Volume 2 - CH 10.1

There are a few things to reflect on today.

The first is that if you are going on a long hunting trip like this, you should bring not only lunch but also dinner.

Another is transportation. I may have over-enthusiastically gone out for the first time in a long time, but it wasn’t a good look to go back home dragging a monster.

However, I also wondered if I should go into the forest while dragging a cart.

After all, if you’re hunting alone, you have to do your best.

When it comes down to this, Ren confirms the results of today’s survey and the outcome of the hunt.

(Eight mitsume, two earthworms)

Earthworms are E-ranked monsters.

They are huge worm monsters that crawl on the ground, which Jerukku also used to use. As expected, I can’t carry them, so I’m dragging them toward the town.

I’m sorry to pollute the road, so I’m going off the highway.

Even so, the adventurers I passed occasionally looked at me as if they had seen something strange.

A boy like Ren was dragging a total of ten monsters along with him. It was inevitable.

I had told Lessard in the morning that I shouldn’t be hunting that much, but that wasn’t the case at all.

(I wonder if I can go through with this)

Eventually, I saw the gate that led into Clausel.

Of course, since it’s a gate, it is wide.

What I am trying to say is that it is wide enough for me to pass through even while dragging many monsters.

The problem is that it stands out too much.

“This is…”

I knew it.

The knight standing at the gate naturally knows about Ren.

He chuckled when he saw Ren returning.

“The Lord told me that Ren-dono had begun his activities outside of town —-, but you’ve had a big catch on day one.”

“Don’t the other adventurers do much of this kind of hunting?”

“I think they mostly hunt small monsters. As you know, it’s difficult to transport them, so even if they are hunted, they are often dismantled locally or transported after careful examination of the materials.”

(…… I might as well do the same.)

“Especially when it comes to earthworms, although they are ranked E, they’re hard to hunt because of their ecology. So the shells fetch a good price. There are many uses for them, but not many people hunt them.”

Hearing this, Ren was honestly pleased.

Ren’s only reason for going out of town is to investigate monsters, but it’s also a way for him to make money.

“I’m going to the guild now, is it okay if I carry it with me?”

“Yes. Apparently it’s not going to contaminate the road with blood and bodily fluids, so it’s not a problem.”

The knight continues.

“but did you carry it all the way here by yourself?”

“Yes, I did. I don’t have a party with me, so I dragged it all the way from the forest.”

“….I see”

Apparently, this knight was worried about whether Ren could carry it alone.

He had walked all the way to the castle gate alone, so it was only natural that he should be able to carry it alone, but he was still skeptical.

But when Ren started walking again, he smiled.

“—- our hero may be even more amazing than I think he is.”

He thought as he watched Ren’s back and listened to the amazement of the residents as he passed by.

I feel the same way, they said.

Meanwhile, Ren, who continues onward, is pleased without saying it aloud.

(Thank goodness the guild is close to the gate.)

Perhaps it’s a location for transporting monsters, etc. Thinking that this kind of thing was also considered, Ren felt that he had become smarter.

“So—“

What should I do from here?

In front of the guild, which was attracting a lot of attention, Ren stood looking at the doorway.

No, indeed, it wouldn’t go through.

Even if I forced my way through, the doors and walls would likely break, and carrying dead monsters through the guild with him was questionable.

So I wondered in a daze what to do.

But as I did so.

“…… this is amazing.”

“Oh, how surprising.”

The two adventurers who had exchanged words yesterday appeared and stood dumbfounded by Ren’s side.

These two men provide the answer to Ren’s question.

“There’s a loading dock on the side, so you’d better go that way.”

“Oh, there’s such a thing?”

“Yes, there is. The one who has achieved good results carries it to the guild’s loading dock by himself. If you hunt monsters that don’t fit, you’ll have to ask the guild to assess them outside.”

(I should have listened properly…..)

I thought it would be the same as in a game and finished the procedure quickly, but this is the world in which Ren actually lives, so I should have listened to the explanation honestly.

Haunted by this regret, Ren thanked the two men, parted ways, and carried the monsters as he had come.

The guild officials were already waiting for him at the place where he carried it, and they greeted him with a surprised look.

“Are you sure you want to sell everything?”

The receptionist with whom he had exchanged words yesterday said.

“Please.”

He told her that only the magic stones had been removed, and watched as the staff members assessed the items.

I noticed that a crowd had gathered in the area.

The town’s residents know ren as the hero of the Clausel family, and he suddenly wondered if this was the right thing to do.

(Should I have stayed out of sight, as is often the case in novels?)

It was, to a large extent, to avoid the death flag.

But when he thought about it, it doesn’t really matter whether he hid or not.

As far as Clausel is concerned, Ren is already widely known. Or rather, when it comes to his solo defeat of Thief Wolfen, word about him has left Clausel and reached the former Viscount Given’s territory.

So it’s too late to be conspicuous.

If he wanted to hide it, he would have started when he defeated Thief wolfen, and since the village would have been in danger if Ren hadn’t fought at that time, he had no choice but to fight.

There’s no way he could think of abandoning his family and his birthplace.

And if you think back, Ren didn’t set out to stay out of sight, and there is no clear connection between this and a death flag.

So his immediate thought upon coming into this world was.

“Live in peace. I don’t want the emperor to order my defeat.”

That was it.

Ren still remembers every word.

He also wanted to avoid the same future as Ren Ashton in the game, and all he wanted was to live a clean and honest life.

Ren makes no excuses to anyone, but reaffirms his feelings.

(To sum up…)

This kind of warfare doesn’t lead to the conclusion of the game.

Ren’s goal is only to avoid a future in which he kills both Licia and the dean.

The reason why the emperor gives the order to defeat him is only because Ren kills those two people.

Conversely, it’s not because he’s a prominent individual.

…… but in the end, the only way to avoid making any waves at all is to stay back in the village.

But I have an inseparable relationship with Licia, and the thought that I might be the spark that started the fire the other day makes it impossible for me to do so honestly.

There’s always the possibility that my seclusion in the village could lead to an unforeseen situation.

Just like Viscount Givens’ plot.

(Really, what’s the right thing to do?)

There was also the thought that by being conspicuous, he might get caught up in the quarrels among the nobles.

But it’s also true that this is irrelevant once Ren has defeated Thief wolfen in a perfect state.

Whether he lived quietly or not, the world didn’t miss Ren.

But that didn’t mean that it was all unwelcome.

Although the factions were different, if he had a friendship with someone as powerful as the Marquis Ignat, the other nobles wouldn’t be able to easily touch him.

This is a notable achievement that Ren was able to produce apart from the game’s storyline.

(If you think about how this patronage could spark a new fire, it’s hard to know what the right thing to do is anymore.)

For this reason, Ren remembers no regrets about what he did today.

He no longer knew what was right and what was wrong, but he didn’t feel guilty about migrating for the sake of his village and his family.