Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Scout (Complete)
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As I emerged from the cave, the enemies had already gathered just twenty paces ahead.
The men, now little more than monsters, all fixed their twisted gazes on me.
"Mister, don't tell me you've been killing them all off...?"
"They transformed on their own. I just beat them."
"They changed without you even killing them? Well, I know something about that."
Aster seemed to have a fair bit of knowledge about necromancy.
According to her, resurrecting the dead without magic made it hard to inflict damage.
But these were more like processed living beings, so they weren't as powerful as true undead, she explained.
I'd never actually seen walking corpses before, so I nodded.
It hit me just how much there was in the world that I didn't know.
"How do you know about stuff like that?"
"Well... I looked into various methods while trying to create reliable allies, and..."
"Yeah, I think that's enough of that."
Luckily, the alcohol kept me from prying further, I thought.
Booze could be good for something now and then. I shook my head clear and leaped down from the cave entrance.
Crunch...
As I hit the ground, I felt their filthy stares boring into me.
A demon had possessed the worshipper's body, and it addressed me in an echoing voice.
"So, you're the one who stole my seal? Teaming up with a little rat, no less."
"Mister, that's..."
"Don't get close enough to take a good look at that ugly thing."
This girl was endlessly curious, hopping right beside me and staring fearlessly into the demon-possessed man's eyes.
Even to me, the guy looked grotesque, but her stomach was clearly made of sterner stuff.
The demon ignored Aster's gaze entirely, fixing me with a sticky, intense stare.
"I don't know why you're taking it, but your pet rat and you both end here."
He slowly raised both arms.
The monsters around him immediately spread out like wings unfolding, surrounding the cave entrance.
A faint sigh escaped Aster's throat.
Emboldened by her reaction, the demon puffed up with arrogance.
"Strange warrior. Think you can kill them all and leave?"
The men lacked weapons, but their newly formed exoskeletons made them seem tougher.
It was obvious taking them all out would be tough.
Dull Knife in particular had transformed almost into a golem.
His muscle-packed frame, battered and bloodied from our fight, had hardened into something like armor.
He shoved the others aside and lumbered toward me.
"......"
Aster cast me a distant look.
It was a gaze asking if I could handle them all.
She trusted me, but fear made her tremble slightly.
Anyone would shake. No matter how you sliced it, wiping out this force was impossible.
"Worried?"
"You see that and aren't worried? Any normal person would die the second they stepped in there."
"Yeah, this is bad."
"...... Let's break through together. I'll hit that big lump first."
She stood tall beside me as she said it.
She was much smaller than me, but having her there gave me a surge of spirit.
Thinking about it, Aster was proactive in everything, born with a strong will.
She'd planned our strategy and showed real leadership. She had her cute side too, but she felt like a commander worth following.
A cute commander—quite the unique woman.
"We might not need to kill them all."
I stroked her head and stepped forward.
Dull Knife greeted me by raising his massive arm and slamming it into the ground with thunderous booms.
True to form, the man who'd charged first was still bold even as a monster.
The demon seemed awfully confident in his creation.
"Without your staff, you're nothing, right?"
I'd left the staff behind—it wasn't needed anymore anyway.
In a fight where killing was necessary, a blunt tip was less mercy and more ignorance.
Shing.
I drew my sword.
Among them, only the bald man whose wrist I'd severed had seen it before...
He was the sole one standing far off with horns sprouting from his head.
I was a different beast with a sword than with a staff.
Pity no one knew that. I decided to show them myself.
"A drunken fool like you... A bug on the rose—devour him."
Dull Knife let out a roar and charged me.
Unlike the others, his speed and power had improved dramatically.
"Compared to the weak materials, that one's quite usable."
Each time his heavy fist whistled past my cheek, I felt the air shudder with pressure.
One vibration nearly drowned out my heartbeat.
Splat!!
Whether it was poor aim or sheer recklessness, one of his wild swings pulped an ally.
He didn't care. He just kept barreling at me to crush me flat.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
I didn't swing my sword, just moved minimally to weather his gusts fully.
It wasn't a pleasant breeze, so the fight wasn't exactly fun.
Sweat began pooling inside my mask.
'Let's see if I really have to kill them all.'
I let my body flow as before, when I'd shattered his arm, moving at full tilt.
Staggering, he bared fangs piercing his skin and lunged to grab me, teeth clacking.
But in the instant I raised my shoulder.
Whoosh!
I lifted my sword diagonally, and he instinctively raised both arms to block.
Silence fell—not because I swung, but because I held back.
Everyone held their breath in the tense air.
"Grraaah...!"
Dull Knife twisted his grotesque face like a man whose pride had been shattered. Something about blocking triggered bad memories, even as a monster.
Confirmed. With that, I finally swung.
No deep technique, just a savage blade.
The sword glanced off his fist, slicing through his bicep.
Whoosh!
His fist barely missed my shoulder, and I pulled the blade back to carve both thighs at once.
He unleashed a barrage of strikes. I halved his forearm with my sword.
"Graaah!"
Thud!
Dull Knife staggered back bit by bit.
I carved a massive X across his chest—not done yet.
Feeling the sweat build, I swung a touch more seriously.
Time seemed to freeze.
The cheap buzz lingered, but with focus, the world sharpened like before the drinks.
Abdomen, calves, ears, cheekbones.
Blood sprayed, his stance sinking lower.
Boom, thud... boom.
Even landing blows grew laborious for him.
Nose and most of his face, pelvis, several fingers.
