Mushoku Tensei Spanish:Chapter 63.53

Esta traducción ha sido realizada a partir de la versión inglesa encontrada en la siguiente página (enlace) realizada por World Three.

Traducido por Sergiocamjur (talk) 16:53, 9 March 2016 (UTC)

Status: Incomplete

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Volumen 07 Capítulo 63.53 - Ludeus el Quagmire

1ª Parte

"Haah... Haah..."

Estaba corriendo por la ciudad mientras el sol comenzaba a asomar por el horizonte y las calles comenzaban a ir cogiendo color.

Mi respiración asoma por mi boca dejando verse como nubes blanquecinas, debido, entre otras, al frío invernal que ha pintado con una fina capa de nieve la superficie del camino, dejándome escuchar un crujido gélido a cada paso que doy y permitiéndome sentir una sensación acolchada agradable.

Continúo mi paseo a paso acelerado por la ciudad, dedicado en cuerpo y alma a mi caminata, mientras observo de pasada los escenarios propios de una postal navideña.

"Haaah..."

Pasado un tiempo, me detengo finalmente una vez regreso a mi posada.

"¿Qué tal lo hemos hecho en el paseo de esta mañana?"

Mientras continuaba intentando controlar mi respiración agitada, escuché esas palabras provenientes de mis temblorosas piernas; Tindalos, mi pierna derecha, y Baskerville, mi pierna derecha.

Decidí darles el nombre de unas razas famosas de perros de caza con la esperanza de que se volvieran tan ágiles y ligeras como ese par canes.

"Fufu... No lo habéis hecho nada mal. Buen trabajo."

Le di unos toques cariñosos a mis piernas de la misma forma que se les darían a un par de cachorros juguetones, antes de adentrarme por fin en la posada.

Es importante masajear las piernas siempre después de correr, y me he autoimpuesto no usar magia para ello.

Claro que podría usar magia Curativa para eliminar por completo las agujetas de mis músculos, pero de esa forma, no estaría dándoles el mismo cariño.

"Buen trabajo, chicos."

Cada día, después de correr, acaricio mis piernas con mucho cariño para relajarlas.

Y es que, cuanto más amor le des a tus músculos, te recompensarán con más amor aun; además de que nunca te traicionarán. Los músculos siempre recompensan tu esfuerzo con resultados; a menos que no los trabajes a diario o te excedas con ellos, que es cuando pueden negarse a hacerte caso.

Por eso, es mejor tratarlos cada día con cariño, para que, llegado el momento, estén ahí para ayudarte en lo que necesites.

"Ups... casi me olvido de ustedes... y eso no es correcto, ¿no os parece?"

Una vez les doy suficiente cariño a mis piernas, paso a masajear mis brazos; mi brazo derecho, Hulk, y mi brazo izquierdo, Heracles, nombrados así con la intención de que se vuelvan tan fuertes como los personajes en los que están basados.

No es que me haga falta demasiada fuerza siendo un mago, pero eso no significa que tener fuerza no venga bien de vez en cuando. Si llegara el momento de usar ambas manos, de no entrenarlas correctamente, podrías arrepentirte.

Después de todo, los brazos son entes bastante celosos, y por si fuera poco, también son la principal parte del cuerpo que interactúa con el mundo exterior, transmitiéndome adicionalmente información sobre este a través del tacto. No me gustaría que un día no quisieran reaccionar a tiempo al pensarse que son menospreciados por sus huéspedes.

"¡Perfecto! Pues a trabajar en esas 100 flexiones del día."

Me tumbo sobre el suelo bocabajo y comienzo a trabajar seriamente en terminar mi serie de flexiones; aunque sin la intención de ser capaz de hacer más cada día, sino simplemente de mantener mi cuerpo entrenado.

En un momento dado, tanto Hulk como Heracles se pusieron a temblar y me dediqué a darles ánimos.

Vuestro dolor es mi dolor, pero pensad que este dolor que compartimos también nos une. ¡Juntos seremos más fuertes!

"Haaah... Buen trabajo, chicos."

Los masajeo y les dejo relajarse mientras les agradezco el trabajo de hoy; y no solo a Hulk y Heracles, sino que a Tindalos y Baskerville también.

Me mantuve en reposo hasta que sentí que estábamos todos listos para continuar el día.

Nos merecemos un descanso.

"Buen trabajo, chicos, ha sido un día productivo."

Después de asearme correctamente con agua caliente, fui a rezar al altar que había fabricado y que se encontraba en una esquina de mi habitación.

Una vez terminé, recogí con sumo cuidado la Reliquia Sagrada que se encontraba en su interior, la doble respetuosamente y la coloqué en el interior de mi bolsillo.

Lo cierto es que no debería realmente tratar de esta forma la Reliquia Sagrada, pero temo que si la dejara en la habitación, alguien pudiera entrar y robarla; por lo que no tengo más remedio...

Es de sentido común llevarte los objetos preciados contigo cuando sales de una posada.

"Espero que hoy haya alguna misión decente en el tablón."

Murmurando estas palabras para mí mismo, me cambié de ropa y me puse mi manto antes de salir de la posada.

Han pasado ya algunos meses desde el incidente con los Osos Mechón Pardo.

En ese entonces, decidí tomarme en serio mi rutina diaria para ejercitar mis músculos y esforzarme por convertirme en un aventurero reconocido por estas tierras.

"¡Quagmire, gracias por lo del otro día!"

"Fuiste increíble."

"Podría aprender una cosa o dos de la forma en la coordinas tus hechizos con el grupo."

Y considero que de momento llevo un buen ritmo inicial en mi meta para convertirme en un aventurero famoso.

"Oh, no es para tanto, soy yo el que debería agradeceros vuestra ayuda, ya que yo solo tuve que echaros una mano. Si conseguimos realizar con éxito la misión, fue porque nos organizamos perfectamente entre todos."

"¡Serás modesto...! ¡Con tu habilidad deberías ser un poco más orgulloso, hombre!"

"Dime, ¿estarías interesado en unirte a nuestro grupo?"

"Agradezco la oferta, pero debo rechazarla, lo siento."

"Chacho, ¿te has olvidado? Las invitaciones a grupos están vetadas."

"Oh, cierto. Fallo mío..."

"Ajaja..."

Hemos entregado la misión de este día que acabó siendo algo más agotadora de lo necesario, pero nada complicado.

Técnicamente, soy un aventurero individualista, aunque lo cierto es que por lo general, simplemente voy de grupo en grupo ofreciendo mi apoyo para realizar misiones más complicadas y que por sí solos podrían tener problemas para completarla.

Supongo que soy algo así... como un aventurero mercenario que ayuda a otros aventureros...

A cambio de mi ayuda, me llevo una parte de la recompensa, y además me llevo la mitad de los beneficios de la venta de los materiales obtenidos de los monstruos que vamos eliminando en el transcurso de la misión.

Por lo general, participar en misiones de un grupo sin ser parte de este no está especialmente bien visto dentro del gremio de aventureros, pero como tampoco incumple ninguna norma, lo dejan pasar.

Y por si fuera poco, se creen que mi anterior grupo fue totalmente eliminado... cosa que sumado a que he hecho que prácticamente todos sepan que ando buscando a mi madre, me den un poco más de libertad.

Pero vaya... si quisiera viajar a otra ciudad, seguramente lo mejor sería buscar un grupo para hacerlo, aunque solo fuera temporal, pero sigue sin atraerme la idea de unirme a ningún grupo de nuevo.

"Sea como sea, me alegro mucho de haberte contratado para esa misión; así que si alguna vez encontramos otra complicada, te llamaremos."

Actúo con cortesía y educación con todos en el gremio, pero a la hora de pelear, hago lo posible por resaltar lo que soy capaz de hacer en lugar de contenerme. Gracias a eso, el nombre de Ludeus Greyrat es bastante conocido en todo el gremio.

"¡Eh, Quagmire!"

"¡Quagmire! ¡Ven a echarnos una mano con esta misión! ¡Estamos a punto de partir!"

"Lo siento mucho, pero por hoy ya he terminado."

Aunque en realidad, más que Ludeus Greyrat, lo que se está extendiendo es el nombre de Ludeus el Quagmire; seguramente porque actúo como un mago de apoyo que principalmente utiliza Quagmire y Neblina en combate.

Al menos, gracias a los trucos que he aprendido de Timothy, casi todos los aventureros en el gremio me sonríen y saludan cuando me ven.

Seguramente porque me ven como un niño pequeño que aunque es habilidoso no cobra demasiado por sus servicios... aunque también me han llegado rumores de que se piensan que no comprendo el valor del dinero; pero gracias a eso, he conseguido que los que a menudo están por el gremio me vean con buenos ojos y hasta me recuerden...

A este paso no debería tardar demasiado en hacerse conocido mi nombre por la ciudad...

"¡Quagmire! ¡Si me llegan rumores sobre tu madre, te lo haré saber!"

"¡Oh! Te lo agradecería muchísimo."

En mi camino, me crucé con un grupo de aventureros que tiene pensado mudarse a otra ciudad dentro de unos días; debido a la relación que había ido ganándome con todos, conseguí que me ayudaran a extender la palabra de que hay ando buscando a mi madre.

A este ritmo, solo es cuestión de tiempo que Zenith oiga rumores sobre mí... en el caso de que se encuentre por esta zona, claro está.

La verdad es que la posibilidad de que se encuentren en la zona norte del continente central son astronómicamente pequeñas. Pero aun así, no quiero pensar que lo que estoy haciendo sea una pérdida de tiempo; ya que si consigo hacerme famoso por estos lares, me será más fácil hacerme famoso en otras zonas y hasta demostraré que es posible en primer lugar.

Por eso, si voy de ciudad en ciudad extendiendo mi nombre y que busco a mi madre, seré capaz de explorar indirectamente toda la zona norte del continente, incluida la zona de conflicto. De esa forma, tarde o temprano, me llegarán rumores de dónde se encuentra Zenith o vendrá ella directamente si se encuentra por aquí.

