Salas Village 1
When we arrived at Salas village, what we saw were tattered houses and ruined fields.
Here and there were villagers with no ambitions.
“Wait here for a moment please, I will go get the Mayor.”
The two men run to the inner part of the village.
“Umm…”
After the men left, Celica spoke to me with an apologetic tone.
After hearing the circumstances from the men, Celica said she would help the village, but the men refused at first insisting that it was too dangerous for a little girl. However, because Celica thought the situation would become much worse if the girls weren’t able to help, she told the men about my guild rank in order to convince them.
“I’m sorry for talking without permission. My village was also attacked and destroyed by monsters, so I couldn’t abandon them no matter what. I will receive any punishment, so please save this village.”
“I don’t really mind.”
“Eh?.”
I run my fingers through Celica’s hair and rub her ears when she lowered her head to apologize.
Her ears are fluffy. It feels so good. *mofumofu*
“If Celica wants to save them, I don’t mind being used as you please. If it’s for Celica’s sake, I will do anything. Therefore, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Maika-san…”
After hearing my words, Celica gradually starts crying.
Wait a minute, why are you crying? Did I say something weird?
I don’t know how to handle a crying child, I’m in a pinch.
“Thank you very much…”
Everyone is soothing the sobbing Celica, and after she stopped crying, an old man with a cane in his hand approached us.
“I’m the mayor of Salas, Freed is the name. That an adventurer-sama of the highest-ranking would accept our request, I don’t really know how to thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it. What’s the status of the enemy?”
“Thank you very much. The monsters that attacked our village are called Horned Rabbits, they are little monsters that normally live in remote places of the forest. It seems that another monster has settled in the forest, and since the Horned Rabbits lost their source of food, they moved to the village’s fields in order to feed. The rest is as you can see.”
Fumu, it’s troublesome, but it would be better to find and subdue the monster that settled in the forest. As long as that monster is in the forest, putting aside the Horned Rabbits, even more troublesome monsters may appear.
I use Detection at full-throttle and search for the Horned Rabbits.
A little away from the village, there’s a group of 40 rabbits.
If I’m not mistaken, a Horned Rabbit is a rank 3 monster based on the requests, but the girls are already beyond rank 3, so they should be able to defeat them without getting hurt.
“You girls will go to the east and subdue the group of the Horned rabbits. While you do that, I will defeat the monster in the forest.”
“I got it.”
“Leave it to us.”
“I will do my best.”
“Ma, leave it to this lady. The annihilation of a few rabbits is an easy task.”
They didn’t request the subjugation of the monster in the forest, but when I think about the future, it’s better to subdue it, so I decided to kill it just in case.
“Wait a minute!”
When I was about to leave, an evil-looking man emerged from the crowd of villagers.
I have a premonition that something troublesome will happen.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t trust you.”
“Oi, you, go back…”
“Shut up!! You old fart, stay silent!!”
That man knocked down the mayor, who tried to stop him and stands before me.
As I expected, it turned out to be a troublesome development, so a wrinkle appears on myglabella unintentionally. I put a hand on my katana, but that hand is gently held by Mira, so I reluctantly decide to listen to the man.
“First of all, this small and weak looking woman can’t be a rank 10 adventurer. My guess is that this woman is a con-artist.”
From the man’s speech, the villagers started to whisper amongst themselves.
Well, certainly from the way I look no one would be able to tell that I’m a rank 10 adventurer.
Even I would certainly doubt someone who looks like a young girl, unless she is from a different race.
It’s inevitable, but I can’t leave like this, so I will just shut up this annoying fellow.
“Then- “I will take this with me.””
He looked like he still wanted to say something, but I grab the man and sprint full speed into the forest.
The man couldn’t withstand the speed I ran at and was unconscious in just a minute.
Although the drag will increase and this guy could die, I don’t care.
…No, the four who know my strength will realize that I killed this man on purpose. I won’t let you die, because I don’t want to become disliked.
Then, I’ll drop him off somewhere along the way and pick him up on the way back… Is he coming to?
“Fuge!?”
The man is regaining consciousness, so I drop him on the ground.
After I inspect the forest with Detection, I found a few Behemoths. I couldn’t sense any other monsters, so I guess they were all eaten by the Behemoths.
Still, where did these Behemoths came from?
“Oi, what the hell are you doing!”
I ignore the man behind me. I just want to end this quickly and go home.
In this forest, various mushrooms and medicinal herbs grow, but because I want to quickly return, I decided to ignore them.
The man should be waiting where I left him, but he’s following me for some reason.
“You’re in the way. Go somewhere else.”
“Don’t joke around! You forcefully brought me here, so you better protect me!”
You little shit, first you accuse me of being a con artist and now you want me to protect you? This is troublesome, should I kill him after all?
“Oi, listen- “Be quiet.””
Because we are approaching the Behemoths, I shut the man up with a light fist to his stomach.
Well, there wasn’t meaning in doing that, the nearest Behemoth has already noticed me. However, I hit him because he was annoying.
The Behemoth began to move, so I draw my katana and run.
“Buoooo!!”
