Part 1
In the end, I did not kill them.
I just beat the crap out of them.
And take their things that I need for my journey.
It's quite a plentiful loot, well, not much.
There's food, which is mostly dried meat or dried fruit, but it's just enough for now.
The dried fruit tastes fine, but the dried meat is an entirely different story.
It brings the meaning of dry to another level, as it is so salty yet so bitter mixed at the same time.
I also take their weapons, a bow, knife, throwing knife, and stack of arrows.
For now, with my current supplies I could last for another two days at least before finding another place to eat or hunt.
And now, after all the days I've had to go through, I guess it's time for me to take a rest.
As I took in my surroundings, Kazuma heard someone call him.
"Kazuma Kazuma!" A female voice called out.
He turned around and gave his usual response.
"Yes, I'm Kazuma." He said in a monotone voice.
He saw that the person who was calling him was Aqua.
"Let's go on a quest! I need more money for some alcohol!" She said with an excited look on her face.
Kazuma looked away from Aqua to see Megumin and Darkness looking at him with anticipation. They seemed to agree with Aqua.
He sighed and responded.
"Alright, alright. Let's check out what quests they have at the Guild."
The other three cheered.
They exited the mansion and made their way to the Adventurer's Guild.
Kazuma was ahead of the group, as the girls talked about various things.
Things were going well until a topic about Kazuma came up.
"Ehhh? That Hiki-NEET? No way! He's so unreliable though!" Aqua said blatantly, which annoyed Kazuma.
"OI!? The hell you bitch?! Where do you get off insulting me?!" Kazuma shouted.
"EHHH!? What did you just call me?! You called me such a vulgar name! Me, a goddess?!" Aqua retorted.
"Yeah, a debt goddess that is!"
The two bickered while Darkness and Megumin just looked at each other with exasperated looks.
And without realizing, Kazuma is already standing in front of the guild's quest board.
"So, what kind of quest should we be taking?" He asked the girls.
"One of the difficult jobs that will earn us loads of money!" Aqua exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.
"One that involves a strong monster that can deal a lot of damage, and i-if possible the one that ruthless and played with it's p-pre—" Kazuma ignore the rest of what Darkness said.
Blush formed on her face as she wrapped her arms around herself, squirming at the thought.
"One that can let me use my explosion magic so I can release this power of the greatest mage from the Crimson Demons!" Megumin said as she struck a pose with her staff, eyes glowing red.
"Are you all idiots!?" Kazuma said as he smacked all of them on the back of the head.
'"Ouch!" The three cried out as they put their hands on their heads where Kazuma hit them.
"What's your deal, Kazuma?!" Aqua cried out.
"Are you trying to get us killed?! For one moment can't you all be sensible?!" Kazuma shouted.
Letting out a sigh, he relaxed a bit as he glanced at the quest board.
As he glossed over the many quests that were posted, he noticed a strange post that was buried under the ones in front of it.
Shifting some of the quests aside, he could make out a portion of the post that said "WANTED".
"A wanted poster? On the quest board? Strange."
He grabbed the poster to see who was on it.
On his shock.
WANTED
SATOU KAZUMA
It was his name which appeared on the wanted poster.
It's his name, complete with picture, yet he really can't see clearly the man on that poster.
But, before he could complain.
"Stop right there!" called out a female voice.
He turned around and saw the black-haired woman pointing a finger at him.
Before he could process anything, he was tackled by some royal guards.
Ouch! Wai- what? What the hell? What did I do?
He struggles as hard as he could, but the strength of the royal guard do overwhelm him.
What did I do, what is the problem with these guys, I can't move.
"Urgh, No—get your hands off me! Help!" Kazuma thought the three girls could help him.
"You guys! Help me!" He yelled at them.
In front of him is not just the girls, everyone is there too, Luna, Dust, Lynn, Ruffian and even Wiz.
They stare at Kazuma with a strange expression.
Kazuma couldn't see exactly what faces everyone was making.
They seemed to be laughing, as if smiling, as if sad, as if flabbergasted, its blurrily mixed
It was blurry.
"Oi, what are you looking at!? Help me!" Kazuma screaming at the of his lung, trying to reach at them.
"Hei!? Do-Don't just look at me like that!" Still, they didn't move.
Twice or more Kazuma tried to call them, but his efforts proved to be useless as his crying didn't move them a bit.
In fact, they turned around.
"What!? Guys! Noo! Help me!"
It took a little while for him to realize that he had been dumped.
He felt betrayed.
Kazuma felt something familiar about this moment.
He sensed that he had gone through a similar experience, but he couldn't remember it for sure.
But he felt it.
"Stop resisting." The guard's grip began to tighten, as Kazuma's resolve vanished, he relaxed himself, allowing the royal guards to catch him.
Before he knew it, he was picked up and carried out of the guild.
I've been dumped?
They turned their backs.
It hurts.
However, before he left the guild, someone punched one of the guards who was holding him.
The guard fell face-first.
Surprised, he turned his head to see a yellow hair shining brightly under the sunlight.
It was Darkness.
"Darkness! You!" It's unbelievable.
Without Kazuma could even process what just happen, Darkness punch the other guards that holds him.
Darkness came to his rescue. "Kazuma, we need to run."
"How dare you a mere adventurers to assault the guards!" The black haired woman screamed.
"I take it that both of you are terrorists!" She said as more guards appeared. "Guards! Catch them both!"
Ten or more guards quickly rushed towards them.
"Kazuma, run." Saying so, darkness stepped up in front of Kazuma.
"Wait! What about you!"
"I'm fine, I can hold them all. After all... " She got into her stance, stretched out her hands. "My job is to make sure that my teammates are safe."
Kazuma almost teared up hearing what Darkness had said.
"Come here you all! I can take all of you at once!" Darkness stepped forward and using her fists, she hit the guards that came at her.
