Chapter 10
Takami no Kago Episode 10
In the morning of the next day, Mr . Kuresuto and a woman who already finished the traveling preparations were waiting for me in an open space close to the east gate of the meeting place .
“Good morning . I’m sorry to have kept you all waiting . ”
Since we decided that we would leave in the morning, we just didn’t set an exact time . In the first place owning a watch is very expensive, so only rich nobles and merchants can afford one . Mr . Kuresuto looked over at me and smiled before he was about to say something .
“Don’t worry about it, we only arrived a short while ago . It’’s not a problem . Thank you in advance from today onwards . ”
“Likewise, Thank you as well . ”
“So, she’ll be the guide from this point on . ”
“Hello my name is Poroia [ポーロイアです] . ”
“Hi, I’m an adventurer . My best regards . And this is Aria another member of my party . ”
“My best regards . ”
-TL: I think this is Aria who said this, since there was no subject specifically mentioned, and she was mentioned in the previous line .
Aria quickly finished her greeting in a few words . It seems that her communication with others is still a bit weak . It seems that she seems comfortable with talking to me and Lily . After all she would seems a little tense when meeting someone else for the first time .
“So will we be leaving now? Yeah, I already have the carriage waiting for us outside of the East Gate . ”
。
Looking at the carriage by the East Gate, it seems that there is no one in the driver’s seat . It seems that Mr . Kuresuto himself will be driving us .
“Doing business in Wereo Village has to be done directly and I can’t bring that many people with me . ”
-TL: This dialogue confused the hell out of me?
[Jade Fabric] tends to generate tons of wealth . That’s why he is trying to limit the information surrounding it . We’ll probably be have to be very careful even after the request is finished . I still think that it’s very mysterious how all of the previous people to do this ended up dying .
“Why did you make a request such as this so last minute . Why did you want to employ us adventurers who have very little experience act as you gaurds . ”
I try questioning Mr . Kuresuto a little bit .
“Hmm . Because unlike the people before you I can trust you . ”
“Why would you say something like that?”
“Merchant’s intuition . If I had to say something, its because I don’t feel your desire in having the [Jade Fabric] from you as much as the others . Normally such a narrow minded person is only thinking about making short-term profits . But I have already confirmed your intelligence just from talking to you . ”
“I will try to fulfill your expectations of me . ”
Its not that I particularly want to have the [Jade Fabric] . I thought about what he said about me as the type of person who doesn’t really care about the value of it . I think its probably due to my nature . After a while we were finally out of the city, and currently heading towards the forest Aria and I always go to . As we slowly approached the familiar forest Aria opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something .
“Master, it appears that someone is being attacked by monsters ahead . ”
“What?”
It makes sense that there would be monsters in this forest . I don’t know if the person being attacked is a merchant or a traveler . I should probably inform Mr . Kuresoto about this and see what he was to say .
“It looks like it can’t be helped . Im sorry about this but I’m going to fight that monster . ”
“Are you sure?”
I usually wouldn’t put myself in harms way just to help someone else being attacked . Considering I was requested by the Adventurer’s Guild to be this merchants bodyguard it can’t be helped .
“I think this would be a perfect opportunity to see the extent of your abilities . Of Course I will give you an additional reward if you battle it . ”
“Fine . Aria do you know the number of opponents we’ll be facing?”
“There are most likely 5 of them . ”
“Alright then, if thats the case you should guard the carriage then . I’ll come back when I’m finished with them . ”
“Certainly . ”
I walked forward alone leaving guarding the carriage to Aria . The horse drawn-carriage greatly reduced its speed . Leaving the number of people guarding the carriage dropped to zero would seem unacceptable . Aria should be able to tell if the course of the battle changes to my disadvantage, and only then would she step in to help . I discovered the group of monsters around what I presume is an abandoned carriage .
