Chapter 28
The Woman in Black
Translator : PolterGlast
A week has passed
since the celebratory dinner.
During that time,
there were no incidents or unusual occurrences; we just spent our days
peacefully completing quests.
"Well, we
completed our quest safely again today! That makes ten days in a row!"
"It's been really
smooth so far. The receptionist said we should be able to get promoted to
E-rank soon."
"She was so
happy, saying it was a pretty exceptional case! Once we get to E-rank, we won't
be called rookies anymore!"
"So my life of
attracting weird attention is over, huh. I feel a little sad, but I'm also
happy."
I exchanged some
casual conversation with Ginia while walking her back to the tavern after our
quest.
Incidentally, we've
decided to have another celebratory dinner when we get promoted to E-rank, so
our motivation for that is also quite high.
We were having a fun
discussion about our future when...
"Hey, you two
over there! I finally found you!"
Someone suddenly
called out to us from behind.
For a moment, the adventurers
who tried to scam Ginia crossed my mind, but the voice belonged to a woman.
I had no idea who it
could be, and when I turned to look... there stood the familiar face of the
woman in black.
"...Hmm? Aren't
you the one who was captured by the [Unbearable God Cult]? If you came to thank
me, you don't have to."
"Like I'd come to
thank you! I was looking for you to fight you again! I was careless that time,
and I couldn't even use half my strength in such a cramped space! Fight me
again!"
She pointed at me and
made her declaration.
I might have just
gotten involved with someone troublesome again.
"I can't fight in
the middle of the street. Besides, there's no reason for us to fight
anymore."
"There is a
reason! It's because you're lying to me! Now draw that sword!"
Hmm...
This is a pain. A huge
pain, but I get the feeling that if I ignore her, she'll just keep pestering
me.
I can probably take
her out in an instant. It might be faster to just give her the fight she wants
and get it over with.
"Alright. Then
come at me whenever you're ready."
"You're not even
drawing your sword...! It seems you're looking down on me just because you beat
me by a fluke! Fine. I'll wipe that confident look right off your face!"
It's not that I'm
looking down on her; I just have no intention of drawing my sword on a person.
I didn't even draw my
sword against the adventurers who scammed Ginia.
...Although, my desire
to protect Ginia is stronger now than it was before, so if someone were to try
to harm her now, I might just draw my sword in the heat of the moment.
While I was thinking
about that, the woman in black came at me.
I know from our last
fight that her movement speed is only slightly faster than Ginia's.
She's creating two
fake arms with magic, but as I said many times during the Dead Priest incident,
magic can be sensed by its power, so it's not an effective fake.
It's meaningless
unless you create them with a skill or actually grow two extra arms.
I don't bother dodging
the attacks from the magic arms, only accurately avoiding the real one.
As for how to end
this, I'll probably just restrain her like I did with Ginia and make her say
she gives up.
Even though she's the
one picking the fight, I'm reluctant to smash a woman's face into the ground.
"W-why can't I
hit you! You're seeing through my [True Phantom Arm Clone]!?"
"...You shouldn't
give it such a grand name. You'll be embarrassed by it in the future."
The woman in black's
mutter made me recall my own cringey past.
Until my twenties, I
used to give every one of my techniques a name and shout it while fighting the
Demon Lord's army. But I realized I could use the techniques without shouting
the names, and when I hit my thirties, it suddenly became embarrassing.
The people in my
village, unaware of my feelings, would ask me to perform techniques by the
names I used to shout.
The children,
especially, would ask with pure, shining eyes, so I would perform the
techniques while shouting their names, my face beet red... Even now, it's so
embarrassing my stomach clenches.
Recalling that cringey
past, I casually succeeded in restraining the woman in black.
Laying her on the
ground, I put her in an arm lock and demanded her surrender.
"We can agree
that this is my win, right? I'd appreciate it if you'd just surrender."
"...Kuh, not yet!
—Ah, wait! That really hurts! I surrender, I surrender, so let go of my
arm!"
When I tightened the
joint lock, she immediately offered her surrender.
With this, the match
is settled, and she probably won't bother me anymore.
"You have no
complaints now, right? Don't challenge me to a fight again."
"...Just who are
you! Just answer that one question!"
"I'm no one. I
really am just a rookie adventurer. An old one."
After properly
answering her question, I left the woman in black lying on the ground and
walked away.
Not only did I get
tangled up with someone weird, but I was also reminded of my cringey past. What
a terrible day.
"Is it okay to
just leave her in the middle of the road like that?"
"There aren't
many people out yet, so she won't be in the way. I think it's fine. Let's go to
the Adventurer's Guild instead of the tavern. I'm curious what kind of quests
they have."
"You're more
interested in quests than the fact that you just got accosted? That's amazing!
Though I'm curious what kind of quests they have too!"
We composed ourselves
and headed to the Adventurer's Guild, chatting happily.
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