v1c15 (1/2)

Volume 1 Chapter 15 – Young men’s foolish stories

The next morning, I head to the guild. I was guided into a large room by the receptionist guy. It was a fairly early hour, however the a.s.sistant guild master, the instructor and 5 adventurers were already present.

Among them two people noticed and approached me. We took the beginner’s training together, they are Kreuk and Silver. Kreuk is a warrior with light equipment, carrying a sword and bow. He’s around 170 cm tall. He’s got a slender and attractive face. Silver is around 180 cm tall with a tough physique, his equipment is a metal plate mail, a huge s.h.i.+eld and sword. His face is of a hunk, however he has muscles for brains.

“Masaru! Did you accept this request too?” saying that Kreuk approached.

“Alas! I was called to carry the baggage.”

“Let me introduce my party, Alipour’s leader, Strong Sword Lazard. He’s C Rank.”

I was introduced to a big gorilla. He’s taller than Silver who is 180 cm. He’s carrying a big sword on his back and the muscles on his arms are amazing. Many nicks were carved on the metal plate armor, I infer he’s really experienced. We handshake when he presented his hand. Ouch! He put too much force, my hand is gonna break! If his appearance is of a gorilla, no doubt his strength would be of one too. Probably he didn’t intend to put that much force.

“I heard the rumors, what was it? Wild Rabbit Hunter?”

Please, stop. That’s already a matter sealed in history.

“Heh, this one?”

“This is Leeds and this is Molal. We all come originally from the village of Alipour.”

Hence the name of the party being Alipour? Leeds is a female swordsman. Her height may be between Kreuk and Silver’s. I believe she’s fairly beautiful, but a bit scary giving off vibes of being a vixen. Molal is a cat-eared beastman male carrying a spear. He’s taciturn and keeps bowing his head during his introduction.

I exchange information with Kreuk and Silver.

Both of them, it seems around last week have finished several requests nearby. They went into the forest too and looks like they experienced actual combat many times. The one talking is mostly Kreuk. Silver sometimes chimes in. I think probably Kreuk is in charge of talking. I talk about what happened at the beginning. They specially wanted to know about the wild rabbit hunting, so I tell them the details. And about the learning of healing magic.

“I thought Masaru was a swordsman. You could also use magic?” unusually Silver uttered.

“Uh-huh. On the mock battles it would take both of us or it couldn’t be a match. Being able to use both sword and magic is foul play.” said Kreuk.

Oh well, it’s a cheat after all.

“Oh, you have such skills? I would want to have a match.” said Lazard.

Hearing Kreuk’s remarks, Lazard started observing me with great interest. Please stop, I’ll end up dead. Despite being as different as minimum weight vs heavyweight, what are you thinking? [TL Note: minimum weight or mini flyweight vs heavyweight are reference to boxing’s weight cla.s.ses]

“No, back then all our bodies were completely worn out, right? I guess in perfect conditions there wouldn’t have been such difference in strength?”

“Is that so?” Kreuk tilted his head puzzled.

That is so! That’s how it came to be!

Noticing, other parties approached looking what was happening. Pointing at me and saying “Wild Rabbit, Wild Rabbit” in full harmony. I could only force a laugh while slightly trembling. Kreuk and Silver too started laughing. d.a.m.ned friends they are.

“Ohhh, it seems everyone has a.s.sembled! Everybody come here.” Drevin convoked with a loud voice.

Oh, I’m saved! Everybody in groups gathered in front of the a.s.sistant guild master and instructor.

“I’ll serve as the leader of this survey team, I’m instructor Vogt, a former A rank. As you’ve heard there is something inside the forest, monsters that don’t usually come out have spilled out into the gra.s.slands. Our goal is to investigate as well as eliminating the source of that. Currently, because the situation in the forest is extremely insecure, we plan to force our way through by brute force. Our first destination is here. The vicinity of the lake. After that we’ll flexibly deal with depending on the circ.u.mstances. The travel distance will be two days, investigate one day and take two days to return.”

“Do you know what is the cause?”

“It’s unknown. It’s a conjecture that it could be a big species of the dragon cla.s.s, but there’s no positive proof. Our war potential is the B rank party Dawn’s Battleaxe and another three C ranked parties have been gathered. Then to start with Dawn’s Battleaxe…”

The introduction of each party begins. The B Rank Dawn’s Battleaxe is the main war potential. The leader is carrying an axe. Despite looking like a female dwarf warrior, there’s also someone covered by the hood of a black robe giving off the impression of a little mage. The C ranks have Alipour led by the gorilla and the party called h.e.l.lvaughn seems to be mainly composed of archers. The last party is the Wings of Twilight in charge of scouting. Yea, Wings of Twilight. However the people themselves are very serious, there’s isn’t any particular response from those around. The introductions continued as normal. h.e.l.l-whatever and Strong Sword, even there was one called Fresh Blood, I guess I appear quite plain? [TL: The chuunibyou is strong among them.]

“The last one is, hey, come over here.”

