"Tenma, next I'd like to take the North Gate route..."
At the East Gate, I had just received my completion certificate and was about to accept this quest once more even though time was cutting it close, when Amour asked me about her preferred route for the next one. I agreed with her preference, since running a different path would be more interesting than backtracking. And Amour was clinging to me from behind again. Having rested in the Bag, she seemed to have recovered a little. But it was only
a little
and Amour's complexion was still poor.
"For now, I'll keep our speed lower than before, but if you start feeling sick, don't hold back—tell me right away, got it?"
"Mm."
"Waugh!"
"Kyuu!"
One person and two beasts answered me. Shiromaru and Solomon had been used as pillows by Amour inside the Bag and were starting to accumulate some stress, so I'd brought them outside to burn it off through exercise.
"Alright, let's move out!"
"Ooh!"
"Shiromaru, Solomon—don't wander too far!"
"Ah, Shiromaru caught a rabbit!"
Shiromaru seemed delighted to be able to run around, darting here and there ever since we set off, chasing down horned rabbits that had been slow to flee. Solomon was spotting prey more than Shiromaru, but he didn't seem to be any good at actually catching them—he hadn't managed to snag a single one so far.
"Kyuu!"
"Wafu~!"
"Kyukyukyukyuu!"
The horned rabbit that Shiromaru had caught moments earlier was one that Solomon had spotted, which Shiromaru promptly snatched away. However, since Solomon had failed to catch it first, Shiromaru's attitude was as if to say, "That's what you get for screwing up." Incidentally, Solomon's first cry sounded something like "That's not fair!" while his next one sounded like "I'm so frustrated!"
After that, the same pattern continued: Solomon spots prey, Solomon fails to catch it, Shiromaru swoops in, Shiromaru successfully catches it. But even that pattern would come to an end after ten repetitions or so.
"Kyukyukyukyuu!"
Solomon had finally managed a successful hunt. He seemed so pleased with himself that he proudly brought his catch over to show me. However, there was a major flaw with what Solomon had brought back. That flaw was...
"Gurok!"
"Gross!"
Solomon's catch was in such a wretched state that Amour and I both cried out at the same time. If I had to put it into words... it looked like a small animal that had been run over by a cart.
Up until now, Solomon had been trying to catch prey by grabbing them with his mouth, and he had failed every single time. He was probably trying to imitate how Shiromaru did it, but it wasn't the right approach for Solomon. So after much deliberation, Solomon had apparently come to the conclusion that, "Since they move, I can't catch them—so I just need to stop them from moving first." And so Solomon would charge into them and then—
stop
—their movement, and only after that would he catch them in his mouth. The method itself wasn't wrong, exactly. If there was a mistake, it was that Solomon hadn't factored in the sheer force of his own tackle.
"Solomon, it was clever of you to come up with this method, but all it's going to do is ruin the meat."
"Kyuu!!!"
Solomon was visibly shaken upon hearing me say that the meat would be ruined.
As for why it would ruin the meat—the horned rabbits that had been killed by Solomon's tackle were bleeding from their eyes, mouths, ears, and noses. On top of that, their eyeballs had popped out, something that looked like internal organs was spilling from their mouths, and their bellies had burst open. There was no way the meat from rabbits in that condition could taste any good.
After hearing my explanation, Solomon became quite dejected, and from that point on he started alerting Shiromaru whenever he spotted prey. His appetite had won out over his pride. As for the horned rabbit Solomon had caught, Slarin ended up eating it later—and apparently relished every bite.
"Tenma, let's take a rest. My butt hurts."
Amour pleaded with me to stop the Tanicaze, saying her rear had reached its limit.
"Shiromaru, Solomon, we're taking a break. Get back here."
I called the two back from where they'd been lingering a short distance away and sat down on a nearby rock.
Amour settled down beside me. The sun had already dropped considerably low in the sky, but we still seemed to have over an hour to spare, so I figured a brief rest wouldn't hurt.
