Chapter 51

Return to Spiris

I used the venerable elven sword of ancient origin as a walking stick as I made my way to the city of Spiris. The sun had completely fallen now and I couldn’t help but sigh when I saw the stars hanging in the sky. I hadn’t even been walking very long either. The plains out here were dangerous at night. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t know how long this scab of ice would last. I was maintaining it with small amounts of magic, but it still had its limits. I had used too much magic already.

I continued to use Presence Detection and cautiously moved on. The night wind flowed through the gra.s.s like ocean waves. It was beautiful, but I don’t stop. Though, there were no gra.s.s wolves here. The scene was peace itself. But such moments had a way of turning into something very unfortunate, or so had been the trend for me recently. It’s almost like I was the protagonist of a story; but I wasn’t. There was no point in thinking about that.

I had been stabbed by a robber, awoken in another world, ended up traveling with an elf partner, and just happened to have killed a wyvern by myself. A normal adventurer. Huh…saying it like that does make it sound a bit like a protagonist…?

I was thinking such nonsensical thoughts when Presence Detection caught something approaching me. There were several of them coming toward me from a 5 o’clock position. Well, it was probably monsters.

I stop and unsheath my sword before turning around. Some bushes shook ahead of me, and in the next instant, a goblin jumped out. It wielded a rusted weapon that could hardly be called a sword. In any case, a goblin couldn’t kill me. All I did was swing my sword down diagonally at the approaching goblin, and its upper half slid cleanly off its lower half. Now, I swing vertically, the next one splits into left and right pieces, and then it is finished. This was the power of the ancient elven sword. A real cheat weapon.

But I had decided to use this sword only after I had mastered swordsmans.h.i.+p. Even if my life had been hanging on the line, I didn’t like the idea of using it when I was still a novice.

“You have to make sacrifices to get out of desperate situations, but this sucks…”

I say as I look at the blade with its jade glow. Oh, this was quite pathetic. I was filled with regret and disgust as I stored the goblin weapons in the hollow bag and began to walk again. I would buy a new sword once I reached the city. A sword that was just as good as the one Chief made me. I promised to myself as looked at the broken sword that hung on my belt.

An hour pa.s.sed since I had first started walking. It looked so bright in the night’s darkness. Spiris. I was now close enough that the city was clearly visible. There were several more goblin attacks on the way here, but with a quick Negative Slash, they were split open. My mood darkened with every goblin sword I had to add to the hollow bag.

I could see a guard with a torch patrolling the outer walls. I couldn’t make out his face, but just seeing another person was enough to make my feet feel lighter. I was almost running as I neared the gate.

And then, at last, finally, from so far away, the long-awaited western gate of Spiris was before me. The gatekeeper sees me. Just as I am about to greet him…

“Ahh!”

He recoils. Was there a monster behind me!? I look, but there is nothing there. Woah, freaky.

“Ahh, I am looking at you!!”

“Eh?”

Now, this was just weird. What was so scary about me?

“Yo-you’re covered in blood…!”

“Oh.”

Right. I was covered head to toe after slas.h.i.+ng the wyvern’s stomach open. Ahh, I see. That’s why so many goblins were attacking me! Those guys were really sensitive to the smell of blood…

“It’s fine. Don’t worry.”

“No-no-no-no-no-no! Stay away, you ghastly fiend!”

He thrust his spear towards me. This b.a.s.t.a.r.d… If he had any idea what I’ve been through…

“Let me in the city…I’m injured. This blood isn’t mine.”

“Not yours!? Did you, murder someone…!?”

The guard interrogates me with the spear still fixed in my direction.

“No, it’s from a wyvern. It’s dead in the forest over there.”

“What…? A wyvern…?”

The guard was scared at first, but now he was stunned. This was becoming unbearable. I didn’t have time for this.