Live Combat
If only my request had been accepted, I would have cut ties long ago.
Before Leonard petitioned the council and the church for cooperation, Jun had asked him for one favor.
To send the church’s orphans and clergy to another orphanage.
The main reason Jun was cooperating with the house-sitting was that the people he had built bonds with could be put in danger. If only they vanished somewhere else, Jun could leave the church without a shred of lingering attachment.
Or maybe not?
He had accepted payment from Leonard, so he would have helped out of conscience anyway. At least he wouldn’t feel like he had a weakness being held against him the way he did now.
Anyway, to cut to the conclusion: Jun’s request was not accepted.
If the reason had been political, he might have egged Leonard on a little more. But the reason was extremely practical.
Clergy were short everywhere, so they could be reassigned at once. The orphans could not.
Even though more than a hundred years had passed since the Reset, countless adventurers still died in the Labyrinth—the Demon King’s Castle—and the orphans who had lost their adventurer parents had long since filled the orphanages of Lemumni and its subordinate villages to capacity. When two or three more orphanages would still not be enough, they could not afford to let one rest.
Ugh∼
Faced with a situation that rarely went his way, Jun let out a groan of frustration.
As if answering him, Robin—who had just finished checking the traps one last time—spoke.
“While we’re out, assassins might occupy the cabin. I don’t want our family’s territory dirtied by the muddy feet of those filthy bastards.”
The way Robin said it made him look like an alpha wolf protecting his territory and pack, and honestly, it was cool.
I wanted to exude that kind of lofty charisma too.
But the reality was “Girl? Boy? Anyway, pretty pretty.”
His mood soured for no good reason. Jun glared at the main culprit who had made his face that way.
At first puzzled by the stare, the culprit soon realized why he was glaring and grinned bashfully as she nuzzled against his cheek.
“Hmm? Aah. Hehe, if you glare like that, Fortuna gets scaaared.”
“Khuh!”
Jun clutched his heart. He felt utterly pathetic that a single bit of aegyo completely melted his mood. Yet contrary to that feeling, a contented smile formed on his lips and refused to leave.
But she was just too cute—what could he do!
“…What are you doing?”
“Uh… fighting myself?”
“…Well, better than being too tense, I guess. Still, save the fighting for the guy we’ll meet later and let’s go.”
“Yes sir!”
Robin gave a light warning as if dealing with a slightly dim child, then immediately took the lead walking toward the forest. Jun calmly settled his somewhat fluttery heart and followed behind him.
She’s pretty.
Prettier than me?
Compare things that are comparable.
Jun scolded Fortuna for needlessly showing competitive spirit, then looked around again.
The mountain forest, painted red and yellow with autumn leaves, offered a feeling that was a little lonely yet at the same time comfortable. Crunch crunch—the sound of stepping on leaves came across as somewhat cheerful.
While admiring the autumn foliage, he happened to lock eyes with a squirrel. Its cheeks were puffed out full of whatever it was holding in its mouth, and it was extremely cute.
Jun chuckled and pulled an almond from his subspace, shaking it so the creature could see and making a “tsk tsk” sound to call it over. The creature tilted its head for a moment, then vigorously leaped up and flew toward Jun.
Looking closer, it was a flying squirrel.
Thud!
Jun skillfully helped it land. Perhaps because the Blessing of the Social Butterfly had fully activated, ever since moving to the cabin, whenever he walked the mountains for training, animals would occasionally cling to him like this.
Every time—
“Hey! Get off! He’s mine! Don’t lick him!”
—the jealous fairy would, without fail, raise her wings stiff like a hissing cat and chase the animals away.
Swish.
In the end, the flying squirrel couldn’t withstand Fortuna’s pressure, stuffed the almond it had been nibbling into its mouth, and hid itself in a nearby thicket.
“Ah.”
“Ah? Ah?”
When Jun let out a sigh of regret, Fortuna narrowed her eyes and mimicked it. At that reaction Jun made a wronged expression, but she paid no mind, forcibly pulled the hood of his robe over his head, stuck herself right to his forehead, and said,
“Why! Why do you keep flirting with animals!”
“Flirting…”
Jun was dumbfounded. But he didn’t bother getting angry. He had already experienced similar reactions many times, so he knew well that getting angry would only lead to an emotional fight.
