CH 181

“Fufu~, we’ve arrived!”

Tia, who had just set foot in a new world, bounces with joy on the spot. Seeing her adorable, playful figure, my cheeks naturally loosen up.

“Hahaha, you’re in a good mood, Tia.”

“Of course! Because I’ve got a brand-new…weapon!”

Tia’s waist, which she pats with a thud, carried the [Silver Spirit Sword I crafted. By using a magic furnace with better performance than before and stuffing it with rare metals, its performance has increased by 10%.

By the way, anyone who says “only 10%?” here would get punched by blacksmiths all over the world. It’s an amazing feat to improve the performance of equipment that was already highly advanced by 10%.

“And you’re the same, right, Ed?”

“Hm? Well, yeah.”

When asked with a smile, I couldn’t help but grin as well. On my waist, as usual, was [Dawnbreaker] on my left side, but on my right side was a sword with just a handle and no blade.

Yes, I’ve finally succeeded in creating a new [Sword of Thin Life.] Unlike the [Dawnbreaker] it can’t carry various powers, but in terms of sharpness alone, there is almost nothing that can rival this [Sword of Thin Life]

Of course, it’s inferior to the ridiculous ability of the Hero’s Sword which has the unexplainable ability to cut through anything, but there’s no doubt that within the realm of human-made weapons, this [Sword of Thin Life] possessed the finest cutting edge.

“Ugh, I want to test it! I wonder if there are any suitable demonic beasts around?”

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous? I understand how you feel, though.”

It’s in an adventurer’s nature to want to test out a new weapon. I feel the same way, but I can’t condone looking for beasts to fight in a world we’ve just arrived in.

“By the way, are there actually demonic beasts in this world?”

“Uh, probably?”

Finally looking around carefully, we found ourselves in a typical forest along the highway, just like before. I could see a town in the distance through the gaps in the trees, but the townscape had a familiar feeling to it, with no massive stone towers or buildings like we had seen in Canal’s world.

“I think this feels like a normal… or maybe not so normal world. Anyway, let’s head to town for now.”

There are dozens of scenes like this that come to mind, so just from this alone, I can’t determine which world we are in. However, in places like this, we usually encounter the hero in town, so once we do that, I’ll surely figure it out.

“….I wonder if there are any carriages being attacked by demonic beasts on the way?”

“Hey!”

After smacking Tia on the head for saying such dangerous things, we walked side by side toward the town. Fortunately or unfortunately, Tia’s wish didn’t come true, and we reached the town quite normally. As we were walking down the main street, we unexpectedly spotted a large man in splendid armor on the other side of the street.

“Ah! So this is the place…”

The man, in his thirties with black eyes and short black hair, stood about 190 cm tall, clad in shining metal armor. We easily identified him as the hero of this world, and once we saw him, we knew where we were.

This was the 31st world. It had no particular distinguishing features and was quite ordinary… as far as worlds go.

“Hey Tia, that’s the hero of this world.”

“That person? Wow, he does look really strong.”

“Yeah, he’s strong. But… well, never mind. Let’s just quickly ask to join his party.”

“Really? We can become friends that easily?”

“Yeah. Leave this to me.”

As I nodded reassuringly to the astonished Tia, I proceeded down the street and approached the hero. He noticed us and stopped,

“Hm? What is it?”

“We recognize you as the great Hero Gou-sama. Please allow us to join you on your journey.”

“Is that so? Alright!”

“Thank you!”

“Huh!?”

Tia was surprised at the quick exchange between Gou and me, but Go didn’t seem to care as he walked past us, and we followed him.

“Wait, Ed!? What just happened?”

“We just joined Gou-san’s party.”

“I know that! But, huh? That easily!?”

“Gahahaha! I don’t reject those who come or chase those who leave! I don’t care about such trivial things!”

“Uh, okay…”

As we walked, Tia wore a puzzled expression as she responded to Gou’s hearty laughter. Then, still wearing that expression, she gently grasped my hand.

[Hey, is this really okay?]

[Yeah, don’t worry. Gou-san’s like that. Besides, if you’re surprised by this, you won’t last long from here on out.]

[There’s more surprising stuff!? Why didn’t you tell me from the start?]

[Well, that’s because there’s too much to explain… and it’s better to explain it as it comes up. Just bear with it for a bit.]

[Fine, if you say so… I’ll brace myself a little.]

Though still not quite satisfied, Tia let go of my hand. We continued walking and introduced ourselves, then Gou stopped in front of a certain house.

“Alright, let’s start here.”

Saying that, he reached for the door, but it was locked. After rattling the door several times, he moved on to the next house.

“Um, Gou-san, what are you doing?”

“Hm? I’m looking for a house we can enter.”

“A house to enter…? You don’t mean you have some business with the people living there, do you?”

“That’s right… Ah, this one’s open.”

After trying three doors, Gou found an unlocked one and entered the house without paying attention to Tia’s questions. I followed him mindlessly, and Tia hesitantly followed us as well.

“Now… Hmph!”

Crash!

“Wha!?”

As soon as he entered the house, Gou smashed a vase against the floor near the wall. The vase shattered with a satisfying sound, and its fragments scattered everywhere.

“Hey! What are you doing all of a sudden!?”

“What do you mean? I’m smashing a vase.”

“Why are you smashing a vase!?”

“Of course, because I am the hero… Haaaa!”

“?”

Leaving a confused Tia behind, Gou continued to smash more vases. After breaking all of them, he entered a random room and started rummaging through a chest of drawers.

“Ed! Ed! He’s rummaging through someone’s drawers now!?”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Why are you so calm about it!? This is theft, isn’t it!?”

“Well, you see…”

“There’s nothing here… ah, what’s this!?”

As he rummaged through the drawers, he held something up above his head. It’s a thin, see-through piece of women’s underwear.

“Ah, some naughty underwear! This will sell for a good price!”

“Ed, let’s turn him in to the guards right now! Or I’ll blow him away on the spot!”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!”

As I desperately tried to calm down Tia, who looked like she was about to cast a spell, Gou stood up and looked at us after stuffing his loot into his bag.

“Seriously, what’s with all the fuss?”

“It’s because you’re doing something that’s like theft… no, it IS theft! Just because you’re a hero, do you think that gives you the right to do this!?”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

“What!?”

Tia was at a loss for words at Gou’s completely unapologetic response. Ah, Tia, that’s the path I went down in my first run.

“Wh-why…!?”

“As a hero, I have the privilege to infiltrate any place, break vases, rummage through drawers, and confiscate anything I need for my adventures. Isn’t that common sense?”

“Haaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?!?!?!”

Tia’s anguished cry echoed through the empty house.

(T/N: Now this is interesting. I’ll resume posting in June, got my midsems in a week)