During the break, I decided to drain the blood from the horned rabbits that Shiromaru and the others had caught. However, since the rabbits were already dead, I couldn't get much blood out of them. Still, as long as the meat was eaten while fresh, the slight metallic tang of blood wasn't necessarily a bad thing, so I put them back into the Magic Bag once I was done.
While I was busy with that, Amour and the rest were drinking water and munching on things they'd bought from the stalls.
«Amour, don't eat too much. You'll feel sick again. We'll be moving on in a little while.»
«Got it.»
Amour listened to my advice and handed the remains of what was probably his umpteenth skewer to Slarin. Shiromaru and Solomon didn't complain since it was Slarin who received the skewer, but they still looked eager for some themselves, staring intently at me. I caved under their gaze and handed over a skewer, and they immediately lined up neatly in front of me. These two are always very well-behaved at times like this.
«Alright, let's head out. If we run for another thirty minutes or so, we should reach the West Gate.»
After the break, Amour's complexion looked better than before. He was still clinging to my back as usual, but as long as he didn't do anything strange, I figured I'd leave him be. Shiromaru and the others seemed to intend to rest after eating and were curled up inside the bag. Before we set off, I scanned our surroundings. The sky had grown quite dark, so maybe we should pick up the pace a bit.
I asked Amour for permission and spurred Tenma forward at a slightly faster speed than before. Amour had gotten quite used to riding by now, too. He looked strained but hadn't reached the point of getting motion sick.
Just as the destination seemed to be coming into view, a flash of light shot across the front, followed by a deafening noise. After a boom that reverberated through my body, flames erupted, and thick black smoke billowed into the sky.
«Amour, I'm going to charge ahead, so get off here. Shiromaru, follow with Amour. Solomon, go on ahead and keep watch on the surroundings. After that, if anyone is still stranded, try to buy them some time! Don't push yourself too hard!»
«Got it. Shiromaru, please.»
«Gya!»
«Kee!»
Amour jumped down from behind me and began equipping his armor. Solomon took off as instructed, and once I confirmed Amour was dismounted, I urged Tenma to run at full speed. Full-speed Tenma tore up the ground with each step, sending massive clumps of earth and grass flying.
«Gya!»
I heard Shiromaru's cry from behind, but there was no time to check, so I headed straight for the source of the fire. It took about three minutes to reach the destination, and in that time I spotted several more flashes of light. I used «Explore» and «Appraisal» along the way to check the situation near the target. What was rampaging there was a completely unexpected opponent. Solomon was bravely engaging it, but frankly, he was at a significant disadvantage. However, thanks to Solomon keeping the creature occupied, the craftsmen who had been waiting at that spot seemed to have managed to evacuate inside the gate. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.
«Solomon, get back immediately! That thing is too strong!»
«Kyu... kyu...»
It was indeed too much for Solomon. The moment I arrived, he let out a sound like he was about to cry. Solomon immediately turned to come back to me, but the opponent wouldn't let that opening slip by.
«Kywaaaaah!»
The instant Solomon turned his back, the opponent's attack sent him crashing to the ground.
«Solomon! Damn it, Heal! Aqua Heal!»
I managed to catch Solomon just before he hit the ground and immediately cast healing magic on him before evacuating him into the bag. It was a pretty bad injury, but Solomon cried out to let me know he was okay.
My relief was short-lived, however, as Tanikaze suddenly reared up on its hind legs and kicked me backward.
"What the—"
Almost the exact moment I was sent flying, Tanikaze was enveloped in a flash of light. Blown further by the shockwave, I rolled across the ground and looked up just in time to see Tanikaze collapsing in a heap.
"Slarin!"
I rushed over in a panic, but there was no light in Tanikaze's eyes, and both of its hind legs were shattered. Just as I thought survival was hopeless, the hatch on its back burst open, and Slarin crawled out. Slarin was a bit weakened, but not in as dire a state as Solomon. I quickly scooped Slarin up and leaped away from the spot with all my might. A split second later, lightning
struck
where I had just been standing. Merely jumping back wasn't enough to dodge the aftershock, so I hastily grabbed an iron spear from the bag and threw it aside.
