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I saw it, how that man fought against the Devil Child.
On the night of the rescue of the missing village child, beside Aspa, Randa, the lost children, and the witch and her summoned demons. There was another figure watching the entire battle from a very close distance. Close enough for the Witch to notice.
With the fact that the forest had become part of his magic, be it the land, the plants, the animals, even the air around him. Of course, the existence of this figure could be easily realized, and immediately became a part that was considered a 'troublemaker' by the Witch.
"Khk!?"
The tree branch that the observer was standing on suddenly tried to wrap around the observer's small body.
She is an Elf with the body of a little girl with golden hair who with her speed and instincts can avoid being wrapped around the tree branches.
With that, while the man she was watching down there was busy dodging attacks from the multi-headed meatball, the observer has also been given her own preoccupation with the tree branches that continue to chase him.
The observer, the Elf girl shot three arrows at several parts of the branches that approached her. Making several branches that chased her instantly wither and die.
It's magic.
Magic is part of the source of life in that world. Mana is its soul, and magic is its release. By channeling mana into the tree branch, the Witch can give it a portion of life and control the branch as if it were his own body.
To be able to control all life in this forest. As I expected, his mana is very large!
The Elf girl had long been observing and studying the 'Witch' who had been confirmed to be of the same race as her.
We are both Elves. Even though he is younger than me, the fact that he is old enough to have a lot of mana, plus that he used various black magic practices during his life, it is not surprising that his power can be this great now.
"But, everyone has a limit to the power capacity of their body.!"
The Elf girl quickly readied her arrow again, aiming it at the last branch that was chasing her.
"..."
After making sure that no one was chasing her, the Elf girl could feel the empty silence from the gusts of wind that blew away the leaves of the trees above her.
"His mana is slowly disappearing. The Witch.. has been defeated? No… he is still alive-"
"GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
A loud scream was heard not far from where she was. To be exact, it came from the man the Elf girl had last seen, busy dodging the monster's attacks.
But now, the man was already on top of the lump of flesh that was shrinking into thick smoke. He screamed loudly after successfully defeating the 'demon' type monster with great difficulty.
Even the Elf girl who was nearby couldn't figure out how the man could defeat her. All she saw right now was an axe that cut into a body that was a thick lump of flesh.
"How could it be... with just an axe??"
As the Elf girl was wondering in confusion, she suddenly felt a sharp gaze from a direction she knew.
The man stared at her.
"Hey, there! You keep watching me but didn't help me at all!"
"..."
Feeling that there was no point in hiding any longer, the Elf girl jumped down from the tree branch she was standing on.
Now, two people who defeated the enemy in the same place and time are facing each other.
"My name is Aspa Pandawa. A human. From your ears, you are..."
"I am Elvy. A 'Pure Elf'."
"Woaaahh~ This is the first fantasy human I've ever met!"
"I have hidden my presence with Invisibility magic. If it were a fellow magician it would not be surprising, but how did you notice my presence?"
The young man—Aspa—looked confused by the question that concerned him.
"It was just instinct, really. I saw a branch moving up there. And because it certainly looked weird, I looked at it in more detail and realized you were there."
That was a reasonable explanation. He didn't notice me, but rather the branches that were attacking me. That was what made him aware of my presence.
"It seems like we can't chat for long. My friend is fighting his main enemy alone. It would be bad if something happens to him, he's still young. I also have to take the child there home."
After pointing at the little girl who had fainted under the tree, Aspa walked away towards the next battle.
"Wait a minute! Are you going to finish off that witch like this too?"
"Depends on the circumstances. What's wrong?"
"This is a bit selfish, but can you end it quickly??"
Aspa looked at the Elf girl in confusion..
"Why?"
"The reason I took this quest is because I know him a little. He was a kind child once upon a time. It was the fear of death that made him like that."
"Even long-lived Elves can fear death, huh?"
"We are all living beings. You must understand that, right?"
"..."
Aspa didn't say much after hearing that. He just walked away with his back to the Elf girl while giving a thumbs up on his right hand..
1
A vast grassland.
A group of bright blue, springy creatures like purified water, jumped towards the two people walking on the path.
"U-Uoooohhh!? What the hell is that!?"
One of the men was dressed formally, covered with a black cloth as a robe—Aspa Pandawa, who was a stranger in the world, was surprised and impressed by the tiny creatures that jumped towards him.
"We call it slime, Brother Aspa. It is a monster and is usually used as a fighting practice for novice adventurers."