The roar of the Behemoth echoes throughout the forest and the remaining Behemoths turn on me simultaneously.
However, it was already too late for them.
“Oh.”
I decapitate the Behemoth that roared first.
“Sky Fang.”
Next, I cut through the two Behemoths that were closest to each other.
I stopped the last Behemoth that rushed at me with one hand, and I pierce its neck with the katana. The subjugation is done.
Its body was larger than the Red Dragon’s, but the fire-breathing dragon was stronger.
Nonetheless, both monsters die from a single blow.
“Incredible, A Behemoth is a rank 8 monster. To slay 4 of them at once…”
Rank 8 huh, I wonder what such high ranked monsters are doing near the village?
Will even stronger monsters emerge from their territories?
… That is a possible development. I think I can see a future where I’ll have to hunt them down.
Well, putting that aside, I’m looking forward to fighting strong enemies. In fact, it may be quite fun development.
“Umm, can I get a minute of your time.”
When thinking such, the man, with his body lowered, spoke.
Until a while ago, his attitude was so different. Honestly, it feels disgusting.
“What.”
“I’m really sorry for my cocky attitude earlier!”
The man performed a wonderful dogeza.
This world also knows about dogeza, huh. Even though this should be a fantasy world, why do I feel like it’s influenced by Japanese culture?
“IDO” is a game developed in Japan, so I wonder if it will develop into a normal Japanese culture in a millennium.
“Don’t worry about it.”
I mean, I don’t really need an apology. I have no interest in this fellow.
I put the Behemoth corpses into the item box.
“I’m returning.”
“Ei, I will accompany you!”
After cleaning out the Behemoths, I don’t have any reason to stay.
I grab the man’s collar and run at full speed through the forest. He fainted again.
I use Detection on the way back and confirm how many of the Horned Rabbits are left. There are only about 5 rabbits remaining.
I intended to help the girls if they had taken their time, but it looks their fight will be over soon.
Let’s return to the village.
“…”
With a stunned expression, the villagers verify the pile of Behemoth corpses.
I called over Maria, who is at her wit’s end.
The reason I called Maria is simple. The village can’t afford to pay for the corpses.
“How much for these Behemoths?”
“Wait a minute, what are Behemoths doing in a place like this?”
“Don’t know.”
I will be troubled if you ask me.
Rather, I want to know.
“Usually, monsters of this rank are usually only found in dungeons. This isn’t something an ordinary person will see every day. They sometimes appear in a group, but this is the first time I heard about them being so close to a village.”
“Doesn’t matter. Also, there’s this.”
I take out the Red Dragon and fire-breathing flowers.
“… I’m sorry. I’ve seen the fire flower once before, but I have never seen that dragon monster.”
“They’re monsters from a rank 10 dungeon.”
“Boss? Or middle-class boss?”
“Small fry.”
“You’re the only one who calls monsters from a rank 10 dungeon small fry.”
The expression on Maria’s face became incredible.
Well, if she never saw it then there’s no helping it. That dungeon is not something a person could enter.
“How many do you have?”
“468 Fire Flowers, 312 Red Dragons.”
I intended to keep a few for myself, but since I’ll be diving into the dungeon again tomorrow, I’ll hand over everything.
“… Wait a minute, I will have to consult with the guild first. Let me take one with me.”
“Roger.”
Maria looks tired for some reason and left somewhere with the Transfer Crystal.
The Mayor asked me to spend the night in the village.
The villagers, whose trouble with the Horned Rabbits was resolved, welcomed us with warm smiles.
At the banquet held in the evening, the weird man told the over-dramatized story of me fighting the Behemoths. Everyone’s excitement rose.
The food at the banquet wasn’t very tasty, so I was eating my Curry. Because the villagers were interested in it, Mira, Sara, and Celica, treated the villagers to some. It was very popular.
As a result, I somehow ended up being called the hero of the village.
I tried to explain to them that I do not want to be known as a hero, so I at least told them to not to disclose any information about me, just in case. I can’t expect much from the looks on the villagers’ faces though.
I feel like every action I take leads to trouble, is it just my imagination?
Maria returned late in the night.
“Sorry for the wait. I will buy everything for 31,980 gold coins. However, the next time I buy the same things, I will pay less.”
A fairly large amount. Is this a normal price for rank 10 monsters?
If I’m to hunt more of these high ranked monsters, will the guild treasury be okay?
“Understood.”
I hand over my guild card and Maria completes the transaction.
I remove the corpses from the item box, and together we put them into the item bag without a capacity restriction.
After we’re finished, Maria leaves. It seems the top dog of the guild is very busy.
“Erm, Maika-san, I have a small request.”
After Maria left, Celica spoke to me.
While I’m capturing the dungeon, Celica recommended making this village our base.
Looks like she wants to help in the rebuilding of the village.
I have no reason to decline, so I accept her proposal.
Since there isn’t anyone in this village that can harm the girls, I don’t see the problem.
“Thank you very much!”
When I saw Celica and her wagging tail, I became happy.
Okay, to make Celica even happier, after I return from the dungeon tomorrow, I’ll help with the reconstruction.