Volume 1
Chapter 17
I Completed
the Request
Translator : PolterGlast
When I left the forest
and headed toward the village, the three people who had greeted me first were
still standing in the same spot. Were they waiting for me? What awfully
courteous people.
I put on my usual cheerful
expression.
"Um..."
I spoke to the old
man, who was turned away from me, and the two young men who were arguing with
each other.
"Huh? Wha───Whoa!?"
""Waah!?""
When the three of them
turned their gaze towards me, they suddenly let out a loud cry and stepped
back. Why were they so surprised... Oh, that's right, I was covered in blood.
"Ah... sorry for
looking like this."
"N-No, it's
alright, ahem... but are you alright, adventurer?"
"Yeah, I'm fine.
I'm not seriously injured, despite the looks."
I smiled at the old
man who asked me timidly.
"Seriously?...
there's so much blood, though..."
"I-Is it all
blood? But..."
The two young men were
also dumbfounded. It's no wonder, considering the amount of blood.
I didn't pay much
attention to the three of them and slightly held out the dead snake I was
holding.
"Is this the
magical beast, Poilsneg, from the request?"
"Huh? ...Oh!
Y-Yes, that's definitely the Poilsneg. B-But, how did you do it in such a short
time───"
"I just killed
the one that came towards me."
I casually tossed the
corpse of the Poilsneg aside. Since I've confirmed it, should I go back to the
forest?
"Oh, and by the
way, is it okay if I hunt other magical beasts if I encounter any?"
"Eh? Ah, well...
If you're willing to hunt them, we'd be grateful..."
"Great. I'll go
back to the forest then."
I smiled again, turned
my back on them, and started walking.
On the way, I heard,
"Damn. That guy
is seriously crazy..."
"He said other
magical beasts too... How long does he plan to stay in the forest..."
The two young men's
voices came, but I ignored them since they didn't seem to be talking to me.
□□□
When Kushina entered
the forest again, the entire forest began to stir. One could hear the sound of
trees breaking, the sound of grass being brushed aside, and even a booming
sound.
It wasn't the sound of
something approaching. It was the sound of an unidentified, unspecified
multitude approaching.
The next moment, a
swarm of various animals entered Kushina's field of vision.
Two Poilsneg leaped at
him first, aiming for his shoulders from both sides. Kushina swung his left
arm, splitting the bodies of both in two and killing them.
Next, a red,
boar-shaped magical beast came running more vigorously than the other magical
beasts. However, as it was only slightly faster than the other magical beasts,
Kushina didn't feel it was particularly fast. Stepping forward slightly, he
grabbed the boar's forehead with his right hand and───with a crunching
sound, he made it collapse.
Then, from the right,
a deer-shaped magical beast and a monkey-shaped magical beast, and a little
later, a red lizard-shaped magical beast from the left. However, Kushina was
very calm. First, with a low kick from his left leg, he blew away the two
coming from the right, then rotated and swung his fist down at the lizard on
the left. All three were left with almost no trace of their original form, and
their flesh and blood scattered.
(………)
From there, numerous
magical beasts continued to attack Kushina.
But while Kushina had
found pleasure in fighting magical beasts───in fighting for his life───he was not smiling right now.
In his time on Earth,
Kushina had hardened his heart as much as possible. His mind, wounded by abuse
and bullying, had hardened with each healing, becoming something that could no
longer be moved by ordinary everyday life.
To move Kushina's
emotions, he needed a corresponding shock. To move his hardened, unresponsive
heart, he needed a shock. A shock so great that it would put him in a situation
where even his life could be easily lost.
In this battle, there
was no shock that could drive Kushina to his limit. There were no strong opponents
to inspire him.
This was just a task.
It was simply the unilateral subjugation of the weak.
Tasks do not stir
people's hearts. Tasks are preparations for the pleasure that lies ahead.
But in the case of
Kushina's current task, there was no pleasure ahead. By not being able to get
pleasure in the place where he was originally supposed to get it, the
possibility of getting pleasure this time was lost. In other words───
In this battle,
Kushina's heart would not be moved.
Even from there, the
magical beasts did not stop coming.
