Vol 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter Two

Adventurers

It was earlyin the country

The fa

They wake up before the sun rises, taking care of their cattle

This was their everything and had been repeated for tens of years They had nothing to worry about

And on a day much like any other—everyone believed that it would continue

However—

“Nn?”

As an old man entered the shed his cattle passed tiruity

He had spent many years with his herd and was sensitive to even thethem Were they in a bad htened them?

As someone with a lot of experience, he could feel it The e in the atmosphere

Did the wild dogs turn up?

That was the first thing he thought of This particular athtened by so

The moment he sensed that, he picked up a hoe from the entrance to the shed

If it really ild dogs, he believed that it was important to defend his livestock

He hadn’t heard about there being anything like bandits or thieves in the area, but it was a possibility

For people that lived in the frontier, their domestic animals were their life For them to be stolen meant death

So he wielded his hoe, lowering his center of gravity slightly as he carefully walked into the shed

“Who’s there?”

He too was surprised at how firm his voice was Even so, he continued to steadily advance into the shed

The number of cattle the old man owned? Forty-four

How many could he count in front of him? Forty-three

—One was

As soon as he thought that, the cattle in the shed started to make an uproar

They sounded as though so to violently escape past the fencing

So like that hadn’t happened before That unexpected event even surprised the oldhim

But nevertheless, he soon regained his presence of mind

What in the world is it?

The oldhis feet forward step by step as he advanced even further into the shed

He ht, but because he felt a sense of duty to understand what it was

Inside the hut, where there should have been a bull fastened to the wall… there was a striking absence

“Dammit!”

He was robbed!

His thoughts were dyed red froer However, he cooled back down immediately

Hoas it taken out?

Although the rope that tied the bull was cut, the hut was locked Above all, the fence was still secured shut

It was alht about it while leaning on his hoe as a walking stick

However, no answers came to mind

On that day, nothing else had changed

On the next day, the anieted

It seeh around twenty chickens were stolen

The next tie The fa cows, sixty of the

On the next day, and again the one after that, the villagers’ livestock continued to be plundered

Once a week had passed, all of the fae were ruined

However, the old men weren’t fools They had set up traps and kept watch all night, but it was all for naught

So stolen It was a mystery

Speaking of mysteries, the old man that went to the s the other day hadn’t returned

The wild dogs disappeared, as had their livestock

Was there a connection between the two?

The village’s elders thought

At tio to the royal capital and request for knights orlike that

In that case, hoould they deal with it themselves?

They felt it was an impossible task They didn’t knoho the person was, but he was strangely resourceful

He could slip through the traps they placed and stealthily attack their animals

Everyone racked their brains And then after another week passed, the nu livestock reduced to a third of their original

—At a time like that, a couple of adventurers luckily arrived at the village

The woman introduced herself as Frederica Rene

With her golden hair flowing down to her waist, swaying gently, her large almond-shaped eyes the color of jade instilled vieith the sense of her strong will

She wore a blue robe with a black undershi+rt, shouldering a large staff that seemed to be just as tall as her on her back

Her legs couldn’t be seen due to her thick pair of pants, but just the sight of her thin waist and lavish breasts attracted the gazes of men

Her well-developed bosoht of as two htly with every action she took, swaying affluently

Packed inside of the undershi+rt she used as a replacement for underwear, her bust was beyond rich When she reached her hand into the thick robe characteristic of h the top of her undershi+rt

If they were still in their youth, the i

A wonderfully striking beauty being an adventurer This was the woman named Frederica

She looked somewhere around twenty years old

There was a tie behind her, as well as a strong-willed looking youth that seemed a little older than the other two

The ti-willed

They both wore thick clothes under their leather chest, elbow, and knee protectors

They had simple iron swords at their waists, but their backs were loaded doith large packs, likely packed with their essential luggage

A e and tarriors They could be called a typical adventurer party

From appearances, they looked around middle class Their atmosphere felt like they had soers felt relieved

Above all, it was cheaper to ask the hts

“Hmm”

The village’s old roup about what happened to the village before they arrived and requested their help

On the past several days, they had constantly had their livestock stolen The culprit was cunning, able to avoid all of their traps The animals disappeared without so ht and kept watch over their shelters, they could not find the criminal

Hearing that, Frederica’s group realized they could make some money and secretly cheered in their minds

The culprit—culprits, perhaps—was likely a bandit Moreover, the three people felt it could be a ruined hunter that grew up in soe

The bear traps and clappers that the elders set up were the kind where rope would surround the target or sound off theroup in rural areas like the villagers would be familiar with

When they thought about it, things like cattle could be easily stolen Although they said that they kept watch, it was dark and their eyes were aged, so they ht have simply missed the culprit

Thinking about it like that, believing it to be a bandit that was used to hunting and dealing with livestock was obvious

“We going to accept it?”

