Chapter 33: Agreement – 2

Chapter 33: Agreement – 2

“…I kind of thought so when you said ‘forest,’ but was it seriously here?”

“Why? I heard it was pretty good.”

When I brought Melini to the forest where I always hunted monsters, following the system’s guidance, Melini let out a small sigh.

…Perhaps this forest was a more significant place than I thought.

“It’s certainly a place where all adventurers, from beginner 9th and 8th grades to intermediate 4th and 5th grades, can hunt.”

“Then why…”

“The problem is that if you’re unlucky, you might encounter a monster that doesn’t match your grade.

 Of course, since all kinds of monsters appear, it’s a good choice if you want to encounter rare monsters and hunt them.”

“Oh, well, then that’s even better. Anyway, the potion I gave you has a definite effect, so even if you get hit a bit by a fire-elemental monster, it won’t hurt.”

I was being serious.

Even if it was before the main story, Melini wouldn’t be seriously weak, and I could protect myself too.

…If things got desperate, well, I could just use ‘Alchemist’s Treasury’ and throw freezing potions at the monsters.

*Hmm… Shall we make this hunt a little more interesting at this point?*

At that moment, a message from the system arrived, and translucent windows appeared before my eyes.

It seemed to be the quest-type achievement that the system had said was in preparation.

*Quest – Big Game Hunt

-> You, who embarked on a hunt with a reliable helper to obtain better potion ingredients! In that sense, we present you with a goal!

+> Use your helper, or directly hunt a monster of grade 5 or higher!

+> Reward: Random Skill

*

“…By the way, Melini, exactly how strong is a grade 5 monster?”

“Hmm… To put it simply, it’s a monster that an average 5th-grade adventurer can fight and catch.”

“Then let’s aim for that. This hunt. Melini is also 5th-grade, and I have my potion support.”

At those words, Melini’s lips twitched for a moment.

…It was clear that harsh words were about to burst out, but she seemed to be holding them back for my sake.

“Hey, you… do you use magic?”

“Magic? No? I don’t know how to use it.”

I know how to use skills and mana, but I can’t use magic.

I can do simple things like body reinforcement using mana, but I’m not allowed to use magic.

…In the first place, I don’t even know how to use magic.

“…Then, to explain it simply, the phrase ‘an average 5th-grade adventurer can catch it’ doesn’t consider any factors other than the adventurer’s survival.

 In other words, if an average 5th-grade adventurer can catch that monster even if they lose an arm, a leg, or an eye, as long as they’re still breathing, then it’s a 5th-grade monster.”

“The standard seems…… a bit strange, doesn’t it?”

I thought the quest the system gave me seemed easy, but it turned out that wasn’t the case.

…Well, they applied such strict standards to improve potion quality, so why would an achievement be easy?

“Well, all those guild bastards are like that. Oh, is it uncomfortable for me to use such harsh language?”

“No? I may look pretty and delicate, but I haven’t lived a peaceful life, you see.”

……Honestly, I am pretty, so I just decided to go with it.

And having died once and come back to life, getting involved with the leader of a shadowy organization and the defense force commander, being attacked, and having my house destroyed, it’s true that I haven’t lived a peaceful life.

“You’re an interesting one, you are. Anyway, what I’m saying is, it’s difficult.”

“…That’s a shame. I thought a 5th-grade monster would be a piece of cake since I heard you’re about to be promoted soon.”

Actually, I’ve never heard that.

In the first place, I just entered the Adventurers’ Guild today, so how would I know that?

I was just trying to say something plausible to sway Melini’s heart.

Oh, but I had no intention of putting Melini in danger by forcing her to catch monsters.

In the first place, I intended to fight alongside her from the start when hunting a 5th-grade monster.

‘Hunting fire-elemental monsters with a Flame Resistance Potion and a Freezing Potion? It’d be weirder if it didn’t work.’

However, what I didn’t expect was…

Perhaps that the words I just threw out were actually true.

“…Hmph. You, how did you know that?”

“Well…… since I came to the Adventurers’ Guild to do business, I did some research, you know? In the first place, you should have asked that question when I used the Adventurers’ Guild’s rules.”

“You’re really not ordinary, are you?”

…Actually, I was also flustered because I just guessed right, but I decided to stay quiet.

There was no reason to correct her, and it was true that I wasn’t ordinary.

Having died and come back to life, it’s a bit, no, a lot, not ordinary.

“…But, are you planning to follow along?”

“I have to, right? Not all monsters can be used as ingredients. I may not know their names, but I know what they look like.”

