「Argh! I lost! I was completely beaten! Nothing I did even ca close! I've fought many opponents since arriving in Lemuria, but never before have I felt like I had no chance of winning at all!」
On the bed in his room, a thoroughly defeated Shuna exclaid cheerfully.
His injuries would take ten days to fully heal. It was only that because he was an adventurer. If he had been a normal person, he would have been crippled beyond recovery.
「If it's you, Otou-san, or even my brothers, I believe that I can beat you all one day as long as I keep training. But that guy is sothing else. As expected of my teacher's husband」
「So you knew……」
Thank the gods I'm saved from having to tell him that.
「The mont he saw , he ca up to and said, "I hear that my wife was in your debt"」
「Well, that's the kind of man he is」
It's just like His Majesty to do that.
「I thought I'd smack him one, but that's not gonna happen」
「What are you saying? You can do it」
「It's impossible, I’m telling you」
Perhaps His Majesty had been so far out of his league that he had lost confidence in himself, but it's rare for him to be this way.
「You can do it. As your leader, I guarantee it. Ti and age are always on the side of the young」
「What are you saying? You're young too, aren’t you?」
Well, I suppose I would fall into the category of "young".
「That man is――――――」
I hesitated for a second, but……
「The Myriad King of Myriad Kings of the left continent, one of the four strongest Myriad Kings, His Majesty King Ashtalia」
Given the thing with King Lemuria earlier, it's only a matter of ti before he figures it out.
I'll tell him while I still can.
「Myriad King? ………Isn't he an amazing person then?」
「Yeah, he's amazing. I've seen that man scatter an army of 5,000 single-handedly」
「Huh?」
I don't bla Shuna for being taken aback.
「It sounds like I'm kidding, but it's the truth. I also got to see Irvin's teacher, Zamonglass, the Scarlet Knight and Regure fight. Both of them were as strong as Onis[1]」
「What are Onis? No, that doesn't matter. Irvin's teacher, you said?」
「They got to know each other when His Majesty infiltrated the center continent. Through him, Regure was also introduced to His Majesty, and the two of them swore oaths to beco His Majesty's vassals」
「Ohh, I rember now, Irvin's teacher and my teacher knew each other」
「That’s right」
It feels like it has been a lifeti since Irvin told us that.
「So, what's your relationship with him, Souya?」
「You rember the ti I disappeared for a while?」
「Yeah. Rana-san went berserk and beat up Frey」
「Because of that very Frey, I got teleported to the left continent where I t His Majesty, Zamonglass, and Regure. I also swore the oath to be his vassal」
「Why?」
「Hmm?」
I answered Shuna's question with a question.
「You're not the kind of person who would serve under soone else, isn't it?」
「That's not true」
I'm the type who gets used and exploited by all sorts of people.
Though I do bite if soone takes it too far.
「I can't picture you serving soone for life at all. My brother and sister disciples and Gladvain-sama have all said similar things as well」
「Similar things, you say…… For example?」
I'm curious about how they’re bad-mouthing behind my back.
Because I had thought that Gladvain-sama and her kin weren't the kind of people who would do such things.
「Right, let’s see………」
Shuna spoke of the bad things they said about .
『That guy sees things differently than normal people do』
『He belongs in the fantastic beasts category. He'll never submit to any man』
『He may be a dog, but he's a rabid dog』
『He's completely different from us who train our minds, bodies, and martial arts』
『He's the antithesis of our teachings』
『He has the bearing of a usurper』
『No, it's more the authority of a king』
『There are parts of him that are human-like, parts that are beast-like, and yet, he’s similar but completely different from beastkin, who are sowhere in between the two……………… Why is that, I wonder?』
『The na of the god he contracted with………what was it again?』
『Misuranika, the dark fire or sothing. It's a na I've never heard before. Do any of you know anything about that god?』
『No clue』
『It seems sowhat familiar But maybe I've just forgotten』
Those were the opinions of the kin……
『A fantastic beast, huh? That's a curious way of describing him. I've fought soone very similar to him once before. Don't be surprised when you hear this, but it was a hero of Elysium. He was strong, unfathomably so. Like the ocean at night, he felt like sothing alien that would swallow everything up. Even though I was in my pri, I almost lost』
……and that was Gladvain-sama’s opinion.
