The New Gate:Volume 1 Chapter 3
Shin walked for 25 minutes after leaving the guild.
Before his eyes, there was a signboard with a bear’s paw painted on it. According to Celica, this should be Bear Point Pavilion.
“There’s no doubt about it, it’s here.”
He confirmed it again and placed his hand on the door. Laughter could be heard which became louder as he slowly opened the door.
Inside the Bear Point Pavilion, there was a counter with seats and a large number of people sitting at seven tables. Five of the tables were filled with adventurers making loud noises while drinking beer.
As Shin surveyed the scene, a shadow appeared in front of him. Something seemed to block the light, and he felt a presence behind his back, so he turned around.
“Hmm?”
An arm which took pride in its thickness, around thrice that of Shin’s, and an apron with embroidered flowers came into sight.
“Welcome, please come in! Is it just one person?”
Hearing the voice from above, Shin lifted his head and saw a person with a rock-like, stern, face smiling viciously.
“Deke…”
He burst out a strange word in reply. Although Shin’s height was 180 cemels, the person in front of him was probably 230 cemels or more. It was a giant.
“What’s wrong, sonny? Are you feeling sick?”
“I’m feeling well! Um, you are?”
The words of the man made him return to his senses. Although the man didn’t answer the way he expected.
“Me? I am the popular boss and shopkeeper of Bear Point Pavilion. I’m Douma Bear.”
“…Boss…you say?”
Shin thought there would be a pretty poster girl in the inn.
“Yeah! People gathered for that popular guy, the popular boss! To some extent, popular boss――”
“That is a poster girl!”
“――nuu” (T/N: ‘看板親父’(kanbanoyaji) is a parody word to match ‘看板娘’(kanbanmusume) which means a poster girl, Shin made a pun out of it.)
Shin retorted after he noticed the pun.
“Umu. Nice rebuttal!”
And then for some reason, the self proclaimed popular boss gave him a thumbs-up.
“Did I enter the wrong shop?…”
“Don’t be shy, young man.”
“No, I’m not shy! I just happen to look like this!”
Somehow, it evolved into a comedy dialogue.
“Good!! Nii-chan!”
“Do it some more!!”
Shin sighed because of all the shouts from the drunken group. It was a conversation livened up by alcohol.
“Haa, another――”
“Hey! What are you doing?!!”
“――one?”
Just as Shin thought about searching for another inn, he heard a female voice resound from the bar.
The voice seemed to come from behind Douma. Shin couldn’t see her because of the gigantic body in front of him.
“Dad? Didn’t I always tell you not to say weird things? What if strange rumors spread?”
The voice said. Even though the voice was calm, it was clear that it was said while suppressing its anger.
“No, it’s this, a form of――”
“Shut up!”
“…Yes”
Even his excuses were rejected right away. Judging from the remarks earlier, it could be said that the voice might belong to Douma’s daughter. Somehow the position was reversed.
“I will take over from here. Dad, go to the kitchen and help Mom.”
“I…I understand.”
Douma went back into the kitchen, feeling disheartened. Somehow, Shin’s impression of him had diminished.
“I’m sorry for the sudden, weird things you saw. Are you here to eat? Or to stay overnight?”
Douma could no longer be seen, as such, Shin could finally see Douma’s daughter after she reprimanded her dad to the kitchen.
It was a girl with a short brown hair. She might have a business smile, but she was still attractive. The word cute suited her more than beautiful.
“Ah, I will be staying. Even so, just now, is it always like that?”
“Though I want you to forget that, yes, it happens sometimes. My dad is in a good mood when he is with adventurers but turns bitter when he is with merchants.
By the way, staying overnight is 2 J silver coins including breakfast and dinner. To enter the bathhouse, you have to request for it. The charges are 4 J copper coins. The breakfast will be provided until 9 bell rings. If that’s okay, you can register at the inn’s registry.”
“Okay.”
Shin was unsure if 2 J silver coin for the inn was expensive or cheap. Since he didn’t have any problem with it for now, he accepted the offer.
“I don’t know how long I will stay, will that be okay?”
“If so, do you want to pay everyday? Or you can pay for a certain number of days and extend it as needed. Just to be sure, you are an adventurer, am I right?”
“Ah, yes, I just registered today. I was recommended by Celica to go here.”
“Celica’s recommendation!? You should have said that sooner. Then, I will offer you 1 J silver coin and 90 J copper coin. For adventurers, I recommend paying in advance. It’s normal to leave the inn for a few days whenever there is a request. Be warned that all personal items inside the room will be disposed of if the bill isn’t paid.”
A long term request was not rare for an adventurer, so the room might be empty for several days. There was also the risk of dying during a dangerous request. If that happens, it would not be possible to pay everyday.
“Then do you want to pay in advance? Or is it fine for now?”
As she said so, Shin took out 1 J gold coin from his Item Box (he pretended it was from his chest pocket) and handed it to her.
“This will be enough for 50 days, what about the change?”
“Can you subtract the fee for using the bathhouse from it?”
“Understood. Then I will let you know when it becomes insufficient. For now, write your name in the inn register. It will cost another 2 J copper coins if you need to write a name on someone else’s behalf.”
“No, it’s alright…will this do?”
“…Yeah, okay. Shin-san, here’s the key, the room number is 201 and its on the second floor. Do you know where the box for valuable things are placed?”
“Box? No, never heard of it.”
When the registration was confirmed, a room key was handed to him.
However, Shin tilted his head as he never heard about the box she mentioned before.
“Then, if you don’t know, that would be a loss. Because an inn with boxes is proof of it being an excellent shop. In other words, the box is something like a safe wherein valuables are kept. The box can only be opened by the person who locked it or the innkeeper. Besides, the box is immune to magic, skills, and physical attacks. Even if the inn is completely destroyed, the contents inside the box will be safe as the box itself is a magic item. How is it? Isn’t that great! Because it’s not possible to find an inn like this in the neighborhood.”
While explaining about the box’s indestructibility, some advertising was added. At least it was certainly better than the surrounding shops. Without the parody going on earlier, it would have been perfect, thought Shin.
He went up to the second floor after he received the key. He didn’t have any luggage, but he wanted to check the room.
Room 201 was the first room on the second floor.
The room was about 10 tatami big. It was a simple room with a single bed and a chair with a desk. If the bed included drawers and so on, it would be enough to live comfortably alone. There was a box for leaving valuable things in the inner part of the room. Besides that, there was nothing inappropriate in that room. (Editor’s note: The size of a tatami is about 15 square meters or 164 square feet.)