Given a chance, Kazuma quickly leaped and ran into an alleyway.
He couldn't relax yet while several guards were still chasing him.
He had to escape, get out of this city to be 'free' from the guards.
Kazuma continued to run, but the guard managed to catch up with him and immediately jumped to tackle Kazuma.
But before he touched Kazuma, he was pushed by someone from the side.
The guard stumbled.
When he looked back, he saw the mohawk-haired tailorman, ruffian wrestling with the guard giving him a thumbs up. "Don't look back! I will take care of this!"
"I appreciate it, sir!" And run he does.
But before too long, Kazuma chased by ten of guards.
He kept running and running through the town, main road, alleyway then finally he almost out at the gate that his energy had ran out.
Kazuma stumbled.
He fell down face first.
"Aarrggh... "
Just a little more, just a little more and he would be free.
If only I could get out of this city!
Then I will be 'free'.
He was out of strength; his body didn't want to move.
When he looked back, dozens of guards were running towards him.
Once again, he surrendered.
Why is he so weak, just running makes him exhausted.
He cursed at himself under his breath.
Kazuma surrenders, he accepts his fate.
"EVERYONE!" The sound of screaming came from the front.
Kazuma looked at where the source of the scream came from.
At the gate, Kazuma saw a crowd of people.
Led by Dust, It was an adventurer from Axel town, waiting for dust's signal.
His face was drunk and unconvincing, he held a sword and drew it forward.
Then with all his might Dust shouted, "Charge!"
At his signal, everyone charged forward.
Passing by Kazuma, they fought the guards behind him.
"Protect Kazuma!"
"Screw the nobles! Kazuma saved our lives and our city!"
"Yeah!"
"He treated me once!"
"Why? You guys—" Again, Kazuma was flabbergasted by their actions.
"Kazuma, are you okay!?" Aqua appears, lending her hand.
"Aqua?! I-I'm okay."
"Good, then, we need to go." Grabbed Aqua's hand he did, then he got up.
He looked at the gate; two familiar figures were waiting for him.
It was Megumin and Darkness. "Let's go Kazuma! Let's get out of this city, they've putting a bounty on all of our heads."
"Let's not run! I can deal with them, with my powerful and greatest Explosion magic. I, Megumin, the strongest Arcwizard of Crimson Demons, shall destroy our enemy!" Megumin blabbered as she struck a pose.
"No don't you do that, you idiot-loli! You'd be a burden to us for carrying you afterward."
"Wha-wait! what did you just call me!?"
"Don't let them get away!" The black-haired woman managed to get out of the crowd as she pointed her needle-like sword at Kazuma.
This time, there were hundreds of the guards, they came out as they covered the gates.
"Oh no." Aqua concerned.
"Kazuma Kazuma, what we're going to do?" Darkness excited, ready to fight them with only her first.
Before Kazuma could even thought of an idea, Megumin cut short.
"Hmph, let me handle this." Megumin step, she tightly hold her staff forward.
"Are you kidding me?"
Soon, Megumin cast his incantation, mana rounded up around, it circling her staff.
"My name is Megumin! I am a user of the finest magic crimson demons, Possess, and I command explosion magic—Behold my power!"
In the tip of her staff, there's mana so dense it produces wave of black orb, ready to blast.
"[Explosion]!" A blinding flash erupted from the gate, and in the next instant a deafening roar filled the air followed by a massive shockwave that instantaneously exploding the army and the gate.
It created a a blast of mushroom cloud that reach the afternoon blue sky.
"Take that you corrupted guards!" Megumin stand up for a while, before finally passes out with a thump to the ground.
"90 Points." It slipped out of Kazuma's mouth.
The four of them looks at the view with an amazement.
It takes a while, but soon, the dust cleared, revealing the destroyed gate.
"Darkness, get Megumin! We need to go!" She did what Kazuma told as the four of them get out of the town.
They passed through the pile of rubble of the gate, without much difficulty, and in the end, they managed to get out of Axel city.
They make a run, away from the town.
Now they're finally out of distance as they make sure they we're not being followed.
Then the four of them stopped.
Kazuma gasping a breath. "We did it! We're FREE!"
"We manage to escape them! Take that you filthy guards!" Aqua ranting at the town, with her hand holding a full of glass wine.
"Haha! It is because my great explosion we manage to escape! More! Praise me more!"
"That was amazing Megumin." Darkness lay her down on a nearby tree.
"Huft... Huft... " As he looked at the town distance, the white smoke towering the horizon, marking Megumin explosion were still there.
He wonder.
"Why... " Kazuma said something in low tone, fortunately, Aqua noticed him.
"Hm what'd you say? Can you repeat that again Kazuma? I can't hear you."
"Why?" Facing them, Kazuma asked.
"What do you mean why?" Darkness asked, slightly slightly tilting her head.
"Why do you guys help me?"
There was a pause as the three of them staring at Kazuma.
"Oi."
"Pfft" the three of them hold their laughter.
"Oi! Wh-What are you guys laughing at!?"
"I don't know what are you talking about Kazuma, but isn't that obvious?" Darkness approaches Kazuma.
"What? I don't understand, you could've just leave me and all—" He cut short by Megumin.
"Hey Kazuma, we're friends are we, a comrade, in this party, we're always together right?"
Kazuma left speechless, he wanted to make out something, but there's nothing he can say.
They're my teammates.
"Do you expect us to dump our leader and watching him getting executed by a guillotine?" It's Aqua that
"Isn't it common sense? To help our friend that in trouble?"
Ah right, it's a common sense.
"Maybe if it was Darkness that got arrested then you, Kazuma, would surely abandoned her." Aqua responded as if she was the most righteouss in the group.
"Oi! That would be you! You debt goddess, I swear I won't help you if you're getting arrested cuz of your debt again."
"Wh-whoa?! You're so mean you Hiki-Neet! I would never helped you again!"