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Goblin Lv . 4
Standard variation
Endurance:
120
Strength:
45
Agility:
55
Intelligence:
25
Luck:
20
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Its a [Goblin] . It seems that the things that attacked that person were these fellows . There was equipment scattered everywhere in tatters . It looks like he is a situation where he couldn’t escape even if he wanted to being surrounded by 5 goblins . Is that a woman I see . Their skin color was green and stood about 120cm in height . They have a tattered cloth around their waists . It looks like that’s the standard for them . In this fantasy world I would compare them to slimes . Goblins are by no means strong monsters . If someone fought them alone they would probably win, even if they weren’t adventurers . However Goblins are not monster to be reckoned with . That’s because they’re almost never alone, they fight with elementary strategies such as decoy and pincer attack while fighting as a group . In addition they tend to prefer human females over their very own females of the same race . Their gestation is extremely quick, as well as their fast growth . It takes them roughly 2 weeks to reach adulthood . Meanwhile, I proceeded to cut down one goblin from its backside, since it’s a monster disliked most by the female adventurers .
“Danger!!”
There were three left after my surprise attack . Of course I don’t stay in one place after being detected . The second goblin charges at me from its previous position . I cut off one his arms as he charged at me, and then avoided the rest of his attack by quickly maneuvering my body in time to doge . Now there are only two left . Now the fight is two against two, although it would be cruel if they attacked the female near me . Immediately the Goblins who were taken back by my surprise attack quickly try to recover themselves .
“Aria now!”
-TL: Where did she come from? I thought she was guarding the carriage, unless I miss translated that part?
*Creek*
I quickly look behind the goblins . The two quickly look behind themselves . I can’t overlook such an opportunity . I quickly seized my sword with both hands, as I quickly stepped forward, and sweaped my sword from one side to the other, ending up decapitating both of their heads at once . One can force their way through a fight relying on stats alone, but I used my experience from fighting monsters in the forest . Using a feit as an attack is very effective for monsters that have the same level of intelligence of Goblins . I could have fought a little better if Aria was here and we worked together instead .
“Are you okay?”
“Y, Yes . Thank you for saving me from them . Wait, Its you!?”
“Um? Do I know you from somewhere, oh you’re that female in the Adventurer’s Guild from yesterday . ”
Whoops, I remember that it’s the mysterious alchemist I checked that stats of . But this is an unnecessary thing to say so i’ll withhold that piece of information .
“Ah, yes . I remember you now . ”
“Its probably because you’re a cute girl . But didn’t I remind you to be careful last time?”
Emily tried to explain while her face became extremely red .
“You, you think I’m cute!? Oh, I am sorry . I absolutely needed the money…”
“For the time being do you want to head back to your wagon . ”
Just as I was talking to her the wagon I’m being paid to guard pulls up .
“Are you alright master?”
“Yeah, there were five goblins . Aria you were right . ”
Aira’s ability to accurately detect and predict roughly the number of enemies is amazing . Oh but, there are a few marginal errors in the identifying the exact number, though she wasn’t able to detect if it was a human, demon, or another beastman . It still is very beneficial when you’re searching in the woods .
“I dealt with the 5 goblins easily . I used my experience and abilities . ”
Kuresuto looked very impressed as I spoke .
“I was only able to make a surprise attack, since she was being attacked by them . ”
I tried telling them about what happened in as much detail as possible .
“She?”
Poroia seems to be worried about Emily since she was attacked and is a female as well .
“Ah, err… I’m fine . Thank you for having you help me . ”
Emily bowed her head slightly as she spoke .
“This far is good enough . I will be alright…”
She began to head back into town after she finished talking . Surely Emily will be able to make it back into town after only an hour of walking since she didn’t get any major injuries from the attack . It will talk her 15 minutes to get out of this dangerous forest . After all this is supposed to be a highway even in the forest or out of it monster rarely appear let alone attack people . I was able to confirm the short sword Emily was using crumbled into pieces . It looks like Emily was not accustomed to fighting with a sword . Since walking alone without a sword is rather dangerous, I gave her one of my spare swords instead . She still wouldn’t readily accept it without some persuasion .
“I don’t need it you should keep it . ”
“Then this is a loan, Swords are very expendable so you don’t need to necessarily return it . You can give me something else in return . I’m an adventurer . I usually head to the Guild just about everyday . Contact me when you’re ready to repay your debt to me . ”
In the long-run gain favor with an alchemist goes a long way .
“Yes, sir . I’ll return it without failure . ”
Emily says that as she heads back into town .
“Then, shall we continue our departure?
The carriage began to move due to Mr . Kuresuto’s command .