What I Lost

Slash.

I cut the web that was attached to my shield, and then the tense webs snapped loudly.
This caused the Giant Spider to fall back, lose its balance, and plummet to the ground.

It finally came down!
I rushed towards it in order to attack.

Clang.

First, I wanted to deal with its legs, so it could no longer climb the trees, but the shell on its legs was hard!
It used two of its eight legs to block my sword, and then began to thrust with them. I only had one sword, and it had two. But I could not allow it to overwhelm me.

“Arrrghhh!”

I just have to block it with my shield, and push it back with speed and chained attacks! And then!

Clang.

Finally, one of the legs gave in under the pressure of successive attacks, and went flying up.

“Yes!”

I thrust my sword into the inner joint of the leg, and severed it.
Good. Its hind legs wouldn’t be able to reach me. Now I could see its head!

Clang.

The sound rang as my shield blocked the other leg.

Shhhhhhhhiiiiii!

Its mandibles rose and a string of webs shot out. But I knew it would do that!
I dodged it easily. It then moved while still spewing the webs. And just as I swung my sword down on its head…

Thud.
“What?!”

Something slammed into my back. It was Fosite.
The Giant Spider wasn’t trying to dodge me at all. It had caught Fosite in its webs and was pulling him closer.
I lost my balance and stumbled. This was bad.

However, instead of attacking me, the Giant Spider jumped high into the air.

Was it running away!?

That’s what I thought. However, it landed on the ground near Nebby, who was too stunned to move.

It bared its fangs and started to attack Nebby. Damn it! I wouldn’t be able to reach them in time!

“Arrghhh!”

Still, I ran and then threw the sword I was carrying.

Stab.

After flying through the air, the blade plunged into the soft stomach. The Giant Spider shook violently.
However it continued to hover over Nebby.

Still, I had slowed it down! It was enough!

The Giant Spider’s wide jaw moved towards Nebby. And in the nick of time, I jumped in and kicked its biting head.

Bam.

The Giant Spider’s head was thrown back, along with my greave and torn right leg.

“Gaaahhh!”

A burning pain shot up my right leg, but I had to ignore it now! I pulled out the short sword at my belt, and from a kneeling position, leapt onto the Giant Spider’s head.

Stab.
The blade burrowed deep within.

The giant spider’s head fell to the ground, but its legs were still twitching. As if embracing it, I plunged the short sword into the neck, and then it finally stopped moving.

It hurrtttttsss!!

“Gah!”

But I was a man. I gritted my teeth and held the wound as I grabbed a potion from my bag.

“He-here!”
“Gaahh…”

Nebby handed me a potion, which I poured over my leg, and I drank the potion from my bag. After a moment, the pain began to subside a little.

“Haa…haa…”

Finally, the wound closed up and the bleeding stopped.
But when I looked down, everything below my right calf was gone.
Potions did not reconnect or regrow what had been severed.
Damn it. I messed up. What the hell was I going to do now?

“Uh, I…”
“Uh…”

Ah, the other two were panicking as well.

“Fosite. You carve up that Giant Spider. Take the magic stones, fangs, and the web sack if it’s not damaged. Nebby. Find a tree branch that I can use as a staff… Though, that might not be enough. Well, find me several of them.”

“Ye-yes.”
“Ye-yes.”

As the fangs of a Giant Spider were poisonous, I should drink an antidote potion as well.

With the gathered branches I made a fire, and then I used my carpentry skill to combine the branches Nebby gathered to make an emergency crutch.
As halving all that weight on one foot would be hard, I wrapped my stump with leather and attached a stick to it. It was not stable, and I couldn’t put much weight on it, but it did help keep me balanced. It would have to do until we reached the village.

“Um, I’m sorry.”

Nebby said as she bowed her head.

“You might want to save that for when we reach the village. As you can see, I can no longer fight, so I’m now relying on you. If you feel sorry for me, keep your eyes on our surroundings.”

I said as I scanned the forest, which was now covered in darkness. This was no time to relax.

“Light.”

