Chapter 5

Peeping Dad
“Ugh… this is so embarrassing.”

Angela puffed up in annoyance.

“It worked out fine, didn’t it?”

“They totally saw through you. At least Viola was completely sure.”

Well, I’ve known Viola a long time.
We’ve got a horse at home, and she used to sneak carrots from her house to feed it, then get scolded by her mom.
She hates carrots, so she’d dump them on the horse instead.

“As long as I insist on it, it’s fine. Even the adventurer card passed.”

“Huh… so the ‘former adventurer’ thing was a lie?”

“When would I have even become an adventurer?”

I was off at war, you know.
I haven’t told anyone in town about that, but I did tell An.
And of course, Mary knows too.

“… Fair point. Whatever. Let’s just check things out and head back.”

We walked through town under everyone’s stares and passed through the east gate.
The guard, Winnie, stared hard at us as we left, but didn’t say anything.

“The forest, huh… where would they be?”

Beyond the gate stretched a road through open plains, and a few hundred meters ahead, the forest spread out.

“Beginners usually don’t go straight into the forest. They wait on the road for monsters. That’s the advice I gave Mary and the others too.”

So Angela had been consulted.

“Then they’ll be somewhere visible. Let’s circle from the south.”

“Yeah, yeah… sigh…”

As I headed south, Angela followed reluctantly.

“You’re not worried about Mary?”

She’s like your little sister.

“When I debuted as an adventurer, you didn’t come along…”

………………

“You were dependable… and besides, you’d hate it.”

“I wouldn’t.”

… That sounded like she wanted me to come.

“I’ll come along next time.”

“Heh. In that outfit?”

She snorted.

“I’ll refine the details a bit.”

Gotta fix the voice too.

“Not the details, the whole thing. I’ve been to the royal capital, you know. Even with that many people, I’ve never seen anyone dressed like that.”

Well, helmets like this don’t exist here.

We kept walking and entered the forest.
There was no proper path, so I cut through with a machete I pulled from spatial storage, clearing the way for Angela.

“Why not use magic?”

“I use magic when I need to. If I don’t, I don’t. Besides, if I were alone, I wouldn’t even need to clear a path.”

At that, Angela glanced at my feet.

“Huh… I like that about you. That considerate side.”

She grinned.

“And what don’t you like?”

“That outfit.”

Yeah, figured.
We kept moving, cutting our way through.

“… Hot. The heat’s building up.”

I’ll need to modify the helmet with ventilation or something.
You’re not meant to move around in a Fullface like this.
It’s not even that hot yet, come summer, this’ll kill me.

“Then just take it off. No one’s around.”

We were deep in the forest. No one else here.

“That’s not the point.”

What kind of hero drops the disguise halfway through?

“Boss… do you actually like this?”

A mysterious guy isn’t cool?

“I’m Fullface Maskman.”

“Yeah… sure…”

“More importantly, find Mary.”

“Got it.”

Angela nodded, and her eyes began to glow faintly.
Then she scanned the surroundings.
Clairvoyance magic… thing lets her see through some obstacles at a distance.

“Well?”

“Found them… and they’re fighting goblins.”

What!?

“Let’s see…”

I stopped cutting and used my own vision magic to look where Angela was watching.

There they were, on the road surrounded by forest.
Mary, holding a short sword, facing two goblins.

And behind her, a silver-haired girl with a spear.
That’s Katrina, the priest’s daughter.
Same build as Mary. Timid girl, but the way she held the spear looked solid.

“How are they?”

“Not bad. Their stances are good.”

Both grounded. No sign of panic.

“Oh~ they moved.”

Before the goblins could act, Mary moved first.
One clean slash, took the goblin’s head off.

At the same time, the other goblin lunged at Katrina…
But she calmly read its movement and thrust her spear.
The goblin couldn’t dodge. It was pierced clean through and died on the spot.

A complete win for the two of them.

“Huh…”

“They’re strong. Honestly, maybe stronger than me?”

Angela’s specialized in magic.
She can’t use swords or spears, and her close combat’s mediocre.

“Goblins aren’t a challenge for them, huh.”

The two of them cheered and high-fived.
But…

“Ah… a kobold…”

Behind them, a kobold was lurking, aiming for them.

“… Hah.”

I exhaled once, pulled out a knife, and poured magic into it.

Then I threw it.

The knife shot forward at insane speed, weaving through the trees.
Before reaching the road, it leapt upward…

Passed over the celebrating girls…

And plunged straight into the kobold’s skull in the forest.
Instant kill. It dropped on the spot.

“… What was that just now? That movement was impossible.”

Angela muttered, stunned, still staring at where the knife went.

“Magic. Seriously… letting their guard down like that.”

Yeah… I’m still worried.

“No, I think those two could’ve handled a surprise attack… but more importantly, that knife was insane. What was that? That’s like, top-tier broken.”

“Who do you think I am?”

I was part of the Black Shadow Corps, famous as heroes of the war.
Though… they called me the Grim Reaper.
Feared, and hated, by both the Kingdom of Aldia and the Volgan Empire.

And more than anything…
A hero who couldn’t win the war.

Nothing to be proud of.

“Fullface Pantsman.”

“Maskman!”

What do you think about this chapter?