Why am I being called to the front, instructor? I’m taken along to the front. I gather their attention.

“This time, it is Masaru who is in charge of transporting the supplies. Introduce yourself.”

“Ermm, I’m Masaru, E-rank and in charge of carrying the baggage, Wild rabbit hunter.”

Suddenly they raise up in laughter. I said it in desperation, but they really took it. In this situations it’s better to be honest than to secretly be weird.

“I’m fairly skilled with Fire and Healing Magic, and can make drinking water with Water Magic.”

Finis.h.i.+ng the self-introductions it was time for questions.

“What’s the extent of the supplies prepared?”

Indicated by the instructor, I take out all the supplies. Ten boxes packed with food and 5 barrels of water. Some people open the boxes and check the contents.

“Enough for five days has been prepared. Furthermore, since there’s room to spare in the Item Box, pavilions and so forth have been prepared beforehand. In relation to the transportation of other things, come to discuss it.”

By pavilions they mean tents? I go store in Items the things piled up in a corner of the room. The party leaders come to discuss. Even though in my heart I’m getting cold feet, I promised to transport the spoils of war. The remuneration is 10% of the loot. We’re talking about a large amount for a first-come-first-served basis till I can’t carry any more.

I asked what would be done after I can’t carry any more, they said they’d cut it down to valuables and carry them back on their shoulders. As far as it goes, each one possess an Item Box, however after putting the minimum necessities they don’t have any s.p.a.ce to spare, thus I’m acting the role of a carriage or cart. This time because it’s the forest we’ll be traveling on foot the whole distance. Looks like they’re bringing a simple cart too, but it’s not something they can rely upon.

I joined the Alipour party. The gorilla is reliable, and I won’t be embarra.s.sed to have Kreuk and Silver as conversation partners. If they weren’t here, I’d be lonely!

Leaving the guild, carriages were prepared. It looks like we’ll proceed down the main road for some distance on the carriages and from there enter the forest. We depart on 3 separate carriages. Talking with Kreuk and learning that it’s my first time in the forest, it appears they’ve decided that the gorilla will train me. They tell me various stories. How muscles are not enough and the knowledge for battle. On the carriage there was no escape. There was nothing but to hear them quietly while answering uh-huh, uh-huh.

They even started a compet.i.tive show with my weapon and armor. They picked the darksteel broadsword from my back, “Oh, isn’t this a good sword? Can you handle it?” “No no, it’s important to get intimate with a good weapon from an early age…” “A master chooses his weapon. Since he has to rely on it to fight…” and so forth the other people added.

As might be expected from paying a high price, it appears the broadsword is of good quality. It cost 500,000 yen after all. Everyone had a high evaluation of it. I was shown the gorilla’s large sword too. The blade is approximately 150 cm. It’s heavy. It looks like I can’t even wield it with my strength. Recently I’ve boosted my confidence with fencing a bit, however it’s another matter with my body. No matter how much I struggle my Stamina doesn’t seem to increase.

Within around two hours we arrived to our destination. We get off the carriages and we could see the forest nearby. I loosened my body and immediately departed. The Wings of Twilight in charge of scouting were at the lead while Dawn’s Battleaxe, Alipour and h.e.l.lvaughn followed. Everyone stopped gossiping and put on a serious face. Arriving at the forest there’s a narrow road, and we followed it. I stick to the gorilla and walk while looking restlessly around. Using Presence Detection at times there were reactions from small animals, but there was nothing else. I kept hearing it is dangerous, however it was a bit disappointing.

Suddenly Lazard stops. Takes the large sword from his back. As if calling out something he signaled with his hand. Soon Dawn at the front started moving and the march resumed.

“What was that now?” I asked after we started walking again.

“Seems like there was a battle at the front. It looks like it was finished quickly though.”

Soon after advancing forward I understood. Someone from Wings of Twilight was waiting with the loot. It’s a huge spider. With its legs stretched out it appears to be almost as tall as me. I store it in Items as said and the Twilight guy promptly ran back to the front.

“That now was a huge spider. As for it, it isn’t strong, but it’s quite a dangerous monster if attacked by surprise by it. If bitten one’s body will be paralyzed and unable to move, get wrapped in thread and turned into its food. That’s not a good way to die.”

Certainly that’s pretty disgusting.

“The spider’s thread is a high grade raw material and the legs aren’t too bad tasting.”

The fact is that people here can eat bugs without hesitation. I witnessed it many times being cooked in the city. It’s said they’re unexpectedly tasty if you try to eat them, although it’s a food I want to avoid if as much as possible.

Presently the file stopped again. This time Dawn’s Battleaxe kept going, however Lazard stayed. Asking about it,

“It appears a little bit of a tough one appeared. What, there’s nothing to worry leaving it to Dawn’s.” was the reply.

Advancing forward this time the corpse of a humanoid was awaiting. It’s bigger than an orc and red. It has no horns but it looks like a red ogre. One leg has been torn off. Its body was full of wounds. I store it in Items.