"Oh yeah, the fact is, I dont need your help, I can escape on my own, I DO NOT need your help."
"And you stop it!" Kazuma looks over Darkness with a blush formed on her face as she averted her gaze from Kazuma.
This banter goes on for a while, until they're tired of themselves, finally altogether admiring over the fallen gate of Axel town's wall.
"Cuz we're family." It was Megumin who broke the silence.
"Yeah, we're family; we're always together."
"Well, imagining sharing my blood with Kuzuma is quite disgusting but, you guys are right, indirectly, you guys are my family."
"Family, huh?" Kazuma looked over the three of them.
Right, they're his family on this stupid good-for-nothing world.
"Yeah... We're fa—"
" —re Family."
A word slipped out of Kazuma's mouth as he opened his eyes, looking over the reddish yellow morning sky.
As the sun pierced through the horizon, it cast a golden hue over the landscape.
"Just a dream, huh?" He spoke in a low tone as he try to remember all of the thing happened on his dream, grimly chuckling to himself moment afterwards.
He stayed down for couple of seconds, contemplating what vividly of a dream he just had as he closed his eyes.
As he lay in silence, tears rolled down his cheek, falling to the ground.
After a good minutes, Kazuma opened his eyes once again, feeling resolved, he sat up.
In front of him was a burned out campfire.
Taking in his surroundings, he let out a sigh.
His choice right now is to leave the kingdom.
Kazuma knew this, as a convicted murderer, if he stayed in Belzerg he would eventually get caught.
The only question was, where to?
From one times he looked at a map when looking at quests, Axel city is kind of in the center of the Belzerg kingdom, with the closest borders leading to another kingdom on the east being miles away, at least he needs to travel with horses or carriage or it would take him weeks by walking.
That was his goal.
If he ran into another kingdom, he could be free! They wouldn't be able to arrest him if he was out of their reaches.
So he was heading east, only straying when necessary, but always going back to east.
Once again, Kazuma inspected his equipment and supplies that he had gotten from the knight back at Axel.
In the end, Kazuma couldn't bring himself to kill another guards, as he just knocked the five of them.
And loot their equipment.
There's bow with plenty of arrow on a quiver, a regular knife, a throwing knife, a pouch of dried jerky, enough for days at least, he had tasted them, and it was awful he decided rather to just drinking water instead of eating a piece of the jerky, treating them as an emergency food.
Quite a lot of Eris, 20.000 maybe? More than enough.
Done with his inspection, he slowly stood up and remembered the direction he needed to go.
Before he go, he hydrated himself using [Create Water] to his mouth.
Using the morning sun as his guide, he walks towards the red horizon as he watch the sun rising.
But before long, he noticed there was a town on the horizon.
He needed food, fast, as the jerky not qualified because how bad it taste, perhaps he could go there?
Question is how could he get there without getting caught.
As he continue his footsteps, he thought for moment before nodding.
"Alright, let's do this."
Part 2
Wind blowing hard through my body. As I stand tall on a hill, it gave me a good vantage point to see what this village had to offer.
Looking at the village using my [Farsight, the village itself is not that big nor that small, it had at least twenty—maybe thirty buildings scattered.
The village grew many crops on its own, had several trees that bore shiny red apples, and had a few stalls that I assume sold many of the crops.
Well, there's food. I don't know about stealing but, with 20,000 Eris, it should cover my expenses.
The next thing was my clothing. I had to throw my cloak away moments ago as it was covered by my blood. It could potentially raise unnecessary attention if I were wearing it into the village.
Maybe because it's early in the morning, I could count the villagers with my fingers.
While I was roaming for more details, I noticed that there was also a wooden board with many papers pinned to it.
I couldn't make out many details, but I recognize the format well, a place for someone to place a request, I think.
As I couldn't find a building similar to an adventurer guild around the village.
So to make up for it, in my theory they make a quest board themselves and put on a quest.
When I think it's enough, I make my move.
For the last time, I checked my appearance, even though there were no royal guards here, I didn't want to arouse anyone's suspicion.
I buckled the pants that stained with blood.
And wash my hair once again.
It doesn't hurt to make sure you know.
Preparing myself, I walk confidently into the village.
On my way, I also took one of the apples and ate it on the way.
There's one and two people walking past me, one is an old man with his cow or maybe yak? I can't tell the difference between them in this world, not that I could differentiate them in Japan either.
And the other one is an adult woman, she stared on me solemnly but I keep walking forward.
Not so long, I arrived at the quest board.
As I suspected, it is a quest board. Mostly extermination quests, figured.
For ordinary people like farmers or ranchers, it is likely quite difficult for them to killing monsters like the rookie killer or most of the quest here are giant centipedes extermination.
Requests on the board other than extermination also varied, some asked to clean ditches and purify lakes.
There was one in particular that quite caught my interest. I don't know if this is due to my high luck stat.
Luckily for me, there was a request from a merchant for a one-way escort to Lorm Kingdom.
I don't know which direction the Lorm Kingdom is, but assuming this village is close to the eastern border, then I hope that the Lorm Kingdom is on the eastern side of Belzerg.
It's just perfect, but.
With my equipment and my dried jerky rations I think I won't last long on the journey, unless the merchant was a generous individual, but, looking over every merchant I've ever met, except Wiz, they definitely the opposite of that.
The poster also doesn't say that "food is provided", it just says "one way escort to Lorm Kingdom". And the requestor name
Well, I guess I had to go on an extermination quest first, then buy some equipment and food.
Well, let's see what do we have here.
There's many request around extermination ranged from killing one wild boar per thousand Eris.
Are you kidding me?
Isn't that underpaid? Like, when I hunted for cabbage last month at Axel, the price for one cabbage was 10,000 Eris.
This is like 10% of the cabbage, and It's more dangerous than hunting a cabbages.
