I saw this as an opportunity,
and with the same momentum I had when I closed the distance, I thrust my sword
between the enemy’s jaws with a “Take this!”
Centipede, perhaps not
anticipating this move, wildly swung its jaw out after I pulled my sword out.
But I had expected that, and it didn’t even graze me.
The centipede clacked its
jaws, but slowly stopped moving.
I carefully kept my distance,
wary of the centipede’s movements. But the centipede, which had slowed its
movements, slowly lay on the ground, clear bodily fluids pouring from between
its jaws.
Meanwhile, Liddy had reached
the wounded man. The young swordsman had been chewed halfway through his torso,
along with his entire leather armor, by the powerful centipede’s jaws, and a
large amount of blood was spilling. By the time Liddy tried to cast a healing
spell, he was already gone.
I approached the centipede
carefully once more, ignoring the still rustling legs, and thrust my sword into
the joint behind its head.
Bertram’s sword pierced
through the thin membrane of the joint and sliced through every nerve in it.
The centipede’s head came off
with a thud, and at last the Giant Centipede died.
As I was confirming the
centipede’s death, the adventurer I had saved–a male swordsman of about 20
years old–approached me.
“I was saved, thanks… Hey,
you’re just a child!” (Swordsman)
The man exclaimed as soon as
he saw my face, immediately apologizing looking quite embarrassed and holding
out his right hand.
“No, I’m sorry. Thank you
for your help. My name is Ian. I am a seventh-rank adventurer.” (Ian)
I sheathe my sword and take
his right hand.
“My name is Zack. I’m not yet a
registered adventurer, but if you’re hurt, I can help you.” (Zack)
Ian said, “Only Gem had
died. The one that was attacked,” he says, shaking his head sadly.
Liddy moves away from the dead
adventurer, Gem, and joins us in our conversation.
Ian looked at Liddy’s face and
gulped, but quickly returned to a serious expression.
Liddy says to Ian, “I’m
Lydiane,” and holds out her right hand.
As she shook hands with Ian,
she said, “I’m sorry about that boy Gem,” and her expression clouded
a bit, but she soon looked at him with a serious expression.
“But it’s not our fault we
were late. As you know, there was no need for us to intervene. I wasn’t going
to help you guys if this boy, Zack, hadn’t said he was going to help you. You
understand that right?” (Liddy)
Ian nodded, “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry about Gem, but
I don’t expect you to help when I am in that situation. First of all, if I were
in your shoes, I would have run away immediately.” (Liddy)
Then, looking at his own party
members.
“If you guys hadn’t come
along, there might have been other casualties… I’m going to return the favor someday,
somehow.” (Ian)
Liddy said lightly, “You
don’t have to worry about it,” but she looked at me with a grave expression.
“You were just lucky this
time. Attacking an opponent of higher rank is not just reckless, it’s suicidal.
Please, you should understand this.” (Liddy)
Liddy’s tone was sterner than I
have ever heard, and I flinched.
“I understand that this
could have been dangerous not only for me but for Liddy and Sharon as well. I
apologize for that. I’m truly sorry.” (Zack)
Liddy smiled and hugged me.
“I hope you understand. …I’m
afraid I’m going to lose you, so don’t do anything rash.” (Liddy)
Her arms trembled a little as
she hugged me.
(At that time, I couldn’t
accept the death of a person. I didn’t want to think of anything else if there
was a chance I could help. Liddy was trying to tell me that that wasn’t good
enough. That’s why she talked to Ian about that… The death of a person…
Speaking of which, I saw someone get killed for the first time…) (Zack)
I suddenly became aware of the
death of an adventurer named Gem. Then I saw someone get killed, and the shock
of it hit me slowly.
(I don’t even know him. He was
just a stranger. And yet, to have someone killed is such a shock to me. …I
can’t stop shaking to think if this was Sharon… if this was Liddy…) (Zack)
Liddy notices how I’m doing
and hugs me tightly once more. That managed to stop my body from shaking.
