East Ruins (6)
“Hah, it’s over.”
Luci recovered his sword and cast a look around.
Gnoll corpses—easily three hundred of them—lay strewn in every direction.
It hadn’t been easy.
It hadn’t exactly been hard, either.
The gnolls under their leader’s command had been disciplined. Armored ones drew the eye at the front while crossbowmen in the rear poured out a relentless stream of covering fire. Spears thrust in between, rusted blades swung, arrows punched home, maces smashed down. Claws, fangs, fists—even flung stones. The assault never let up, fierce enough to suck the soul right out of a man.
Anyone else would have been torn to shreds without a trace right here.
But Luci and Heinzel were different.
I was different too… heh heh.
The two of them slaughtered the gnolls while trading jokes like they were out for a casual stroll around the neighborhood. On top of that, the gnoll leader had been cleaved clean in half by a single blow from Heinzel…
They were unmistakably Platinum-grade adventurers standing on the threshold of Master.
If I fought at full strength, could I beat them?
I replayed the battle in my head and sketched it out mentally.
Hmm… if I gritted my teeth and went all-out, pure hand-to-hand might give me a fighting chance.
Yeah. With simple “martial arts,” maybe.
But the moment they used their Unique Abilities… there’s no way I could win as I am now…
An eight-year veteran like me losing to anyone? You could say that, but Platinum isn’t Platinum for nothing.
In the game, the highest rank you could reach through pure hunting was Gold. To advance to Platinum you had to pass a trial. Clear that trial and you awakened a Unique Ability unique to your class, then ranked up to Platinum.
Of course game and reality could differ, but Luci and Heinzel both had Unique Abilities.
I saw them in the game.
They were insanely cool.
Luci would flick his sword—whoosh!—and the magic beasts would go krrraaash!! and die. Heinzel would smash down—thooom!—and the beasts would go splorch! and get crushed flat.
But… it pisses me off.
I’m a veteran too, dammit…
I used to be able to do all that stuff.
In the game, sure…
I sulked for no good reason and stabbed the ground over and over with my greatsword.
Of course, those two had reached that realm through brutal training and life-or-death experience in the real world, not some game…
Still… somehow…
“Haaah—”
I heaved a long sigh. Heinzel walked over, glanced around, and opened his mouth.
“So, Luci. How many did you bag? I must be getting old—I lost count halfway through.”
“Looks like your brains vanished along with your hair. I took down about ninety.”
Heinzel rubbed his gleaming scalp.
“I got fewer than that, but I did take the leader… Does the leader count as twenty?”
“Ha! Not a chance. Do you have any idea how much I spent on drinks?”
“True enough…”
“But Heinzel. Weren’t we supposed to use aliases?”
“Ah, right… You were Racha, weren’t you?”
“Lich. It was Lich. Hah, this is a mess… Hermil— ahem! Our client’s going to tear us a new one.”
“We might not even get paid properly…”
“Is money the issue right now? Hah, you’re unbelievable.”
The two of them traded pointless banter while giving their weapons a quick once-over.
I followed their lead and checked the state of my greatsword.
“Haaa…”
This is just a club now. A really big club.
It’s not a greatsword anymore…
The edge wasn’t merely dull—it was gone. The rattling hilt looked ready to fall off any second…
And my body… wasn’t normal either.
Dizziness kept hitting me, and blood kept surging up my throat in thick gulps.
I need the walking potion… Aileen…
On top of the pain, something else crept in.
I found myself missing Hermila’s warm voice and Aileen’s gentle hands.
It’s only been twenty minutes since I last saw Aileen, but…
I slapped both cheeks hard—smack, smack.
Pulling myself together, I looked around again.
I’d hoped one of the fallen knights might have a greatsword among their gear, but of course there was nothing.
No choice.
I scooped up a few daggers the gnolls had dropped and started walking.
The north gate was finished. Next were the west and south gates.
“Young lady… where do you think you’re going?”
Heinzel turned to look at me.