But that makes senses on the second thought, considering that cabbages hunt was seasonal, while assuming the boar was some kind of invasive monster in this area.
I browsed till I found an interesting one, the highest one seems possible, to kill a two-headed bear and retrieve It's egg with a hundred thousand Eris compensation.
I never thought that there would be a two-headed bear in this world, it even lays eggs, how absurd.
Honestly, it sounds terrifying. I heard there is some one-shot bear out there, and maybe this bear is the same one-shot bear, but the only difference is that this bear had two heads. But a hundred thousand Eris just for killing one bear? I think it was worth the try.
So, I quickly snatched the quest paper and went into the requestor's place, which was the chief of the village.
And after I asked some people around, I'm finally arrived at the one of biggest house in this village.
Well, I hope I don't meet any weird people.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Excuse me! Is anyone home?!"
KNOCK KNOCK
"Excuse me?! I am here to—" Before I finished my sentences, the door swung ope revealing a well looking blonde-haired guy.
He looks at me curiously. Then he starts to scan me from top to bottom, stopping his eyes at the paper in my hand.
"You here for the centipede quest?" He said, exasperatedly.
"Uh-Uhm no, I'm here for the two-headed bear actually." I showed him the paper.
"Then, do you have the egg?" No shit I wanted to ask where.
"N-No, not yet, I'm here to confirm the quest you see."
He sighed exasperatedly, what's with that attitude? Can you be more polite, at least?
I really wanted to punch him in the face so badly.
"You see, I don't know the exact location and I'm not so familiar with this bear, so... I want to ask you—assuming you're the requestor of this quest, regarding this bear like the location, weaknesses, or their behavior something like that." I subconsciously handed him the brochure.
He looked at it for a moment, take it then turn around and walk inside. "Let me call my brother, wait inside."
So, wait inside I did as I make myself comfortable in their couch.
Minutes passed by until the brother and the jerk came back.
Contrast with the jerk, the brother is a nice individual, we get along well, he introduced himself as John the eldest son of the village chief, he's the older brother of Ralph, the jerk blonde.
We talked for a while about the two-headed bear.
About the location, its weaknesses, and anything surrounding it.
Apparently, they needed the egg for medicine for their mother that fallen sick from mana sickness, and the only cure for it, is inside the egg.
As the egg contain special mana concentration that could potentially cured their mother's sickness.
Also, They'd tried to retrieve the egg from the bear twice, but both attempts ended in failure.
It is said that they almost lost Ralph's life on the expedition to retrieve the egg.
So that explains Ralph's depressed behavior. The bear has huge claws on its hands which managed to hurt Ralph on the back.
That's why they put out a quest, hoping that a passing adventurer would take the quest and bring the egg.
As it is little to impossible for them to retrieve the egg alone.
They describe that the bear is so big, if it stood on two legs, it would be Twice our height.
Theoretically, the weakness of two-headed bears or, well, all living creatures is to pierce their heads and penetrate their brains.
It's probably the best bet there is.
One stab for each heads sounds like a plan to me.
Besides, the two of them will assist me to kill that thing, so, I hope our expedition will be going smoothly.
"I know it's not that much, but the only amount we can afford you is 100.000 Eris for this request."
Honestly it's more than enough in my opinion.
According to my experience after slaying dozens of giant toads, slaying one bear for a hundred sounds a lot easier and maybe overpriced. Well they're the ones that set the price so that's not on me right?
Well, I'd rather keep that to myself.
"That's not a big problem, it's... more than enough to kill just one monster."
"I see, then let me and my brother prepare and get the cart. Just wait here for a moment would ya."
He sat up from his seat. I quickly followed his gesture and said, "While you're getting ready and all, I'll be buying myself some gear too at the blacksmith down the road if you don't mind."
"Oh Geida's place? No no, we don't mind. Take your time. We'll pick you up when we're done."
"I'll get going then." With that, I immediately went to the blacksmith.
Walking to my destination, I hoped that the blacksmith shop was already open, otherwise, I would be stretched in front of the closed store and would be embarrassed to be seen by passersby.
Part 3
Luckily, the blacksmith shop was already open for me.
The blacksmith's house is much like... home? It's like, well... Stalls? Workshop or some sort, with "Geida Baelro's Blacksmith" written on top of the shop.
Various variants of weapons, from axes to one-handed swords, maces and two-handed swords, shields, were neatly arranged on the shelves in front of the shop.
In terms of quality, because I am no weapons expert, I can't compare much, my only reference is the blacksmith who was in Axel town back then. Even I vividly remember the man or even the quality of his creation.
Well, it doesn't matter.
I pick up one of the short swords. It is a two-sided blade with a not so rich yet still elegant design.
It came with a smooth and soft handle.
I gave it a few swings.
I touched the point of the sword with my thumb.
Figured, I can say it could penetrate the head just fine, but—
"Welcome, kid." Startled by an unexpected greeting, I accidentally cut myself in the thumb while instantly dropping the sword afterwards.
CLINK
"Ho—A—Am sorry for startling you kid." The one's talking is an old man, barely taller than the weapon stand he had, with a thick beard woven into intricate braids so long I can't even see his mouth.
He wore an apron that stained with hardened molten iron, wearing a pair of fingerless glove.
Could he be a dwarf? I never saw a dwarven race before, even among the adventurers in Axel.
"Kid, hey what are you looking at? Your thumb is bleeding." He snapped his finger at me as I keep subconsiously staring in awe at him.
"Uh what? I-I'm sorry." And he's not lying, seems that I'd been cut my thumb.
"Come inside, I'll treat you." He turned around then gesturing me to follow him.
"Uh Oh—no, that won't be necessary [Light Heal]." In an instant, the cut on my thumb closed.
"That's surprising." The dwarf man said with a bit of surprised look, staring at my healed finger.
"Yeah? And why is that?"