In a house prepared for the roo spoke

There was a jug in his hand filled with beer prepared by the villagers as he poured it into a beer glass Although half was already gone, he wasn’t so weak to alcohol as to already be drunk He was properly paying attention to that

Carl tidied up the tableware they used for dinner while Frederica and Rig sat on opposite sides of the table; Rig poured a cup of beer into Frederica’s glass

“Of course You don’t want to, Rig?”

“No way It’s an easy job Easy money”

“Right”

Frederica agreed, inclining her glass She wasn’t as vigorous in drinking it as Rig, sloing a single gulp

She had long since taken off the blue robe she wore during their travel, wearing just the black undershi+rt on the upper half of her body She inclined her glass back, taking another drink of the beer This h to softly jolt the rich melons on her chest

Rig, while lass as well so that he wouldn’t be noticed

But for her to put so much effort into her action, it was easy to understand that she herself was si off

Frederica was confident in her figure, so the reactions her traveling companions had when she teased the tie traveled with—she understood what kind of people Rid and Carl were

Rig, a dirty-h to be called a savage

Carl, a thoughtful and prudent man that was so shy he was unable to put what he wanted on the table

And then the girl herself, Frederica, a woh to use it as a weapon

The two uard Each had moderate capability and could cooperate without discord between theh success rate

They were a party where their names and faces ell-known despite their youth as adventurers

“Carl What about you?”

Rig called out to Carl, ashi+ng the tableware

“I don’t mind But we don’t knoill happen, so it’s better to not relax, right?”

“Seriously Our target is just so too much”

“I think that Rig isn’t thinking about it enough though… treatment isn’t cheap, injuries would just increase our expenses”

“Geh”

“That’s also true”

Carl’s response cut Rig down and Frederica agreed

Even though the job was simple, medical expenses wouldn’t be cheap if they weren’t careful Adventurers weren’t philanthropists They worked, procuring co their co the job

Balancing the tas the duty of an independent adventurer

“Well then Carl-sensei’s worrying is justified, so how about we get to sleep early?”

“Oi oi, seriously?”

Rig was asking if Frederica’s statement was a joke

They ate dinner They drank alcohol When a man and a woman drink alcohol, what happened after that was decided

Rig had already thought of a certain thing

Realizing as going on in Rig’s ain and—turned towards Rig with a gaze that contained just a little charm

“Whaaat?”

“I ht’s just started yeah? We’re finally able to sleep with a roof over us, it wouldn’t hurt to drink a bit more”

Frederica let out a s’s complaint

Drinking a bit norant to the ways of the world

“I-I…”

“Nn?”

Forcing hi up between the two, Carl spoke

As though he’d forgotten about Carl’s existence fro turned towards him

Carl, now being stared at, started trying to saying so—

“U-umm…”

“Pfft Joking, joking”

Seeing Carl’s reaction of being unable to speak, Frederica laughed, followed by Rig laughing in a loud voice

Seeing the two’s reaction, Carl looked surprised and looked between the two

“Stuuupid We’re clith like that”

Still laughing cheerfully, Rig spoke

“We’ll be earning soht?”

Saying that in a lively voice, Frederica, once again clothed in herused ani up in the back, walking as though to protect her

Due to their characters, despite Carl being nervous, Frederica and Rig had a carefree feeling about them

“Nn… it’s a good day Taking walks like this isn’t so bad”

Taking a deep breath, Frederica stretched by arching her body back In doing so, her well-developed breasts swayed slightly

Carl didn’t notice, but Rig was in the back to peep at her from nearby

She was obviously showing of to lure hi journey, he stealthily looked at her puffs

For that, the wo it She could feel hi the ith her back arched and hands behind her head

Her lavish breasts waved as though undulating, a pleasant thrill for her Feeling the aze pierce her from behind further provoked Frederica’s pride

Satisfied with the slight stimulation, Frederica’s mouth slackened

Their goal was the abandoned mithril mine

First, they would search it, deciding on their course of action afterwards At any rate, they hadn’t found the person who stole the livestock Who took them, how many were there, and what kind of weapons did they use?

