CH 7

"Hey, you guys hunted this much in just one day? Unbelievable..."

The staff rolled their eyes at the leather bag.

"Because goblins are really small fry. I've gained four levels, so I have plenty of time to spare."

Shiraishi said with a cheerful smile.

"Hehe, I wish I could have shown you how well I did. I cleave the goblins to the ground!"

Keiji says, adding a motion that throws him off happily.

"Alec, I see you've finished your work. How did it go over there?"

Erwin speaks to me with a fresh smile.

"...so-so over here."

I'll try to keep my composure and say, "Damn, I had a hard time against the slime, but maybe this is a party favoritism game?"

"Hmm?　Well, you seem to be able to do it on your own, so I don't really care."

Shiraishi said that, but then she should go through with it.

"Anyway, I can't see Kojima."

I was curious, so I asked. The doctor seemed a little nervous.

"He's gone to the castle to do some more research on our world."

"Hmm. I see. But you should let him level up as soon as possible."

"I will, but it's none of your business."

"That's right."

"I don't care. We're heroes, right? Let's get along."

Keiji says, but don't say Heroes because it's embarrassing. The adventurers around us are smirking at us. I guess we're already famous among the adventurers for the way we were beaten up yesterday. It sucks.

"By the way, Shinya-kun... have you seen Shin?"

Erwin asks me, but Shin seems to have chosen to go his separate way. But it's none of my business.

"I don't know..."

He seemed to know a lot about the game, checking his status early on, and I don't think he's going to die anytime soon.

"I see. What do you think? We're going to have dinner at a bar. We're going to have a little victory celebration."

"Ha, no thanks, I'll pass. I don't think I'm going to be too happy about killing a goblin."

I swear to tell you, I'm not really good at hanging out with people, and I don't want to get mixed up with bad guys in bars.

"Oh, come on, why are you so high and mighty?"

Shiraishi also folded her arms in annoyance.

"Oh, yeah. I guess we have to kill some dragons. Let's go look for dragons tomorrow."

Are you insane? Keiji said something that made me wonder if he was insane.

"Eeh? Hmm, as expected, isn't it too much for us now? I heard the Dragon are strong."

"I guess so. Keiji, I think we should save the dragon for another time and call this our first victory."

"Yeah, yeah, that's right!"

Erwin handled it well. He's a simple kid.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. There are 120 goblin fangs. There are also 22 red tusks, a rare item, so the total is 340 gold. Please check."

"Eeh. Hmm, it's only this much."

Shiraishi says after receiving a large copper coin, but it's getting on my nerves. Is she just guessing after seeing my share?

"Do we have enough food?"

Keiji asked worriedly, but with that much money, he should be able to eat his fill for a month.

"I think we'll be fine. Right?"

"Yeah, that's enough. See you later, Alec-san."

"Yeah."

"See you, old man!"

"Call me Alec!"

Who's an old man? Well, I'm an old man of good age.

Before I knew it, I was getting old, too.

"You can't be called Alec with that face."

"Isn't it fine"

I'm annoyed with Shiraishi for whispering, but she's probably two levels above me right now. I'll let it go.

I should have taken a peek at their skills by appraising them. I don't know if I can even see their skills through appraisal, but I can copy their skills.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"Ah, no."

It would look suspicious if I just stayed here, so I decided to leave for now.

I'm a small-minded person.

I'll do my appraisals and skill copies in the shadows, when I'm not noticed.

I returned to the inn and tried to appraise the owner who was bored at the counter.

[Name]  Innkeeper

[Level]  ?

[Class]  Merchant

[Race]  Human　

[Gender]  Male

Hey...that's it? Well, I had expected that to some extent. This skill is still at level 3, you know.

Or maybe appraising isn't the best way to look at someone's abilities. I can look at my own status in detail, but this is not a skill.

"Sir, do I have something on my face?"

"No. Let me ask you something. What is your strongest skill?"

"Well, once I see a customer's face I never forget it, I remember their name, and then there's the math."

