Volume 3 Chapter 3 Part 8
I was surprised, but I guess I was also kind of expecting this type of development.
I decided to hear Marron out. Apparently, Marron was born in a pioneer village, located near Herakleon.
The villagers had cut down parts of the forest to clear space for their town and used the felled trees to build their homes. But because of their location, monsters residing in the forest would occasionally show up.
According to Marron, the most feared monster, a death grizzly, had begun to make frequent appearances around the village.
「Why can’t the villagers just move to a different town or village?」
「Everyone there is poor, and we don’t own any farmland, which is why we moved to the pioneer village in the first place.」
That made sense. Well-off people wouldn’t need to live in a pioneer village in the wilderness.
「The same goes for me. Adventuring is just a side job so I can help my family’s finances…」
「I-I see.」
From what I’d learned about the other world, Marron’s story wasn’t too uncommon. Many poorer individuals often found side jobs away from home during the farming off-season.
Though for Marron’s village, it probably wouldn’t be farming, but forestry.
「The reason the death grizzly is showing up is probably because its hibernation isn’t going well. But for us to abandon our village and move somewhere else at this time of year…」
‘This time of year’…? Hibernation?
Now that she mentioned it, I had noticed that some of the leaves had turned yellow back at the mountain.
In other words, the people of the village had two options. Either to slay the death grizzly who had failed to hibernate, or they themselves would be forced to pass the winter in the slums of this city.
「Alright, I get it. I’ll help you.」
「R-really!? Will Deet come as well? The rumors say that Deet can kill it in one strike.」
「Nah, she didn’t come with me this time.」
「I-I see… But for a level 17, a death grizzly is…」Marron began.
Could a level 17 win? Against monsters with that scary of a name?
「I’m sure… you could probably… actually, I don’t know.」She mumbled.
She didn’t know, huh… Well, I was still planning on assisting regardless.
「Alright! I’ll help search for adventurers who can fight for us!」I declared.
「Eh? I thought you were going to fight though…」
I decided to have us split up and both search for adventurers who could kill a death grizzly.
Now that it was past noon, several conspicuous adventurers had gotten drunk and were blustering about.
I was slightly anxious, but I pushed that aside and used my Person Appraisal skill on everyone in my range.
「E-excuse me sir…」I called out to the strongest adventurer in my range.
「Nah, i overheard your conversation, but I can’t help you.」
I was promptly rejected.
Unexpectedly, he was far weaker than me- only level 13. His [Occupation] was ‘lancer.’
Was level 17 that strong?
But nevertheless, I was a mere Japanese citizen. Common sense refused to allow me to take risks such as fighting dangerous monsters.
「I can pay you 18 gold coins, so please!」
8 coins was probably too cheap of a reward.
Marron’s village had scraped together all the funds the could, amounting to 8 gold coins total. I secretly added 10 coins to that, pulling from the stash that Deet had given me.
「It’s not a question of money. I value my life.」
「Are death grizzlies strong? Around what level could you kill them?」
「Let’s see. For me, if I had a strong weapon, I might be able to pull it off. Though I’d still be risking my neck.」
A strong weapon, huh. While I was level 17, the only weapon I owned was a pickaxe.
I approached several other adventurers, but none of them were even remotely sympathetic to my cause.
Finding no success, I returned with Marron back to the table where Tateishi was sitting.
Immediately, Tateishi gave Marron the evil eye.
「Who is that?」
「Eek. She’s even scarier than Deet.」
Tateishi was probably looking at Marron normally though. I explained the situation to Tateishi.
Tateishi didn’t make a sound throughout my entire explanation.
Nor did her glare become any less harsh.
I wondered if this sort of situation occurred frequently when she took orders from customers at the family restaurant.
Marron, though she hadn’t done anything, began frantically apologizing, almost like a Japanese person.
「F-forgive me. I’ll stop bothering you now. I’ll go inside the dungeon and search for adventurers there instead-」
Tateishi’s response was wholly unexpected.「Let’s go to your village as soon as we can. We have to help them.」
「Ehhh?」
Marron clasped her hands together as if in prayer and stared at Tateishi. 「Y-you’ll help us?」
「Of course. Tooru will have no problems slaying monsters like that.」
「W-wait, Tateishi! W-what are you saying?」
On what basis was she making that claim!?
「Tooru killed a giant rat in a single hit and saved me, so he’ll definitely be able to help you too.」
「R-really!?」
While that did happen, wasn’t there a pretty big difference between rats and bears?
But when I saw Marron beaming and Tateishi nodding along, I found it very difficult to refuse.
♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎
「The wall of the house was shattered… could it be that…」
「Yes. The death grizzly rammed itself against the wall and destroyed it.」
These weren’t ordinary walls either. Being a log cabin, they were constructed from logs, and the logs themselves had splintered into pieces. Additionally, a bright red fluid stained the interior of the house.
