by Okina Baba
If Ronandt says it is so, then we should assume that the ogre is as good as dealt with.
“And as far as the group that the Church told you not to interfere with that you were discussing before, I believe it best to trust them on that count as well.”
“…You heard all of that?”
“I might not look it, but I’ve got a good pair of ears. Think you can keep up, youngster?”
In contrast to the guild master’s grim expression, Sir Ronandt wore a mischievous grin.
He and the other elder were outside while we had that conversation inside the guild.
How good must his ears be if he could hear through walls?
“At any rate, we shall not be making any further moves. In fact, we cannot. We must take measures to make up for the adventurers who were lost in this incident. Starting with setting up a patrol of soldiers in and around this town. The guild is short on manpower, is it not?”
True enough, since the ogre defeated us so handily, we lost a great deal of adventurers.
That meant it had gotten harder to fend off monsters, defend travelers going from town to town, securing supplies, and so on.
Worse, it wasn’t just this town’s adventurers who were wiped out by the ogre—there were many losses among the adventurers from neighboring towns and villages as well.
Which meant this whole region was currently short on adventurers.
If the imperial army was going to help shoulder that burden, it’d be a big help.
“So you understand this means we have no time to waste getting mixed up with a group of travelers who may or may not be dangerous. I wouldn’t mind investigating personally, but the Word of God religion has been displeased with me since the hero incident. If I anger them any further, it will likely lead to more than just a demotion for me. I am sorry.”
So the rumors that he took on the young hero as an apprentice and nearly killed him in the name of “training” are true.
I doubt the Church would make an enemy of the peerless mage Ronandt unless they had a serious reason for doing so.
“Thus, you see, there is nothing we can do. If anything happens, you shall simply have to complain to the Church.”
It wasn’t exactly reassuring, but there was nothing else to be done.
I’d have to do my best to accept it, even if it still bothered me.
But then Sir Ronandt added a new concern to my list of troubles.
“Nyudoz. Give it here.”
“Hrmmm?! Can I speak now?!”
“Not yet. You’re too loud. Just give me that thing we talked about and stay quiet.”
“Hrmmmph!”
Grumbling, Sir Nyudoz lapsed back into silence.
Just as Sir Ronandt said, his voice was painfully loud, so it was probably for the best.
He may be an amazing swordsman and all, but still.
“Here. You can have this.”
Sir Ronandt handed me the object that Sir Nyudoz had passed to him: a magic sword.
And now that same sword is in my hand.
It’s one of the magic swords that the ogre had wielded.
When it fought Sir Ronandt and company, it seems the ogre left behind one of its swords as it fled.
The imperial army took it back with them as the spoils of war, but for some reason, Sir Ronandt saw fit to give it to me.
I did my best to refuse, insisting that I couldn’t accept it, but he forced it on me anyway.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
I stare at the sword, at a loss.
I didn’t accomplish anything in the battle with that ogre.
Do I really have any right to receive this sword?
No, I don’t think so.
Maybe I should go return it after all.
Besides, I was already thinking about quitting the adventurer business.
I ran away from the ogre, and Regg and my other adventurer friends are all dead.
I’ve lost my confidence and drive.
So I figured once things settled down, I’d retire from adventuring and spend the rest of my days at my leisure.
But if I quit now that there are so few adventurers left already, this guild might actually be done for.
I planned to just keep at it half-heartedly until the guild pulled itself together, but now that I’ve been given this fancy sword, I feel like I have no choice but to work like a dog.
Reaping the rewards even though I was no help at all in the fight against the ogre would make everyone think less of me.
Especially the friends and family of the adventurers who were lost.
If I toss them aside and accept this gift, I wouldn’t blame them for hating me.
The only way to avoid being subjected to all that resentment would be to work hard to contribute to our town’s recovery.
“Ugh. What am I gonna do?”
As I grumble to myself, the door of the guild opens.
“Ah, Mr. Gotou.”
Turning around, I see Rukusso enter.
He was severely wounded in the ogre battle, but he got treated just in time to survive.
If the healing had happened any later, he’d probably be dead.
Although Regg gave up his own life to buy enough time for me to get him to a healer…
“Rukusso, eh? What is it?”
Rukusso is dressed in casual clothes.
They’re the clothes of a civilian, not an adventurer.
That’s not how people dress to go to the adventurers’ guild.
“Mr. Gotou… I think I’m going to quit being an adventurer.”
“I see.”
I kind of suspected that was what he would say.
There are probably quite a few adventurers like me who are thinking about quitting after everything that happened.
Rukusso is just one more of that number.
“And I’m probably going to leave town, too.”
“I see.”
This isn’t too surprising, either.
This town is full of memories of his time spent adventuring with his friends.
It’d probably be tough to stay here, constantly being reminded of all that.
“D’you know where you’re gonna go?”
“Yes. I intend to go back home to my family. My parents are farmers, but I ran away to become an adventurer because I didn’t want to take over the farm. I’m going to go back, apologize to my parents, and start over.”
