CH 128

I looked at Sword. He was extremely on edge. Or rather, his hand was resting on his sword’s hilt. He’s up and about to slaughter them in an instant!

“Hey, wait a moment. I want to talk with them.”

“…Your not doin’ it would be better for my heart though, you see?”

Not my heart but his, eh?

“You’re not sensing any malice from them, so wouldn’t a little chat be okay? You didn’t sense any from the spirit world dweller and Sir Dungeon Core either, did you?”

“……”

With a deep sigh, Sword released his combat stance.

＊＊＊

Being called brave…the young man, who appeared to be in the second half of his twenties going by appearance, had completely frozen while repeatedly blinking his eyes in surprise, maybe stunned about being called a brave or shocked that he was almost cut down all of a sudden. Well, I feel you. Either of those options would be surprising, to say the least.

“You followed us ’cause you got some business with us, right? Fightin’ or talkin’; which is it goin’ to be?”

“…Talking, please.”

“Okay, hello then.”

“…Hello. ……Umm…..just to make one thing clear, I’m not a brave…”

Sword interrupted with a scary voice, “Liar. Black hair, a relatively flat face, and a slender body; all of these are traits typical for a brave. I won’t say that it applied to all braves throughout history, but it’s been passed down that very many of ’em had such traits.”

Whoa. Seeing his face, I was surprised about him having the same features as the humans of the other world I used to live in, but those were actually the traits for braves, huh?

“…Certainly, I was summoned here and suddenly told, 『Go and defeat the demon king as brave』, but that was quite one-sided. Besides, the other guy who got summoned with me was all gung-ho about going along with it, so I thought it’d be just fine to let him handle all of it… Since it looked like I’d be killed if I refused, I agreed with their demand for the time being, but after leaving the capital, I never called myself a brave. Look, I was suddenly told to kill a person I don’t know…though I’m not sure whether you can call them a person. In the first place, fighting or murdering others is impossible for me since I come from a world that has been peaceful…”

Oh wow, someone with a super straightforward common sense (for an otherworld person) has shown up. Why has this guy been summoned, though? He seems completely unable to kill others. Or turning it around, he’s going to croak in no time in a world like this.

Sword was dumbfounded.

“…So it wasn’t you who tried to meet us when we were in the capital, intruded into the house we rented over there, and destroyed it?”

Ah, something like that happened as well, didn’t it? I completely forgot after getting all excited about the port town.

Mr. Brave appeared to be somewhat puzzled.

“Eh? I don’t know anything about that. Or rather, you were in the capital? I departed the capital right away after leaving the royal castle and came here, so I didn’t know about you two being over there. Then again, I don’t have any acquaintances who could have informed me. I know I’m repeating myself, but I’ve lived in another world. So I don’t know anyone over here.”

Sword apparently understood that he was telling the truth.

Certainly, we came here while riding Char or Bronko, and I didn’t see anyone following us during that time. To begin with, no one would be able to keep up with our speed anyway! In order to meet us, he’d have been forced to leave the capital early to come here ahead of us. But, since we haven’t told anyone about our destination, he wouldn’t know whether we’re actually going to come here or go somewhere else altogether.

The one destroying our house in a desire to meet us wasn’t this guy.

“There’s a second brave?”

He nodded at my question, “He’s a guy…who has slight issues with an adolescent hero-wannabe syndrome…ah, do you understand what I mean?”

“You’re talking about the thing where they start babbling about dark-something being sealed in their right arm, right?”

“Yeah, that!”

Sword blinked his eyes in surprise.

“Eh? Sealin’ somethin’ in your right arm? A demon or stuff like that? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Yes, it’s dangerous. In all kinds of meanings. …So, that guy is currently in the capital, huh?”

“No idea… But, since he couldn’t memorize the chants of magic spells, he was given a sword decked with plenty of ornaments. Flaunting around that thing, he challenged the knight leader.”

Oof. Makes you wonder just how old that boy is. Or maybe he’s actually a geezer?

A wannabe-hero syndrome patient screaming stuff like “I’m way too old for this! It’s been ages since I last memorized anything!” … Isn’t that the absolute worst?