provide water via magic if you want?”
“Well. I’ve got the dried meat Ippei-san gave me earlier.”
Meg seems to have pocketed the red boar jerky I gave her.
She really likes
meat.
Our lunch consisted of jerky and water.
“Well then. Should we try again?”
We nod at each other and head towards the door. Preparations are ok.
Gobu slowly opens the door.
“…..”
It’s still there.
After that Jean lost another 3 times at shiritori. He eventually ended up losing 10 times in a row after which he went to bed for 2 hours and sulked. Eventually, the mantis moved off.
Quite a bit of time has pa.s.sed but we have cautiously returned to the base camp.
“…….No ones here.”
It’s eerily quiet.
All the luggage is gone.
Heaps of demon corpses are lying around everywhere.
“Oi, ossan.”
In the direction Jean was pointing were fresh graves.
They were just heaped soil. The type of graves that would be forgotten quickly.
Looking at the size of them it seems that not many people died.
It seems weird that these people are no longer around.
I’ll offer a prayer at least.
I hope they can go to a new world and begin a new life.
“What should we do? Should we wait for everyone here?”
“No. All the baggage is gone. They have moved on to somewhere else.”
“Then we need to move fast too. That mantis might come back.”
Jeans right. We moved away from the camp at a quick pace.
I confirm our status while moving.
Shooting Lv.7 (hit correction +7%)
[Exp to next level] 26/100000
My shooting has gone up a level and my exp has gone up from 4 to 26.
That next level is so far
far away.
How about Gobu?
Status open
[Name] Gobu 1
[Age] 0
[Lv] 7
[HP] 167/167
[MP] 0/0
[Attack] 51 (+128) Rapid-fire crossbow
[Defence] 172 (+175) Iron mail, Helmet, Tower shield
[Physical strength] 322 (-7)
[Intellect] 39
[Agility] 38 (-17)
[Skills] Torch Lv.2 – Eyes light up and illuminate the surrounding area, Shooting Lv.8, Shield defence Lv.2, Shield bash Lv.1
[Notes] semi-autonomous type golem. 3MP a minute is required for action. MP may be charged up to 180. It will lose the ability to function if separated from its master for more than an hour. If within a 3-meter radius of its master it can charge up its MP.
[Experience to next level] 14/1000
Ooh, his intellects increased by 21 points. HP & MP depend on the demon stones and material used so they will not change.
Attack and defence gain exp by fighting so they have gone up as well. His defence has risen particularly well since he used his shield a lot recently.
You also got a new skill for your shield. Well done Gobu!
“Which way do you think is better ossan?” Jean asked me as he spread out a map.
The main group will have probably headed for Levi’s fountain.
Naturally, we will also aim for the 2nd ward. The issue is that there are 2 ways to the 2nd ward.
We can either go through the 3rd ward which is how we got to the 6th ward or we can go via the 5th ward which is where the stairs
the stairs to the 2nd level are located.
We just recently went through the 3rd ward so we know the route well, however, the 3rd ward is rarely used as a hunting ground.
Only a few parties like [sand of the star ] hunt there.
The chances of finding a party to help us there is slim.
The 5th ward, however, due to the stairs down to the 2nd level has a lot of parties pa.s.sing through.
I have a bit of anxiety though as I have not been to the 5th ward.
“Have either of you been to the 5th ward?” I ask Meg and Jean.
“I have once. Only as a porter though.”
“I haven’t”
Out of the 3 of us only Jean has been to the 5th ward.
“I think it would be better to return via the 3rd ward. Everyone knows the lay of the land there.”
“I agree.”
“I have no objection. I can’t say I know the 5th ward well enough to guide us.”
Since we all agreed we decided to return via the 3rd ward.
I’m worried if we can return safely or not. I’ve already died once and I want to live in this world a bit longer.
While thinking Patty’s face entered my mind.
Patty has become a big existence for me and is a large part of my attachment to my new life.
I want to see her again.
I’m definitely returning home!
I started walking with a quiet resolve in my heart.
Thoughin my heart.
Though we are very careful to avoid contact with demons avoiding them completely is impossible.
Though we are being forced to fight out of necessity we are actually quite strong for newcomers.
Jean’s sword techniques are excellent and stand out amongst the newcomers.
Meg is stronger than most veteran adventures.
Gobu’s shield techniques are also strong.
And my shooting…….is not hitting.
It’s really difficult to hit a moving target.
If my target is more than 10 meters away I can only hit it by luck.
Since I can’t make an a.s.sault rifle due to the limit of the demon stones it seems I’ll have to develop a new attack method if I make it back alive.
No. Let me correct myself.
Our party is strong except for me.
After 2 hours we managed to get out of the 6th ward.
Due to the fact we had no baggage, we could move at a fast pace.
Moreover, I used recovery magic on Meg and Jean. I made it really weak so they wouldn’t notice.
Thanks to that they didn’t seem fatigued.
I use full power recovery magic on myself of course.
“We’ve arrived at the 3rd ward. I’m not as tired as I thought. Aren’t you tired ossan?”
I’m recovering secretly after all.
“My body also feels light. Is it because of the level up?”
Meg smiled happily. I’m really healed by this girls smile.
“Alright. Let’s get to Levis fountain by the end of the day.”
We set off while maintaining our vigilance.