The Lord of the Rust Mountains (Complete)

by Kanata Yanagino

  It was a safe bet what had happened. They’d pretty much been laughed out of the building, and now Glen was burning with determination to come back with the head of a beast or something and shove it in their faces. He in particular looked like he had a strong sense of justice. It had probably left a very bitter taste in his mouth that his companion had been mocked as well.

  However, the cruel reality was they simply weren’t strong enough. I could tell at a glance that although Glen, most likely a hunter originally, had certainly undergone some training, he was only one or two rungs up from a beginner. As for Alex, the sorcerer kid, he—maybe she? It probably wasn’t worth asking. In any case, I had no idea about the extent of Alex’s knowledge, but he didn’t look like he had any practical battle experience. The way he stood and moved his eyes about was typical of an amateur. If a beast suddenly appeared in front of him, he would probably have difficulty uttering a swift and precise Word.

  “If you keep heading that way,” I said in a cold voice, “you’re going to die.”

  This was Beast Woods. I knew firsthand how dangerous it was. Alex the sorcerer jumped a little and shrunk back. Maybe he sensed something in my tone. Glen looked overawed for just a second, but his fighting spirit quickly rekindled and he snapped back, “You can’t be an adventurer if you’re scared of dying, dumbass!”

  He had guts. But how much?

  “Alright, but have you ever thought of a situation worse than death?”

  “Huh?”

  “Snake-beasts paralyze their enemies and dissolve them alive in their stomachs over several days. Have you ever imagined what it feels like for your body to be slowly dissolved?”

  Alex breathed in sharply and gulped.

  “Or becoming a zombie,” I said, while apologizing internally to Stagnate. “Or losing all your arms and legs and unluckily surviving. Or getting taken away by bandits and being sold into bondage.”

  If he gave himself over to anger and rushed into the deep part of Beast Woods teeming with beasts, those were the kinds of fates that awaited him, unless he was blessed with very good luck. Well, actually, Beast Woods was too dangerous for there to be many bandits, but the others were true. In any case, if I could get him to reconsider, that would be for the best.

  Glen grit his teeth, then drew in a breath and said, “We’ve got nowhere to go back to anyway! We’ve got no choice.”

  Apparently they had no way of retreating. Glen, I supposed, had either been abandoned or lost his parents or something. From the look of Alex’s gloomy expression, it was the same for him.

  “But Glen, I think Alex there won’t be able to abandon you. Alex is going to die with you.”

  That took the wind out of his sails. He bit his lip. He had come all the way to Torch Port in desperation, with no knowledge and no idea of what to do. He was simply trying to use anger and momentum to force his way through the anxiety of not being able to see a way forward or a way out. I was sure that even he knew that continuing on this path would get him nowhere.

  “U-Um, are you... an adventurer?” Alex asked.

  “No, I’m not.” At least, I didn’t think I could call myself that anymore. “But I kind of understand them.”

  “Y-You do? Then please! Please tell us! What should we do?!”

  “Okay, so...”

  Even when the situation is against you, full of unknowns, and panic is running high, first calmly gather information. The passion Glen had was important, but Alex’s calm disposition was also an important quality to have. With both those traits between them, their chances of survival looked good.

  “Forget about the Brown Bear for the time being. At the end of that street, there’s a tavern with a sign outside like a big fish. It’s called the Cerulean Seagod. Try giving that place a visit. The owner there will look after you.”

  The owner of the Cerulean Seagod would draw together aspiring adventurers who were just starting out into proper parties, assign them requests they could handle, and give them a little bit of advice as well. Unlike the rough inns like the Brown Bear, it was a tavern of relatively—I stress that word—relatively good repute.

  As Alex nodded at me and Glen continued to regard me with a little suspicion, I decided to give them a little more advice, though I knew they hadn’t asked for it.

  “Listen. ‘Adventurer’ probably sounds exciting to you, but do you know what it actually means? It means risk-taker. The job of an adventurer is to take on risk. And it isn’t about being reckless or foolhardy. It’s about making sure you’re absolutely prepared so you can survive, and facing off against risks that are a matter of life and death with everything you’ve got.”

  And then Fate will bias her ruthless dice just a little in your favor.

  “Never get desperate. Check what you’re told. Don’t skimp on gear. And you also need just a little wisdom and courage. And then someday you’ll definitely get to where you want to be.” I grinned. “The good gods bless you.”

  Before I knew it, I had taken Pale Moon’s shortened dagger out and offered it to them.

  “Huh?”

  “Take it.”

  “Heh. A dagger? That’s a hell of—”

  “G-Glen! Glen! It... It has a Sign on it!”

  “A Si—It’s a magic dagger?!”

  “Yep. The Sign really isn’t anything amazing, though. I’m giving it to both of you.”