Accordingly, all the members of the village had evacuated to the village chief’s house, which was constructed from thick tree trunks.
Meanwhile, the three of us were currently investigating the scene of the incident.
C-crap. I’d wanted to convince the others that we needed other adventurers’ assistance, but I hadn’t gotten the chance. And when we met the other villagers, stuffed like sardines in the chief’s house, they treated us like saviors, and I once again found it very difficult to refuse.
As if to make matters worse, Marron, with her Person Appraisal skill, had mentioned that I was level 17 and Tateishi was a priest who could perform healing magic. At that point, I had no choice but to relent.
「By the way, what are you eating?」Marron asked curiously.
「Chikama and potato chips.」
「It looks delicious, but please stop eating and take this seriously.」
「I am. These increase your [Strength] and [Agility] by 50% so…it’s all to fight the death grizzly」
「Don’t make up stupid lies. I can easily check your status with my appraisal skill.」
「I-I’m serious!」
「Ugh! W-wait. You’re kidding!? Your stats actually increased!?」
「I told you, didn’t I!」
As Marron and I went back and forth, Tateishi suddenly pointed in the direction of the forest.
「Is that the death grizzly?」
Even if she hadn’t brought it up, I would’ve soon noticed it. What else could it be besides a death grizzly? Saliva dripped down its massive mouth covered in fangs and long, bare claws protruded from its forelegs.
「ROAAAAAAAAR!」
The creature stood on its hind legs, bellowing out an earth-shattering growl.
「Eeeeeek! I-it is!」
「I thought so. Tooru!」
Marron screamed in fear, but Tateishi remained cool-headed as always.
The death grizzly leaned forward, getting down on all fours. Without warning, it suddenly charged headlong at us.
If I ran away now, Tateishi and Marron would easily get run through by the monster’s claws and fangs.
I resigned myself to the only option left.
I raised the pickaxe with both hands and brought it down on the charging death grizzly’s head.
Fearing the worst, I closed my eyes, not wanting to bear witness to my own death.
This was… the end for me.
「Kyaaaaaaaaa!」
I heard the sound of Marron’s scream.
I didn’t even feel the slightest bit of pain. Probably because the death grizzly had killed me in one blow. I only prayed that, afterwards, the death grizzly had decided to eat my remains, giving Tateishi and Marron time to flee.
「Yay!!!!!!!」
Wasn’t ‘yay!’ a little too happy of a response to my death?
I opened my eyes, ready to protest. That’s when…
「Are you kidding me. A monster way bigger than me…」
The death grizzly lay motionless on the ground, its head completely crushed.
♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎
Since our job was done, I wanted to go back as soon as possible, but the villagers insisted holding a banquet in our honor.
A bonfire was lit in the heart of the village and the feast began.
「Here you go~ please eat as much as you’d like.」
「T-thanks for the food…」
Marron had said that it’d be delicious, but was she telling the truth?
I gingerly tasted a bite.
「How is it?」
「Mm. Ah, it’s really good!」
「I’m glad you like it!」
I, who thought that I’d be eaten by the death grizzly, was now feasting on bear hotpot.
It was quite delicious- or rather, really delicious- and I was already on my third helping.
「Thank you so much for your help. Death grizzly innards sell for high prices, so we’ll add that to your reward once we get the money.」
「Don’t worry about it. The 8 gold coins is more than enough. Please use the funds to rebuild the village instead.」
The village chief bowed his head, thanking me nonstop.
The fact that they were treating me like the village’s messiah was pretty embarrassing.
To be honest, I had no idea how I defeated such a monster so easily.
「At any rate, Tooru. You’re simply amazing. The guild told me that I’d need to prepare at least 15 gold coins as a reward.」
「Well, just like an RPG, with enough levels, items, and equipment, every monster is small fry.」
「What is that? An RPG?」
「Ah, sorry. It’s nothing. Just a figure of speech.」
Obviously, Marron would have no concept of Japanese video game lingo.
But based on today, it seemed that the click levelling-up strategy would prove tremendously effective in exploring the dungeon.
Tateishi apparently was thinking the same thing.
「I’ll also work hard to level up with the click game.」
「Are you planning on fighting monsters too?」
Tateishi met my gaze with cold eyes.
「Obviously you’re the one who’s going to fight the monsters.」
「Eh… so why would you need to level up?」
「Because I’m Suzuki’s…」Tateishi stared at the ground.
「My what?」
「Your… personal healer…」
「A-ah. I-I see…」
「Yes…」
Now that I thought back on it, when I’d finally opened my eyes during the death grizzly fight, Marron had fled and hidden herself under the shade of a tree, but Tateishi was standing firmly behind me, unwavering.
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