"that's so evil. Such a tiny creature was killed just for training."
"Well, because their rapidly increasing population can become a pest, you know. And also adding, They can absorb mana from various living things. Usually they absorb mana in various fields. Making all the plants planted wither."
"Hooo~ Looks like a mouse, huh. Tiny and annoying!" said Aspa while pinching one of the slimes near him.
Watching Aspa playing with the slimes casually, made Randa, who had a different view as a native, was left confused.
"Do you.. not feel anything weird?"
"What?"
"Like I said, slimes absorb the mana of living things. Humans can be affected by it even if it is only slightly."
"Nope. I don't feel anything. Maybe it's because I'm from another world, so mana doesn't exist in my body.."
"B-But bro... For us, not having mana is the same as dying, you know!"
"Eh, seriously!?"
Randa nodded his heas.
Meanwhile, Aspa, who was now overthinking his own situation, had dissolved into his head.
To be honest, when I first came to this world I already felt something was strange. My breath slowly narrowed, and my energy drains very easily. Could it be the effect of not having mana? If so, why am I still fine now? In fact, I feel better now.
Could it be?...
"So that's how it is, then. No wonder."
Aspa has returned to his original calm demeanor after finding the answer.
"What is that, Bro?"
"I was cursed. If I think about it, my body started to adapt to this world after defeating the demon chi-.. I mean the monster that the Witch summoned."
"You mean, the curse gave Brother mana?"
"It's still not certain. But, it's possible that the slimes didn't absorb my power because they felt the dark energy inside. Look, they're moving away from us."
The young man she had just met had impressed Randa from the start. His calm way of thinking and how he explained things felt like an educated person to someone who didn't know like Randa.
"You're really like a scholar, aren't you?"
"I told you I'm just an ordinary office worker." In an annoyed tone, Aspa denied Randa's view of him, and continued to say, "you said we were close to the city, right? We have to hurry so we don't get caught out by nightfall."
"I did say we were closer than before, but actually there are still 10 kilometers to go until we get there."
"E-Eh?~ This is bad. It's already evening. Is there a save point up ahead?"
Trying to understand the words he didn't understand, Randa answered, "If you mean inn, I don't think there are any."
Losing what was called hope, Aspa slumped down. He looked at the ground which felt dry, not only in his eyes but also in his hands.
The ground is really dry, huh? Is it because of the slime too? But... for such a small slime…
Aspa looked around with the aim of observing the surrounding conditions. With his characteristic bulging eyes, he began to notice some conditions that he had not been aware of before.
"Hey, Randa. You said the slimes absorb the surrounding energy, right?"
"Yeah, anything that has mana they will absorb."
"How bad is the absorption range? Is it evenly distributed?"
"A-eum… In my field, usually only five to ten plants. We finish them off before they cause more damage. And when it comes to being even, well... that's obviously impossible."
"Impossible?"
"Yes. Because as I saw myself, they walk in a hopping manner. So there is a distance between the plants that are spread out.
After finishing checking the condition of the ground up to several meters back, including the surrounding plants, Aspa started to stand up and turned around stiffly.
"But Randa..."
Aspa pointed to the ground tremblingly.
"All this drying up... it's really wide, you know."
Their heads seemed to lift for a moment, until they became aware of a violent vibration from beneath the ground beneath them.
The vibrations became stronger and it felt like something was approaching. Cracks began to appear around them in a radius of about 5 meters long.. Forming a ring of cracks surrounding them.
While thinking about what to do other than avoiding it, Aspa saw a hoe that Randa had been carrying on his shoulder since the beginning of the journey.
"Randa! Stick the hoe into the ground as hard as you can!"
Without thinking twice or even the slightest bit of resistance, Randa immediately followed Aspa's orders by sticking the hoe as hard as he could into the ground..
"A-"
"Eh?"
""Water?""
They both froze because of the same feeling of confusion, until the vibrations in the ground reached their peak and destroyed the surrounding ground, throwing Aspa and Randa away.
The water that they had previously seen from between Randa's hoe stuck in the ground, quickly grew larger and continued to grow larger, passing the height of the surrounding trees.
They have come to the conclusion that the 'creature' is the one causing the vibrations in the ground, as well as causing the surrounding soil to dry out..
However, it was too late for them to realize it. Because by now the creature had begun its attack.
Aspa fell to the ground with her fragile body, while Randa managed to maintain his standing position by falling perfectly.