Hmm, that’s terrible, you guys. At least treat like a human.
Or rather, how many hundreds of years ago was it when Gladvain-sama was in her pri? I don't know how to feel about being said to be similar to soone she fought that long ago.
More importantly……
「Without a doubt, I'm a vassal of His Majesty. Regure has beco his wife, so I guess that essentially makes his last vassal」
「Why doesn't that man accept more vassals? With his strength and caliber, there must be plenty of warriors lining up to serve him」
「Yeah, that's true」
I'm sure there are many in the new Vindoobunikuru army who would like to beco His Majesty's vassal. And yet, His Majesty calls his last vassal.
While I'm flattered, I have mixed feelings about it.
The wishes of myself and Regure had only bought so ti.
As a man, I'm fine with this. I can see it through with the sa level of resolve. But is Regure alright with this? Can a woman who's both a wife and mother just sit back and watch her man go to his death?
「Let's change the subject, Souya」
「Hmm? What?」
Shuna's words brought out of my musings.
「I’m sorry, but I need three days of rest. You have no plans to explore the dungeon any ti soon, right?」
「Yeah, I have no plans to, but is three days enough? I heard that your injuries would need ten days though」
「They'll heal in three days. For us, our injuries will heal as long as we keep moving. Besides, I'll need to train even harder if I want to catch up to such an opponent. After all, my leader told that it's possible for to do so. I just have to keep doing whatever I can, isn't that right?」
Ohhh, boys with a positive attitude are impossible to keep down, huh?
But what's with this kind of muscle-headed treatnt plan?
Well, I'm glad he's doing well in spite of his injuries.
「I'm off then. I'm sure Ea will co visit you, but just deal with her as best you can」
「Got it」
I raised my hand briefly and then exited the room.
I've learned sothing good.
I'm apparently not the kind of person who submits to others. I've never thought of myself as a lapdog, but I've always thought of myself as a person who follows through with contracts and obligations.
But they say that I'm not.
Everyone doesn't see as soone like that.
In that case……
「I'll have to think of a "succession plan"」
It had been a while since I had been to the brothel.
「Excuse―――――」
「Oh, my~! An advanced adventurer~!」
A rabbit beastkin hugged as soon as I stepped into the store. A pair of plentiful breasts were shoved into my face and the sll of mint filled my nose.
「You haven't laid with anyone in the store since Tyutyu quit, have you? There just happens to be won whose hands and bodies are available. Or would you rather have ? Oh, since you're an advanced adventurer, you're welco to have more than one at a ti. Recently, a down-and-out knight from the center continent has――――――」
「Sorry, I'm looking for Otou-san」
「………You prefer n?」
No way.
「Hey, no fishing for custors before the sun goes down」
「Aww」
The proprietress ca out from the back and shooed the beastkin away.
「My man is chopping firewood in the yard. Go around back」
「Okay, please excuse 」
I exited the brothel and walked around to the back of the building.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the police station. I consciously closed my mind off to it. That let go on as if was nothing.
I heard the sound of wood tumbling to the ground.
In the backyard of the brothel, Otou-san was chopping firewood. But not in the usual way. He was dressed comfortably, but he had a katana at his hip. He concentrated for a mont and then tossed a piece of firewood into the air.
A flash of brilliant silver.
Imperceptible killing intent shot through the space.
The click of the katana settling back into the scabbard rang out.
Firewood that had been split into quarters tumbled to the ground, sounding a simple lody.
「Are you going to chop all the firewood with your katana?」
「That's my intention」
There’s a small mountain of firewood in the backyard. Chopping all of this firewood using the iai-draw is far too inefficient, but I suppose it also serves as training.
「What do you want? Have you set a date for our next adventure?」
「The adventure will be put off for a little while longer. I have sothing else to discuss with you today」
「Shoot」
He threw another piece of firewood into the air. I was only able to see one swing, but the firewood was split into quarters nevertheless.
「This is ultimately just a precaution, or in case sothing goes wrong, but if I die, please take over as the leader of the party」
「Ooh, I refuse」
「Is that so? In that case, the funds for adventuring and the accumulated materials so far are at………………Huh?」
「I refuse」
He gave a second clear refusal. There was no mishearing him.
