kscans

Chapter 238 - Realizing His Strength

Morning.

After finishing breakfast at the inn and getting our gear in order, we boarded the carriage.

As we were departing, a knight at the gate said, "This is a personal token of gratitude from Pope Altorine-sama."

He handed me a dagger with a crest on the hilt.

"This is a dagger bestowed only upon those Her Holiness recognizes," the knight explained. "With this, you will have free access to the main church. Normally, Her Holiness would present this to you herself, but she is busy this morning. She said she will be waiting for you anytime."

The knight saluted.

The carriage resumed its journey, moving along the main road. I activated ‘Analysis’ on the dagger I had just received.

…Orichalcum fifty percent. Mithril forty percent. Rainbow Ice Stone ten percent.

I further investigated the unfamiliar stone. Rainbow Ice Stone emits a rainbow-colored light.

"Hmm?" I asked, "This contains a stone called Rainbow Ice Stone. Is it something special?"

"I don’t know. I’ve never heard of it," Tina replied, shaking her head.

Overhearing our conversation, the Captain spoke from inside the carriage. "It’s no surprise you don’t know. Rainbow Ice Stone is extremely rare, said to be even harder to find than Adamantite. But it’s not a type of magic stone. At a glance, it has the transparency of ice and the hardness of iron, but when exposed to light, it emits a beautiful rainbow-colored light. It is sometimes used in sacred ceremonies, like rituals and coronations. His Majesty the Emperor was holding a golden scepter during his coronation, wasn’t he? It’s attached to the tip of that."

I felt like the tip of the scepter was shining at that time, but I couldn’t remember clearly.

"I see. So that was it," I said. "Wait, Captain, how did you know Tina and I were there?"

"So you don’t remember after all," the Captain replied with a slight sigh. "I was the one standing next to you two at that time."

I had no memory of it at all. At the time, I was just thinking about how much I wanted it to be over.

"Our sincerest apologies," Tina interjected. "Shinsuke and I are commoners, you see. Just being in that place was a miracle in itself. We were so nervous that we remember nothing but guarding His Majesty the Emperor."

Her answer seemed a bit like she was trying to cover for me, but I couldn’t be sure.

"No, don’t worry about it," the Captain said with a slight laugh. "At the time, my father had told me to watch the two of you to make sure you didn’t do anything strange. I had no idea why back then, but my father explained it to me later. You’re incredible, but you don’t want to stand out. Other adventurers would faint if they heard that."

…It was true. The adventurers I’d seen so far were all doing things to stand out. I couldn’t understand it, but I understood the reason. If you become famous, you can get bigger jobs, and if you’re on good terms with the powerful, you might be welcomed into a better position. The only ones who intended to remain adventurers were those who just wanted to do whatever they wanted with their money.

Everyone else sought a wealthy and secure life. Who wouldn’t want to be rich? Though I was neither.

Thinking about it again, I wondered if my achievements would cause resentment among other adventurers. I had no intention of fighting, but I just wanted to live quietly.

As I was thinking this, Tina said, as if reading my mind, "It’s easy to say ‘to each their own,’ but there are those who won’t accept that. Let’s just try to handle things peacefully."

…That was probably for the best. I only needed to be serious about my work. When it came to human relationships, as long as the other person wasn’t trying to deceive me, it was best to just go along with them.

With that thought, I put the dagger into my item pouch.

Several hours passed.

We hadn’t encountered any monsters and I thought we would make it to the Republic without incident. However, the carriage suddenly stopped.

I got out to check and saw a large tree lying across the middle of the road, blocking our path. Did it happen naturally? I thought so, but when I checked, I saw that the cut had been made with an axe. It was man-made. I activated ‘Detection’.

Red dots were scattered around the carriage in a circle. There were ten to fifteen of them. Could these be the bandits I heard about before we left?

"Tina, be on guard. We’re surrounded."

At my words, Tina drew her sword and took up a position to defend the carriage.

