First Step as a Hero
There was no time to be flustered.
Winz, who had been thinking it over, asked,
“Could he be in the Underground Passage? You mentioned he goes there often.”
The guild staff member shook her head.
“I already checked. He wasn’t there. Haah, seriously…!”
She let out a sigh as if she had no idea what to do. The panic was written all over her face. Still, making that kind of expression couldn’t be good for her skin. Girls her age really ought to take care of their skin.
‘Doesn’t seem like she’s lying, though. Why would she even bother lying in the first place?’
I rested my chin on my hand and thought it over. So he’d just vanished suddenly. But why wasn’t I worried? I couldn’t explain it properly, but no matter what happened to Bail, I had the feeling he would return to the Underground Passage.
Instead, my gaze drifted toward the guild staff member. Requests were scattered messily everywhere. Even the area around her desk had quite a few postings.
‘She can’t afford to focus only on Bail right now. In that case, how about we make a deal?’
Rubbing my hands together, I stepped forward.
“How about we do a job together… No, how about a trade?”
“Huh?!”
“If the guild puts in real effort, you’ll be able to find Sir Bail. Will you do that for me?”
The guild staff’s face, which had been brightening, clouded over with reluctance.
“Well… we’re pretty busy right now. It’s hard to devote all our attention to just him.”
I reached out. Being short was inconvenient, but I managed to grab one anyway. I tore off the oldest-looking request, the one that had yellowed the most.
“I’ll take care of this one for you. And even if I complete it, I won’t take the reward money. How about it?”
“Ehh?!”
The guild staff’s eyes widened at my outrageous proposal—so wide I worried they might pop out.
“I’ve got more money than I know what to do with anyway, and I need to take my first step as a hero. In exchange, I’m asking you to find him as a sign of my sincerity. You understand, right?”
I shrugged. The guild staff, who had been hesitating, slowly nodded.
“Yes, I understand!”
I could finally smile. Things really were going smoothly when they followed my plan.
“Deal’s made, then. I’ll be off.”
I looked over the request.
[North of Womanchester, abandoned factory site — Slay the ‘Amphitier’ that has been kidnapping and devouring people and livestock!]
‘One of the dragon’s cousins, the Amphitier. This should be doable.’
Of course, a rookie hero like me wasn’t strong enough to take it on alone. It had wings, so fighting it in the air would be troublesome. But that was all. That was the only thing it had going for it.
‘I’ll tear it apart with my Origin Divine Art.’
I headed toward the destination. Then I remembered something and asked Winz for a favor.
“Winz, do me a favor. First, take this cake—”
“Oh my, anything’s fine! If you want me to wash your panties, I’ll lick the valley between your legs and—”
“Hey, shh! We don’t do that kind of thing when it’s just us.”
“Was that… a joke? Or not? Hehe.”
She was really enjoying teasing me. A fox, honestly. Tch.
I sighed and made my request.
“Just in case, could you check the Underground Passage? If you find Bail, come straight to me.”
“Oh my, you’re sending me to such a scary place all alone? That’s too much, sniff!”
“You’re stronger than me right now, aren’t you?”
When I pointed that out, Winz clasped her hands together and beamed brightly. What was she so happy about?!
“Hearing such wonderful words! Understood! I’ll be right back♥”
Winz vanished in an instant. Look at that. Her raw speed was on a level no human could ever reach.
“I wonder who gave birth to someone so adorable.”
I muttered to myself without realizing it and started walking. My destination was to the north.
By the way, fighting a flying monster… I felt like I’d had a similar experience before. But strangely, the memory wouldn’t come clearly.
‘I remember fighting, and it feels familiar, but when I try to explain it exactly, nothing comes to mind. Why is that?’
Even if it was possession aftereffects, this was a bit much. On top of that, the story was diverging from the original, which worried me a lot.
‘I wonder if this is going to be okay.’
That was how I arrived at the northern area. What had once been a factory site was now nothing but a miserable ruin. Even the boundary with the nearby forest had become so blurred that monsters could invade at any moment.
I looked around for a while.
“Khyaaaaak!”
A sudden roar echoed out. I turned my head. Inside the factory grounds, near a pile of lumber, a figure was moving. A long, slender body like a snake, massive frame, shining scales, and a pair of large bat-like wings spread wide on either side. It was an Amphitier.
‘A normal Amphitier is D-rank, or D-minus if it’s in bad condition. Lucky me, you little bastard.’
Grinning, I approached. First, I climbed onto a building where I could get a good look down at it. Once I was close enough, I examined it. The Amphitier was tearing into the corpse of a water buffalo, apparently brought from somewhere.
‘Its body’s as skinny as an anchovy, but its strength is no less than an orc’s. More precisely, its bite force, right?’
Whoosh, fwoosh!
“Kihieeeek, kahak!”
There were two things that surprised me. The Amphitier had breathed fire. Amphitiers were only distant cousins of dragons—they shouldn’t be able to breathe fire. Yet here it was, breathing flames and even roasting the water buffalo. Just like a human.
The stream of fire was long and thin, so it probably didn’t have much power, but still—an Amphitier breathing fire? That was shocking.
‘Ah, shit. What the hell? Is this a mutant?’