"Get ready for battle, Randa! Ouch, my body aches..."
"Bro-"
They were both separated on different sides. The liquid creature—more precisely the slimy creature had separated them with its large body.
Spongy, round, and bright blue, it was a creature they were familiar with.
"Slime?" Randa, a native, was very surprised when he saw a slime that big. What was in front of him right now was beyond his understanding.
As for Aspa, he had seen unexpected things several times in the RPG games he usually played. So his face was quite calm even though he was actually holding his pee in his pants.
"Brother! Watch out!"
Hearing Randa's warning, Aspa reacted by retreating several meters while dragging his body which was still sitting on the ground.
At that moment, the human hand-shaped liquid that came out of the slime monster's stomach almost hit Aspa who had dodged it first.
The hand-shaped liquid grew like roots that continued to grow. Carrying out endless attacks on Randa and Aspa.
"Khhhakk!"
While busy avoiding the hands that attacked him, Aspa heard a groan of pain from Randa who was being strangled by the monster's strong hands.
"Randa..."
Aspa began to take the situation seriously. He took a few steps back to avoid the monster's hand and began to adjust himself.
He took the axe that was tied to the side of his pants belt. with the prepared force—Aspa was ready to attack.
His first step immediately pushed his body closer to the slime monster.
"—!!_--------!_----------!!"
Aspa swung his axe deftly while avoiding all the attacks aimed at him. Even so, Several hands had injured him, but he still ran forward around the slime's body and cut off the hands that were strangling Randa.
"Khk!"
After being released, Aspa immediately kicked Randa's stomach to get away from the slime that was about to attack him again.
Aspa has managed to keep Randa away from the danger, but…
"B-Brother!"
"Do not come close!"
The harsh warning came out of Aspa's mouth as he vomited blood.
"Don't worry... Everything is under control here."
"What is it..."
Aspa smiled gently at Randa. Even so, the sight he showed the young man behind him gave an unbearable sense of fear and horror.
"What's okay!"
Blood poured onto the ground. His face turned pale from enduring the excruciating pain that he had never experienced before. Aspa remained standing even in that condition.
Several of the slime monster's hands… had penetrated his body.
"T-Ttt-… These slime hands are n—nothing! This is just… a mass of liquid that penetrated my body! Nothing… hhhoooekkk.."
Oh no... is this where it ends?
I'm... scared to death dammit!
"Your death isn't funny, human!"
A voice that sounded as sharp as a loud whistle passed through Aspa's ears.
A voice that sounded as sharp as a loud whistle passed through Aspa's ears.
When he realized it, a strong gust of wind pushed the slime monster's body several meters away.
"GRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The monster—which had been silent before—suddenly let out a loud roar after being dropped. Its shape also became increasingly distorted—now looking like a normal monster. Various kinds of eyeballs protruded from the slime's body—they seemed to come from animals it had secretly absorbed.
"Child Elf!?"
"My name is Elvy!"
The golden-haired girl with pointed ears—Elvy threw a bottle of potion at Aspa's face until the bottle broke.
Despite the pain, Aspa's wound can be healed.
"Healing the right person, hey!"
"That's punishment for acting stupid and acting like a hero. Haven't you ever learned the rules of adventurers, huh?"
"How would I know!? I'm not even from this world!"
The Elf girl was silent for a moment without thinking.
"I see. Even so, it seems like you're not the person in the prophecy. You're old, after all."
"so mean, huh!"
The next attack from the slime monster was launched at them. This time it was a large hammer formed from the slime's body.
However, due to chatting too much in the middle of the battle—Aspa wasn't fast enough to avoid the monster's attack. Putting him in a dangerous situation now.
Oh no... I'm going to die!
A loud crash was heard—Aspa slowly opened his eyes, and found Randa holding back the slime hammer with only the hoe handle and his strong body.
"Stupid! What are you doing, Randa!?"
"I should be the one calling you stupid! You stabbed yourself so badly that you almost lost your life! Brother, you always do things without thinking first. It annoys me! But... I like it because it's cool. So cool! So..."
The muscles in Randa's arms that were used to block the slime monster's attack were seen tightening. Like unbreakable steel, Randa used all his strength to hold the huge hammer made of slime that could weigh up to tens of tons.
"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
I see... I guess I was looking at him too much like a child.
Randa threw the hammer-shaped slime's hand back, causing the slime's body to be crushed by its own hammer.
