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Translator: Raizu
Editor: Shirayuki
Chapter 17 – Hangleton
Although the road often meandered, it gradually became wider and my field of vision opened up.
On the way, I was surprised to find that a figure jumped out and was mercilessly run down by cavalry, but apparently it was a demi-human race.
[Demi-human] in this world refers to the monster version. There are the beast-eared girls that I saw at the slave trading company in Slurge, even those with skin colors that are impossible to find on Earth. However, they’re not considered as demi-human.
[Demi-human] are pretty much monsters that look human-like. Thus, therefore has this unquenchable hatred for humans.
[There are many demi-humans in the eastern wetlands. The danger of encountering them will increase from now on.]
Elliot said this during one of the breaks.
It was also listed in the materials I read, so I had already prepared for it. However, there may be things that I couldn’t learn just from reading, so it’s reassuring to be accompanied by a group of people who seem to have a lot of experience.
Isn’t this bad for a guard?
Since the magic gun is no longer hidden from Elliot and the others, it is a relief that I can use it openly. It would be silly if I still had to hide it despite being in a pinch, and I wonder what would have happened to me during the encounter with the rock dog the other day if I didn’t have the magic gun. It’s difficult to balance that aspect. What will I do after breaking up with Elliott and the others?
The small number of demi-humans that appeared slowly were kicked away by the leading cavalry without the need to use magic guns, and the small number of bird-shaped monsters were chased away with bows.
As the sun set, we picked up speed and rushed towards the town wall.
The town is called Hangleton.
Hangleton’s walls are lower than Slurge, and the town as a whole feels smaller.
Apparently, the town has its roots in a post station that spontaneously arose along a trade route. It can’t be helped that it’s small compared to Slurge, which were built systematically as settlements and gathered people together.
In recent years, grain cultivation has become popular. So, they took advantage of the wetland area to the east of the town. Maybe we just didn’t understand how prosperous it was because we came from the west.
The rice-like grain that I already recognize as rice? It might have been produced in the east of Hangleton.
Thank you. It’s good rice.
[We’ll stay here for the night… well, we’ll be on guard duty though.]
Elliot said happily. The plan was to camp out tomorrow. Camping in the wild… Well, it would probably be more comfortable than the vagrant-style camping that I experienced early in my stay in Slurge. perhaps.
The group entered a fine inn facing the square in the center of the city.
It’s an inn where nobles stay, so it’s excessive, but considering security, there’s no better place we can stay.
We reserved one suite for Aawinda-sama, two for the cavalry, and one for me, Sasha, Elliot, and the others. However, Patch would be staying in the young lady’s room. It seems that she has become the young lady’s exclusive healer and conversation partner.
Of course, the guards also took turns keeping an eye on Aawinda-sama in front of her room.
There was even a chair for the escort in front of the suite room. It’s amazing.
It’s the kind of world that I had no connection to when I was on Earth.
[There will be three shifts. How about the two ladies, me, then Yoyo and Sasha?]
[No objection.]
When I was diving into one of the large bed lined up in the room, Elliot looked around at everyone and said,
Hmm, isn’t this a nice bed? However, it is hard. Is the spring dead or is there no such mechanism in the first place?
[How about the cavalry troops?]
Marie was lying on the bed next to me, sighing like an old man, but she seemed to have revived.
[They’ll be out on the same shift as us. In other words, each of us will be paired with a member of the cavalry to stand guard.]
[…..so that’s how.]
[It can’t be helped. Our contractor originally asked for our participation because they couldn’t trust their private soldiers, while these soldiers couldn’t trust us. It’s mutual monitoring, isn’t it?]
[I guess.]
Marie sank back into bed.
I’m also a little worried. What if I got paired with that captain? If that happens, how should I even strike up a conversation? No, I’d rather just stay silent. That’s it, the air seems dead.
[…Sasha~]
I quickly reached out to Sasha, who was sitting quietly on the same bed, and asked for healing.
Sasha had prepared herself in advance so that she wouldn’t resist when she was hugged, so she just accepted it with a troubled look on her face. Phew, perfect crime.
I wrapped her in my arms, pressed my face against her chest, and inhaled deeply. Hmm, smells of a trace amount of sweat, which is nice.
[Hua~, that surprised me. Are you always like that?]
Marie, who was lying down with only her face facing me, sighed. Since she was lying down, she didn’t feel as intimidating as usual.
[No, not always…]
[Mostly yes.]
I corrected Sasha’s reply and affirmed it. What have you got to hide? No, nothing (smug).
