Forest Path
When we passed through the fog, we came out into an ordinary forest. Unlike within the barrier, it sounded quite lively. And the more familiar forest air filled me with relief.
“The monsters to the north are stronger, so we’ll take a route where the trees are less dense, and we’ll be less likely to be attacked. Though, the Guardians have been more active recently, so there may be fewer monsters anyway.”
Mezerir rode on Mulze again, and guided the way. Even though there was not much of a path. Just fewer branches in the way, which made it easier for horses to travel through.
The cave that the goblins made their home was in a part of the forest that was not far from the village. But even though I was in the depths of the northern forest for the first time, there were fewer monsters than I expected. But still, I could not lower my guard. After all, it made sense that there would be fewer weak monsters, if this was the territory of a strong one.
On the other hand, it meant that the area right outside of that territory would have a lot of weaker monsters. It was like that around Nanaze village. But as the elf guardians traveled through here, there shouldn’t be anything too bad. Regardless, we still had to be careful.
As I was walking, a certain tree trunk caught my eye. It had scratches that showed something had been marking its territory. However, they were not new. The height of the marking also suggested the size of the monster.
“A murder bear? It was some time ago.”
“Now that I think about it, Mr. Finze said he killed one on the way back.”
So I was right then. The strongest monster in a territory was the one to leave its mark. And so if the Rank-D murder bear was gone, then it was unlikely that there was anything stronger than it here.
As expected, there were no encounters after that for some time. But then suddenly, Mulze stopped while I was leading him by the reins.
“Mezerir, move back.”
“Fine. Be careful.”
Mulze would not stop without reason. And I had noticed that it had become eerily quiet. There must be something nearby.
And so I had Mezerir move back so that she could escape if there was a sudden attack.
“Me-zroi-tar-mez-rei. Protection.”
I cast the protection magic in preparation, but then I was faced with my first problem. I had not noticed it while trying it in the workshop during the day, but along with the light attribute boost, Protection was brighter in the dim forest than I was expecting. It had never been suited for hiding, but now it was even worse. It completely defeated the purpose of having plain brown armor.
“Tsk.”
Well, there was no sneaking around now. And so I moved into a clearing and looked around.
In the next instant, I heard rustling and turned around while raising my sword. Just as a monster rushed towards me while swinging its claws.
I raised my sword in order to block it. But its weight continued to press down. And so I moved my prosthetic leg back, hoping it would be able to support me.
It was about three meters in length, and looked heavy. However, while the prosthetic leg usually felt too stiff, it held to the ground firmly, and supported my body, even with the monster’s weight.
“Grrrrr.”
We stared at each other while comparing strength. The monster had two long fangs in its mouth, and its body had black and green stripes. I had seen such saber tigers before in the forest.
They were D-Rank, and though they were called tigers, they looked closer to cheetahs.
Fighting such a thing with one sword would have been suicide back on earth. If my sword went down from the weight, it would be able to bite me with its sharp teeth. But I did not have the strength to push it away either.
“Light!”
“Graah!”
Stunned by the sudden magic light, the saber tiger stood up on its hind legs.
“Hyah!”
I swept aside now that the weight was gone, and a little stream of blood flowed from the wound on its front legs. Still, it clearly had very tough skin.
We both moved back, and for a moment, our eyes met. In the next instant, the saber tiger jumped to the side, and then turned while landing and jumped towards me. Its movements were smooth and graceful like a cat.
I dodged it by jumping to the side, and using my gauntlet to parry the claws. Sparks flew as our bodies passed each other.
While I had thought that I would be safe from it, my footwork was clumsy, and its claws had reached me. The spring really wasn’t moving like how I imagined. Had the claws not struck out, I could have swung down with my sword. But since I parried it with my gauntlet, I had to hold the sword with one hand. And I could not swing fast enough like that to hit it.
“Grrrruurr…”
The saber tiger growled as it began to circle me. Every time it twisted its striped body, its silhouette grew hazy. Or at least it tricked your eyes into seeing it that way.
“Hyah!”
As the situation would not improve by just staring, I moved forward and swung my sword. But the saber tiger jumped back swiftly, and then started to circle me again.
Well then… with my sword on my shoulder, I turned around and ran. Mezerir had been watching from a distance, and I saw her turn Mulze around frantically. Sorry.
“Graah!”
I looked over my shoulder while running, and the saber tiger had already caught up and was about to pounce on me.
And so I gripped the sword with both hands and suddenly dug my heels into the ground like slamming onto the breaks.
“Hmph.”
And with that momentum, I swung upwards. Just as I heard the awful noise of its claws against the back of my armor, my sword thrust up into the saber tiger’s throat.
The blade pierced through its skin and went deep into the flesh.
“Woah!”
The tiger died while in mid-jump, and as I had been supporting the sword, I was still under it as it collapsed. Its mouth was open wide, as if it could still bite me. I was just desperate to avoid its fangs.
“Well done.”
I crawled out from underneath the saber tiger, and then Mezerir dismounted and offered me a handkerchief.
“What are you going to do with it?”
She asked while I wiped the blood from my armor. The fangs, magic stone and skin of a saber tiger would fetch a good price. Especially since this one had few wounds. But it was also over three meters long. It would take too much time to start carving it here. Though, it wouldn’t be too bad if I just took the fangs and magic stone.
“Are we still far from the goblin nest?”
“Yes, we still have a ways to go.”
“Then I’ll just take the magic stone and fangs. Wait one moment.”
We were still in the northern part of the forest. And I wasn’t alone, so this was no time to dawdle around because of greed.
I turned the saber tiger over onto its back. Then I cut open its chest and extracted the stone, and pulled out its teeth.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s go.”
“I thought you were going to save up money?”
“I will. A little by little.”
I said as I tossed the stone up into the air. I mean to catch it, but then it bounced out of my hand and fell to the ground. And so I frantically picked it up and put it away.
“That’s going to take a long time.”
“That’s what makes it worth doing.”
Mezerir looked exasperated, but I did not want to be reckless. As long as I was an Adventurer, life would be dangerous.
If all I cared about was money, there were other things I could do that were safer. However, I had come all of this way to another world. And so in spite of the danger, I wanted to see and experience this world for myself.
And if I was going to tolerate danger, I should also stay a little cowardly towards it.
Bonus chapters courtesy of ShitaiNoKootoRyuu. Thank you so much!!
Thank you ShitaiNoKootoRyuu and Jawbrie
Absolute ditto! Nice fight.