Tl Note: Please don’t put too much thought in the adventurer numbers. It’s really hard to tell which one is which.
Volume 2 Chapter 34:
Bad Adventurers
“Earth Needle!” [Ryouma]
“What!?” [Adventurer 1]
“Tch!?” [Adventurer 2]
Suddenly, stone pickets the size of about two adults’ height erected from the ground. As the two groups of adventurers were suddenly separated, one of the men was pulled up along with a stone picket.
When the men saw the stone pickets suddenly appear out of nowhere, they went quiet and grew vigilant, then slowly, they backed away from the man who was pulled up.
I took that opportunity to walk into the now empty center.
It would be problematic if the young adventurers are taken hostage.
“W-What the hell happened!?” [Adventurer 1]
“It’s magic!” [Adventurer 2]
“Is this your doing!?” [Adventurer 1]
“Well, you drew your weapons, so… reflex.
Ah, by the way, this spell is called Earth Fence. It’s a spell that branches out from the earth spell, Earth Needle, to create a fence. Unfortunately, because of that it’s a bit sharp. Fortunately, nothing that would make us throw up our lunch happened.” [Ryouma]
After giving a brief explanation of my spell, the man who was picked up by one of the pickets along with the rest of his comrades stiffened up a little as they imagined what could’ve happened.
Still… This really is a waste of time. It’s almost time for the roll call. I have to put an end to this…
They say the same things I say, and yet they mean something completely different.
Words sure are difficult!
…Well, enough with the jokes. These guys seem used to this sort of thing. When they drew their weapons, they turned toward me, but there were 2 among them who approached the young adventurers. They probably wanted to make hostages out of them.
It didn’t look like they arranged something right before Sacchi started talking, so they is either premeditated, or they’ve done this enough times that they know what to do.
That bandit-like manner of speech, that violent attitude… That’s not something you learn from hunting monsters. These guys are definitely in the wrong here. Not only that, they’re probably guilty of even more crimes.
“Don’t make excuses, idiots.” [Sacchi]
“Aniki…” [Adventurer 1]
“It’s just a brat’s spell. As long as you don’t give him the time to cast it, it’s useless. Are you guys really so weak that you’d run with your tail in between your legs from one little brat? …If so, then I don’t need you. I don’t need comrades like that.” [Sacchi]
“Psst…” [Young Adventurer 1]
While Sacchi was rebuking his comrades, a small voice called out to me from behind. It was a young boy, the shortest one of the six. The way he grabbed the fence and bent his back reminded me of a prisoner behind bars.
I remember him. He’s the boy who bluntly called me dead weight back at the mines.
“Run. These guys are serious. No matter how good you are with magic, you can’t fight these many alone.” [Young Adventurer 1]
So, he acknowledges my magic now, does he? But it seems he still thinks I’m weaker than this frail bunch.
“Then you better prepare to run too.” [Ryouma]
As I said that, I quietly told him using Whisper, ‘I’ll remove those bars when I see an opening.’
Unfortunately, you can’t really talk secretly when you’re right in front of the enemy. Especially, when the 6 of them react enough for Sacchi to notice.
“Hey, don’t just stand there. Lend us a hand too. That brat looks like he’s good at hiding.” [Sacchi]
“He he he, thank you, elder brother.” [Adventurer 2]
“Too bad, huh. If only you hadn’t come here, then you wouldn’t have gotten caught up in this mess.” [Sacchi]
“It’s a bit late to be saying this, but you know, we would have forgiven you if you just showed us some coin.” [Adventurer 1]
“So them stealing your spoils was a lie, after all?” [Ryouma]
“Nuh-uh, we actually did think they stole it. I mean they’re slum kids, you know? People troubled with money like that can’t help but find themselves reaching out for other people’s wallets.” [Sacchi]
“Of course, if you promise to show us some coin, we might be willing to let you go. I mean you look like you have more on ya than all those kids back there.” [Adventurer 1]
“With an armor like that, I’m sure you can pay up. Would you like an installment plan? How about getting some coin from your parents?” [Sacchi]
Sacchi ordered the rest of the men to draw their weapons, and… they did. But they did so with much hubris, sighing as if they were mere spectators.
