Chapter 40: Hunting with the Normal Village

Author: 十一屋　翠 (Juuichiya Sui)

Previous | TOC | Raws | Next

We woke up the day after the banquet in Rex’s house.
We had tried to find an inn first, but were told that there weren’t any, so we had been at a loss for what to do.

That was when Rex’s parents told us it would be okay for us to stay there, an offer which we gratefully accepted.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.
You were on quite the long journey till yesterday, so why not relax for a bit longer?”

It seemed Rex’s mother, Astrea-san, had already gotten up earlier and was now getting breakfast ready.

“No no, we don’t want to cause you any trouble.”

“Ara ara, you don’t have to worry about that.”

No seriously, when we had tried to pay them for letting us stay there, they had refused, saying they couldn’t accept money from their son’s friends, and we didn’t want to take advantage of their kindness.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“Oh, could you perhaps set the table then?”

“Of course.”

I put out all the plates and cutlery on the table, woke up Norb, and then Meguri.

Well, Norb always gets up early anyway to pray to god, so there was no real need for me to wake him up.

On the other hand, it seemed like Meguri had had a couple dozen Jewelled Apple ciders too many for her last night.

She seemed to have a terrible hangover.

“It’s nearly time for breakfast, so go wake Jairo up, please.”

“All right.”

Norb answered immediately, and went to wake Jairo up.

“Argh, owww… you’re all up so early.
That’s youngsters for ya.”

Lyde-san seemed to be suffering from a hangover just like Meguri.

“Could ya put the kettle on and make some of that hangover tea?”

“Okaaaay.
Just wait a couple of minutes.”

Astrea-san took down some tea leaves from a shelf, put them in the teapot, then poured the boiling water from the kettle inside as well.

“Here you go.”

“Ooh, thanks.
Ahh, this really is the best cure for hangovers.”

Judging by how Lyde-san relaxed after drinking the tea, it seemed like it was effective against hangovers.

“Umm, could I, please also, have some…”

Staggering over, Meguri asked Astrea-san for some of the tea as well.

Seriously, how much did she even drink to end up like that.

“Of course, it’ll be done in a jiffy.”

Astrea-san poured some tea in a cup, which she then handed to Meguri.

“Thank you…”

She blew over the tea to cool it down, and her complexion improved visibly as she drank it.

“Uwaa, this is amazing.”

That tea must also use some amazing herbs, huh.

A complicated feeling of wanting to ask but knowing I would regret it if I did swirled around in my chest.

“This is amazing, but what kind of tea is it?”

“Oh, it’s made from the petals of Alraune flowers.”

“Alraune!?”

Wai-, ha-!? Seriously, Alraune!?

“A-aren’t Alraunes those dangerous plant-type monsters that attack people?”

Alraunes were plant monsters that looked similar to humans.

At first glance, the Alraune was simply a naked, green-skinned beautiful woman, but their feet turned into roots, making them unable to move.
When a person got too close, the Alraune would entangle them in ivy growing from their bodies and strangle them to death, burying the corpse in the ground to absorb its nutrients.

Also, while they looked somewhat human, they weren’t capable of communication.

They were plants, after all.

“It’s all right.
Al-chan’s quite easygoing and loves basking in the sun.”

“Al-chan!?”

What’s with the nickname!?

“Rex found Al-chan when she was still just a seed.
Rex planted her and raised her in the field round the back.”

Wait, so she wasn’t talking about a cat!?

“She really likes the plant food Rex came up with, and she’s really cute and smiles really happily when you give her some.
She’ll give you a leaf or a flower from her head in return, so everyone in the village now takes turns giving her the plant food.”

What’s with that half-wild-ownerless-neighbourhood-cat status!?

But, I think I’ve got it now.

That Alraune must really like the plant food Rex had made.

Plant food has more nutrients suitable for plants than humans, and since it was given some regularly, there was no need for it to go out of its way to attack anyone.

“To think an Alraune could actually coexist with humans…”

Any magician studying plant-type monsters would be overjoyed if they heard of this.

“Aaaah, I wanna go back to sleep.”

It seemed like the idiot had finally woken up.

We’re staying at someone else’s place, so he really should get himself together.

♦ ♦

“So, what will you do today?”