"When I saw your posture and the way you swing that sword earlier, I'm pretty sure you're warrior or some sort, thought'ya don't know magic, you even had a bow on you." Honestly nice conclusion, old man, but you're wrong there.
"Well, that's not entirely wrong guess tho, I'm not a knight nor a mage nor even archer, I'm inbetween those class, I'm adventurer, sometimes I use bow and sometimes I use swords even magic, it depends on the situation." I answered his question as I grab the dropped sword.
The dwarf seemed interested in the topic as he put his finger under his chin, playing with his beard.
"Hoo... Adventurer class? Never heard'f that before."
Really? Well, can't blame you though, because It's an unpopular class among the adventurers, also the weakest.
"Yeah, maybe because it was the weakest class among the classes."
When I say that, he seems like he's digging into his memories again as he closes his eyes.
No, I had to make this banter stop. I couldn't leave another trace of my being here.
"It doesn't matter, anyway—Uh… You're Geida-san, right?"
"Ho? You know me?" What? No, I mean, sure, John told me your name but, the banner on top of your workshop has your name written up on it.
"Uhm no? It's written right there right? Your name." I pointed my fingers into the wooden banner written "Geida Baelro's Blacksmith".
"Oohh yeah, of course! Silly me heahahahaha." He laughed loudly while mocking himself.
"...uahahaa haa haaa, forgive this senile old-man. So, what can I get for ya?"
"I'm just looking for a weapon. Preferably one handed sword to stab a monster, a bear monster, like this one, say how much is this sword?"
"That'll be 150.00 Eris." I quickly put the sword back into its original place.
That's ten times the amount I have in my pocket today.
Well, why am I really bother to ask, looking at the design itself, it was quite an impressive weapon.
"Yeah, that's too much for me—uh, I only have fifteen thousand eris with me right now. What can I get with that?" I pulled my bag full of Eris.
"Fifteen huh, well, wait a minute Will ya. I think I got something for ya." He said before entering his workshop.
He emerged a few minutes later with one sword.
"Well, because you look like a nice kid, I'll drop this price from twenty, you can get that for fifteen Eris." He throw the sword at me.
"Kuh—!" Thanks to my reaction, I didn't cut myself this time.
"The blade is made with strong steel, the guard and pommel made with bronze, and hilt made with a strong wood, that's an arraya Wood that is. It's an excellent weapon for an adventurer, this one should last you for a quite a long time." He explained proudly crossing his arms.
"Are you for real?!"
"Yeah sure, why not."
The quality seems didn't drop a bit from the short sword earlier.
It feels sturdy and kinda weightless? I can't say for sure but, the only difference I saw between the two of the sword is just the design, that's it.
I can't really tell, oh yeah and the handle, this sword's handle is Made from wood, meanwhile the other is made from fine leather.
"I see." This sword's not bad, this is some fine sword if I say myself, it could do the job done at least, stabbing the brain. "Well, I'll take it."
"Excellent." He clasped his hand.
I ransacked through my bag of coins, and giving the old man the correct amount of Eris.
"Well, thank you very much for giving me a discount Geida-san." I said as I slid the sheated sword into my belt, beside my little bag.
"Don't worry, it's the blacksmith's job to prepare adventurers proper equipment—and oh yeah, wait a moment would'ya." Again, he entered his workshop hurriedly.
Then, throwing a pair of fingerless glove without a warning that I barely managed to catch them. "Whoa—"
"Nice catch, kid. It would help with a few pains when you wield a sword for a long time."
"Wait Geida-san, Isn't this too much?! I can't repay you more than fifteen Eris, you know."
"Don't worry, just take it, consider it a gift from me." Well, if that so then I'll gladly take it.
"W—well, Thank you so much Geida-san... Well what about this, If I become successful sometimes in the future, then I promise that I will buy out your entire shop Geida-san." As I strike a thumb pose into him.
He smiled "Hah, you better become succes quick then, or else this old-man will ran out of his time hoahahahaha." He laughed marvelously as I only could smile nervously.
No, that's a bad thing to make fun of you know that right? It's bad to set up such a flag for yourself.
Man, this guy sure loves to laugh does he.
"You done, Kazuma?" John called me, walking in front of Ralph with his horse and cart on leash.
"Oh John, Ralph, you know this young man?" Geida-san is the one that answered them.
"Yeah, He's new to our town. You two seems getting along well."
"Well, Geida-san here just gave me a discount you see."
"Well, that's Geida-san for you."
"You're new here huh? I didn't catch your name kid." Udh, I don't really feels to introduced myself.
Honestly, I should introduced myself as other person earlier, considering that I was a criminal, using that Mitsaguri Kyouya name or something could be more safe.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself earlier. My name's Satou Kazuma." Whether I like it or not, I should have introduced him my real name.
"Satou you say?" He pondering as if He recalling something.
"Umu, you know a person the name like me?"
"That does ring a bell." I mean, It's not surprising, almost everyone on japan named Satou, well, I said it sarcastically, but Satou is the name of average Japanese person.
"It was long time ago, when I was an adventurer." How much is long time ago.
"How long?" It was Ralph.
"You mean Hero Satou?" John speaks up rendering Ralph's question unanswered.
"Hero Satou?" I tilted my head.
"Yeah, you never Heard of him? Well, my grandfather said that Hero Satou once come to this place long time ago."
"Well I don't know, I've lost my sense of time since I move here ya'know."
This banter goes on for a while, but it comes to an end after another customer comes into the workshop.
"Well then, I'll be going now, see you later Geida-san."
"Thank you so much, Geida-san."
"Take care alof'ya, you better get back alive—so, what can I got ya Tekkan" He waved goodbye then hurriedly serving his customer.
Part 4
On the way, we make a stop to buy a food, well, it just a bread with a meat inbetween, yes you're right It's sandwiches.
We brought a horse and cart with us to carry the eggs back to town.