Huh? That's weird. I was expecting sothing along the lines of " If sothing goes wrong, leave it to " though.
「Souya, if you die, I'm retiring. I'm already way too old to be an adventurer. I can't deal with being responsible for the lives of young people after all this ti. But I have no intention of following any leader but you. So, what does that an?」
He glared at with great intensity.
「Got it, I won't do anything stupid」
「There you go. Don't talk about dying so easily when you haven't even lived half as long as I have, you idiot」
「I'm reflecting on it deeply」
「………………So? In case sothing goes wrong, what then?」
Oh, you'll hear out anyway, huh?
It was really just as a precaution, but I gave Otou-san the keys to two warehouses. One held the secret funds of the rchant company while the other housed the materials we had acquired in our adventures so far.
「Please sell everything that can be sold, and then divide the proceeds equally among the party mbers」
「Shuna won't take it. You can bet on that」
I can see that happening.
Money can solve a lot of problems, but people with that kind of warrior’s temperant don't have much desire for it.
「Then, for Shuna’s share――――――」
「I don't want it either」
「No no no, that's……」
「I have the brothel. Just by being an advisor for the Adventurers' Guild and helping out with Lemuria's miscellaneous errands, I don't have to worry about making a living. In the first place, what's an old man to do with all that money?」
「Err, improve the quality of their retirent life?」
「That's none of your business. I've got more than enough saved up for that. I haven't been an adventurer for so long for nothing」
Right, I'm sorry about that.
Otou-san is more put together than I am, isn't he? The amount of experience he has is different.
「It's getting to be a hassle, so I'll just divide it all up among your family」
I don't know about this kind of arrangent.
「Ah, you see, there's Lys………err, I ant Bel」
「I'll give Bel sothing myself. No, I'll have to exorcise the thing that's possessing her first. I've been leaving it alone because it's not hostile, but that's way too much power for a person to live an ordinary life with. Once that's done, I'll send her back to her holand or leave her in Shuna's care, whatever she prefers」
「Oh, but……」
I feel like that's a little slapdash though.
「I don't want to hear any "but"s from you. This is under the assumption that you're dead, and dead guys don't get to nitpick over how I do things. If you trust , then leave it to 」
「Alright, I'll leave it to you」
Despite everything, you're going to take care of it for anyway, huh?
It feels like he's going to yell at so more, so I had better get out of――――――
「Oh, wait」
「Yes, I'll wait」
Otou-san stopped chopping firewood and turned to .
「Don't make any promises when saying goodbye. The ones left behind will have to bear it for the rest of their lives」
Those were words steeped in the experience of this man's life.
「Otou-san, that's kinda heavy」
「Of course. Do you think your life is light?」
[1] An Oni(鬼) is a kind of youkai in Japanese folklore commonly equated with demons, orcs, ogres, or trolls. Onis are mostly known for their fierce and evil nature manifested in their propensity for murder and cannibalism. Notwithstanding their evil reputation, Onis possess intriguingly complex aspects that cannot be brushed away simply as evil. They are typically portrayed as hulking figures with one or more horns growing out of their heads. (An Oni depicted culturally vs the bestest oni waifu ever courtesy of wikipedia and RE: Zero ani)
By the way, Tappei Nagatsuki made Rem the blue oni for a very specific reason. It was brought up as well in the ani, but for those who don’t know it, you might want to google the story of “The Red Oni Who Cried”. It’s a children’s tale, but it made tear up when I first read it. It’s also been drawn on as inspiration by many Japanese creators over the years, including the renowned Hideo Kojima.
That final exchange gives the chills. So brilliantly written. The double-anings employed there bring so much depth to just a few lines.
Yeah, Souya may treat his own life lightly, but his life is no longer light(insignificant). So many will be affected if he dies now. And you’ve realized that this is what this arc has been hamring in, I assu?
“There just happens to be won whose hands and bodies are available” Those who understand which sexual act she’s implying here by bringing up “hands” explicitly, great. Those who don’t, please don’t ask.
That’s it for this arc. You know the drill, “she” is up next, so stay tuned!
Reviews
All reviews (0)