Chapter 214 (1/2)

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Two days after the sermon, Simon was outside the city

How many years had it been since he left the city of Morksi? He had received numerous requests to repair the walls that protected the city, so perhaps it hadn't been that long, if one were to count that

But he felt as if it had been over ten years The cold winter wind felt good Each time he felt the snow that had fallen yesterday crunch underfoot, he remembered those days

The scent of blood in the air and the sight of the lifeless corpse lying on the ground in front of hiht, I can still do it I'm not finished; even if I have only one arm, I can at least kill Goblins!” Siled to wipe the blood froht hand

These days, his pocket ith the funds that he received fro errands for Vandalieu The quantity and quality of the monster parts handed to him for sale at the Adventurers' Guild increased with each passing day There had only been the parts of Rank 1 and Rank 2 monsters on the first day, but his second errand had even included a body part from a Rank 4 Kobold General

That one part alone had been worth a week's pay fro had contained multiple body parts from Rank 3 monsters such as Orcs and Goblin Leaders as well

Even back when he was an adventurer, his party had never hunted this ht it was incredible

Si these parts just for carrying them to the Adventurers' Guild He had been paid far too er He considered himself lucky

But for Simon, it wasn't just lucky

Every time he entered the Adventurers' Guild, unpleasant looks were directed his way

Siularly visited the Adventurers' Guild to accept day jobs Each time he did so, his one-armed body would receive looks of pity and sneers

It was during his third year as an adventurer, in his later teenage years He had finally purchased some decent equipment, passed the examination to ascend to D-class, and his whole life was ahead of him when he lost his dominant arreat, but Siiven up immediately There were skilled alchemists in Morksi, so he and his party members had done their best to see if there was a way to acquire a Magic Iteic Item artificial arm that functioned well, he could not only live every day without any inconveniences, he could return to being an adventurer

But Magic Item artificial arms, even those that did not function particularly well, cost over ten times what Simon had expected

As Simon had only just becoe as Even if all of his party ether all of their wealth, it still wasn't enough for even a down payment

Even if he went to the Guild for a loan, they could not loan a large amount of money to adventurers who had just becoive up He trained to use his sith his left hand, and even tried training to becoe his role in the party

But this hadn't gone well, and Simon had left his party so that he wouldn't hinder them His companions had left Morksi after that, and he hadn't heard their names since, so he didn't knohat had beco famous, or perhaps they were moderately active as C-class adventurers in another duchy, or perhaps they had given up adventuring and taken up other professions Perhaps the Guild would have told Si

Left in this city on his own, Si out of force of habit At first, he had worked as a baggage carrier for other adventurers, attempted jobs in production industries - he believed that he had done his best to live as a respectable person

But before he knew it, his alcohol consu in a cheap inn on the main street to a dilapidated house in the slu about his appearance past the bare minimum that was socially required

The sword and ar expenses, and he had truly become an outcast who had settled into the slums

He couldn't bla at hiht parts that served as proof for having exterminated monsters This drew unavoidable attention News quickly spread that there was a Dhahired to sell these parts for hi it for thethe meat on his oas not a pleasant situation for the Adventurers' Guild

It was possible that potential clients who didn't understand the situation would wonder why they needed to pay such large fees for monsters to be exterminated when a child as not even an adventurer could do it

Even without such thinking, Vandalieu's cutting into their profits was no joking matter

But naturally, Vandalieu didn't visit the Adventurers' Guild himself, so everyone's discontent was directed at Si Vandalieu's errands

In any case, people had asked Simon to tell Vandalieu to either ister as an adventurer hiazes of active adventurers towards Sied froht he was buttering Vandalieu up,hi Vandalieu, so he couldn't say anything back, however

But over the past ten years, Si ridicule and scorn He found it unpleasant in theDarcia's ser as people continued to live, they could redo things So then, perhaps he could try becoain, one that wouldn't be subjected to such treat, Si his money not to a bar, but to a weapons store There, he had purchased a sword, then began to move his weakened body

Today, he had left the city at a ti where he wouldn't run into Vandalieu, looked for a lone Goblin wandering around outside a Devil's Nest, and hunted it

Simon chuckled ”At this rate, in less than a month… I'll even be able to take on Rank 2 ain the senses I had back in the day and becoht with my left arm… even Rank 3 monsters aren't an i as an adventurer without huntingRank 2in the sluerous profession with a handicapped body only to live the sa up until now

Feeling like he was oal that his eyes were fixed upon, Sihed, but there eat on his forehead and his shoulders heaved up and down as he breathed heavily

Years of an unhealthy lifestyle had reduced his staht

In this world, there was a Status System and Skills Skills were effective for the rest of one's life after acquiring them

But that did not mean that Skills were always as effective as their Levels would suggest no matter what the condition of the user's body was

If one'swould decrease, and if their senses grew dull, their parrying abilities would dull as well

But Simon did not dwell on his current state; he cut off the Goblin's ear and, with clu the corpse

”Never would have thought that I'd be going through the effort of taking Goblin meat back home with me,” he chuckled to himself ”And I'll make that bra - Vandalieu-san, realize that I'ofer -”

