The Giant Hog's Charge
I'd never seen a boar the size of a one-ton truck before, not even as an E-rank adventurer. If I hadn't had the weight resistance I'd received from Vivian, that charge would've sent me straight to the afterlife in this other world.
"Y-you blocked that?!" Vera looked more shocked than I was at having stopped the Giant Hog. Its charge had been faster and more powerful than even Eos could read the space.
"Don't look at me, look at the hog."
"Ah!" Vera finally drew her sword and took her stance. The Giant Hog immediately recognized her as an enemy.
Thud... thud... thud...
Its thick legs kicked up clouds of dust as it charged again.
"I'll stop the charge. Aim for its neck from the side."
"Got it!"
With my weight resistance and physical durability, I was the best choice to take it head-on.
"Here it comes!"
BOOM!
The moment I met its charge straight on, my body was pushed backward. Behind me, I felt Eos's mana gathering.
Pabababak!
Water Shots flew out and struck the Giant Hog.
"Kueee!"
But they didn't seem to do much damage. Looking at its hide, tough as iron plating, I understood why this monster was classified as C-rank.
"Snort!"
It blew air from its nose, knocked me aside at an angle, and prepared to charge again.
Whoosh!!
I raised my sword toward the charging beast.
Deflection
Crack!
Deflection not only blocked the opponent's attack but also returned a portion of the force. That power lifted the creature's front legs into the air. In that brief opening, Vera didn't miss her chance and rushed in from the side. She brought her sword down in a clean arc aimed straight at the Giant Hog's neck.
Slash!
"Kueeek!"
The Giant Hog thrashed in pain, swinging its body wildly and knocking everything around it aside.
"It's tough!"
As expected from someone of noble knight family origin, Vera's equipment was excellent. The Giant Hog's hide, which hadn't even been scratched no matter how hard I'd tried, now showed deep gashes from her blade.
Drip... drip... drip...
Blood flowed in no small amount. With its massive size and heavy musculature, its blood flow had to be considerable. The bleeding looked several times worse than a human wound.
'I can use that.'
"It's hard to kill in one go. So we'll make it bleed as much as possible until it dies."
"Understood."
"Good. With that hunting method, there's no need to overdo it."
Vera and Eos moved immediately upon receiving my orders. Eos concentrated her Water Shots on the wounds while Vera targeted the heart and abdomen where the bleeding was heaviest.
It took a long time, but the battle gradually stabilized. The wounds were piling up on the Giant Hog. Whether from exhaustion or blood loss, it could no longer manage the same kind of charge as before.
Thud...
"Kuek..."
Eventually, it collapsed after spilling its lifeblood everywhere.
"Tough! So damn tough! It finally went down!"
The hog stuck out its tongue and lost consciousness. I rushed in and drove my sword deep into the wound on its neck.
Squelch!!
The Giant Hog's head separated from its body, convulsing one last time.
"I didn't think we'd actually take down a C-rank monster."
Vera herself seemed unable to believe it. That was proof of just how massive the gap between Level 1 and Level 2 truly was. Unlike when we'd hunted the Goblin Mother, there was no getting counterattacked out of nowhere. She stayed focused until the end, even dodging its kicks, and her ability to evade and counterattack precisely was impressive.
"You're definitely getting stronger."
"Hehehe, you're right. I can feel it."
Vera was genuinely happy. She knew herself well. Her growth hadn't stopped.
"That's why I have something to say."
"Hm?"
"When we leave Kron Village, I want you to return to Kidichi Territory."
"I came out here on purpose, and now you're telling me to go back? No way."
Vera's expression turned sulky.
"Rather than swinging your sword recklessly here, you'd grow several times stronger by receiving proper knight order training and taking the exams."
"It's not reckless..."
She shot back gruffly.
"Didn't you say you wanted to catch up to your sister? Then I believe you'll show her what you've got when you're by her side."
"That's... but..."
"You can do it this time. You've already broken through the wall."
"...I'll think about it."
Even so, she'd gone from saying "I don't want to" to "I'll think about it" and nodded. Just saying this much would make Vera seriously consider returning to the territory. No, she would return. People are greedy creatures in the end. If there's a clear way to become stronger and you don't take it, that only proves you're lazy or have given up on your own growth.
"The next time we meet, we might even hunt an ogre together."
"Huh...? An ogre... My sister said even she has trouble with ogres... Ahem..."
When I fanned the flames a little, I could see the fire in her eyes grow. Vera really was simple. Knights and warriors like her seemed just as easy to handle in bed as they were on the battlefield.