“Hmph…. I’m telling you now, if you die, it’s not my problem, okay?”

“I won’t die. I have potions I made that can be used for offense too. …Of course, there’s no friendly fire identification, so if you’re nearby, you might get hit too.”

And so, talking about this and that, we gradually headed deeper into the forest.

And I had to admit.

…That I had underestimated the monsters more than I thought.

……And, even more so, that I had underestimated the effectiveness of my potions.

***

This place, so red and hot that it was hard to call it a forest.

A place where fire-elemental monsters lived, and where an ordinary human who couldn’t handle mana would be exhausted from the heat just by stepping foot in it.

In such a place… an unusual commotion occurred.

Some human had fearlessly challenged the monsters who had declared the middle of the fire zone as their territory.

Red wolves, imbued with flames, fiercely charging, and a black wolf leading those wolves.

Even at the sight of the wolves rapidly charging as if they would never let go of their prey once spotted… the warrior with the greatsword merely smiled lightly.

As the distance between the wolves and the warrior narrowed, the wolves’ flames grew fiercer, and the swordsman’s sword was preparing to strike forward.

And…

“Come on, come on, you beasts!”

The warrior’s sword swung.

As if the wolves’ flames didn’t matter, or as if she was confident that no attack or even a spark would be allowed.

Once.

The greatsword swung widely horizontally, cutting through the wolves.

Sparks caught fire on the warrior’s body.

Twice.

The greatsword moved vertically, crushing the head of a wolf that opened its maw at her, along with the ground.

Fire began to burn on the warrior’s sword and arm.

…And, thrice.

The flames that had been burning on the warrior’s body, which had briefly pulled back, concentrated entirely towards the sword.

The flames that the wolves had surely ignited by sacrificing their lives, now futilely concentrated on the enemy’s weapon and aimed for their necks once more.

And… the next moment, the world the wolves saw was inverted.

An overwhelmingly intense light struck their eyes, followed immediately by an overwhelmingly intense darkness, and then their vision was inverted.

…It was merely a fleeting sword strike, too brief for them to realize that their necks had been seared by fire and severed.

“Come on, come on! You black-headed one, just wait. I’ll slice you up right away.”

Watching the warrior speak mockingly and their subordinates being helplessly cut down, the black wolf trembled.

It wasn’t fear.

It was just… rage that a mere human dared to enter its territory and kill its subordinates.

And the next moment, the wolves next to the black wolf lost their strength and collapsed to the ground.

It wasn’t caused by the warrior approaching it.

The glistening blood around the black wolf’s mouth showed everything.

And, as if it had swallowed its subordinates to use as fuel, flames began to fiercely erupt from the black wolf’s entire body.

Flames burning with the sole intention of blindly incinerating the warrior in front of it.

`A mere human…. How dare you!!`

A roar filled with immense rage struck the ground, and the surroundings instantly began to heat up.

Rocks gradually began to glow red, and faint flames began to rise from the black earth.

The warrior, too, seemed to recognize the wolf’s action, quickly raised her sword to a defensive stance and…

At the same time, the black wolf’s burning fangs collided with the warrior’s sword, and the flames engulfed the warrior’s entire body.

The flames unleashed by sacrificing its subordinates were powerful.

The wolf’s rage towards the human who dared to invade its territory was also powerful.

Its subordinates dying? That wasn’t a big problem for the wolf.

No monster grieves over the death of its subordinates, and in the first place, if it were going to grieve over their deaths, it wouldn’t have used them as fuel.

It merely used its subordinates as fuel because it wanted to see that insolent human burn in the karma it had decreed.

…Surely, that must have been it.

“Damn, it’s annoyingly noisy and hot.”

Until the human stood up perfectly fine again.

Her body was slightly singed, but she was completely unfazed.

“But what a shame, I’m quite resistant to heat, you see.”

`How dare you, insolently… mock me, the leader of this territory?!`

“What are you talking about? My principle of not talking to bastards is right after all.”

And so, on the gradually heating ground, the two beings stared at each other…

The next moment, they clashed their weapons.

The wolf with its sharp teeth, the human with her massive greatsword.

Suddenly, the warrior let out a hollow laugh.

…It was because she remembered why she could be so perfectly fine even amidst the black wolf’s inferno.

It wasn’t due to any powerful magic… but thanks to just one elixir in a small glass bottle, and thanks to a certain girl.

And… the thought that this damned wolf and this sudden fight were also because of that girl.