The spear acted as a lightning rod, diverting the bolt away from me. That bought me enough time to cast healing magic on Slarin and evacuate her into the bag.
"Seriously, after an Earth Dragon and a Unicorn, now it's a
Bicorn
? Am I lucky or unlucky?"
The creature that had materialized before my eyes was a horse-type Monster with jet-black skin, a build rivaling Tanikaze's, and two antler-like horns on its head—a Bicorn. I hurled my spear at its body, but despite its massive frame, the Bicorn dodged it with surprisingly agile movements. That was its signal to charge. I drew my sword to intercept, aiming for its front legs, but the Bicorn easily evaded that as well.
Up until now, I could defeat large Monsters without issue by targeting their legs, but this Bicorn was the first opponent to tick all three boxes: big, tough, and fast. On top of that, it used lightning magic, so I had to keep moving constantly. I hadn't realized how annoying it was when used by an enemy—it felt like a completely different spell. Moreover, the Bicorn would periodically cloak its body or horns in lightning as it fought, so if I let my guard down, I'd be electrocuted in an instant. So far, I hadn't taken a direct hit from its lightning, but I was taking gradual damage from the aftershocks. In contrast, my slashes weren't leaving any significant wounds on the Bicorn. Its skin was tough to begin with, but the moment it was attacked, it would shroud itself in lightning, instantly boosting its defense.
"Ugh!"
Getting closer revealed another problem: the Bicorn's horns were sharp like single-edged blades, and even a glancing blow tore my skin, with the lightning wreathing the horns searing the wound shut. Those attacks left several worm-like welts on my arm. But I wasn't just taking hits; by targeting the same spots I'd already wounded, I was slowly deepening the gashes.
It couldn't have been more than ten minutes since I started fighting the Bicorn, but I was already feeling considerable fatigue. I hadn't realized that battling while dodging lightning aftershocks would be this exhausting.
As we continued our clash without either of us finding a decisive opening, I was seriously considering ignoring collateral damage and launching a high-power magic attack, when suddenly, a
brown lump
came charging at the Bicorn from the side.
"An opening!"
"Gyuuuaaaaaaaarrrr!"
It was Amour and Shiromaru, both caked in dirt. For some reason they were both in a foul mood, and without so much as flinching at the lightning, they slammed into the Bicorn with brute force. Amour was straddling Shiromaru's back, and timed with Shiromaru's tackle, she drove her spear into the Bicorn's flank. The image of her—riding atop the wolf, posed like a tigress—was nothing short of a... beast princess.
"Gyurollrollroooooo!"
"Take this!"
While the Bicorn's attention was drawn to Amour and Shiromaru's attack, I hurled away my sword, pulled a halberd from my bag, and swung it overhead, bringing it crashing down toward the Bicorn's head. The halberd narrowly missed the Bicorn's skull, instead cleaving one of its horns clean off at the root.
The moment the horn went spinning through the air, the lightning wreathing the Bicorn's body vanished.
"This ends it—right now!"
I released the halberd while it still carried its momentum, drew a fresh great spear from my bag, and drove it straight into the wound on the Bicorn's neck.
"Gyuu! Gyuurollroll... gyubuh..."
The great spear tore through the neck wound, severing the windpipe and cervical bone, and punched straight through into the mane.
The Bicorn opened its mouth for an instant as if trying to bite me, but the moment the great spear severed its spine, all movement stopped. It let out a low groan, coughed up blood, and collapsed.
"Amour, Shiromaru, thanks for sav—gufh!"
The instant I turned to thank the two of them, Shiromaru tackled me for no apparent reason and sent me rolling across the ground.
"What are you—woah! Cut it out!"