The driver was looking around in fear.

"Driver, get out of there and hide under the carriage. Don’t come out until it’s safe."

As soon as I gave the order, the driver quickly scrambled underneath.

The Captain emerged from the carriage door. "Need a hand?" he offered.

"No, this is an adventurer’s job."

At my words, the Captain said, "I see," and closed the door.

…If I got help here, it would be a matter of trust. Seeing this exchange, a group emerged from the forest.

They were a bunch of men armed with swords, spears, axes, and hammers. Every one of them had a smirk on his face. There were two of us. There were fifteen of them. They had the numerical advantage. It was natural for them to feel superior.

At that moment, a man with a spear said, "Hey. If you value your lives, leave the money, food, and the woman."

At the classic line, I replied with a look of exasperation, "And if I say ‘yes, sir,’ the reputation of adventurers will hit rock bottom."

This sent the surroundings into a roar of laughter.

"Hahahaha! An adventurer from the Church said something similar," the spear wielder said mockingly. "Well, after we gave him a good beating, he ran off, so there’s no reputation to speak of."

So these were the guys who attacked the people from the Church.

Sighing, I said, "Are you done with your stupid laughter? Then let’s get this over with. We’re in a hurry."

I drew my sword and released a wave of killing intent.

The spear wielder became cautious and readied his spear.

A man with a sword said, "Hey, boss? Let’s just kill him already. I want a taste of that beautiful woman."

He licked his lips.

"Fine," the spear wielder, the boss, said calmly. "You go first."

…The man came at me with a joyful expression. He brought his sword down in a wide swing, which I easily dodged before lopping off his head.

The beheaded man died with a look of confusion on his face. His body collapsed, spouting a fountain of blood. A wave of unease rippled through the onlookers.

"W-What? Isn’t that guy fast?"

"Isn’t he more dangerous than the last guys?"

"What are you doing!?" the boss roared. "He may be skilled, but there are only two of them! Overwhelm them with numbers!"

At his command, they all attacked at once.

…A pair with an axe and a hammer came at me. But their movements were slow, and I slashed their torsos horizontally before they could swing. The two men’s bodies were cut in half and they fell backwards. Then, two men with daggers came at me from the left and right simultaneously.

I ducked at the last second to avoid the pincer attack. The two men crashed into each other and kissed.

They both thought it was disgusting, but they hadn’t seen me squatting down. In that position, I unleashed a spinning slash. Both men’s legs were severed, and they collapsed. As I was about to finish off the two writhing in pain, a fireball came flying at me.

I couldn’t avoid it and took a direct hit.

A magician holding a staff laughed. "I did it! I burned him to a crisp."

The others around him laughed as well. Amidst the rising flames, I stood up and swatted the fire away with my sword.

The Japanese-style armor I was wearing was made of Adamantite. A half-baked magic spell couldn’t even leave a scorch mark.

"W-Why is he unharmed?" the magician’s voice trembled with fear.

The other men were the same.

Ignoring them, I said, releasing a wave of killing intent, "You all… what are you laughing about after killing your own comrade?"

Their fear was palpable, and they trembled as if the air around them had suddenly dropped in temperature.

Meanwhile, Tina was guarding the carriage.

…With Shinsuke at the front, it was up to Tina to protect the Captain. However, she wasn’t concerned about him fighting without saying anything.

This was their formation from the start. Four men approached Tina, all wielding swords.

"Heheh. I don’t want to hurt that beautiful body of yours, so why don’t you just be a good girl?" one said with a lecherous laugh.

With cold eyes, Tina said, "Die."

Water gushed from her sword as she unleashed a slash.

Before the man could even get close, he was split in two vertically. The remaining three exchanged glances.

In that instant, two spear wielders charged at Tina, closing the distance at once.

