At the base of the incline, slitted blue eyes were locked on his person, and a snarl could be heard over the rain that was rapidly turning into a storm. The colossal wolf gave one step forward, and Ryou backwards but caught himself in time, his foot meting the end of a slope. Looking down, it was a almost straight fall, deep enough that if it didn't kill him, it would certainly break a lot of bones.
The creature had now advanced a couple of meters, slowly making its way towards him, and Ryou could only look almost frozen solid at the almost literal death given physical form, that was inevitably making its way towards him.
The rain continued to fall, and the wind gained strength, yet the tremor that run through Ryou had nothing to do with either.
There's no way… It's a few kilometers from the other side, and that's through Castle Town! How the hell did they not only made their way past the scouts, but manage to track me down so quickly?!
The Great Dire Wolf, was now one fourth into the slope, and as it gave another slow step, Ryou almost stepped back again, until his brain remembered there was no back. If the fall didn't kill him, the wolf would finish the job for sure…
Can I escape..? As if fate heard him, being the bitch it was, behind the Great Wolf from the bushes emerged two other Dire Wolves.
I'm going to die here... Ryou thought body going numb with the realization. Why had he been summoned then? To this fantasy world he enjoyed reading, and later watching, only to die to some mob… Not to the wave, not to Glass, not to the Spirit Turtle… But to a overgrown door mat…
No! I'm not going to lose my second chance here! Despair gave way to another feeling, anger, and Ryou grabbed on to it like a life line… Anger at being summoned...Anger at wasting his past life...Anger at having no choice but to fight…Anger at the other heroes for their naivety, and stupidity…But most of all anger at the monsters in front of him that wanted nothing more but to end his life.. Because after coming to the realization of what had been wasted, and spending years not caring about life, now that he had been given a second chance…
I want to live! That thought opened the way to clarity… Gritting his teeth, Ryou planted his foot down in defiance, and raised his bow taking aim at the wolf, now almost halfway in the slope.
"You want a fight?! Well you got one!" Ryou screamed over the rain and wind, his fingers releasing an arrow aimed at the great wolf.
He had aimed for the head, but the wolf shifted his body, and the arrow hit its shoulder. The Great Dire Wolf flinched, giving Ryou enough time for a second shot, the arrow cut through the rain, and missed… The wolf had darted left at the last second, before picking up speed.
I missed?! No he dodged it… Ryou thought in both anger, and disbelief, before an idea, a very stupid idea based on what he had just witnessed, made its existence known, and Ryou was acting on it before even considering how stupid it was.
Breaking into a run down the slope, bow raised, and arrow pulled Ryou went directly towards the wolf who was now coming towards him at far greater speed.
Releasing the arrow a second later towards the wolf, the monster lunged, jumping towards Ryou, and avoiding the arrow.
Ryou went low, the inclination, and the now wet grass offering little resistance while sliding. In a true cheap movie fashion, not even having time to believe the stunt had actually worked, Ryou slid right beneath the jumping wolf, grey fur passing over his head.
After passing under the wolf, there was movement in front of him, Ryou looked at the new imminent threat, the other two smaller Dire Wolves were coming towards him, one coming straight up the slope, and the other parallel near the edge, trying to cut him from the side.
Eyes aimed at the forehead of the one in front, an arrow cut through both wind, and the drops of water, before finding its resting place in the middle of the creatures head, who had no time to dodge. Shifting his attention towards the other one, Ryou saw it coming from the side, far to quickly, and almost on him, so he did the only thing he could in that instant, planting a hand in the ground, he threw himself off the ledge.
The world blurred for a moment before he hit the ground almost curled up. Ryou rolled twice, before coming to a stop, moving slightly sent a sharp pain through his sides. Teeth clenched, Ryou tried to raise himself into a standing position, however some ungodly force hit him in the back, forcing him into the ground once more, and he felt something scrape him on the top of his head.
Rolling sideways trying to put some distance between himself, and whatever had hit him, He finally regain some visibility, and realized that his action had just save his life, Where his head had been just a moment ago, was a maw full of very sharp teeth.
