Three days had passed.
Three days left until the Full Moon Bazaar.
I woke up in the morning, changed clothes, and headed down to the first-floor living room.
I ate the breakfast Hoss had made, then went underground.
When I arrived at the Junkyard, I drank the potion the witch had given me.
I used the Wheel of Fortune to sort through the Junkyard.
At first, there were tons of green lights. Yellow ones flickered here and there among them.
Right. I pictured a spear.
The yellow lights vanished, and the green ones grew sparse.
"Mm..."
Looking around, they were definitely spears. They seemed usable. Not that I needed them.
But whether this was actually going well or not... was hard to tell.
For reference, yesterday I tried it with a poniard.
There were a whopping seven green lights.
I had Mineha confirm it, but none of them were on par with the Demon Star Manifest Spear.
And the yellow light... only one showed up after the fact.
That one also wasn't on par, either.
"There is an effect, isn't there..."
But then—ah, there it was. The greens faded and two yellow lights blazed to life.
The green lights faded with a slight delay, replaced by yellow ones.
The yellow light held a silver spear and a strangely shaped spear.
Then, with a soft whoosh, the light went out.
The potion's effect had worn off.
That meant the Wheel of Fortune would be unusable for a while.
A cooldown of roughly two hours kicked in.
When I told the witch, she said it was a good sign. So, well, I believed her.
I'm the witch's apprentice. Trusting your master is what an apprentice does.
Anyway, time to head back to the first floor.
Chardina was cleaning.
"Wof."
Bid called out to me.
"Going somewhere?"
Since I wasn't in light clothes but armed, she figured I was heading out.
"Just out for a walk."
"Alone?"
"Yeah. I've got some free time, so I figured I'd get to know the area. Plus the witch and Mineha went off somewhere about her armor or something."
"Ah, Mineha's... What about Hoss, though?"
"He went shopping."
Chardina answered.
"I see."
I wonder if Annakreuzin came along too.
"Oh, and Annakreuzin's bathin'."
"Ah, makes sense."
Annakreuzin loved baths.
She took at least three a day, every day. And they were always long ones.
"She really does love 'em, huh."
Bid gave a small, wry smile.
A walk, huh.
"Bid. A walk. Would it be all right if I tagged along?"
"Sure, but..."
"I've got nothing to do anyway. Hang on, let me go get ready real quick."
I headed upstairs to my room, grabbed my knife belt and strapped it on, then threw on my blue jacket.
I'd bought this jacket yesterday at a thrift store — love at first sight.
Good design, comfortable to wear. Pouch on too. All done.
"Have a good one."
"I'm off."
"See ya."
After our goodbyes, we stepped outside.
"Where to first?"
"Sure, let's head over to the east market."
"If we're doing that, how about we stop by Belk's Diner on the way back?"
"That sounds good too."
I'd been to the east market yesterday, so I knew the way.
Belk's Diner was along the route.
We chatted about this and that as we navigated the maze-like streets.
"Wof, what are you going to do after the Fullmoon Bazaar is over?"
"Maybe the Forest Wave?"
"Are you gonna enter?"
"Hmm. What should I do. Bido, did you want to enter?"
"I'm interested, yeah."
Hmm. The Forest Wave, huh.
Honestly, I wasn't all that interested right now.
The Fullmoon Bazaar was coming up soon, so I was focused on that.
People said there was money in it, but I wasn't exactly drawn to the idea of hunting monsters.
"So, Bido. What about the Fullmoon Bazaar?"
"I'm planning to just walk around and check things out. Actually, there's something I've got my eye on."
Bido said with a meaningful look.
Something she wanted.
"Mind if I ask what it is?"
"I'm thinking, like, if there's a new weapon — well, more like an OOPArt — that'd be nice. I mean, I'm fine with what I have, but I keep feeling like I want something more… I got that impression watching Mineha."
"…A bow, then? Or a sword like that Flash-Step Blade?"
"Somewhere in between."
"In between?"