There was a toilet in addition to the furniture. It was even had a flush toilet.
Shin was surprised by it.
It’s not really surprising that there was a toilet. In Shin’s case, the circumstances were slightly different.
To begin with, toilets didn’t even exist in THE NEW GATE. Even though the game pursued reality, nobody among the producers wanted to do the excretion act in the game.
It would spoil the mood if one got attacked by a monster in the middle of the act.
Without realizing it, Shin hadn’t seen a toilet for one year after the game turned into a death game. Especially, a flushing toilet.
It could be said that each room had a toilet and that it’s natural due to the quality of Bear Point Pavilion. But Shin got a mixed feeling of surprise and nostalgia from it.
“Believe it or not, just seeing a toilet brings memories from the past…”
Shin was surprised and had an indescribable feeling that no one knew.
◆◆◆◆
After checking the room, Shin locked it with the key and proceeded to go downstairs for the purpose of eating and gathering information. He had not eaten since he had at the guild. Also, it would be a waste if he didn’t go eat the meal, as dinner was included in the room charge.
On the first floor, the adventurers were still making noises. From 【Analyze • Ⅹ】, the average adventurer level was 120.
Subsequently, Shin recalled the level of the knights he saw in Tsuki no Hokora. Though he didn’t see many details, the knights should be around 100 ~ 110. And he wondered about the relationship between adventurers and knights in this country.
Then he found a seat, ordered a dish, and he decided to listen to the surrounding clamors until the dish came. He used 【Noise Cancellation】 so only voices could be heard and 【Listen】 so that voices and sounds from a certain range could be clearly heard. Thanks to the skills, he could even hear the muttering of other parties on remote seats.
It was easy to listen when using it, the menu filtered both voices and sounds alike, so that he could choose what to listen to. Almost none of the conversations were meaningful to listen to.
However, the information to be obtained in this place shouldn’t be taken lightly. Even in the game, unexpected information would become available in this place since there were a lot of conversations going on. Though he didn’t know whether it would be useful in this world, Shin didn’t even have a shred of the common sense of this world in the first place, so he would have to hear it even if it was trifle. And there was no loss for him anyway.
“Have you heard? Wilhelm seemed to have quarrelled with hordes of demons.”
“I’m hungry～. It’s a meal, a meal”
“Did you hear the rumor? A Skull Face appeared in the Northern Forest.”
“Recently, Hillock Herb can be harvested nicely.”
“This beer is delicious!”
“What should I order～?”
“Popular boss you said…?”
“Tsugumi-chan, bring the alcohol～, Douma, get hold of yourself ーーーーー”
He waited for the dish while organizing the information he heard in his mind.
There was one man who flew through the air but no one reacted to it. Shin also looked at it as if it was a usual thing.
Because he heard some words to be worried about, he took note of them in his mind. The most noteworthy was Skull Face.
This was the undead-type monster, Skull Face. The word Pawn, Jack, Queen, and so on showed the class among the monsters. Because the level of the monster would be different depending on the class, an individual would encounter hardships or annihilation if they didn’t make sure to confirm it.
“Sorry for the wait, here’s the food you ordered.”
Shin came back to his senses after hearing the voice. He seemed to concentrate too much on using different skills to assess the state of the area.
Douma’s daughter was putting the dish on the table when he turned around.
“Are you, by chance, deep in thought?”
“Ah, just lost in thought. Um…”
“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Tsugumi Bear. If there is some business, because my father is often in the kitchen, let me know”
“I understand. I wonder if you already know, but my name is Shin. I’m more or less an adventurer.”
“More or less?”
“I haven’t gotten my guild card yet.”
“I see. By the way, what were you thinking about just now? How to quickly raise your rank?”
Tsugumi asked with interest as she sat facing Shin on the table after the meal was served.
Are rookie adventurers rare, Shin wondered.
“I will raise my rank leisurely. Because I came to this country from a faraway village, I’m not really familiar with the practices here. I was referred here as I looked around.”
“I see. I don’t know much, but people from other countries said there’s not much difference.”
“Is that so? Well you should be careful not to trust them, probably.”
“Well, you sure are an unusual person. A rookie adventurer should want to become stronger and raise their rank quickly. Furthermore, low rank adventurers seem to be made fun of frequently.”
“I guess that’s true. Because I am such an oddball, I will give an appropriate response if I were being made fun of.”
Shin said with self-confidence and a wide grin on his face. Although he didn’t know much of the image of adventurers, he was confident in his numerous skills. This was his idea to act a bit like an adventurer.
“Huh, are you that confident with your skills?”
“As it suits the occasion. When it is dangerous, I will run away quickly. I don’t want to die.”
To begin with, Shin had no intention to caused a commotion, so it was expected that he say that.
“Rather than sitting here casually, don’t you have other tables to attend to, miss waitress?”
“I will be called if there is an order so it is all right. Look, my mom is here, too.”
He followed Tsugumi’s line of sight and he saw a woman who had the same hair color as Tsugumi, and was receiving orders at other tables.
From there, Shin was convinced that Tsugumi took after her mother. It made Shin think that Tsugumi would become a beautiful woman when she grew up.
“Goofing around, aren’t you…”
“I’m not goofing around. I’m gathering information, I repeat, gathering information.”
“About a rookie adventurer?”
“It might not have a promising future. But I have the eyes for people based on the various adventurers I have seen.”
Tsugumi said with a confident expression while putting her hand on her chest.
“Oh, then what about me?”
“Hmm…I wonder, 85 points maybe.”
“…Should I be happy about that?”
Though it might be as high as it sounded, it would depend on the grading criteria standard.
“It’s a place where I can expect a little.”
“So strict. What caused the minus points?”
“First point, your lack of ambition. You can’t succeed if you don’t have the will, besides, you are overconfident in your abilities. Though my rules are learned on experience.
“Ambition, huh. Well, there are steps for that.”
Shin didn’t register to become an adventurer for fame originally, so he didn’t have the motivation to work hard. Somehow it didn’t meet Tsugumi’s ideals.
“You sure are an easygoing guy. Hmm, now that you mentioned it, it really suits you. Well then, I will return to work or I’m gonna get scolded soon. Good luck, but don’t overdo it.”
Tsugumi said as she winked before leaving to take orders. The number of customers seemed to have increased. Without having noticed it, all tables were already filled.