Seeing an opportunity, Aspa picked up his axe from the ground and started to move from the ground.
"Good job, Randa!"
A pat was felt on Randa's shoulder. It came from Aspa who immediately ran fast towards the slime monster who was busy with his own hammer.
From the applause, Randa could finally feel Aspa's full trust. Eliminating his pent-up anxiety during their journey.
"Oi! Kid elf!"
"My name is Elvy!"
"You know when to shoot that wind again, right?"
The Elf girl—Elvy nodded in response to Aspa's question.
"Alright, here we goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
Aspa swung his axe horizontally at the slime monster's body, causing the monster's body to split open and exposing its insides.
At that moment, Elvy, with her bow and arrow ready, released it towards the slime monster's exposed body.
Before releasing the arrow, Elvy muttered something in an 'abstract' language and then released it.
The strong wind blew again quickly. Penetrating into the slime monster's body, then continuing to circle around inside its body.
Is that what is called magic?
Aspa memandangi reaksi yang ditimbulkan oleh serangan sang gadis Elf.
The slime monster's body quickly returned to normal after being hit by Aspa's attack. However, with the strong wind caused by Elvy's hot child inside his body, then quickly the slime's body inflated like a balloon and exploded into a sticky liquid that scattered around.
With that ... [Quest completed]
2
Night time, inside a tent.
"Yaaaahuuuu! Thank goodness we met you, Elf kid!" Aspa exclaimed happily as he lay down using his robe as a pillow.
After the battle with the slime monster in the afternoon, they—Aspa, Randa, and Elvy decided to camp somewhere far away from the other monsters. And just in case, they provide special 'fragrance' devices that emit smoke and unpleasant odors for the monsters.
"We are very grateful for your help, Miss. Thank goodness you also brought a tent," Randa said politely to Elvy.
"It's no problem. I just happened to be passing by. However, I am also confused by your stupidity in adventuring without proper preparation. There's not much food, few potions, weapons are like toys, and worst of all... your knowledge is lacking."
Elvy, who is an experienced adventurer, clearly feels confused about Aspa and Randa. Lack of knowledge and experience was a very fatal mistake for him..
"You guys… You guys should stop being adventurers."
Aspa and Randa were stunned to hear it. Not because they were surprised, but because they felt there was nothing wrong with Elf's words.
"There are many beginners who died at the beginning of their adventure. All of them died horribly because they only had the provision of 'spirit' in their adventure. You look like that, that's why I told you to stop."
The atmosphere in the tent became silent. None of Aspa and Randa tried to refute Elvy's words.
"If you understand, then..."
"I'm sorry, but we can't go back, Miss."
"..."
"Neither me nor Brother Aspa. We have a big goal that makes us unable to retreat anymore."
"All the young adventurers who died also had great goals! But... I told you that passion alone is not enough to survive as a hero."
"Brother Aspa is a person from another world.
"..."
"And I... want to be a hero. Both me and Bang Aspa, we can't back down anymore. We will keep moving forward no matter what happens in the future!"
"That's right. You said you came from another world. I haven't asked you further about that. So how-"
Before Elvy could finish her question, she realized that the person she was asking had been fast asleep all this time.
"H-He's always like that, huh?"
"Y-Yeah, that's how it is.... But, I trust him."
Seeing Randa's gaze on Aspa, Elvy could tell how much she trusted him.
"Basic. No matter what race, men are really simple, huh."
3
Waking up from her sleep, Randa immediately found an unexpected sight of the people sleeping in the same tent as him.
He saw two people who seemed unfamiliar yesterday—Aspa and Elvy sleeping while hugging each other like a beloved father and daughter.
"W-What happened while I was sleeping?" Still unable to process what she saw, Randa went out of the tent to get some fresh morning air.
"Huuuuuahhhhhhh."
In front of the tent, Randa stretched her stiff body after falling asleep in a cramped space. He could still feel the pain from yesterday's battle with the slime monster.
It was at that moment that a thought crossed his mind.
I... have to become stronger.
After the process of convincing myself, as the first person to wake up from sleep, Randa mengambil beberapa peralatan untuk penyiapan persediaan perjalanan berikutnya.
He took two empty water bottles covered in cloth, as well as a small pot belonging to the Elf girl. And after observing the surroundings, he walked to a place where the closer he got, the more he could hear the sound of flowing water.