Digamos que tardo 3 meses en hacerme mínimamente famoso... siguiendo esa idea, tardaré aproximadamente un año en hacer que todos me conozcan en la zona norte......... uff... suena a que tomará bastante tiempo... ¡Pero debo hacerlo! ¡¿No es así, Roxy-sensei?!

"¡Anda, mira! ¡Otra vez se pone a rezar!"

"Déjale tranquilo, simplemente es así de devoto... El otro día hasta le vi rezar en el borde del camino."

Oh... Ups... Me puse de nuevo a rezarle a mi reliquia sagrada...

Pero bueno, mientras no la pierda, seguiré pudiendo mantener este ritmo... seguiré intentándolo mientras Roxy-sensei esté conmigo... mientras tenga su apoyo, ¡soy invencible!

¡El invencible Robo-Ludeus! ¡La máquina infalible de trabajo!

"Tcht-"

"Jum, Quagmire..."

"Menudo ego le está creciendo..."

Como era de esperar, hay todavía varias personas a las que no les caigo especialmente bien. Aunque no es algo que me tenga especialmente preocupado; al menos, todavía no han interferido en mis planes activamente.

Mientras actúe siempre de manera humilde y educada con todo el mundo, el número de personas a las que agradaré acabará siendo mayor que a las que no... Y aunque me gustaría ganarme también su apoyo con la búsqueda de Zenith... por lo general, evito involucrarme con las personas a las que no agrado. Para qué intentar lo imposible...

Después de todo, mi meta no es llevarme bien con todo el mundo, sino encontrar a Zenith de la forma más eficiente posible. Nada más.

"Ah..."

Mientras andaba perdido en mis pensamientos, me dirigí a la salida del gremio, y justo cuando estaba a escasos metros de la puerta, me crucé con una cara conocida.

Se trataba de Sara.

"Hm—..."

En cuanto me vio, su rostro se retorció enfadada. Me molesta un poco su actitud, la verdad.

"¿Qué miras?"

"Nada~."

Mi relación con ella no ha cambiado lo más mínimo en todos este tiempo.

Desde incluso antes de esa primera misión juntos, se ha mostrado molesta conmigo, y parece que después de lo de los Osos Mechón Pardo fue incluso a peor...

Han pasado todos estos meses y todavía sigue igual de cortante que entonces...

"¿Ya te vas?"

"Sí, acabo de entregar una misión difícil, y me iba ya para la posada a descansar."

"Umm... Nosotros veníamos a aceptar una misión, ¿quieres unirte?"

"Hmm.. esto..."

Parece que el destino no quiere separarnos...

Counter Arrow fue el primer grupo de aventureros con el que trabajé cuando llegué a Rozenburg, y lo cierto es que hemos trabajado juntos en varias ocasiones; hasta el punto de que es el grupo junto al que más veces he trabajado.

Pero lo cierto es que objetivamente hablando, trabajar con el mismo grupo demasiado seguido no es lo más eficiente para mis planes...

En cuanto ven lo que soy capaz de hacer y consigo que nuestra relación llegue a un nivel aceptable como para ayudarme con lo de Zenith, no me sale a cuenta seguir trabajando con ellos...

"Eh... ¿Tenéis planeado partir mañana?"

Dicho esto, por algún motivo, me cuesta rechazar sus invitaciones, aunque no sé bien por qué.

Quizás sea mi forma de agradecerles que me ayudaran a darme cuenta de lo estúpido que estaba siendo al principio...

Mientras le daba vueltas a esto, Sara, al escuchar mi respuesta, se volvió a mostrarse algo molesta.

"Siempre,... ¡siempre empiezas con esas preguntas esquivas cuando te invitamos! ¡Si no quieres venir, di que no y punto! ¡No es que necesitemos tu ayuda ni nada parecido!

Como de costumbre, Sara no mide sus palabras conmigo; aunque da la impresión de que su actitud conmigo ha comenzado a ir a mejor, aunque sea un poco, en estos días. O al menos, parece como si ya no buscara meterse conmigo como al principio.

Aunque no parece que nos estemos llevando bien tampoco, pero no sé.... Aunque bueno, da lo mismo. No es que busque hacer amigos.

"Discúlpame por ser tan indeciso, pero me toma tiempo llegar a una decisión."

"¿Al menos podrías hacerme el favor de dejar de hablar de forma tan formal? Me pone de los nervios."

Estas palabras las dijo con un tono algo más... ¿amistoso? O al menos, no parecía que las dijera para hacerme daño, sino más como si fuera su opinión sincera al respecto.

Pero por mucho que me pida algo así... no tengo la menor intención de dejar de actuar con esta cortesía; es necesaria para mis planes y llevarme bien con todo el mundo, después de todo.

"Sara, deja al chico."

Mientras conversábamos, el resto de miembros de Counter Arrow fueron apareciendo. Primero Suzanne, la chica morena con rastas; después Timothy con su manto rojo, y finalmente Mimir y Patris.

"Vaaale."

Cuando Suzanne le llamó la atención, Sara se echó a un lado con mala cara.

"Bueno, ¿qué, Ludeus? ¿Vienes?"

Suzanne me hizo esa pregunta, aunque lo cierto es que ya había decidido que les ayudaría.

Quizás desde fuera parecía como si estuviera dándole vueltas y no del todo decidido...

"Venga, de acuerdo, me apunto. Y gracias por invitarme."

"Perfecto, pues vayamos a decidir qué misión tomar entonces."

"De acuerdo."

Quitando la hostilidad de Sara, el resto de miembros de Counter Arrow son gente simpática.

Por un lado, Suzanne, que es bastante amable y atenta, aunque a veces un tanto entrometida; por otro, Timothy, que es una persona bastantes cualidades sociales y buen ojo; y finalmente, Mimir y Patris, que por lo general son bastante callados, pero amigables.

Como grupo de aventureros, tienen una buena coordinación y en general bastante balanceados en cuanto capacidades, y aunque yo me una a su coordinación en combate y tácticas, son capaces de adaptarse para que entre todos consigamos una organización impecable.

Las peleas con ellos siempre van a pedir de boca... Aunque claro, como quieren que Sara gane experiencia apoyando a la primera línea, siguen siendo bastante estrictos en cuanto a limitar mi participación.

Pero vaya... más que una alianza temporal, casi parece que soy uno más...

De alguna forma... podría decirse que somos... amigos...

"Bueno, ahora que está decidido que Ludeus viene, ¿qué misión creéis que deberíamos coger?"

"¿Ane-san, por qué no cogemos esta?"

"A ver... una misión de recolecta de rango A... Recolectar escamas de Dracos PielNieve... Hmm... ¿No os parece que eso está ligeramente por encima de nuestras posibilidades?"

"Sí, pero ya que Ludeus viene con nosotros, podríamos aprovechar por ir por recompensas más suculentas ahora que tenemos la oportunidad."

Viendo a Suzanne y Timothy debatir sobre la misión, justo frente al tablón de anuncios del gremio me trajo varios recuerdos.

Eris y Ruijerd también solían debatir entre ellos a menudo... aunque al final la decisión la acababa tomando yo, todo sea dicho...

"¿Qué opinas tú, Ludeus?"

"¿Ah? Por mí vale, tampoco creo que tengamos complicaciones."

Aunque ahora, en lugar de ser el que decide, simplemente soy el que da su opinión... Quizás ese fue mi error en Dead End...

Y como ahora no soy ni el líder ni el 2º al mando, simplemente soy uno más del grupo, por lo que puedo dar mi opinión y dejar que otros decidan.... y he de decir que es hasta agradable, siendo honesto.

"Pues bien, decidido. Haremos esa misión."

Con las palabras de Suzanne, la misión fue decidida finalmente; y aunque es bastante similar a varias que hemos hecho, es necesario acumular experiencia para ganar soltura y práctica como para obtener buenos resultados en el futuro.

Yo por mi parte, haré cuanto pueda.

2ª Parte

A la mañana siguiente.

Una vez terminé mis preparativos para el viaje, me dirigí a la puerta de la ciudad donde me reuní con los miembros de Counter Arrow para ponernos en marcha.

Nuestro destino se encuentra dirección sur, a unos 2 días de camino de Rozenburg; supuestamente, unas ruinas en las que nunca antes he estado.

Esa mañana y la tarde anterior, las aproveché para informarme sobre los Dracos de las Nieves. Por lo visto, estas ruinas son el único sitio cercano a Rozenburg donde se pueden recolectar las escamas de estos monstruos.

Como su nombre medio indica, las escamas de estos monstruos, que son considerados una subraza de los dragones, son tan blancas como la nieve. Además, son de unos 3 o 4 metros de largo por lo general, aunque no pueden volar, ya que no tienen alas; motivo por el que construyen sus nidos en cuevas o Laberintos. Estos monstruos además, suelen vivir en manadas y dependiendo del tamaño, pueden llegar a ser considerados monstruos de rango S.

No obstante, parece que les molesta la luz y a menos que invadas su nido, no atacan a aventureros, lo que no son considerados como monstruos peligrosos.

Pero lo que hace que las misiones de recolecta de sus escamas no superen el rango A es que por lo general, además de ser lo que pretendemos hacer, es explorar las ruinas Gargau, lugar en el que habitan, y recorrer la zona en busca de las escamas que hayan ido perdiendo o mudando.

El motivo por el que a menudo aparecen misiones de recolecta de las escamas de los Dracos de las Nieves es que son aislantes térmicos muy buenos aquí en el norte.

Existen otros aislantes en zonas nevadas bastante útiles para facilitar la vida en estas tierras, pero las escamas de estos monstruos están entre los mejores. Son resistentes, duraderas; y por si fuera poco, su lustroso blanco nieve hace que cuando la luz del sol se refleja en ellas, emitan un brillo azulado que genera una estampa cautivadora; lo que lleva a que sean usadas en los techados de las casas de algunos nobles y figuras similares.

Por otro lado, también se usan estas escamas para fabricar escudos y armaduras.

Por ejemplo, la guardia real de Basherant está íntegramente equipada con armaduras hechas de este material. Y a modo de ejemplo, decir que solo algunos aventureros de rango S se pueden permitir equipamiento hecho de estas escamas; que debido a su dureza y resistencia, poseen una defensa muy efectiva contra distintos tipos de monstruos.