Lyde-san asked as we were drinking some tea after breakfast.

“Right, I’ll be looking for Rex’s textbooks.”

It’s why we came here, after all.

“I’m going to go see the Jewelled Apples!”

Meguri seemed to be head over heels for the Jewelled Apples that had been mentioned at last night’s banquet.

Being interested in them is fine and all, I just hope she won’t steal any.

“I’ll go around listening to any worries the villagers might have.
If there’s anyone that’s injured, I’ll help treat them.
I wanted to visit the temple to pray, but it seems like there isn’t one here, so I’ll just do what I just mentioned.”

Norb was a priest, so he had to do good deeds as training.

Personally, I’d never be able to live such a strict and laid-out-before-me life.

“I’m going to train! If I train in the place where Rex grew up, I’ll get even stronger!”

“There’s no way it’d be that easy.”

Honestly, why would anyone ever exert any effort if you could get stronger just like that.

“Why not come hunting with us, then?”

Lyde-san said, inviting Jairo to go hunting with them.

“Hunting?”

“Yep.
We’ll all be going into the forest outside to hunt today.
There are quite a few monsters out there though, but if you’re fine with that, wanna come with?”

Real fights were also valuable training, after all.

Moreover, we had been almost killed by a pack of Forest Wolves the very day before too.

“I see, so if I win an actual fight, I won’t have to train, huh! Of course I’ll be going!”

Jairo seemed to have come to the same conclusion, and immediately accepted Lyde-san’s proposition.

“I’ll go get ready, so you do the same and wait for me in front of the house.”

“Right!”

♦ ♦

“Let’s go then, Jairo-kun!”

“Yessir!”

Having reached Rex’s village, I was now gonna go hunting with his dad.

Going hunting like this was the perfect chance to train, and I could also show Rex’s dad how cool I was at the same time.

As Rex’s disciple, I had to act in a way that wouldn’t bring shame upon him.

“Let’s meet up with everyone else.”

“Yessir!”

I followed Mr.
Lyde to the square where the banquet had been held yesterday, which now had quite a few people standing around in it.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“You’re late, Lyde”

said old man Kario who had saved us the day before.

I see now, well, he is strong.
Of course he’d participate in hunting.

There were also a bunch of kids there.

“Sorry.
I’d like to let Jairo-kun here participate in the hunt, if that’s all right with you?”

Old man Kario looked at me at Mr.
Lyde’s words.

“Hmm, you, huh?”

“Yeah, you have a problem with that? I hunt demons all the time.”

“Well don’t you have an attitude.
All right, you can come with us.”

Hahha, even though he saw me in a bit of a bind yesterday.

I’ll just have to do really well today!

“Alright then you lot, off we go!”

““““Yees!””””

The kids answered for some reason.

Now that I was paying attention, the kids were all lining up behind old man Kario, equipped with swords and spears.

“Wait, they’re coming with us too!?”

I said in surprise, and old man Kario grinned as he answered.

“Yeah, they’re pretty good at hunting.”

Wait, is this for real!? They’ll die in no time if the Forest Wolves from yesterday attack us!?

Don’t tell me I was invited along to be a babysitter!?

I felt quite dejected, but the moment we exited the village, the mood changed.

“Alright, let’s run over to the forest!”

““““Yees!””””

Old man Kario suddenly ran off towards the forest at an amazing speed, the kids following him.

“Come on, Jairo-kun.”

I did as Mr.
Lyde told me, I hurriedly ran after them.

“What the hell!?”

I immediately recognised I wouldn’t catch up to them by running normally, so I used body strengthening magic to chase after them.

“No way, they’re using it too!?”

Focusing a bit, I could tell that an enormous amount of mana was flowing out of their bodies.

It was definitely body strengthening magic, or no, actually, it was one above that, that attribute strengthening thing Rex had mentioned.

And those kids were using it completely naturally, while I still couldn’t even activate it consciously.

“What the hell…”

♦ ♦

“Haa, haa, I finally… caught… up…”

Desperately running after the kids running in front of me, I somehow managed to arrive at the forest without being left behind.

“Ooh, pretty good aren’t you, kid.”

Old man Kario said, coming over to me.

“What the hell’s up with them.”

I nodded at the kids, not having the energy to point at them.