[Getting along is good and all, but let’s quickly pack up and meet up at the dining room. The food here is delicious, so you can look forward to it.]
[Let’s go now, master.]
Sasha waved me off in seconds and started getting ready. Damn.
===========
The food was definitely delicious. Some kind of berry sauce on boar meat? It was a stylish menu with items that looked familiar.
It’s delicious, but I don’t know what it is supposed to taste like. If I had to describe it, that would be the taste. It was highly rated by the people around me, so I won’t say anything stupid about it.
Then I quickly wiped off the dirt from my body with a cloth and went to bed. I was woken up by Elliot for my guard shift.
[…..]
[….ah, it’s you.]
[…]
Captain Callwing glanced at me as I returned his gaze straight ahead without saying a word.
Why did it have to be this guy!
I quickly gave up on the conversation and was biting my cheek with all my might to drive away the sleepiness when, unexpectedly, someone spoke to me from the other end.
[…It seems like you were active during the day.]
[Yeah?]
I was surprised by the sudden call and made a strange sound.
[…..]
[…..]
[The rock dog]
[Ah. I was just lucky.]
[I couldn’t see it because I was far away, but did you use a magic tool?]
[Ah, yes. I did.]
[They say this magic tool of yours has a peculiar form and can adjust its output?]
[…..right.]
[Are you actually a mercenary who specializes in handling magic tools?]
[Ah, no, I’m not an expert though. It was my first time buying a magic wand? I got excited and practiced a lot.]
[I see. But, manipulating magic is by no means easy.]
[Really?]
[I heard that it’s quite difficult to adjust the output or change the trajectory. But, I’m not all that familiar with it though.]
[Is that so.]
[It is. You may have the talent to be a mage.]
[…thank you.]
[But well, I guess it’s a bit too late to start at your age.]
[Indeed.]
It usually starts with children between the ages of 5 and 10. It must be a tough road to make your debut as a wizard later in life. At least normally.
[Even if you can’t be a magician, your talent for using magic tools is valuable. You should think about making good use of it.]
[I will.]
Well, it’s not a magic staff, it’s a magic gun. Is it also a high technology to change the trajectory of the magic gun? If that’s the case, it means that the qualities of a『Magic Gunner』must be pretty high.
That honestly makes me happy.
And becoming a mage…? Sometimes, in my free time, I did try to change it and do something like practicing magic.
If what this old man… Captain Callwing said is true, and I have a high talent for being a mage, then maybe I should consider focusing on the magic profession.
By the way, my current stats are as follows.
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊Personal Data＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
Yoyo (Human race)
Job: ☆Interferer (13) Swordsman (5) Magic Gunner (6↑)
MP: 21/21
・Parameter
Attack F –
Defense G+ (↑)
Agility F+ (↑)
Endurance G+
Magic F-
Magic Resist G+ (↑)
・Skill
Status Viewing II, Status Manipulation, Add Job II, Display Status, Hide Status
Slightly strong slash
Slightly strong magic attack
・Additional Information
Slave: Sasha
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
The level of『Magic Gunner』has increased, and my defense, agility, and magic resistance have gone up.
If my agility goes up one more level, it will reach E. It’s been less than half a year since I came to this world, so if you think about it using common sense, it’s probably incredibly fast.
However, it seems like even people around here can normally carry up to E level, so they’re probably still weak as mercenaries. It’s just dedication.
Callwing seemed to have said everything he wanted to say, and fell silent, and Sasha, who was standing next to me, was in a state of mouth-chucking from the beginning.
I felt like asking these people what they think about mercenaries who take slaves around, but I don’t want to talk about it because it might turn out to be a nuisance.
Sasha must have read the atmosphere and is doing her best to become part of the atmosphere. She is a slave afterall.
I heard later that the reason we were teamed up with Callwing was because I was the least trusted member of the mercenary group.
Among the cavalry group, Callwing was the least likely to betray us, so with this combination, Callwing was mainly responsible for guarding against us.
Of course, I’d like to think that since he hadn’t done anything suspicious, his credibility wouldn’t have been damaged…but what do I know? There are still many things I don’t know about this world.
===========
I woke the next shift up, and had them take my place while I went to use the restroom.
It couldn’t be helped, but I had an awkward time since Callwing was also in the same restroom.
Naturally, Sasha doesn’t have to work in the morning.
It’s a tough morning.
But, it can’t be helped since it’s work.