Dicho de otra manera, a menudo se combate con monstruos para fabricar equipo con los materiales de esos monstruos.

Pero volviendo al tema inicial, vamos en dirección al territorio de estos monstruos que ofrecen una defensa así de buena; pero como he mencionado anteriormente, nuestra intención no es acercarnos a su nido.

Igualmente, existen otros monstruos que rondan la zona a parte de los Dracos de las Nieves; y también contamos con la posibilidad, de que aunque sean monstruos no agresivos por norma, podría darse el caso de que decidieran atacarnos, ya sea un individuo o parte de la manada.

Saber esto hace que nuestro grupo esté algo inquieto, lo que ha llevado a que incluso antes de entrar en las ruinas, nos hemos detenido para realizar una reunión para planear la misión más concienzudamente que en otras ocasiones.

"He traído algunas flechas con punta hecha de escama Draco Pírico por si acaso, pero es posible que ni eso sirva de nada."

"¿Crees que envenenarles sería de ayuda?"

"No lo sé, pero teniendo en cuenta que no les gusta la luz, pensé que el fuego sería efectivo contra ellos."

"Si solo con eso fuera suficiente para vencerles, esta misión jamás sería de un rango tan cercano al S."

Se les ve bastante serios discutiendo este asunto y buscando entre todos formas de como aprovechar al máximo sus habilidades para los combates que se avecinan.

Creo que si Counter Arrow pudiera encontrar gente con una experiencia tan pulida como el resto de sus miembros como para llenar al completo el cupo de 7 miembros por grupo, están más que capacitados como para llegar a un grupo de rango A.

Aunque claro, como son bastante más serios que el resto de aventureros, seguramente les cueste reclutar gente... La mayoría de aventureros simplemente improvisa sobre la marcha según avanza la misión.

"Ludeus, no has abierto la boca. ¿Seguro de que estás atento?"

"Sí, os estoy prestando atención.">

"Espero que sea cierto. Ya es suficiente problema que ni con las flechas especiales pueda hacerle nada a esos bichos... Como encima sean capaces de atravesar la línea de defensa, podría darse el caso de que no pueda ayudaros."

Hasta Sara está nerviosa en esta situación.

Su puntería con el arco es indiscutible y casi inigualable, pero contra oponentes con escamas tan duras como la de los Dragos, sus opciones en caso de combate disminuyen; y aunque todavía pueda atacar a los ojos o a la boca de los monstruos, la posibilidad de no impactar aumenta.

Muchos de los monstruos de rango A o superior son capaces de soportar o esquivar las flechas de Sara con facilidad, siendo los Dracos de las Nieves un ejemplo de porqué. E incluso aunque por esta zona no haya más enemigos que vayan a dar problemas, pensar que tus ataques son prácticamente inútiles contra monstruos de rango A o mayor es algo frustrante; especialmente para un aventurero.

Pero hay que aceptar que una sola persona tiene muchas limitaciones y cosas que es incapaz de hacer por sí mismo. Ni siquiera yo puedo hacer cualquier cosa sin ayuda aunque pueda parecer lo contrario.

Sara necesita comprender que muchos de los que van por ahí creyéndose perfectos y todopoderosos, a menudo acaban en una tumba prematura cuando se enfrentan a un enemigo superior o les atacan por sorpresa. Por eso, lo mejor es simplemente ser humilde y aceptar tus limitaciones.

Pero supongo que Sara todavía es muy joven para comprender esto, le falta experimentar el fracaso en sus carnes en un par de ocasiones para ver esto... Si no, mírala... aún en esta situación, está diciendo cosas en plan ¿Cómo va a ser capaz de sobrevivir el resto del grupo sin mi ayuda?

Mientras nos ayudemos en lo que sí podamos, todo debería ir bien. Y si aun haciendo eso tenemos problemas... bueno... ya pensaremos en algo llegado el momento.

"Chicos, chicos... ¿por qué estáis tan nerviosos? Tened en cuenta que esta misión va de recolectar escamas, NO de pelear contra los Dracos... Vedlo más como que nos han contratado para limpiarles el territorio."

"Timothy tiene razón... nuestra meta debe ser evitar que haya ningún tipo de pelea."

"Y si nos viéramos en apuros... solo tenemos que huir."

"Y una cosa está clara, a vosotros se os da bien salir por patas..."

"¡Mimir, pero si tú eres el que siempre va delante cuando huimos!"

Gracias al comentario de Timothy, la tensión en el grupo se disipó en gran medida y hasta se pusieron a reír.

Casi nunca habla, pero cuando lo hace, sabe qué decir en cada situación... debería aprender de él.

"¿Listos? Pues vamos, chicos."

Suzanne se dio un puñetazo en su mano abierta mientras dijo estas palabras, señal que usaron el resto para dejar las bromas y ponerse en marcha.

La entrada a las ruinas se encontraba tras una pequeña catarata que fluía por un arroyo atravesando la montaña, y por este arroyo podían verse pequeños bloques de hielo que iban corriente abajo, hasta el valle que se encontraba algunos kilómetros más adelante.

Atravesando el pequeño caudal de agua, se encontraba la entrada a una cueva que estaba casi cubierta completamente de hielo, formando un techado que ocultaba en gran medida la entrada, haciéndola difícil de ver desde el exterior.

¿Estaremos en el lugar correcto? Casi parece más una madriguera de osos que otra cosa... aunque eso es lo que me describieron.

Estas ruinas fueron descubiertas por un aventurero de casualidad hace unos 10 años; y aunque la localización es medianamente conocida, apenas pude obtener información del interior.

"No nos hemos equivocado de sitio, ¿verdad?"

Suzanne dijo en alto lo que yo mismo me estaba preguntando.

"Por las pisadas, diría que es aquí."

Como Sara había mencionado, había pisadas en la entrada; aunque se trataba de personas.

La cantidad de exacta de gente que había pasado por aquí era difícil de clarificar, pero al menos, estaba claro que un grupo grande de personas habían entrado y salido de este sitio.

"Oh oh... ¿Eso significa que alguien más ha tomado la misma misión que nosotros?"

"No. O al menos, las pisadas son de hace 5 o 6 días, por lo que lo dudo."

"Pero existe la posibilidad de que tengamos compañía, ¿o no?"

"Hay tanto pisadas de entrada como de salida, por lo que quizás ya hayan vuelto a la ciudad."

Mientras escuchaba la conversación que estaban teniendo Suzanne y Sara, comencé a prepararme para adentrarnos en la cueva. Saqué una antorcha que había comprado en la ciudad y prendí la punta.

Cuando te adentras en cuevas y similares hace falta iluminación; y aunque pudiera usarse una lámpara de aceite, las antorchas encendidas pueden usarse directamente como arma, y además permiten ser algo más bruscas de la cuenta con ellas sin tener miedo a que se rompan. Por ejemplo, se pueden tirar al suelo y no preocuparte porque se vayan a apagar.

Por supuesto, también existe el riesgo de consumir todo el oxígeno de la cueva, llevándote a una muerte por asfixia, pero si vas a preocuparte por cosas así, directamente hubiera sido mejor que evitaras meterte en cuevas... Pero la verdad es que me encantaría alguna otra cosa más cómoda para iluminar y que encima fuera más potente que una antorcha... no sé... una linterna de LED's o algo así sería fantástico.

"El suelo está congelado en varias zonas, id con cuidado."

Suzanne se adentró en la cueva, encabezando al grupo.

Por lo visto, parece que en los grupos de aventureros se decide qué miembros irán con antorcha a la hora de explorar un Laberinto; en nuestro caso, todos llevamos una.

El motivo de esta diferencia es que como ninguno tenemos medios naturales para orientarnos en la oscuridad, y además llevamos a una arquera en el grupo; por eso, para nosotros, cuanta más iluminación, mejor. Por este motivo, llevando los 6 una antorcha cada uno, el interior de la cueva estaba casi totalmente iluminado; no tanto como el exterior, pero bien iluminado.

Toda charla entre los integrantes había cesado desde el momento que nos adentramos en la cueva y comenzamos a recorrer en silencio la ligera pendiente que se adentraba en las ruinas.

Apenas nos hemos encontrado con monstruos en nuestro descenso, y aunque a veces nos asaltan monstruos con forma de ciempiés de gran tamaño, son tan débiles que Suzanne en solitario consigue acabar con ellos; por lo que no podemos decir que hayamos combatido ni una sola vez desde que nos adentramos en la cueva.

Aunque claro, teniendo en cuenta que el camino es bastante estrecho, si nos atacaran varios monstruos al mismo tiempo podríamos sufrir complicaciones, así que mejor que sigamos sin encuentros desafortunados hasta que se ensanche el terreno.

Además, si viéramos que conforme avanzamos sin llegar a un terreno más adecuado para combatir, el número de monstruos se intensificara, podríamos hasta pensar seriamente si retirarnos.

Porque aunque en el interior de las ruinas apenas haya monstruos y están todos en el camino, teniendo en cuenta el suelo resbaladizo y las estalagmitas podríamos tener sustos innecesarios; y eso que nos hemos puesto púas en la suela de nuestros zapatos para aumentar la tracción, pero seguimos pudiendo resbalarnos.

La persona de enfrente se escurrió y comienza a caerse de espaldas.

"Ah—"

"¡WA!"

Sara, que se encontraba delante mía, comenzó a caerse, esta vez de verdad y alargué el brazo para ayudarla a que no llegara al suelo.

El ojo místico de Futuro siempre es útil en situaciones de este tipo... aunque en realidad, siempre me ha sido de utilidad; no recuerdo ni una vez en la que haya sido contraproducente.

"¡Eh! ¡¿Qué demonios estás tocando?!"

"No es para tanto..."

La suelto en el momento que está apoyada sobre tierra seca, y Sara se giró mirándome molesta mientras se cubría la zona del pecho.

"......"

Tenía la cara enrojecida hasta la punta de sus pelos, pero no dejaba de mirarme con cierto odio.

Intuyo que le habrá molestado que tocara su pecho para sujetarla... pero siendo honesto, lo único que he sentido es un tacto duro, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que lleva puesta la coraza de cuero; así que no podría ni decirse que la he sobado sin querer, no entiendo por qué se pone así... No es que me vaya a excitar por algo tan nimio.