I was tempted to ask him to show me a bit of that skill, but he might get suspicious, and I don't think such a skill would be useful to copy.

"Do you know anyone around here with great skills?"

"Great skills, huh? Well, there are many different kinds of skills. Swordsmanship, magic, healing...well, Lancelot is probably the most famous one in this capital. It is said that he has a sword skill that can cut through iron armor."

"Oh. Where is that man now?"

"He's probably at the castle or on patrol. He's a knight captain."

"Yeah. Oh, okay. Sorry for the interruption."

Cutting iron is quite a skill, isn't it? I'd really like to get my hands on it. I'll go to the castle tomorrow and ask for it.

The next day, I went to the castle, but the captain was busy, so I was turned away. Well, I'm a mass-produced hero. And I'm only level 2.

I had no choice but to go to the adventurer's guild to accept a quest. I saw some adventurers who looked reasonably strong, but I couldn't talk to them. I secretly appraised him from behind, but I couldn't see their level or skills.

...... skill-copying system, not very useful, is it?

Phew. If that's the case, I should have taken a more useful skill on my own.

Damn.

That's just the beginning.

I head out of the city to accept a quest to collect poisonous herbs.

Each piece costs 1 gold, so it's a better deal than aloe grass.

I looked for a medicinal herb that looked exactly like shiso, and soon found it.

This is a choice I can't take, considering the existence of PKs.

I have to brace myself.

I felt a presence behind me, and when I turned around, I saw a small humanoid monster. He was holding a wooden stick in his hand, but I guessed he was a goblin. If it's one-on-one, I should be okay.

Just to be sure, I appraised it.

[Name]  Goblin

[Lv]  2

[HP]  10

[Description]

A monster with a human-like appearance.

The adult is about one meter tall.

Its strength is weak.

They are intelligent, but do not negotiate.

Sometimes they act in groups.

In that case, I need to be careful.

Okay, they're easy to deal with. Maybe.

After confirming that there were no other goblins around, I decided to take the initiative and run in with my sword and slash them.

"Ouryaa!"

With a shout of enthusiasm, I swung the sword down from above.

"Gah!"

The goblin also tried to fight back with a wooden stick, but the sword I swung down hit him in the chest and he was blown backwards.

"Gee! Gee!"

I'm not sure if he was in pain or angry, but he got up threateningly, showing his sharp fangs.

It's a little stronger than a slime.

But still.

"Take this!"

This time I swung my sword to the side. I put too much force into it and the sword slipped out, but before that I could hit the goblin, so it's saved me. The fallen goblin quickly turned to smoke, and a small tusk was left in its place.

If I could take this to the adventurer's guild, it would be cheap but worth the money.

I checked its status, and it had three experience points. That's the equivalent of three slimes, so this is a better deal.

"I think I'll go look for some goblins... I want to level up fast.

I'll have to be careful with a pack, but I can take out a lone goblin.

I'll have to be careful not to stray too far from the path and look for goblins and poisonous plants.

"Oh."

It's there, I found a goblin with his back to me.

I checked my surroundings once to make sure there was no problem, and crept closer, trying not to make a sound.

"Gii!"

Damn it, I've been spotted. But I'll take the first strike!

"Haah!"

I swing the sword with enthusiasm. This sword is quite heavy.

"Gyaa!"

I hit the target well. I've never even tried swordsmanship before, and yet, strangely enough, I can handle a sword just fine.

"Yes!"

That felt good. I pick up the fangs, put them in my cloth bag, and start searching for the goblin again.

"Hmm?"

I thought I heard a woman's voice just now.

I looked around, but didn't see anyone. There was a patch of grass a little further on that I couldn't see, and I didn't want to get too close.

"Somebody! Help me!"

Well, there it is. It was probably on the other side of the tall grass. I had a feeling there would be trouble, so I approached cautiously.

"Hehe, hehe, no one's going to come in here even if you make a noise."

"No!"

Beyond the grass, I saw a young woman being undressed and two men in leather armor.

Hmmm.... It seems that the woman is being attacked by the bad guys.