Not far from there—a little further into the forest, Randa could find a small lake in the forest. And when examined further, the lake water comes from a stream that flows out of a cave.
"..."
Despite the beauty of the lake in front of him, Randa could feel an unpleasant atmosphere from inside the cave he saw.
"So that's... the so-called dungeon?"
Randa's estimate was not completely wrong, but it was also not right. Because what was in front of him was basically just an ordinary cave. But if you look a little deeper you can see that if there is a hidden hole in there, it will definitely lead straight to the dungeon.
There are many cases where someone can hear strange sounds like mysterious roars and screams from inside the cave. And in Randa village, it is a very common story there. In reality, all they heard was the roar of a dungeon monster echoing out from a small gap in the cave.
Even so, Randa still felt wary, because from her perspective, the cave would lead directly into the dungeon and there were monsters inside.
Scary! I have to get out of here quickly!
After filling the drinking bottle and pan with lake water, Randa immediately left the place.
"Hooo~ You woke up fast, huh."
In front of the tent, Aspa was already enjoying the morning air and scenery. For a person from another world with 'different' circumstances and conditions like himself, seeing the outside world that felt 'authentic' had given Aspa a feeling of pleasure.
"There's nothing like this in my city," Aspa muttered with a relieved smile on his face.
"What was your world like before?" While asking that, Randa piled up some wood that he had found in the forest before.
"Hmmmm, what was it like? It feels really hard to remember."
"How come?"
"Ahhhh... Emmmmm... That, you know. I live my life like a walking corpse without a thought. Wake up in the morning, go to work, then come home late at night. It all repeated over and over until I didn't have to think about doing it anymore. Ah, yes... that's what I remember… the sky in my city is covered with tall buildings. You also won't be able to see the green plants there. The air also often makes your nose itchy. Congestion. And it also often floods. The hustle and bustle of city people also sometimes bothers me, though. The sound of the boss shouting, and..."
When he was lost in his own memories, a delicious smell suddenly came and seemed to have lifted Aspa back to land.
"O-Oi! What are you cooking?"
"I cooked soup for our breakfast, Bang. There are potatoes and corn from our field, and some carrots that I asked from Miss Elvy. And also I added slime for flavor."
"I see… slime."
Aspa had not thought for a moment because of his naivety about the world. But when he realized what he had said earlier, his thin, muscular body began to sweat.
"Excuse me, what did you use?"
"Potatoes, corn-"
"Flavorings!"
"Slime?"
"W-Why?"
"Well… if you ask me why. Because it tastes sweet and is perfect for making soup. Its thick and smooth taste can make your mouth melt, you know!"
"Not only will my mouth melt, but my whole body will melt too, you know!"
"It's not that bad, though."
"Listen, okay! We don't know if the effects of eating slime can have a bad effect on us or not!"
"No, really. I've often eaten this when I'm short of spices at home. Especially during the winter. Because sometimes the sales of the fields tend to decrease so we just use ingredients that are available in nature to make it."
Aspa could see an innocent smile on Randa's face as she stirred the soup that was almost ready. He tried hard to hold back his comments on Randa's soup. But when he saw the little bubbles that exploded from the soup—as if to indicate that something was wrong. Aspa couldn't bear to look at it anymore.
"Um... I want to go to the toilet-"
"It's done!"
"Eeeeeeeeeee!"
Before taking a single step to escape, Randa with a bright face pulled Aspa's body back and immediately served him the soup in a small bowl.
"Eat it, Brother."
With an inexpressible feeling of rejection, Aspa slowly took the bowl from Randa's hands. The bowl contains soup with the ingredients that Randa mentioned earlier. But there is one big difference with regular soup, which is…
"The water is... clear."
"Yup! That's the advantage of the slime body as a food ingredient. In addition to beautifying food, the slime body can also absorb filth in food. Sometimes it is also useful as a filter..."
"Wait a minute. Does that mean the slime's body can absorb the spices in the food?"
"Exactly. That's why people use slime when they don't have seasoning for food. Because then the seasoning is a waste, right?"
"Makes sense. But, I still don't want to eat this."
"Oh come on, bro. This slime has many benefits too!"
"Tsk, ahhhhh..."
Feeling bad seeing the pleading face of the man who was younger than her. Aspa, as an adult, also felt wronged with his own attitude.
Nervously, he stared at the bowl of soup as he slowly brought it to his mouth.
"Wahhhh what is that!?"