He quickly finished his meal as he was alone at one table and went back to his room. When the amount of people increased, trouble increased too. He decided to dutifully follow Tsugumi’s advice about how rookie adventurers were being made fun of.
He had nothing to do even if he went back to his room. If he was asked about it, he would just say he was organizing his luggage. After that, he went to the the bathhouse. After sweating lightly and removing a portion of his equipment, it became easier to sleep.
He erected a barrier inside his room before going to bed since it was his routine during the game. Although he didn’t receive surprise attacks very often because of the detection system, he still took precaution.
As for the bed, it was soft and fluffy, and it was really comfortable. He was thanking Celica in his mind while letting his body fall asleep.
In the middle of his sleep, he suddenly remembered something that he had forgotten.
That reminds him,
“Message…sent?…Have…”
He cursed in his mind because he had completely forgotten about the message.
He woke up and saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
He recalled yesterday’s events, from the last fight, being transported to a different world, lifting Tiera’s curse and the events at the guild.
Though he didn’t wish to have that dream, he could not help but wish to be able to log out safely and wake up in a hospital or in some other place.
“Such convenience, it won’t go as I want.”
He muttered that and looked at his surroundings.
The room was still dark, so he knew it was before dawn.
There were signs of people starting to move on the first floor. Apparently the people of this world were considerably early risers.
“No abnormality in both barrier and detection system. The former me would have woken up first and checked his surroundings.”
He smiled wryly and wondered when the last time he slept without being cautious was.
When he opened the window, fresh air from the outside entered the room. While feeling chilly from the cold air, he looked down from the window and he could see the figures of people walking on the street. The pedestrian traffic was sparse, but he felt it was gradually livening up.
Since Bear Point Pavilion was bigger than the surrounding buildings, he could see the townscape outside very well. It was different from the game or program as he was captivated by the townscape.
Because he fell asleep early, there was no sleepiness and he felt refreshed. While looking outside, the sun, which began to rise slowly and the ramparts that covered the town, could be seen.
He watched the town as it was gradually getting enveloped in warm light.
After a while, the sun was up and the number of people on the street started to increase.
Shin also took out equipment such as a jacket and trousers from the Item Box, and changed into them. He went downstairs after locking the room.
On the first floor, there were people who come to eat breakfast like Shin, people who already had breakfast, people who leave and enter the store, and so on.
Based on their appearances, almost everyone here was an adventurer. It seemed that it was not unusual to start mobilizing at sunrise.
“Good morning. Did you have a good night’s sleep yesterday?”
It was Tsugumi who greeted him. She was carrying a tray with a dish.
“Good morning. I woke up perfectly fine today.”
“Then that’s good. Breakfast right? I will prepare it soon so please have a seat.”
“Oh, thank you.”
He took a seat at the table, different from yesterday since he wasn’t eager to gather information early this morning.
The breakfast served was a stew with brown bread. The brown bread was neither too hard nor too soft, like a French bread. The stew was full of colorful vegetables and meat, it was voluminous than it looked.
He looked around and saw everyone dipping the bread into the stew.
“Delicious!”
It seemed to be cooked well. The ingredients of the stew mixed in harmoniously and the taste firmly permeated in the mouth. When combined with the bread, it’s was still delicious.
The unexpected taste made him refill his plate twice. He reflected a little after having eaten too much.
“You sure eat a lot in the morning.”
“So was yesterday, the food here is delicious.”
“You don’t have to say such wonderful words. It’s just a little service for Shin. By the way, you should wait a little more before going to the guild to pick up the guild card.”
“Is there anything going on at this time?”
“It is crowded especially in the morning. When you are a low rank, you might get interrupted and forced to enter a party so you better be careful.”
“That’s sound dangerous. Doesn’t the guild staff stop it?”
“Though they will stop it if they saw it was done in the open, the adventurers who does it has a method to prevent it from leaking out.”
“I see, it’s a situation that I need to get informed about.”
He decided to delay his time while thinking that those who were doing that were definitely petty people. It was not a big deal but he himself didn’t want to get in trouble with them.
“Just don’t rely too much on the guild staff, when in case of emergency, it may not be reliable.”
“I agree.”
“Well, as long as you take your time then it’s good.”
Tsugumi said as she went to take order for a waiting customer at another table.
He was thankful for Tsugumi’s consideration. He decided to kill time for a moment while drinking fruit juice. Because he had some spare time, he continued gathering information like yesterday, this time he observed the equipment and tools of the adventurers.
He noticed that he was casually using rare tools this morning. Nevertheless, he recalled the reason he had forgotten the message before going to sleep. While he was changing clothes and opening the Item Box, it suddenly reminded him of the weapons and tools lined up in Tsuki no Hokora.
There were equipment used by beginners to a few high-grade ones. The equipment for an intermediate person could be counted with one hand. Shin knew an advanced equipment was also included so he was a little regretful. Because of that, he directed his attention to the equipment and forgot about the message.
Although he already saw a lot of adventurers last night, it was easier now since many adventurers were going in and out.
“…………”
While drinking the fruit juice, he glanced at the other side of table.
It seemed that most of the weapons were made from iron and copper. The armors were mostly made from leather or metals like steel, only a few of them had enchantment done.
The quality of the equipment and tool might have also deteriorated since the game era. Shin couldn’t help to think that the equipment was terrible, though it was bad for the adventurers in this world.
It was also his reason choosing the low rank equipment when changing clothes. At present, Shin was wearing ‘Mud Lizard Jacket’ and ‘Demon Spider Thread of Trouser’. Both are using the material from monsters that could be hunted even at level 70. However, the performance for both equipment was 4 times higher than normal, because it was reinforced until the limit was reached.
On his waist hang a katana named ‘Several Strokes’. Several Strokes was the initial weapon that could be obtained when changing job to samurai. Naturally, its performance was low. Most players would sell it or put it in a warehouse when the players level up or even if it was strengthened. Still, the katana had better performance than any of the nearby adventurers that one could easily guessed its quality.
The equipment that Barlux had might be considerably valuable, Shin thought.
Afterwards, 30 minutes already passed after killing some time and gathering information, Shin left the Bear Point Pavillion.
◆◆◆◆
While walking on the road to the guild, he observed the town’s appearance. There was not much pedestrian traffic compared to yesterday.
Various stalls started to open at the edge of the road, crowding with people having breakfast and buying lunch. Also, there were a lot of stalls that seemed useful to adventurers – selling armor, magic items, and various tools.
