CH 55

“To think you guys would be able to defeat that big dude by yourselves.” 

While I was hung up about the paper and all that other stuff, Raiden had woken up. 

It seems like he healed his wounds with his own potion and he is looking more energetic than I thought.

“I would like to talk about a lot of stuff with you guys, but this place is still dangerous. Let’s go back to the city at once.” (Raiden)

The monster outbreak ending also means that normal monsters will begin to spawn.

I nodded at the words of Raiden, quickly picked up the drops of the Butchers, and we head back to the city. 

Now then, about those drop items, Ringo and I went through a lot of pain to put the Meat Cleaver into the bag. 

It is the drop item of a level 150 dungeon boss. 

No, if I exploit the bug, I could get as many as I want, so it is not exactly unique, but it is treated as an Unique Weapon. 

It is categorized as a greatsword which has high stats by nature, and its base attack power is outstanding, but there’s one problem with it. 

—This Meat Cleaver has an outstanding 66 weight. 

It is 6 times that of a normal sword, and 8 times that of Shiranui, and 33 times that of Hisame’s moonlight katana. 

Even if the last one doesn’t really serve as a good reference, it is weight that you could even just rename it as an iron pillar. 

There’s no way you can use it properly with that much weight. 

I feel bad for saying this, but it is completely a joke weapon. 

Just how strong was that Butcher-san? 

The other drop item is the Power Seed which I didn’t know if to use it or not. In the end, I put it in the bag.

The Power Seed is as the name implies, a mysterious seed that you feel power well up when you eat it. It has the effect of permanently increasing strength. 

Not only the Butcher, but monsters that you can only defeat once will always drop one of these seeds, so it is not exactly rare, but permanent stat increase items are really alluring for gamers, you know. 

The problem is that the stat increase of seed items is pretty small, so even in the old version when the plains were terrorized by Butchers and you hunted them for a whole day to collect those seeds and used them all at once, the effect was barely noticeable. 

Honestly speaking, raising your level is a whole lot faster. 

I can’t expect much from using one here, so I decided to just decorate the inside of my bag with it. 

The announcements of the subjugation contest will happen after 1 hour of the monster outbreak, so there’s still time, but I am actually a bit unsure whether we can properly return to the city while fighting the monsters. 

That’s why we returned with Raiden to make him our bodyguard of sorts, but it actually was needless worry. 

“That young lady is incredible…” (Raiden)

The moment monsters approach, Ringo would deal with them with Lightning Strike. 

I was slightly apprehensive about showing our cards to Raiden, but he already knows that we defeated the Butcher and defeated close to 90 goldens. 

As long as she doesn’t shoot the Lightning Strikes consecutively, it will simply look like an unusual spell, and if we show a bit of our cards, it will instead lessen suspicions.

I gave the Golden Sakura to Ringo, so I am using the Wakizashi right now, but with the attack power of the Assassin Blade that has been boosted to 4 times its power by the rings, I can defeat monsters without any issues like how Hisame did against the goldens as long as they don’t have elemental resistance. 

The choice of me fighting is there, but Ringo didn’t give any chance for me to approach them, and was defeating them all, so it can’t be helped. 

Raiden and I were following behind Ringo without any worries as we headed towards the city. 

On the way, we introduced ourselves and did some chatting, and eventually, Raiden made a serious expression and said this. 

“…You and I fought for our lives against the same enemy. That’s why I think of you as a comrade in arms.” (Raiden) 

“No, that’s…” (Souma)

We are the ones who spawned the Butcher, so there was fault in me. 

Also, I did turn tail once, so it made it hard for me to speak out here. 

However, as if Raiden didn’t care about those technicalities, he shook his head to the sides and continued speaking. 

“I will say this because I don’t want to hide things unnecessarily to a comrade in arms, but I was actually watching a bit of your battle with the Butcher. The very last part of it, the part when you defeated that giant.” (Raiden)

“My fight…?” (Souma)

Raiden nodded heavily. 

