Chapter 11

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

Resolve

It was not long after Hikaru left town when the gatekeeper got worried . Six adventurers went past the gate as if in pursuit of him .

「Excuse me . Can you come with me for a bit? There’s something I want to check . It’ll only take fifteen minutes . 」

He was talking to the unit of guards stationed at the gate . They nodded right away and accompanied the gatekeeper . His hunch was right . After a bit of walking, he spotted six adventurers making a racket .

「Hey, he’s not here!」

「Where’d that brat go?!」

「He couldn’t just disappear in such a short time! Why the hell didn’t you keep your eyes on him?!」

「I could say the same to you!」

Sounds disturbing judging by their words . The gatekeeper warily approached them .

「What’s with all the ruckus? I heard what you said . Did you need anything from that kid that left town just now? Why didn’t you talk to him in town?」

「Wh-What?! Guards?!」

The adventurers went silent .

「Can you please come with me to the station?」

「Th-There’s no need for that . It’s really nothing . Right?!」

「Y-Yeah! Nothing wrong here . 」

「Come with me to the station . That’s an order . 」the gatekeeper repeated, with more force this time .

The adventurers shrank back . They were taken away, their heads hanging down low . A while later, while surrounded by brawny soldiers…

「What?! You wanted to teach him a lesson and put him in place because he gained the favor of a receptionist?! What the hell were you thinking?! For goodness sake, you’re grown men! This is exactly why women don’t give you the time of day!」

…they received a good talking-to . Incidentally, the soldiers informed the Adventurers Guild of the incident .

「Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!」

Jill now had one more reason to be worried .

Completely unaware of all the commotion, Hikaru wandered through the meadows .

「Red-horned Rabbits live near town . They’re an unusual bunch as there’s less and less of them as you go farther out . But then again, there are no ferocious monsters near town so it’s easier for them to breed . 」

That was what he got from the reference room earlier . They were detailed, providing information on their ecological distributions and habitat .

「It did mention that they’re extremely difficult to kill… no, difficult to hunt . As to why…」

Hikaru spotted his target . It was behind some bushes, quite some distance away . A Red-horned Rabbit . Fairly big for a rabbit, it was about the size of a cardboard box for oranges . On its head was a deep-red horn . Apparently the longer the horns, the more valuable they were . But most of them would snap off over the course of their lives . In fact, the one Hikaru spotted had a broken horn .

「Hmm…」

It was less than a hundred meters away . Hikaru switched his class to that of a Civilian . There didn’t seem to be any change in its behavior . Next, he deactivated his Stealth .

Abruptly the Red-horned Rabbit raised its head, looking around restlessly .

「So it can notice me even when I’m this far . 」

Hikaru turned his Stealth back on and moved closer . The creature seemed to have forgotten its discomfort as it shoved its face back onto the ground . He drew nearer . Fifty meters . Thirty meters…

The Red-horned Rabbit raised its head once more, but this time, it looked straight at Hikaru’s direction and fled at a ridiculous speed .

「Literally ran like a scared rabbit…」he muttered .

「No, wait . So thirty meters is the limit of my Stealth . I was quite confident with my Skill too . It’s rough going against a monster that specializes in anti-Stealth . 」

Hikaru let out a low groan .

「Wait a sec . That rabbit looked towards my direction . So it knows where I am exactly . The only explanation for that is…」

It has either Life or Mana Detection .

「I have one point each on Life Obfuscation and Mana Obfuscation . So it has a means to pierce my Skills . I don’t know how powerful it is exactly, but… Whatever . Let’s try my class next . 」

It took fifteen minutes for him to find another Red-horned Rabbit . He’s already switched his class to Stealth God: Darkness Wanderer .

「…Seriously?」

He approached the creature through its blindspot, so it might’ve played a part . But still, he couldn’t believe what was happening . At his feet was a rabbit, about 60 centimeters in length, its face shoved onto the ground . Just by changing classes, he was able to get this close .

The creature he spotted this time still had its horn intact . According to the information he got from the reference room, Red-horned Rabbits with horns not yet broken were rare .

「Time to kill it I guess . 」he muttered, though the creature didn’t seem to hear it .

It was digging through the ground, chewing insects and worms .

「………」

Hikaru gripped his Dagger of Strength tightly . He was about to kill the creature . He left town, fully prepared to do so . And yet, the point of his blade was shaking . Hikaru heaved a sigh .

「This is stupid . I’ve already killed a man, and yet here I am, hesitating to kill an animal, feeling sorry for it . 」

But unlike the innocent Red-horned Rabbit, Morgstad deserved to die .

「………」

He knew . It was like how meat sold at a supermarket wouldn’t bother him, but he might feel sorry for the animals if he went to a slaughterhouse . He understood his sentiment . He knew why he was hesitating . Pity .

「Man, I’m really stupid…」 he said, putting his hand together .

He knew it was pointless . There was no God in this world .

He then drew his dagger and in one motion, stabbed the creature’s back all the way to its heart . He felt no resistance as the blade took its life away . Must be the effect of the Assassination Skill .

Blood seeped into the earth . Feeling weak from his knees all the way down to his feet, Hikaru steeled himself . He let go of the dagger and put his hands together once more .

「I’m so stupid . 」 he muttered again .