Before Aspa could eat the soup, the Elf girl—Elvy came out of the tent with drool dripping from her mouth.
"Wow, what a coincidence, kid! Eat my soup!"
Before Aspa give his soup to Elvy...
"You eat too!" Randa snapped loudly.
"Y-Yes, Mom."
With no other choice, Aspa slowly ate the soup with his eyes closed. He tried not to imagine the strange feeling after eating the disgusting monster he had just defeated.
"Deeliiiiiicoooouusss dude!"
The drama of being afraid about eating the food just ended like that.
Aspa, who had been prolonging the story with her picky eating habits, could now eat in peace. Meanwhile, Randa could breathe a sigh of relief like a mother seeing her child.
"Well, Miss Elvy eats too, okay?"
"Of course. Give me three bowls!"
"Yes, yes. Eat a lot so you can grow up fast," Aspa said.
"What are you doing? Treating me like a child all the time. Even though I'm tens of thousands of years old, you know! Right, Randa?"
Randa nodded while sipping his soup.
It seems that Aspa has really forgotten the most basic thing in the fantasy world. It is understandable since he has been 20 years old, he has started to be busy with the adult world. More precisely... 'forced to be busy'.
"H-How old are you… exactly?"
"Hmmmm... 10,590 years... I think?"
As usual, with his typical excited movements, Aspa bowed down to Elvy who was surprised by the actions of the human from another world.
"Gosh, Grandmaaaaa!"
"Grandma!?"
Just so you know, the age difference between Pure Elf and Half Elf and also Human is very different in that world. A simple and brief description is like this…
10 years of Human life = 1000 years of Half Elf life
10,000 Pure Elf lifespan = 10 Human lifespan.
So 1000 years of lifespan for a Half Elf is...?
"Well, basically, no one knows how long their life will be. Someone can live a short or long life, it's up to fate," Aspa explained to avoid the question.
4
After patiently waiting for a long time, on the edge of the path that was the site of the battle against the slime monster yesterday. Aspa, Randa, and Elvy finally saw a horse-drawn carriage coming a few meters towards where they were.
Aspa with the knowledge of people from another world innocently gave a thumbs up from his right hand as a sign for the approaching coachman.
And instead of warning Aspa. Two other people—Randa and Elvy also joined in giving thumbs up because they thought it was fun.
"Oooooooiiiiii!"
"Come here!"
"Heyyyyyy!"
From a distance, the coachman—a young brown-haired man riding a muscular black horse—looked confused at the behavior of the three strange people in front of him. With caution, He prepared several throwing knives—his specialty weapons—for self-defense against the bandits.
"Brother!"
"Heeeeeyyy!"
A scary-faced man suddenly appeared beside the coachman's seat. The scary-faced man in foreign clothes pulled the coachman's shirt tightly.
"Bro, can you take us to the center of the adventurer city?"
Unknowingly, the coachman had almost stabbed his small knife into the strange man's forehead. However, after hearing the previous question, he immediately stopped his attack.
"H-Helio Kingdom, right?" asked the coachman.
The strange man nodded happily.
"I-It just so happens that this horse-drawn carriage is headed there. If you want to hitch a ride..."
"Ah, don't worry. The elf over there will pay you later." The strange man pointed at Elvy who looked confused because he was pointed at from a distance. After that, he said, "But you should lower the price, okay! Poor thing, she's old, you know!"
It was truly a strange statement that the coachman had heard for the first time in his life.
Elf is called old?
"Oi! Randa! Grandma! This person will escort us!"
Two other people, Randa and Elvy, who were a Human and an Elf, also got into the back of the carriage which would later be pulled by the gallant horse.
"Let me introduce myself, my name is Aspa Pandawa."
The strange man introduced himself before sitting next to the coachman.
"Toky. Call me Toky."
The coachman—Toky also introduced himself.
They continued their journey to the center of the hero city—Helio Kingdom.
5
"Wow, wow. You guys really defeated that old slime, huh? I'm really helped by your actions."
Toky the coachman looked happy when Aspa, who was sitting next to him—both in the coachman's seat—told him what he had fought against yesterday..
According to Toky, the big slime at that time was a slime that had lived for thousands of years. There are many slimes that can survive that long. The reasoning is because of a lack of human attention towards slimes thinking that they are just ordinary weak creatures. Unknowingly, The slime that was left alive had absorbed so much of the mana around it that it expanded without limit.