According to what Raiden said, he woke up around the time when the Butcher sent Ringo flying. 

At that time, his body couldn’t move, but he could clearly see that I was lunging towards the Butcher. 

“When I learned that the Princess-san was worried about you, I thought spring had finally come to the Princess-san. 

And after I actually saw you, it reinforced that hunch of mine since you didn’t look strong. 

…But that wasn’t the case.” (Raiden)

Raiden’s eyes turned this way. 

A sharp light resided in those eyes like the time when he was facing the Butcher.

“No, I don’t know if that isn’t the case or not, but at the very least, her being interested in you was by no means simply because she fell in love with you. 

Those strange movements you did when you closed in on that guy, and that strange skill you used to put an end to it; they were both things I have never seen before. 

I can somewhat understand why the Princess-san called you the Strange Sword User.” (Raiden)

Looks like Hisame intends to spread the name of Strange Sword User. 

It is in a sense an effective way to enact revenge. 

I want to complain about a lot of things regarding that, but I decide to forget about it for now, and try to point it out to Raiden.

“If possible, I would like my fighting style to not be known that much…” (Souma)

“I know. I told you that we are comrades in arms, right? I won’t betray a friend.” (Raiden)

“…Thanks.” (Souma)

How to say it… This punching-bag character is a really nice guy. 

But that wasn’t the end of what the nice guy had to say. 

“That said, the truly strong ones will gather the attention of the masses sooner or later. 

I feel like it won’t be long before the rumors of the Strange Sword User spread in the whole kingdom.” (Raiden)

“Spare me from that.” (Souma)

If this really is Hisame trying to harass me here, I would say she succeeded with flying colors. 

While I was feeling weary here, we finally caught sight of the city’s gates.

“We finally got back.” (Souma)

Only 2 hours have passed since we left, and yet, it feels strangely nostalgic. 

We catch up with Ringo who was a bit at the front and all 3 of us cross the gate. 

“Now then, I will regroup with my comrades at the plaza. What will you guys do?” (Raiden)

When we cross the gate, the noise of people immediately seizes the surroundings.

Raiden asked this with a louder voice than when we were in the plains.

I respond with the same volume. 

“We will go to the plaza as well. 

We plan on making the report right as we get there, so we will be splitting there.” (Souma)

Normally, the finished request must be submitted at the counter of the Bounty Hunting Guild directly, but the subjugation contest is a special event, so it is treated differently.

The subjugation report and announcement will be done in the central plaza of the city. 

The 3 who had the most points will be called to the special stage, and the total number of monsters subjugated and their items delivered will be read out loud, and it will be publicized who was the winner in front of a whole crowd. 

Raiden of course knows this, so he said this while looking at the big stage that can be seen from all the way here. 

“Well, even if you call it splitting, we will be meeting soon after the announcement though. 

Because of the Princess-san overdoing it, the subjugation numbers are pretty tilted to one side. 

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are most likely set with the Princess-san, you, and my team.” (Raiden)

“Hoh, is that so?” (Souma)

If that’s true, that’s good news. 

My face loosened there unconsciously, and Raiden grinned as he said:

“You may be a comrade, but I won’t hold back when it comes to a competition. We will do our best to win.” (Raiden)

“Challenge accepted…is what I want to say, but the monster outbreak is already over.” (Souma)

There’s no enemies to defeat anymore, so there’s no point in doing your best here. 

When I responded with that, Raiden made a wry smile. 

“…True.

Well, it is simply a state of mind… Oops, it seems like my companions have come to get me.” (Raiden)

Raiden cut off his words in the middle and, at the place he looked at, there was a man and woman who seemed to be strong looking over here. 

Those two must be Raiden’s companions. 

“Then, let’s meet again on the stage!” (Raiden)

“Yeah, later!” (Souma)

Ringo and I see off Raiden who walks to his companions while greeting them cheerfully. 

