Ossan Boukensha – 144

Chapter 144 – Different Color

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The clear sky was high and felt like autumn.

That being said, these areas were warm, even during the winter. Not only did it not snow, but the leaves did not even fall or turn red. That was likely the reason there were so many bug type monsters here.

I had already gone to the Suelbur Adventurers Guild and told them that I was leaving. I then left and was currently making my way to Mujider.

The road connecting to Mujider was called the Ant Road. Both because killer ants often appeared on it, and since it was the road used to carry the materials.
I passed it before when first heading to Nanaze village, and had used it while completing other quests.

Regardless, it did not take long for me to encounter some killer ants. My senses were numb after living here for three years, but this road was the only place in these lands where you would see so many E-Rank monsters.
I had no trouble defeating them now, but I also could not leave dead bodies on the side of the road. Removing the magic stones and cleaning up was more troublesome than fighting them.

And so I was getting a little frustrated by my slow pace. And then shortly after, a team of riders came up behind.

I moved to the side to let them pass. But then I realized that they were familiar to me.

“Ah, if it isn’t Ajifu. I saw a dead monster and was wondering who was ahead of us.”

It was one of the Adventurer parties who were based in Mujider. I had worked with them when taking down the ant nest.

“Well, it was me. Are you returning to Mujider now?”
“Aye, we are.”

What was his name? I could not remember. He should be D-Rank or E-Rank. Regardless, with more people, my work would be easier. So I was grateful for the change in situation.

However, my feelings changed after I heard the next thing he said.

“If you ask nicely, we might allow you to accompany us.”

I take it back.

Why the superior tone? We were on equal footing here. At this point, I would rather be alone.

“Oh, no. I am not worthy enough to travel with your party. Indeed, I will move out of your way now, so you can continue on your journey.”

They clean the road of monsters this time.

“Eh!? We went out of our way to invite you, and you’re going to refuse?”
“I want to go at a leisurely pace. Now, move on, move on.”

I said, waving them away. But then a different member approached.

“Mezen! I told you to be more careful about how you speak! Ajifu, he didn’t mean anything by it. Still, we will go on ahead if you insist.”
“It doesn’t matter. Though, maybe you should have someone else negotiate next time. Really.”
“Aye, apologies.”

Mezen. Yes, that’s what his name was. Well, thankfully, the other members were reasonable, and there was nothing else to worry about. They then raised their hands towards me and continued on their way.

Switching gears, I returned to Mulze and climbed onto the saddle. I had finally gotten used to the stiff prosthetic leg. Though, it was difficult to walk in if I wasn’t continuously charging it with magic. So it would have been useless if I didn’t have the parallel thought skill.

And so slowed my pace a little and moved down the road. I stayed on my guard, but there were no signs of monsters. No signs of fighting either, suggesting Mezen and the others had also not encountered any.

Without such violence, you could really enjoy the beauty of the forest. The autumn flowers of the trees were in bloom. Birds were gathered on the branches. The smell of the soil was sometimes sweet due to fallen fruits.
And so I swayed on my horse while listening to the songs of birds whose names I did not know. Occasionally, I would see small animals running between trees.

…How peaceful.

I almost felt like yawning. But there had been plenty of killer ants before. To change right after I stopped being in the lead… That seemed rather unfair.

But wait. These kinds of changes could mean that something was about to happen. It wasn’t unusual. And so I raised my guard even higher as I continued down the road.

Once I had that mindset, the change made itself known quite quickly. Which is to say, I heard a roar coming from up ahead. This was…

I increased my speed, and then heard human voices as well. There was a battle. No, I was not feeling slightly satisfied.

Eventually, the brown beast came into view. I guessed it after hearing the roar. A murder bear. A relative of the murder grizzle I had once fought in the royal capital. It was a little smaller, but faster. Both were D-Rank.

When I approached, I saw that one of the horses had gone down. Mezen seemed to be hurt as well. Had they been ambushed?

The other members had dismounted and were fighting.

“Let’s go!”

I rushed forward on Mulze and jumped into the fight.

When we arrived, I lept down and unsheathed my sword. Two of the men had distracted the bear while the others dragged Mezen away.

“I’ll heal you! Mei-lei-mote-sei Heal!”
“Ajifu! Bastard! Why is the horse first!”
“The horse never annoyed me.”