Hace unos años lo mismo me hubiera emocionado... pero ya dejé atrás el club de los vírgenes.

"Disculpa."

Igualmente, decidí pedirle perdón.

Nos encontrábamos avanzando por el camino por parejas, yendo Suzanne y Patris en primera línea, con Timothy y Sara en medio, y finalmente Mimir y yo en la retaguardia. De esa forma, Sara, que es más baja que yo, tiene a Patris delante, que le bloquea casi por completo la visión y de ahí que sea la más propensa a caerse en esta situación.

Suzanne y Patris deberían dejarle más visibilidad, aunque apenas hay espacio... así que no nos queda más remedio que continuar de esta forma.

Todo sea dicho, si llegáramos a tener que combatir o hubiera problemas delante, siempre puedo conjurar un Muro de Tierra delante de la primera línea para protegerles y retroceder.

"Oh..."

Mientras pensaba en esto, el camino estrecho de la cueva terminó de forma casi inesperada; y conforme salíamos de la estrechez del pasillo, nos sorprendió suficiente claridad como para hacernos pensar que habíamos salido al exterior.

"O~~h..."

Observé el techo, y pude ver un gran número de puntos brillantes que dejaban escapar un brillo azul claro.

Desde aquí no sé si es algún tipo de cristal, mineral, hongo o qué...

Lo único que sé, es que la iluminación que proyectan es suficiente para permitirnos continuar sin depender de las antorchas; y hasta el camino se ha ensanchado lo suficiente para que podamos avanzar yendo hasta 5 personas en línea con espacio entre ellas.

Continuamos avanzando hasta que el camino concluyó en una especie de acantilado cuyo fondo estaba completamente a oscuras y que nos impedía vislumbrarlo correctamente, aunque da la impresión de que hay un lago o río subterráneo al final del acantilado.

No oigo nada, así que supongo que es un lago subterráneo... no me cabe duda de que habrá peces monstruosos y enormes en él...

Fijándonos mejor, vimos que el camino continúa paralelo al borde del lago llegando finalmente a nuestro destino, las ruinas Gargau. Una antigua fortaleza medio derruida y difícil de distinguir por su estado.

"Estas ruinas son los restos de una vieja fortaleza construida durante la primera gran guerra entre humanos y demonios. Según cuentan, fue construida por el Rey Demonio de las Profundidades, LahgonJahgon, temido por ser uno de los generales demonio más temidos de su tiempo."

Timothy murmulló estas palabras mientras contemplaba la escena.

¿LahgonJahgon? Suena al nombre de algún demonio que los malos serían capaces de invocar justo antes de morir después de que los héroes acaben con sus planes...

"El Rey Demonio era un maestro de la magia de Tierra, y con su habilidad, creó un fuerte impugnable por los humanos; al que más tarde le añadió una red de caminos subterráneos que le permitieran hacerle emboscadas a los ejércitos humanos."

"Vaya... sabes mucho sobre el tema, Timothy-san."

"No es para tanto, simplemente he escuchado mucho sobre el tema desde pequeño. Esta parte del continente central fue el principal foco de los combates entre los demonios de las profundidades y los humanos, por los que sus habitantes transmiten a sus descendientes las leyendas de las batallas."

Así que en este mundo se pasan las leyendas de generación en generación... No me parecía demasiado de fiar, pero teniendo en cuenta que tengo delante una enorme fortaleza subterránea, parece bastante cierto.

Pero vaya... intuyo que habría más fortalezas y pasajes subterráneos desde los que lanzaban ataques por sorpresa... En una situación así, vivir en ciudades fortificadas era una tontería, ya que podrían construir un pasadizo que fuera bajo tierra esquivando esa línea de defensa...

Hasta me sorprende que los humanos ganaran la guerra teniendo en cuenta a quienes se enfrentaban...

Suzanne me sacó de mis pensamientos.

"Tú eres de Ranoa, ¿no es cierto, Timothy?"

"Así es. Nací en una aldea perdida en el reino de Ranoa, en cuanto pude me fui a estudiar a la prestigiosa Universidad de Magia de Ranoa que hay en Sharia, y luego, soñando en convertirme en un famoso aventurero me dirigí a Asura donde aprendí de primera mano lo dura que es la realidad... Y mírame ahora."

Ranoa... supongo que tarde o temprano tendré que ir por esa zona...

"¡Enemigos!"

As I was spacing out thinking about the future, Sara suddenly shouted, threw down her torch, and unslung her bow. Ahead of us was a one meter long black something that was flying right at us. Pretty fast too.

"Giant bats!"

"Battle formation everyone! Rear guard, I’m counting on you!"

At Sara’s shout, Suzanne began calling out orders, and Patris stood in front of me like a wall. Suzanne, Patris, and Mimiru all took up positions to guard me, Timothy, and Sara. Even if the space had opened up to become wider, with the cliff right next to us, it would be hard to go up against flying enemies with limited mobility. Thus, the vanguard would make a shield wall, and leave attacking to the ranged members of the party.

"Hya!"

With a small yell, Sara started shooting arrows one after the other. The arrows all flew towards the fast moving bats as if they were being sucked right to them. Boom, headshot. One of the giant bats spiralled down and fell off the cliff. Each shot was beautiful. It’s almost like art.

"Small embers, burst forth into a blistering blaze, enveloping all! Flamethrower!"

Timothy went for the less artistic approach. With both hands pointing upwards, he simply opted to roast the giant bats with AoE fire magic. An instant later, two more bats fell into the lake.

"Blast Wave!"

I was even less artistic than that. I just raised both of my hands, and created an explosion in midair. I figure for bats of this size, this should be enough. And as I expected, the remaining bats get puncture holes through their wings, making them incapable of flight, and causing them to all fall. As I watched the giant bats lose altitude, I let out a relieved sigh. And all of a sudden, something appeared from the lake.

"Ah—"

"Uwaa..."

The men’s voice of awe and Sara’s disgusted squeal overlap. What had come out of the lake and swallowed the giant bats whole was an even larger frog. With that poisonous-looking blue and black speckling, it looks just like a poison dart frog. That guy’s gotta be poisonous. I can’t tell how big it is from up here, but it swallowed that one meter bat whole, like it was nothing. It’s at least five meters long, if not longer. It keeps on turning back and forth energetically, probably wondering if there won’t be any more food for it falling down. It’s not hibernating even though it’s winter, I guess because it’s a demon.

"I really don’t want to fall down there..."

At Suzanne’s muttered words, Sara shivered and nodded vigorously. Looks like she doesn’t like frogs.

"Let’s get going. Be careful not to fall in."

At Timothy’s words, we started walking down the cliff path. The Gargau Ruins were so huge that looking at them up close overwhelmed you. It was five stories tall, and as wide as a middle school building. It’s impossible to tell how deep it goes, but considering how it’s buried in boulders, it must go pretty far in. I won’t say it’s among the very biggest buildings I’ve seen in this world, but... considering something this big was built entirely underground, I can’t help but be amazed. And it was all made with earth magic too. The entrance wasn’t a grand front gate, but more a service entrance kind of thing. Really just a hole in the wall. The view in there was spectacular as well. To the left there’s the cliff road we came on stretching on forever. On the right you can see a giant cavity, and the lake spreading out beneath it. Even in my old world you would’ve been hard pressed to find a view like this. At best, you’d be able to see it in a game or a picture somewhere, a true fantasy scene. But right now–seeing it in person–I feel something I’d never be able to feel from just a picture. The smell, the atmosphere, the occasional splash of the frog surfacing, sending ripples along the lake; they all gave this a true sense of reality. I just kept staring blankly at the view, while idle thoughts like [What would it be like to swim in there?] crossed my mind.

"How long are you going to stare?"

"Ah, sorry, I’m coming."

At Sara’s words, I shook myself back to reality and rejoined the group.

"Do you like buildings or something?"

"I wouldn’t say I like them really. More so, it’s just I haven’t seen something quite like this before."

"Right..."

I’m still in the middle of a job. If I had a camera or something I’d have taken a picture, but we really don’t have time for this. I need to hurry up and finish this mission so I can go home. To that... cold lonely room that houses only me...

"......"

I turned my neck, shook off those depressing thoughts, and looked forward.

"So this is what a fortress made back in the first great demon-human war looks like..."

Seeing as I had traveled the Demon Continent before, I do have some idea as to what demon architecture is like. Starting from Kishirisu Castle in Rikaris, I’ve seen a lot of large castles giving off a strange vibe. These ruins gave off that vibe too, but I’m not sure whether it’s because it’s older or not. The vibe was slightly different from usual. Maybe it’s because it was built for war. The scale of it is huge, even the ceiling is five meters high. Despite that, the passageways are quite narrow, giving off a sense of discord. Maybe the ceiling was built this high because the demons that used it were that tall. Unlike humans, there’s a lot of different races of demons. They probably built this fortress with that in mind, and made the passages narrow to make it easier to defend if the fortress ever got assaulted.

"Hmm... Make a right here, Suza."

"Gotcha."

I just realized Timothy’s holding a map of the ruins in one hand as he’s walking. I guess enough people must have gone in and out of here that a map of the place got made.

"Sheesh, why’d the demons have to make this place so complicated?"

Timothy, who’s standing next to me, sighed. I took a quick peek at the map in his hand and I saw the inner part was designed like one huge maze. From the quick glance I was able to get, it just looked like they made it needlessly complicated because they thought it’d be cool or something. Considering how demons are, I wouldn’t put it past them...

"Their bodies are built differently from ours, maybe something like this was more convenient for them?"

"Makes sense."

Even if they did hide themselves underground, on the off chance that they’d have to fight in the fortress, they probably built these tall ceilings and narrow passageways so flying demons and demons that can stick to walls could fight properly. Like, it’s quite possible that that ventilation duct looking thing was actually a passageway for flying species. Even if it’s only for some of them, having passageways demons could traverse that humans could not would probably have been very convenient.

"......"