“Well, they’ve been learning things from Rex for as long as they can remember.
Did it surprise you?”

“From Rex!?”

Wait, so they’re his disciples!?

“Take a break, just watching them fight is fine.”

And as I didn’t have the energy to move an inch, I ended up just watching the kids hunt until my stamina recovered.

“Chase Wind Arrow!”

Invisible wind magic poked a hole in the formation of a pack of wolves, giving the spear-wielders enough room to jump into the fray.

“Hiyaaaah!”

They looked like normal spears, but they could pierce a Shadow Wolf’s skull.

There was no waste in the kids’ movements, and they were acting almost as if they were mowing grass.

Their movements were really unlike kids’, perhaps even better than those of the adventurer senpais from the guild.

“It’s almost like I’m looking at Rex…”

Saying that I was watching a group of small Rex’s would be no overstatement.

“Is it really that surprising?”

“Huh!?”

Mr.
Lyde was suddenly standing next to me.

His weapon was still bloody, so he must’ve been fighting until then as well.

“It’s because, unlike us, they were trained by Rex ever since they were really small.
It’s quite natural to be confused by it all.”

“So, umm, what about you, then?”

The way he had said it implied that he was different from those children.

“We weren’t able to fight like this back when I was young.
We just set up traps near the village and were grateful when something got caught in one.”

Mr.
Lyde said to me, his eyes focusing on something far away.

“Our lives only became so good a while after Rex was born.
You probably know too, but he’s a bit different from everyone else.
He’s been interested in all sorts of things ever since he was young, and mastered them all in the blink of an eye as well.
He came up with all these ideas no one had ever thought of, and instead of monopolising them, he offered to help everyone from the village with them.”

Ooh, so he was amazing ever since he was little.

“Some people found him creepy and weird at first though, but they didn’t do anything bad to him and they eventually came round when they realised his ideas would help the village.”

…I see, so that’s what this place was like.

“That said though, it was hard for us adults to accept all these new things, and while we did our best for these kids growing at a frightening pace, it kinda feels like we’re desperately trying to keep up with them.
Kario also acts like he’s a master huntsman teaching the kids, but he confided in me once that he wouldn’t be able to win against them in a fight.”

Not even that old man would be able to win against them… they really were something else, those kids.

“But, you’re still young.
You’ll become stronger than us grown-ups too.”

…Ah, don’t tell me he was encouraging me after seeing how surprised I was at the kids’ strength?

Damn, I feel embarrassed now.

“He, no need to worry! I’ll overtake Rex too! Watch me, I’ll become stronger than those kids in no time! Heeey! I’m joining in too!”

My stamina had recovered, so I joined the hunt.

♦ ♦

“We’re back.”

I had been reading a textbook I had found in Rex’s room, when I heard Lyde-san’s voice from the front door.
It seemed like the hunters had returned.

“Welcome back.”

Taking a break from reading, I went to greet them, only to see Jairo being carried like luggage.

“Did something happen!?”

Were they attacked by monsters and Jairo got hurt!?

…But he’s not bleeding?

“Don’t worry, he’s alright.
Just a little tired.”

“Uhuh…”

I went over to Jairo, who was now lying down in his bed.

“You alright?”

“…This is terrible.”

“What is?”

“Everything…”

He’s not making much sense.

“Those kids, they’re ridiculously fast, ridiculously good at magic, and stupidly good at using their weapons…”

“Umm, so, you’re overwhelmed by how abnormal the are?”

“…”

Seems like I hit the mark.

“I’m back…”

This time, it was Norb.

“Welcome back, how was training?”

“!”

A shudder ran through him, and then he dived head-first onto the bed.

“Eh? What?”

“…Everyone in this village is better at healing magic than me.”

“Ah…”

So, Jairo number two.

“I’m back!”

The last one back was Meguri.

“The Jewelled Apples were amazing! Amazing, I tell ya!”

Meguri, overflowing with words and excitement, seemed to be the only happy one of the three.

TN: next chapter is the last one I plan on translating because things start happening again after that and I want to leave off on an at least somewhat finished note

I’ll probably translate v1c1-v2c16 of Cain next for the sake of completeness, but I’ll keep an eye out for any series I find interesting and might be able to tl