16 - Episode 12: The Three Idiots and Future Plans
Serious-san is doing the shadow.
"Later. That is way too dangerous."
"Well, I get what you're saying, Big Brother, but I'm going to end up staying either way, right? So, it's the same thing."
"But still..."
"Trust me, Big Brother. I'm not that much of a kid. I won't say I'm strong, but I'm not weak either."
"Hmm..."
The group, having reunited, shared their opinions to decide on their future course of action, and the views roughly split into two poles.
That said, Alan was the only one strongly opposing accompanying them. Larc, the leader, was neutral for now, and Mira expressed her agreement, with the two of them preparing an early lunch while ignoring the debate. Geoglyph and Marianne watched the heated discussion from the sidelines.
"Both of them are surprisingly calm."
"Later is a kemoner (T/N: animal lover), after all... He's gentle with Alan-san, who is a beastman. That is why Alan-san cannot be too harsh. It seems he really does get along well with beastmen."
Alan, who had rejected the idea flatly at first, was beginning to be swayed by Later's persuasion.
From his way of life to his tone and attitude, Later was a cheerful but strong-willed and foul-mouthed truck driver from the good old days. He is generally liked by people who are, to put it nicely, hearty, or to put it bluntly, crude, so he gets along relatively well with day-to-day adventurers. Additionally, while his tone does not change, he becomes very soft toward beastmen, making it difficult for the other party to be harsh.
"Alright, alright. There are various arguments, but lunch is ready!"
"Let's eat for now. From here on, we don't know when we'll be able to eat again."
Mira and Alan, who had been taking food from the carriage and cooking, called out to interrupt the stagnating debate. Each received a bowl of soup, black bread, and dried meat, and they sat in a circle.
"So, Leader. What do you intend to do?"
"Hmm. It is true that I want more hands. Alan, tracking by scent is difficult, isn't it?"
"...Well, yeah."
At Larc's words, Alan nodded reluctantly. This lack of vanity is likely what makes him a Silver-rank adventurer. If one ruins themselves through overconfidence, it becomes a funny story, but if they drag their comrades into it, they can't even die in peace.
In fact, the scent of the pioneer village still remained, perhaps because it was the center of the commotion, but it thinned out abruptly as they moved away from it. Alan judged that it had probably been washed away a bit by light rain or fog.
"A beastman's nose is reliable, but this is a forest near the mountains. In a week, it must have rained at least once. There is a high possibility it has already vanished."
"In that regard, Ray's tracking should still work, right?"
At Geoglyph and Marianne's words, Later nodded while chewing on dried meat.
"From footprints to the way small branches are broken, the marks on tree trunks, or the scraping of moss... I have various methods for investigating. I used to be a hunter. Besides, I've already found the traces of them leaving the village, and I have a rough idea of the direction they fled, so I won't miss."
"...Thinking about it, does hunting work against people too?"
"Keep a close eye on Joel Labert. I applied that to hunting."
'Ah, The Manunt.'
Realizing it was a story from a previous life based on the intonation of "long ago," the two of them reached an understanding.
One reason for the long working hours of truck drivers is waiting for unloading. This is primarily because shippers have been running the business like lords since deregulation, but since the details would just be industry complaints, I'll skip that, and as for what they do during that waiting time, they either sleep or kill time.
That said, even if they say sleep, not everyone has the peculiar constitution to fall asleep in three seconds the moment they close their eyes, and there are times when they are wide awake and cannot sleep. In the past, they used to bring magazines or manga, but recently they have smartphones and handheld game consoles. Some even bring laptops or tablets and set up an internet environment using tethering or pocket Wi-Fi. Later, too, spent his free time browsing video sites.
In the midst of that, he encountered a discovery-style channel. Being an outdoor person who enjoyed crab fishing, gold rushing, and survival, Later had thought that returning to the countryside to live after retirement wouldn't be so bad. Among those, he often watched a program where a former soldier from a special forces unit played a serious game of tag, escaping from the police or military who had knowledge of the land, using minimal equipment.
"Is that person amazing?"
"Yeah, he's my spiritual mentor. Compared to chasing that guy, chasing a large number of villagers who just ran away is a piece of cake."
Because Later looked solemn in response to Mira's question, Larc nodded while feeling bewildered and looked toward the remaining two.
"I don't quite get it, but I see... However, the other two..."
"We'll stay, you know? Even if we report now, there is a lack of information."
"There is only one carriage. If we cannot let them depart one by one, I believe it is better to stay together until we obtain a certain amount of confirmed information."
Geoglyph and Marianne also wished to accompany them. Rather, they had a slight concern.
"What about the seniors? In the event that it is an 'opponent we cannot beat'."
"Depending on the situation, we flee."
"---Even if we leave the survivors behind?"
"Yeah. If there is no chance of winning with our current combat power, our lives and the information are the top priority. Even if it means abandoning the refugees, we flee."
At a judgment that could almost be called cold-blooded, the Three Idiots nodded with satisfaction.
"It doesn't seem like you're dissatisfied?"
"No, it's only natural."
"Rather, it is the correct answer."
"It's fine to challenge an opponent you can't beat, but when you think about the aftermath..."
If they were the age they appeared to be, or if they were driven by righteous indignation, they might have denied Larc's judgment. However, as a result of inheriting their previous lives, they already had nearly half a century of experience. They had experienced enough failure and resignation to rot, and had many experiences of suffering terrible fates by being dragged along by overconfident people. Since they had even been made to clean up the aftermath, they could not follow and did not want to be involved with people who did not know their place.
Larc, believing those words, made his decision.
"---Understood. Everyone, let's go."
"Is that okay?"
"Either way, tracking won't be possible unless Later leads. Even if I leave the other two here, if there is no means of immediate communication, I'm just letting them play around. In that case, it's better to increase our combat power."
"I guess it can't be helped..."
Larc breathed a sigh of relief in his heart as Alan reluctantly followed the leader's decision and finished his soup.
"Let's go once we're done eating."
Furthermore, at this point, no one had yet noticed that there was a significant gap between 'Hekireki's' perception of an opponent they cannot beat and the Three Idiots' perception of an opponent they cannot beat.
To be continued tomorrow.