For traders and delivery people like Toky, a slime that big would be very annoying and even very dangerous to the point of threatening their lives. The presence of these creatures can also complicate the distribution of goods and damage the price of the goods themselves.
"Why don't you just ask the adventurers to help you clean up all those slimes?" Aspa asked.
Hearing the question, Toky sighed tiredly. "The young adventurers rejected it because they were disgusted by the slime. While the veterans felt that this quest was too lowly for them."
"Eh!? That means this problem is almost the same as the witch problem, right?" asked Aspa while glancing behind him. He gave the question to Randa who was sitting in the back cart with Elvy.
Randa nodded, while Elvy replied.
"That's a common problem for every generation."
"Wow, a direct comment from the elders," said Aspa.
"Even so, we can't completely blame the adventurers, you know. There are other factors such as the limited number of adventurers and sometimes there are much bigger problems where all the adventurers have to step in."
Toky makes a statement that is meant to defend the adventurers.
Considering how difficult and risky it is to be a hero, Toky's statement is reasonable enough to be accepted.
"You trust them, huh?" Aspa asked.
"They often help, though..."
The journey passed peacefully after that. Aspa and two other passengers slept soundly. Meanwhile, Toky remained focused on riding his horse calmly. Possibly because he was used to working for long hours, he didn't fall asleep easily like the others..
***
"Wake up everyone. We've arrived, you know.!"
The sentence 'we've arrived' quickly brought back Randa's consciousness, who from the start had been enthusiastic about coming to the place.
"Bro! Bro! Wake up Brother! We're here!
Randa excitedly shook Aspa's body who was still sound asleep. The man who could no longer be called young slowly opened his eyes..
"Huuhh? What's wrong?"
"W-We've arrived, bro!"
"Ohh... wake me up again when we get to the inn."
"Don't be like that, bro! Look at the stunning view after this!"
Ignoring Randa's enthusiasm, Aspa's eyes remained closed as if they were firmly attached.
Arrived...
"Ah!?"
When the city gates opened, the vastly different atmosphere and air made Aspa's eyes widen.
He could already feel it..
A strong wind blows from within.
After entering the gate, the sight that caught Aspa's eyes was a view of the city with various kinds of activity in it.
People of all races were walking in all directions. Busyness was everywhere, to the point that the city looked like it was filled with worker ants that were constantly swarming.
It was as if there was no pause in their movements. There was a group of people who had just come out of a building called a 'guild' and were preparing to work on a 'quest'. Some were still preparing by shopping for various equipment and medicines for their next assignment, and some had just returned home with wounds all over their bodies.
Not only that. On the other hand, people who are not adventurers also seem busy with their respective jobs. Merchants, smiths, and the like seemed busy due to the constant influx of adventurers.
In the middle of the city where there is a fountain, there are several adventurers who are looking for additional members for their 'party' by writing 'Looking For Party', and usually there are additions such as 'Looking For Party Healer' or 'Looking For Party Attacker' based on what they need.
Honestly, in the case of finding party members it is very difficult. Not everyone will accept it unless it is a request from a big party or a veteran.
Aspa could even see a human skeleton still holding a wooden sign that said 'Looking For Party'.
From a distance of the city, there is a very large building separated from other buildings. The atmosphere there seems very different because of the different shapes and structures of the buildings in the city.
It was... part of the Helio Kingdom. And the biggest building there is the castle of the Helio Kingdom.
"So this is... the city of adventurers?"
Aspa was stunned by it.
The sight of the busy city... somehow had touched his heart..
It's not like the city I live in. People walk by with empty eyes and no life. But here….
"They enjoyed it."
6
After getting off the horse-drawn carriage and saying goodbye to Toky, they all immediately went to the place where the adventurers gathered. It is a place where adventurers register and work officially under the auspices of an institution. The said place is called a guild.
"You all come here quickly!"
The two beginners—Aspa and Randa—were still amazed with their eyes sparkling like little children. Meanwhile, those who are experienced like Elvy inevitably have to direct them.
"Remember, don't mess around in this place, okay?."
Aspa and Randa saluted as a sign of their understanding.
"We're going in now."
The guild door opened, and that was the atmosphere they found.
A variety of adventurers and their groups were.
"Let me remind you once again, Randa... Aspa. That starting today... your life will not be the same as before. Even so, are you ready to face fate no matter how bad it is?"
Getting a serious question from the little Elf in front of them, both Aspa and Randa smiled with the same unanimous decision.
""We are ready!""