It was an incredible scene as the sun was only been out for two hours.
After window-shopping at the stalls, he walked to the guild. Since a lot of adventurers had weapons, Shin’s weapon didn’t attract attention.
Still, 【Search】 was used to search enemy as a habit and for caution. Shin probably didn’t stop using the skill because there was the matter of the letter of introduction, too.
After walking for 40 minutes, he finally saw the signboard of the adventurer guild. Time taken to reach the guild was increased from yesterday probably because he was avoiding the crowded areas.
As he entered the building, a group of adventurers came out from the door. Though a lot of time passed, he sensed that there were still many people inside.
Celica and an elf lady were at the receptionist desk. He was certain because he could see a pointed ear like Tiera’s. Shin approached the receptionist desk and talked to Celica.
“Good morning. I’m here to get my guild card.”
“Good morning, Shin-sama. Please wait a moment while I go to get your guild card. And, this is Els whom you were looking for. Els, this is Shin-sama whom we talked about just now.”
When Celica introduced him, the elf lady which sat in next to receptionist desk came toward Shin.
“Good morning, Shin-sama. My name is Els Balter. I’m told that Shin-sama has a business with me.”
Els possessed a classic example of elven beauty, and her appearance looked like she was around 24 years of age. Her vivid green hair reached her waist like the trees in the forest. Blue eyes as reminiscent of lakeside. Her height was about 170 cemels. A style and good looks which would put models to shame. Though he had no idea about the preferences of adventurers in this world.
Since he couldn’t stare for too long, Shin immediately averted his eyes.
“This, it’s probably addressed to you.”
Shin said and passed the letter of introduction from Tsuki no Hokora to her after he took it out from Item Box. The anti-theft measure had been removed.
“Addressed…to me…?”
While cocking her head and looking puzzled, she looked over its contents.
Then, her eyes widened momentarily as she read the letter of introduction. It could be said that she had read some unbelievable things in the letter.
“It can’t be…no, but”
Celica looked a little worried over her colleague’s state. And Shin was also anxious about the content because he didn’t know what was written. Though the content must be related to Tiera’s curse, it didn’t concern Shin that much as Tiera seemed to be secretive about it.
Els was very surprised that she mumbled and whispered something, like she had forgotten Shin and Celica was there. Then she returned to her senses and turned her attention to Shin.
“Umm…what?”
Shin flinched at her gaze. His heart was getting restless as he thought of the reason why she was staring at him.
“You…Tiera…thank you. I’m truly grateful.”
As soon as she said that, Els gave a quick bow. For some reason her speech became somewhat different.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand the situation…”
It was too abrupt and incomprehensible for Shin.
“I’m sorry, I seem to be a bit shaken. Celica, please take over for me just for a while. I apologize but this conversation will be confidential from now on. Because we will continue at the back room, that I’m asking you to take over.”
“I understand. I will call another staff to handle the reception for you.”
“Thank you…”
Shin didn’t have any problem with Els’s proposal so he agreed while slightly feeling discouraged.
Shin enter the same room as yesterday. After both of them entered the room, Els closed the door and locked it with a room key and then she sat on the sofa after she had done a ritual.
“Once again let me say thank you. For lifting the Tiera’s curse, thank you very much.”
“Oh, so that was the reason.”
Apparently, Els seemed to have known about the curse of Tiera. It seemed to be written in the letter of introduction.
“Please raise your head, I never intend for it to go out of hand like this.”
“But, I was looking for a solution and still haven’t found a clue. And you did it. So it’s only natural to be grateful.”
There was an item that could remove the curse but it seemed to be that it was hard to obtain. Perhaps she was going to an adventure to find the solution for the curse.
“If possible, please do not exaggerate it too much. Do you normally talk like that?”
“I understand. I will not leak this information in the name of Spirit of the woods. To be honest, not much of subject can be discussed openly. Also I find it most comfortable talking like this. It was written here that the person would not mind it, did that offend you?”
“No, it is good as it is. Was that the only reason why I was brought to this room? Just now what ritual were you doing?”
“That was an eavesdrop prevention magic. Even the guild staff cannot hear my story that I’m going to tell you now. And I have to ask you personally as well.”
Although Shin understand Els had various question from her state, he didn’t want to abuse his advantage as well.
“I’ll say this just in case, I don’t have the answer for everything.”
“I know. However, I could not stand it when I had looked for the solution for the curse for more than 50 years and had not found a single clue.”
It seemed that it was out of curiosity. Not only that, envy and earnest desire feeling seemed to mix in Els’s eyes.
50 years. The time spent was twice more than the time Shin was alive. Even if it was solved, one would indeed want to know the method used.
Besides, there might be another person who would get the curse.
“It wasn’t written in the letter of introduction?”
“It seemed to be written in haste so it wasn’t included. Well, how about this. I will do anything for you as a reward. Will you tell me, please?”
Els leaned forward as she step closer to Shin. Although Shin didn’t feel bad about being approached by a beauty, somehow there was a bloodthirsty aura emitting from her.
Shin didn’t want to hastily open the topic about 【Purification】since he at least not yet have the basic common sense of this world.
However, Els knew about Tiera’s curse, and Tiera wrote it in introduction letter to inform Els. Shin thought it would not be a problem if he told her.
“I understand so please sit down. Before I tell you properly, please calm down for a bit.”
Els sat down again on the sofa while Shin adjusted his sitting posture.
“The method to remove the curse is using the skill, 【Purification】. There are other methods, but this is the most reliable method I know.”
Though he knew that there was an item that could remove the curse, he didn’t say it as he still couldn’t confirm if it existed here.
“【Purification】?…for that skill to have such an effect.”
He could understand the look of frustration on Els.
Because based from Tiera’s story, only high rank priests could acquired the 【Purification】 skill.
“【Purification】 acquisition…no, inherited in this case, how many people have inherited it”
“I don’t know. In the church, only a person with position knows the condition to use 【Purification】 on a body. Moreover, not all of its effects are known. In the first place, it is unheard of a person who is not from the church that can use 【Purification】.”
“What…really?!”
Shin dropped his shoulder as he heard that from Els. He could imagine that it would be quite bad if the church knew he had that skill. That skill, if he were to stand out, it would attract a lot of enemy who would want to inherit that skill.
(I have a bad premonition about this…)
“Please don’t tell it to anyone.”
