Chapter 36 - A Better Next Time (1)

After leaving the dining hall, I completely stepped out of the Temple.

It felt like the appropriate reaction, and even if it wasn't, I needed to finish the meal I hadn't completed. My satiety wasn't completely full yet.

"Welcome!"

Besides, I still hadn't replenished the supplies I used in the sewers—two weeks ago. This time, I was determined to take my sweet time shopping.

"I've been looking all over for you, you know?"

But after wandering around for about an hour, DeB stealthily approached. It didn't matter since I had bought everything I needed, but I wondered if the next quest was already arriving.

"The next city we're heading to is 'Gruh Telz', apparently."

... I thought he was just delivering a message from the Archmage or the Inquisitor. I didn't think he'd be the one handing it out himself.

「❖ To the Porzen Region

∎ Move to Gruh Telz」

"... You're going, right?"

Quests aside, it seemed the Sage had ultimately managed to persuade DeB into joining while I was away.

* * *

"You've arrived!"

That was the first thing I heard when I headed to the rendezvous point guided by DeB, keeping my expression blank. It seemed Kimchi Dumpling had thought I wouldn't show up.

But that was probably a pointless worry.

Story aside, it was also true for my concept.

After all, since a demon had successfully taken... over my body temporarily, couldn't such a thing happen again in the future? And there was no guarantee that the demon taking over my body wouldn't harm my surroundings.

On the other hand, the Inquisitor and the Archmage could immediately deal with me if that happened. They weren't the type to be easily defeated.

Which meant they were perfect to use as insurance to respond to emergencies. To the point where I couldn't easily detach from them even if my anger shot up to the top of my head.

"I thought you wouldn't c—"

Of course, our emotional distance had grown further than ever before. So don't even talk to me, Inquisitor!

I walked right past her, leaving a chilling breeze in my wake. "Ah." The Inquisitor let out a short exclamation from behind.

"Whoa..."

DeB, who hadn't done anything wrong but was still included in my silent treatment, also let out a sigh. For the record, that guy had tried to talk to me multiple times on the way here, but I completely ignored him. Mwahaha.

"Is this really okay, Sir Mage?"

"My neck hasn't been sliced, has it?"

Was it just my imagination that the Archmage seemed to have gradually figured out how to handle me?

If so, that was a pretty good thing. My concept would be pissed off, but personally, I was worried about the Archmage's stomach. It felt like watching the leader of a team full of trolls.

"Then, we shall depart."

Setting that aside, the slightly sulky Kimchi Dumpling announced our departure.

The horses moved forward with a snort. The ones we rode on the way here were preparing to return to their original owners, so the ones we were riding now were specially prepared by the Temple.

There was no send-off. We weren't departing with a merchant caravan this time, and the Temple hadn't sent anyone separately.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Or so I thought, until I heard that voice.

"Those people are..."

"What are adventurers doing here?"

Unlike me, who didn't even think about looking back, the nosy red and green dumplings stopped their horses and twisted their waists to look behind.

Thanks to that, I could tell who had just yelled without having to see the situation with my own two eyes.

"Wait!"

"Hold on a second!"

It seemed the adventurers were calling out to us. Not my problem. Unlike the three people who had stopped, I continued forward at a walking pace.

CLOP, CLOP.

The sound of horse hooves delighted my ears.

"What is the matter?"

"Hello, Priest. Sage."

"We came running in a hurry because we have something to give to the Demon Knight. Man, if we were just a little bit later, it would've been all for nothing."

"Ahaha."

"More importantly, hey. I said wait a minute, didn't I?"

But why the hell was my name being mentioned?

"We came looking for you."

A bear-like Shaggy who somehow looked familiar blocked my path. I calmly crumpled my face at that. It was an expression that essentially said I'd blow him away if he didn't have a valid reason for blocking my path.

At that, the Shaggy adventurer and the person wearing a red cross emblem chuckled.

"We won't hold you for long. Just please take this."

The red cross handed something out. Taking it and examining it closely, I could see it was a medal smaller than the palm of my hand.

It was made of blackish metal inlaid with a blue gemstone, with the Adventurer's Guild emblem engraved right in the middle.

"Agat, an exclusive healer for the Tatara Adventurer's Guild, conveys our boundless gratitude to you on behalf of the Tatara Adventurer's Guild."

Uh, it looks kinda cool, but it's a bit out of nowhere.

Could this be the quest reward? They said they wouldn't give one, but are they just writing it off with a single medal like this?

