128 - - a quiet day for young adventurers

Sisan opened his eyes to the dazzling morning sun shining on his face.

The old, rickety door had large gaps in some places, through which the sunlight was shining in only on the bottom bunk of the bunk beds.

The dark-haired boy, stretched out wide, rises easily from his bunk.

He moves his body slowly to loosen up, checking for any pain in the joints.

The bright sunlight coming through the window indicates that it is going to be another beautiful day.

Gently, Sisan tiptoes across the room so as not to wake the others.

The room in the rooming house, which he rents for four silver coins a month, has only two rooms.

The larger room, which is only a bed and a wardrobe, is occupied by three men, while Alethea has the smaller room to herself.

This is not only because she is the only woman in the room, but also because she plays an important role as the life line of the party.

If they do not get enough rest, the recovery of their magic power is affected.

Thanks to this, the room for only the men was cluttered to the fullest, as is often the case in a male-dominated household.

Sisan manages to reach the end of the room, avoiding the clothes scattered on the floor.

Opening and closing the creaking door as quietly as possible, he hurries downstairs to the kitchen.

The fire in the kitchen is only kept burning for a short time in the morning and in the evening.

Good morning, landlord.　

"Yes, good morning."

"This one's open, Sissan."

"Oh, thank you."

Greeting the old landlord and the other adventurers, Sisang quickly placed a pot of soup with vegetable scraps on the stove.

He covered it with a lid and placed a piece of hardened bread near the steam hole to warm it up.

Next, he lent me a flat pan, and I threw in a cut of fat from the salted wild boar meat and seared it.

The delicious smell spread immediately.

When the fat had been spread over the entire pan, he threw in a thick slice of wild boar meat.

All that remains is to cover it and be careful not to burn it.

It is around this time that Hink wakes up.

He gets up dexterously on the top bunk of the bunk beds, trying not to hit his head on the ceiling.

Then he pulls Riccar, who was hugging him around the waist, off of him and pushes him to the wall.

The boy archer, who had nervously brushed back his long hair, looks down at his bedridden roommate and mutters, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I can't wait to have my own room.

"Well, I'm sure I'm still good ...... yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm still good ......."

"Come on, how long are you going to stay in bed?"

"Oh, yeah, what?　Ouch!"

The red-haired boy, his dream interrupted at the right moment, rises with a mighty thump and smashes his forehead against the ceiling.

Hinck watches him with cold eyes as he puts his foot on the bed ladder.

When they awoke, they went to the well at the back of the house.

After washing their faces and rinsing their mouths with cold water, they went to the kitchen to fix their bedraggled hair.

"Hey, good morning!

Good morning. I'll take over."

You got it. Where's Alethea?

I knocked on your door, but you didn't answer.

Okay. I'll go wake him up again.

Sissan refreshed himself at the well and went back to his room.

After calling out several times through the door of Alethea's room, we finally heard a rustling sound.

The Soukei girl is not very good in the morning.

While eating together at the dining room table, Sisan and the others go over today's meeting.

They are currently waiting for the kobolds to come out of their caves, so they confirm the situation and hunt for goblins as usual.

We also chat with the other senior adventurers at the table to get some information about the hunting grounds.

"How are things going lately?

The river is getting easier. Well, it depends on the luck of the draw.

"Oh, I like it. I can't wait to go there.

You guys could be here in no time. You guys will be here in no time. You seem to be doing really well these days.

"Oh, I guess people who know what they're talking about will understand. I'm a Zecco butterfly.

"It's one thing to get in shape, it's another thing to ride it, Riccar."

"We should have been in the Thunderbolt group. They're really going strong these days. It would have been a shame.

"Yes, I'm sorry. It seems that the boss doesn't want to hire too many people."

The Thundering Clan is a faction-like group headed by Thor, who is now the topic of conversation in the border town.

The first group is Thor and his party, and the second group is the Bettina ladies.

The third group is the party of the three Thunder brothers, and the fourth group is Sisan and the others.

Currently, the number of applicants for joining the group is increasing rapidly, but to keep the leader's skills secret, the group has decided not to increase the number of members any further.

However, Thor seems to be completely unaware of these matters.

Hinck whispered in Sisan's ear in a deliberate manner after Sisan calmly refused his request for introduction.

"You've made fun of Mr. Thor so many times before, so I don't know who you're talking to about letting us in now.

"Oh, come on, that means we're screwed, too."

"Ha-ha, right."

"Yeah, we just happened to get lucky, didn't we?"

"Yeah, well, we should be thankful for our good fortune."

After the usual exchange of admonitions, the four of us carefully prepare ourselves and head for the Adventurers' Bureau.

