episode_0021

Without a word, we moved together.

Sorrow and anger flowed out in groans, heavying the air.

Honestly, whatever befell them was largely none of my concern.

I could have just ignored them and gone on my way.

But, even though I wanted to be cruel and hateful, when this kind of thing actually happened, it was hard to look away.

“Since we’ve put quite a distance, let’s talk a bit now. What kind of people are you?”

Each of them was holding weapons like axes or swords, but seeing how they were helplessly pushed back in the fight against goblins, they were clearly not people who made a living by fighting.

The woman in the group, looking around nervously at my question, answered timidly.

“…We’re aspiring adventurers from Arata Village….”

“Arata Village?”

That’s the village I’m currently heading towards.

That small village shown on the map.

It has no particular features, but I know it’s also not a village that significantly lacks anything.

For people to aspire to be adventurers in such a village.

“Is something happening in Arata Village?”

“…No, we just… left the village because we wanted to become adventurers.”

It seems to be such a small village that there’s no adventurer’s guild there.

I don’t know why they want to be adventurers, but the only way to become one is eventually to head to an adventurer’s guild.

It seemed this incident occurred while they were heading to the city with like-minded people from their village to pursue their dream.

“You’ve chosen a difficult path.”

More than anything, I thought it was quite something that they dreamt of being adventurers with *that* level of skill.

When I clicked my tongue and spoke, the woman continued as if making an excuse.

“Still, they told us we had talent in our village.”

“Who told you?”

“The vigilante group uncles….”

No matter how I look at it, it seems like mere flattery, and in this case, two things are suspicious.

Either these guys truly have talent but it was their first real combat and all sorts of mistakes came out, leading to this situation, or someone just said it without meaning it, and they took it seriously.

Whatever it was, having briefly experienced making a living as an adventurer, I couldn’t say it was a good choice.

Though it’s their choice, so I can’t really say anything.

“First off, you’re going back to the village, right?”

“…Yes, we have to bury our friends’ bodies and explain the situation to the village.”

She sighed at the words she spoke, swallowing tears with her head bowed as if she were a sinner.

Apart from these guys being pathetic, this wasn’t the fault of the ones here.

The fact that they ran into me meant they were traveling on the main road.

Who would have known that monsters would suddenly ambush them on the main road?

To offer some comfort, albeit not true comfort, this was just bad luck.

“For now, since our destinations are the same, let’s go together.”

I also need to at least get to the village, regroup, and then set off again.

It was dangerous to travel aimlessly like this.

If it were simply difficult, I could endure it, but being dangerous is a completely different story, isn’t it?

“By the way, what kind of person are you…?”

It was strange that they only asked this now, but I decided to answer.

“An adventurer. Apprentice.”

Considering only accomplishments, I could probably be ranked the same, but since the duration of activity as an adventurer is also considered important, I haven’t reached the same rank yet.

“……Are all adventurers as strong as you?”

When I showed them my wooden tag, they looked at it with eyes wide in surprise, momentarily forgetting their sorrow, and I shrugged my shoulders.

“I’m weak too.”

It seems they are misunderstanding something.

I wasn’t as strong as they thought.

I somehow got through situations by combining a sword with drastically reduced durability but extreme sharpness and my traits, but objectively speaking, my skill is probably somewhere around the middle among those of the same rank.

However, combat doesn’t always require a fair head-on skill match, so if you combine everything, perhaps….

I might be in the upper ranks among those of the same rank.

I can’t say for sure since I’ve only met adventurers in the previous city, so I haven’t met many.

At the very least, in the previous city, I thought I could count on one hand the number of people above me among those of the same rank.

I heard Silver rank is equivalent to a knight rank.

I’ve only seen them a few times in passing, so I don’t know much.

In the first place, I don’t even know what “knight rank” specifically means.

“Though it’s not for me to meddle in your decisions, it’s better not to become an adventurer if possible.”

I spoke plainly, swallowing my frustration, as I watched them silently carrying their friends’ bodies.

“They are rude and their actions are rough.”

“……But, rather than living an ordinary life like my father and mother in the village, I wanted to pursue my dream.”

“Then I won’t stop you. There’s no reason for me to stop you anyway.”

If one wished to be a commoner who was free, romantic, and yet respected, there was nothing quite like being an adventurer.

When one wanted to achieve their dream with their own strength, there was also nothing like being an adventurer.

However, there was one condition attached: this only applied to ‘Silver rank or higher adventurers.’

Just look at the Saint; I heard she’s active under the identity of a Silver rank adventurer, so that says it all.

“By the way, could I perhaps ask for your name and age?”

“…Call me Eli. My age is….”

My actual age is 26, but when I first got my adventurer’s license while traveling with my grandfather, I lied and said I was 13.

I did that because I figured no one would believe me if I claimed to be 26 with this body.

“Don’t bother asking.”

“…Okay, yes.”

But I have no obligation to tell them.

If I said 13, I felt I would definitely be looked down upon.

I saved them because I could, and I’m accompanying them because we’re heading in the same direction, but I’m not sure if these guys are good people right now.

I remembered Ban’s words about not trusting people easily, and I’d been burned a few times doing adventurer work over the years.

