Chapter 22 (1/2)

Episode 22〜 He that Fights and Runs May Live to Fight Another Day.

Weeds and flowers growing along the river side a buried underfoot.

The popob.u.mu’s heavy footsteps firmly step on the flowering plants making a footprint.

The wind and weather is good.

A refres.h.i.+ng wind is wrapping around us.

Approaching a small hill near the river, the view spreads out more.

A branch of the Haym river.

I am able to confirm to confirm the area around and see stones of various scattered around and covered in moss that have gathered together to form the steam.

-N?

As I enjoy the scenery I detect a magic essence.

There are multiple magic essence signs…and they are coming from the river.

Because I detected magic essence coming I back away from the Haym river cautiously;

Coming down from her favorite place on the back of the popob.u.mu’s head Rollo changes into her panther form to be safe.

It feels like they’re jump out at any time.

I can hear bubbling sounds coming from the river.

The sound becomes larger.

Cautiously, the source of the sound appears.

It is a large crab.

With bubbles foaming out of its mouth it rises out of the river.

The source of the bubbling must be this…

At the ends of five pairs of crab legs are twin pincers.

It looks like it will hurt if I get hit by that.

Before long, one of the bubbles floats towards me.

Immediately it attacks. Because I move while getting on popob.u.mu, the attack natural does not succeed.

There’s an evaporating sound in the place where the bubble lands.

A rotten sulfur smell drifts up.

Poison type? I don’t want to receive that bubble…

Only one of the big crabs is releasing bubbles and is approaching from the side.

A bit more…coming closer.

“Rollo, separate that crab from the river a little.”

Rollo remains silent and wags her tail to say “Got it.”

I watch the condition of the big crab as it walks away from the river.

Then Rollo attacks it stomach with her feeler bone sword.

When her attack lands there is a *busu* sound like soft leather being punctured.

From the hole a bit of fibrous white crab meat protrudes.

The big crab desperately resists as it tries to repel Rollo’s bone sword with its pincers but the bone sword penetrates its body multiple times.

The grab seems to be becoming angry, and furthermore, it is being drawn toward Rollo.

Haha, stupid crab.

I get down from the popob.u.mu with a smile and move to flank the big crab.

I thrust out the black spear from the side while the big crab is being distracted by Rollo.

From a normal stab-<thrust>.

It received my attack, but there is little response. I felt soft to the touch.

Going by the sensation I was able to stab the big crab’s body twice, but it is still able to move.

With bubbles gus.h.i.+ng out of it mouth it twists around with its pincer hands.

Without bother to aim it tries swinging at me from the left and right, but because I am already outside of the range of the huge claws its attack fails.

Again Rollo’s feeler bone sword pierces the body of the giant crab.

The bubbling f

rom is directed in Rollo’s direction but she simply jumps out of the way and they are only harmlessly scattered about.

The big crab tries to move sideways so that it chase Rollo with rustling motions.

This crab is tough; it is a good thing it is stupid.

Again, it is being drawn in by Rollo.

Now, should I aim for the mouth? I hold up my left hand. I eject <chain>.

The chain cuts straight through the air. Through the bubbling mouth of the big crab it penetrates out the back of the crab’s sh.e.l.l.

The grab twitches and falls back.

I run there fiercely.

I jump a little – and swing down the spear length-wise.

All of the pincer are severed and a huge part of the head is cut into. A yellow past like fermented soybeans hangs down from the section.

Ooh, isn’t like miso mixed with crab meat.

The claws are filled with white flesh.

It looks tasty.

But, as I saw the poison spurting out I will leave it be…

While thinking about the poison Roll howls with a “Garururu.”

She reveals the s.h.i.+ning fangs in her mouth suddenly begins to tear into the leathery stomach of the giant crab.

Thus she begins to energetically consume the white crab meat.

“…O〜i, is it tasty, Rollo?”

Hearing me Rollo turns around to face me in the form of a kittens and goes “Nya, nyaa.”

“Well then, I too…”

Taking one of the giant claws in my hand I pull out some of the white meat from where I cut it. It’s not animal meat, exposing my teeth I take a bite.

Mumbling I chew and taste it. This white meat is yummyyyyy. It is crab meat. Okkasan, this is white meat is crab. (TL: Don’t know why he says mom here.”

The tension goes up and even though it is strange this is proper soft crab sas.h.i.+mi. (TL: Sas.h.i.+mi means the meat, normally for sus.h.i.+ type dishes, is thinly slice. It has more to do with the presentation, I think, so this doesn’t make sense to me.)

It hasn’t been boiled, but honestly…it is really good… and there is a slight saltiness.

But because there is so much I won’t be able to finish it.

Chewing on the soft crisp meat, it is really tasty.

“It’s good, but I want soy sauce…I really wish I had soy sauce…but I’ll have to bear with it.”

Holding onto the crab claw with both hand I am sure to eat all of its slim contents.