(If I were in this situation,
Sharon would be more upset. …How pathetic am I. I’m a grown man, I’m so busy thinking
of myself…) (Zack)
I turned around to speak to
Sharon.
She looked a little sad that I
was being hugged, but she didn’t seem shocked by the battle or the death of
someone.
I bowed to her and said,
“Sorry.”
“I was about to put
Sharon in danger. I need to cool down a little more.”
She shook her head,
“Well, you were cool… And
I wasn’t scared. I believed that Master Zack would protect me…” (Sharon)
It was so direct that it made
my face heat up. Sharon’s face turned red as well.
As we stared at each other in
silence, Liddy said, cutting in, “Okay, okay. We’re still in a dangerous
forest.”
“I’ve collected the magic
crystal stones, but what are we going to do after that?” (Liddy)
“Let’s walk a little
further into the woods.” (Zack)
As we were about to enter the
forest, Ian’s voice came from behind us.
“What are you going to do
with the materials? The shells of Giant Centipedes fetch a pretty good price.”
(Ian)
I ask Liddy, “Really?”
“Yes, I think it could go
for about fifty Crona (fifty thousand yen), something like that.” (Liddy)
I couldn’t believe that she
would throw away fifty thousand yen, so I asked, “Then why don’t we bring
it back?”
“Who is going to carry it?
Our members can’t carry it. First of all, it’s too much trouble to dismantle
them. The magic stones and the reward for defeating the enemy are much higher,
so there is no need to go to the trouble of dismantling it. Besides, I hate
dismantling bug-like things.” (Liddy)
Apparently, she meant what she
said in the last sentence. But she does have a point. I don’t know how long it
will take to dismantle them, but during that time, we will inevitably have to be
on our guard. And we’re wasting time carrying our heavy bags back to the city.
We are not fighting for money. Of course, we need money, but the rewards and
the profit from the sale of the magic stones will be enough to make a profit.
Then we’d better make good use of that time. Of course, in the case of more
expensive materials, of course we intend to collect them.
“I don’t need the centipede
shells. If you want to take it, I have no problem having you take it.” (Zack)
Ian looked incredulous, but
bowed his head, saying, “Thanks for the help.
I was surprised at how low he
bowed.
(Maybe it was because we saved
their lives, but can he bow deeply to a ten-year-old? If it’s a meritocracy, I
can understand it, but… Guy said that if a kid goes to the guild, he’ll get
in trouble, so I guess it’s okay if I go.) (Zack)
We split up with Ian and the
others and headed back deeper into the woods.
After that, we only
encountered a rabbit monster about the size of a medium-sized dog called a Horned
Rabbit.
The Horned Rabbit is not a
very tough monster, but that individual was not happy with us, and it attacked
us. However, since it only moved in a straight line and had no means of
attacking us that would pose a threat, we easily returned the attack.
This monster is a tenth-rank
monster, and although their magic stones are inexpensive, its fur and meat are
sold at a relatively high price.
We put the rabbit in our
backpack and decided to take it home, although it weighed nearly ten kilos.
After returning home, we
dismantled the rabbit, but as the three of us could not eat it all, we decided
to share it with our neighbors.
When I took it to Mr. Litorf
on the left side, he praised me and Sharon for passing and placing first and
second with some boisterous gestures.
Mr. Litorf works as a clerk at
the Tyria Magic Academy, and seems to have known about our passing.
“No, really, I was surprised!
I can’t believe our neighbors are the first and second runners-up of the academy!
I was actually going to congratulate you yesterday. However, my Helen, my wife,
told me not to since Guy was leaving today…” (Litorf)
He was so excited that we were
a little bit embarrassed.
“Well, if you need
anything, come and talk to me. I don’t have much authority, but I’ve worked
here long enough to have built connections.” (Litorf)
With that last remark, he
patted me on the shoulder.