Many adventurers tend to be outcasts.
In a profession that so many people have joined because they have no other options, Rukusso is one of the lucky few who has somewhere to go back to.
“Gotcha. Well, you’ll be missed.”
“Thank you. I wanted to make sure I spoke to you before I left, Mr. Gotou, since you’ve done so much for me. I only wish that I could give my thanks to Mr. Regg, too.”
The man who died protecting Rukusso.
I’m sure that’s a heavy burden on the young man’s heart.
“C’mon now. You knew him. I’m sure he’d just yell at you not to look so gloomy.”
“Ha-ha. I suppose you’re right.”
“He saved your life. So the least you can do for him is be more positive like he was and lead a long, happy life, yeah? That way he’ll know it was worth laying down his own life.”
That’s the kind of man Regg was.
He wouldn’t hesitate. He’d be proud to die protecting his comrades.
“Right. I will!”
Rukusso nods tearfully.
“Take care of yourself, kid.”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Gotou, I always looked up to you and Mr. Regg. I wasn’t able to become an amazing adventurer like you two, but you both saved my life, so I’ll treasure it forever!”
“Good. Find yourself a pretty wife or something, have some kids and grandkids. Just make sure you’ll be able to say it was a good life in the end.”
“Yes, sir! I guess I’d better start looking for lovers, then.”
“That’s the way!”
Both of us chuckle, and I stick out my hand.
Rukusso grasps it and gives me a firm handshake.
“Take care.”
“You too, Mr. Gotou. Do your best out there.”
Rukusso smiles warmly as he leaves.
Do my best, huh?
I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way, but the timing is pretty pointed.
“…I guess I’ll try to do my best a little longer.”
Since Regg saved his life and all, it wouldn’t hurt to try to be the kind of man who Rukusso would continue to look up to.
I’M HITTING THE ROAD
It’s been a few days since the elves attacked.
After that spike of excitement, things have been uneventful around here.
Just like the previous two years, at least up until the attack in question.
From the UFO incident two years ago until just recently, Potimas has been alarmingly silent.
Knowing his personality, you’d think he’d come after us the second he spotted a weak point.
Since I became a god, I’ve basically got nothing but weak points, yet there hasn’t even been a peep, never mind an attack.
Frankly, it’s almost a bit of a letdown, but it also makes me even more paranoid.
Like, he’s definitely in the middle of preparing some new evil plot, right?
And yet, when he finally makes a move after two years of silence, it’s just some weak attempt to kidnap the baby bloodsucker via teleportation? That’s kinda small potatoes for Potimas.
Considering how long it’s been since last contact, it seems like a pretty sloppy plan, so I’m kinda confused about why he didn’t try something more impressive.
I mean, sure, using Teleport to kidnap someone is pretty effective.
If you suddenly grabbed someone and disappeared with them to who knows where, we’d have a hard time following up.
There’d be no way of knowing where they teleported, after all, or if it’s even within a distance that we could follow them.
Frankly, teleporting should be against the rules.
There aren’t many mages who can use it in the first place, so I doubt even Potimas has many teleport users on his side, but I can’t rule out the possibility entirely.
Assuming he sent one of his precious teleport users after us, maybe this was meant to be a serious attack? But I don’t know why he would use a little girl for that, so all I can do is scratch my head over here.
Yep, it’s a mystery.
The Demon Lord has been making some troubled expressions lately, so maybe she’s thinking the same thing I am.
Or, I dunno, maybe she’s hiding something from me.
For some reason, it kinda seems like she’s waffling about something or other.
It’s like she wants to say something, but she doesn’t have evidence to back it up, so she’s keeping it to herself.
Of course, knowing her, she keeping quiet for my sake, and she’ll spit it out if the need arises.
Since I’m no use in battle right now, there’s probably nothing I can do to help anyway, so I’ll just trust in the Demon Lord’s plan for now.
And what is her plan, you ask? Operation: Stay Inside!
Yep. We’re just holing up in the inn and going out as little as possible.
This way, we can’t be unexpectedly attacked, and it’s easy to keep our guard up.
What happens if they attack the inn?
Well, I guess that’s the inn’s problem.
Sorry, inn. But if you’re gonna blame anyone, blame the people attacking us.
Besides, if they fought seriously, the Demon Lord or the puppet spiders could level this whole town, never mind the inn.
Fortunately, that hasn’t happened, so everything is peaceful for now.
You got lucky this time, inn.
So what have we been doing while we’re stuck inside, you ask? Well, Professor Demon Lord has been giving us a crash course on skills.
“You there, Jealousy Girl.”
“That’s not very nice, but I suppose you’re not wrong. What is it?”
“Why must you never raise your Jealousy skill level? You have ten seconds to answer, please.”
“Erm… Because the Seven Deadly Sins skills can affect your mind and soul?”
“Is that your final answer?”
“…Yes, it is.”
“Thaaaat’s right!”