It was all quick after killing the creature . He skillfully hung the corpse by the creek to drain the blood and cut its stomach open to remove the innards . Doing this would make it lighter and apparently make the meat tastier . The heart and its two kidneys could be sold at high prices though, so he left those . He then tossed the corpse into a plastic bag he’d bought for his daily necessities . After washing his hands with soap, he headed back to town . It was lunch time, but he didn’t have the appetite to eat his sandwich .

When Hikaru got to the gate, the gatekeeper tapped his shoulder and nodded for some reason .

「What?」

「Go to the Adventurers Guild . 」

「Okay…」

It sounds like something happened while I was gone . He headed toward the guild, which was his plan all along anyway .

「Hikaru-ku—」

When he returned, Jill and Gloria were both at the counter . Jill was about to dash towards Hikaru, but after casting a sidelong glance at Gloria, she stopped . She then returned to dealing with the adventurers like nothing happened .

「………」

She kept shooting glances at Hikaru, though . He understood what she was trying to say with those eyes . Over here . Come here . Don’t go over to Gloria . The eyes could speak a thousand words .

Hikaru smelled trouble, but going over to Gloria would only make Jill upset . Without much of a choice, he strode towards Jill . As always, adventurers were gathered around the two women in clusters, hitting on them .

Are these guys really adventurers? Don’t they have anything better to do? Although, following one’s basic instincts to find a suitable female partner and putting effort into it isn’t exactly wrong… or is it?

Hikaru waited for work to settle down a bit before slipping into the first row .

「I’m here to deliver—」

「You’ve come at the most opportune time, Adventurer Hikaru . I want to talk to you in the booth . 」

「What?」

「I want to talk to you in the booth . 」

「I, uhh…」

「I want to talk to you in the booth . 」

After repeating it three times, Jill sauntered towards the booth .

「………」

Hikaru could feel the men’s icy glares drilling into him .

…Man, what a pain . I’d be in trouble if they remember my faces . I should buy a mask .

He entered the booth .

「I’m sorry!」Jill exclaimed before he could say anything else .

She bowed her head, both hands on the table . The adventurers wondered what was going on . These guys just have to react to Jill’s every action, don’t they? You too, Gloria . Stop looking here and focus on your work .

「…I’m sorry . I’m not sure I follow . 」

「You might’ve not noticed but you were actually tailed by adventurers . Six of them」

「What about it?」

「They’re, uh… my fans apparently . They seemed to think I was showing you too much favoritism so they wanted to harass you . 」

Harass? You mean beat me up .

「I knew . So?」

「What?」

「So they were following me . What about it?」

「You knew?」

「I did . Heck, it was too obvious . I think the levels of the adventurers here are a bit on the low side . 」

「Th-That’s not true! Zernenko is known for being skilled for his young age . He’s still only rank E, but people expect great things from him in the future . 」

What? That guy? If I recall correctly, he had 1 point on his Sword mastery . Is one point actually fairly strong?

「He has a class called One-handed Swordsman Technician: Technical Swordsman5 . 」

「Ah, I see . So he has a good job class . But it’s a five-character class, isn’t it?」

「Yes . He’s cut out to be a fighter . 」

「………」

So five-character classes can draw attention already . I shouldn’t tell anyone about my classes and the Soul Board .

「Hikaru-kun? What’s wrong?」

「Uh, nothing . 」

「Ah, I know! You’re scared! I understand . You’re scared because a skilled adventurer with a five-character class has his eyes on you . But rest assured! They received a warning from the guards about their unbecoming behavior and they’ll be under surveillance for a while!」

「I see . 」

He wasn’t actually the least bit scared, but he didn’t bother explaining that to Jill . I’ll just let her believe what she wants to believe .

On another note, Hikaru now understood the reason behind the gatekeeper’s amicable expression . The adventurers who followed Hikaru were clearly acting suspiciously, so the guards arrested them .

They weren’t really a threat to me, but they were certainly annoying .

Hikaru felt good knowing someone was worried about him and even protected him .

Should I give him a box of cakes? Going by Roland’s memories, they have that custom here as well .

「So there you have it . You don’t have to worry about anything . You’re being protected!」Jill said as she started patting Hikaru’s head out of the blue .

Hikaru’s thoughts froze . Wait, she’s patting my head?

「It’s very uncomfortable . I hate it . 」

「Whaaaat?! Why?! Are you the type who likes the same sex, and not the opposite? I know there are people like that . 」

「No . Don’t think that others will be delighted with whatever you do . Let me get this straight . Your attitude towards me will only elicit unnecessary misunderstandings . Those simple-minded adventurers will then be out to get me . 」

「Ah, I-I’m sorry . Next time I’ll give you head pats where no one could see us . 」

That’s not what I’m saying!

Hikaru wanted to tell her that, but he knew it’ll never get through to her head . My head hurts .

「Whatever . So are you done? Then I want you to assess the stuff I brought . 」

「Yes, of course . I’ll do it right awa— what?」

Jill stared blankly at him .

「I hunted down a Red-horned Rabbit . 」

「Y-You’re joking . That’s impossible . 」

「I’m not joking . Though I only got one . 」

Hikaru opened the bag he had by his foot and showed it to her . The smell of blood and animal drifted from within .

「…Hikaru-kun, you really are one lucky guy . 」Jill said, amazed .