My head was spinning. A sigh escaped me before I knew it. It was obvious that this thing was stronger than a normal Amphitier.
‘No choice. Since I’ve come this far, I’ll just ambush it.’
I had planned to ambush and finish it anyway. I climbed up to the rooftop of the building I was on. The height was perfect for pouncing on the Amphitier.
Sneak, sneak.
Fwoooosh!
Moving carefully like a cat but with agility, I advanced. My speed gradually increased until, reaching the edge of the roof, I leaped. As I jumped, I attempted a 540-degree spinning kick straight at the Amphitier.
Whoosh! Thud!
But the Amphitier dodged to the side and countered by whipping its tail at me. What the—damn it, what was that?!
Crash! Crack!
I slid down to the ground below. Rubble fell with me, as if pitying my sorry state. Honestly, this was a disaster.
‘This bastard isn’t just a mutant—it’s got experience too. A rookie Amphitier would’ve just died!’
After all, the original protagonist had hunted rookie Amphitiers like this to make leather. So why was I the only one getting screwed over?
Snake, You Bastard
Objective: Defeat the Amphitier.
Reward: Mass-produced grade ‘Fur Leather Boots’
I caught my breath and took a stance. Something hot was trickling down—maybe the back of my head was split open. My head felt a little dizzy for a moment.
“Kshaaaaak!”
The Amphitier roared and spread both wings. It opened its jaws toward me, and mana began to gather. In an instant, it turned into a breath attack.
Fwoooosh!
I dodged quickly. Damn winged snake bastard, breathing fire and causing trouble. I slid to the side. The Amphitier kept the breath going.
‘If that’s how you want to play, then I’ll—!’
I held my breath once, then drew my sword. I wrapped energy around my entire body.
Origin Divine Art — Comet Sword
The energy that had been wrapped around my body instantly gathered into the sword. In that state, I swung the sword with all my might.
Fwoooosh, shaaak!
I launched the energy like sword aura. The destructive power of the energy combined with the sword’s own effect to slice straight through the Amphitier’s breath. The creature’s eyes widened in surprise. But so what?
“Comet Sword doesn’t stop for red fire, you little shit.”
The breath attack—and the Amphitier itself—were split clean in two as the energy passed through.
[Enemy defeated!]
[5000 Slayer Points (SP) acquired!]
A sigh escaped me.
“Damn, I could’ve cleared it with zero damage, but I got grazed a little.”
Of course, I didn’t have any potions or bandages. I roughly dusted off the back of my head and approached the Amphitier’s corpse. I harvested the byproducts from it and stored them in my ring. Still, this was enough.
[Side Quest ‘Villain Extermination’ cleared!]
[Junk-grade ‘Fur Leather Boots’ acquired!]
‘Giant’s tendon, Water Mischief’s lung, Amphitier’s venom gland. Plus two Ringudites. I’ve collected everything!’
I smiled without realizing it. Now all I had to do was take these and craft an item. Then the set…
“Young lady!”
“Whoa, you startled me!”
Winz suddenly appeared. She was grinning from ear to ear, clearly in a great mood.
“The guild found Sir Bail’s location! I’ll guide you—oh dear, is that blood?!”
“Just do a rough job stopping the bleeding.”
“Wait, ah, I didn’t bring any potions! I should go back to the guild right now—”
“No. This is actually better.”
If I showed up injured, it would be more effective at persuading Bail. It felt weird saying it myself, but a bleeding beautiful girl making a plea… Would that old man really refuse to listen? At the very least, he’d take time to reconsider. That was only natural for a human, heh.
Anyway, after Winz roughly wrapped a bandage around my head, we headed toward the Underground Passage together. The place she guided me to was, surprisingly, an abandoned house near the passage.
‘I never thought I’d actually see Bail. Huh.’
So I was meeting that old man who used to laugh heartily and age with dignity right here.
I opened the door and stepped inside. An old man was sitting in a chair, half-hidden in shadow.
“It’s nice to meet you, Bail Argentfang. I’m the rookie hero, Queen.”
“I’m Winz!”
When we introduced ourselves, Bail, his body half-buried in darkness, opened his mouth.
“Did you… come to see me?”
“Yes, Sir Bail. I heard you’re considering a bad choice… Please, don’t do it.”
He let out a small laugh. His voice was a little tired, but still carried strength.
“Is that so? I guess I’m pretty obvious, huh. Hahaha.”
“Let’s talk while we eat something. This is my sincerity.”
I gave Winz a look, and she immediately handed over the cake. Bail hesitated for a moment, then stepped out of the shadows. An old man with long silver-white hair and wearing a shabby silver robe. He looked worn out at first glance, but those deep green eyes, as if they held every kind of weapon, made my knees feel weak just looking at them.
The most gentle and courteous martial artist, Bail Argentfang.
“No matter what you say to persuade me, my mind won’t change. I’ll accept your sincerity, though.”
The old man opened the case. But the moment he saw the cake, his face hardened. The cake was completely ruined.
“…Winz?”
“Well, I was running around in such a hurry…”
I had nothing to say. No wonder she’d been moving so fast. I glanced at Bail nervously. For some reason, his expression was even darker than before. It looked like he was about to summon a demon king or something.
…What do I do now?