“…Again at the stage, huh.” (Souma)

Raiden said he won’t be holding back, but I am sorry to say that our position is definitely 2nd or higher. 

We missed the last 2, but we managed to hunt 74 goldens. 

We might not win against Hisame, but I doubt we will lose to anyone else. 

Also, if I remember correctly, Raiden said he defeated 21. 

If he says that gets him 3rd, there’s no need to worry about the other participants. 

(Hm…?) (Souma)

I felt like something was off here, but I shook my head and returned to my senses. 

I feel like I found a strange part, but it is probably not something to worry about. 

“Then, let’s go as well.” (Souma)

“…Okay.” (Ringo)

When I say this to Ringo, who has been silent until now, responded shortly with that.

I don’t know if it is because she isn’t good with crowds, but when there’s other people, she seriously doesn’t speak at all.

No, she doesn’t talk that much even when we are alone, so it might not be that different. 

“Here, huh.” (Souma)

The report of the subjugation contest is done at an exclusive tent, and it is made in a way that you can’t see the outside. 

There’s still 30 minutes of leeway here, but there’s no harm in doing it sooner. 

Thinking this, I approached the tent, and a familiar young man walked towards me. 

“Heya there! Keeping it up until this late, you must have worked really hard!” 

He is talking awfully familiar here. 

Judging from his attire, he must be an adventurer too, but this is clearly our first time meeting in this world, and the proof of that is that I don’t remember his name. 

But he is certainly an adventurer that can become a companion in Nekomimi Neko. 

“Well, yeah.” (Souma)

I want to tell him that I worked 100 times harder than he imagines, but that would be simply me venting here. 

I should get along with people in my same profession. 

I gave a safe answer. 

The young man’s smile turned frivolous. 

“I see, I see. Working hard is nice. 

…By the way, the one walking together with you was Raiden-san, right?” 

“Yeah, and?” (Souma)

This is probably the main topic. 

That young adventurer lowered his voice and I purposely responded with a normal tone. 

But the adventurer doesn’t seem to be bothered by this. 

He instead lowered his voice even more, as if he were scheming something.

“I knew it… So, how much did you get?” 

“Huh?” (Souma)

He asked me something I didn’t get at all. 

What is he saying all of a sudden? 

I thought that, but he ignored my reaction completely and said as if impatient here. 

“I am talking about money. He bought it from you, right? 

I sold mine at an increased rate of 30% from the companions of Raiden-san, so I was wondering how much was the rate of others.” 

“W-Wait a moment!” (Souma)

I don’t know what he is talking about. 

I don’t, but it doesn’t sound like this is good for me. 

(Speaking of which…) (Souma)

And then, I remember something…

Right now, after hearing the words ‘companions of Raiden-san’, I got what the strange feeling of before was. 

When we were talking about our subjugation numbers, Raiden said  ‘I defeated 21!’.

But if he defeated them together with a team, would he have said ‘I’?

In that case, there’s the chance that the 21 of Raiden isn’t the full number of Raiden’s team, but the subjugation number of Raiden himself. 

In the first place, Raiden isn’t the type who would boast about his own results. 

It is already suspicious just from the fact that he was the one who brought that topic out.

If I am correct here, Raiden is an unbelievable schemer here. 

(I see, he poured a cold one on me, that Tea Drinker.) (Souma)

While I was thinking that, my body that was relaxing returned to being tense. 

This world is a game and not a game. 

What I am competing with here are not puppets controlled by a program. 

They have knowledge and intelligence; actual people. 

“H-Hey, as I said, how much—” 

“Sorry, but ask that question somewhere else. See ya then. We have business here.” (Souma)

A person that seemed to be a staff member of the Bounty Hunting Guild was waiting there. 

“You must be a participant of the competition, right? 

We have been waiting. 

Now then, please present the subjugation crystal and the delivery items.” 

Now all that’s left from the subjugation contest that showed unprecedented developments is to wait for the announcement of the results. 

It is finally the last scene of the Golden Stray Wild Slime Subjugation Contest.