CH 39

Chapter 39 : Kobold Territory

We carefully proceeded through the kobold territory.

It was just across the river, but it was strangely quiet and somewhat cold.

Maybe it’s just my imagination…?

After walking for a while, like before, Nicola pointed her finger to a direction.

In that direction, there was a kobold.

The size was one size smaller than an adult human, and it looked like a brown dog standing upright.

For me, who had been chased by a dog in my previous life, it was the monster I didn’t want to get close to.

This time, I wanted Luck to defeat it.

Not because I’m afraid, okay? Because it’s my first time seeing a beast-type monster, so I want to see how a professional deals with it.

「Luck oniichan, how do you usually kill a kobold?」

「Ah, as I said, they are good at moving in a group. If that kobold found us, it would tell its friends to come right away. Approaching from behind and cutting off its neck is the safest way. Watch me」

Luck took out his sword from the sheath and approached the kobold quietly from its blind spot.

It seems he was quite a skillful adventurer. He was approaching at a fairly high speed but didn’t make any noises.

ーーSlash!

And before the kobold noticed him, he cut off its neck from behind.

Celine once said that he was a promising beginner adventurer. Looks like it was true.

「Luck oniichan, you’re amazing to be able to move like that」

「There’s a lot of adventurers who can do this much, you know?」

Luck answered as he returned his sword to the sheath.

「Is that so? I can’t use a sword at all, so I think it’s amazing」

「Haha. Thank you」

Luck laughed a little and then looked at the surroundings.

「There’s a place where fine herbs are growing over there. There’s a possibility if Jack walked along this path but…. Let’s aim for the herbs place first」

We were aiming for that place while moving quietly.

I couldn’t use stone bullet because it makes a loud sound, so Luck was the one who killed all the kobolds along the path.

And after Luck killed several kobolds we encountered, Nicola found where Jack was.

「Ah, Jack is behind the big rock over there」

It seems he was hiding behind a rock away from the path.

If Nicola wasn’t with us, we might never have found Jack.

Three of us then rushed toward that rock.

We could see Jack crouching behind the rock.

When he noticed us, he raised his face.

「Onii-chan! I know you will come!」

It looks like he was fine.

Immediately, Luck sent a fist onto Jack’s head.

ーThump!

「Ouch!」

「You stupid! I said don’t go outside alone!….. And? Why are you hiding in a place like this?」

According to Jack’s story, he was aiming for the herb place while hiding in behind trees and bushes so the kobolds didn’t find him, but then he slipped and sprained his ankleー

「ーand I was hiding here hoping that onii-chan would come. But… why are you guys also here?」

Yup. It was a natural question.

I wonder what to say…

If I say “I come to help you”, it may hurt his pride even more. Hmm…

「I met Luck onii-chan at the gate, and he said he’s going to go to a place with a lot of fine herbs, so I forced him to take us with him」

「Fuーn. I see. And? How’s my onii-chan? He’s awesome, right? He even came to help me immediately as I expected!」

Uhee… I didn’t think Jack was such a brocon.

More importantly, you should think about what you have done!

When I was thinking like that, I heard the sound of fist hitting a skull for the second time.

ーThump!

「Ouch!」

「What if I didn’t notice you were here!? And it’s thanks to these guys that I can find you this fast」

Luck put his hands on my and Nicola’s shoulders.

「Ha, Hahh? What do you mean, onii-chan?」

Luck ignored Jack and muttered.

「Hmm. What should we do now? We can go to pick the herbs, but… Jack’s ankle is…」

「I, I’m fine! I can walk…! Ugghh…!」

Jack stood up, but he held his leg and frowned his face.

「Oi, don’t push yourself too hard. Maybe we should just get out of this forest immediately. Jack, hop on my back!」

Luck crouched down and waited Jack to hop onto his back.

But… wait.

It’ll be a waste if we get out without the herbs.

「Wait… What if Jack’s injury is healed?」

「Well, that will be helpful… Wait, could it be, you… Ah, if it’s you, I won’t be surprised anymore」

Actually, ever since Nicola taught me about light magic, I’ve been practicing healing magic once in a while.

I had tried it for cut wounds and scratch, but I never tried it for a sprained ankle.

Well, let’s do it anyway.

I placed my hands on Jack’s sprained ankle and kept pouring light attribute mana into it.

A light illuminated between my hands and Jack’s ankle.

Then, the swelling subsided little by little, as if I was watching a reversed playing video.

「Eh? It doesn’t hurt anymore!?」

Jack was surprised with his eyes rounded.

I was a little surprised too.

Apparently, whether it’s a cut or a sprain, it seems I can heal it with continuously pouring light attribute mana.

Magic is amazing!

According to Nicola, it would be more efficient if I do it with mana manipulation, but for me who had a lot of mana, I think this way is more suitable.

「With this, we can go picking herbs, right?」

「O, Ou. Yeah, right」

It kinda irritated me that Jack didn’t seem to be reflecting that much from what he did.

But, well, he had a terrible experience today, so I hope he will learn from it.

Young children are difficult… Really…