Rollo seems to be eating the yellowish gunk and her lips have turned yellow.

Because there is so much white meat I am full in no time.

It seems to be the same for Rollo, she stopped eating and is now repeating the action of was.h.i.+ng her face.

“Will you eat this, popob.u.mu? Will you eat some of the white meat?”

I return to the popob.u.mu with some of the game and try to press some of the white meat against its mouth.

Then, with a big snort it stretches out its head and takes a big bite.

*Mogumogu* it eats all of the meat and its small green eyes look bright and pleased.

We who have finished eat the big crab we caught hang around for a little while like this before we begin to head south again.

We travel across the gra.s.sland and hills while keeping the Haym river in sight.

After eating the crab meat, the popob.u.mu seems to have become spirited. I can hear it going “bubobubo”

The scenery changes from gra.s.s-covered plains to dirt fields.

I can see a “person” plowing the field, and some spa.r.s.ely dotted houses are visible.

The first human being- A human. (TL: It only took about two years.)

They look like a farmer.

There are a few wooden hills too.

And old man seems to be keeping watch from there and is sitting down with a book as he looks over the scenery.

Do they work on days with fine weather and read on days with rainy weather?

This area seems like a quiet farm village.

I see children playing with wooden sticks to the side. A cow that looks like a lunga is pulling a millstone to grind flower.

There do not seem to be any monsters or bandits in the area.

After I pa.s.s the quiet farming village I appear on wide road with ruts from carriage wheels.

The dirt here is appropriate for a highway. As I travel down the highway on popob.u.mu, I pa.s.s people and carts transporting farm products.

In the carriages I can see humans, elves, and beast people riding.

The coachman in this case is a human and the other two are a “tiger beastman” with tiger ears and a long eared elf, there is a lot of variety. I prompt the popob.u.mu to hurry up.

I get a strong impression from the face of the tiger beastman.

He has long whiskers like a tiger and tawny hair that looks really bushy.

The human is wearing short sleeves and a hat, and to be honest, because he is driving the cart to scene is a bit odd.

With the head of a leopard or tiger, well I am reminded of a famous protagonist from a long novel.

I continue to travel down the highway as I watch people come and go.

I am able to increase the speed of the popob.u.mu thanks to where the road goes.

The road follows alongside the Haym rive so it is just right

When I cross over a hill, the river spreads out and becomes shallow enough the cross.

When I cross the shallows I can see a part of a big town.

And as the clouds clear up and I can see a high tower come into view.

Amazing, such a tall tower.

With my hand up to shade my eyes from the bright sunlight I take a look at the tall tower. The tall tower seems to reach the heavens.

Is it one of the dungeons? Possibly a s.p.a.ce elevator? It looks like the Tower of Babel, but…It is extremely tall.

Possibly, is it higher than the Maheim mountain range?

My eyes look over the tower and I remember, I cannot seem to find a castle wall.

Maybe it is not visible from here.

On the map this is marked down as the 【 Royal Capitol Fad.y.k.e】 of Terramay Kingdom.

When one reaches the tower are they at the center of the capitol? The number of buildings increases the closer one gets to it, and I can see pedestrian traffic is able to come and go freely.

As I look up at the tower I push the popob.u.mu forward, when suddenly, I hear a hard metallic sound nearby. I hear a rough male voice.

There seems to be a fight somewhere.

I get a reaction from presence detection too.

However, because there is a lot of magic essence appropriate for people in the area it is hard to distinguish.

When I activate <smell secretion=”” technique=”” pheromone=”” touch=””>…I am over whelmed by the smell of blood.

It seems like this area could be dangerous.

A human with a drawn sword and a beast person with a b.l.o.o.d.y axe are walking.

The body of the beast person is quite large.

His whole body is covered in hairy armor.

I remember a character from a famous sci-fi movie.

As I pa.s.s by while observing their figures, sure enough, I can hear the voice a woman being attacked.

Should I help?

I hurry and make the popob.u.mu face the direction of the sound.

However, everyone is gone, so it seems the victim was take somewhere.

I do not pursue too far. I just advance.

And in the evening, the traffic dwindles down to very little.

It is already night. I look for an inn…but there doesn’t seem to be one.

I walked around, but there doesn’t seem to be anything like an inn. Only private houses and abandoned buildings everywhere…

Trying to find one is hopeless.

There are traces of the ruins of a large estate. Crossing the threshold, I’m coming in.

The grounds of the ruins have a lot of weeds and trees growing in the back.

It was adjacent and connected to the highway.

I hide the popob.u.mu under a tree and stop here.

I give it some feed. After feeding some jerky to the popob.u.mu I pat the rough skin of its neck.

Then, I explore the mansion a little.

I go into the ruins with the black cat Rollo.

-There is no one.

Since there is no one here I contemplate staying the night here.