In a few minutes of
combat, the magical beasts must have instinctively understood that they were no
match for Kushina.
───Yet, the animals did
not stop.
They understood
intuitively───Kushina───an overwhelmingly
strong being, had invaded their habitat. If they didn't drive him away here,
they would have no future───they understood that.
That's why the magical
beasts wouldn't stop. They would bare their fangs, even at the risk of their
lives, to protect their habitat.
However, even their
desperate efforts meant nothing to Kushina.
A horizontal swing of
the arm, a knee strike, a palm strike, a heel drop───a combination of
techniques that seemed inefficient. But with his superhuman physical abilities,
the magical beasts around him were nothing to worry about.───In other words, he
could finish the battle unscathed.
This battle, with no
stimulation whatsoever───just a task.
However, before long,
a smile appeared on Kushina's face.
The same inorganic
smile he would show when he was going about his daily life on Earth, calmly and
indifferently.
The battle, which had
lasted for several tens of minutes, was almost over.
□□□
【Village Chief's POV】
About ten minutes
after the adventurer entered the forest.
He returned to the
village, covered in blood.
When I first saw him,
I couldn't even hide my shock. After all, he was covered in blood. It's not
often that you see someone like that, so I couldn't hide my emotions.
And then he said it
was all blood spatter, which surprised me even more. When I actually checked,
he had no wounds, and it really was all blood spatter. How could he have fought
so much in such a short time? This guy.
While I was
dumbfounded like that, he had somehow returned to the forest and came back to
the village again, carrying a large pile of dead magical beasts on his left
shoulder. He dumped the corpses outside the village.
I snapped back to
reality at the sound, but when I saw the mountain of dead magical beasts that
had been placed there, my mind went blank again. And he said it wasn't all of
them yet.
In just a few tens of
minutes, how did this guy kill so many magical beasts? I just couldn't
understand. After the man went back and forth between the forest and the
village about three times, he finished carrying the dead magical beasts.
There were three
mountains of dead magical beasts, each taller than an adult male. There was
nothing else to do but be dumbfounded.
"Since some of
them were so badly damaged that they're barely recognizable, you can just count
the Poilsneg based on that standard. Actually, I stopped counting halfway
through. Also, is it possible to buy the other magical beasts? I was actually
told to bring them back, but... it's really tough to carry this amount. I'd
like to have as many as possible bought, so I can take the rest to town───something like
that."
"W-What!? Are you
saying that we can decide the price ourselves!?"
"Yes, of course.
But do you mind me waiting here while you appraise them?"
"Of course, I
don't mind! Please, do so..."
I was so surprised.
Not only was he offering the dead bodies of the Poilsneg, but he was also
offering the meat of the other magical beasts. And at a good price for us.
Looking at the pile of
corpses, I saw that there were indeed the most Poilsneg corpses, but there were
also mountains of corpses of Red Reeves, Thief Dilias, and Fremlizats.
It's a welcome
proposal for us who have been struggling with food shortages.
...Wait a minute.
Could this be too good to be true? It's too convenient for us. Is he trying to
put on a good face now and try to make some kind of trouble later...?
However, there's no
way we can win against an adventurer who has shown such a one-man army
performance. If something trivial triggers him to use force... we'll be in
trouble.
Hmm, I guess it's best
not to provoke him unnecessarily. But I have some concerns. At least, let me
see his guild card.
"Um...
Adventurer"
"What is
it?"
"May I see your
guild card?"
At that moment, the
adventurer frowned. Oops, was that careless of me?
"Sure, here you
go."
However, unexpectedly,
he immediately returned to a smile and showed me his guild card. Oh?
And what was shown on
that guild card was───
"W-White-ranked
adventurer?!?!?!"
I was so shocked that
I screamed so loud my voice cracked.
-----
Thank you for my Patrons !!
[Platinum]
Aiden Elliott
MaxKne
Swagaraga
[Gold]
B random
DavidA
[Silver]
blue shooting
Creris
Frédéric Bertrand-Hudon
Gtsfan321
Pristia
Anton Lim
Ctdela
Curious Panda
Read Advanced Chapters only on my Patreon
-----