They would answer those questions and work out counter livestock, he could be a dangerous existence eapons If they received heavy injuries in this remote countryside, there wouldn’t be anyone to see

While thinking about such things as that, Frederica’s lustrous lips curved into a smile

They just had to climb the mountain and deal with the culprit who stole the livestock and would have enough money to enjoy themselves for several weeks

They walked through rees, but this tiards to the contents of the request Even though the usual reas good as well, she thought about it all while looking up at the cloudless blue sky

Continuing to walk for a while and considering things like that, the tunnel that was their goal came into view

Not to , they hadn’t seen any wild dogs either

They didn’t look too closely for it, but they didn’t see many insects either Of course, they couldn’t hear the sounds of insects even now They just heard the sound of wind ruffling leaves

And there were no traces of any fights between animals

The entrance to the abandoned cave was quiet, there was a cal like that was only possible near the outskirts of the royal capital

By the a, the nuh they weren’t stronger than monsters, the trouble they caused wasn’t any different Because even if you killed and killed them their numbers wouldn’t abate

Now that there wasn’t even a single wild animal here, it was somehow odd

Besides, it weighed on the mind of those elders too

A person not faht fall froone to such a dangerous place, but they didn’t see any traces of a camp outside of the abandoned mine

“… There are traces that so crawled by”

Carl took a knee, exa traces that soed over it

Traces that an ani

“Maybe it’s from the stolen livestock?”

Frederica also looked, seeing the tracks

Although her well-developed boso him to blush, Frederica pretended to not notice

“It leads into the cave”

“Then our thief’s in the cave eh?”

Rid s his hand on the sword hilt at his waist

His strong-willed appearance was a natural reflection of his vigorous personality

“Worrying”

Meanwhile, Carl was thoughtful

Frederica also went into thought, placing her finger against her well-shaped jaw

The reason was siic would be restrained

Abandoned le explosion Although Frederica was a just a e, she understood the effectiveness of her ic

As well as her party’s She didn’t understand howthe cave and condeic

However, eren’t there any wild dogs?

Was their target truly a bandit? If it was a wild ani would have no trouble dealing with it

They could lure it froh it wasn’t like thepeople to be amazed, she could use several attributes

Fire, wind, and earth

The saes employed at the royal palace could use

However, because she had a sical power, the a Therefore, she became an adventurer

“So?”

“As ever, you’re just a muscle head”

“Geh…”

When Frederica couldn’t use her e

That this party could consist of just three people was because of Frederica, the e

There were a lot of does worked at the royal palace Only low quality ones were adventurers—le attribute

That’s why a party of four to five people was the average If they were hunting large game, ten or more wasn’t unusual either

But because of that, the individual shares of the reould also decrease A party with few people in it was attractive for adventurers

“But… I don’t think there are many of them”

As for who spoke, it was the tiround, but rather towards the entrance of the abandoned mine

“Oh, why is that?”

“If there were a lot of them, they would definitely leave behind some footprints We haven’t seen any”

Frederica thought that was a good deduction

“I see But as for there not being any tracks, isn’t it because they dragged so behind them?”

“Then there’s one or two of ’em?”

Rig asked as though irritated

He just wanted them to hurry up and say how many there were

“But if you dragged a cow along, I think you’d need a lot of people…”

“Maybe they are incredibly strong?”

“Though just that would be fine…”

“The heck Stop puttin’ on airs”

Rig scratched his head as though finding it all troubleso surprised

“In that case, what do you think of the criminal?”

“I think… we should be fine if we’re careful”

His words had no carelessness or self-conceit in the for an adventurer

Because he’s tiuard and could stop er, it could even be called a talent

“You have a sharp perception, don’t you”

“Haha… I lived the country life for a long time I wouldn’t be able to track my prey if I couldn’t notice the small details after all”

Muttering back his response, he averted his gaze in embarrassment

“So what’ll we do?”

Rig asked Carl

“It’s simple, but hide at the entrance in safety, I think? I don’t think they noticed us adventurers co”

“I wonder”

Fredericato the h If possible, she wanted to finish this before the day was over and go back to sleep at an inn

“It seeht or to”

“Sounds good”

Rig gru in optimism, Frederica and Carl moved behind a rock into the blind spot fro hid behind a rock on the other side of the entrance

Placing themselves so that they could cover each other, there were no blind spots Since there was the possibility that the person would leave froilant of their surroundings, the three waited out the night

If this place weren’t a rew in abundance, Frederica’s victory very likely would have been all but guaranteed Of the eleic Even if she cut it ind ic or tore it apart or crushed it with a boulder after lifting it up, the slime wouldn’t die However, it would easily be removed with fire

At worst… even if she had to burn the entire area, she needed to burn the slime to death That is what Frederica felt

Monsters were the enes that could be left alive Not bothering to conceal her ic staff in her hands with ical power

“Rig!!”