[Sasha~]
For now, I grabbed Sasha as she came out of the women’s bathroom, enjoying her scent and softness.
Today, as soon as I finished breakfast, I got ready to leave, and I was going to have a relaxing time as a horse rider.
Now is the time for me to replenish my Sasha’s supply.
[Hey, don’t hug each other in the hallway. You’re getting in the way.]
[…yes.]
I released my embrace the moment I heard Callwing’s.
This little Callwing.
[Master, we don’t have much time. I need to get ready quickly.]
[You’re right.]
Sasha was serious, so I held her hand and moved to the room as a form of resistance.
We completed the preparations while packing our personal belongings, helping bring supplies into the carriage, and acting as a guard.
On the way, a vendor was wandering around the carriage, so I looked at him with my sword drawn and hurried them away.
I felt like I was getting used to this noisy world.
[Well, today and tomorrow will be a crucial moment in terms of fighting monsters. We’ll be taking a route near the spring point. Yesterday we were attacked by a rock dog, but we’ve had plenty of experience fighting such unexpected opponents. It’s possible. Everyone, please be careful!]
Before the group left, Elliot gave a speech to the mercenaries.
Everyone had a firm look on their faces, not too nervous. I’m sure I have a sharp look on my face too. I couldn’t see it though.
[Oi~ Don’t just sit around, Yoyo!]
Marie slapped me on the back. Apparently, this sharp inner feeling was not reflected on my face.
[Yeah, sorry.]
My position today is to the right of the carriage, running parallel to it.
The further we go eastward, the traffic increases and the roads become firmer.
Carriages generally drive on the left, so there is plenty of room on the right side on wide roads. Instead, I need to be careful when passing other carriages.
However, today we’re going to pass through an area where monsters are likely to appear, so the top priority is to be on guard against monsters.
It is said that there will be dog-type monsters, mainly the fang dog that we encountered yesterday, and bird-type monsters such as Kaikerados, as well as demi-humans. And when you’re camping out at night, the owl-like Harpuadon is a threat. It even has cool monikers, such as the hunter of the dark nights.
Yeah, I’m aiming to become a night hunter (figuratively) in my harem, so this is something that I can’t afford to lose.
The deployment of the cavalry, which was led by Callwing, had now completed, and the journey to the east began today.
From here, in order to bypass the wetlands, we will depart from the north gate rather than the east. If I have time, I’ll come back to buy some rice. But for now, goodbye, Hangleton.
[One of them is on its way, can I leave it to you!?]
[Leave it to me…]
Jumping off the horse, I attacked and finished off the demi-human with my sword.
The opponent was humanoid and intelligent, so I thought I would have a hard time. But, the quality of their weapons was too poor.
When I hit the stone tool-like sword head-on and broke it, it became a one-sided battle for me.
After leaving the city, we got off to a good start.
However, as the sun rose higher, the monsters seemed to become more active, and they began to attack more sporadically.
There are especially many demi-humans. This one is called Benbensta, a half-mermaid with scales.
Like the goblins around Slurge, they often form teams of 3 to 5, but most of them are scattered by the cavalry in front.
Even so, if three or four teams come at us, we have to stop and fight back. It’s okay to ignore them and break through, but we decided that it would be better to proceed with the guards eliminating them without causing any accidents.
If we stop and fight back, one or two will slip through and aim for the carriage. My role was to eliminate these slippery ones.
I think if it was one on one, I wouldn’t be left behind… I didn’t know if there were such big differences in weapons.
[Throw away the corpse! Let’s hurry.]
There was no time to extract the Benbensta’s magic stone, so I ran back to ride my horse again.
Well, apparently it’s a monster whose magic stones are small or hard to find, so it doesn’t feel like it’s such a shame to leave them.
The monster’s corpse will attract other carnivorous beasts and monsters, so it needs to be disposed of. But since we were in a hurry, we just threw it all into the hole.
[The goblins!]
After running for another few minutes, a voice of warning flies from the front.
Leave the goblin hunting to me! When I pulled out my sword, what jumped out from the side of the road was a goblin…or is it? What is this?
[Benbensta… isn’t it? But, it looks similar.]
Compared to the humanoid Benbensta, it has no neck and its body is somewhat thinner from the sides. It has an unusual appearance, like a fish with limbs and bipedal walking.
It held a long, slender, handmade wooden spear and glared at us. Its eyes are also somewhat fish-like.
It didn’t look strong though…
Since this was my first time seeing him, I carefully planned my distance and made use of my shield. Only attacking as a form of counter.