More importantly, we haven’t seen any monsters at all since we entered the fortress. Supposedly, there’s a lot of bug-like and and amphibian-like monsters inside the ruins, but we haven’t seen a single one. There’s a few bones scattered here and there and bloodstains in various places, but no sign of an actual monster. Can’t really say that it’s reassuring though. Just then, the sound of wind rushing past reaches my ears. [Whoooooosh.] The kind of sound that sends chills down your spine.

"Enemy attack!"

The moment we heard that sound, Mimiru shouted out. Upon hearing his shout, I look in front, behind, and even above me, but I can’t see anything, giving me a really bad feeling.

"Where!?"

"Below us!"

The enemy was below us. A bit further down the road, a pile of fallen bones began to assemble themselves with a loud clattering, and stood up. It was a bone-man! I mean, a skeleton. And then, as if beckoned by the skeleton, a translucent something showed itself. That something has no neck and no legs. With the rough outline of a person, and clad in a fluttering cloak, it slowly glided towards us. It was a ghost.

"It’s some skeletons and a wraith!"

"Lure them in as far as you can, Patris!"

"Got it!"

"Sara, Timothy, Rudeus, get back! Aim only for the skeletons!"

"Gotcha!"

At Suzanne’s words, I backed up a little. The skeletons began clattering towards us, rusted swords in hand. They’re surprisingly fast.

"Outta my way!"

Sara slipped past me and Timothy who were in the rear, and headed forwards. She had her bow slung on her back, and had a large knife in hand instead.

"Rudeus, the skeletons are weak to strong striking attacks!"

"Perfect!"

I raised my hands towards the skeletons. Striking attacks are my specialty, these guys are toast.

"Stone Cannon!"

My most powerful spell shot towards the frontmost skeleton, and completely pulverised it. The stone bullet kept on going through the first, and smashed another behind it.

"O’ ye capricious God. Heed my call and sunder thine foe. Stone Cannon!"

A bit slower than me, Timothy also fires off his stone cannon, but it stops after destroying just one skeleton. Guess I win... Not like this is the time to be competing about sort kind of trivial stuff or anything.

"We’ve finished—"

"It’s not over yet!"

As I was about to turn around to go support Suzanne and the rest, Timothy’s shout had me turn back again.

"Ah!"

The skeletons popped into my field of view. The one I’d destroyed was slowly gathering its scattered bones and reforming once more.

"As long as that wraith’s alive, these skeletons are immortal!"

Come to think of it, I do remember hearing something like that. Skeletons are completely immortal. Even if you burn them they’ll still move around while on fire. I you burn them down to ash, they’ll reform from those ashes. That’s why the most effective method is striking blows. It’s the best way to incapacitate them. Once you’ve incapacitated the skeletons you can focus on bringing down the wraith. You can bring the wraith down with fire magic, but that’s just a temporary measure. Given enough time, even a completely burned away wraith can revive. The most effective way to eliminate a ghost is holy magic. It’s far more effective and permanent than fire magic. If you destroy a wraith with holy magic, it can’t revive again. Technically you can completely destroy a skeleton with holy magic as well, turning it into particles of light, but as long as the wraith still lives, it can just keep summoning more.

"O’ mother earth, grace us with thy blessing! Bring divine punishment down upon those foolish enough to disturb thy holy order! Exorcist Rate!"

It looks like Mimiru can use holy magic. I turned around upon hearing that unfamiliar chant, and saw Mimiru’s ball of light collide with the wraith.

"Gyaaaaaaaaah!"

The wraith disappeared with an agonized scream. It’s translucent body was torn to shreds and bursts into particles of light. At the same time, the skeletons all fell into a crumbled heap, as if their strings had been cut.

"Alright, that’s all of them! Everyone, return to your positions!"

At Suzanne’s words, Sara slipped past me again, and stood in front of me. Mimiru returned to the middle as well, and our original position was restored. But wow, so that’s what holy magic is like.

"That’s the first time I’ve seen holy magic... and ghost-type monsters to..."

"This is only my second time encountering them too. The first time we had no idea how to handle them and one of our comrades died. It was pretty harsh."

"Was Mimiru not in your party back then?"

"Well, this was back before this party was even formed. Still, I’m glad we practised our coordination for situations like these."

While Timothy and I were talking, Sara turned back to us,and raised a finger to her lips. I guess our conversation was too loud, making it hard for her to hear her surroundings.

"Sorry."

Now’s not the time for idle chatter. Complacency leads to death. Still, it’s rather strange that ghost-type monsters would show up here. That ghost... It almost looked like a soldier. Maybe it’s a remnant way back from the first great human-demon war? Nah. Can’t be. There’s no way such an old ghost would still be left here in a place where people pass through a decent amount now. It must’ve been the ghost of an adventurer who died here a few years past. Namu Amida Butsu. May your soul reach nirvana.

"Looks like we’re here."

My thoughts returned to the present at Suzanne’s words. Ahead of us, the maze-like passageways finally came to an end, opening up into a huge hall. It seemed to span a hundred odd meters, and ended at a crumbled staircase. Rows of giant stone statues lined both walls. The layout just screamed that the room that lay ahead was of great importance.

"Oooh."

And then the floor, a huge number of white scales were scattered all over, strewn across the ground like freshly fallen sakura petals. They’re what we came here for, snow drake scales. For something that’s supposedly so valuable, there sure are a lot of them just lying around. Apparently this location is in the middle of the route that the snow drakes take to find their prey. Before heading out to go catch their prey, or after they’ve already caught it, they come here to groom themselves. If you want to get their scales, this is the best place.

"Past this is the snow drakes’ territory. Don’t go past that last statue over there. Got it, everyone?"

"Yes!"

Everyone gave out a rousing cry and began gathering the scales. I’m in a group with Sara and Timothy. We’re on the lookout for any enemies. According to reports, the snow drakes live further in. Giant bats, myconids, wraiths, and giant moles might show up from the other side or the second floor. If snow drakes show up, we hide. If other monsters show up, we bring them down. Amidst all that, we’ll continue gathering scales until the six bags we brought are all completely full, then go home. Mission complete. If a battle with snow drakes becomes inevitable, we might be in some trouble, but even then... This is a bit too easy for an A-rank request. Honestly, it wouldn’t have been weird to have run into more monsters on our way here either, but we’ve seen surprisingly few. The only thing of note in here was the wraith. It’s always times like this where something bad happens, so I need to be careful.

"......"

Thinking that, I keep a close eye on the entrance to the snow drakes’ lair. I take a look at the innermost statue. It was in the form of an alluring woman, wearing short pants, a breastplate, and a large cloak, with a hand wrapped in chains at her waist standing with legs spread apart. It’s a shame her head’s fallen off. In between the space between her legs is an entrance to the other side, the beginning of the snow drake’s territory. If they’re gonna come, it’s going to be from there.

"......"

For some reason I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen that kind of costume that statue is wearing somewhere else before.

Ah! Could it be? Is that a statue of Kishirika Kishirisu!?

When I saw her before she looked just like a kid though... Eh, I guess the statue was made by exaggerating her features. It wouldn’t be strange to paint her as such a beautiful woman. I think they might have exaggerated a bit too much though. Especially her breast size... and height.

Yeah. They’re huge...

"Whoops, no time for that now."

Focus, focus. We could be attacked at any time, or an unexpected incident could occur, I need to stay focused. Besides, I’ve stopped getting so worked up over just seeing a pair of boobs. I mean, I know what the real thing feels like now. I’m no virgin.

"What was that!?" Timothy suddenly shouted.

At the same time, a piercing roar reached my ears.

"I’ve got a bad feeling about this..."

"Everyone, battle formation! Now! Put your bags near the entrance!"

That bad feeling was right. We all gather together staying vigilant. That piercing roar just now definitely came from further inside, and it’s getting louder.

"......"

We all exchange nervous glances. The number of roars is increasing too. If a huge number of monsters pop out, we’ll have to just take the scales we’ve already harvested and run. The three that were out collecting managed to get enough to fill three bags. That should be enough for the request. Suzanne looked once more to the scales, our bags, and then back where the roaring was coming from.

"From the sounds of it, they’re not heading this way. We should hurry up and collect as much as we can, as fast as we can."

As Suzanne said that, she glanced back again at the empty bags. It’s true that that roar was far off and didn’t seem to be heading this way. If something else has gotten the snow drakes all riled up, then it is true that now’s our chance to grab as much as we can. At the end of the day, this is all still conjecture, and it’s quite possible we might get mixed up in whatever battle’s going on. Do we play it safe and finish the request with the minimal amount required to clear it, or do we take a risk and try to get as big a reward as possible? The longer we sit here waiting, the closer that danger gets to us. I guess it is possible that nothing might happen in the end too, but either way, it’s best to decide if we’re going to run or keep going quickly.

"I think we should try and get more."

"Me too."

"It won’t take long."

Sara, Patris, and Mimiru all seem to agree with Suzanne’s opinion. Honestly, I think we’re better off running away. Unfortunately however, I don’t stand to lose anything if we fail this request. I’m not the one that has to pay the failure fee, so I don’t say anything.

"Alright, let’s just grab a little more. Be quick about it."

At Timothy’s words, we all return to collecting scales. Our watch was strengthened, and from the sounds of it, the roaring was getting louder and more violent. I tightly gripped my staff, and continued to stare past the statues. The roars were still far away. It felt like they were coming from in front of us, towards us. Perhaps due to the echoing through the ruins, it also felt like they were coming from behind us. It might be better if I seal all passageways except the one we came in through. If I do that though, we’ll be doomed if monsters start swarming our previous route. I need to calm down. As long as we don’t understand the situation, taking any drastic measures might backfire on us. Fortunately, we still haven’t had to fight much. We’ve still got most of our strength left. We’ve got enough spare energy to pull ourselves out of a pinch. Yeah, that’s why Suzanne prioritized gathering as well. If monsters show up, I’ll beat them down. That’s all I need to think about. While thinking that, I wait for everyone else to finish gathering scales. While listening to those roars that almost make my legs tremble, I simply wait.

"Hm?"

The closer we get to finishing our harvesting, the smaller the screams seem to be getting as well.

"Huh...?"