"Alright! Let's keep this momentum and wipe out every last Giant Hog!"
With Vera's energetic voice, Eos and I also felt a surge of positive energy. Feeling our morale rise, we moved toward our next prey.
BOOM!
"Got one!"
BOOM!
"This one's easy, right?"
BOOM!
"Phew..."
After the first one, hunting Giant Hogs became progressively easier. Their charging timing was almost predictable. Having even one person who could block them head-on lowered the difficulty significantly. On top of that, Vera's swordsmanship targeting blood vessels was growing sharper by the minute. Eos's Water Shot accuracy had also improved, often digging deeper into existing wounds.
"For some reason, the mana seal seems to be helping me."
"You're hitting a lot better than at the start."
"Yes. In the past, I would've just used higher-level magic. But by finding ways with restricted magic like this..."
Whoosh!
Thwack!
Eos demonstrated by curving a Water Shot through the air to strike a Giant Hog's corpse with perfect accuracy.
"Impressive."
I patted her on the back again. Eos lowered her head, embarrassed by the praise.
"Once the mana seal is lifted someday, you'll be able to cast even more precise magic."
"Yes. I don't think I'll have any problems even if I encounter the Silver Demon race."
Even though only her magic accuracy had improved, Eos was already anticipating victory. It seemed that for mages, accuracy stats were more important than I'd thought.
'I want to pass my ability to her.'
If she received the "Precise Sense" ability I'd gotten from the bandits, Eos would probably become even stronger.
"Magic that never misses, huh."
It was one of the fantasies of being a ranged dealer. Landing every attack was no different from getting 100% on a test.
"We've already taken down five of them."
Catching five Giant Hogs was a significant haul. Of course, if Syucali had been with us, we could've gotten an even bigger haul. She had that black potion that could easily pierce their hides.
"We've done our hunting and confirmed our current level. Let's call it a day and head back."
"Well... stopping here for today is probably for the best. It's getting dark."
"I'm also hungry."
Vera looked disappointed, but the village was close and we could always take more requests. It seemed her thirst for real combat had been somewhat satisfied.
"Then let's move... wait a second..."
An artificial smell brushed past my nose.
"Is something wrong?"
"I smell cigarette smoke nearby."
"I don't smell anything."
"There shouldn't be any smell like that... huh? There is."
Maybe the smell of someone burning tobacco in the wheat fields had carried this far. But this cigarette smell felt familiar.
"Let's just check behind that hill and then go back."
"You look like you know something."
"Understood."
Step... step...
The farm to the east bordered the forest. It was the same direction as Cashew Village, where I'd first met Helga, a place where you could see the woods. I could tell the Giant Hogs were coming down from that forest to the wheat fields.
"Huh... people?"
"Hide."
"H-huh..."
What Vera found were people visible deeper in the forest.
"Didn't they say this place was dangerous... so why are there people here?"
"...."
I realized the source of the familiar cigarette smell. The woman standing there was the female bodyguard who'd been guarding the door at The Ear's information broker.
'Someone connected to The Ear at a Giant Hog habitat...'
"I can sense mana from over there."
"Can you tell what kind of mana it is?"
Eos focused intently for a while before speaking.
"...Demon race. There's a demon race member next to the human smoking the cigarette."
"Demon race... so that's what it was. We're leaving."
"W-what? Just like that?"
"I can roughly guess what they're doing. It's not something we need to concern ourselves with, and knowing would only cause trouble."
"What is it...?"
"I'll tell you when we get back."
We turned around as if we'd seen nothing. We headed straight for the wheat fields.
"A... a Giant Hog!"
When I carried one of the Giant Hog corpses back to the farm, the adventurers were shocked.
"Y-you've returned!"
The farm owner reacted especially strongly upon seeing the corpse I'd brought.
"You really were confident!"
"We got lucky."
"Thanks to you, not many Giant Hogs showed up today."
The owner grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously, probably because there hadn't been much damage to the farm. The excessive gratitude was most likely because he'd saved money.
"Where can I receive the reward?"
"Please wait. I'll bring it right away!"
The farm owner went straight into his house after seeing the Giant Hog corpse.
"Here's the reward money."
Clink.
I received exactly 26 gold.
"Please come again next time!"
"I'll stop by when I have time."
With that, our request was complete. From what I'd heard, Giant Hogs were so tough-skinned that most adventurers either lured them out of the farm or drove them away. But our party had brought back actual corpses, which surprised the farm owner. That alone earned us the privilege of being sent back early after a successful request. The other adventurers continued patrolling around the farm as we departed.
'Nothing beats an early exit.'