“Of course. Because I am a skill holder too, the guild is compelled to help me, or I will leave the guild. Therefore, I want you to feel relieved.”
Els said like it was nothing. Shin thought it would be difficult to against humans or organizations but it seemed like he didn’t have to worry.
“Well, as long as I am careful, it will be okay.”
“Even so, it’s a weight off my shoulders thanks to you. Although it was safe, living in that house for years is cruel.”
“I thought so. It was the same reason why I dispelled the curse. Which reminds me, how did you know about the curse? Tiera was even quite hesitant to talk about it.”
“Me and Tiera are from the same village. I became an adventurer and went around the world, it was when I’m on my way back home that I knew about that incident. She was an ordinary elf at that time. She was a girl with beautiful silvery hair.”
“I see.”
“When I came back to the village after hearing that Tiera was cursed, she was already banished. To be honest, I never thought she would still alive after hearing about the curse until I met Schnee.”
A curse that attracted strong monsters, it was almost impossible to survive all alone. In fact, if Schnee didn’t protect her, the survival rate would have dropped to zero.
“She got the curse, and was helped by Schnee…, wasn’t it? Is she lucky or what?”
“It is for Tiera to decide. However, the curse was removed, thanks to you, and I think she can find happiness from now on.”
“You are right. It not for us to be the judge. So the story ends here. Is there anything else you want to ask?”
“None, what I wanted to ask, you had already answered. I’m sorry if it had taken your precious time.”
“It’s okay. Els’ feelings, I can understand it a bit.”
He wasn’t too conscious of the time as 30 minutes had elapsed while he was listening quietly to Els’ story.
When they left the reception room and returned to the receptionist desk, Celica and another miss receptionist was talking. The receptionist rose when she noticed Els and went up to the second floor after making a quick bow.
“Are you done?”
“Yes, we have finished our conversation.”
“I’m sorry, Celica. And thank you for this favor.”
After saying her thanks, Els started to attend to the request brought by adventurers at the receptionist desk.
“Then, Shin-sama, this is your guild card. Please be careful not to lose it, because it also serves as a proof of your rank. And a fee of 10 J silver coins is needed to reissue the card in case it gets lost.”
“I understand.”
Shin accepted the guild card from Celica. The card had his name, rank, affiliation, party described on it. He recalled Cilica’s explanation that the description couldn’t be seen unless a specific tool was used.
“Do you want to take on a request now?”
A bulletin board with requests posted on it was seen. As for rank G requests, something like collecting stuff and other miscellaneous duties were often found. They were less dangerous and therefore less rewarding. Still, the average reward was 1 J silver coin, which seemed to be highly paid.
“How about this? Can I take this request?”
He tore off a request posted on the bulletin board and took it to the receptionist desk. Shin intended to raise his rank by at least one. Still, Celica didn’t say anything about how he had the lowest rank even if she had the information of his rank.
“This request please.”
“This is to collect Hillock Herbs. Because this request is always given, there is no time limit. The reward will be 1 J silver coin per 30 pieces.”
“If I gather 60 of them, will I get 2 J silver coins?”
“Yes, There is always a demand for Hillock Herb, because it’s an ingredient in a potion. Are you okay with this request?”
“Yes, please. Oh, is there a picture book that shows the Hillock Herb?”
“Yes, there is. Please wait a moment.”
Actually, he already saw it in the game, but he decided to confirm its appearance to make sure. The book that Celica brought over from the bookshelf behind the reception was as thick as a dictionary.
She placed the book on the reception desk and exhaled in a small voice.
“Phew, this is a plant encyclopedia. And Hillock Herb…here it is.”
He confirmed the Hillock Herb while thanking Celica who took the trouble of opening the book and find it for him. The plant’s appearance didn’t seem to have changed. Its height was about 10 – 15 cemels with jagged leaves. He was hoping that it wouldn’t be difficult to gather 30 grown plants.
“It grows in the eastern and the northern forest.”
According to the book, Hillock Herb grew in the eastern and the northern forest, especially in the depths of the forest.
“Please be careful as people have been lost in the depth of the forest while searching for Hillock Herbs. You might also get attacked by ferocious monsters if you advance too far.”
“I’ll be careful.”
There were some things better left unsaid. When he went to ‘Tsuki no Hokora’, he had already crossed the eastern forest. The ferocious monsters that he had slaughtered were used to pay for his stay at the inn.
“Take care.”
Said Celica as Shin departed from the guild.
Shin walked toward the east gate, while wondering whether or not he should buy a map .
◆◆◆◆
――In the guild’s lounge room.
Els and Celica had just finished tidying up some documents and were talking about Shin while drinking tea.
“Celica, do you know who that person is, just now?”
“Come to think of it, I don’t know much about him yet. Although one might say I know him, I don’t have much information about him either.”
Shin had only arrived at the guild yesterday, so Celica didn’t know much about him yet. Since he held the letter of introduction, she told Els about his match with Barlux.
“Are you saying the ‘Blue Wolf’ was dealt with easily? Though, even I can understand that he is a considerably strong person.”
Because Celica was her colleague, she talked with her in a comfortable tone. She was originally like that, so it was not a problem for Els to communicate with in her this way. But she had to make sure not to talk like that in public, only when the two of them were alone.
By the way, ‘Blue Wolf’ seemed to refer to Barlux.
There was not much known about that person――Shin.
As Celica introduced Shin to her, Els said something related to her ‘Official Title’.
“Indeed, no wonder I couldn’t see it.”
Els nodded as she understood the story from Celica.
“Is it true, that it wasn’t seen?”
Celica looked at Els in disbelief.
Els was one of the executives with power next to the sub-master within the guild. Els was a skill 【Analyze • Ⅶ】 holder, and at the same time, she held the title ‘Observer’. Therefore, she could even see through the name and level of people whose levels were higher than hers. A fake name could be seen through immediately by her. In fact, Barlux’s level was seen through at the first glance.
When Els said she couldn’t see through Shin, one would wonder who on earth he was.
She didn’t even know if his name, Shin, was true.
“Well, there is no need to worry about it too much. I don’t think Tiera would have handed a letter of introduction to a bad person.”
“Blue Wolf also had the same opinion. Just a little different.”
Celica muttered while remembering the mysterious sense of security she felt from Shin.
“Different…is he? Certainly, his ability and the atmosphere around him don’t match, it’s actually odd…”
“Indeed. How do I say this? It felt somewhat like a sense of security.”