After exploring the mansion and finding an open s.p.a.ce between some pillar I decide to make my bed there.

I spend the night calmly, leaning against a pillar and chewing jerk. (TL: He’s so cool.)

At midnight while I a sleeping lightly-there’s a reaction on presence detection, I detect more than one magic essence signature as well as footsteps.

“Rollo, shhh…”

I place a finger to my lips and gesture for Rollo to be quiet.

I check with my

skill.

Multiple humans are approaching.

Rising quietly, I watch from the shadows.

Roll jumps to my shoulder. Listening to my instructions she waits quietly.

The members entering the mansion are hooded robes so I cannot see their faces.

Some round sources of light illuminate the mansion along with the people.

Is that light magic?

The people cloaked in hoods look around the room.

Fortunately, they don’t come to where I am hiding.

Those who have finished patrolling gather in the hall.

“This is the home of a n.o.ble family who lost their position. It will be all right.”

A man speaks with a voice that carries the feel of an apprentice and pulls back his hood.

The face is middle-aged. White hairs are growing from the side of his head, the man is clear cut and his eyes are sunk into his cheeks.

He is wearing hide armor that is slightly stained around the neck.

Then everyone follows the man’s lead and remove their cowls. They all look like soldiers wearing steel helmets.

The young soldier opens his mouth.

“Captain, may I invite those people here?”

“Ah, make it so. …Please mind that you are courteous?”

The leader with the chiseled features reminds the subordinate soldier to pay special attention.

Courteous? Are there big shots here, too?

“Yes.”

The young soldier nods and disappears into the darkness outside of the mansion.

After a moment I can see the soldier is guiding a group of people inside. Everyone is wearing a hood like those who entered earlier were.

However, judging from their att.i.tudes and appearances they are clearly different from the helmet wearing soldiers.

They are delivering orders in a distinguished manner.

The soldiers respond to their orders and search the hall for a table and chairs before returning and setting them up.

When a desk is set up, one of the bossy people removes their hood, exposing their face.

The person has blond hair and blue fox eyes. A man with handsome features.

Tall and good looking.

His clothes look expensive, the fridge of his mantle is embroidered with gold thread. (TL: The RAWs say he is wearing a タブレット which translates to tablet, and the closest thing I can think of that makes sense is some kind of mantle.)

A fur cape is wrapped around his shoulders, and a black scarf subst.i.tuting a tie is wrapped around his neck.

Something s.h.i.+ny is also attacked to his chest.

When I look closer at the s.h.i.+ning object I can make out a golden hand-shaped broach.

A high-cla.s.s accessary.

After the blond-haired ikemen sits down on the stool his subordinates prepared he taps his finger several times on the table.

And, raising his blue fox-eyes he begins to glare at the captain for before.

“Oi, Jared! Isn’t this different from what you said before?”

The blond-haired ikemen calls the captain Jared. (TL: His names in the raws is Garudo which sounds like Guard. I thought it was kind of funny.)

The middle-aged captain of the mercenaries wearing brown hide-armor seems to be named Jared.

Jared lowers his head in apology.

“Hai. I am sorry. There are circ.u.mstances…this was an order his Excellency’s ‘royalist faction’ to move, I had to act quickly after receiving the communication. From his Excellency… be extremely cautious, once here ‘all of you,’ stand by until you receive an order.”

Hearing this the ikemen is completely enraged.

“What? Do you understand the circ.u.mstances! Expressly, although the court came from Samaria… there is no banquet, we meet in these ruins… Am I not one of Marquises of Samaria? Who does Prime Minister Zamdo think he is?”

Not only is that ikemen a n.o.ble, he’s a marquis?

He is definitely a big shot. That explains why there are so many soldiers.

Thereupon, a suitably showy person takes down their hood and sits on another stool.

Long, swaying pure blonde hair. Judging from that appearance, a woman?

“Shall we hear the circ.u.mstances? You are suspicious.”

“Chardonnay. You say something. We, the secret bureau of the royalist faction, have already understood everything if that is the case…”

“Maa, ne. This is natural. So, is there any reason for us to be here? Prime Minister Zamdo is an insecure good for nothing. The subordinates of such a person…”

Prime Minister Zamdo?

The eyes of the n.o.ble woman called Chardonnay stares at Jared like he is garbage.

“Fu, surely, surely all of these guys can be used including for work so.”

The blond-haired ikemen talks with warped cheeks.

Jared’s complexion worsens as he is he being blamed by the two n.o.bles.

“Hewso, do you really need to torment him so much? You might not think so, but he is a subordinate of Terramay Kingdom’s Prime Minister Zamdo.”

The Marquis’ name seems to be Hewso.

And then, the Prime Minister…

“That’s right. We are certainly in a different country, and then, although the armistice treaty has been signed, originally we are enemy nations.”

“Correct. We are here together because the relations.h.i.+p between the two countries is different now, will we be sharing each other’s fate?”