“Th-the west gate. They’re coming there too. If we don’t go now we’ll be late…”
“You’re going to fight with that scrap? Hah, honestly…”
Luci eyed my greatsword and clicked his tongue.
Well, what else am I supposed to do?
I can’t self-repair or anything…
That’s why I grabbed a few daggers, okay?
I gave the daggers hanging at my waist a couple of pats.
“I-it’s fine… S-so you two please take the south gate.”
“They’re swarming every entrance?”
Heinzel looked toward the south gate.
“Yes. But the rest of them… only about thirty percent are left here. So…”
“We can handle it ourselves? Heh heh. Those knight bastards don’t even count as people, do they?”
Luci sneered at the knights.
Heinzel joined in, laughing as he mocked them too.
They hadn’t been completely useless… but they hadn’t been much help either.
Roughly… Luci ninety, Heinzel seventy, and me about sixty.
I could’ve taken more. Shame.
Anyway, between the three of us we’d killed two hundred twenty. Those nine knights had managed eighty… not even ten each.
If it had been a cute newbie like Aileen I would’ve laughed it off, but these were the ones at the center of this whole mess, so it just pissed me off.
Thank god Luci and Heinzel were here—Aileen had been in danger.
I might have scraped by somehow, but Aileen… she would have died.
That’s why I hated those knight bastards.
I wasn’t even looking at them.
My eyes were closed, but still.
Eat shit. Tch.
“A-anyway, please head to the south gate… I’ll take the west gate alone.”
Luci, who had been quietly watching me, spoke up.
“I’ll go with you. That bald idiot can handle himself.”
“You one-eyed bastard…”
If Luci’s coming with me… that’s a relief.
Honestly I’d been hoping for it.
I could probably manage alone somehow… but it would’ve been iffy.
Heinzel looked like he could handle the south gate solo too.
Anyway, since he was offering to come along, there was no reason to refuse.
“Th-then… Baldy Uncle can go alone, and Luci Uncle and I will take the west—”
“Noah. Where do you think you’re going?”
A familiar voice cut me off from behind.
The voice I’d wanted to hear most right now.
Aileen!
I spun around with a bright smile—wait… huh…?
Aileen looks really mad…?
“A-Aileen…?”
Aileen pulled her hood low and strode straight toward me.
S-scary…
“Noah.”
Her voice was ice-cold. Cold sweat trickled down my back.
“Y-yes…?”
She stopped right in front of me.
Close enough that if we’d been the same height our noses would have touched.
Is she going to cancel the request…?
I already took the fifteen gold, so… I should give it back, right…?
It was short, but I got attached…
And just now I was trying to protect Aileen…
Body hurts, gear’s wrecked, money lost…
And the thought of parting with Aileen made something hot and unfair well up in my chest.
“Noah.”
“Y-yes, hic— yes…”
I hung my head and waited for her words.
“Look at you… what kind of state is this for a girl… honestly…”
“Nweh…?”
But contrary to all my worries—
Aileen pulled me into a tight hug and gently stroked my back.
W-why…?
“I’m sorry, Noah… I was really late, wasn’t I.”
“N-no… you told me to stay in the room… b-but… if you hold me like this the blood… it’ll get on you. And I smell awful…”
“It’s fine. Just a little longer. Stay like this.”
When I tried to push her away she only hugged me tighter.
I could have forced her off if I used more strength…
But I stayed still.
The reason… I don’t know.
Let’s just say her chest was soft and fluffy.
While we held each other, Luci and Heinzel stood with their backs to us, glaring at the knights.
Why?
“U-um… A-Aileen…? We’re kind of in a hurry… I have to get to the west gate… s-so…”
Hearing that, Aileen gently pushed me back a little.
A faint, inexplicable sense of loss lingered on my tongue.
I-it really is the chest, isn’t it…!
Big chests are the truth…?!
“You’re saying that in this state? Are you doing it on purpose? Do you want me to get obsessed with you? Is that it?”
Aileen’s words started pouring out in a rapid-fire stream.