For now, Ralph rode the horse while John and I rode in the cart to the forest.
"Hey, Kazuma." John spoke up.
"Hmm?" As I munch my sandwich.
"I'm curious, what's someone like you doing out here? Our village doesn't get visitors often." John asked me.
Oh no, this is the topic I don't want to discuss with them.
Do I have to lie to them? Or...
I cleared my throat.
"I... I used to live in Axel, with a few... friends... We were in a party together. We went on a lot of adventures together, we even defeated one of the demon lord generals and took down the Destroyer." I decided to drop this quite vague story.
"Destroyer, you mean the Walking Fortress Destroyer?" It was Ralph. He seems interested in the topic of the Destroyer.
"Yup, that's right, we took it down."
"That just sounds unbelievable." He shot a glance at me.
"Well, I don't know how to convince you but, It is our team that take down the Destroyer, well, with the helps of the adventurers from Axel itself." Straighten my posture, I continued.
"It almost trample in to the Axel town you know, we had to Teleport the manatite inside It's core to make it stop, but even then, it's still unstable and wanted to explode."
"Oh yeah, and how you stop it Kaz?" John backed me up.
"Well, we had to explode it twice and then it started getting neutralized." I puffed my chest a little.
"That sounds amazing! We saw that monstrosity far in the distance. It was too far for it to notice us, but it was so big that even then we could see it. I can't believe that it was your group that took it down." John said with amazement.
"Right! First time we look at it I don't believe it myself, but well, somehow, we managed to take it down. I had a great teammate." I look at the ceiling, remembering their idiotic behavior, even though it just one day, knowing that I would never see them again seems nostalgic—shit, it got me teared up.
"They seems like a reliable teammates." Nah, It's the complete opposite, they got a reliable leader.
"But then how come you're here if things were great back in Axel?" Ralph shot me with another question, trying to dig into me again.
What's the matter with this guy, why's he keeps picking on me.
"That's... You see... We had a bit of an... Altercation? If you would say... They left me hanging, all alone. So I left Axel, and I plan on going far from there."
"Shit, they sound like real jerks then." John said, leaning back.
"Perhaps, I can't go back now. But, I still do care somewhat for them, you know? Sure, I may be mad at them, but I can't hate them. Not after the things we've been through."
All the memories I made, while it's not a pleasant one. The useless goddess grabbing my tracksuit to use it as fire fuel, shaking me in a panic. The explosive loli, falling after using her explosion magic and sliding down the grass slope she was on. The perverted crusader, who showed a display of pure ecstasy while being attacked by flying cabbage.
But at the same time.
Drinking with Aqua in the guild hall after a long day of work. Carrying Megumin after she fired off her explosion magic, forcing me to have to carry her home. Darkness standing at the outskirts of Axel, bravely awaiting her enemy to come, despite her common tendencies.
Sure I may have gone through hell with those three, an amazing thing to claim when one is an actual living deity, a useless one that is, but I wouldn't change the fond memories I have of them.
They're my first 'real family' I had in this world, so, I hope I could find one like them, or... I should get back to them huh?
Shit, I shouldn't be thinking about them right now, it makes me sad real bad.
Yet I imagined what would've happened if I hadn't run away, instead of getting thrown in prison.
Could I really Made it through? With them as my team? Defeating the Demon King, getting back to japan Or well, nah all I could see is just me lazying around in my mansion.
"Heh," I chuckled.
But, I wonder tho, How'd you guys doing, Without me.
First of all screw all of you for leaving me but still, I hope all you guys still together and doing fine.
Part 5
"The nest is right here month ago."
The three of us walked quietly, John equipped with a long sword and Ralph wearing his bow ready to shoot.
The two of them weren't adventurers, didn't sign up in classes, so, I didn't have much expectations to them.
But it said that they sometimes hunted with swords and bows.
Maybe without class they're weaker than Warriors or Archers, but they seem to handle themselves well as we had an opportunity to hunt a wild boar before this.
We keep walking on alert, slowly but surely, John leading while Ralph watch our backs.
We walks for quite a few, then John signaling us to stop.
"Look." John whispered, while peeking out from behind the bushes.
I peeped my head out carefully. And there it was.
A two-headed bear chews, rips, and tears into what seems to be a wild boar.
"Looks like the bear has just got itself a meal." Ralph said in displeasure.
Tearing the lifeless boar using it's two mouth, it chews loudly, cares not about it surrounding.
In the back of the bear inside the cave, I could see a white-bone object, assuming it was the egg.
I point my finger. "That's the egg, right?"
"Yeah, that's the egg." John confirmed.
Well, on my way I hoped that the bear was sleeping so we could just stab him in the head then take the egg, but no.
Apparently, even in sleep, it keeps one head to stay awake, guarding the other head, same equally troublesome.
Ralph draws his bow slowly.
"What are you doing?" I asked Ralph.
"Getting ready anytime." What?
"No, cease your bow, let's see It's movement and our environment first, don't be hasty."
Ralph looked reluctant, but when John stared at him, he quickly canceled his draw.
I analyze our surroundings.
The cave can be climbed from the back; it looks like a hillock, with a height of almost 4 meters.
The jump down could really break my foot in half.
But the bet is to make that surprise attack, rendering at least one head dead.
Our surrounding and baiting method could work, one person, John baiting him then me and Ralph doing the damage.
But It's not so effective.
I keep ransacking any ideas in my head.
"Can we just take the egg and leave?" I suggested.
"We cannot take the egg without killing the mother." John spoke up.
"Why is that?"
"The reason it didn't attack the village or make a rampage around the forest is because that bear needed to protect his egg."
"I see."
Looking at our equipment again, we have long swords, short swords, knives, throwing knives, bows, and dozens of arrows. We also have a two-meter fiber rope that I could use for the Bind skill.