She called for her co himself on the other side of the rock However, there was no answer

She wondered why, but she had nothe dark-colored sli Carl

Carl was, little by little, incredibly slowly, being dragged into the slime

“Carl, what are you doing!?”

“My body, can’t—”

He raised his voice However, his body started going into convulsions and wouldn’t listen to what he wanted it to do From the looks of it, he was obviously poisoned Was it a fatal one, or just so that deprived movement?

While thinking that, she invoked her ic Without an incantation, she created a simple wind blade and severed the slime’s tentacle

However, this time it recombined the moment it was cut, so she wasn’t even able to buy time

Frederica clicked her tongue The coic that was her pride was helpless against the soft-bodied monster called a slime

Earth ic and she was obstructed froic because Carl was there

“Ri—”

Then, she noticed it She was closer to the sliht, there was a face in its body, faintly illuminated by the moon It was a body A body whose upper and lower halves had divided into two

“Ri… g…”

Rig had been taken into the black ooze Noticing that fact this late, Frederica tre she did was shook a wind blade… cutting in half with her ic

Co about Carl

However, after several steps, she stopped

What was a monster? The world’s ene’s vanguard Now that there was no de, it was an existence that should perish And now, adventurers defeat monsters

Frederica’s honor supported her

However, not just Rig but even Carl was captured by the sli to s hiic, but there was no effect

Should she test fire ic?

However, she saw that Carl would be in the line of fire Even though she would just have to move sideways, Frederica was disturbed and didn’t notice that

Even if she braced herself, it wouldn’t change the fact that she killed a companion And there was the unidentified poison that the black ooze used These things froze Frederica’s thoughts

She glared at it for soh Carl’s body while Frederica was frozen, he was now having trouble speaking Unable to resist, his feet were finally absorbed by its soft body

“—!”

Frederica resolved herself, rushi+ng over to Carl She would try to save Carl as being absorbed Because she couldn’t usethat, she wasn’t able to desert her companion

Like that, Frederica ran up and stuht, a part of the slime that was detached seized the woman’s boots

Taking a posture that would keep her froht of the black ooze

She charged the staff in her right hand with ical power, but before she had a chance, a tentacle clad in paralytic poison seized her right hand

Its concentration was the sah its effects didn’t appear immediately, it should be able to paralyze the wo her senses

It didn’t sense any fear from Frederica’s expression as she stared at it For this unyielding wory than afraid

“Flame Sword!!”

The black ooze didn’t know that that single as an incantation I hot and burned away the tentacle that captured the woht hand

However, that was all Even if she burned off a piece of its body, it would ienerate

Normally, the best way to kill a sli around it, but Frederica didn’t have enough ic that many times

Using her wind ical poas around halfway drained To have enough heat to kill the slile hit, she would have to use up all of the rest that she had

However, if she used ic, not just Carl, but even her own body would be too close for safety Frederica clicked her tongue, her face dyed in anger

(Concentrate, concentrate—)

She let out a breath

Because she approached the black ooze, she was able to see that Carl was still safe Although what happened to Rig was unfortunate, the first thing that needed to happen was to survive this To kill this monster, she had to make absolutely certain

If it was a single part of itself, the slihly burn all of its cells, she would need her reical power, as well as absolute concentration

In truth, incantations would not needed forabout it Incantations were nothing but tools to concentrate by With Frederica’s experience, a dozen or so seconds was enough to concentrate on burning the sli

Focusing her concentration on her cane, it was difficult and her breathing caitation, her motives were also extreme

She threw the approaching black ooze out of her consciousness, breathing deeply and concentrating

“Eh…?”

She felt a sense of incongruity, letting out a voice of surprise

Her left hand felt strangely dull She ht in a panic, but it certainly was still there

However, her fingers wouldn’t move When she tried, she would feel sharp pains

Frederica had experienced this pain before Nus with a pain that ain Both her left hand and fingers were definitely still there However, they had numbed and wouldn’t move when she tried

“W-what?”

While she was confused, the slime drew closer

In the dark of the night, the only sound that could beher a feeling of dread, she closed her eyes and concentrated, her breathing becoher

Next she felt soht hand as well, but she didn’t have the tiht now With this, Frederica finally realized why Carl didn’t seem to be able to resist This poison… was a paralytic poison Soon, she would be just like Carl, unable to move

She had to reave it her all refining her ical power to—

“—Nn”

Suddenly, she let out an unbeco voice

“Nn, hii—”

She felt a heat running along her arm When she opened her eyes in a panic, the sli It went fro, h she couldn’t see it directly due to her clothes, the feeling of the sli into the undershi+rt she wore under her clothing was gross

“Wha—!!”

Why?

What should she do?