"I've got close range and long range covered, so if I had something for mid-range, I'd be set."
"So you're aiming to be an all-rounder?"
Bido scratched the tip of his nose, looking embarrassed.
"I mean, I wouldn't mind."
Mid-range, huh. In that case, maybe a spear.
"Come to think of it, I found a weird-looking spear at the Junkyard."
"A spear, huh?"
"I figured if it's mid-range you're after, that might work."
"Yeah, that's true."
"I'll show it to you when we get back. Interested?"
"Very. I'm counting on you!"
Bido flashed a wide grin. I couldn't help but smile too.
I liked walks like this — just chatting about nothing in particular. The sky was clear and blue overhead.
All right, then.
"Bido."
"—I know, I know."
Bido nodded with a serious expression. You didn't even need to use Danger Discernment to tell.
For a while now, I'd been sensing multiple presences on the road ahead and behind us.
At first I thought it was my imagination, but they were maintaining a constant distance, and I could feel their stares.
"...What should we do?"
"For now, let's just keep going. We'll see how they play it."
Since we couldn't tell if they were friend or foe, we'd wait and see.
I tried using Danger Discernment. Yep. All of them, bright red.
The number was... nine, I guess. Four in front, five behind.
I quietly whispered to Bido.
"Just so you know, Danger Discernment flagged them as enemies."
"---Then they're enemies, I guess."
Bido readily and quietly slipped into a combat stance.
"There are nine of them. Five ahead, four behind."
"That's handy. That Relic of yours."
"Yeah."
We shared a wry smile. Now, how to draw them out?
Oh, right. Yesterday I'd bought something because it was cheap.
I pulled it out of my pouch.
With trembling hands that I'd activated Vibration on, I gripped it and threw it forward with Level Move.
When it landed near the hidden red dots, it let out a shockwave.
"Guwaaah!?"
I heard a wild, coarse scream.
What I'd thrown was a shockstone — a Relic that releases a shockwave when it cracks.
It had been sold as part of an elemental stone set alongside the thunderstrike stone and the gale stone, so I'd picked it up.
I'd been gradually putting hairline cracks into it with Vibration so it would split right at the moment it landed.
The timing was spot-on, thanks to my Level Move skill.
"What the hell are you doing, you little—!"
"Oh, hey."
"What's going on, what's going on?!"
"You trying to pick a fight with us?"
Men appeared, flanking us from both front and back, shuffling forward in a loose semicircle.
Every last one of them had a mean look on his face.
"Outsiders, huh!"
"You wanna go, kid?!"
"Who do you think you're messin' with?!"
"That's the Gorou subjugation crew, look at 'em!"
"Well, well. Hey there, big brother. Your cash, your gear, that bunny-eared gal over there, and every woman you've got with you — plus your house. Hand all that over and we'll call it even."
The biggest one of the bunch had stepped to the front, flashing an ugly grin as he spouted off like that.
Hm. Every woman and the house. So this wasn't some spur-of-the-moment thing or a random encounter.
"What's this guy even saying?"
"Um, excuse me. Is your Gouro the Gouro of the Three Great Families?"
"That's right."
"Is there even any other?"
"What are you talking about, brat?"
"It's the Gouro clan, the greatest under heaven."
"Well, well. Now you understand, right? Going against us means going against the Gouro. Even outsiders should be able to grasp that much."
"Not that you could beat us even if you tried, though."
"Come on, come on — just hand over all your gear, your money, your women, your home, everything."
I held back Bid, who looked ready to charge at any moment, and spoke.
"No. I refuse."
The moment I flatly refused, the men's demeanor changed completely.
The biggest man who had stepped forward let out a sigh and spoke.
"Just get the brat."
All the men drew their blades at once.
Bid did the same, charging toward the five behind us.
"Take this! Burn! Fire!"
One of the men in front launched a fireball. I raised the Azure Sacred Gauntlet.
The fairly powerful fireball was reflected, striking the biggest man who had stepped forward.
The cloth of his clothing caught fire and erupted in flames.