Suddenly, Simon leapt away from the Goblin corpse and raised his sword He found hi a pack of wolves

”Wolves… shi+t, they were lured here by the smell of blood, huh,” he muttered

They were ordinary wolves, not monsters This pack of wolves, which roamed outside the Devil's Nest, had been drawn here by the Goblin corpse that Si

There were just under ten of them, and all of them looked somewhat thin It was likely that they hadn't been able to hunt enough to eat properly this winter They were looking to take the leftovers froainst me… I have no choice but to back down, Simon decided

He slowly stepped backwards away fro at the wolves

They weren't monsters, but if one were to put a Rank on them, they would be Rank 2, and there were nearly ten of them They were not adversaries that Simon could fend off

But fortunately, as they were nothuet aithout fighting as long as he gave theht, but it seemed that the wolves decided differently The pack spread out to surround hi to back away

Simon's face stiffened ”These bastards think I'm easy prey!”

The wolves weren't just after the Goblin corpse; they had decided that the one-arued Simon was food for them as well

As if in response to Sis, and one wolf from the back leapt at him to try and knock hile Flash!+'”

Simon activated ahis reaction speed, and swung his sword at the head of the wolf that had leapt at hih the ar his weapon, and his attack missed the wolf He i was caught, and he fell onto the ground

W-why?! I used my martial skill!

His reaction speed had increased, and he had been able to clearly see the wolf that tried to knock him down

Indeed, his martial skill had been active But his arth, had screale Flash,' aof the sword His atrophied leg, unable to keep up with Siht

No way! I'ht in despair

”HEL -” he screamed as the wolf leapt at his throat to end his life

He heard the lol of a rat and a yelp of pain from the wolf as it was thrown into the air

Surprised, he looked up to see an enor tail that had a metallic shi+ne to it

”Wha - A monster? But it's a rat, could it be…?”

Siet onto his feet, he felt heat on one side of him and cold air on the other side In the next moment, a ball of flames burned a wolf, then a blast of cold air froze it solid

Two more rats appeared; one reathed in flames and the other was surrounded by a liquid that radiated cold air

”Three rats means that it's definitely…” Si hi wolves yelped and fled

”It's a little late for me to say this, but I' on the back of a gray-furred hellhound

Knowing that he was saved, Sih of relief

It was pure coincidence that Vandalieu had co with Darcia yesterday, so he had gone hunting earlier than usual today to work hard on Fang's Leveling, and happened to co's Rank increased

”I see, so that's why you were hunting a Goblin,” said Vandalieu, having heard Siot rather hot-headed It's unbecoround, unable to fight off his fatigue

Vandalieu was touching Sis won't stop shaking… I' his oeakness

”You've spent quite a long ti this kind of work, haven't you? It can't be helped And it seeued, too,” said Vandalieu

”Yes… But I'ave a self-deprecating laugh ”I'm not sure which one of us is supposed to be the older one…”

”That's just because I'ue,” said Vandalieu

Indeed, he was using 'Out-of-body Experience' to put his spirit-fore hiswith him

Ordinarily, Vandalieu wouldn't be able to put his spirit form into Simon unless Simon himself allowed it, or if he were unconscious But he was able to quietly heal Simon as he was currently in a depressed mental state and didn't have the willpower to resist

He hurt the muscles in his arans are like this because of years of unhealthy living, Vandalieu observed His brain is… h, and if I recall, Maroru, Urued quite a bit Did their Ranks increase?” Si exa next to Vandalieu on standby, gave a bark The rats were devouring the wolves' organs

Fang had been a Black Dog, but he was now a Rank 4 hellhound He had grown to about the size of a cow, but the color of his fur hadn't changed

hellhounds were monsters that ell-known by adventurers Their ability to breathe flae nature, ell-known Thus, they were considered difficult to ta had started out as an ordinary dog that had undergone multiple Rank increases to become a hellhound, he appeared to not be ferocious at all… though his roar had been so terrifying that even Si

It was possible that Si

But although Fang had turned fro to a hellhound, the transforone was even more dramatic Up until yesterday, they had been Rank 3 Murder Rats

These were considered to be the strongest a known rat-type s, but… Maroru and the others were certainly not Murder Rats now

As the conversation turned towards theave sly squeaks at Simon… with their mouths stained red with blood

”Yes, they've beco,” said Vandalieu ”Maroru is a Flaa is apparently an Iron Rat”

The rats had changed race, and their fur had changed accordingly to their race titles Maroru reathed in flaa had gained the ability to make her fur itself as hard as metal

They'd mutated so much that one would never think that they had once been ordinary rats

”Do you know of these races?” Vandalieu asked

”No… Never heard of theet them around here… or et a reward if you report them to the Ta Simon's response, it was likely that the rats were of new races With the exception of Wet Rats, Vandalieu had heard of the other two races as monsters that appeared in Earth's folk tales, so he hadn't thought that this was the case

With that being the case, I suppose I'm the reason for their Rank increase to their current races Maybe it's because I went to Earth and gained knowledge there? Vandalieu wondered If that's the case, if Fang had a twin, maybe it would have mutated into a Komainu instead of a hellhound

TLN: Kos made of stone seen at japanese shrines

Meanwhile, the treato of it