Sisan parted from the others in the lobby and went to the counter alone.

If the outbreak of the kobolds' cave had been confirmed, they would have to apply for a search.

The three remaining members of the group put their foreheads together and peered intently at the contact board.

"Hmmm...nothing interesting today, huh?"

"Oh, this is a good one, isn't it?　Look, a two-handed axe-wielding warrior, nineteen years old."

"I don't like the idea of having more vanguards. And with two-handed weapons, accidents are bound to happen.

Yeah, you betcha.

"But, Roloff and the others, aren't they dodging easily?"

"No, no, no, don't think in terms of them."

"Yeah, we're the weirdo brothers."

"If you're going to have him, why not have a shieldman here? He's got all the cast-iron gear.

"Well, I only need Sisan as a shield. No, no."

"I'm not a girl either, so I'm a hunter."

Once before, we had tried to recruit a fourth group of sisangs as well.

At that time, we were inundated with applicants and it caused a commotion, so since then we have been searching in this way secretly.

However, each time, the applicants' wishes did not match each other, and the fifth member has not been decided yet.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. They haven't found the cave of the kobolds yet.

Good work. Well, it's another goblin hunt today.

"Let's go to the white cat shop!　We're going to run out of fried bread.

You should pick out a different kind of bread sometime. I never get tired of it.

The stalls in the square in front of the outer gate were already crowded with people.

After buying bread for lunch at a familiar stall, the four waved to the gate guard and proceeded deeper into the forest.

It has been three and a half weeks since the last time they conquered the cave of the kobolds, and it is about time for a new outbreak.

But nothing like that was to be found, and instead, Sisan and the others encountered a huge, angry beast.

The armored boar snorted menacingly and began to move, making the ground tremble violently.

In no time at all, the huge body reached its maximum speed, and it mercilessly slammed its full weight against the boy who was holding his shield.

The sharp tusks of the boar's fangs scrape against the shield, and a hard thud echoes through the air.

Just when it seemed like a head-on collision, Sisan skillfully tilted his shield and let go of the momentum.

His body, which had been floating softly, is bounced backward at an angle.

This is a technique that Dialgo, a senior shieldman, had taught him.

This way of receiving is quite effective against a foe with a large weight difference.

It also reduces the damage and makes it easy to gain hostility, but its drawback is that it makes it difficult to attack because the monster cannot be fixed in place.

The compensation for this is--.

"Ya-hoo, I'll take it!"

At the same time as he called out, a red-haired boy with swords in both hands came running in from right beside him.

He swiftly slashes the hind leg of the armored boar, which has just finished charging, with two blades.

Before the beast can turn around with a ferocious cry, Riccar quickly moves in behind the shieldman.

The monster kicks the ground in frustration as its prey hides in the blind spot of the round shield.

The monster challenges the shieldman again, but again the charge is easily repelled.

Riccar, who had somehow moved to the flank, runs his blade again.

Hink's bowstring, still lurking in the shadows of the trees, made a sharp sound as it cracked the sky.

The armored boar, which had been targeted by a concentrated attack on its right hind leg, seemed to have changed the point of its anger.

The boar lets out a low roar and glares at its surroundings.

Then, as if he had been waiting for them, Sisang raised his shield and launched his martial arts.

--

The pressure from the dark-haired boy causes the monster to immediately return its aim.

The armored boar is raging wildly, but its movements are a little sluggish because its injured hind leg has not yet fully healed.

Sisang, his body hard as a stone, stands firm on his feet to catch the boar's lunge.

However, he seems to be a little too fast and is easily blown away.

"What are you doing?　You're in too much of a hurry."

Sissan tumbled into the bushes, and Alethea, a water user, rushed to him with a panicked look on her face.

She hurriedly helped the boy to his feet and asked him a series of questions.

"Is he breathing?　Can you raise your right arm?　Are you dizzy?　Twist yourself--you're hurting here. ............!"

"Ha, ha, ha, thanks ......."

While the shieldmen were being healed, the remaining Riccar and Hink worked hard to attract the monsters.

"Come on, come on, come on!"

"Come on, come on! Dekabutsu!"

Despite their huge size, the armored boars are surprisingly nimble.

The two of them are desperately trying to escape, but it does not look like they will be able to do so for very long.

They manage to hold out, probably because of their experience three months ago.

"Sorry, I made you wait. Come on!"

Sissan calls out to the party just in time, and the party regains its usual formation.

The boar's wounds had healed, so they repeated the strategy of crushing its hind legs from the beginning.

Sisan, who is inferior in weight and muscle strength, manages to maintain his defense by repeatedly using his Diargo technique of parry and , which can be activated even with a small amount of fighting energy.