"That one's from the Adventurer's Guild, and this one's from the guys who had their lives saved thanks to the medicine you handed out."

While I was wavering between 'So they do give a reward after all' and 'Is it right to take this?', the Shaggy also held out something.

It was a bundle larger than my face. Thanks to the tightly tied opening, I couldn't tell what was inside.

"Useless."

"Haha..."

"There's no adventurer who turns a blind eye to a life debt. Though there are a few soldiers mixed in, too."

"It's quite meager to be a reward for this incident... but please consider it our way of expressing our gratitude. It's only right to offer at least a modicum of honor to an adventurer who devoted himself without expecting any compensation or anything in return."

It definitely seemed to be the quest reward. It was just a bit awkward to accept it given my concept.

So when I considered pushing them back, the adventurers quickly backed away. They were incredibly quick on the uptake.

"We won't take no for an answer."

The Shaggy adventurer even tossed the bundle to me. I only realized my mistake after I caught it reflexively.

"May good fortune follow you, adventurer."

I ended up clicking my tongue and tossing them into my inventory.

I could ignore the bundle since I didn't know what was inside, but what the hell was I supposed to do with the medal? I wasn't the type to wear it around, so it was headed straight for the inventory.

I hate dead stooock. I didn't feel entirely bad since they gave it with good intentions, but still.

"When did Sir Knight hand out medicine?"

"It must have been when he entered the sewers alone. Goodwill truly does return to you."

"But what was it that the Demon Knight received before that?"

"I'm not quite sure myself. It looked like a medal... Do you happen to know?"

"... It's probably a medal of honor unique to the Adventurer's Guild given to adventurers who have achieved great merits. It's usually only given to those who complete requests considered impossible or achieve a feat worthy of spreading their name across an entire region..."

As the adventurers backed away with wide grins, DeB offered an explanation from behind. It was a very helpful explanation right now, seeing as the item information window wasn't popping up.

"Sir Knight certainly deserves to receive it. Didn't he single-handedly push through the sewers and slay hundreds of demons, not to mention butchering more than a dozen Demon Contractors?"

On a separate note, did that actually make sense? Well. Was breaching the sewers alone really such an intense achievement...? Shouldn't the Inquisitor, who defeated the Plague Demon, have received it instead?

I would've asked about it if it weren't for my concept, so it was a bit of a shame.

"As expected...!"

Meanwhile, the Inquisitor, who was the one who had beaten the boss mob, let out a noise as if she knew that would happen, without a single hint of jealousy.

I needlessly urged my horse on and picked up the pace. My conscience pricked a little, feeling like I had taken a prize meant for someone else.

* * *

Our destination, Gruh Telz, was twice as far as the distance between Somon and Tatara. Naturally, we had to cross a mountain range, so it couldn't possibly be close.

If there was a silver lining, it was that we were crossing it vertically rather than traversing along the mountain ridge, I guess?

Also, thanks to the Mage, we didn't have to worry about getting lost or standing night watch every time we set up camp. That was even more true after DeB, who had a knack for concealment using the terrain and setting traps, joined us.

Which meant there was no fear of being helplessly ambushed even if we didn't post guards.

However, I deliberately woke up early as if to stand watch. Just as a swan looks elegant because it paddles furiously underwater where no one can see, the dignity of my concept could only be maintained by putting in the effort where others couldn't see.

Well, another reason was that as long as I slept for more than six hours, the amount of fatigue reduced was roughly the same whether I slept for seven hours or twelve.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE.

For that reason, I woke up before dawn and sharpened my sword with the campfire as my companion, the blade scraping rhythmically against the whetstone.

Unlike the True Two-Hander, whose sharpness rarely dropped, the longsword constantly lost its edge, so it required daily maintenance like this.

Even then, its durability had fallen below 70, so it seemed about time to repair or replace it soon.

I flicked my finger against the scratch-filled blade before eventually sheathing it.

The next thing to check was the gift bundle that I still hadn't fully figured out despite rummaging through it for the past few days.

"What the hell is this one..."

Accessories like talismans were somewhat better. At least those were easy to identify.

Spices like salt and sugar were fine, too. They had plenty of uses, and their price was astronomical.

But what on earth were these black peppercorn-like grains, dried grass, and shiny pebbles?

Some of them at least popped up with item descriptions, but many didn't, making it a pain to figure out what they were. On top of that, my inventory slots were running precariously low.

Once we reached the next city, I was going to sell them all off. We had already crossed the mountain range, so it wasn't something to drag out for long anyway.

POP, POP.