The glittering skin, which looked like fish scales, was unexpectedly soft and tore apart when slashed.
[Kiiii!]
The strange fishman let out a shriek, and the two in the back visibly flinched when they heard it.
Taking advantage of that opportunity, I closed in on the first fishman and stole the wooden spear, then threw it with all my might.
It gouged out the eye of the fishman that quickly rolled over. Hmm, this should be fine.
Fishmen no.2 and no.3 were attacked from the side by Marie and were cut into pieces.
No, it was just torn to shreds by force.
[What was this, these guys?]
I tried to stab the fallen fishman with my sword, but it didn’t respond. Looks like it’s dead after all.
[Huh? You heard me, right? It’s a goblin.]
[Goblin…? It’s a lot different from those I saw in Slurge.]
Marie quickly cut off the fishman’s head and showed me a small, transparent piece from the back of the neck bone.
[Look, can you see it? It’s transparent. It’s a non-attribute.]
[Non-attribute…huh?]
It’s the fishman’s magic stone. It’s small, rugged, and misshapen. It’s similar to the magic stone held by goblins in Slurge.
[That’s right… all demi-humans with small non-attribute magic stones are called goblins.]
[I see…]
It’s true that the goblins in Slurge were a little different from the goblins in fiction.
They had hair all over their body, and had a rather ape-like feeling to them.
The information was consistent that they had ugly faces, were small demi-humans, and interbred with humans, so I kind of accepted that they were probably the goblins of this world.
That must have been information about [A type of goblin that appears and hunted near Slurge]. Why such a complicated definition?
[Hehe, well, if you’ve never left Slurge, you can’t help but think that’s the only type of goblin. You’ve learned a new thing and become smarter today.]
[Yeah, you’re right.]
She said it in a playful mocking tone, but I didn’t say anything back because she was totally right. I really should learn more about the common sense of this world.
[Then, why didn’t the materials I read have any mention of goblins that appear around here?]
[You have read the materials? Well, you’re right. There shouldn’t be any goblins coming out from the spawn point around here.]
[Hmm? Then, where do these guys come from?]
[They’re demi-human that lives in wetlands. Like Benbensta, they can breed normally.]
There are truly monsters everywhere in this world.
But since it seems that I can still deal with this type of goblin, I felt relieved.
[Yoyo-kun, are you done? There are more monsters than I expected and progress is slow, so I want to move on as quickly as possible.]
[We can leave anytime, Elliot.]
Fish-man goblins only have small, misshapen magic stones, and there are apparently some individuals who don’t even have stone, so it’s not profitable. We buried the corpses in lightly dug ground and left it alone.
After that, we encountered fang dogs, Benbensta, and goblins that looked like fishmen several times. By the time the sun started to set, we arrived at the open land where we were planning to stay.
A fence had been easily erected around the area, but there were some parts that were broken, so I doubt whether it will be able to prevent monsters.
[The warrior group in this area regularly repairs the fence. But, it seems like it gets torn down every time.]
[Seriously…]
While listening to such unhelpful information, I started a fire and placed it in various places around the accommodation.
An instant soup made from readily available ingredients was simmering over a bonfire in the center. Looks like we’ll have something warm for dinner tonight.
I was grateful that lunch was just a short break and a meal of preserved food.
[So, what about guard duty for tonight?]
[You’ll be teaming up with Captain Callwing again…]
[…..]
[Pfft, I’m just kidding. Stop making that face. I’m sure we’ll have a different combination today.]
[Are you really sure?]
[Here is the most difficult part of the trip. Rather than taking turns to keep watch, we’ll all be staying awake while taking turns on short naps.]
[Alright.]
That’s tough. I think I’ve been quite unreasonable since I came to this world, but the forced march of constant sleep deprivation while on the move is actually pretty normal.
If this were the norm of traveling from town to town, I wouldn’t even think about going on a trip.
I thought it would be a good idea to travel once I had enough money, but… no, since I’m a mercenary, I guess it’s okay to go around various places to earn money.
Is it my turn to take a nap first, late shift? So, I quickly made a tent and got inside the blanket.
It was a light, thin blanket instead of a sleeping bag, so to be honest, it was cold.
But, I have a Sasha pillow. Tentatively, I beckoned her closer and wrapped her tightly in the blanket. Yeah, it’s warm.
My body was exhausted from the harsh journey from yesterday, and as I listened to the sound of Sasha’s breathing and heartbeat, my consciousness slipped into a dream.
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