Snarling from its failed attempt, the wolf turned his head towards Ryou, before lunging again, laying on the ground, vision tinted red, and without anyway to dodge Ryou did the only thing he could to protect himself. Pain erupted from the arm he had used to protect his neck, the target of the bite. With a paw pushing him down, and the blinding pain, Ryou tried to push the wolf away but to no avail, while it was biting away at his arm. Without any other options, the Bow Hero clenched his other hand, and swung his fist. With far more force than he thought he had, he hit the wolf in the muzzle, its head snapping to the side.
It quickly regained its bearings, and came down for a second attack, but Ryou planted his feet on the monster's chest, before sending the creature tumbling backwards.
Not even pausing to question both amazing feats of strength, Ryou pulled an arrow back, ignoring the pain that spread from that action across his arm, even when he felt something coming up to his throat. He released it, and it sunk into the creatures neck, another, and another, after the fourth one the wolf, lay gurgling, and growling, before another arrow made its way into his head stopping any more movement.
Breathing deep, Ryou clutched his wounded arm, blinking away the redness in his right eye, no doubt from a gash somewhere in his head.
That's two…But…
"Grrrrrrr….."The growl sent shivers down his spine. Looking towards the curve that lead into the slope, the Great Dire Wolf had made its way down, and was now standing a couple of meters from Ryou as if observing him.
I can hardly move my arm anymore, I can only run, and hope that it can't track me down with this rain… Ryou concluded, eyes locked on the monstrous wolf, before a flash of white blinded him, followed by a thunderous Boom, so loud, and bright that he almost lost his sense of self, blinking away the spots, he hardly had seconds before throwing himself backwards. The tree between him, and the wolf tumbled, covered in flames, missing Ryou by centimeters, enough that he could feel the heat.
Ryou raised himself once again into standing position, another intake of air at the sharp pain in his side, and he looked forward towards the front with a grave frown, at the flames in front of him, only for his eyes to widen a few moments later. From the flames burst a gigantic shadow, snarling in his direction, landing next to him, and lashing with a paw in his direction. Ryou jumped back with difficulty, watching the paw pass millimeters from his face, however the wolf continued with the momentum almost spinning, and Ryou couldn't dodge the second blow that came in the form of a tail whip slamming against his midsection.
All the air in his lungs escaped him, and the world almost stopped, then he was flying through the air, everything blurring, before crashing into the trunk of a tree… He felt something in his back crack, followed by the back of his head hitting the trunk, now turning dizzy with his vision blurring, Ryou still caught the Great wolf turning into his direction, and preparing himself to lunge one final time. Ryou tried to move, to get back on his feet, but agony erupted in his back, and from his mouth in the form of a scream.
Blinking away the tears of pain, Ryou could only look at death in the eye, unable to move anymore. In a last effort of defiance he tried to pull on an arrow, yet his arm refused to move anymore. The wolf lunged, and everything slowed down… Strangely…. instead of feeling fear, Ryou could only keep his grip on the anger he felt, and at the burning sensation that was coming from his bow, his vision slowly fading to black, yet completely tinted red now, although neither things had anything to do with the damage suffered. If Ryou had the ability to see himself at the moment, he would see a peculiar if dreadful sight staring back, his eyes had gained an ominous red shine, an faint red lines spread across his face, and down his body.
Finally even the Great Dire Wolf, who was moving to finish him off disappear from his sight, everything turning black, and all sound ceased. After a moment in that pitch black darkness, Ryou heard a disembodied voice, 'it' appeared to be asking him something but the Bow Hero couldn't make out what it was saying, and over the voice another sound was heard… A scream… An high pitched scream, that sounded, so very far away… Female, and yet he couldn't help but to find it oddly familiar for some reason…
A green, and shining light appeared at the edge of the darkness, and a metal screeching sound echoed in it, followed by a loud clang, eerily reminiscent of when he had been hit by a car.