Both of them stopped talking, with a good mood around them.
“I don’t know (I guess)…”
The more they thought about Shin, the more his image became blurred.
In the past, even when they felt uneasy, there was never a time when both of their hearts got riled up.
After he left the guild, Shin went toward the east gate without stopping. At first, he went along the main road, then he changed his path and entered the woods. The eastern forest was a place where rookie adventurers entered routinely. It looked like a place where almost none of the ferocious monsters came forth.
When he happened to pass through the gate, Beid informed him about this. He said that several rookies went to the eastern forest today. Beid was a guard at the south gate yesterday, but apparently the guard would rotate after a certain period of time. He seemed to be guarding the east gate now for a while.
Easy quests could be done in 30 minutes in the game. He planned to finish this quickly, and then go to a library afterwards. Shin hastened his pace.
Even if the place was said to be fine for rookies to enter, the forest was dark and filled with trees. Beid said that there were only low-level demons or wild beasts, but it was still frightening for Shin as he was not yet accustomed to it.
Without putting too much trust in the information, he looked for the Hillock Herb cautiously.
If Shin’s memory was correct, it should grow in places the sunlight easily gets to.
Since he heard that the Hillock Herb could be harvested easily, he thought that he could finish quickly.
◆◆◆◆
“…This isn’t it.”
He had entered the forest 3 hours ago.
“…This isn’t it either!”
Number of harvests… zero.
“…Noooo!!”
Not a single Hillock Herb was found yet.
It had been a while since he entered the forest triumphantly. Despite walking with the reliance of his memory, he wasn’t able to find even one herb.
“It’s strange…No matter how much I look for it, not even one can be found.”
It was strange because he had been slowly going deeper into the forest to find some. There were no signs of adventurers around so it was not likely that someone picked them all before him.
“Should I go a little deeper?”
The information from the encyclopedia stated that it was easier to find them deeper in the forest. Naturally, the surroundings became darker and the signs of wild animals could be felt everywhere.
He devoted himself to search for the plant without any encounters with monsters. As he advanced a little more, he went towards places monsters didn’t go to, and looked at the surroundings.
Even with a full search, he couldn’t find an open place where the sunlight hit the ground. Though he searched for likely places one after another, there were no signs of them, instead there were bushes and tree roots everywhere.
“I’m feeling hungry…”
The sun was already high in the sky, so it was about afternoon. He had walked forever and his stomach was growling because he hadn’t eaten lunch.
“Should I eat some food?”
Because his hunger was near the limit, and as a change of mood, he decided to have lunch.
He put his lunch from the ‘Item Box’ on a stump and began to eat. On the menu was hot dog and cola. The food items stored in the ‘Item Box’ do not rot as time progresses. He entered the forest without buying food beforehand, because he could store food items in his ‘Item Box’.
Though the food originally had special effects such as stats rise or HP recovery and so forth, somehow those areas were unavailable, so the effect couldn’t be felt.
In addition, there were various other luxurious food items but they seemed to be treated as normal food. Even if it had special effect, there might be no time to eat the food while fighting a monster.
“Mmm, myum, fuu… Well then, shall I search for it?”
Without wasting any time, he finished his lunch. A characteristic of junk food was being able to eat it fast. He ate it quickly because he could be in trouble if a wild animal and a monster came, tempted by the smell.
Though he went to search for the Hillock Herb again, it still could not be found.
Another 3 hours later, after he ate lunch, it was rather refreshing; he had still found nothing. The Hillock Herb might just have been picked exhaustively, thought Shin.
After one more hour, Shin decided to return to the inn because he was tired. Though it was possible to go on physically, he felt mental fatigue after not being able to find what he was looking for.
When he arrived at the gate, the guards had been changed. It seemed that the guards took turns and patrolled in a rotational fashion.
He found Beid among the soldiers who returned from patrol and exchanged a few words while he confirmed Shin’s guild card.
“Yo, you look tired. Did you find what you were looking for?”
“The thing is, I went to the eastern forest to gather Hillock Herb, but I have searched for it all day long and haven’t found one…”
“Oioi, that herb can be found easily if you look for it properly. I saw several rookies return with it today. It was harvested well.”
“WH…WHAT…?”
Other rookies were harvesting well. Shin was shocked as he was struck by the words.
“I think everyone returned in the morning…You, surely you weren’t searching for it for a full day, right?”
“…Yes…”
He covered his face with his palms and dropped his shoulders. Shin was an SS rank adventurer during the time of the game. His pride was shattered here even if he knew this was a different world.
“Well, that, what can I say. Cheer up.”
“Ku, your encouraging words sting my eyes.”
Since Beid too didn’t know Hillock Herbs couldn’t be found there, without knowing, only mundane words came out.
“Well, this is just your luck, I guess. I don’t think today is your day, but you can try again tomorrow.”
“It is so…should I go deeper into the forest tomorrow?”
“Don’t go too far into the forest. Though you won’t do such blunder, a lot of rookies die easily because they advance too far into the depths.”
“I understand. See you.”
He understood Beid’s worry, too. And there was no need to hurry as there was no time limit. Yet, there was this psychology of person who wanted to find something when it was not found before. When it came to this, Shin had begun to make a plan regarding his trip to the northern forest tomorrow.
◆◆◆◆
The next day.
Shin awoke at dawn and immediately started to mobilize.
He checked his equipment, had breakfast in the Bear Point Pavilion and pushed his way through the crowded area. On the way, he stopped by at a secondhand shop and purchased a simple map that showed the area around the kingdom. Yesterday he thought he was going to return quickly, so he didn’t buy one. Even though it was a map depicting the kingdom and the surrounding area, it was only a rough sketch. Because he didn’t want to explore the kingdom yet, he decided to purchase it only if the map had a record of the northern forest.
After leaving the secondhand shop, Shin walked towards the gate. He saw a crowd there. “Is something going on over there?” Shin thought as he approached.
There was a barely identifiable vehicle which looked like a carriage. A coachman entered from the gate and several adventurers followed behind the carriage. Though the coachman seemed to be unhurt, the adventurers seemed to suffer from serious injuries. They helped each other as one of the less heavily injured adventurers lent his shoulder to one missing an arm. Anyone would agree that they had barely escaped with their lives based on their appearance.
“What happened?”
This kind of crowd loved to watch the strange group, but no one tried to be concerned. He only stared at the guards listening to the story from a distance.