No sooner had I finished organizing the bundle than the campfire inside the narrowly dug pit threw off sparks. Looking at it, the embers had somewhat weakened.

THUMP.

Thus, I decided to toss in more firewood to maintain the intensity of the flame. When there was nothing to do, watching the fire was the best way to kill time.

The blazing flames and the tranquil night created a uniquely sentimental atmosphere.

"Log out."

「Invalid command.」

The wish I unconsciously spoke aloud didn't come true, as expected.

I waved away the window that had popped up. Since I hadn't placed any hopes on it, there was no more disappointment either.

AWOOOOO!

But then, the distinct howl of a canine echoed out of nowhere.

I blinked. It sounded like a wolf, but what reason did it have to howl around here?

This was my first time being attacked by wolves in the middle of the night.

SNORT.

Since they were common trash mobs, I didn't think there was much need to worry, but I still couldn't completely lower my guard.

I eventually stood up and soothed the horses that had been woken by the wolf's howl. Even then, the howling continued.

"..."

The way they were howling as if exchanging signals gave me a really bad feeling.

I glanced at my sleeping companions.

Since there was an alarm spell and the traps DeB had set up separately, I figured they would wake up on their own before a wolf bit into their necks.

Leaving the party be, I took out a lantern. I wasn't going to use it myself; I intended to tie it to the tree where the horses were hitched.

I could read presences even in the dark, but it was still more comfortable to see.

RUSTLE.

「A target harboring hostility is present within a 30m radius.」

And finally, the uninvited night guests arrived. *RIIIING. * The alarm rang out.

"Is it an enemy!"

"Oh, dear..."

"Wh-What the!"

"Fuck, this is why you shouldn't mess with a knight...!"

A stranger's voice mixed in with the voices of my awakened party members. This proved it wasn't a simple wolf attack.

I threw my body into the darkness and drew a dagger. One of the two target marks provided by leveling up was coincidentally rushing right toward me.

Since we were both running toward each other, distance wasn't a concern. Rather, what I needed to worry about was whether I could hit a moving target with a dagger.

YELP!

Fortunately, it hit.

"Fire the arrows...!"

It seemed the midnight attackers hadn't prepared for this kind of development. Their flustering could be felt even beyond my line of sight. Not that I felt any sympathy for them.

BARK!

Right then, another wolf closed in instantly and lunged at me. However, even if it didn't have a target mark, with it boasting such a vivid presence, there was no way I could miss it.

The wolf, pierced through from the back of its head to its chest, instantly poured out blood and was flung away.

"Protect me!"

At about the same time, a golden barrier rapidly spread out in a hemispherical shape. Judging the situation solely by the sounds I heard, it seemed the Inquisitor had deployed the skill right after taking down a rushing wolf.

WHOOSH!

Anyway, the golden barrier expanded its volume, not only enclosing the Archmage and the Thief but even pulling me and the horses into its domain.

"Wh-What is this!"

"M-Magic?"

"Th-The knight is awake! Run right no—"

"O Sea Dragon, please grant us your protection..."

However, the attackers were instead pushed back by the golden barrier and sent tumbling backwards.

CLATTER, CLACK!

The arrows suffered the same fate. I could briefly see the crude arrows falling to the ground through the faint golden light.

"Fuck, aren't you getting up?!"

"O Sea Dragon, please take pity on us..."

No, more importantly, this is a defensive skill, so why is it dropping my HP?

Feeling a shallow sense of displeasure at my decreased HP, I kicked off the ground for now. One of the fleeing target marks happened to be right nearby.

"Did you really think I would let you go...!"

There were some who were crouching down and not moving, but it wouldn't be too late to catch them later.

I shouted, fully immersed in my concept. A couple of screams echoed in my ears.

But unfortunately for them, my movement speed was the fastest.

I sliced down the two who were fleeing, then chased after the one who had run away first and slashed his back. The blood flowing down my sword felt unnecessarily eerie.

'This was necessary.'

Right, this was necessary. It was necessary, but...

"Oh my. You raise wild dogs despite being nothing but bandits robbing travelers. But what can you do? You're just this out of luck."

On the opposite side, it seemed DeB was massacring the attackers with his dagger and kukri. It was a very competent display of agility. Even though he was speaking, it was quite difficult to catch his presence.

Furthermore, the Archmage had woken up last but was already casting a spell after grasping the situation. The Inquisitor was standing still, but she was doing the most important job of maintaining the defensive barrier.

RATTLE.

Soon, I saw what looked like pale chains faintly surging up from the darkness.