"Ryou..!" A voice… A very familiar voice shouted, and blinking, the darkness around Ryou was banished. It took him a moment to take everything in, and when he did, Ryou couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Naofumi..?" Ryou asked voice shaking… The how, and why, remained unanswered in his head. True to both the title, and weapon he wielded, Naofumi tried to stand his ground, with both paws of the wolf pressing down on his shoulders, and his shield shoved inside the creatures mouth, preventing it from biting his head off.
"I can hold it off forever, finish it!" That broke Ryou of any erratic thought, and he could actually see what was going on. When everything truly registered, Ryou tried once more to move his arm, but it wouldn't respond.
Falling on one knee, the Shield Hero could hardly stand against the monumental force against him, arms shaking from exertion, and teeth clenched, saliva falling on his face from the open mouth above his head.
"Ryou!" This time there was an hint of panic mixed in it, and in answer to that, in an act of complete desperation, the mentioned hero brought the bow close to his mouth, and clenched his teeth praying it would work. The end of the arrow materialized between clench teeth, and Ryou released it. The arrow flew, hitting the monster in his eye. That got the creature off Naofumi, scratching at its head to get rid of the intrusion. Ryou released arrow after arrow through clench teeth.
Arrows kept flying, hitting the Wolf anywhere he could think of, that would deal serious damage… Head… Neck… Even between its ribs... All the while Naofumi kept harassing the beast, intent on keeping its attention on himself.
Ryou only thoughts between the pain he was feeling were filled with rage. Die!Die!Die! Fucking die already!
Eventually the creature went down, it still tried to raise itself twice, but more arrows pelted it. Even when it stopped moving, Ryou still released two more arrows followed by a short pause, and another one to make sure.
Gasping breaths were the only sound that could be heard, besides the pitter-patter of the rain, and the crackling of the dying embers from the tree.
With only one eye open, Ryou focused his vision, in the corner, bringing up the status menu. His own health bar had only a quarter of his Health points left, and they were very slowly decreasing. Eye trailing upward, he could see a blurry flashing icon besides his name, a square yellow icon, with what appeared to be a red drop.
Bleeding huh… It was the obvious conclusion…
His focus turned to his arm, between the shredded armor, and the blood he couldn't survey the damage, however if what was leaking down his arm was of any indication, then the Dire Wolf had punctured something important there. That wasn't all, his chest hurt, his back was pure agony, his legs hurt, his head was throbbing like someone had hit it with a baseball bat several times, he could hardly keep his eye opened with the blood flowing down from his head, his vision was blurry, and his arm was burning like a damn furnace..
I'm a mess… But I'm alive...Still alive… Ryou concluded, opening his inventory, he reached with his good, and still functioning hand into it, feeling the bottle in it. He pulled the potion out, and with his thumb he popped the thing open, dropping the liquid content on his mouth. Ryou retched, the potion had been disgusting, like a really bitter medicine without the chemical taste it usually had, and yet it still managed to taste worse. Forcing it down his throat, he managed to finish the whole thing, the effects making themselves known almost immediately. The pain in his body, arm included had numbed a bit, his headache had all but disappeared, and his vision was returning to normal.
Looking at his health again he realized that his health points had reached more than three quarters, and he apparently was not bleeding to death anymore.
Shifting his eyes from the status window, to his savior… Naofumi was leaning against a tree, his hair hiding his face from view.
Guess my body wasn't the only thing almost shredded to bits during this fight… His pride had all but been torn apart… Ryou was saved by the last person he wanted, or expected to come to his rescue, and yet…
My pride can take the hit, if it means living, I suppose… Ryou thought before making his voice heard, it was almost a murmur yet it reach Naofumi.
"What are you doing here Naofumi?" Ryou asked, with a small slur. The shield hero, didn't even bother to raise his head.
"Saving your ass apparently…" Even though Naofumi was giving him the same old treatment, and he should have expected it, Ryou couldn't help himself.
"Suppose, you expect a thank you then?" His brain almost didn't caught up with the callous question he threw to the person that saved him, yet to his great surprise Naofumi didn't took offense to it, he only let out a small chuckle, that sounded far more tired than his age would indicate, at least in Ryou's ears.
