Adventurer's Guild pt.5

The next day, I headed to the plaza by the south gate to meet the members of White Rain. There were many horse-like creatures with carriages lined up, so it was like meeting someone by a bus station.

When I got there, I saw them already waiting for me, and ran over.

"Sorry I'm late."

"No, we just got here a minute ago, don't worry about it."

Allen answered, with the other two people not even looking at me, which made me kind of sad. Working well together seemed like it would be difficult.

"Well then, let's get going."

"OK."

We were headed to the village where orcs were appearing. I followed Allen down the road to where they'd rented a carriage, and he led the party to a rather fancy looking cloth-covered carriage parked beside the road, which was hitched to two pseudo-horses.

Considering the Ester's silvery plate mail and the nice carriage, White Rain seemed to have a lot of money.

(Somebody here must have rich parents, and I'm pretty sure it's this blonde loli.)

I was suspicious of where their money was coming from, but actually asking about that seemed like a bad idea.

(I'd at least want to get to the point where I could have a normal conversation with Ester and Sophie before bringing up that kind of topic. My membership in their group could end after this one time if I handle things badly.)

If possible, I wanted to work with them more in the future.

"Do you have a minute, Tanaka?"

Not long after we'd entered the carriage, as the town was still receding into the distance, Allen wanted to talk to me.

"Ah, yes, what is it?"

"If it's OK, I'd like to confirm the level of your recovery magic."

"Ah, I see."

(But how should I answer that?)

"What kind of an explanation are you looking for?"

(In my status window, it's listed as Lv.MAX. Is that something I can actually tell them? Somehow I doubt it.)

"A normal rank designation is fine. It's E-level, right?"

"Umm..."

I had no idea what kind of a rank designation I would have, but apparently that was something I supposed to know.

I just nodded and went along with his assumption.

"Yeah, it's about that level."

"I see. Understood."

(Yeah, lying was the best option there.)

I didn't know what "Rank E" involved, but I was confident that my magic was at least at that level. After all, it was max level. When it came to recovery magic, I shouldn't lose to anyone.

"That's basically useless. Rank E at your age, what have you been doing with your life?"

"No, well, um, various things?"

Ester delivered a direct hit without even knowing what it really meant to me.

Apparently, Rank E was low for someone my age. However, I couldn't take back what I'd just said, so I'd have to live with the situation.

"I'm sorry about my lack of skill."

I decided to just apologize without worrying about who was actually in the wrong.

"Well, Ester is about that level too. Let's just work together as a team."

At Allen's words, she turned away like she was bored and pouted a little bit.

"By the way, I was wondering if you can use that sword."

"Ah, this?"

"Why so soon?!"

"Hey, what happened with that subjugation request?!"

"Everyone, get a weapon and head to the east side!"

(It seems like it's time for us to get to work. Apparently the orcs are on the east side of the village.)

(I guess I have to get going, then.)

"Yuna-chan, yuna-chan!"

I called the waitress.

"Um, um, sir, the orcs..."

"Here's the payment."

"Ah, yes..."

"Keep the change."

"OK...?"

I dropped a silver on the counter as payment. As I got up, I said something like, "The drinks were delicious, so I'll stake my life on this fight."

(Oh yeah, that was so dandy.)

At that, Yuna-chan just stared at me, dumbfounded. I headed outside without minding her reaction.

Outside the bar, panic was spreading, with villagers running left and right.

(If it's like this, even the team at the inn should notice.)

(I'll get going then...)

I decided to head straight east.

The orcs were bigger than I imagined, about 3 meters tall.

(They're wearing some animal pelts and using wooden clubs, so they obviously have some intelligence, too. But unlike that goblin, they don't seem like I could have a conversation with them.)

The group of orcs was rampaging around one end of the village. It looked like there were about 15 of them. Some men came running at them, and they were all struck down in two or three hits. On the ground, it looked like some women were being raped on the spot.

"...they're big."

The scene looked like a picture of Buddhist hell. Women's cries echoed in my ears.

(With this many, the men of the village probably don't have a chance.)

If I'd been sober, I probably would have stayed away and just watched.

"Hooooooooo!"

A group of orcs started running towards me with a loud war cry.

I'd been told that they eat humans.

(Damn, here they come.)

(Maybe I can attack with that fire magic.)

magic recovery: Lv.Max

language skill: Lv.1

active:

fire magic: Lv.1

remaining skill points: 0

name: Tanaka

race: human

job: nothing in particular

/

(My "LUC" stat doesn't seem to go up much. Is that basically the same as being unlucky?)