Before I could even protest, Shiromaru began licking all over my face. What's more, Shiromaru's mouth was inexplicably full of dirt, so my face gradually became coated in the stuff. On top of that, the grit ground against my skin as Shiromaru licked, and I could feel a thin trickle of blood seeping from around my cheek. Shiromaru seemed somehow satisfied that my face was now a complete mess of dirt.
Just as I was about to genuinely lose my temper with Shiromaru, its body suddenly floated up into the air. Shiromaru flailed its legs in confusion at the sudden turn of events, but there was no sign of it breaking free.
"Slarin, that's enough. Let it go."
The one restraining Shiromaru was Slarin, who had oozed out of my bag. Slarin spat Shiromaru out, then reshaped part of its body into a whip-like appendage and began... lecturing?
Slarin's lecture was pretty Spartan. Every time Shiromaru tried to say something, Slarin would crack the whip against the ground to shut it up. A huge wolf being scolded by a tiny Slime—
Head
Hanging low and tail drooping — that must have been quite the unusual sight. Well, in our household it's just another everyday scene, but...
"Kyuu~n kyuu~n... kyuaaaan..."
Released from Slarin's lecture, Shiromaru came over to me and, whimpering pathetically, rolled over to show his belly. The voice and expression were so pathetic I'd never seen anything like it before — and honestly, it was pretty off-putting.
Sensing that neither Shiromaru nor Slarin would forgive me for that reaction, Shiromaru's whimpers grew even more miserable, while Slarin began begging on his behalf to let Shiromaru off the hook.
"Shiromaru's behavior is partly Tenma's fault too."
According to Amour, Shiromaru's behavior traced back to the incident when I'd ridden off on Tanikaze in a panic. At that time, Shiromaru, who had been behind me, got pummeled by a massive cloud of dirt. Amour had managed to cover her face with the headpiece of the Bandit King equipment at the last second, so she was fine, but Shiromaru — who had been facing toward me — took clumps of dirt straight to his eyes, mouth, and nose, and had writhed in agony for a good while. That was why dirt had still been inside Shiromaru's mouth — it was leftover from that time.
"Is that so... Shiromaru, you really got wrung out by Slarin good this time, so I'll let it slide. But if you pull something like that again... I'll have you live on nothing but vegetables for a month. And of course, no snacks. And naturally, I'll lock you in the bag for the whole month so you can't escape. Better brace yourself."
"Wau? ...Wau!"
When he heard my words, Shiromaru seemed confused for a moment about what was being said, but once he processed it, he panicked badly. Incidentally, Solomon — who had been secretly watching from inside the bag — also went pale and started trembling at the punishment Shiromaru might receive, even though he wasn't the one involved.
"Incidentally, I was a victim too... You're taking responsibility for this!"
While I was washing my face and Shiromaru with water I'd conjured with magic, Amour thrust both arms toward the sky and made her declaration.
"Yeah, yeah, my bad... I'll make you something tasty later."
"That's not it."
"Of course, I'll clean that armor properly too."
"That's not it."
"Oh, right! I'll share the Baicorn materials with you too. And tonight, we're having horse meat hot pot."
"Could it be, Tenma, that you're doing this on purpose,"
"playing"
"dumb?"
"......What are you talking about?"
"If you've defiled a girl, there's only one way to take responsibility! That's it!"
"Heal! Aqua Heal! Antidote! Cure! ...There, the wounds are gone."
I cast two healing spells and, just to be safe, administered antidote and disinfection treatment before Amour could utter any ominous words. Originally, Amour's injuries were so minor you'd barely notice them, so the first Heal had already made them vanish cleanly.
"...Tch."
Amour turned her face away from me and clicked her tongue softly. Seriously, if that kind of wound required marrying a woman, how many wives would I have by now... It might be legal in this country, but it still felt incredibly weird to me.
Ignoring Amour, who was now muttering to herself and fuming, I went to recover the fallen Tanikaze. The Tanikaze was covered in soot, and its shattered hind legs were partially melted. It was going to need major repairs, no question. While I was collecting the main body and the broken fragments, a Bicorn suddenly reared up behind me.
