Vol 3 Chapter 1.2 (1/2)
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Chapter 1.2
Volume 3 Chapter 1: I tried becoming a chuuni (2/2)
It had been eight days since I left Minerva.
I was, at that moment, in Quebec Mountain where many dangerous demons live.
The reason I was there was naturally for the sake of the quest as I had to harvest the medicinal herb growing at the top of the mountain.
This was my third quest, so I still had another incomplete quest remaining.
Considering that I had made that declaration the other day, I had to complete all of them within ten days.
“Hmm, as expected of A-rank quest. I guess it was naive of me to think that I could complete them easily as long as I have the skill.” [Youki]
I murmured to myself as I made my way to the summit of the mountain.
The two quests before this had eaten up most of the time since they weren’t just simple missions that involved demon extermination or herb gathering.
I had to climb up to the peak as soon as I could to find the herb, but the constant ambush by the demons slowed me down.
I unsheathed the sword that I wasn’t accustomed to using yet and imitated Duke and Raven’s stance. There was a possibility that I would be laughed at, though, if my completely novice manner at handling the sword were to be seen by an ordinary swordsman. Nevertheless, I was in full chuuni mode at that moment. There was nothing for me to fear even if I was a beginner in swordsmans.h.i.+p.
“You should regret appearing before me.” [Youki]
I swung my sword at the group of muscled apes that attacked.
These demon monkeys with abnormal muscle growth are supposed to be rank-B demons, but that only applies to them individually. It was a completely different story when they attacked in a group. They were unexpectedly a bunch of pretty smart demons that coordinated well with each other.
Sure enough, the moment they cried out loud, as if they were raising a war cry, the first troop of monkeys headed for me.
“Hmph… fools.” [Youki]
I used body reinforcement magic on myself and cast another magic on my sword at the same time, enveloping it with lightning.
Even though I called it black lightning (due to my name), it was actually just an ordinary coloured lightning. It might be a disappointing fact to the others, but I couldn’t care less about it. Nothing could be done if I really couldn’t conjure a black coloured lightning.
I decided not to kill those monkeys since I couldn’t ruin the ecosystem of Quebec Mountain.
…It might actually be much cooler to spare their lives.
“Gyiii–!”
“Rest a.s.sured. I will not kill you guys… I’ll just have you all sleep for a while.” [Youki]
A chunni sounding line that I would usually be too embarra.s.sed to say escaped my lips as I slashed at them. The attacks couldn’t have killed them since I had already adjusted the intensity of the lightning on the sword, and the result proved to be just as I had calculated. The apes’ muscled bodies convulsed from my attacks and fainted one after another.
Probably because they were enraged at the sight of their defeated comrades, several of the remaining apes started launching themselves at me, but the consequence was the same. They collapsed before me by my swordsmans.h.i.+p while the rest of the muscled apes started fleeing the scene, most likely because they finally realized the difference in our strengths.
It seemed that the one at the back of the group might be the leader who had instructed them to retreat. It was a wise decision.
“I will not go after those that escaped. I’ll let you guys off.” [Youki]
I threw my head back and laughed at the fleeing muscled apes.
Since the battle had ended, I sheathed my sword and resumed my walk.
The same thing happened again after that as I was attacked by more demons, but nothing could stop me at the moment.
I laughed by myself as I continued on, reaching the summit eventually and gathering the herb successfully in no time at all.
There was no point staying in a place where demons would appear any longer seeing as I had already acquired the herbs.
Time is of the essence, so I hurried back to the client as soon as I could.
“Here’s the item you requested for. Please receive it.” [Youki]
“Y-Yes. Thank you. My daughter will be saved with this herb…” [Client]
The client of this quest was a certain n.o.ble.
It seemed that her daughter was seriously ill so she needed this herb to cure the sickness.
When I reached the n.o.ble’s mansion and handed her the herb, I was startled by her unexpected weeping.
…As a parent, I supposed that reaction was natural.
Even that two particular individuals in the inn, who were flirting with each other, were extremely grateful upon knowing each other had survived.
That thought crossed my mind for a split second, but I shook it off immediately, reverting to my initial state of mind.
I’m not Youki at the moment… I’m Magic Knight of Black Lightning.