On my arsenal, I had Fireball, Snipe, Lurk, Bind, Smokescreen, Drain Touch.
I had the icy floor on my sleeve also, but considering the floor absorbs water, seems like I couldn't use it.
I could've jump down from above the cave then stab the head and then use bind to render it immobilize whether for one or two second, for John to stab the other head.
Honestly the aftermath falling would be painful to my knees I can't imagine.
But, with my Light Heal, I should be fine. So, I told them my plan.
"The drop down could be painful though." Yeah, thanks for reminding me, I had the courage a seconds ago before you said this you know, give me back my courage.
"Yeah, but I have healing magic on me, so it would be fine. As long as I don't snap my limb in half, I should be fine."
Thinking for the second time, it makes me agitated. While Light Heal could close wounds, I don't think it could regenerate limbs or fix a dislocated joint.
I don't have Aqua with me to resurrect me this point forward, so I have to somehow survive this quest otherwise I just awkwardly meet Eris-sama up there.
After discussing our strategy further, we improvise our strategy for a bit, then adding a little plan B and C if thing's don't go as smoothly, we come to an agreement and quickly move and carry out the plan.
First, I climbed the hillock above the cave. Then I gave John the signal, waving my hand to let him know that I was ready.
Looking down, it was three or four meters at least. I can imagine that would be quite painful on my knees after this.
I looked at my hand, which was trembling.
Taking a deep breath, I relieved myself.
John will distract the bear while Ralph readies himself to shoot from behind the bush, hidden from the bear's sight.
"HOAAYY!" John appeared from the bush, screaming and spreading his arms out.
I told him that bears tend to get intimidated by loud noises and bigger creatures, while John himself is not that big for that bear. He's the biggest built among us.
Seems like it worked, while It's not that efficient, it manage to agitated the bear, stopping his appetite and fall back a bit.
"HOAAAAAARGHHH!" John slowly moved forward, his voice filled with determination.
Now, it's just on me. I'm waiting for the bear to stop moving or at least slow down then I'd jump and stab him in the head.
Looking down again, I kept breathing at a deep pace. I can do this. Let's do this.
It's just this one monster, or beast right. You just had to kill this one, and then move on. I can do this Kazuma, back then you literally turned the table against four? Or five guards, now, it's just one weird beast.
Holding my sword thightly, I looked at the bear down below waiting for the right moment I hold my breath.
Then, the moment arrived, the bear raised both of its head and spread its arms or feet. It doesn't matter.
Bracing myself, I jumped.
Gritting my teeth I feel the adrenaline rushed through my body on an instant.
I hold my sword with both hands, lining it right into the head. I feel the world around me becoming a blur of motion and sensation as wind whipped past my ears.
It creates a deafening roar.
I gritted my teeth, bracing myself for the fall.
"ERIS-SAMA BLESS MEEEEEAAAA!"
Before the bear could react to my loud cry, My sword penetrated through its head.
With a massive thud, I end my falling session by squatting down, killing any momentum I could while still holding my sword that's still stuck into the bear's head.
I could feel my foot, ankle everything hip below become numb for a second then pain starts to spreading instantly afterwards.
"AAHHH!" It hurts like hell.
The bear's other head roared at the unfolding scene, pulling his right arm, which was closest to me, into the air, ready to strike.
I let go of my sword, pushing myself away from the bear.
It was just a mere second, as the claw swung right where my head had been a millisecond ago.
"Krrghhh!" I grit my teeth and swallow the pain.
"[Bind]!" I stretch my hand towards the surprised bear. Or must I say, half surprise bear eh.
Then I quickly heal myself slowly and painfully.
"NOW! JOOHN!—[Light Heal]" Even before my calling, seems like John was already running towards the bear, with his long sword unsheated.
"Shit!" It seems like shit's not going smoothly, as the bear managed to stand up on both of its feet and is now falling backwards.
It managed to give itself enough time to release from my bind.
"Shit! JOHN FALLBACK!" Despite the odd, John kept running around the massive body of the bear.
Unfortunate to him, not a seconds later, the rope snapped, as the bear struggle his way, aggresively swing his claw while balancing itself up.
John managed to dodge the first swing but couldn't keep his stance.
Not letting the opportunity go, he immediately swung his sword at the bear's face.
The bear roaring loudly as John's sword gracing through it eyes, it jumped back a few meters distancing itself from John and Me.
"Shit—FALLBACK! JOHN FALLBACK!" It's not dead on the first attack.
With my order, John take his distances from the bear, stopping beside me, preparing his stances.
He looked at me guiltily. "I'm sorry, I failed to kill him." His voice trailed off.
The bear while still roaring towards us, inspecting us, his battle cry cracking, as the blood draining through his body.
The lifeless right head dangled, blood spilled around with my sword still stuck in its head.
"Nah, that's not your vault, it is an uncalculated possibilities, didn't expect he would stand his ass up, just carry the plan B."
John nodded.
My dislocated knees still hurt like hell. The Heal works, but the process is slow and painful as I keep my hand to my knees. A green hue pours in.
While John's didn't manage to kill it, He for sure damaged one of it eyes.
Leaving only one eyes active, so we need to destroy that one left eye, rendering him blind and then putting him out of his miseries.
Well, this is where Ralph comes in.
With a swish sounds permeating the air, an arrow flew from an unknown place.
It hit the upper jaw, stunning the bear.
Shit, Ralph missed too.
I clicked my tongue. "John, get his attention but keep your distance."
He nodded, stepping forward, obstructing view between me and the bear while I snuck myself to the bush, giving me a time to Heal myself.
If Ralph keep shooting, a chances it could blinds it, we just need Ralph to hit it last eye.
John glancing one more time at me, confirming that I was safe. He starts to circle around the injured bear.
With another thwip, an arrow strikes its neck.
Stumbling a little, the bear directly looked at where the arrow came from.