After a few moments with only the sound of rain, Naofumi voice his own thoughts, "The only thing, I expect from people nowadays is a stab in the back…"
You say that, yet you still came, and put yourself in danger to save me… For the life of him Ryou, couldn't get a clear picture of the Shield Hero…
"…Besides if you want to show your gratitude, then thank Raphtalia, she was the one who heard you…" Ryou, turned his head, and standing a few meters to the right, was the little demi-human who looked more like an apparition then a small cute child, her ears flat against her head, shaking although if it was from the rain or from the entire ordeal, that remained unanswered.
Face softening, Ryou beckon her to come closer, with a hand. Raphtalia, gave one step, and hesitated for a moment before making her way to him, stopping right next to Ryou.
Ryou raised his hand, and the poor thing lowered her head, and her body stiffened. He gently let it rest on top of her head, between the ears, rubbing them, in an effort to comfort both her, and himself, the warm that emanated serving as the final proof that he was still in the realm of the living.
"Guess these ears aren't just there to look fluffy, huh? You really saved me back there Raphtalia, thank you." Ryou murmured, and Raphtalia bless her heart, raised her head with a worried frown on her face, and launched a question that almost melted his heart, her voice soft.
"Ryou-sama... You're not going to die, right?" Hearing that Ryou's eyes widen a little before softening, a small smile blooming.
Even after every horrible thing that happen to you, you still have such a good heart…
"No, not today… Thanks to you." He patted her head twice, and she looked down embarrassed. Ryou released a small chuckle, before looking towards the Shield hero, a small half smile, half grimace forming in his face, before he released a sigh.
"This is awkward since, I kinda punched you a few hours ago, and believe me, I wanted to do far more then that… But I'm not ,'that' ungrateful so… Thanks Naofumi, you really saved my ass back there…" The Shield hero finally raised his head, eyes widening in complete disbelief, before his face, contorted in a series of expressions Ryou couldn't even keep track, finally it stopped on looking mostly passive, before crossing his arms, and he closed his eyes.
"You weren't there…" He started "…but the trash king told us, that if a hero dies, the waves will get much harder… That's the reason he gave at least, for not putting my neck under a guillotine. I haven't even seen a wave, But I know, I don't want them any harder then they have to be… That's the reason why I saved you, don't misunderstand…" He finished a satisfied smug grin in his face, and he even nodded three times at his own logic.
That brought something out of Ryou, something other than anger.
" Pfff… Pffffff… Ahahahahahahahahahahaha…. Ouch… My sides… Goddammit Naofumi, don't just suddenly turn into a tsundere, and make me laugh like that, I'm still in a lot of pain you know..." Ryou laughed, clutching his side, although he noticed Raphtalia looking worried, and slightly raising her hands, has if wanting to help but unsure how to do so.
"Call me tsundere again, and you will be in a lot more pain…" Naofumi hissed through clenched teeth.
That only served to make Ryou laugh harder, followed by hisses of pain…
I guess, I was wrong about him, even if he is still a massive pain in the ass…
Interesting thing about health potions, even if they healed most of the damage, they couldn't heal stamina, and exhaustion, so Ryou still needed help making his way to the Inn, an experience neither heroes would want to repeat, or mention ever again. Thankfully with the rain, the streets were mostly empty.
Before leaving the forest, Ryou had asked Naofumi to collect the loot from the wolves, and after a little prodding the shield hero had agreed to take half of the total spoils.
All in all Ryou had unlocked a total of six new bows, from the two different types of wolves.
[Wolf Meat Bow - Equipment Bonus - +1 to Dismantling Technique]
[Great Wolf Meat Bow - Equipment Bonus - +2 Dismantling Technique]
From the meat, he unlocked the Wolf Meat Bow, and the Great Wolf Meat Bow, both bows giving him access to the dismantling techniques. Those abilities would allow him to dismantle monsters with chances of getting more loot.
