Volume 4 - Prologue

Chapter 4: Yuuji Changing Jobs from “Rich Person” to “Magician of the Forest”.

Prologue

Though there was still some snow that remained in the shadow; the forest’s ground, which was hidden under the snow up till now, had at last revealed itself.

In the middle of the silent forest, *guch*guch* there was a sound of someone stepping on the ground that was wet from the thawing snow.

「..... Joss, you’re too fast. Walk more slowly.」(Mysterious Bow Woman)

The female in light armor, who was holding an “M” shaped bow in her left hand, called out to the two male who walked in front of her.

「That so? Sorry.」(Mysterious Shield Man)

A large man who wore black leather armor obediently apologized. He carried a large wooden shield on his back and a mace was equipped on his waist.

「Isn’t Irene just being slow? If you’re like this the hunt won’t be over before the sun sets! Now, be quicker!」(Mysterious Gaudy Guy)

The one who used loud voice to rush Irene was a gaudy male who wore a white painted leather armor with a red line decorating it. The red line was crooked in several places, so it seems it was something he personally added. On his left waist was a smallish sword.

「.....Hector, shut up. You’re so annoying!」(Irene)

「Eh? Irene, it’s too cruel to call me annoying...」(Hector)

The man kicked up a fuss.

Maybe because it heard his voice, a snow hare that was concealed in the snow beneath the tree shade, immediately rushed out and disappeared from those three’s sights.

「...... Another snow hare escaped. This is Hector’s fault.」(Irene)

It appears that these three people were coming to this snow thawing forest in order to hunt snow hares.

「Damn! If winter ends, the snow hare’s coat will turn grey and the price will go down. That’s why we took the trouble to come to this forest in the first place! But we still haven’t caught a single one!」(Hector)

「....... It was mostly Hector’s fault. You’re so noisy that the snow hares keep escaping.」(Irene)

Uu.... sorry. The guy in gaudy armor made an apology in small voice and at last became quiet.

While those two were bickering like this, the large man called them over.

「Oi! Come here quickly!」(Joss)

‘Even though it had finally become quiet...’ while saying this, the bow woman and the gaudy guy walked towards the large man.

‘What do you think this is?’ the large man pushed them for an answer. It was something that they haven’t encountered since they came to this place 3 days ago from the city.

「From what I’ve seen, this is an animal trail, and yet, there are signs that it was cut with edged tools.」(Joss)

「...... Goblins? Orcs? Bandits?」(Irene)

「Fromthe Guild’s information there aren’t any orcs in this area the forest. There are also no bandits. There might be goblins, but based on the information we have, their weapons are all made from wood.」(Joss)

「...... Something that wanders into this place in the winter?」(Irene)

「Though that could happens, but I don’t really know. Insect monsters that use sharp pincer blade might exist, but there is no information about them.」(Joss)

「Alright! Then we just need to follow the trail to find out! Whatever we find out there can be reported to the guild for money, right?」(Hector)

The gaudy guy who was silent so far while the other two held their conversation, made a proposition. Without waiting for their reply, the gaudy guy had already walked far ahead from them. The large man and the bow woman let out an overlapping large sigh, and reluctantly followed him.

It looked like this was a common occurrence for them.

✦✧✦✧

*guch*guch*guch*guch* The sounds of wet ground being stepped on continued to echo.

Although the sun had already began to set, the three people kept on walking.

The animal trail in the middle of the forest still continued on.

However, walking on the muddy ground sapped their strength more than they expect before.

While hanging their head down, they kept on walking in silence.

The gaudy guy who walked at the front unintentionally raised his own eyes.

「Wait a minute, you’ve got to be kidding me?......」(Hector)

It was very far away from any road, but what appeared in front of their eyes was a house-ish building.

The outer walls were made as if trees that had been cut into identical size ieces.

There was a latticed metallic gate where they could take a glimpse at the inside.

The roof of the house behind that gate was covered with numerous black porcelain-like tiles.

The outer wall was painted with pale color.

There was also a large pane of clear glass.

「...... It’s a building in a style I’ve never seen before. I think there might be intelligent beings inside. Be cautious.」 (Irene)

Maybe they just wanted to look around with a spirit of inquisitiveness, or maybe it was just their greed to find profitable information that can be exchanged for gold, or they just wanted to look at it all the more because it was something unknown (or in other words rubbernecking).

Whatever the reason was, in accordance with Irene’s voice, the three people approached closely with vigilance.

However, at that time.

From the shadows of the tree wall, a young child and a pale brown dog appeared.

From the gaps of the latticed black metallic gate, two pairs of eyes met with their own.

As soon as that happened, the little girl quickly ran towards the building.

For some reason, she was yelling while running towards the building’s interior.

「Yuuji-Niiiiiiiiii! Adventurer-san, it’s adventurer-san!」(Alice)

☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽

PLOT!

And surprisingly no footnote for this chapter.

On an unrelated side note: After hearing Exo’s song “Lightsaber”, the lyric “Light-light-light-light- light, uo-uo-o-o, Lightsaber, Live Savior.” Keep repeating in my head... Damn catchy K-Pop songs...

Also, all of my editor is busy with end year study/exam... So expect delay in releasing, except you want my crappy English...

Now back to translating Shokugeki no Souma, err I mean... Genjitsushugisha 3C and Takarakuji 29