(Their levels are 131, 129, 118, and 134.)
The knight leader was level 188. Assuming the ability of the knight leader was rank A, they would probably be rank C or D adventurers.
There were scratches on both the adventurers’ armor and on the carriage, one could guess it was done with sharp tools. But it would be too hasty to conclude they were attacked by thieves or robbers, because there was a huge cut on the roof of the carriage.
After a while, the curious spectators started to scatter, and the adventurers were left to be treated.
As Shin approached the gate, he talked to Beid.
“Hey Beid, what happened to that group just now?”
“Hmm? Oh Shin. They were attacked by a monster and escaped.”
It wasn’t an attack by thieves or robbers after all.
“I see. Did you ask what they were attacked by?”
“I was told not to speak carelessly. Well, I think it will be alright if it’s you. But anyway, it will be known soon.”
“Is he an important person?”
What kind of monster it was that caused the guard to be alerted, he would have to wait for Beid’s words to make sure.
“…It’s a Skull Face. You’ve heard the rumors too, right?”
“Ah, I certainly have…if I’m not mistaken, it appeared at the northern forest.”
“Yes, it has. Because there were hardly any eyewitness reports, it was thought to be a Pawn class, but, apparently, it was a Jack class. “
“Jack class…How many people were in that party?”
“Two parties with full members, 12 people in total. As you can see, only four survived.”
“I see…”
The level of a Jack • Skull Face was around 150 ~ 250. The average level of the adventurers’ party earlier was probably around 120. If 12 people couldn’t defeat it, despite the adventurers’ equipment, it was reasonable to think that the Jack • Skull Face was beyond level 200.
“All high-ranking adventurers are out now. Depending on the case, the guild master or the knight leader will come out.”
“If you think about the level, it’s an adequate move. Hmm? Will the princess go out as well? She is pretty strong.”
He recalled that the second princess exceeded level 200 and asked Beid.
“I hope not…No matter how strong she is, this is royal family you’re talking about.”
“No, when I heard about the princess, I thought of someone who is crazy about fighting. Even the Horn Dragon will be defeated by her.”
“Ah…that…”
In contrast to yesterday, it was now Beid’s turn to do a facepalm and drop his shoulders. Apparently, it was a topic that should not be touched.
“For now, just avoid approaching the northern forest, right?”
“I expect you to understand but be careful.”
He hurriedly left toward the eastern forest. A worker of the kingdom also had hard times.
He crossed the range of his search in the eastern forest yesterday, and proceeded to the depth of the forest at once. Even though he knew monsters were wandering around from 【Search】, he didn’t worry about it as the monsters could be easily defeated by him.
He strolled into the depths of the forest looking for Hillock Herb. According to the information from the encyclopedia, it should be easier to find in the depths of the forest. And he already discovered several pieces of them growing. The current number in possession was 13 pieces. Still, he hadn’t reached half the goal yet.
After strolling for about two hours and still couldn’t find more than 13 pieces, he decided to go to the northern forest. It could be said that the eastern forest and the northern forest were connected with one main road. So he entered the northern forest and went straight to the depth via the route to the west.
He saw a road after walking for a while. Two carriages could pass by another, as that was the width of the road.
The adventurers were probably attacked by the Skull Face around here, Shin guessed. The roof from the cutout was lying on the side of the road. And puddles of blood and pieces of armor were seen everywhere. No corpses were found as the wild animals and monsters already disposed of them.
“In this world, is a Skull Face a powerful enemy?…”
He muttered while looking at the remains of the carriage. It would no longer be a habitable place for humans if a Jack class Skull Face was that strong, Shin thought.
“It’s no use to think about it now.”
He discarded the thought he had in his mind and entered the northern forest.
As for the northern forest, the trees grow denser together here than in the eastern forest. The sunlight was decreased by more than half, so it was fairly dark despite it being daytime. Just going straight required Shin to be cautious. As Shin walked deeper, he sighed seeing how he would have a hard time looking for the Hillock Herb. Unlike the eastern forest, a lot of monsters lived in the northern forest.
The map had a function that displayed a red or yellow marker. When he combined the search operation skill with the map, Shin could know how many monsters were hiding in a certain radius around him.
He didn’t want to kill unnecessarily, but he would counter-attack if monsters attacked him. He wondered how long he would last while fighting with 【Limit】.
Unlike the situation when he fought against Barlux, he, without taking any consideration, dealt a single blow to a monster and sent it flying. Although he wasn’t surprised because it also happened when he went to ‘Tsuki no Hokora’, he didn’t know the extent that his maximum offensive power had risen to. He only understood his stats from before he got transported here, but not since his stats had doubled.
He had no choice but to use a support skill, 【Limit】 at maximum level Ⅹ.
【Limit】 was a skill that was made so that a beginner and a high level player could play together. If the skill level was raised by one(from level 2 to level 3), the skill would limit the stats to 1/3 of their original value, instead of only halving it. As a result, the players could still play together despite the difference in level and stats.
Even though there was a method to check the changes of physical strength according to the stat rises, he couldn’t take action as it could destroy the surrounding area. Incidentally, the limitation was also executed as a danger-preventative measure for the accomplishment of the request.
Currently, the maximum stats value for Shin’s STR was 223, which was 1/10 of his original STR, because of 【Limit】. The others stats value were still intact. This was the STR stats value of a human without any reincarnation at level 255.
By the way, 【Limit • Ⅰ】 didn’t restrict the stats as it was 1/1 from original stats. The lowest level of this skill provides no change, while the highest level restricts a stat to 1/10 of it’s original value.
Why only STR? It’s because he was experimenting on how much damage a monster could deal to an ordinary human. It was also to avoid suspicion from other members if he joined a party.
…To prevent himself from carelessly changing the surrounding terrain by using an all out attack, was also one of the implications.
Since there were numerous monsters, he only fought them while searching for Hillock Herb because it was useless to hunt all of the monsters. While thinking that, he wished he had the skill to search for an item.
As he went further into the depth of the forest, he was able to find more Hillock Herbs.
Currently, the number in possession was 29 pieces. Only one more was needed to complete the request. Alright, just one more! Shin was getting fired up as he walked carefully in the forest. At that time, he detected a marker which made a strange move on the map that progressed to the edge of the map view.
The color was red. And that was the color that indicated a hostile existence.
But, the red marker didn’t move much from the place, instead it was moving in zig-zag line in a range of 10 mels.
“What is this?”
