Chapter 156: Side Story: Adventurers

Chapter 156: Side Story: Adventurers

Pathetically Stupid Blue Catkin’s POV

This couldn’t be happening.

It simply couldn’t be real. It had to be a nightmare.

「Tarkas? Rawrs? Tordo? The hell are you guys doing?」

My three companions had collapsed right in front of me. They were missing all four of their limbs and bleeding themselves out as they cried in pain and despair.

「You b*tch! The hell’d You do to them!?」

「...」

「You be hella open! Die asshole! Oraahhhh!」

「Nn」

「Sheet! The hell!? That’s impossible! Let go damn it!」

That’s foockin’ just not right! The brat just stopped my club with her bare hands!? How the hell!? There’s just no way! My strength matches the average D rankers, but I can’t budge even the slightest bit no matter how hard I try.

「What kind of cowardly trick are you tryin’ to pull!? There’s no way someone as great as me could lose to the likes of a god damned black catkin!」

「Fmph.」

「Gah!?」

I couldn’t tell what happened, but both my arms and legs started to burn with a sudden intense pain. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!

It hurt so bad that I couldn’t help but scream.

And then, I realized it. I’d fallen in much the same way as all my companions.

Just how did this happen? We were drinking and making merry just 10 minutes ago...

***

「Hey, you see that?」

「What?」

「That, over there.」

「Her? Why the hell’s a brat like that in a place like this?」

Tarkas made a gesture with his chin and pointed in a brat’s direction. She was eating all by ‘erself, and you could tell at a glance that she was at too young an age to even drink booze.

This bar be a place where adventurers gather. Brats like her are supposed to get their asses turned away at the entrance.

「Guhehehe, why don’t we make like adults and give ‘er a bit of a warning?」

「Heh heh heh. Adult my ass, you’re getting all giddy about having the chance to make a brat bawl her eyes out.」

Rawrs’ had a huge smile plastered across his face. Looked like Tordo was spot on. He was probably planning to give the kid a “lesson” and then ask for some “tuition.”

He started walking towards the girl, his steps unsteady with drunkeness.

「Hey brat, this ain’t the type of place you should be hangin’ around」

「He’s right ya know? S’only a place for adventurers, not somewhere brats like you should be hanging around.」

「...」

「Oi! Say something goddammit!」

This damned brat cut off my tail!! Argghhhh!!

Why did this have to happen!?

Rescued White Dogkin Man’s POV

I continued to gaze at the scene before me, unable to utter even the slightest sound.

It simply seemed unreal. I couldn’t believe it to be something based in reality.

I felt that even the act of recognizing it would lead to it distorting my common sense.

But I simply had to. The sounds that assaulted my eardrums and vibrations that resounded through my body informed me that it was all too real.

「Haaaah!」

「Gugyaaaaooooohhh!」

The young girl’s blade split the last remaining high ogre in half.

「Are... you serious...?」

I unconsciously let out an amazed groan. How was a girl so young completely decimating a whole hoard of D ranked magic beasts in what almost appeared to be a single strike each? I couldn’t help but feel that the phrase “One Hit One Kill” existed for the sole purpose of describing what I’d just bore witness to.

High Ogres were by no means weak. In fact, they were incredibly powerful. They were capable of smashing through a full suit of armour in a single hit. They regenerated ridiculously rapidly, and their skin was so hard that the average blade would find itself simply unable to pierce it.

I knew for a fact that they were strong, especially seeing as how they’d almost killed me just a few minutes back. In fact, I’d already long steeled myself for death, as my sword was unable to inflict them with any wounds whatsoever.

But then she showed up.

When she did, my heart fluttered from despair to hope, and back to despair. I’d realized that the person that came to help me was a mere little girl, a black catkin one at that.

Just think about it, one little girl against a swarm of High Ogres, this dungeon’s most powerful foe. A group of five high ogres was considered a C ranked threat. There was just no way a single girl could win against them. In fact, she was probably going to get totally demolished. I didn’t think she’d even be able to buy me enough time to escape.

But she did.

She killed all 5 High Ogres in just 3 minutes. It took her less time to wipe them out than it would’ve taken me to kill the same number of goblins.

「A black catkin kid...」

I remember hearing a rumour about her as of late.

They said that she was a D ranked adventurer that showed up in Ulmutt rather recently. That in itself was normal, Ulmutt was where all Kranzel’s intermediate-ranked adventurers gathered.

But that was the only normal part about her.

The first abnormal thing about her was that she was extremely young. She was also a member of the weakest beastkin tribe, the black cat tribe, and made it so that everyone that messed with her lost the ability to remain as an adventurer. That wasn’t it either. She was also diving solo as opposed to with a party, and coming out with incredible achievements regardless.

The rumours were totally absurd. I’d assumed that she’d spread them amongst the drunks herself in order to promote her name.

Besides, there was no way for Black Catkin to be anywhere even remotely close to strong in the first place. As a beastkin myself, I thought that to be common sense.

Beastkin were creatures that more or less valued strength over all else. Those that behaved poorly would be forgiven and their actions excused so long as they were strong. In other words, we were the type of creatures that would always lay blame on the weak. Such a trend was deeply rooted in our culture. Black Catkin were thought of as the weakest type of beastkin, and as a result, the ever so douchey Blue Catkin would often sell them into slavery. The fact that they were the lowest in the beastkin hierarchy was exactly that, a fact.

That’s why I simply couldn’t believe that a young, female black catkin could be that much stronger than me. Many other adventurers felt the same. That was why conversations about her were often centered on her tribe rather than her strength or appearance.

「I guess she must be The Black Cat that everyone’s been talking about.」

It looked like the rumours had been based in truth.

The girl that many had started referring to as The Black Cat didn’t bother turning around to face me. It seemed that her saving me had just happened to be a little bit of an extra bonus, and that she’d only been after the High Ogres to begin with.

I myself was also a D ranked adventurer, but seeing her in action had ripped my pride to shreds.

But still, I considered myself lucky. My pride was worth much less to me than my life.

I managed to stay free of injuries and live to see another day. And on top of that, I even managed to learn that The Black Cat’s strength was genuine. I’m glad I learned that here and now rather than at a bar or tavern somewhere. I surely would’ve messed with her had I not known that she was this powerful.

「I better make sure I tell everyone else about this. They’re all just as dumb as I am, so they’ll probably try messing with her if I don’t.」