Ch.158The Hunt of Women (1)

“Ta-da!”

“Hmm…”

The next morning.

I examined the request form that Lucia showed me with a confident expression.

[Troll Extermination.]

-Seeking adventurers to eliminate a group of trolls that have nested near this mountain about a month ago.

-According to hunter investigations, estimated to be 3-5 trolls.

-Reward is 30 silver coins per troll.

“What do you think? Pretty good, right?”

“Well… I’m fine with it. But will you be okay? If we’re dealing with trolls, you all will just be bystanders.”

“That’s why you guys just need to watch. Raisha and we will take care of them.”

“You will?”

I opened my eyes wide, then looked at Simon.

Judging by the way Simon was looking back at me, it seemed they hadn’t discussed this beforehand.

“Setting you two aside, Raisha too?”

“Are you suggesting we should hunt four or five trolls without a vanguard? How long are you going to keep babying your wife? Both we and Raisha need to awaken our Aura.”

“Ugh…”

Logically speaking, she was right.

To be honest, since I was already an irregular existence even among Aura users, I could be considered an exception. But as our adventures continued, there would be more and more situations that couldn’t be resolved by my strength alone. The Aura awakening of Raisha, Lucia, and Casia was essential.

“But what if you die trying? I barely awakened my Aura after getting beaten to near-death by a Yeti. If I hadn’t awakened then, I would have just died.”

“That’s a risk we have to take. You know that life-or-death battles help with Aura awakening more than wasting days doing nothing.”

“Sigh…”

Everything she said was correct, leaving me with virtually no grounds to object.

The truth was, as an Aura user, it was problematic for me to just be dominated by my wife, and if I, as an Aura user, went all-out against my wife, her ordinary human body wouldn’t withstand it and would be crushed. So for the sake of a harmonious marital relationship, at the very least, Raisha needed to awaken her Aura.

“Fine. But stock up on high-grade potions. It’s okay if you two get hurt, but my wife getting hurt is not acceptable.”

“Woo~ That’s party member discrimination.”

“But what can you pointy-eared ones actually do?”

“Honestly… not much?”

I tossed a money pouch at Lucia as she replied.

“Buy high-grade potions. Then let’s go crush some trolls or ogres.”

“Got it.”

*

“Sigh…”

My body trembles.

Sending someone you love into danger feels like my brain is being put through a compressor.

I never realized that having to do something you don’t want to do could feel so real.

“Don’t be so tense. Raisha has been through life-and-death situations with us many times. She’ll learn something from this adventure.”

As I trembled, Simon, who couldn’t bear to watch, tried to comfort me.

As a Knight of the Sun, trembling at the thought of sending a woman into danger… the Sun must find me pathetic.

[Not really?]

…..

“Do you know who I just talked to?”

“The Sun.”

“How did you know?”

“When a Knight of the Sun closes his eyes and mutters, who else would it be but the Sun?”

[Come to think of it, that’s true?]

Damn! My own voice is already overwhelming my head, and now I can hear the Sun’s voice too!

Now I understand why apostles behave so madly.

Having to listen to “Oh, that’s not how you do it” all day long would drive anyone crazy, no matter how strong they are.

“Anyway…! We need to stay out of this adventure. You know that, right?”

“Hmm… I know, but I really don’t like it… Couldn’t we at least stand by nearby just in case?”

“No. If there’s insurance, it’s not a true life-or-death situation.”

“Good grief…”

There’s a reason why Aura users are rare.

Not only physical damage but also mental devastation is required for the soul and body to unite in extreme situations.

More than 90% of Aura users are adventurers because adventuring is almost the only profession that pushes people to mental extremes.

Other professions with Aura users are those like soldiers or police—jobs that involve enduring extreme situations.

In truth, while my body might have been damaged, my mind wasn’t particularly devastated. Perhaps I awakened semi-forcibly because the Sun gave me a sign as I was dying.

[My son. You’ve lived a sufficiently devastated life.]

Is that so?

[Even misfortune has an average… We agreed to call it an ‘extreme situation’ when someone fights the darkness of the city for over a decade in isolation, without mother, father, siblings, friends, or lovers…]

….

Then I’ll consider my awakening as triggered by a life flashing before my eyes.

I don’t really mind that my past was unfortunate. After all, I’m living happily now.

Well… there’s something to be said about that—since misfortune has an average, perhaps my misfortune overflowed to the point where I couldn’t even feel it anymore.