He was drawn to the current movement of the marker which had awakened his curiosity. He started to advance towards the direction of the marker with the help of the map, so that he could take a look at the situation.
The movement of the marker stopped for a few minutes while Shin moved closer. Then he waited and looked from the shadow of a tree.
Shin stood still as he was at a loss for words when he saw the figure.
Before his eyes, there was a figure of Jack • Skull Face. While its big body was only bones, it was twice as big as the Pawn class, its height was about 3 mels or more. It was fully equipped from gauntlet to armor and wore a helmet on its head. In addition, it had a round shield with diameter of 1 mel equipped in its left hand, and held a 2 mels long greatsword in its right.
The equipment it was wearing was all in one color, solid black, except for the greatsword. It couldn’t be compared to the Pawn class which was equipped with a rusted sword and worn-out gauntlets.
A dim purple flame could be seen in each of its bony eye sockets, and its whole body emitted a black smoke which could be called a negative aura.
It had the presence of an undead military commander who had returned from hell. It was a Skull Face of the Jack class.
The dwellers of this world would be frozen in fear if they looked at this existence.
However, that was not the reason why Shin stood still and was at loss for words. To begin with, a Jack • Skull Face was just small fry for Shin. Then why did he look at the enemy without starting to attack?
It was because,
“Why is the Skull Face breakdancing?”
Shin’s words spoke for themselves.
Undead monsters held grudges towards all living things, they were existences that would drag any living things to the dead side. Its appearance made any person who saw it feel fear, its body didn’t feel fatigue so as to lavish death upon its surroundings. There existed a group of undead monsters in THE NEW GATE, and the Skull Face was said to be its representative.
It was never an existence that was meant to breakdance in the depth of the forest.
“It’s surreal…too surreal. Do you like to dance that much? You?”
Around the Skull Face, there were no trees, and if seen from above a big hole opened in the forest. Which was not surprising, as the Skull Face wore armor and the breakdance was done while equipped with both sword and shield. Hence, the grass was mown down by the shield, the big trees were cut down by the greatsword, and the ground was scooped out by the ruggedness of the armor.
In the first place, there was the question of whether it was possible to breakdance while wearing armor, but that question was dismissed as the Skull Face had done it.
Shin revealed a trace of pity on his face.
Somehow he even felt indescribably guilty for having looked at something that he shouldn’t have.
However, such thoughts of Shin’s dissipated instantly after the Skull Face revealed its true color.
The sound of liquid splashing reached Shin’s ears. As he shifted his attention to a big tree there, the trunk of the large tree was stained with red 《・・・》 liquid.
Shin immediately observed the appearance of the Skull Face. The greatsword that resounded while cutting through the air, the armor that covered its skeleton body, the shield that mowed down the grass, all of them were stained in the same colored liquid as the tree-trunks.
As he shifted his line of sight a bit, there were corpses of monsters that were sliced in half lying around. The Skull Face was his opponent after all, no more discussion needed.
The Skull Face that appeared in the northern forest. Attacked adventurers. Dry blood that stuck to the greatsword and blood that was still dripping. There was no need for a conviction. Even so, Shin was not so optimistic as to think that the Skull Face wasn’t attacking the adventurers, so letting it roam free wasn’t possible.
He regained control of his thought process. His blurred face tightened, and the atmosphere changed from slacked to sharp.
“I don’t want to be fooled in this situation.”
He muttered while not neglecting the task of gathering information on the opponent. It was dangerous to think that the world remained unchanged since the game ended.
In fact, 30 cemels wide big trees were slashed – that didn’t seem like a joke. There was no point in lowering his guard either.
“Should I start?”
Shin unsheathed his katana and waited for the right timing. And the moment the Skull Face’s back was facing Shin, he took his stance and decreased the distance between them in a split second.
He drew his katana as the distance between them shrank, and targeted a brandish skill at the Skull Face’s defenseless back.
Moderate damage could be dealt by surprise attacks from behind, though Skull Faces generally had a tolerance for slashing attacks.
However, his expectations failed him.
The moment Shin’s katana swung toward the back of the Skull Face, as if it sensed the danger, the Skull Face flung its left arm against the ground and accelerated its rotation with the force of the recoil. Then the Skull Face began to counter-attack with its greatsword.
“What is this!?”
Shin ran past the Skull Face without losing momentum, and escaped from the range of the counter-attack.
It was no wonder that Shin was astounded. A level 250 Skull Face wouldn’t do a strange movement like the one just now. The flowing defense and the counter-attack with its sword. Moreover, it didn’t break its pose even after that. It was a movement that was not possible during in the game.
But the Skull Face’s appearance was that of a skeleton to begin with, so it’s movements weren’t restricted by joint or muscle.
Shin couldn’t hide his surprise at the unimaginable fighting power of the Skull Face.
“What is that movement? Those are not the movements of a Skull Face.”
The breakdance in itself was weird, but now he couldn’t make any sense of it.
“Even its level is strange. Besides, that sword is not supposed to be with a Skull Face.”
He looked at the Skull Face while fixing his posture. According to 【Analyze • Ⅹ】 , the Skull Face’s level was 359. Let alone Jack class, it jumped over Queen straight to King class.
In addition, the sword that it held was the problem. Humans wouldn’t be able to handle the greatsword if they weren’t using both of their hands. Besides the dazzling ornaments on the hilt, the sword blade emitted a silver shine and a blue line traveled along its center. It was likely a demon steel that was harder than iron and was combined with mithril which had good compatibility with magic. A portion of the blade’s edge shined with a strong, white light.
The white light revealed the sword’s light attribute. It had the atmosphere that could be compared to a holy sword.It was not a weapon that an undead monster would hold no matter what, as it had the opposite attribute.
“I think it’s reasonable to think of it as a unique monster.”
He raised his alertness level by one stage. Unique monsters often had a different attribute and ability from the original. But even Shin hadn’t heard of a monster that had the attribute of its own weak point.
The Skull Face now stood with both feet on the ground as it recognized Shin as a powerful enemy. Pulling its weapon and shield backwards slightly, it took on a stance. That was obviously the movement of a person who had mastered fencing, but there was a clear distinction as the Skull Face could only do repeated attacks.
“That dance didn’t seem to be a joke either!!”
While muttering he again charged toward the Skull Face, this time directly to its left side which held the shield.
Again, he closed the distance instantly with the unsheathed katana and aimed at the opponent’s left ankle.
“Seissh!!”