So instead of getting angry, he praised her and put on some charm.
“Why would I flirt with animals when Fortuna, who’s way cuter and more lovable than any animal, is right by my side.”
He could sense Robin walking ahead thinking it was pathetic, but for Jun, peace was more important than pride.
“Eh, ehehe∼. Right? I’m the cutest and most lovable… huh?”
At Jun’s praise and charm, Fortuna’s face, which had been cold as thin ice, melted in an instant. Then, perhaps finding herself pathetic for having her mood lifted by a single bit of charm, her mouth was smiling pleasantly but her eyes furrowed as if thinking this isn’t right.
That bizarre face was the spitting image of the one Jun had made earlier while fretting over his own patheticness.
So it’s not just me, Jun thought with relief.
“Jun, put the playfulness aside now. We’re entering its territory soon.”
“I just found it—shall I guide us?”
“…No matter how many times I think about it, that specialized ability is off the charts.”
“The penalty is just as big, though.”
“Only you and the mages think that way.”
Robin gave him a look as if regarding a fraudster, then stepped aside so Jun could take the lead. Figuring that saying more would only sound like the excuses of the privileged, Jun quickly passed him and began guiding the way.
A short while later, as they pushed through the underbrush, an old orc appeared before them.
“Chwik, chwik.”
Squelch! Squelch!
Having just finished a hunt, it was breathing hard as it tore at the hide of the mountain beast in its hands. Every time it moved its hands, its well-developed arm muscles rippled. That alone made it look quite dangerous, but the tattoos and scars packed densely across its entire body amplified the atmosphere even further.
Is this really a guy who’s about to die soon?
Looking at its sagging belly fat and lifeless skin, it certainly seemed its days were numbered, but its eyes alone were still vivid and alive.
“Uncle Robin, I know it’s late to say this, but I think we should change the opponent. That guy, no matter how you look at it, isn’t ordinary.”
“Probably used to be the pack leader. You can’t see it from here, but there’s a huge wound on its back. Once it grew old and slow, a subordinate ambushed it, took its place, and drove it out of the pack.”
Examining it closely through the radar, he could confirm that, just as Robin said, there was a large wound on its back. It seemed some kind of herb had been applied as a temporary measure, but the wound was so deep that it didn’t seem very effective.
Confirming that, Jun could tell what was keeping the old orc’s eyes so vividly bright.
Revenge.
The desire for revenge against the subordinate who had cowardly targeted its back was the driving force of its life.
“Feeling pity?”
“I can’t say not at all.”
“Then from now on, completely abandon that thought. The tattoos carved into its body indicate how many humans it killed, and how cruelly.”
“…”
Jun silently burned the tattoos covering its entire body into his eyes. Pity vanished and anger took its place. His chest grew hot.
“Hoo∼”
Jun exhaled deeply, expelling the flames of anger that threatened to heat even his head.
Chest hot, but head cold!
He repeated once more the virtue more important than anything else in combat.
“If you’re ready, attack—”
Twang.
“Wait. The goal of this live combat is to feel the atmosphere of real battle vividly on your skin, so surprise attacks and ranged attacks are excluded.”
At Robin’s words, Jun shot him a dissatisfied glance, then released the tautly drawn bowstring and collected his bow and arrow. Then he stowed them in his subspace and instead drew a plain jet-black sword as he rose from his position.
Rustle.
With the sound of the underbrush parting, Jun’s figure was fully revealed. The old orc, just about to bite into its prey, had its gaze nailed to Jun.
“…Chwik.”
Not having wasted its years, the old orc, rather than charging at Jun recklessly, picked up the large axe it had set on the ground and scanned its surroundings. Fortuna was in spirit form, and Robin had crouched low into full stealth, so it found nothing. But its wariness, far from lowering, rose even higher.
But that too was brief—
Step step.
As Jun began walking toward it, its expression turned ambiguous. Then, catching his scent carried on the wind—
Sniff! Sniff!
—it made an excited expression.
Grit!
“This pig bastard.”
Jun, enraged, pointed the sword in his hand at it. At that fierce reaction, its erect thing twitched as if mocking him. An unpleasant chestnut blossom scent stabbed at the tip of his nose.
“I’ll kill you!”
Jun surrendered his body to the irresistible impulse.