"Guaaaahhh—!"
"Big bro!"
"You bastard — how dare you hurt my bro!"
"Uh, that wasn't me, you know."
"Get him!"
The remaining four men all charged at once.
I held a knife in each hand.
In my right hand, a single-edged knife with a sword guard.
In my left, a big, heavy knife with a curved, axe-like blade and a wicked edge.
And I activated slow-mo using [Blue Saint].
Their fast, powerful movements became — impossibly — sluggish...
I slashed Baldy A across the neck, cut Baldy B across the belly, and gave Bearded Face A a diagonal slash from shoulder to hip.
Bearded Face B was wearing metal armor, so I used [Banish] to punch a hole clean through his abdomen, armor and all.
Now, what to do with the big guy who was still burning and rolling on the ground.
Pour more oil on him, or throw on a firestone?
"Nah... let me check first."
I tossed a water stone at his back.
The big guy's flames went out. His burns were bad, so I poured the contents of the small vial over him and he healed up completely.
I punched his grimy face with a [Vibration] fist, knocking him out cold.
Suddenly the world sped up. The slow-mo must have worn off.
There was still time left, but I released [Blue Saint].
"…………"
"Looks like it's over, ss."
"It does on your side too."
Bid wiped the blood off her [Vibration] knife and sheathed it.
She was unharmed, and behind her lay the bodies of the men.
She noticed the large man who was still unconscious.
"Oh, you only knocked out this one, ss?"
"Yes. I have questions for him."
Let me think — how do I wake him up?
If I'm recalling correctly from my past life, you're supposed to lift both arms and press the back with your knee.
I was wondering if I could pull it off when Bid slapped the large man across the cheek with a loud smack.
"Ngh… what… huh… gah!"
As soon as he came to, Bid pressed her knife against the back of his neck.
"Wof says he has questions for you, ss."
"…Wof?"
"That's me."
"You little—! What happened to the others?!"
"Figure it out yourself, ss."
"…All… eliminated…?!"
The large man stared in disbelief, refusing to accept what he'd just heard.
"I've got something I'd like to ask. Is that alright?"
"You lot, what the— Wait. Wait!"
Bid reversed the blade against the side of his neck.
"Could you stop saying unnecessary things and just answer the question?"
"I'll kill you if you make noise again."
Bid directed killing intent at him.
It'd be a problem if he got killed right now, but if it came to that, well, nothing to be done.
A life of that caliber.
"I get it! I get it! What do you want to know? I'll tell you anything!"
"Are you the only ones who know about us?"
"…Y-yeah, that's right."
"Then neither the Gauro family nor the Gauro Subjugation Corps know about this either."
"Y-yeah, but us being members of the Gauro Subjugation Corps isn't a lie, you know! You lot! You won't get away with this for free!"
"Does the Gauro Subjugation Corps have what it takes to face a witch in a serious fight?"
"Huh? A witch?"
The large man looked bewildered.
"Yes. The First-Class Delver—the 'Peerless Witch.'"
"…A witch… Wait, Wof, you don't mean— No, but she's two meters tall…"
"Do you have what it takes to face her?"
"Wof. Can I kill him already?"
Bid asked coldly.
"Yeah, more or less."
"Hold on, hold on, hold on! A witch—you mean a witch… No, the Gouro subjugation squad and the Gouro household wouldn't go so far as to… confront a witch."
The large man's face drained of color.
Normally, the Gouro subjugation squad would show up even for small fry like this, just to save face.
But if the opponent was a witch, then reputation versus what really mattered—the choice was obvious.
"What in the world is—?"
A voice. A passerby? I thought, "Crap."
Just when I was wishing I'd cleaned up beforehand, the large man shouted.
"A-Araya!?"
"A colleague?"
"Zago? Looking closer, those bodies belong to Zago's squad… And who are you people?"
"Who are you?"
Not a passerby after all.
Sigh. So much for a nice stroll.
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This marks chapter 300.
Thanks to all of you. Thank you so much.