Chapter 47

Chapter 47 Return

In the end, Mile was still genuinely curious about Rock Golem’s mechanics. She held onto the belief that if they understood its weaknesses, they would be able to defeat it easily.

“Idiot. Explain it properly that we should do this together,” Rena said.

Somehow, they managed to break apart the torso of the Rock Golem, but its core was impenetrable with no weaknesses we could discover. However, Mile found a metal object inside the body and pocketed it into her item box.

Next morning.

Although some worked all night, three had gone to bed early and were full of energy. Three people.…….excluding Mile.

Although last night’s golem left a lot on Mile’s mind, there is another matter that is making her anxious and keeping her awake. If you were wondering why she was so anxious…….

(How am I so sturdy?)

Up until now, she always tried to avoid being hit as much as possible in mock battle because she didn’t want to get hurt. When she was losing on purpose, she used the thickest part of her armor to block even the weakest attacks from her opponents ….. Which resulted in her being caught intentionally losing.

Anyway, thanks to the effort she put into avoiding taking damage, she rarely ever felt pain …. No, the fact is she has never felt pain ever.

(None at all……? Have I never once felt pain while training in martial arts such as swordsmanship and spearmanship?)

This morning, there had been the damage from when she was swiped by the rock lizard’s tail into a rock wall. She had given everyone an adequate excuse, but in reality the sword hadn’t stopped the blow at all, nor had she jumped back to kill the force of the blow, and she also didn’t use air magic to create a cushion when she landed either. She’d taken the full force of the attack head on.

However, she suffered no damage. She felt no pain. It was like being anesthetized.『I understand that I have a sense of touch from being able to feel, but I feel no pain at all』was a good way to describe it.

(Well, it seems all my effort and plans to avoid pain has been pointless!)

No, that’s not the problem itself.

(How long has “my body” been this strong…… ahh, is it because i am at least half dragon?……. In addition to that, if there are even stronger creatures, I would be even……)

Come to think of it, since she had revived, she couldn’t recall a single memory of being scratched. If anyone discovered this, she wouldn’t be treated as a human being. She would be made into something like research material, or manipulated into a weapon to break rock golems. These frightening ideas came up one after another, making it hard to fall asleep.

Four people finished breakfast as usual which was plain well done rock lizard soup, and dismantled camp. Even if you say dismantle, the baggage was just put into Mile’s item box, and the campsite’s bonfire was simply put out.

Well done rock lizard is poor in nutritional balance, but there are few luxuries that come with camping. Anyway, the rock lizard meat tasted like chicken meat and was quite delicious.

「Come now, let’s return to the royal/imperial capital!」

「「「OHH!」」」

Everyone responded to Rena’s command, and finally started on their way home.

There had been various mishaps, but they finished their first expedition safely and gained plenty of extra earnings by hunting beyond the requested amount. With bright faces, the C ranking adventures from now on do not have any more jobs decided that they would begin taking mid-level quests, of course only after close examination of the requirements and contents.

Maevis looked happy that we were going to have more worthwhile battles from now on.

Pauline had a smile on her face from the excellent profits they received.

Although she was more or less in a good mood, Rena seemed like she was pondering something.

And Mile herself was thinking about her strength and her future, wracking her brains on how to cover the fact that her magic exceeded common sense, planning her escape from danger or something worse.

It was a 2-day journey to the royal capital.

The camp was set up in the same way as the previous night when the journey began. There was some time before sunset, so the group familiarized themselves with the terrain to increase chances of survival in the case of an emergency.

After the meal, Rena began to speak.

“Continuing from the last night……I want everyone to quickly gain man-to-man battle experience. Not just as training, but with real killing intent.”

“””Eh……”””

Rena continued, speaking over the three surprised individuals.

“In the future, we might get an escort job/quest. Not just that, being a party of young females, there is a possibility that you will be attacked by thieves, hunters. In addition, among the hunters, there are also some of them who are able to perform criminal acts with composure. In that type of situation, any slight hesitation will lead to your death. Besides that, how will you take responsibility of your low strength if you become a liability to your party?”

The three were silenced by Rena’s words.

“B-but, isn’t just neutralizing them enough? We don’t need to kill them, right?”

“You should only spare them like that if there is a huge gap in our abilities. For example, we’re B rank and the opponent is less than D rank. Even so, most failures occur when our guards are lowered. Don’t you agree, Maevis?”

After answering Pauline’s question, Rena directed her attention to Maevis.

“Aah, indeed, in normal match the stronger one will probably win. However, if you tried to stop an opponent who has killing intent without killing them, things would be difficult even with a considerable difference in strength.

And then, if your opponent figures that out, they will no longer make desperate moves. If they understood that their opponent was not going for the kill, they will feel relief and devote themselves to attacking without worrying about their defense.

When that happens, you will be in trouble. While I respect a criminal’s right to live, I do not intend to give up my life, my comrades’, and the lives I am dedicated to protecting.”

” …………”

Maevis’s word made Pauline silent.

Mile just observed them with a “that’s obvious” face from the sidelines.

” …… But that’s surprising”

“Eh, what is it?”