“Why do you keep doing this? Last time I asked you to take me somewhere quiet and you went to the blacksmith. I thought you were mocking me. That’s why I got mad. Looking back now… I’m sorry for yelling. And the coffee you made… I’m sorry, but it tasted absolutely disgusting, so I’m sorry about that too. But! Because of things like that I thought you were trying to reject the request by giving it back, you know? Well, looking at you now it’s clear that wasn’t it.”
“U-ueh…”
“And then last time you took down a Black Bear all by yourself. At the crack of dawn! Covered in blood!! You noticed it coming toward us and went alone, didn’t you?!”
“N-no… that was…”
My body felt stiff and…
Well… sleeping with other people, especially girls, was a first for me… so I couldn’t sleep well…
I just picked a fight with the Black Bear that was sleeping there… uhh…
“And earlier today you wiped out that whole pack of gnolls by yourself. So recklessly! You got hurt so badly then too. Bleeding everywhere, burned! Right? Those wounds still haven’t fully healed, your internal injuries are serious, and the pain must have been awful!! And on top of that—haaah… sss—haaah…”
“A-Aileen… breathe. Breathe…”
“Just a little while ago… you were bleeding from your nose right in front of me, spitting blood from your mouth, and what? ‘Go home and cook’?! Wow, ha! Hey, Shin Noah! Have you lost your mind?!”
“Uh… uhh…?”
“You’re that hurt, that exhausted, and you tell me to just stay in the back. Like it’s just a request so of course you’ll do it. Did you think I’d say, ‘Yes, my idiot adventurer sir. I paid the proper fee so please go fight your ass off alone and then come back and guard my precious body like a dog’? Is that what you thought?! Answer me!”
“N-no… th-that’s not…”
“What, we’ve only known each other a short time, I tease you all the time, so you think I don’t care about you? That I hate you? No. No way. After you showed me all those scars on that tiny body, after you said you were fine with that expression… you think I wouldn’t care?! Do you hate me? If you hate me then just say so! I tease you every single day… so maybe you do hate me… I-I just… hic… I just… Noah… hic…”
“A-Aileen… don’t… cry…”
I reached out and wiped her tears.
“Don’t—don’t touch me! I’m not crying! I’m not, not crying… So why… why do you keep doing this… why do you fight so desperately… I’m right here… there’s someone who worries about you… so why, why do you keep doing this…”
Aileen, who had been furious…
suddenly hugged me gently…
then gradually ramped up into rage…
yelled at the top of her lungs in a sharp voice…
and now she was crying.
But when I wiped her tears she told me not to touch her yet didn’t push me away…
Uh… um…
My brain can’t keep up with this situation.
W-what even is this…?
Luci and Heinzel were still standing with their backs to us, glaring at the knights.
The knights were shifting from foot to foot like puppies that desperately needed to pee, unable to do anything.
I honestly have no idea what’s going on right now.
I’m so dizzy I feel like I might collapse any second, and I’m so close to Aileen that I keep having to swallow the blood rising in my throat…
Gnolls are swarming the south and west gates… Carpeng might wake up from the smell of blood… it’s a ridiculously, insanely dangerous situation…
F-first I should calm Aileen down…?
What’s the best way to soothe her in a situation like this…
Hmm… from my experience…
“A-Aileen… then… shall we go to the south gate together? L-let’s hunt gnolls together. Want to make it a contest? Wh-who can catch more? That’d be so much fun, right…? Hehe.”
Grinding trash mobs is the best.
Stop the gnolls and clear my head!
Of course this isn’t a game, it’s reality… and lives are on the line…
But with Aileen behind me, I probably won’t die unless something crazy happens.
Worst case I can send Heinzel alone and go with Luci!
Proud of my brilliant idea, I beamed brightly—then a sharp smack! rang out behind me.
It was the sound of Heinzel slapping his forehead in despair.
Ah, right.
The south gate was Heinzel’s.
“A-Aileen. Actually I think we should go to the west gate… the south gate is for that b-bald uncle over there.”