Riccal, whose blows are also light, attacks with a sword heated with a while moving around incessantly, preventing his recovery as much as possible.

Hinck, who tends to hesitate when to attack, stays in the shadows, slowly and deliberately targeting the weakest points to drain their strength.

If something goes wrong, Alethea, who has been standing by, heals and supports everyone.

This was the way the four young men had learned to fight over the past three months.

They had been practicing practical exercises every week and consulting with the tree of skills for the composition of their skills.

Twenty minutes into the battle.

Slowly the number of wounds increases, and the movements of the armored boars become visibly slower.

In particular, the hind leg, which has been attacked intensively, is badly burned by multiple arrows.

"...... should we make a decision soon. How's that?"

I'm ready when you are!

I'm on it!

In response to his friends, Sisang waits for the monster with his shoulders in shields and his legs spread wide.

The provocation incites the armored boar to kick the ground and run, but it has already slowed down to less than half its original speed.

The shieldman, who has pinned the monster to the ground, yells a signal to close the gap.

"Okay, that's it!"

The attackers, who had been patiently waiting for that moment, unleashed all their fighting spirit one after another.

Two sword points were sucked into the beast's flank, scattering a red afterglow--.

In no time at all, three arrows were fired in rapid succession, piercing the boar's head one after the other--.

The monster, its heart and brain stem destroyed in one fell swoop, is unable to bear it any longer and falls flat on its side.

The youths all shouted with joy as the beast fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

"Phew ......, the armored boar is still tough."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!　Did you see that?　I'm a toddler!"

"Wait, I thought we decided to go for the head at the end."

Oh, yeah?

You know what? We had a meeting!

"Come on, let's fight later, let's see if you two have any scars left."

Sisang watched his friends fussing and fussing, and breathed out a deep sigh of satisfaction at having won the battle.

Three months earlier, he had never imagined that he could defeat an armored boar without serious injuries.

After that, after dismantling the boar and cutting off as much meat as they could carry, the group headed back to the city in high spirits.

"I'm tired, man. We fought a lot today."

"Meat!　Meat!　Whoo-hoo!"

"We were running out of salted meat, so it was perfect."

In the past, when we killed a horned mole or a pointed beak, we would buy it all back and use the money to pay for our meals.

Now, however, he takes the meat home and gives it to his landlord and his wife for processing and storage.

As a result, his cash income has decreased, but he now has no lack of food.

This is also the way they followed Thor's advice.

Since they now have more money to spare, they are able to use it as materials for requesting equipment instead of selling off furs, bones, and other items.

Thanks to this, we now have enough weapons and armor for all of us.

The life that had been a day-to-day existence was improving as if it were a lie.

"Oh, wait a minute!

Riccar, the leader of the group, suddenly shouted out from a distance, where a small outer wall could be seen beyond the treetops.

He throws out his backpack full of boar meat and runs into the woods.

After a few moments of waiting, the red-haired boy returns, rummaging through the thicket.

I had a feeling he might be there. Am I too good to be true?

The boy, smiling smugly, holds in his hand a melted and twisted knife and a container of shells filled with liquid.

The extermination of the forest slime is an important task for Sisan and the others, as requested by Thor.

Apparently, the reason for this is that the slime is too much trouble for them to be summoned every time they run out of slime slime mucus.

Incidentally, the melted knives are repaired on the day of the group's meeting.

I'm sure it was just a fluke when you went to get this one," he said.

Hinck, who had been standing behind him for some time, poked Riccar's waistband with an exasperated smile.

Inside the basket was a pitch-black insect that had not been there a moment before.

"This is just something I found by accident!"

"Well, that's okay, but not too much. You've got a whole cage full of bugs in your room.

"It's all right if there are a few more."

"I'm worried about them rustling around in the middle of the night!"

"Hink, you're so detailed. Oh, man, I need my own room now."

"That's my line!"

After settling the bill, the four of us head home in good humor, arguing amongst ourselves.

Since they had earned a considerable amount of money today, they take a bath after dinner and return to their rooms.

While Alethea hung the clothes washed in the bath on the clothesline in the back of the house, the three wet-haired men went about their usual work.

Hinck checks each arrow for bends and the feathers of the arrows.

Sitting on his bed, Riccar starts to grind his beloved one-handed swords with a whetstone.

Beside him, Sissan polishes the circular shield with a cloth soaked in birch oil.

The dark-haired boy looks up and notices the beauty of the starry sky through a crack in the door.

Stopping his hand involuntarily, Sisang mutters to himself.

"...... I hope it's a beautiful day tomorrow, too."