His armored shoulders and raised palms.
Blood fountained along every path my sword had taken.
He was pushed back. Pushed, and pushed again.
The massive monster's front was torn open as he retreated step by step.
My sword wasn't precise strikes to vitals.
It was like an oncoming gale, shoving whatever it saw—
"Graaah...!"
Before I knew it, his body was a mangled ruin, worse than that.
The trail of blood he'd bled while retreating stretched like a road behind me.
After relentless assault, his limbs gave out, and he dropped to one knee.
Thud!
His huge frame hit the dirt.
Looking around, the monsters were all behind me now.
My onslaught had pierced their encirclement.
"......What are you?"
I hadn't even beheaded Dull Knife.
He simply collapsed forward as I flicked the blood from my blade onto the ground.
A bizarre silence settled.
These monsters had some reason left—fragile, but there. As I'd said, they were processed from the not-quite-dead, so they ignored their master's orders.
With that, I unleashed two strikes.
Kraaack!
Krunch!
Toward Aster's cave, parallel slashes gouged the earth into ruin.
Two lines stretched from the entrance to the limit of my sight.
Twisting my waist and throwing my whole body into wild swings, the cuts were long—very long.
I'd never seen anyone else do it properly, but this seemed like...
"Why's there an 'Aura' user in this backwater?"
'I thought it was sword energy. Aura, huh?'
The name might differ, but I'd clearly reached some realm with my blade.
The demon, in that flesh, showed shock for the first time.
The parallel lines crossing the battlefield lay before Aster like a path.
Just wide enough for two to walk side by side.
And the monster-men who'd fought me knew full well what those "lines" meant—they'd learned it the hard way from my staff.
"Grra..."
"Gah... kgh."
Step, step...
I walked back to the cave.
Had to escort my superior.
In case some fool charged blindly, I spoke clearly for all to hear.
"Monster or demon—don't cross this line."
I offered Aster my hand.
She stared at me, soul half-gone from shock.
I flashed a cheap grin.
"Time to head home."
I took her outstretched hand and escorted her like something out of a third-rate romance novel.
Needless to say, it was embarrassing. The booze made me stumble, nearly stepping on her foot.
After that, Aster started walking on her own.
I dragged my sword along the ground, following the path.
Crunch...
Had it caught my breath or sweat? The demon raged, raising its voice.
"Exhausted! You worthless vermin! Kill that man now!"
Maybe because I was the type who skipped meals and snacks.
I was bone-tired, craving a stiff drink and sleep.
But no one crossed the line I'd made.
"Even bugs have feelings, y'know."
"The weak materials won't obey... Consider not killing you a stroke of luck."
"I'm still fresh as a daisy."
I pulled a small bottle from my pocket, flashed it, and said,
A last-resort stash to avoid crashing from exhaustion.
Showing my final card to the enemy felt off, so I tucked it away quick.
"Joking to the end."
"......No one's as serious as me here."
"I don't know your name or face. But I'll remember your voice—and your sword."
The demon declared its epithet.
"Lord of the Filthiest Field—I won't forget you."
"I'll forget you starting tomorrow. Big drinking night tonight. Have one yourself and move on."
I meant every word to the last.
Demon or not, if it popped up naked in my dreams, even I'd suffer.
I looked at it hopefully—no hard feelings. It glared back.
"I. Won't. Forget."
The demon burst the worshipper's body. The bloating was the trigger.
Stunned, as flesh sprayed, I yanked Aster and bolted.
No blood got on us.
Better that than a curse from the splatter ruining my mood.
"M-Mister..."
"I okay? Eyes not weird?"
"Eyes, just... fine."
"That damn bastard. Self-destructing, of all things."
The monster-men watched from beyond the line. No more demon voice.
The op that started with a decent crew was shining now in the proper sunlight, time well-spent.
"Let's go."
Leaving the monsters that no longer followed, I headed back to the alleys.
Aster walked silently beside me.
Unsure what to do with our clasped hands, I let go midway.
Yet somehow, we didn't release until Billion's tavern.
That marked the end of my day with her.
I slammed the table and demanded five bottles of Billion's finest.
First, I clinked glasses with Aster a few times to liven things up.
Since I wasn't paying, I ordered snacks for the first time ever.
Not knowing what to get, I trusted Billion's recommendation.
Word spread, and some guys who knew me asked if I'd robbed a bank. I said I'd robbed a demon's cave.
They grimaced at my lame joke and left.
"Driving away all the customers, you damn Guro."
"I'm beyond wronged right now...... Anyway, that's the snack?"
Billion emerged grinning with the dish.
"Grilled pineapple...?"
"My specialty—and favorite. Dig in."
"......"
I decided never to order the owner's recommendation again.
He guffawed and offered to drink with me.
"Where's the guy who skipped booze for his daughter?"
"She cared about faces, not smells. Wouldn't have figured it out without this lady. Just two glasses."
"Even days like this come."
I clinked with him for the first time.
His glass felt weighty, with a satisfying ring.
We chatted for a good while.
"Mister."
Then Aster, footing today's bill, approached, clutching something.
"Mister, get in here."
"...? That's a sack."
"I'm kidnapping you. Get in."
So polite a kidnapper—what was I supposed to do?
Billion popped pineapple chunks like popcorn, watching eagerly.
"......Kidding."
"Scary joke."
Aster plopped down beside me.
I watched her, waiting for her words.
The silence didn't last.
She spoke boldly.
"How much per day for you?"
As I'd suspected, she didn't plan on hiring me for just one.