(Ah, if my level went up, I should have gained skill points. With this many enemies, it's probably bad if my only means of attacking is Lv.1.)

magic recovery: Lv.Max

language skill: Lv.1

active:

fire magic: Lv.1

remaining skill points: 2

passive:

magic efficiency: Lv.Max

recovery magic: Lv.Max

(OK, that should do.)

As I was thinking that, I heard several roars.

"Hooooooo!" "Woooooo!" "Gwooooooo!"

All of the orcs were focused on me. They started running towards me.

"......"

I checked the status of a random sample of them.

gender: male

level: 13

/

gender: male

level: 13

/

gender: male

level: 13

/

name: Gale

race: high orc

job: leader

/

(This guy is dangerous! What the hell is this "Gale" guy? Even if he's a boss, that status has to be a mistake! If his stats are an order of magnitude higher than the orcs I fought, what does that mean?)

"It's a high, a high orc..."

The villagers behind me seemed to be going crazy.

"Why is there a high orc here?"

"We have to abandon the village!"

"We need to contact the knights!"

I was standing with my right fist extended forwards and my left hand in my pocket, looking cool.

picture by

I couldn't see anything through the dust and smoke.

(Alcohol is dangerous. I wouldn't have done this if I was sober...)

"HOOOOOOOOOoooo!"

A howl came from inside the haze.

(It's still alive? I hope that's the sound of it dying, but...)

A second after that, it came, its huge body piercing through the edge of the smoke and dust. It charged at me, reaching out its huge fist that was big enough to grab my torso. I tried to think of a way to escape or dodge, but my mind went blank.

I just stared at it.

(Yeah, that's why magicians need a certain-kill attack.)

(Ah, I'm going to die.)

I just closed my eyes.

"......."

But the impact never came.

As I opened my eyes again, the wounded high orc fell to its knees and elbows, and a second later collapsed face-down onto the ground with a thud.

I'd just barely survived.

"....hah, easy."

My heart was beating loudly and my armpits were completely wet.

I slowly lowered the arm that I'd been holding out.

The nearby villagers started cheering.

(They're cheering. They're cheering for me! Because of what I did!)

It was the first time in my life that something like that had happened. The first time I'd felt that way.

It was a good feeling.

(Yes! I'm the greatest!)

"Tanaka!"

The members of White Rain rushed over.

"Ah, sorry about that, I went ahead and finished things by myself."

(Acting alone is bad for a team, after all.)

"No, that, that's fine..."

"Or rather...you can use attack magic too..."

"Well, compared to my recovery magic it's low-level, though."

I still didn't know what number "Max" was equivalent to.

"...I, I see."

That reminded me about the injured people lying on the ground. I turned and headed that way.

"Ta, Tanaka?"

"I remembered something I needed to do."

"Ah..."

I hurried over to the victims. Checking their status, it seemed that the having 0 HP meant they were dead, while anything more than that meant that they were alive. Some of them had things like STDs or poisoning listed, which got cured at the same time.

(Recovery magic is good, but this status window is amazing too.)

Shortly after I'd finished healing the injured people, the village chief called for us.

I was led to a reception room, 16 square meters, with chairs and a table. There was some sort of tea in cups on the table. I took one, and it had a good smell.

The members of White Rain were there with me. Allen was next to me, with Ester next to him and Sophie next to Ester.

The village chief was on the other side of the table. He looked about 45 years old. He had an average build, and short light-brown hair with a little bit of grey.

"Really, thank you very much."

The first thing he did was bow to us, almost touching the desk with his head.

"Thanks to you, there were only a few casualties."

"That's good to hear."

"You really saved us."

"Ah, that's what the contract was for."

"But we never thought that a high orc would appear..."

"Unexpected things can always happen. They managed to do a lot of damage, and I'm sorry about that."

Apparently 13 people had died. In a village this size, that was a significant loss.

"No no no, there was certainly damage, but with that many orcs, they would have destroyed the village through here if you haven't come."

I was still worried that they were going to try to claim reparations for damage the orcs had done. I hadn't even read the request or contract; Allen had handled that.

"No, Tanaka, we're the ones who should apologize."

"You must be tired. You can rest here at my house tonight."

"Ah, yes. But we already got rooms at an inn..."

"The rooms here are a bit bigger than the inn's, so we can bring your luggage over here instead."