  I felt that I wanted to celebrate the start of these young adventurers’ journeys. I couldn’t travel out on adventures with Pale Moon anymore. But if Pale Moon, the spear I’d found underground on that day, could travel on adventures with someone else—if its journey could continue—that would surely be a wonderful thing.

  “It has the Word of Light engraved on it, so it should be good as a lantern, at least.”

  “Wh-What are you after?”

  Oh, right, it would be a bit scary for someone to just give you an item like this. After all, they had no idea what I was getting out of this or why I might be doing it. I would find that creepy, too.

  “Well... would you mind sticking around for a bit of a long story?”

  “A long story?”

  “Yep. You see, it’s an ancient warrior tradition when handing over a magic weapon to talk about its history.”

  “It better not be bullshit.”

  “G-Glen!”

  I laughed. “I don’t mind if you treat it that way.”

  In exchange, I thought it was only fair for me to keep them a while.

  “This is the story of a spear,” I began. “It was forged by ancient dwarves, it killed a chimera, it punched through dragonscale...”

  And the Faraway Paladin trusted it more than anything else in the world.

  I recounted the journey of Pale Moon, which was always there to light up the world, even on nights when the darkest clouds covered the sky.

  — Finis.

  Afterword

  To all of you with a completed book in your hands, allow me to begin with a greeting. I am Kanata Yanagino, deeply obliged to see you all once again. With your support, I was able to publish this third book. Thank you so much.

  I sit here with the revised manuscript now finished, writing the afterword and thinking back to one year ago. I remember being quite panicked at the time, particularly while I was writing Primus. The problem was the size of it. I discussed the parts that would correspond to the third book beforehand with my friends and set the storyline in stone before I ever started to write. But once I got writing, to my horror, the amount of text started to grow far beyond what I had planned.

  I had heard from several sources that this was something that happens sometimes when writing a novel. However, I had wrapped up books one and two with about the amount of text I was expecting—beginner’s luck, perhaps. The pixie of carelessness and conceit took hold of me, I started to think, Maybe I actually have a keen sense for text length? and then reams of text took me completely by surprise.

  As the volume of text continued to grow, I g
ot very panicked and started rushing the story along, and my friend K-sensei had some words with me about that. The day I scrapped quite a large amount of text and rewrote it is one I remember vividly.

  This work was an amateur creation published on the net. It was something I was writing as a hobby, the way I wanted it, with the story unfolding the way I wanted it to unfold. That was how it was supposed to be. But once I got lucky enough to be published commercially, greed started to surface whether I wanted it to or not. I wanted all the story’s turns to be more interesting, to make sure all the things I mentioned early served their function by the end, to keep it all down to the size of one volume. I even wanted to leave a little bit of extra space if possible to fit a bonus story in the published version.

  I wanted it to be popular. I wanted it to sell. I wanted it to be a work that I could show to others with pride. I came to the realization that although the volume of text had inflated hugely, more than anything, what had inflated were my own desires.

  After that, I had a change of heart. You can’t eliminate these kinds of desires completely, but I did my best to suppress them and go back to basics. I decided to write as I wanted, not worry about volume, pretend I had never been contacted about a book version, and tell the story of Will’s adventure that I wanted to tell. Before I knew it, my pen was flowing naturally again. As I wrote the battles in the last act in particular, I was very excited and absorbed, and words flowed straight from my mind to the page. I feel as though writing this story has taught me a lot of important things.

  This third book was stuffed to the gills with the many things I received from the fantasy worlds I fondly remember from my past. I sincerely hope you all enjoyed it as well.

  Finally, some acknowledgments. To Kususaga Rin-sensei, who drew such beautiful illustrations for me: I am filled with happy feelings every volume whenever I lay eyes on your drawings. I also want to congratulate you on the release of your art book, Genji Asai / Kususaga Rin Art Works. I was very moved by the comments you made on the illustrations included from this series. I adore Menel’s design.

  To Minoru Kawakami, who provided the testimonial on the obi strip: I am deeply grateful. I have been a fan of yours since the first time I laid hand on your work in middle school.

  To all my friends, thank you once again for the many ways you have helped me.

  To my editor and the editors at Overlap; everyone involved with this book’s printing, sales and marketing, and everything else related; and to you, the person who took this book into your hands, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  Praying that we can meet again,

  Kanata Yanagino, November 2016

  Copyright

  The Faraway Paladin 3 Secundus: The Lord of the Rust Mountains

  by Kanata Yanagino

  Translated by James Rushton

  Edited by Sasha McGlynn

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 Kanata Yanagino

  Illustrations by Kususaga Rin

  Cover illustration by Kususaga Rin

  All rights reserved.

  Original Japanese edition published in 2016 by OVERLAP, Inc.

  This English edition is published by arrangement with OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo

  English translation © 2017 J-Novel Club LLC

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.

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  Ebook edition 1.0: October 2017