Suzanne looked up quizzically at the direction the screams were coming from. Looks like my fears were groundless. Maybe it’s their mating season and that was just the sound of them courting each other. Certain animals get loud like that when it’s their mating season too. Thinking that, just as I was about to release my grip on my staff—

"Enemy attack!"

From between the legs where the statue’s head had fallen came a giant white clump. Lizard-like creatures with four legs and pure white scales–snow drakes–started pouring out from behind the statue with alarming speed. Seemingly, my field of vision was completely filled with them. With bloodshot eyes they spotted us and stopped suddenly right before reaching our location. I counted six of them. The rest were beyond my line of sight.

"......"

Everything happened so suddenly that even Timothy just stopped what he was doing and stared. No one could even say the word retreat. Its as if the other side is just as stunned as we are. I’ve never seen a surprised lizard before, but these guys’ eyes were all open wide.

They all stopped right before us, vigilant, threateningly opening their mouths and bearing their fangs. As if time itself had stopped, we just stared at each other, the snow drakes and us.

"Run!"

At my shout it was as if some spell had finally been broken, Timothy and the rest all turned and made a beeline for the exit.

"Gaaah! Not this shit again!"

As if Patris’ shout had served as some kind of signal, the snow drakes all began to move as well.

"Earth Fortress!"

I raised up a giant wall of earth in order to block up the passage, creating a barrier between us and the snow drakes. It rose up to the height of the statues’ shoulder, blocking off the snow drakes. Once the wall had been formed, I too turned around and began to run. When I glanced back, I involuntarily let out an undignified scream. The snow drakes are just like lizards. A wall, no matter how high, is no obstacle for them. They started pouring in from the gaps between the wall and the ceiling, and the sides of the passageway. Dammit, at this rate they’ll catch up to us. Thanks to my daily jogging routine, I’m not out of breath, but that’s all. I’m still slow.

"Ngh!"

I turned around, and raised my hands. What’s strong against lizards? Cold? I wonder if I can use it to slow their movements down.

"Blizzard Storm!"

I instantly fired off an ice magic spell. A frigid wind started to blow, causing the scales on the ground to dance through the air. Frozen spears of ice as thick as my thighs shot towards the snow drakes. However, despite the narrow passageway, the snow drakes were able to nimbly dodge them. A few managed to hit their marks, but they didn’t seem to have much effect. They weren’t strong enough to penetrate those drakes’ scales. I messed up. Their scales are great insulators and hey have to live in this frozen wasteland. Of course ice magic wouldn’t work on them.

The wall’s being torn down too. From the rubble more white lumps can be seen heading towards us. There’s more than I can count on even two hands. Giant white lizards are rushing at me. A bunch of them. I didn’t see this many before, but more must have come as they were trying to get past the wall. Despite their huge size, every single of them move as nimbly and quickly as a small lizard. It’s no good, I can’t outrun them. I’m gonna have to fight. I’m going to have to retreat while fighting. I wonder if I can manage that. Probably not. I wonder if everyone else at least managed to get away. I’ve left a letter back at the inn in case I die. It’s a rule among adventurers that if someone dies, the remaining party members sort out the dead person’s affairs. I’m not a member of Counter Arrow, but I wonder if they’ll deliver that letter to my family all the same...

I put my left hand in my pocket, and grip what’s inside. I prepare myself to face the onslaught of snow drakes.

"Syah!"

At that moment, I hear a voice behind me. An arrow flies past me, and strikes a snow drake square in the eye.

"Guyaaaaaah!"

The snow drake let out a terrifying scream, stumbled sideways, and crashed into a statue. With its side still scraping against the wall, it slipped past us.

"Small embers burst forth into a blistering blaze, enveloping all! Flamethrower!"

From my left, flames leapt up. Scared by the flames, the snow drakes stopped in their tracks.

"Let’s go, Patris!"

"Yeah!"

With Suzanne taking point, Patris and Mimiru leapt out in front of me. Three in the vanguard and three in the rear guard. Somehow with me in the center, that’s what our formation looks like.

"Looks like they’re not coming any closer! Just try to repel the ones in front of us!"

"You got it!"

"From the left!"

While coordinating with each other, the vanguard began fending off the snow drake flock. Sara provided support with her bow, Timothy with his magic. They came to save me? Why? I’m not even one of their party members.

"......"

While I was staring dumbfounded, Timothy lightly slapped me in the back. They came to save me. The moment I realized that, my heart began overflowing with warmth

"Nrgh!"

I forcibly suppress these feelings. I don’t know why. I just know I can’t handle it right now. I can’t handle that warmth.

"Stop spacing out! Help fight, you dolt!"

Sara’s voice brought me back to reality.

"G-Got it!"

I point my staff at the snow drakes and begin gathering magical energy. Thanks to the vanguard holding them back, I’m beginning to regain my composure. It doesn’t really feel like they’re attacking us. More so we’re just an obstacle in their way that they need to eliminate, like they’re trying to just get past us. They’re avoiding us, and following the walls and ceiling to get behind us. In other words, our opponent isn’t all of them. As long as we take care of the ones directly in front of us we’re fine. If we deal enough damage, they’ll just try to avoid us and run away. They’re not like cornered rats, more like fleeing enemies. Sara’s bow isn’t all that effective, and Timothy isn’t dealing any fatal wounds with his magic. Suzanne and Patris’ attacks definitely aren’t doing much damage either. If we can just hold out, we’ll be fine.

"Stone Cannon!"

Trying to divert the enemy in front of me, I fire a stone cannon at it. I get a direct hit and destroy its scales, damaging the flesh underneath. But it’s still not a fatal wound. That’s mostly because of the distance between us. The snow drake just barely managed to angle its body, lessening the impact, but that’s fine. It’s enough to make it change course. I simply keep repeating that action. That’s all that’ll keep us alive.

"Alright, everyone. Start moving towards the wall!"

At Suzanne’s words we all start heading towards the wall. Staying at the side of the wall will put us further out of the way of their rush than staying in the middle of the passage would. And if we follow the wall all the way back, we’ll reach the exit. I don’t know how long this wave of snow drakes is going to continue for but at this rate we should be able to escape. While thinking that, I continue to slowly move right.

"HORA HORA HORA!"

Suddenly a spray of blood spouted from within the wave of snow drakes. Something jumped and ran towards the battlefield at high speed, hacking through the crowd of snow drakes. That wasn’t all. From another place within the wave of snow drakes, something else showed up, firing off fire magic. As if being chased out by those things, the snow drakes continued to run away from them, trying to escape outside.

"Come on! Is that all you’ve got!?"

At the front was a man, taking down one drake after another, and behind him were a few guys supporting him. Reinforcements!

I exchange glances with Timothy, looks like he’s thinking the same thing.

"Alright, we’re going on the offensive guys!"

"Yeah! Leave it to me!"

With Suzanne at the front, we began our counterattack

★☆★

I was the one that took out the last snow drake. I got it right in the head with a stone cannon, boring right through its brain.

"Guess it’s finally over."

I mumble, still vigilant about my surroundings. Scattered all around were the corpses of snow drakes. Most of them were beaten by the guys who came halfway through the fight, but we managed to take out a good number ourselves. Not a single one was left moving. I looked around at the ceilings and shadows to make sure there weren’t any left hiding, but it looks like we’re good.

"......"

Finally, I make eye contact with the group that came out from deep within the ruins. At the center was a Swordsman wearing a navy blue coat, surrounded by his party. Everyone was looking at us. There’s another guy with the sword, one with a shield, and another with a staff... No doubt about it, they’re adventurers. The one in the very front is probably a Swordsman. A pretty good one at that. He began walking briskly over towards us. Maybe it was because the battle had just ended, but he had a rather menacing expression still. Regardless, it’s still true he saved us so we have to show our thanks. Thinking that, I exchange glances with Timothy. It’s times like this the party leader needs to act like a representative and do the talking. While it is true my slow retreat is the cause of this whole mess, I pull back and let Timothy handle this.

"Man, thanks for saving us back there. I’m Timothy, of Counter Arrow."

Timothy says, courteously.

"We were— Kuh!"

Suddenly–with that grim expression still on his face–the man punched Timothy. As Timothy hit the ground, Suzanne and Sara reacted instantly, readying their weapons.

"You’re the ones who stole our prey! Don’t even think about doing anything stupid."

He glared at Sara and Suzanne. The man gave off a dreadful aura. You could feel his bloodlust.

"Steal!? They just suddenly came out and started attacking us! We’re the ones who got caught up in this!"

Suzanne shouted. The man simply smirked, and turned his gaze towards Suzanne.

"Sneaking in through a backdoor while we’re busy working just to snatch some scales–and you’re complaining about being suddenly attacked?"

"It’s not like we knew you were here on a job!"

"Everyone knows! We announced it practically everywhere!"

"Yeah, well— We don’t!"

The guy’s pretty mad, as are the people behind him. It looks like this conversation’s getting nowhere, but I recognize who these guys are now. They’re "Step Treedar". An S-rank adventurer party. They’re part of the large clan, Thunderbolt, and are highly accomplished. They’re based in Rozenburg and are known as the strongest adventurers in the area. This guy must be Step Treedar’s leader, Zoldart Heckler. He’s a master of the Sword God style, one of the best swordsmen around.

"Ah—"

I suddenly made the connection. In response to my sudden exclamation, Suzanne turned back to me. Not just her, everyone there turned to look at me. With this many gazes locked onto me, I winced a little.

"Did you realize something Rudeus?"

"Well... Now that I think about it, I did hear about an S-rank request being taken up back at the Adventurer’s Guild."

Back when Counter Arrow was out on a different request, news of it had been circulating around the guild. They’d been going on about how they were going to take the request and make a huge name for themselves, and that everyone should praise them when they get back and stuff–but that request had been...

"A request to eliminate the large herd of snow drakes that had suddenly appeared at Ilbron Caverns."

"Ilbron Caverns!? That’s a full day away from here!"

Suzanne exclaimed. In response to that, Zoldart frowned and shouted.

"Are you retarded!? What do you mean a day away? This is Ilbron Caverns!"

"What was that!? You’re the retarded one! This is Gargau Ruins!"