I raised my hand and created a light source that was about the size of a softball. If it was just me, I could use my night vision skill, but there were two others here as well.

“Are you a priest?”

“No, just a believer.”

I rose up on one leg in order to test the crutch. I think I might have made it a little too short?

The three of us moved through the dark forest. But with one person walking with a crutch, we could not move very quickly.

I had spent many nights in a forest. However, it was very different when you could not hold a weapon.
I felt as if there were monsters hiding in the shadows of every tree. And that we were being targeted from above as well.
I was being crushed with anxiety.
My leg, which should have been healed, began to hurt again.
Perhaps I should have spent more money on armor instead of an expensive sword.
Even though I knew it was pointless to regret, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I suppose my spirit had weakened. Was there a gap inside of me, now that I had lost a part of my body?

As I thought of such things, Fosite raised his voice.

“Up ahead! Two goblins!”

“Gugyaa!!

“Gya-gya!”

“Fosite. You’re too loud. They noticed us.”

“Goblins aren’t anything to fear!”

Fosite raised his spear and moved forward. To think that I had to rely on him now…

…Hmm?

No, wait, wait! Why had I given up on fighting? That’s not right, is it!?
I’m broken. This is the end. No, I wouldn’t let that happen!

“Get out of my way.”

I told Fosite in a low voice.

“No, not with that leg…”
“Gugya!”

As the goblin rushed forward, I cast aside the crutch and stood on one leg as I unsheathed my sword.

“Stand back.”

Again, this time with a kind of rage in my voice.
It was intimidating enough to make Fosite step back with his spear.

“Gya-gya!”

The goblin swung its club without a hint of caution.
While I couldn’t move towards it, I could attack from here.

“Gya!”

While on one foot, I held my sword towards the ground, and then swung upwards into its body. The speed of my sword was different!
But even with my center of gravity shifting, I concentrated on the trunk of my body. Please work, Parallel Thought.

“Gugya!”

As the goblin was cut in half, the other goblin approached from behind. Now that my blade was high in the air, I slashed downwards with it.

Oh. My body was taken with the swing. Moving your upper body like this really affected your center of gravity.
Around me…there were no monsters. I wiped my blade and returned it to its sheath. Then I picked up my crutch again.

“So, Fosite. Nebby.”

“Ye-yes.”

“Ye-yes.”

“Sorry, but from the looks of things, I can’t rely on you. You go on ahead and return to the village.”

“Oh, but we couldn’t…”

I turned Light off, and we were surrounded in darkness.
But when I squinted with my night vision skill, I could see the usual night time forest sprawling out. I didn’t feel scared of the darkness anymore.

“You saved our lives! We cannot leave you here!”

Nebby agreed.

“You lost a friend and put your own lives in danger, yet you haven’t learned anything. I’m not using this body to look after you anymore.”

“You talk as if we are baggage, but you can barely walk! Fine, if you wish to die so much! Nebby! Let’s go!”

Fosite lit a torch and gestured for Nebby to follow him.
While Nebby glanced back at me a few times, the two walked on ahead.

I did feel bad about it. If my body had been in perfect health, I may have taught them the basics of being an Adventurer.
They were young, and this could have been a rare opportunity for them to learn something important. I didn’t know how I was going to face the children at the orphanage now.

However, with their current ability, a rescue mission was impossible. And if they tried to help me, we would just get in each other’s way.
A drowning person must not latch onto another drowning person.
While it looked bad, separating was the best way for each of us to make the most of our ability.

“Now…”

This was no time to be worrying about other people.
And so I continued at a slow pace with my crutch through the forest. All I could hear were the sounds of insects and the chirping of birds.
The forest air was the same as always.

As I cautiously continued onwards, I came upon a goblin corpse that had its magic stone removed. They must have defeated it.

Thankfully, I didn’t encounter any monsters, and eventually, the village came within sight.

Though, when I finally arrived, bonfires had been lit, and security seemed to be heavy.

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Ossan Boukensha no Jimichi na Isekai Tabi