Ch.60The Road to Shahelm (2)

“…”

Looking around, it seemed she had no companions.

That wasn’t particularly strange.

Regardless of her figure or appearance, she was a woman with protruding breasts and hips, and women who might face trouble among adventurers and mercenaries tended to either move in groups of their own or travel alone.

Of course, considering that her figure bordered more on the bizarre than the attractive, perhaps men wouldn’t have bothered her anyway, but that wasn’t something I could know for certain.

“Um… I’m a spear wielder, but my spear isn’t in good condition.”

Crack.

“Oh.”

“Hmm.”

Thud.

The moment she mentioned her spear’s poor condition, it faithfully fulfilled its duty and reached the end of its life. I caught her as she fell forward, taking the opportunity to estimate her approximate weight.

Hmm… about 300kg.

Converted to tons, that’s 0.3 tons.

A robust adult male weighs around 100kg, so she had the mass of three adult men.

How could I measure her weight just by catching her once?

It’s a small skill that those who’ve never carried water jugs from the harbor to the rooftop would never understand.

“Ugh… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine… Anyway, now you really need a spear.”

“Yeees…”

Strictly speaking, spears and halberds are different weapons, but those who can handle spears can usually handle halberds too.

After all, they’re both classified as polearms.

It’s like how someone who uses a longsword can also use a greatsword. That should make it easier to understand.

“What’s your name?”

“Raisha… Raisha Wayne…”

“Right. Raisha. No companions?”

“No… I’m alone.”

“I see. Then would you like to form a party with me?”

I made the proposal casually, like rolling dice.

I was the one holding the halberd at the moment, but since I’m primarily a swordsman, I wasn’t particularly familiar with handling spears.

However, she had introduced herself as a spear wielder, so she would likely show better combat ability than me, at least against large enemies.

“A party?”

Raisha looked up at me with round eyes.

This woman, looking closely, had incredibly plump cheeks too.

“Yes, a party. I’m also uneasy about adventuring alone.”

That was sincere.

If I had been alone from the start, it might have been different, but after conquering dungeons with Seriya in Rascal, I realized how advantageous it was to have someone else’s help.

Besides, Raisha might have a bulky body, but that didn’t mean she lacked skill.

The fact that capable adventurers were watching her but not making advances proved this.

At the very least, she was a spear wielder who could take care of herself.

“Th-then that sounds good. I’ll join your party. The party leader is…”

She leaned her weight on my arm and contemplated for a few minutes before making her decision, and I gave an immediate answer.

“Obviously, I’m the party leader. Welcome to the Iron Walker party.”

“Ah… yes.”

She completely lost the initiative to me as I spoke without any hesitation.

I handed her the halberd, and she hugged it tightly as she followed me with small steps.

*

“Yes. Congratulations on the reformation of the Iron Walker party. Your adventurer certification has been renewed.”

“Hmm.”

I glanced at her certification and confirmed that she was the same charcoal rank as me.

The fact that she was the same rank gave me some reassurance.

At least she wasn’t a complete novice.

We sat on the sofa at the Adventurers’ Guild, and as she sat down, I gradually started tilting toward her.

I resisted being pulled into her by my body weight and began asking about her background.

“Raisha. How old are you this year?”

“Six… sixteen.”

“Has your birthday passed?”

“Yes.”

“When is your birthday?”

“April 13th…”

“Hmm. I see.”

Despite Raisha and I being the same age, she spoke to me formally.

But that was natural.

She was a woman, and I was a man.

“When did you start being an adventurer?”

“Since I was 13… After my father passed away, our family fortunes began to decline.”

“I see.”

The death of a household’s breadwinner was like a death sentence for the family.

With the income provider gone, survival immediately becomes precarious.

At least half of all adventurers in this world became so due to financial hardship.

“We managed for a while, but when refugees started coming in, my mother couldn’t even find odd jobs anymore, so I eventually left home to reduce the number of mouths to feed.”

“And then you headed to Shahelm?”

“Yes. I thought there would be plenty of jobs since they make potions there…”

“I see.”