Tina calmly readied her sword. With a single flash, she sliced through the two approaching spears. The tips were cut off, turning them into mere sticks. The two men were terrified. With a reverse slash, Tina sent their heads flying. Two heads and two bodies fell to the ground, lifeless. The last man was nowhere to be seen.

…She didn’t think he had run away. Tina activated ‘Spatial Awareness’.

She sensed a presence approaching the other side of the carriage. Tina immediately leaped, clearing the carriage with ease. On the other side was the man with the dagger from before.

The man was shocked to see Tina jump and froze.

While still in the air, Tina unleashed a water slash. It hit its mark, and the man’s torso was cut in half, killing him instantly.

Back at my position, only the boss remained. Everyone else was dead.

…After being hit by my killing intent, I had killed every last one of the men who stood frozen. Some might think it’s wrong to cut down those who have lost their will to fight, but this was a fight to the death. There was no reason to show mercy.

Especially not to those who would laugh at the death of their comrades.

"What will you do?" I asked the lone boss. "You can run away if you want. You won’t be able to continue your life of banditry anyway."

I offered a chance to surrender, just in case.

"Hah, don’t mess with me," the boss retorted. "If I run away after being humiliated like this, my peers will make a fool of me. I have to kill you."

He readied his spear.

"Is face really that important?" I wondered, feeling a little sentimental. "Well, I guess it depends on the time and place."

…The ones who cared about face were people like the police or the yakuza, for whom being looked down on was the end. After all, the police brought a sense of security just by existing, while the yakuza brought fear. If the police were incompetent or the yakuza were weak, it would be a lawless zone.

The more important the position, the more you had to maintain your dignity.

But the boss in front of me was not such a person. If anything, he was just a thug. It didn’t matter.

"So, with that said," the boss declared, "die."

He charged forward.

…The boss thought, This guy is dangerous. If I don’t kill him quickly, he’ll kill me. With that in mind, he lunged forward with a thrusting stance.

His aim was the center of my body. Even if it wasn’t a fatal wound, it would inflict a deep one. Even if I dodged, it would be to the left, right, or down. From there, he could quickly follow up.

He considered the possibility of it being cut, but his spear was made of Mithril and Orichalcum. It wouldn’t be cut easily.

Convinced of his victory, the boss ran at his top speed.

But in the next moment, his vision was filled with a dizzying, changing landscape.

As the boss charged at me, I readied my sword.

But his speed was slow. It was easy to dodge.

However, I had a bad feeling about dodging. In that case, I would dodge with the smallest possible movement at the moment we crossed paths and immediately counterattack. That was my only option.

The spear came at me. I dodged it with ease, with a movement so small that my opponent didn’t even notice. And as we crossed paths, I half-turned my body and lopped off the boss’s head with my sword.

…The boss’s head flew into the air, spinning up, down, left, and right.

The head that fell to the ground blinked repeatedly before its eyes rolled back and it died.

"Rest in peace," I prayed.

After dealing with the bandits, I gathered the bodies and cremated them.

…I buried the remaining bones in the ground and set up a wooden stick to commemorate them.

Watching this, the Captain asked, "They were bandits. If you just leave the bodies, they’ll become food for monsters. No one will be troubled. Why make a grave?"

"Even if they were villains, all are equal in death. There is no reason not to make a grave."

I prayed before the grave.

Tina prayed beside me as well.

The Captain came to my side. "I have human compassion as well. But I was taught that one must not show any compassion to villains. I do not believe this is a mistake. However, your way is not wrong either."

He prayed as well.

…I prayed in silence.

And after we finished praying, we continued on our journey by carriage.

…As we swayed along, I thought.

About how slow that boss had been. Since everyone else was dead, he should have known I was no ordinary person. So that must have been his maximum speed.

What did that mean? He was fast, but he felt slow?

Did this mean my perception had improved dramatically? Was this that state you often see in manga where your opponent feels slow? Did I get stronger by surviving that life-or-death battle on the border?

…I closed my eyes, trying to feel my body, which still couldn’t quite grasp this reality.