The bows unlocked by the pelts had been a surprise…
[Dire Furry Bow - Equipment Bonus - + 6 Agility]
[Great Furry Bow - Equipment Bonus - + 10 Agility, Fire Resistance Bonus (Small) ]
The Dire Furry Bow, and Great Furry Bow, excellent naming sense aside, offered plus six, and plus ten in agility. The both of them, when mastered would provide more agility then what he would gain from a level. However those numbers made Ryou consider if the Great Dire Wolf, was something among the lines of a mini-boss, or a Elite monster. At least the fire resistance made sense… Animals were naturally afraid of fire, yet the monster had jumped through the fire just to eat him. However when he absorbed the final materials, he concluded that indeed the Great Dire Wolf was not a normal mob at all.
The fangs unlocked the real surprise… Looking at them, left a bittersweet feeling in Ryou, and he couldn't help but to think that at that point the world was just bullying him, or at least his legendary weapon was trolling him very, very hard.
[Wolf Fang Bow - Equipment Bonus - + +6 Attack, Attack Speed Bonus (Small) ]
[Great Fang Bow - Equipment Bonus - + 12 Attack, Rapid Shot - Special Effect - Attack Speed Bonus (Medium) ]
The Wolf Fanged Bow was his first pure offensive bow, giving him a plus six to his attack, and a small bonus to attack speed. A very nice upgrade, but the other… The Great Fanged Bow, not only gave him plus twelve to attack, and an even bigger bonus to attack speed on use, but also gave him a skill called Rapid Shot… All this time looking for an offensive skill, even trying his hand in magic, and the first truly offensive ability had been unlocked, after he had defeated a monster where that specific skill would have worked wonders.
He didn't found out what shields Naofumi had unlocked, but from his pleased expression it had been worth it.
The both of them had hardly traded any more words after leaving the forest, the awkwardness of the situation still around them, but there had been another feeling… A small sense of comradeship between them, in those empty, dark, and wet streets with Raphtalia trailing slightly behind.
After dropping him off in front of his room, Naofumi still true to himself, threw another parting shot, something among the lines of "Don't get in over your head again, or I might not be there to save you next time…" and Ryou let the Shield Hero have that one, far to tired to even try to argue.
Stumbling towards his bed, Ryou was dead to the world the moment his head touched the pillow.
Light came into the room from the window, and Ryou scrunched his face, bringing an arm to protect himself from the intruder. That simple action brought a groan out of him.
Did I get hit by another car..? He wondered, his whole body felt heavy, and stiff. Opening his eyes, and blinking away the sleep, he noticed he was in his room, and that he was still wearing armor.
The events from the previous day coming to him, and he couldn't help but to lay there looking at the ceiling in wonder.
I'm actually alive…
He had decided to fight… In that moment he had decided to fight, and live. Now he was alive, because he had fought against fate, and to a miraculous intervention from both Naofumi, and Raphtalia.
It had been a miracle he had come out alive, but this time instead of pondering on his mistakes, and what-ifs he just felt relief… Happy to be alive, and empowered if tired.
Slowly raising himself he took in his condition, his armor had to much red, and brown staining it, and the bed looked even worse.
Oops… I might have to pay for that… The bed sheets were most likely beyond saving at this point. Looking towards his arm, he took out his now shredded arm armor, and, besides being coated in a dark brown, and sensible to touch, there was no other evidence that it was used as a chewing toy the night before, he could even move it, albeit it felt a little numb.
I also need to give my thanks to Erhard for this… Ryou didn't knew what kind of force a wolf could apply in a bite, but for sure they had enough to break bones, and the one he had faced had been far bigger than normal, so the fact that he still had an arm was nothing short of another miracle, that - and having a very good armor on him.
This thing was worth every piece of silver, I payed for it…
After taking his armor off, Ryou went for a bath scrubbing all the blood, and dirt off him, the bath also did wonders for his very sore body.
While in the bath ,Ryou decided that he would take one day off from monster grinding, to fully recover, since he wouldn't make any progress, he still had a little trouble moving around, and his armor was damaged. He had to pay Erhard a visit however, both to show is appreciation, and to repair his armor.