“Hmph, all I’m doing is just completing my quest. Please excuse me. I have another quest to complete…” [Youki]
“P-Please wait! First of all, I would like to apologize for my rudeness when we first met. Also, if possible, I’d like you to meet my daughter…” [Client]
“That request is not possible… I’m Magic Knight of Black Lightning. Even if there is a misunderstanding in the beginning, I’ll still accomplish the quest without fail. Also, since I have already achieved my mission here, there is no reason for me to stay. I bid you farewell.” [Youki]
I left the place, disregarding the n.o.ble who tried to stop me.
By the way, when I first met that n.o.ble, I could feel intense revulsion directed towards me. So the sudden change in her att.i.tude towards me now was amazing, considering the disparaging remarks she threw at me, accusing me of being a dodgy character and such in the beginning.
Although, the previous two clients before her had similar reactions as well.
It seemed that this appearance of mine could easily arouse misunderstanding. I had no intention of stopping, though.
“Now then, the final quest is to subjugate the thieves. This’ll be a piece of cake. Kukuku… I’ll turn you into the rust on my sword…” [Youki]
Despite completing all these quests, I was still in perfect condition. I began making my way towards the last location of the quest.
The places where the thieves would possibly be, were more or less indicated in the quest form, so all I needed to do was to strengthen all my senses and search for their whereabouts by detecting the smell of blood and their voices.
I decided to ‘eliminate’ them once I locate them, then just hand them over to the knights stationed nearby. The quest would then be over once I do so. However, despite having such a strategy and wasting the whole day searching for them, I still couldn’t find any leads.
“d.a.m.n… Why can’t I find them?! Tch, I guess that’s just what I’d expect from a group of thieves. They’re not to be dealt with ordinary means.” [Youki]
They had probably gotten the information that the guild had issued a request to subjugate them, so they must had taken the precautions and moved to another location before the adventurers from the guild were despatched.
“Don’t think you can escape me, Magic Knight of Black Lightning…” [Youki]
Without taking a moment of respite, I broke into a run.
I was running out of time since it would be the tenth day tomorrow.
They should not have escaped too far yet.
I gathered the information by inquiring the people from the neighbouring towns and villages. Even though they threw a suspicious glance at me, I paid them no heed. After acquiring the clues about their whereabouts from the witnesses and victims, I rushed to the said locations.
And, by the time I found their hideout, it was already night time.
“Fuhahahaha! I finally found you bunch of thieves!” [Youki]
“Tch, are yeh the dog sent by the guild? Yeh sure sniffed us out real fast even after we changed our turf.” [Thief]
The thieves started cursing, probably because I had found their hideout.
They seemed to be quite decently equipped, though, despite being thieves. The thought of the amount of money they earned from robbing people amazed me.
There were a few who looked savage, too. Could this be a group of former adventurers?
“Surrender obediently and you won’t get hurt… What’s your choice?” [Youki]
I wished to hear their answer before I beat them to a pulp. I had already antic.i.p.ated what their reply would be, but I would still like to give them a warning as the superior one here.
That was because it would be cooler this way.
“Are you freaking stupid? Your appearance is even more suspicious than ours. I don’t know which guild you’re from, but you’re going against us alone. Let’s do it guys!” [Leader of Thieves]
At the command of the guy who seemed to be the leader, the other thieves started attacking.
The enemies consisted of around ten people. I didn’t detect anyone else in hiding when I examined the area by strengthening my senses.
I decided to play around with them a bit, just to gauge my own strength. I guessed each of them were using a weapon that they were good at since they were quite skilled with them, and they had pretty good teamwork, too. As one would expect from former adventurers.
But… it was naive of them. Their coordination was similar to the muscled apes I had recently fought, so I was already accustomed to their movements.
Once I had my fill playing around with them, I leaped off and landed slightly farther from them. I then unsheathed my sword and made my declaration out loud.
“Hmph, you should prepare yourselves once you’ve pointed your weapons at me. Repent yourself for not surrendering to me, Magic Knight of Black Lightning!” [Youki]
This play had reached its conclusion… It might have been a good idea to cast thunderbolt, an intermediate level magic as the grand finale.
I should do that the next time.
Several of the thieves who were discomposed by my declaration began muttering among themselves.
“Who the s.h.i.+t is that person? Leader, we’re being played for a fool by a nutcase.” [Thief]
“Magic Knight of Black Lightning? I’ve not heard of that name before.” [Thief]
“You’re only one person here, so what nonsense are you blabbing about! Let’s finish him off quickly!” [Leader of Thief]
Hmm… It seemed that they were looking down on me. Not to mention, they insulted my outfit as well. Unforgivable.
“Come at me. It’s showtime. I’ll play with you guys as much as you want!” [Youki]