A shouting match broke out between Zoldart and Suzanne.

"Suzanne, calm down."

Timothy, who’d been punched earlier, stood up and pulled Suzanne back.

"Timothy... Are you ok?"

"Yeah, seems like he held back... Sara, you can put your bow away."

Timothy patted his neck with one hand, and held the other out to stop Sara. She reluctantly put her bow away.

"I think I get it now."

Timothy heaved a sigh, but still smiling, looked up to Zoldart and spoke.

"It’s indeed true that a few days back a large number of monsters appeared in Ilbron Caverns, and the party that went to go eliminate them got annihilated. It’s also said the lone survivor came back to report that a huge nest of snow drakes had been discovered... I know that much."

Yeah, I know that too. The Ilbron Caverns are a series of caverns about a day’s travel from Rozenburg that are mostly populated with E to D-ranked monsters. There’s a lot of salt deposits in the caverns so adventurers go in there from time to time. A few days back though, a large number of C-class monsters started to show up in the caverns suddenly. There’s a town near the caverns, and Rozenburg itself is pretty close too, so it was a rather dangerous situation and an elimination request popped up quite quickly. However, the party that went to go eliminate the monsters got wiped out instead, and the lone survivor came back with reports that a large snow drake nest had been found in the caverns, and the previously B-ranked request got bumped up to an S-rank request. Suddenly no one wanted to risk the request. That’s where the S-rank adventurer party Step Treedar, whose primary occupation is labyrinth exploration, came up and took on the request.

"I’d wondered why we’d seen so few monsters on our way here... but I get it now. It looks like the innermost parts of Gargau Ruins are connected to the Ilbron Caverns somewhere, and for some reason all the monsters started pouring into the caverns from the ruins."

"......"

What is now the Gargau Ruins was once a demon fortress. A castle built underground, with holes leading to the surface so that the demons could launch surprise attacks on the humans. If the Ilbron Caverns are just one of those underground paths to the surface, then... it all makes sense. I don’t know if that passage was sealed purposely because of the war, or if cave-ins over a long number of years ended up causing it, but once that sealed passage was reopened, monsters must have followed it to their new feeding grounds, Ilbron Caverns. That’s probably why there were so few monsters here.

"So you guys came here for a completely different request?"

"Correct. If you don’t believe me, you’re free to go check with the guild."

Zoldart spat in annoyance.

"Tch. Sorry for hitting you back there..."

"No, no. It’s perfectly understandable considering there was such a misunderstanding right after that fierce battle. You were probably still just in a battle rage. I’m sorry as well."

Even though we’ve done nothing wrong. Even then, Timothy apologized. This is what they call wisdom.

"But still, these guys were supposed to be our prey, so you’ll only get to harvest a single one of these snow drakes, got it?"

"Of course."

Timothy’s still smiling cordially, but Sara and Suzanne don’t seem very pleased. The reason they’re not complaining out loud is because of the tacit agreement among adventurers. If another adventurer party gets involved when your party’s fighting monsters, they only get one corpse to loot. Originally, this rule was put into place to prevent parties from purposely stealing the spoils from other parties.

"Just take your scales and leave. We’ll handle the rest, including filling up the hole connecting Gargau ruins and the caverns."

With that, Zoldart turned on his heel and left. The other members of Step Treedar just shrugged, turned around, and vanished into the depths of the ruins. Guess they’re going to harvest all the corpses left back at the nest. Off to hoard even more of the spoils of battle. I won’t say it’s unfair, but it does feel a bit disappointing to know we’re not going to be able to reap the rewards of our hard work. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have been cornered by monsters in the first place. Honestly, we deserve compensation from them if anything. But if we asked for it... It’d just turn into a fight, so... Well, it’s complicated.

"Well, I guess we should get our scales and leave."

Looking at Timothy’s tired smile and swollen cheek, I let out a sigh.

★☆★

Upon returning to the Adventurer’s Guild, we see a huge pile of snow drake fangs, claws, and scales stacked up at the back of the room. By the way, the members of Step Treedar were also at the guild, boasting about their battle exploits.

"So basically, it looks like Ilbron caverns and the Gargau Ruins are connected to each other after all. If it wasn’t for us, you guys would be overrun by a horde of snow drakes right now!"

As Zoldart continued to boast about his feats, those listening around him all wore forced smiles. Looking at him reminded of me of Paul for some reason. Their faces didn’t look anything alike but... maybe Paul had been like this when he was young.

"Let’s go."

At any rate, none of the members of Counter Arrow really wanted to hang around in the guild. With an annoyed look on our faces, we hurry across to the receptionist to finish up the request completion procedures, and leave the guild.

"Alright, Rudeus, here’s your share. Make sure it’s the right amount."

"Got it. Thank you very much."

Inside the bag I was handed were a number of snow drake scales. Even if the mood was ruined, the reward was still nice. Despite everything that happened, we were still able to get our hands on more snow drake scales than we expected. Since it’s possible that due to this incident the value of snow drake scales themselves skyrockets, we decided to split the rewards in terms of the scales themselves–as opposed to directly converting it all into cash. It’s quite possible the value of these scales will increase in half a year. I may have no use for that much money right now, but it’s better to have it than to not.

"Well then, I’ll take my leave now."

"Rudeus!"

As I turned around to leave, a voice from behind called out to me. Surprisingly, the one who called out to me was Sara. She looked like she wanted to say something, and halfheartedly stretched out her hand to stop me. It’s probably just going to be more insults again, though I thought that, she said

"Why don’t you come join our celebration parties sometime, eh?"

"Huh...?"

"Well, it’s more just us going drinking at the bar than an actual party, but yeah."

No, I know what she’s talking about. Usually adventurers go to a bar or something after finishing difficult requests that took a couple of days to praise each other on their fighting skills, and generally just congratulate everyone on making it back alive. Normally I never bother participating in such things; instead I usually just go back to my room at the inn, complete my prayers, and go to sleep. They know just as well that I usually just go straight home. I’m going to turn them down. I need to go home and report the past few days’ worth of events to my goddess, Roxy, and once again reaffirm that I did my best today too. That’s what I’ve always done, and that’s what I’m going to keep doing.

"Sure, I’ll come. I guess."

For some reason I nodded in agreement to her invitation.

"That’s rare..."

Even though she’s the one that invited me, she looked rather taken aback. Maybe she was waiting for me to refuse so she could just badmouth me again.

"Should I not?"

"It’s not that— Anyway, come on, let’s go."

Sara deliberately made an effort not to look displeased and turned back to me with a normal expression. Then she walked past me and began heading towards the bar. Mimiru and Patris lightly patted my shoulders, and then headed on towards the bar as well. Suzanne and Timothy looked happier than usual and lightly patted my back as well. At a bar a ways away from the Adventurer’s Guild, we all raised our glasses for a toast.

"Alright everyone, cheers!"

"Cheers!"

It seems this bar is a bit different from the usual one they go to. They picked a bar close to the riverbank to avoid running into any members of Step Treedar. Chances are those guys are gonna go drinking soon too.

"You’re not gonna drink?"

"I’m still a minor."

"Man, don’t worry so much about your age here."

Everyone else was gulping down alcohol, but I’d just ordered juice. The only things you can get at a bar without alcohol in them are just juice and goat milk.

"Come on, come on. It’s fine if he doesn’t want to drink. It won’t make the party any less fun."

It looks like Timothy also isn’t going to be drinking.

"You just can’t handle your drink, dude."

"It’s not that I can’t drink; I just don’t want to."

"Hahaha!"

Timothy awkwardly scratched his head, while Mimiru laughed.

"Sheesh—"

From the looks of it, Timothy was unable to handle his alcohol and was always the butt of the party’s jokes about it. Still, it’s kind of rare to find someone who can’t drink at all. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone in this world that can’t handle their alcohol–and an adventurer at that.

"At any rate, we were pretty lucky to go up against that many monsters and come out alive. Normally in a situation like that, at least one of us would have died."

"You’re pretty lucky, Rudeus," Sara said, while laughing.

"Luck, huh? I think it’s more thanks to the fact that you guys saved me."

"That was part of your luck too. A normal party would have left you to die back there."

Basically she’s trying to say I should be showing my thanks here. Well, she’s not wrong...

"Thanks, for saving me."

"I-It’s not like I did anything! If you’re going to thank someone, thank Timothy and Suzanne."

As I bowed my head to Sara, she just blurted that out while pouting, and downed her glass in one gulp. Suzanne was grinning and leaning over, lightly elbowing Sara.

"Even though she said that, the one who dashed back first was her, not me. When Mimiru said there’s no way we’re gonna make it in time, Sara just yelled ‘Yes we will!’ and charged in... She’s pretty hot-blooded."

"Hey! Enough of that, Suzanne!"

Sara tried to shove Suzanne back, but Suzanne simply dodged, still grinning.

"It’s just I owed you a debt from when you saved us before, so I wanted to make things even between us! I hate owing people–that’s all!"

I avert my eyes after being glared at by Sara. Upon doing so, I make eye contact with Mimiru.

"Ah, no, no. I’m truly thankful to you for that time a well. Yeah, it’s true that I wasn’t thinking the most noble of thoughts back then, but I wasn’t trying to leave you for dead or anything... OK?"

"Yeah, I know."

Mimiru made the right decision. Besides, even if he said that, he still charged all the way to the front lines to help protect me. That’s enough for me.

"Anyways, we all managed to make it back alive. We also made a ton of money too! All in all, it was a pretty good request, I’d say."

At Suzanne’s summary of things, we all laughed.

"Yeah, if it hadn’t been for those guys showing up at the end, this really would have been a great request... Haaaah..."

"What’s with those guys anyway? Just ‘cause they’re the strongest party around here they think they can just go around acting like they’re the boss of everyone."

"Right? All they do is hole themselves up in labyrinths hunting for glory. What’s with the whole: ‘If it wasn’t for us, the whole town would have been overrun with snow drakes,’ bullshit? If it’d really gotten that bad the army would have made a move, so who cares?"

"The one thing I can’t forgive is that he punched Timothy. What kind of party leader just punches a mage like that without even knowing the situation?"