While some adventurers only adventure, quite a few do it as a side job or in conjunction with other work.

For example, working at their regular jobs on weekdays and adventuring as a pastime on holidays.

Even the local mountains behind villages have countless dangers, so I didn’t consider them any less of true adventurers.

After all, the definition of adventure varies from person to person.

“So. You don’t have any particular purpose for adventuring.”

“No…”

When I spoke with a hint of contempt, Raisha’s face grew gloomy.

She couldn’t help but feel intimidated when a professional, full-time adventurer like me said such things.

“Raisha. I’m adventuring to make a pilgrimage to the 52 Wonders of the World.”

“The 52 Wonders…”

At my words, Raisha’s expression darkened even more.

Naturally, traveling across all 13 continents was literally a once-in-a-lifetime challenge for ordinary people, and usually only monks filled with religious devotion or elderly people approaching the twilight of their lives would embark on such pilgrimages.

The term “52 Wonders of the World” was not something to be taken lightly.

“Raisha. Are you prepared to go with me all the way to Centrum, the last continent?”

“…”

She didn’t answer.

I hadn’t really expected an answer anyway.

Someone with her personality would just follow along once things got started.

So we went to sleep, and early the next morning, we departed, bidding farewell to our brief day at the rest stop.

Due to her large buttocks and breasts, she had to sit diagonally toward the front of the horse, and only after I tied her with sturdy ropes could I finally secure my field of vision.

“Um… this is really embarrassing…”

“Then walk if you prefer.”

I suppressed her complaints and spurred toward Shahelm.

Be strong, Spotty!

Your spine can surely withstand an additional 300kg of weight!

*

“Snort.”

“Good job, Spotty.”

In conclusion, Spotty did his job admirably.

He ran all day carrying both me and Raisha on his back, and his spine didn’t break by sunset.

Since he was a breed of pack horse meant for carrying heavy loads, I knew he could handle this level of burden.

However, that aside, sudden high-weight repetitive exercise is bound to be painful.

I used Pentin to reduce Spotty’s back pain, then lit a fire with Ignatus to make a campfire, while Raisha, who had been gathering firewood, stood by watching blankly.

I was first astonished by the fact that even with her arms fully extended, her hands couldn’t reach past her chest, and then I was amazed again by how quickly she moved that bulky body to create firewood with her spear.

Looking closely at her movements, I noticed she was swinging the long, heavy spear with the snap of her wrists and movement of her elbows, and I realized then that she also possessed the strength to support those enormous breasts and buttocks.

“You can use magic?”

“This is sigil magic. It’s hardly even magic, more like an illusion.”

“But water and fire came out…”

“Anyway, it’s not magic. Understand?”

“…Yes.”

I then opened my spatial storage and prepared ingredients for two, handing them to her. She enthusiastically shook the frying pan and spatula as she began making dinner.

“Why are you so fat?”

“I accidentally took a breast enhancement pill when I was young…”

“I see.”

I’d vaguely heard about breast enhancement pills before.

I heard they were supposed to be ground up and diluted before consumption, but if someone unknowingly swallowed a whole pill, they’d end up in that state.

It seemed that proper dosage was indeed the most important thing with medicine.

I accepted the bowl of stew Raisha handed me, and we began our dinner.

Whether it was due to good ingredients or cooking skills, we silently emptied our stew.

I did feel like there should be some conversation, but besides Eileen, I could count on one hand the number of women I’d talked to, so I couldn’t easily start a conversation.

“Mr. Viktor… Your parents must be well-off. Traveling so luxuriously…”

“I’m an orphan.”

“Oh.”

When we had consumed about half of the stew, something resembling a conversation did occur, but it was a bit embarrassing to call it a proper conversation.

Soon the stew bowls were emptied clean, and Raisha and I went to bed.

“Good night.”

“Yes.”

….

This also seems a bit lacking to be called a conversation…

Sigh.

Well, what does it matter if we don’t talk much? As long as she handles her spear well, that’s all that matters.