The horse was badly wounded, but after casting Heal two times, it was able to get up and move to the back. It should be fine now. Good, good.”

“But I didn’t do anything!”
“You were rude.”
“This is no time for this! Ajifu, hurry!”

One of the others shouted as they tried to stop the murder bear.

Hurry, right.

“Fine.”

I stepped forward, to the side of the two who were distracting the bear.

“No, Heal…”

Did someone say something?

I put all my weight on my prosthetic leg and leaned forward. It was made of wood that was stronger than iron, but now it was pliant in a way that was hard to imagine, considering how difficult it usually was to use.

And then I stepped forward, releasing the pressure. Forwards, not upwards. The built up force carried my body in a trajectory that was different from simply kicking off the ground.
There wasn’t much distance. However, this move, which was like moving parallel to the ground in an instance, was timed perfectly to the murder bear’s attack.

When I was in striking distance, the bear’s arm had only just started to swing down.

“Too slow.”

Minebreaker swung upwards, leaving a blue trace in the air and drawing an arc.
It went through the arm that was in its trajectory, continuing even after cutting through bone.

Its eyes were still fixed on me, as if it didn’t realize its arm had been cut.

I flipped Minebreaker in the air and then drew another arc downwards.

“Hah.”

With one breath, the attack slammed into its neck.

“Gra…”

Before it could fully react, blood sprayed and then the light faded from its eyes. And the giant body tumbled to the ground.

I moved away to not get covered in blood, and confirmed that it would not move.

Blooded dripped down my blade and to the ground. I looked and saw that there was not a single chip on it. It was definitely a good sword.

I leaned the now heavy blade on my shoulder and turned around.

“Fast enough for you?”
“…”

They were frozen. Maybe I had gotten too carried away.

“Uh, ah… Yes, thank you. You really are C-Rank. It was impressive.”

They finally rebooted. C-Rank. Right. I had heard that quite a lot in Rokuidol.

Back then, I had not been C-Rank for long, and did not feel that there was much of a difference. But three years had passed. I had fought so much in the forest. So perhaps I was finally a proper C-Rank Adventurer.
At the very least, I was at a point where D-Rank monsters didn’t bother me. Well, except the ones that were a really poor match.

“And uh, could you maybe heal Mezen while you’re still here?”
“If he wants to ask nicely.”

I sheath my sword on my back and turned to him with folded arms.

“You never needed our protection. I was wrong. Sorry.”

He said with a bow, and a surprising lack of resistance. Hey, now that made me feel a little bad.

“Hmm… Alright then. Mei-lei-mote-sei Heal.”

And then his wound started to heal. While it had been in a bad place, the wound itself wasn’t too big.

“Instead of a healing fee, can you clean this up for me? You can have the materials.”

I said, pointing to the massive bear on the road.

“Of course, we don’t mind, but… Are you sure?”
“I couldn’t carry it on my own. And it would take too long to carve it up. I want to stay at the village inn tonight.”
“If you insist then. Right?”
“Aye.”
“Well, I’ll leave you to it then.”
“Ajifu. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”

And so I got back onto Mulze. A short while later, I let out a quiet sigh.

Hah… At this rate, I would never have enough money.

◆◆◆◆

We saw Ajifu riding off on his horse.

Only the murder bear corpse was left behind. It was a big one, and we struggled, even though there were three of us. But it had been cut so cleanly here, that we would be able to sell the skin at a high price.

“He must have a good sword, but great skill as well. I shudder when I think about it.”
“In spite of his leg, too…”

We surrounded the bear and got to work. While also thinking back on what we had seen.

“Still…”
“What?”

Mezen stopped and raised his head. We had to hurry, or killer ants might come.

“He killed a murder bear in an instant…alone. Is that normal for a C-Ranker?”

Indeed, if it was a party, it should be easy enough. But soloing it was another matter.

“Well, I suppose it depends on the person.”
“So he is on the stronger end of C-Rank.”
“Well, he is also a priest who can heal.”

We looked down at the wound. He had cleanly targeted its throat. Such precision and speed…

“He must be close to B-Rank.”
“Maybe I’ll say hello when I see him again.”
“You should have been doing that before!”

Well, I doubted he would change his habits.

Still, Ajifu had been mostly healing people during the raid on the ant nest. And so I hadn’t realized how skilled he was.

Perhaps we should warn the others once we return to Mujider.

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