"Um, Allen, what do you want to do?"

"Er, ah, yes. That's fine, right?"

"In that case, thanks for your hospitality."

"You must all be hungry after that. Dinner should be ready soon, and we've pulled out all the stops for today's meal."

"Ah, really? Thank you."

(Nice, it sounds like I can get a high-grade meal tonight.)

After that short meeting, a number of villagers gathered in the chief's home to say thanks.

"Thank you."

"Your recovery magic too, there's no way that's rank E!"

(Wow, she can be really loud.)

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

"Hey, you, are you making fun of me here?!"

"Ester, he has his own circumstances. Getting recklessly involved in someone else's personal life is a bad idea. You have a thing or two like that yourself, don't you?"

"But, but..."

"Sorry, Tanaka. She's strong-willed, but she's a good girl at heart, so don't think too badly of her."

"No, no, I'm sorry about misleading you."

Ester looked like she was going to jump at me. With a bitter smile, Allen grabbed her arm at what seemed like the last moment.

"Allen!"

"Well, calm down a little bit, Ester. We were saved by Tanaka too. You understand that, right?"

"But he, he tricked me!"

"Ester, he's an adventurer, the same as us. And we just met him yesterday."

"That's...ummm..."

Ester was grumbling.

Unusually, Sophie said something.

"I have one question. Where did you study magic?"

"Ah, yeah, that's right..."

(I hadn't thought about that. I'll just have to make up something...)

Her slightly scrunched-up face as she asked was cute, but now that I knew her relationship to Allen, her stock value had fallen in my view.

"I prayed to god, and became able to do that."

(Yeah, that's kind of true.)

"...god, you said? Specifically, what's the name of this god?"

(Did that god mention something like a name? Not that I remember...)

"No, I don't really know..."

"You were praying to a god you don't know the name of?"

"Ehh, well, various things happened."

"...I see..."

I was starting to feel like Allen had the best personality out of the group. Despite being a playboy.

I was still jealous.

"Well then, it's gotten late, so we should get some sleep."

"That's true."

The next day, we headed back to the town, having finished the job.

The village chief's son was in the carriage with us, to report the damage to the town and the appearance of a high orc to some government official. He was in his mid-20s, and apparently he would become the village chief himself before too long.

"Gatan goton." Once again, the bumpy ride was making my butt hurt.

"Yeah, adventurers really are amazing. The best fighters in our village together could only handle one or two orcs, but you burnt a whole group of them in an instant."

He was really excited as he talked to us.

The death of 10-some people in the fight did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm. We'd been riding for an hour, but he showed no signs of stopping. Getting stared at by a young guy with stars in his eyes like that made me uncomfortable.

"No, well, I just barely managed. I thought I was going to die there."

I remembered that huge orc's fist almost reaching my face.

"Thank you so much. We should have investigated better and told the guild about the size of the group and the possibility of a high orc being there."

"Ah, you're welcome."

"My daughter was actually there, so...really...thank you very much..."

"Ah..."

(I see, that's why he's so enthusiastic.)

The trip back was uneventful. We stopped at the same place again for lunch, and ate together with the driver.

We arrived back at the town when the sun was starting to set.

After returning the carriage, our group of 5 people went to the adventurer's guild.

"OK, I understand the situation."

With the village chief's representative and White Rain's members working together, explaining what happened went smoother than I expected.

I'd been worried about how a chump like me claiming I defeated a strong monster like a high orc would go, but that wasn't a problem. Having four eyewitnesses made things a lot more credible to the macho bald guy at the counter.

"The village's request underestimating the orcs was foolish, but I have to apologize for how the guild handled this situation. A high orc appearing...that's the kind of blunder that might happen once a decade."

"I see."

"In this case, the guild will give you an additional reward payment. But I need to consult with some other people at the guild, so, I apologize, but can you come back tomorrow to get that? We'll give you the original reward at the same time."

Allen: "Then, please give all of it to Tanaka."

"Eh, that too?"

(They should probably get some kind of reward just for being there.)

"We were there, but we really just watched. Or rather, we couldn't have defeated a high orc ourselves, so you saved our lives too..."

"You don't want to confirm the amount first?"

"...and so, please give all of it to Tanaka."

(He's a generous guy. It's also interesting how the two girls have zero interest in the money.)

"Well, if you say so, then that's fine."

(Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? Ester seems rich, so I shouldn't worry about it.)