Everyone starts grumbling about Step Treedar. Complaining like this is necessary to vent your frustrations. Since Timothy managed to let things come to a peaceful resolution, it’d be worse if they couldn’t let out their stress here, and then start a fight with Step Treedar over something small. I don’t really plan to complain much myself. I hate this kind of petty backbiting. After all, I’d been nothing but trash in my past life. I’m sure that swordsman’s got his own fair share of troubles too. Unpleasant guys like him are probably trying their best in their own way too, just like how worthless people are trying their best in their own way. I’m pretty sure that’s why the rest of his party puts up with it too, only expressing their displeasure with bitter smiles. It’s true that Zoldart’s actions back there had been wrong, but simply declaring he’s a bad guy just off the first impression from our first meeting is also wrong I think.

"......"

Of course, I can’t say that here. If I say something like that here, they’ll just exclude me. I want to say it, but I can’t. It’s best that I don’t right now. While thinking that, I simply eat my food. Silently. It looks like it’s some kind of bean soup. The slightly salty flavor stimulates my appetite and satisfies my hunger.

"At any rate, looking forward to working with you from now on too, Rudeus."

"Yeah, you’re a really reliable guy, you know?"

"Thanks. I look forward to working with you all as well."

They’re all red-faced from alcohol, enjoying themselves thoroughly. It’d be nice if these fun times continue forever. Then tomorrow, we could just do the same thing and have fun again. Maybe it’s not the most eventful or fulfilling of lives, but it’d be a good life all the same.

"Ah—"

The moment I think that, the door of the bar opens, and three men enter. I recognize all three of them. Especially one of them. I’d remember him even if I didn’t want to.

"Oho."

The moment I notice them, they also notice us. He headed towards us with an unpleasant expression on his face. Judging by his red face and unsteady gait, he’s already drunk quite a bit somewhere else.

"Yo!"

He walked over drunkenly, and slammed his hand on our table. It’s Zoldart Heckler.

"What do you want?"

Suzanne and the rest only just took notice of him. Their faces soured immediately. That’s only natural though. After all, he’s the guy they were bad-mouthing literally seconds ago, and now he just suddenly showed up.

"I think I got a bit too worked up in da caverns back there, so let me say it properly here."

Zoldart stared at us straight in the eyes, and said in a loud voice, "I’m, well... Sorry for what happened back there. I didn’t think it’d end up that way."

But surprisingly, what came out of his mouth was an apology. The members of Counter Arrow all looked nonplussed. In response, Zoldart squinted menacingly and pointed to Timothy.

"But, you know, youuuuu. I don’t like your fashe. Eben if you did what you did to stop a fight from happening, there are times when a mansh gotta fight, ya know!"

"Ah... Well, I guess so. Suzanne tells me that a lot too... I’ll be careful from now on."

"Yeah! Ash long ash you get it, ish fine!"

Zoldart slapped Timothy on the shoulder, and Timothy smiled bitterly and scratched his head. Suzanne and the rest looked on at Zoldart, completely taken aback. I guess this is what they call being dumbfounded. Zoldart nodded, satisfied, and then looked over at me.

"Hey, Quagmire."

"Yes?"

I raised my head, surprised at hearing my name called so suddenly. Did I do something to make him mad?

"Timothy’s fine but... You’re da worsh!"

From that point on, Zoldart just let loose a storm of abuse.

"Why? ‘Cause ya always worryin’ bout how erryone sees ya!"

"And dat smile–it’s disgustin’! You may thinkin ya smilin’, but ain’t no smile at all! Your eyes are just lookin’ down on erryone!"

"Youuu— I bet you jus thinkin ya da most unfortunate person in da world. Well don’t you, huuuh!?"

The insults he screamed at me resounded throughout the bar.

"Is it a fight!?"

"Get him! Get him!"

"Shuddap!"

With one shout from Zoldart the cheering crowd went silent.

"Hey, you understand, Quagmire? Bastards like ya—"

"Oi. That’s enough, Zol."

As he turned to me and leaned forward to say something, his friends grabbed his shoulders from behind.

"Shuddap! Just look at dis bastard’s face right ‘ere. It just screams ‘I’m da unluckiest person in da world!’ I don’t know what da hell happened in ya past, but stop being so damned pessimistic. All ya doin’ is runnin’ away! And yet— Ya keep actin’ like ya da only mature one, dat you’re da only special one, going around doing your mercenary work! I hate shitty brats like ya!"

Those words pierced my heart. I hadn’t even noticed, but my legs started trembling, and hands balled up into fists. My body, my throat, everything was trembling. And yet, somehow my voice came out calm.

"Sorry if I’ve been an annoyance. I’ll do my best to stay out of your way from now on."

At those words, Zoldart slammed his hands down on the table, smashing it. Splinters of wood and food flew everywhere. The red colored bean soup splashes all over my legs.

"Dun fuck wit me! What’s wit dat attitude, huh!? Ya lookin’ down on me, huh, bitch!? Fuck dat! Whaddya find so fun about sayin’ ‘Oh I don’t need money; just spreadin my name errywhere’!? People like us need dat money to live!"

I responded to Zoldart’s yelling with silence. Silence was all I could respond with. There’s no point in saying anything to guys like him.

"Sorry, he drank a bit too much... Come on, Zol!"

"Shut da hell up! Lemme go! Oi, come at me, Quagmire! I bet ya pissed! I’m pissin’ ya off, right!? Then come at me! If a pig like ya dat just mucks about in mud all day has da guts to fight, then come at me!"

I simply hung my head, waiting for the storm to pass. There’s no point in fighting him here. I won’t gain anything from falling for his provocations. Nothing good comes out of confronting a drunk. I need to hold it in, that’s all.

"Zol, cut it out! You’re going to far!"

"LEMME GO! GODDAMMIT! Hey, Quagmire! Are you really ‘aving fun livin’ right now!? If ya dun enjoy life then hurry up and die! Just seein’ ya face pisses me off!"

As Zoldart got dragged off by his friends, I didn’t meet his gaze. Instead, staring at the slowly spreading soup stain on my pants. I gripped the divine object in my left pocket and emptied my heart. I thought of nothing. I felt nothing. The whole time, all the way until Zoldart had left. Until Sara, who was sitting next to me, wiped off the soup stain.

"He’s scum."

At Sara’s words, I slowly nodded.

★☆★

Sara’s Point-of-View

In a fit of rage I return to my room, put by bow and quiver down on the table, throw my coat onto the floor, and flop onto my bed.

"He’s absolute scum."

It’s obvious how mad I am at him by how red my face is. What the hell does he mean "There’s times a man’s gotta fight," huh!? Even though Timothy’s fighting so hard for us all the time, he just spouts nonsense like that. Suzanne told me once before, how that smile of Timothy’s is his way of fighting, but he was made fun of for that... Unforgivable. If a man’s got times where he’s gotta fight, then a party leader has times where he should avoid unnecessary quarrels and keep his party safe. And yet, Zoldart didn’t try to do that at all. If it had devolved into a brawl, what would he have done? Did he think he could just kill us all and keep everyone else quiet about the whole thing? Back in the ruins in the midst of a monsters’ den? With our escape route still unblocked? He must be real full of himself if he thinks that. The one who’s not fit to be a leader isn’t Timothy, it’s Zoldart. Why’d he have to get Rudeus involved in all this too? When Rudeus had to fight, he fought splendidly, didn’t he? He bravely stood alone against that horde of snow drakes to make sure we could escape safely. Even though he doesn’t know that, even though he wasn’t watching him then, Zoldart still spewed all that crap about Rudeus. It’s true Rudeus has an attitude problem. Unlike Timothy, he’s always got that fake smile. It pisses me off too. In fact, because he always makes a fake smile even when there’s no need for one, I get pissed off every time I see him...

But...

"......"

Back in the ruins... I realized I wanted to protect Rudeus. I wonder why? Didn’t I hate him? Could it be that–I don’t hate him?

"No way!"

Yeah that can’t be it. No way. I guess that means I hate Zoldart more than I hate Rudeus. Yeah, that’s gotta be it. Rudeus is just better than Zoldart. At the very least, Rudeus doesn’t hurl insults at us. He always treats Timothy and everyone else with respect. Despite being such an accomplished magician, he never looks unwilling to join us whenever we go out on requests. He even takes up the rear guard even though he’s stronger than that.

"That’s why... It can’t be that I don’t hate him."

Rudeus is a noble’s kid. Maybe he doesn’t act very much like a noble, but that doesn’t matter. He still has the blood of a noble flowing through him. I hate those noble brats who think they can be adventurers, but I hate real nobles too. My hometown was destroyed because of a noble’s negligence, because even when monsters rushed out of the forest and attacked, those damned nobles didn’t send out their knights until it was already way too late. My parents died as a result of that. It may be noble’s duty to protect his domain, but he didn’t protect us. I still haven’t forgotten the despair I felt back then. Yeah, yeah, that’s right. That’s why I hate nobles, and that’s why I hate Rudeus–who’s also of noble blood.

"But, Rudeus fought for us..."

Back when we were getting overrun by raster grizzlies, and again with the snow drakes, he fought for us. He didn’t try to run away by himself. He had no duty to protect us. He’s not even a member of Counter Arrow! But even then, he tried to be our shield all by himself so that we could run away. Seeing him like that made me think there’s no way in hell I’m going to let him die, which is why I went back to help him. It’s not like I want Rudeus to die. Yeah, I definitely don’t want him dead. But I’m just... surprised that I went back to help him. I’d always thought it’d be fine to abandon him in a situation like that.

"I’m the worst..."

Recently when I look at him, I feel like the ground underneath my feet is crumbling. I’m supposed to hate nobles, but I don’t hate him that much; it makes me uneasy. I no longer understand what it is I hate and what it is I like. I don’t understand anything anymore. But, well yeah. I’ll accept it. I don’t hate him. He may be a noble’s kid, but he’s not a noble himself, so I don’t hate him. All that means is I don’t hate him. I definitely don’t like him. Yeah, I don’t hate him, but I also don’t like him.

"I don’t like Rudeus."

I confirm it one more time aloud, then proceed to fall asleep.

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