Anyway, they all look like defeated soldiers.

They looked exhausted. It seemed dangerous to push on stubbornly here, so I stood at the front, looked around at everyone, and offered an opinion.

“…For now, how about we rest? The sun is setting now.”

“…Yes, yes.”

“But, everyone.”

“…Yes?”

“Why has only this woman been answering from before? And why do you keep glaring?”

A friend died. A friend from the village, who shared the same dream and headed towards the city together, died senselessly before their dream could even unfold.

So, I understand that they are upset.

I understand because when Ban died, it was hard for me to bear that empty feeling.

And that was when Ban and I had only known each other for a few days.

If a close friend disappeared like that, it would be hard to endure.

I know that in times like this, they should be given time to collect themselves.

But, not now.

Especially not now, when they are showing hostility towards me.

“Goblins have gone mad and are rushing onto the main road used by humans to hunt them. Even though we’ve put quite some distance, it’s a dangerous situation where anything could happen at any time.”

That’s why I suggested resting now.

They looked so exhausted they seemed unable to even hold a weapon in an urgent situation.

That’s why I made that choice even though they could still move more.

“In a situation like this, if you keep showing hostility, I’ll have no choice but to abandon you.”

I’m helping them because we’re going in the same direction, and because they seem pitiful and too naive.

If they keep getting on my nerves like this, there’s no reason to help them.

“Are you perhaps upset about what I said earlier?”

Since that was the only thing I could think of that would cause them to harbor hostility towards me, I glared, and several of them averted their gaze.

It was so absurd that it was actually because of that, I shook my head.

“If that’s the case, should I have just let you follow to catch one goblin there? You know that goblins have intelligence, right?”

There might have been a trap, or they might have called for nearby companions by making noise.

If things went that way, I could also be in danger, which is why I told you not to.

Was that really so hard to understand?

“Should I just go on ahead? I’m helping you without getting anything in return, but the glares are too stinging, you know?”

Before questioning why I stopped them, they should first question whether it was something they were capable of doing.

“You’re probably sad, probably angry. Anyone would be angry and sad if something like this happened. But, if the way you express that sadness and anger is by lashing out at someone who’s not even involved, then you’re truly pathetic.”

“I’m sorry….”

At my words, the man who was most excited during the fight with the goblins bowed his head.

I knew it was an apology given reluctantly, but there are so many people who don’t even offer such a reluctant apology that I decided to accept it.

“It’s alright. And now, get ready and go to sleep early. I’ll take the night watch.”

“You don’t have to go that far.”

“It’s alright, I’m doing this because I can’t trust you guys.”

After a brief skirmish between us, we prepared to camp.

Wild animals approached, having smelled the bodies during the night.

Foxes, wild dogs, crows, insects.

If it were an ordinary relationship, I would have just told them to bury them nearby, but

seeing how they stubbornly carried their friends’ bodies, which were oozing pus and rotten blood, all the way here while saying “friend,” it bothered me, so I couldn’t help but guard the bodies all night.

Day broke, and we moved again, finally reaching Arata Village.

Those who seemed to be the parents of the bodies came out and wailed, and everyone else watched their own parents come out, worrying, getting angry, and grieving.

“…Are you Eli?”

I turned my head to look at the surprisingly gentle voice.

A man with a strong impression, remarkable for his bushy beard, was looking down at me.

Leather armor, a spear in his hand, and a bow on his back.

He seemed to be a member of the vigilante group I heard about on the way.

The bandage covering his eyes was soaked red, his lips had turned blue, his skin was pale.

I could tell at a glance that it wasn’t a normal injury.

“……You’re quite injured.”

“I heard the children received a lot of help from you. Thank you.”

“It was something that had to be done, so there’s no need to thank me. More importantly, what happened?”

“…After the children left, goblins suddenly attacked in a large group. We managed to fend them off once, but it’s a bit precarious.”

As if to confirm that the goblin attack wasn’t a lie, there were broken wooden fences scattered throughout the village, flocks of crows perched on tree branches.

And graves where the earth was still not fully dry.

“More than that, I can’t believe they came back looking like that after saying they wanted to be adventurers… Still, thanks to you, most of them came back alive, so that’s something, isn’t it….”

As he mumbled, letting out a sigh, I realized the goblin problem was more serious than I thought.

“Do you know why the goblins are suddenly acting like this?”

“It seems a leader individual has appeared who unified the goblins.”

Just as I thought.

No matter how I thought about it, an attack on the village was too unusual a situation for anything else to come to mind.

“In that case, isn’t this village in danger?”

“We’ll have to send a few vigilantes to the adventurer’s guild in the nearby city to request support.”

“Is there a quest fee?”

“…Since it’s a small village, we can’t provide very much.”

“Then the adventurers won’t come.”

“……That’s right.”

“…If we can somehow deal with just the goblin chieftain, the goblins will disperse, right?”

If a leader individual forcibly unified and bound the goblins together,

without the leader, the goblins who were forcibly bound would fight among themselves and destroy each other.

I came to that conclusion, and so I made a proposal.

“Will you give the quest to me?”

“…You?”

“I can never win in a head-on fight, but I’m confident in assassination.”

And, there was something else I believed in.