……………Annoying.
There were bandits who treated me like a kid back then too, but none has pissed me off as much as these guys.
This is probably the most I”ve been pissed off since coming to this world.
I haven’t the slightest clue why I’m so pissed, but are they asking to be killed?
My parents from my previous life passed a long time ago, and I have no parents in this world. In one sense, you could say Gayn and the others are my parents. There’s also the parents they decided for me. So. that leaves me… a dead couple, a group of gods, and another dead couple.
If you told me, I could meet my parents, regardless of which couple or group it is, I still have to go to the afterlife. Great.
The Jamil Household will probably help me if I ask them, but I don’t feel like giving these bastards even a single coin to these. Besides, we can’t meet right now anyway, and I won’t let them pay even if they wanted to.
Just as I was about to act against these guys who put too much faith in their strength and numbers—
“W-Wait!” [Adventurer 3]
—suddenly, one of the spectating adventurers cried out. The surrounding adventurers looked at him coldly, but he was so panicked he didn’t even notice them.
…B-But I haven’t done anything yet…
“That kid… I-Isn’t he that rumored kid!? W-We can’t touch him!” [Adventurer 3]
“…Ahh, you mean that rumor about a kid who frequently brings a slime to the guild?” [Adventurer 1]
“The kid who walks around town in a weird getup?” [Adventurer 2]
“What’s wrong with touching him?” [Adventurer 4]
“Don’t you just mean you don’t have the guts to touch him yourself?” [Adventurer 5]
The other adventurers sneered as they drew their weapons, but the young man of an adventurer only paled more.
“That kid with a weird getup was seen entering a luxurious inn with the duke’s family! He might be related to them! Do you realize that!?” [Adventurer 3]
“A brat like this?” [Adventurer 4]
“You gotta be kiddin’ me. Why would a guy like that come to a place like this?” [Adventurer 5]
“…W-Wait. Wasn’t this a request from the… duke?” [Adventurer 1]
“You’re kidding!” [Adventurer 2]
“But it’s true that the duke is staying in Gimuru, and many from the government office was recently laid off…”
So, that’s what he was panicking for. The reason he wasn’t proactive with joining the others is because he was afraid of getting on the duke’s bad side. Unfortunately, it’s a bit too late for that…
This is a good opportunity, though.
There are 6 enemies on each flank. The appointed area for the roll call is to the left. The 6 young adventurers are… Ready!
” ‘Create Block’ ” [Ryouma]
“Hey!” [Sacchi]
I gathered the pickets into a single lump, then I strengthened it and my body.
Sacchi called out, but I ignored him, pulled out the picket-lump, and swept toward the left flank with it.
“Stop him!” [Sacchi]
“GAH!?” [Adventurer 1]
Like that I sent three men flying with the picket-lump as a dull weapon, then I told the young adventurers to make a run for it.
“Run!! Go there!” [Ryouma]
“Yeah!” [Young Adventurers]
“Don’t let the brats run!!!” [Sacchi]
“Wait, you brats!!” [Adventurer 1]
Tl Note: Sorry for cutting here. Was originally planning to finish this in one go, but there were more than a couple of lines that gave me trouble. Idioms and flowery prose, they sound nice, but they give me so much trouble. Don’t worry, I think I figured them out in the end. I’ll post again tomorrow.
Also, do you guys play Nioh? I posted a guide for non-living weapon odachi users, but I had to take it down to make some revisions. I should be able to post it again tomorrow. Please look forward to that too! I’ve been working on it for a while now, so I’ll be glad if you can give it a read.
Tl Note 2: Oh, one more thing. A kind reader (they don’t want to be credited) has provided us with epubs and pdfs for TMPG reboot and the old version! Please check out the TMPG Reboot TOC for their work.
Byggvirr is also continuing to provide us with PDFs, so shout out to them too!
Leave a Reply