CH 4

The First Battle II

Well, there was no way that a rabbit would say such a thing.

However, I wasn’t sure what to do now that I knew that my punch had done almost nothing. Could it be that it has some kind of skill that raises its resistance to blunt attacks?

Of course, it wasn’t going to give me time to ponder this. The Horned Rabbit charged at me again.

“Woah.”

While it’s speed was as crazy as ever, this time I was able to dodge it. I realized it after seeing it three times. While it was fast, it moved in mostly a straight line. If you moved at the same time, then dodging it wasn’t too difficult.

My opponent seemed to realize this as well, as it stopped to face me. And then once again, it was a battle to bridge the distance. We went from frantic movement to a silent battle.

If blunt attacks were ineffective, then I would have to cut. But the only thing I had was the small knife in my right hand. I reversed my diagonal stance so that I could counter and cut from the right…

But within that small opening when I was changing position, it struck.

It jumped towards me! But now…

“I can read your moves!”

I easily dodged it.

However, it had only hopped a little to the side, and didn’t charge at all. As for me, I had practically thrown myself out of the way, and had lost my balance.

“A feint!?”

I felt as if it was laughing at me.

After its sidestep, it targeted me and charged!

I couldn’t move, and it bounded towards me. And like that, blood sprayed in the air.

Yes, the blood of the Horned Rabbit.

It had made a terrible mistake.

It must have thought that this was its chance. It had aimed for my head.

I bent backwards and escaped the attack by a hair’s breadth…yes, just like in The Matrix(of course, I fell back right after).

And as it was about to pass over me, I swung my right hand. And as luck would have it, the knife in my grasp cut open the spot right between its eyes.

Had it targeted my body, it would have likely dealt a lot of damage. So it was a good thing that it had become greedy enough to try and finish things quickly.

That being said, this still wasn’t a complete reversal of fortunes. After all, I was now on my back, and the attack didn’t have much power behind it. I had only cut through its skin, and so that damage was not too heavy.

I sat up and saw that it was slowly turning around to look at me. Both of its eyes were still present. All I had done was make a slash from its left cheek to the top of its head.

Between now and the time it took me to get back up and in a defensive stance, it would have the perfect chance to attack.

“Shit.”

I thought. But it didn’t come.

Feeling suspicious, I got to my feet and backed away.

“Kyu.”

It cried. And then it turned around and hopped away.

“Haa…”

I sighed in relief before sitting back on the ground.

Did it spare me then…?

“Status open.”

I opened the status window I had forgotten about, and saw that my HP was now 31/36.

In spite of the beating I took, it hadn’t gone that far down.

“I suppose focusing on HP too much really is dangerous.”

With such thoughts, I looked up at the sky and saw that it was becoming the colors of the evening.

It would be no good to be in a place like this during the night. And so I switched gears and started to walk back to the road as I considered what had happened.

Could something like that really be considered a weak starting monster…?

No, there was no way. Perhaps it was a rare monster that didn’t really belong in this field? This was another world. So it could have just been a matter of terrible luck that I had encountered it.

And if it ever became famous, it would become a monster that people would call ‘Scarface.’ The day might come where I could tell people, ‘I’m the one who gave it that scar.’ And they would say, ‘Wh-what!? You must be very strong to have been able to land an attack on Scarface.’ It could happen…

Perhaps this was an encounter with someone who would be an old enemy. One day we would acknowledge each other and fight in battle, shoulder to shoulder. I decided to think it was possible.

Thankfully, I was able to escape the forest without trouble, and as the scenery in front of me opened up, I saw that there was a settlement that was surrounded by wooden walls. There was even smoke rising from a chimney, so there was no mistaking it. While it was still quite a distance away, I wouldn’t have to sleep outdoors.

I rang out what energy I had left, and forced my tired body to pick up the pace.

It hadn’t looked that far, but by the time I reached the settlement, the sun had already fallen, and the gates were closed shut.

“Please open up!”

I shouted while banging on the gate. And then someone climbed up the watchtower on the side of the gate.

“What’s this? And at such a time?”

I felt relieved at being able to understand him. And decided to make up a random excuse.

“I was attacked by bandits and had to escape. Will you please let me inside?”

“You alone? You don’t seem to be carrying any weapons. And yet you were able to make it all of the way here by yourself?”

“They took all of my belongings. And the others were killed. I barely managed to run away.”

“…Wait right there. I will go and speak to the chief.”

The man said before descending from the watchtower.

I waited for some time, and then the man returned. And after making sure that there was no one else in the area,

“I will open the gate now. Just wait.”

And then he signaled to someone else.

The gate then cracked open, just enough for one person to pass through. And from within,

“Get in.”

Came a voice.

I entered, and was immediately surrounded by three armed men and an elderly man who held a torch.

“I’m sorry to disturb you at such a late hour. But I was attacked by bandits and had to flee. Would it be possible for me to stay the night at some inn?”

I started with an apology and a bow of the head.

The men looked at each other, and then the man with the torch stepped forward.

“There are no inns in this village. And while I’d like to hear your story, it seems that you are injured. Even here, we can offer some simple treatment, and then we’ll talk.”

“Ah! Treatment as well! Thank you!”

“It isn’t anything proper, so I would not expect too much.”

I followed after the man and was led to a house that was larger than the others around it. Apparently, it was where the representative of the settlement lived.

When we entered the house, an elderly woman appeared.

“Oh? And who is this? Ah! But you are hurt! How terrible. You must be treated at once!”

And with that, I was ushered away.

I took off my shirt and showed the wounds, which were washed rather painfully before being slathered in some kind of medicine and wrapped up with bandages. The man then came to see how things were going.

“How is it? Is it bad?”

“They cover a large area, but are all just scratches. There’s nothing to worry about.”

I see. I should have just said, ‘Ah, they are just scratches.’

Once that was done, I was led to a table and served some water, which I drained in an instant.

There was the elderly man and woman. And a man who might have been in his thirties, but it was hard for me to judge a person’s age when it came to westerners. They all stared at me.

“So, let’s hear what you have to say. Who are you and where did you come from?”

Asked the elderly man.

“I’m Ajifu, a traveler. This place wasn’t my original destination, but I was abducted by bandits, you see. And then a carriage passed by, and I was tied up and thrown to the side. It was only because I had a knife hidden on me that I was able to cut the ropes and escape.”

It was all lies, but I thought it was better than telling them that I had come from another world. I had no intention of being an honest idiot.

“I am Nyle, the chief of this village. And this is my wife, Mefica. And that one over there is Gein. In any case, we didn’t see any carriages coming in this direction. What kind of carriage was this, and what happened to it?”

“I was quietly making my way through the forest when I saw the bandits driving the carriage right past me. There had been three people on it when I first saw the carriage, but when they returned, it was just the one child and the bandit driver. And after walking further into the forest, I found three corpses.”

“Mister Nyle…this…”

“Hmm. It may be Desto. They did take Rudy, and there were two guards hired from the guild. How will I be able to tell Melissa this… No, perhaps it’s too early to jump to any conclusions.”

“But it’s about the same time that Desto should be returning. The timing matches up.”

So they do have guilds. And the family of the deceased were in this village. This was bad.