Mile tilted her head at Rena’s remark and she responded, “I was expecting you to say, ‘How can I hurt people!’ and make a fuss about it……”

“That’s not it. It’s just that my motto is ‘Scoundrels don’t have human rights!'” Mile said and laughed.

Actually, Mile had a quite dry way of thinking.

In her previous life, Mile was nice to all who showed good will to her. As for the people who were hostile towards her, rather than not do anything about them, Mile outright refused to accommodate them. And for the people who tried to harm her, depending on the extent, Mile retaliated so that they would never bother her again. Of course, within the range of the law.

When Mile had been a beautiful honors student, there had been people who tried to take advantage of her. Mile remembered the way she had been forced to devise a way to deal with those people.

Anyway, in this world, Mile decided she was going to forget her past life’s bonds and live happily. But even with that in mind, the mentality that “bad people can’t be helped and should be ignored” cannnot be slipped through from her past life.

In this world, “Bad People” are those who would kill others without hesitation for money or pleasure. The country’s laws stipulate that if there were “such a person that would kill,” “it is within the law” to fight back. That was all.

If anyone were to overlook someone of that nature, dozens or even hundreds of people could become victims. People could even be assaulted a second time over a grudge. At any rate, if my friends or people special to me were attacked…….

Those who would invite such foolish thinking would regret the outcome,『with a snap』one can be rid of anxiety (about the future) and feel relief.

Mile thought about this, but she didn’t know if she could kill someone with a straight face.

“Because of that, I think we should accept an escort mission as soon as possible. This way, we’ll have no choice but to fight for the sake of protecting our employer and gain experience from it. If you never experience this type of situation once, you may hesitate and die in a real attack.

“……Aah, that’s right, leave it to me.”

“Me too, I’ll also follow Rena-san’s decision.”

“……I, I also think that’s fine……”

Thought a bit late and with a slightly depressed face, Pauline also agreed.

Mile, who thought Pauline and her like-minded NAKAMA would happily approve, reflected a little. But after seeing Rena and Maevis’s face, she was relieved.

(Aah, as I thought, I’m not the only one who thinks about/like that……)

The next evening, uneventfully,『Red Oath』safely returned to the royal capital and headed straight towards the Hunter’s Guild. First, they wanted to let the worried receptionist know that they were safe. When Mile entered the guild building, she found the receptionist at one of the counters.

“We’ve returned safely~!”

Mile called out while waving her hands, catching the attention of everyone on the first floor of the guild.

「「「「Eeek!」」」」

Mile and the others let out a weird noise when everyone’s gazes pointed towards them.

“Aah, everyone, you’re safe~!”

The receptionist we accepted this job from this time shouted from over the counter.

“It was originally a dangerous area for a job after all. After everyone departed, a merchant was attacked on the road and I was worried about your safety. It’s great that you’re safe.”

“A merchant attacked by orcs?”

The receptionist informed the group of the details while smiling to Rena, who was slightly worried and asked for her to repeat it.

“Yes, the parasitic merchant needed special attention but was attacked by orcs in the middle of their campground. He lost his coach and goods. Only one of the guards was slightly injured, and it seems that everyone including the coachman escaped safely.”

Although it seems that (the merchant) had said that “the nearby hunter didn’t help and ran away,” they had no obligation to save them without a request from the party. And he’s also a repeated offender of parasitism; after listening to the circumstances of the guard about the party he was attached to when they were attacked, it seems like the party had already left the place long ago……

When the Guild Master said, “If we assume that the other party concerned was falsely accused, in the case that it’s found out after, on top of depriving hunter qualifications, there will be there will be an appropriate punishment, but…… what’s the truth?” he talked honestly, and told the truth.

When the receptionist saw them giggling, it seemed like she understood that it was Rena and them.

Since there were no human injuries, everything ended smoothly without leaving a bad aftertaste, which was a pity.

It’s just after thinking about the bad things she did to the horse, Mile was a little worried.

“Well then, after delivering the goods, let’s go get the signature for the request completion certificate.”

Rena said, and they all left the guild. They had just come to the guild to assure everyone that they were alright.

Reporting to the one who handed out the request for the rock lizards, the group appraised and confirmed the amount. They received their money for the request after the signature had been filled out on the completion certificate, which they handed over to the guild reception so the deposit money could be issued.

The money is kept by the guild, and unless a signature is received, it won’t be handed over. With this, it should be impossible to shirk payment.

By the way, for other spoils, the guild has to slowly asses them to exchange a reward, and then one will receive a confirmation certificate. At the very least for five rock lizards in good condition, it should be seventy five small gold coins. In only five days, they reached three-fourths of the monthly target amount. Besides that, there were a lot of other spoils inside Mile’s item box. With all this money, the group moved to a hotel with a bath a day later.

The faces of the four people naturally began to smile while heading towards the client’s shop.

“Ah, when talking to the client, from the beginning please do not say, “We have a lot of rock lizards.” First, just take out one rock lizard in the beginning. After receiving an assessment, then take out the remaining four after that.

Please only say that we have more after the additional purchasing cost of the 5 tails has been decided.”

Although Mile and the group were puzzled with with Pauline’s sudden words, similar to how the group believed in Rena in a battle, they believed in Pauline’s business skills and agreed to follow her instructions.