Ch.4Giant Rat Extermination (1)

The Next Day.

With a throbbing headache, I made my way to the sewer entrance where a guard checked my adventurer’s license and explained the details of the request.

“Kill the rats and bring back their tails as proof. Don’t cut them too short, or we can’t give you proper compensation.”

“Is there a limit to how many I can kill?”

“No, just kill as many as you see. The rats have been multiplying lately, and it’s becoming a headache.”

“Alright…”

I gripped the club I had been carrying at my waist in my right hand, and secured the shabby sack the guard handed me by rolling it up and fastening it to my right hip.

To fill this sack with tails… how many rats would I need to kill?

Creeeeak!

While I was pondering this, the guard opened the sewer entrance.

“Are there others who took this request besides me?”

“About three people? They haven’t come out yet… but there’s more than one entrance.”

“Three people, huh…”

The sewers are vast.

This city is a port city, so the sewers connect to the sea. Because of this, freshwater and saltwater mix together, creating a peculiarly pungent smell. At the same time, there are many aquatic monsters, so people who aren’t adventurers or workers don’t enter carelessly.

As I entered the sewer through the entrance, the guard silently closed the door behind me. I checked the walls on both sides and the central waterway before starting to move.

Whoosh! Whoooosh!

Magic torches burned at regular intervals along the walls. Thanks to their blue glow, the sewer interior was dim but bright enough to make out my surroundings.

Squeak! Squeak!

“Hmm… doesn’t seem like there are any around here…”

Hearing the squeaking of giant rats in the distance, I figured there wouldn’t be any rats nearby and continued walking.

After moving some distance from the entrance, I discovered a group of rats. Judging by the small size of some individuals, they didn’t seem to have reached adulthood yet.

Tap! Tap!

I struck the wall with my club to lure the rats, and soon the squeaking rats beneath the torches charged at me with their red eyes gleaming.

“Come on!”

Squeak! Squeak!

I raised my club above my head and brought it down on the first giant rat that rushed toward me.

Squeeeeeak!

“Stay still…!”

But perhaps living up to its size, the rat with its caved-in head was still thrashing about. I firmly pinned it down with my left foot, then quickly drew my spare club with my left hand and swung it from left to right at the second rat charging at me.

Keeaak!

Judging by the death cry rather than a squeak, it probably died instantly.

Just to be sure, I kicked it hard with my right foot and confirmed it was dead. Then I put my full weight on the rat I was pinning down with my left foot, killing it.

Crunch!

At the sound of bones breaking, the remaining rats hesitated to approach.

“Blood…?”

But there was blood around their mouths, and I suddenly realized there was a corpse beneath the torch.

“I see. They were feeding on a corpse.”

In that case, I’d better approach quickly.

Gripping clubs in both hands, I charged fiercely, and the rats simultaneously rushed at me.

Thwack! Crack!

But they were no match for me.

Having experience catching rats might not be something to brag about, but I’ve lived on the streets, even killing people to survive.

I’m not someone who flinches at the shallow teeth of mere rats.

Yelp! Yeeeelp!

After swinging my club frantically, I finally realized all the rats were dead.

“Phew…”

This is taking more energy than I thought.

“Is it because I’m using a club instead of a sword…?”

I’ve handled swords before, but I haven’t used clubs much, so maybe that’s why my body feels more strained.

I cleared away the rat corpses and approached the body under the torch.

If it was a worker, there would be an identification tag, and if an adventurer, there would be a license.

“Ugh… damn it.”

It seems like they haven’t been dead long, but the rats had been taking turns feeding, leaving the body in a terrible state.

The lower half was completely gone, and only an adventurer’s license remained on the decaying upper body, soaked in blood.

[Name: Gerard]

[Occupation: Battler]

[Rank: Straw]

“Straw…”

The same rank as me.

I don’t know if they were young or old, male or female.

All I know is that they died, and I’m still alive.

Searching around, I found a dagger in their hand, and after wiping off the blood, I realized it was still usable.

“Thank you.”

After expressing gratitude to its original owner, I cut off the tails of the rats I had killed, and one corner of my sack was filled with the tails of five rats.

“Ha. These are quite heavy…”

I thought tails would be light, but since they’re made of flesh and blood, they had considerable weight.

If I filled the sack completely with tails, I’d probably have to carry it on my back rather than at my waist, but there was still plenty of space left in the sack.

*

Crunch! Crunch!

Chewing on hard hardtack, I gulped down water from my canteen.

I’m not sure how much time has passed.

Down here, the brightness is always the same, so how could I tell if it’s day or night?

Still, the fact that I keep moving forward.

And the fact that I keep catching rats served as evidence that time was passing.

Keeaak!

“That makes twenty…”

I cut off the tail with my dagger, and now my sack contained evidence of twenty rats’ deaths.

The request stated that I needed to catch “at least” 10 rats, but I wanted to fill this sack completely.

This was my first request as an adventurer, and I didn’t want to leave any regrets.

“Phew…”

But carrying the sack and wandering around the vast sewer was indeed tiring.

I sat in a corner of a dead-end alley, stuffed all the hardtack I had brought into my mouth, and washed it down with water from my canteen.

After finishing what could be called a meal, I stretched out my legs and began massaging my tired limbs.

If I didn’t relieve the fatigue this way, I could be in big trouble when I really needed the strength in my legs.

After some time passed, I began to feel drowsy but sensed that my fatigue had lifted, so I got up again.

*

Crack!

“Huh?”

Oh no, one of my clubs broke.

Kyaaaak!

Crack!

Keeaak!

I still had one more, so it was fine, but dealing with the rats charging at me was the priority.

“Dieeee!!!”

With my posture disrupted by the broken club, I struck the rats with emotion.

I had already cornered the rats in a dead end. Since they couldn’t escape without killing me, they attacked desperately.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

After striking with my club countless times.

I gathered the pulverized rats, cut off their tails, and looked at my broken club.

“Hmm… it seems unusable now.”

The club had split into several pieces like a broom. I dropped the club and rat corpses into the waterway and watched them sink.

“…The sack is full now.”

To be precise, I could fit more, but the sack might burst if I did.

I tied the now-heavy sack to my back and began retracing my steps toward the entrance.

Swoooosh…..

The constantly flowing waterway contained many things.

The most common were human waste, followed by monster waste.

I had fallen into that water once before and had to suffer from skin diseases for months.

Even the giant rats tried to avoid falling into that water, so this sewer didn’t meet the conditions for human habitation.

Thinking about this, I walked for some time. Just as my legs were starting to feel numb, I managed to return to the entrance I had come through.

Creeeeak!

As I opened the door and came out, I saw that outside, time had passed, and the sun was beginning to set.

“You’re back.”

“Yeah.”

The guard I had met earlier was chewing on some jerky.

“Put down the sack. Let’s check it.”

I did as he said, and the guard emptied the blood-stained tails from the sack and began counting them.

I took out the request form from my chest, and after finishing the count, he stamped “Request Completed” on my form and wrote down the number of giant rats I had killed.

46.

I had killed forty-six rats, and I would receive a better reward than if I had killed just 10.

“What’s that?”

The guard pointed at the blood-stained license I was holding.

“I found a corpse.”

“I see.”

The guard didn’t press the matter further.

He looked quite old and must have had more experience because of it.

“Here you go. Request completed.”

“Phew…”

How sweet are the words “request completed”?

With the request form tucked in my chest, I headed toward the adventurer’s guild with a much lighter body.

To receive the reward for my first adventure.