Well, there's no need to bother, as I command Ralph to hide as soon as he shot the arrow and moving into a new spots.
"YAHHHHH NICE SHOTT RALPH! HOAAHHHHHH!" John keep attracting the bear's attention by screaming loudly and waving his hands appearing big.
The bear seems hesitant.
Yeah, you really can do nothing huh, you can't attack while keeping the egg safe you know.
Done preparing my bow, I quickly draw it.
"[Snipe]." My arrow flew past the bear, it went inside the cave and almost hit the egg.
I hope my message gets through.
The bear looked at my arrow, then stepped backwards. He stopped his battle cry and went into a defensive position.
That's right, it was a warning.
"The human trying to take my egg. I must protect my egg, I can't attack or my egg get attacked." That what I was imagining at the bear's head right now.
I continued my healing, while John slowly took a step forward.
When looking at it, I almost feel bad for the bear. It must be terrifying, defenseless and clueless defending your offspring.
"I'm so sorry, but I need the money." I whispered lowly, giving a prayer to the bear in my mind.
Another shot taken by the bear, now at its ear.
Shit Ralph, your aim, why you miss so much man.
Didn't bother to attack or defend itself, the bear made an unexpected move.
It dug its claws into the neck of the fallen other's head.
It tried to decapitate its "useless" head.
"JOHN GO! DON'T LET THEM TAKE ITS HEAD OFF!"
We can't let the bear's other head be cut down so soon, it slowed its action giving us an guaranteed advantage.
"HOAAAARRRGGHHH!" John's battle cry bursts through the forest as he charges towards the bear.
Feeling unsafe, the bear pulled out its claws before it could rip the dangling head apart.
Despite the bear preparing for counter-attacking, John kept running fearlessly.
The distance between the two of them shortened in a rather short time.
Before the bear could lift its claws, an arrow pierced through its front right leg.
"[Snipe]!" It hit the lower jaw. Well, I'm sorry Ralph, but my aim was off too.
The bear didn't stagger at all; it even lifted its injured right leg and swung its massive arm into John.
Luckily, John managed to fall back on last second.
But before John could reach, the Bear Made an another unexpected move.
It stumping the ground beneath it, then charges right towards me.
No shit.
"HEEEY! NO—DON'T GO THERE! KAZUMA!"
What the hell, what is that creature thinking.
"[Lurk]!"
The bear tearing apart the bush where I hide seconds ago.
The hell are you thinking! You really leave the nest open, leaving the egg defenseless just to attack me!?
"KAZUMA!" John screamed.
You kidding me are you mama bear?!
I'm still not done with my healing, so I'll stay hidden in another tree and continue to heal myself.
"HOAEEEE, YOUR OPPONENT IS ME! NOT HIM!" John quickly ran towards the bear, only to stop halfway.
The bear made an unexpected move and charged towards John at full speed.
Another arrow pierced his body, yet the bear didn't even stagger. At this point, the bear was desperate.
It didn't care about the child anymore is it, assuming it's aware that if it itself dies then the egg will die eventually.
So the bear takes the bet, which is working to our surprise.
"SHIT!" John dropped his sword then quickly turn his direction then start to sprinting.
To his luck, the bear wasn't ready, so it stumbled down.
Damn, what an ankle-breaking move you have there.
An Arrow being shot again, even the bear now don't even flinch.
It's chasing John around, absurdly.
"Whoaaa wheyy, stop, no, Kazuma help me!"
While John kept the bear busy, Ralph kept shooting his arrows consistently, moving around between shots.
This roundabout kept going for at least three minutes, until the bear slowed down and then stopped in exhaustion.
The bear looks horrifying, dozens of arrow stuck on it's body, a dangling bloody head and more gory shit is having a party up the body.
At the other hand, John's not good either; his breath is uncontrollable, but he's standing his ground.
He really had a hell of a stamina, didn't he?
If it was me, I would pass out in the first minute.
The banter so long I didn't realize I was healed fully.
The arrow stopped raining towards the bear a while ago, seems like Ralph is out of ammo.
"WHAT HAPPEN YOU DAMN BEAR! ARE YOU DONE! Huft... IS THIS... Hoaghhn! ALL YOU GOT! STAND UP AND CHASE MEE!"
Without hesitation, I moved my position and approached the bear from behind with my Lurk skill still active.
"GO! STAND UP, YOU MORON!" John spread his arms, with a smile across his face, he stepped forward, provoking the bear.
Quickly, I rushed to its head, and then with both my hands holding the knife, I was able to push it through the head from the side.
"GOT YOU!" To my surprise, it swung its claw blindly.
To my luck, once again I fully dodged its attack.
That thing's not right through the brain.
I clicked my tongue. "[Lurk]."
The bear roared once again, looking for me.
"HEY! YOUR OPPONENT IS ME! DON'T YOU REMEMBER!" Saying that, John threw a stone at the bear, grabbing its attention.
I quickly grab John's long sword and then charge to the bear's open back.
With a swift attack, my sword sliced through the bear's back, instantly using "[Lurk]." afterwards.
The bear's cry in agony. As it bleeds profusely.
When I look at it again, I feel really bad for the bear.
"Just don't move... I'll put you out of your misery, so please don't move." As I walk towards the staggering clueless bear.
As if my prayer got answered, the bear tumbled down with quite a thud.
Is it giving up?
I approach the bear. When I look at its body, it is still breathing.
When I look at its face, its last eye is still open.
Even though I do not see much, it accepted its fate. Its eyes were lifeless.
That's really anticlimactic, but you know what, I take it.
"I'm so sorry." Without hesitation, I push the sword down, penetrating the bear's brain.
"It's over." John said, sitting down while gasping for air. His voice was dry as hell.
While Ralph coming out of the nearby bushes. "Thank god, It's over."
Yeah, sure. Thank God I didn't die.
I hate this world.