In fact, misfortune becomes noticeable when you lose something you already have. For me, “oppression” might be a more fitting keyword than misfortune.

Of course, oppression is also a type of misfortune, but still…

“Hey, men. We’re done preparing.”

“Already?”

“What, did you think buying potions would take hours?”

“When I see women shopping, it usually takes at least a few hours…”

“Well… that’s true, but now isn’t the time to be leisurely, is it?”

“I guess so.”

While I was lost in thought, three life forms with XX sex chromosomes returned to us.

The sight of them wrapped in expensive high-grade potions might have seemed amusing, but I couldn’t laugh.

After all, there was once a 17-year-old who was on the brink of death without being able to drink even a sip of the potions wrapped around him.

I’ve hunted ogres and yetis before.

But trolls are new to me.

They’re going to hunt trolls—stronger than ogres, stronger than yetis—by themselves.

And with the specs of ordinary people, not Aura users. Moreover, with the physical specs of women, which are far inferior to men’s, they’re going to hunt three to five trolls with superhuman regenerative abilities.

Of course, if they succeed, they could grow tremendously… but I’ve seen too many who tried to spread their wings of growth only to be shot down by reality’s anti-aircraft shells.

But… I can’t stop them now, so I watched as they made their final equipment checks.

“By the way, who’s the leader?”

“Raisha.”

“Why? Because she’s my wife?”

“No?”

“Then why?”

“She has the biggest chest.”

“What.”

Using criteria that men could never imagine, the three women departed, and I sat down, trying to calm my trembling heart.

*

Rattle, rattle, rattle…

“Come now. Calm yourself. Someone might think you’re a mother sending her son to the battlefield.”

As bubbles formed in my drink cup at a 1:1 ratio with the alcohol due to my trembling hands, Simon made a cutting remark.

Despite saying that, he kept fidgeting with his staff, suggesting he wasn’t exactly at ease either.

“I’m anxious. You know, I’ve never lost a party member before.”

“It’s not that you’ve never lost a party member…”

He poured alcohol into my cup for me.

As I grabbed the cup, he poured alcohol into an invisible cup in the air and then placed his own cup on the table.

“It’s that you’ve never lost someone precious to you.”

“…Right.”

I downed the alcohol in my cup.

Why? It was clearly my favorite apple brandy, but I couldn’t taste anything… it just felt like an unpleasant carbonated drink.

In an old proverb, it’s said that ‘when the king lost his concubine, he couldn’t taste his food even as he ate it.’ Isn’t that exactly my situation!

“This might sound harsh, but you’re still young. Even if your wife were to die, you’re not at an age where finding a new partner would be difficult.”

“Simon!”

“Don’t dare try to lecture me, young knight!”

When I rose from my seat in anger at his words, he magically forced me back down and pointed his long staff at my face.

Like a billiard ball before a cue, I was helpless as he continued.

“How many deaths do you think I’ve experienced? How many losses? Don’t you realize that your young—no, childish—age is clearly showing? Do you know what a 17-year-old should be doing? Clinging to their mother’s skirt and whining for new clothes!”

“But I…!”

“Yes! You’re the Knight of the Sun from distant Parcival, the agent of Radiance! But whether you received the Sun’s blessing or were the nightmare of Parcival, that’s not what’s important! What matters is how many trials your mind has endured… that’s all.”

“Since Parcival, I’ve—”

“That wasn’t a trial!”

Simon shattered my resistance with a voice like thunder.

“What you did in that city was war! A war for your survival! And you crushed your enemies all by yourself! But that’s not a trial. A trial is something only those who try to overcome hardship with their own will can qualify for. How dare you get angry at this old man when you haven’t experienced loss caused by the world’s indifference rather than human malice!”

Under his lightning-like barrage of words, I froze, unable to say anything.

As I finally managed to swallow the saliva pooled in my mouth, Simon withdrew his staff and said to me:

“It’s the privilege of the old to look down on the young. And it’s the privilege of the young to rage against loss and hate injustice… But Lord Victor, know this: Being old means having survived, and having survived in this world for over 60 years means I deserve your respect.”

“…I apologize. I couldn’t control my anger for a moment.”

“It’s fine. Receiving the anger of the young is the duty of the old. So quietly pass the time with alcohol. If we don’t trust our comrades, who in the world could trust them?”