CH 26

Cuckold Matter

While he prefaced it by saying this was just to ease his conscience, Gyuntel then demonstrated the parry, where you repelled with a sword or shield, and the deflect.

Once training was finished, and the others had left, I stayed at the guild training grounds and continued to practice. I was glad to have found a place where I could exercise, which was something I had been lacking.

After that, I accepted other lessons aside from the sword, that I happened to be interested in. Bows, shadowing, shield arts. I participated on a whim until the receptionist said,

“I don’t know what your goal is, but this won’t serve you well unless you focus.”

She advised.

I knew that I wouldn’t acquire any skills with all of this scattered training, but it wasn’t a problem, as my objective was to merely learn the training methods.

And so I learned to erase my presence during shadow training. With shields, I learned how to attract a monster’s attention and find my position within a party.

Library, train at the guild, rest, magic energy manipulation training, library.

I did them in rotation as I lived through the winter.

The reason that there was one day for magic manipulation, was because if I trained with it for very long, I would become incredibly tired. And so for the next two days, I would not be able to move the energy at all.

And while it was a rather fruitful winter for me, my skills did not grow much at all. Eralt went from Lv2 to Lv4, and Magic Energy Manipulation rose to Lv2. That was about it.

I didn’t gain any new skills, but I felt that I had learned a lot about this world instead.

When the snow started to melt, and the plants grew green again, the funds I had saved during the summer were nearly depleted. But I wasn’t worried. After all, I was an F-Rank Adventurer!

Up until now, I could only make 2.5 silver from killing goblins by selling their magic stones, but now that it was a fixed quest, I would make as much as 4.5 silver!

First, I wanted to go and see Emma. I hope she wasn’t sulking because I hadn’t seen her in a long time. Perhaps I could also hunt some monsters in Kijidore village and save up a little.

And so I walked through the freshly green forest, happily killing any forest wolves that were in my path. As my aim with the bow had improved, I was also able to hunt a horn rabbit, which I took to the village as a gift. The chief and the farmer owner met me and bowed.

“It’s been awhile, Ajifu. The truth is, I have to apologize to you about something.”

“I really should have managed things better. I’m sorry.”

Di-did something happen to Emma!?

“Wh-what!? What happened!? Where’s Emma? Is she alright!?”

I grabbed the farmer by the shoulders and shook him.

“C-calm down! She isn’t harmed, no. But I suppose all is not exactly well either.”

“What do you mean?!”

“She’s expecting.”

“Whaaat!?”

What I saw upon arriving at the farm was Emma with a very large belly.

“I am sorry. It seems like it happened near the end of summer last year.”

Emma…Emma…was with someone else now!

“Sorry isn’t enough! What am I supposed to do!”

“Well, uh, of course, I will buy her from you. Uh, how about the market price of two gold?”

“WHAT?”

“Ah, um, three gold. For the offspring and as an apology. And I could sell you a different horse if you need.”

“I will accept the money. But chief, don’t think you can solve everything with gold! I won’t be hunting the goblins this spring. You’ll have to rely on the Adventurers Guild this time!”

“No, it’s not the chief’s fault. I wasn’t watching them properly. Ajifu, please don’t say such things! I don’t want the village to be troubled because of me. I’ll even give you back the stable fees.”

Hmm. Well, he had helped me in the past…

“This village has been good to me. And I haven’t forgotten that. You won’t have to worry about this spring’s goblins at least.”

Either way, I would have to travel again. And so I turned on my heels and went into the forest.

I would take out my frustration on the goblins.

I’m sure their numbers had increased during the winter.

They would be the targets of this emotion.

A green that was darker than the new green of a forest where the snow was half-melted…

There they were…

I wouldn’t use a bow.

“Argghh!”

The goblin blood splattered on the snow.

“Gugya!?”

“Hahhh!!”

The goblin’s body split diagonally.

“Gyagya!!”

As a goblin tried to escape, I thrust my sword into its back.

Then I cut off the right ear, which was the proof of the hunt, and put it in a bag along with the magic stone.

Three, four. I cut them down as soon as I found them.

This wasn’t extermination. It was just venting one’s anger without concern for justice.

The deeper in I went, the more goblins there were.

“Gaaaarrr!!”

Was it a magic beast that howled or not?

Just then, a change came over the flow of goblins that kept arriving.

“Gugya!”

“Gyagyagya!”

“Gugyaa!”

Their backs turned to me and they ran.

“Wait. Don’t be a stranger.”

As I chased after them and cut them down, there was a loud boom! from the depths of the forest, and a pillar of fire shot up in the air. It was still far away.

I didn’t know what it was, but I decided to go and find out. However, my path was blocked by a forest wolf.

With my left hand, I bashed it with my shield, and then slashed down with the sword in my right hand.

Beyond it, I could see a burning goblin settlement, and a pack of forest wolves running around.

“Let me join you!”

Three forest wolves attacked me. I hit them with my shield and chopped and thrust with my sword.

As I stabbed a running goblin that looked like a female carrying a child, an arrow shot into my leg, and two goblins rushed towards me. There was no time to pull it out.

“Gugya!”

I stopped, parried the club that came swinging down, and then kicked the goblin in the chest so that it crashed into the other one. Then I skewered the layered bodies and blocked a flying arrow with my shield. By then, my wounded leg was growing very hot.

“Poison!”

I rushed into the shadows and pulled out the arrow. Then I downed an antidote potion and an ordinary potion and then took extras out of my bag to attach to my belt.

“Now, it’s time for round two.”

I raised my shield and blocked the arrows as I rushed towards the goblin archer and took him out.

The archer had been standing in a spot that offered a good view of the battlefield. A great position.

And so I crouched low and inspected the field.

In the center of the settlement, a large goblin, two hobgoblins, and a giant wolf like I had never seen before were fighting.

(Alright, I’ll leave that one alone.)

My eyes circled the outer rim of the settlement and then returned to the entrance. Goblins and forest wolves were having a chaotic battle there. And the forest wolves seemed to have the upper hand.

And so I went around to their back, and cut the forest wolves down.

After killing two of them, I quickly retreated.

The surprise had caused the forest wolves to spread out, and the goblins gained momentum and pushed in.

Without stopping, I went to the side of the goblins and rushed towards a magician in the back.

And so I was able to take down the goblin magician without attracting the attention of the others. Now there were only five goblins and about three forest wolves left.

The goblins fell on the wolves all at once, and put them down smoothly one by one.

“So, that leaves…”

I downed my last potion and looked towards the center of the settlement. And then my eyes met the eyes of the giant wolf. It was holding the torso of the large goblin in its jaws.