Volume 2 - CH 8

Chapter 8 – Manticore, Eto’s Nemesis

Eto never imagined this would happen. It was supposed to be just a subjugation request, which happens to be a little more difficult than their usual request.

No, he didn’t ‘bite off more than he can chew’, as he knew that request was suitable for them. However, Eto made a mistake. And that single mistake puts his party in a pinch.

Eto looked at his thigh that had been pierced by a poison needle, dark-ish blood flowing endlessly from there.

Kohaku tied the joint of Eto’s foot with a rope, and tried to bandage it, dirtying her hands with his blood. In the immediate vicinity, Sorano stands there, guarding them, while Amou is fighting the two Manticores alone.

Manticore is an eerie monster with a human head and a body of a lion. And the two manticores they faced, with the faces of a bearded old man and a young man, can also speak human language, which they sometimes remembered. Above them, there is a sharp, pointed tail swaying like that of a scorpion. And that was the deadly weapon that pierced Eto’s thigh.

☆☆☆

That day, a commotion broke out in the Adventurer’s Guild in the morning. It happened because there was news about a caravan heading towards the royal capital that was attacked by Manticore, causing many casualties.

The guild promptly issued an urgent subjugation request of C-rank Manticore that appeared in a place that could be reached in two hours by horse from the royal capital. The quest was intended for a C-rank party or higher, with the reward doubled.

However, the deadline for the subjugation is three days, and if it exceeds that, they will only be given a normal amount of reward. Yes, they made the adventurers compete, with the primary goal being to subjugate the Manticore as fast as possible.

“Etou, the reward is doubled! Don’t you think that’s attractive? Let’s take it!”

Kohaku said enthusiastically.

“I don’t really mind. But, Manticore, huh…”

However, Eto was quite reluctant to join the competition.

“Is Eto not very good with the Manticore?”

Sorano asked while giving Eto a mysterious look on her face.

“Hmmm, I certainly have a bad memory regarding that.”

When Eto was still in the Hero’s party, there was a time when he couldn’t do anything in the fight against Manticore. He ended up being saved by Mirei’s magic, and also getting protected by Lana, heedless of danger. And the Manticore was defeated in a single attack by Hero Ronaldo.

Indeed, that battle was the event that caused Eto to be banned from using his support magic and treated like a chore-guy in the party. Because of that, the unpleasant memories of those days always follow him when he hears of the Manticore.

“Wasn’t Amou also injured by a Manticore?”

“Yes. However, I’m not particularly bad at them. There are always times when something goes wrong in a request as long as one continues being an adventurer for a long time after all. Thus, there will be no end if I had to worry about each one of them.”

“I see… that’s true. Yosh! Let’s take that Manticore subjugation request.”

“Yay! That’s the spirit!”

“We can even beat it with just a bow, as long as we have distance. It’s not a difficult opponent.”

Like that, Eto’s party took the subjugation request for manticore and left the guild in a high spirit.