Chapter 28
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Translator: Xrecker
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Skill Test (3)
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Hunting bandits was indeed the right answer.
'I never thought I'd get such a reward.'
16 points and 35 fame.
I had come to test my skill and ended up with a very substantial reward.
'I never thought I'd get points for each captain.'
Could I get points for defeating captain-level monsters of other types as well?
No, that was highly unlikely.
When I defeated the Red Half-Moon Bear, it just said that I had defeated the Red Half-Moon Bear.
It wasn't a sentence that said I had defeated it with its unique name attached, like with the bandits.
'In that case, intelligent enemies like bandits? Or would it only apply to enemies with a proper noun attached... good.'
From now on, I would hunt bandits whenever I saw them.
They would surely be a good source of points.
However, at that time, I would use Severing Spear while appropriately controlling my magic power.
I had never thought that the range of the Severing Spear, when used with maximum magic power, would be so wide that even I would be caught in the shockwave.
There was no damage, but I couldn't help being blown back.
'This is just like a game.'
The other bandits who were hit by the shockwave were either blown away somewhere or died on the spot, but I, the user, had no damage other than being blown back.
On top of that, it was a hassle to pick up the bandanas of the bandits who had been blown away by the shockwave.
In any case, after finishing the bandit subjugation that had also served as a skill test, I immediately descended the mountain.
And on my way back to Valendia, I opened my status window and, after considering where to invest the points I had obtained,
[Name: Ishihan]
[Gender: Male]
[Stats]
[Stamina: 9]
[Strength: 7]
[Agility: 9]
[Magic: 12]
[Luck: 3]
[Fame: 46]
[Points Possessed: 7]
[Skills Possessed: Penetration (EX), Spearmanship Mastery (MAX), Severing Spear (絶槍) (F)]
[Titles: Bandit Hunter, Wide-Area Taunter]
I invested 3 points in Stamina, 3 in Strength, 3 in Agility, and 5 in Magic.
Stamina, because I would need it in the future; Strength, because I remembered it had been a bit difficult to flip the Half-Moon Bear; Agility, because the higher it got, the better the synergy with Spearmanship Mastery, so 3 points as well.
And since I now knew the convenience and usefulness of Severing Spear, I boldly invested 5 points in Magic.
I left the remaining points as insurance.
While checking my status window, something suddenly caught my eye.
'What's the difference between a Bandit Hunter and a Bandit Exterminator?'
In any case, the fact that I was hunting bandits remained the same.
The only difference, if I had to say, was that "Exterminator" sounded stronger.
For confirmation, I focused my consciousness on "Bandit Exterminator."
[Bandit Exterminator: One who has completely annihilated a bandit gang. An object of fear to bandits. An object of hope to ordinary citizens.]
'Will this also have an effect as described?'
Even if I thought it was just ordinary text, considering the cases of Penetration and Spearmanship Mastery, if something was explicitly stated like this, it was highly likely that some effect would appear.
If, by any chance, a bandit I had never seen before became afraid as soon as he met me, that would mean the effect was applied as described in the text.
As I was thinking about this and that, the sun was setting when I arrived in Valendia.
"Ishihan! You've returned safely!"
As soon as he saw me, Mr. Rick greeted me with a look of relief.
"Yes."
"Good. I'm so glad."
Mr. Rick was always happy to see me return, but this time his reaction was more intense than usual.
"Did something happen?"
"Actually, I heard from people coming to Valendia. They said they heard a huge sound like an explosion from the mountain where the Belken Gang has their hideout. Some people even said that something fell from the sky onto the mountain. So I was worried."
'Ah.'
It was because of me.
"I'm so glad you've returned safely. So, did you catch a bandit captain this time too?"
"Yes, I caught a bandit captain as well."
"Good. As expected of someone who got into the academy. But then, you should probably avoid coming to Valendia for a while. You've caught two captains, so the bandits will surely be after you for a while. Even if it's you, you might get ambushed if you're passing by this area."
Mr. Rick gave me advice, genuinely worried about me.
He was a really good person.
But there was no need for Mr. Rick to worry like that.
"Thank you for the advice. But you don't have to worry about that."
"Hey, Ishihan. No matter how much you believe in your own skills, you shouldn't be arrogant. If Belken, the leader of the Belken Gang, or his captains were to ambush you all at once..."
"Because the Belken Gang has been annihilated."
"Right. As long as the Belken Gang hasn't been annihilated... what? Annihilated?"
Mr. Rick blinked his eyes and tapped his ears.
"Ha, I'm still in my prime. I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
"The Belken Gang has been annihilated."
"So my ears weren't deceiving me. Um... what do you mean, annihilated? Why has the Belken Gang been annihilated?"
"I annihilated them. I have proof, too."
Since it was my first time annihilating a bandit gang, and since it would probably be hard to believe that I had taken down a bandit gang all by myself, I had brought proof.
I took a bundle out of my inventory.
"That's...?"
"Belken's head."
"B-Belken's h-head!?"
Since Deishee had been so horrified when I had taken out the bandits' faces in front of her last time, I had wrapped the head in a cloth to make it more mild.
"Do you know Belken's face, Mr. Rick?"
"Y-yes. A notorious guy like Belken has a wanted poster, after all."
"Please take a look."
"T-take a look?! Me?"
"If you're uncomfortable, you don't have to."
Mr. Rick was silent for a moment, then opened his mouth.
"No, I'll take a look."
"I'll hold it, so you just untie the knot."
Mr. Rick untied the knot of the bundle and checked the contents.
"...Hmph! It's really Belken. Did you really annihilate the Belken Gang, Ishihan?"