Miss Demon Lord, isn’t this comedy routine a little old?
“The Seven Deadly Sins skills influence your thoughts and emotions based on their respective sins, or rather, based on the original holders of each skill. In other words! Since you have the Jealousy skill, Sophia, you’re prone to becoming crazy stalker!”
The Demon Lord points sternly at Vampy.
A crazy stalker, huh…?
Wait. Is it just me, or is it already too late for that?
“Don’t be ridiculous. I wouldn’t be affected by any such thing.”
The baby bloodsucker stares at the Demon Lord with narrowed eyes.
The Demon Lord and I stare right back.
This is the problem with crazy stalker girls. No self-awareness.
“Wh-why are you looking at me like that?”
“Aaanyway, just make sure you don’t raise your Jealousy skill any more, all right? It’s not good; we’ll leave it at that.”
I guess that’s what the Demon Lord wanted to say.
“Try to avoid the other Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Heavenly Virtues skills, too. The Pride line, the Wrath line, and the Greed line are especially dangerous.”
“What about Gluttony, Lust, and Sloth?”
“You won’t get the Gluttony line as long as you don’t overeat, so you’re probably fine. Besides, even if you do get it, that one doesn’t corrupt your mind too badly. And at your age, you shouldn’t have to worry about Lust, either. Erm, you don’t, right?”
“Why would you phrase that as a question? No, I wouldn’t worry.”
I wonder about that…
“Okay. Let’s just agree not to worry, then. And Sloth barely corrupts your mind at all, so that’s not a problem.”
“Sloth? That sounds like the kind of thing that would cause serious corruption…”
Yeah, really.
It seems like it’d turn you into a lazy good-for-nothing.
“Oh, well, the Sloth line’s special. Like, the original holder of Sloth wanted to slack off but couldn’t and even ended up dying of overwork in the end. See, I know what it sounds like, but it actually just makes your enemy’s SP go down faster. So it really just means that the user works harder while everyone around them loses the ability to work at all.”
Now that she mentions it, I guess it’s true that the effect of Sloth was to make the enemy’s HP, MP, and SP go down more rapidly.
Instead of letting the user rest, it kind of forces the enemy to rest.
“So even if you do get it, it doesn’t have a huge effect on your mind. It is super-bad luck, though.”
Bad luck? But I used to have that skill…
Let’s just not think about that.
“So as for the bad ones, the Pride line of skills makes you gain more experience. That might sound like a good thing, but I can’t say I recommend it.”
Ding-ding-ding!
Hello, I had that skill!
I had Pride!
“Sure, gaining extra experience might sound like a really good deal in theory, but it’s bad news. For one thing, it seriously messes with your head. You’ll start seeing every living thing as a potential source of experience points. It practically turns you into a berserker.”
Ding-ding-ding!
Are you saying I was that bad?!
The worst part is I can’t say you’re entirely wrong!
“And the skill’s effect comes with a serious pitfall, too. Basically, it forces the holder to keep growing at a rapid pace. And everyone has limits. If you just keep on gaining more and more expe
rience without taking those limits into account, eventually it’ll be your undoing. Like, literally.”
Ding-ding-ding!
Are you saying I was literally doomed?!
Was I, like, just steps away from bursting like a balloon?!
That’s so freaking scary!
“So make sure you don’t pick up the Pride line of skills, all right?”
“Okay.”
The baby bloodsucker nods, probably intimidated by the Demon Lord’s grim face and the terrifying potential of the Pride skills.
It’s fine, though.
I mean, I didn’t explode, and Pride wound up being a huge help to me.
So I don’t regret picking up Pride at all!
Not even a little!
“The Wrath line is almost as scary, but just picking up the skill isn’t too bad. The real problem with Wrath is what happens after you activate it.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you activate a Wrath-line skill, your stats go way up. It doesn’t cost any MP or SP, either. Obviously that makes it sound awesome, but it comes with some serious caveats. Basically, you lose your mind.”
Hoo, boy.
I used to have Anger, the lowest step on the Wrath line of skills.
But I tried it only once, then never used it again.
“When you activate it, you start seeing red. It makes you want to go on a rampage basically. And the more time passes, the worse the effects get, until you don’t even have the presence of mind to turn the skill off anymore. Pride might wrap you into a bit of a berserker, but this one literally makes you go mad.”
“Is there any way to get back to normal?”
“Nope. You either have to turn off the skill or die. And once your mind has been afflicted by Wrath, it becomes harder to stay in control. So even if you get any Wrath skills, make sure you never, ever activate it.”
Ding-ding-diiing!
I did it only once, but I definitely did activate it!
I turned it off right away, though, ’cause it seemed like bad news.
I didn’t realize how bad, obviously. Yikes, that was close.
“As for the Greed line, well, you can probably see how that would be bad, right? There’s a certain dignity to being poor, you know.”
Even as the Demon Lord says that, she’s stretching her legs out and drinking some pretty expensive alcohol.
What happened to being honorable?