The rest of the day passed with Ryou mostly resting, with a small, and slow trip to the blacksmith. He told Erhard of his fight, and how Naofumi had actually saved him, after the blacksmith had asked how the armor suffered so much damage in so little time.
Apparently even with the rain, and being dark, someone had seen them because rumors were already flying around, on how the merciless Shield Hero had ambushed Ryou, and proceed to violently beat him up, in revenge, before dropping him in his room.
Ryou didn't know if he should laugh at that, or slam his face on the counter, so he just went with what was normal for him, and released a sigh of exasperation at how stupid people could be… There really was no winning against these people...
Erhard at least had promised to diffuse such rumors where he could, mostly in his circle of merchants, and clients. It wouldn't amount to much in the great scheme of things, but it would be a start.
The following day, Ryou awoke as a man reborn, one hundred times better than the day before, although the credit for that could be attributed both to health potions, and his status as hero, most likely boosting his healing, and recovering ability to far higher levels then normal humans.
After picking his armor from Erhard, and promising the man that he would be more careful, Ryou set out to hit the forest once again.
Passing through the gate, he had stopped to inform the guards that the wolf problem had been solved, and apparently thanks to that he had a reward to collect at the adventurers guild. The guild itself had posted a bounty on the wolves. One thousand silver, the same he had received from Aultcray at the beginning of his journey.
After half an hour of trekking, he finally found something worth hunting, a pack of six balloon's.
With a mental command Ryou willed… Change bow: Great Fanged Bow..!
His bow changed, from its normal form, into a dirty white color, both of the limbs changed from smooth, to irregular indentations, similar to the teeth of the wolves, and the weapon was larger then his other bows, maybe by twenty percent…
Ryou lips formed a grin at the sight, his first true offensive weapon, one that would probably become his, to go weapon, for a while.
Okay, so how does this work..? Do I just shout the name of the skill..? Ryou question mentally, he had read the skill effect, and obviously wanted to try it.
Taking aim, and pulling an arrow Ryou shouted, gaining the Balloon's attention.
"Rapid Shot!" An arrow fired, followed by two others in the next instant, even if Ryou had only fired one.
Thrak…
Thrak…
Thrak…
Three balloon's met their end right there, and then, the grin in Ryou's face might had spread into a slightly maniacal smile.
Taking aim again he repeated the action, and the rest of the balloon's popped out of existence, far to slow to take advantage of the weakness in his Divine Protection...
That had been something, Ryou had figured out in his fight with the Great Dire Wolf… His Divine Protection had a weakness… It would always insure he hit the target, but the ability couldn't predict actions taken after the bow was fired. That had never been a problem before, no monster had tried to avoid his arrows, so they had never changed direction after he shot. The wolves however were smarter, and could actually avoid his arrows with enough time, although it had also been thanks to that capability, that Ryou had been able to trick, and execute his movie like escape, from the Great Dire Wolf.
But now… Now he had a new ability. The skill repeated his last shot twice, right after releasing an arrow, and targeted anything he wanted to hit in his field of vision.
With that in mind, the next course of action should have been obvious had anyone been present…
Taking aim at a big tree, Ryou couldn't really resist, not that he tried anyway…
"Muhahahahahaha!" With maniacal laughter Ryou begun unleashing his skill with a mental command over, and over again on the poor tree, emulating the Medieval equivalent of a machine gun.
"This is awesome!" Ryou almost gushed, filled with excitement. There was almost no down time between the shots, and the skill had no cool down so he could keep on firing until his SP reached zero. The skill only used a measly five points, so he could more or less spam the skill all around, at least while firing normal arrows.
Okay! Okay… It's an awesome skill, but don't forget you are still as fragile today as you were two days ago, Ryou… He pointed out to himself, bringing down his excitement to manageable levels.
However this new skill, greatly increased his offensive power. The situation he had been before had been eye opening, however in hindsight if he had the Rapid Shot during the fight, he could have ended the fight before they got within sniffing distance… Probably...