"Yes. I took care of all six captains who were with him. I only have Belken's head, but I have all their bandanas."
"Right. Ha, hahaha...."
After tying the knot again, Mr. Rick said to me.
"I thought you were a great guy, but I never thought you'd annihilate the bandits who had been such a headache. A new hero is born."
"Can you call me a hero just for exterminating bandits?"
A hero.
In the main story of Lu-Fan, the protagonist was also called that.
But that was mentioned only after he had solved an incident that appeared in the main story and had defeated a main story boss once.
But to be called a hero for defeating a bandit leader who was, at best, a high-level mob.
It was nice to be called a hero, but it didn't feel real.
"...Yes. To you, it might be. But."
Mr. Rick placed a hand on my shoulder.
"At least to the people who suffered from the bandits, you are a hero, Ishihan."
'Mr. Rick.'
To think he would praise me like this.
Did the Mr. Rick who had sneered at me when we first met really exist?
It was to the point where I started to wonder if I had been mistaken all along.
"Thank you."
After putting the bundle back in my inventory, I returned to Valendia and headed to the Adventurer's Guild.
While bandit equipment could be exchanged for money at the blacksmith or at Cat's Commerce, proof of subjugation like bandanas could only be exchanged for cash at the Adventurer's Guild.
'If possible, I wanted to exchange the magic stones I had caught last time at Cat's Commerce.'
But at that time, I had already accepted the quest to hunt the Half-Moon Bear from the guild, so I had to exchange the magic stones at the guild as proof.
If I had just pretended I hadn't taken the quest and exchanged them directly at Cat's Commerce, I would have gotten more money, but.
'Then I wouldn't have accumulated any achievements.'
In Lu-Fan, as the story naturally progressed, the story would proceed in a way that the protagonist was a veteran who could complete any difficult quest.
Thanks to that fame, there were also cases where the story would progress as he gained the trust of the high-ranking officials of each country from the beginning and was entrusted with personal quests.
Considering that situation, it was important not to just think about money, but to diligently complete the quests of the Adventurer's Guild and accumulate achievements and fame.
'I need to look into it more, but I also needed achievements according to the lore while attending the academy.'
After arriving at the guild, just as I had shown Mr. Rick, I also reported to Deishee that I had annihilated the Belken Bandit Gang and showed her Belken's head as proof.
"Hmph... j-just a moment, please! Guildmaster!"
After Deishee called the guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild.
A burly man with a beard came out.
"I am Dolant, the guildmaster of the Valendia branch. Could you please come inside for a moment?"
'So this is what he looks like.'
Dolant.
An NPC who often appeared during event quests.
However, he was just a generic middle-aged NPC with an adventurer-style outfit due to the reuse of NPC models.
The person in front of me was not such a default NPC design, so it was really refreshing.
"Understood."
After entering the guild and being guided to a room that looked like a counseling office, I sat down on a sofa.
The guildmaster, Dolant, who was sitting across from me, asked me.
"May I ask why you brought the head separately?"
"I thought that just bringing the bandana wouldn't be enough as proof."
"...Hmm, I see. By any chance, do you have any other heads besides Belken's?"
"I thought Belken's head would be sufficient, so I didn't bring any other heads."
"That's a relief. It would be difficult for us to dispose of multiple bandit heads. You said you annihilated the bandits, but do you have any other proof besides Belken's head?"
"I have some loot rather than proof."
I took out the bandanas of the bandit captains, bandit elites, and bandit minions that I had caught today and placed them on the table in front of the sofa.
"These are the bandanas of the bandits I caught today."
Looking at the bandanas on the table, the look in Dolant's eyes changed.
"...Amazing. To think you'd annihilate a bandit gang in just one day. Thank you. A bandit extermination that other adventurers wouldn't even attempt. And to have completely annihilated them."
"Is bandit extermination that unpopular?"
"Of course. Unlike monsters, bandits seek revenge. And they're cunning, so they only caused trouble to the extent that a subjugation force wouldn't be formed.
Besides, Belken. This guy's skills were on par with a knight's, so there were no adventurers who would rashly step forward. And you've solved that today. Thank you very much."
"If you're so grateful, then I can expect some sincerity, right?"
"Sincerity.... Yes, I'll do what I can. What do you want?"
"I would like my story to be spread far and wide."
"Your story?"
"Yes. That this bandit annihilation I've accomplished was such a good thing for people. And how much of a nuisance the bandits were, and for it to be spread not just in Valendia but also in other places."
At my words, the guildmaster, Dolant, had a puzzled expression on his face.
"Your story will spread quickly enough even without our intervention. But you still want that?"
"Yes. A mere rumor and a story spread directly by the Adventurer's Guild are completely different in terms of credibility. If the Adventurer's Guild says it directly, it will become an achievement that even the academy will recognize."
In other words, it was no different from a certified institutional achievement certificate.
And if this story spread to the academy, there would be more gacha characters who would recognize my skills or show interest in me.
This would also serve as promotional activity and allow me to get an achievement that the academy would recognize. It was killing two birds with one stone.
"Ah. Ha. Hahahaha! I see! So that's what it was. Come to think of it, you're a student who just entered the academy, right? I understand."
With a thump! on his knee, the guildmaster, Dolant, bared his teeth in a rough smile.
"I will spread your fame myself. That a talented rising star has appeared at the academy!"
"I'll be in your care, Guildmaster Dolant."
[Achievement: You have acquired the title Rising Star of the Academy.]
[Achievement Reward: 3 Points, 10 Fame]
To think I would get a title as soon as I received his word.
My trust in the guildmaster, Dolant, rose dramatically within me.