Ryou had also tried to imagine how the other heroes would have fared, if they had been in his situation, alone. He had come to the conclusion that either Motoyasu, or Ren would have dealt with it much better than he had, they were the perfect balance between offensive, and defensive power. Naofumi at this point would have been in as bad of a situation as Ryou had been or even worse. His only weapon as per his own words, Raphtalia, had yet to grow enough to be able to take on such foes, in a few weeks it would be a completely different story though.
Ryou game plan had not changed, however it was in need of a revision. Focusing on speed for defense was all well, and good, but it only worked if he could out speed his opponent, and if he had enough space to actually maneuver. These two had failed them last time, he had been only slightly faster than the wolves, and the slope had greatly reduced his maneuverability. When he actually had space to maneuver, he could hardly move anymore.
The rapid shot was definitely a good start, but something like Naofumi's Air Shield Strike, was now what he needed, something dynamic that could be used in different ways, from offense to defense, and even to maneuver.
Maybe he should follow the Shield Hero steps, and go to Lute village, he might be able to find something useful there.
With that final thought, Ryou decided to continue his grind, with his new ability he would probably make great strides.
After calling it a day, Ryou had the errand thought that he really needed to start practicing his camping skills, it would be much more efficient that way. But for today he actually had a good reason to return to town.
Visiting the adventures guild, the place that existed in every mainstream manga with a fantasy setting. True to that notion, it was everything he had expected, and more. From groups of what he could only guess were adventurers, clad in all forms of defensive, and magical gear, it even had a counter with the most attractive woman this side of of Melromarc had to offer.
Is that a Quest Posting Board..? Ryou thought wondering how much more cliche you could get, deciding to take a look at it, yet he couldn't stop the weird twitch his face was making.
Well, these look like quests, but I can't read any of them...Ryou though dejectedly, hopefully some time later he would be able to actually read them, or have a party member who could.
Going for the counter, Ryou addressed the woman intent on collecting his bounty, and if anyone ever asked, no, he absolutely did not let his eyes wander a little below the neck line. After producing the few spoils from the wolves he still had, he silently thanked whoever was hearing at the time, for not selling them beforehand, they served as proof here.
When the woman went towards the back to collect his reward, Ryou decided he should probably keep the spoils instead of selling them, maybe down the line they could come in use. Erhard could probably make some armor, or at least upgrade his current one. During his musings a conversation picked his interest, and he turned his attention towards the table where it was happening.
"If it keeps going like this our village is finished…" One man stated depressingly, and from his clothes he looked like your regular civilian.
"Even if we post our request, who knows how long it will take before anyone will take it…" The other, slightly older man stated, looking in contemplation towards his glass that was filled with a maroon liquid, most likely wine.
Some village is in trouble hmm? Now if, I was Itsuki, I would be all over it, unfortunately for you guys I'm not, so get someone else…I have enough problems has it is… Ryou thought, and he would later in hindsight, curse himself for jinxing it right there, and then.
"Yuusha-sama, here is your reward." The lady on the counter offered, holding a pouch filled with lots of coins. Taking the pouch, Ryou opened it, and verifying that those were indeed silver coins he closed it again. There probably was no point in counting it.
Who would be stupid enough to steal from one of the Four Heroes anyway? Well besides Naofumi, but even stealing from him would be pretty stupid... The guy carries monsters with him everywhere… Speaking of Naofumi, I should probably share this with him, its only fair after all… Throwing the bag up, he caught it by the drawstring, sending a thankful smile towards the woman.
"Thank you, I'll take my leave now." Turning around Ryou gave exactly three steps before someone touched his shoulder.
"Excuse me, are you one of the Heroes of Legend?" Ryou almost groaned. The two men that had been talking about their village problems were now looking at him with slightly hopeful looks on their faces.
"Yes..?" Ryou half stated, half asked, already having a pretty good idea where this was going.
True too his prediction, both man bowed, before begging, "Please Yuusha-sama, listen to our request!" And this time Ryou did groaned out loud.
What's with this side quest situation...