"You've got to be kidding me! ...Oh, it's just Slarin."
I reflexively readied my greatspear, but it turned out Slarin was just trying to help carry it. Slarin apologized for startling me, though she didn't stop moving. What she was doing was draining the Bicorn's blood.
The Bicorn wasn't completely dead yet; its eyes and the corners of its mouth were still faintly twitching. Slarin said she wanted to drain the blood before the Bicorn's quality deteriorated. By the way, Bicorn blood isn't very valuable. The valuable parts are almost the same as a Unicorn's, but the Bicorn's two horns—its most distinctive feature—can't be used for medicine like a Unicorn's horn can. Instead, they can be used for weapons and are apparently as hard, or harder, than Mithril.
Once the blood draining was finished, Slarin brought the Bicorn over to me. It fit neatly into the Magic Bag, and by then it was completely dead. And thanks to Slarin, the blood had been perfectly drained.
I could have just headed back, but leaving a burning materials yard unattended felt wrong. So I used water magic, spraying water from my hands like a fire hose, to put out the remaining fires.
"Let's go! Everyone, drive that thing away!"
Just as I was finishing extinguishing the flames, people finally emerged from the west gate. At their head were five adventurers.
But the Bicorn was already dealt with, and the fire had reached a stage where it would go out on its own without issue. Besides, they were clearly newcomers—I doubted they could handle that Bicorn. Nine times out of ten, they'd be instantly killed.
"It's already over. All that's left is to clean up this leftover ash here."
I called out to the armed craftsmen. Hearing this, the guildmaster and the others looked skeptical, but when I pulled the Bicorn out of the bag, they finally believed me and stood down, smiling. The adventurers, however, were a different story. To my surprise, they were all on the verge of tears. Overjoyed, they embraced each other. Looking closely, all five were young dwarves. Were they relatives of the craftsmen?
I told the guildmaster why I had come, that I had subjugated the Bicorn and put out the fire, and then headed to the guild to make my report. The guildmaster was extremely grateful. It turned out the adventurers were, as I'd guessed, related to the craftsmen. Apparently, they'd been helping move the lumber and, when they returned at a bad time, were dragged along as extra muscle to drive off the Bicorn. They must have been desperate for any help they could get, but that was just too harsh. They might even be weaker than the craftsmen here...
"Tenma!"
The moment I entered the guild, Grandpa rushed over to me. Behind him were the Dawn Sword and Agri's group, all armed and ready.
"Hey, Gramps, you made it."
"Oh, well, I was just resting easy in the carriage when I started feeling a bad omen. So I came straight to the guild, but… was it an unnecessary worry?"
"Well, let's talk about that later. First, I need to report to the guildmaster."
The guild was packed with adventurers who had apparently been summoned to deal with the Bicorn, all ready to depart at a moment's notice. But since the Bicorn had already been taken care of, going out now would be a wasted trip. Besides, when you subjugated a high-level monster near the city, you were supposed to report it to the guild anyway, so I'd have to see the guildmaster regardless.
"Huh?! It's already done?! Seriously?!"
When I went to make my report, the guildmaster was in the middle of a meeting with his staff, and at first he tried to brush me off curtly, but one of the staff members spotted me and hurriedly stopped him. After that, I reported about the Bicorn, and when I produced the Bicorn's horn as proof, the guildmaster and the others all shouted in surprise. Their commotion drew the attention of the other adventurers, and the whole guild descended into chaos.
"Well then, I'll be heading back now. The butchering isn't finished yet, so… excuse us."
"O-oh, uh, good work… about purchasing the materials…"
"For the time being, I don't have any plans to sell them. They're incredibly rare materials, and I'll probably end up using all of them myself."
I said my farewells to the still-stunned guildmaster, and to top it off, firmly told him I wouldn't be selling the Bicorn. A monster of this caliber was hardly ever subjugated, and if the guild could acquire it, they'd be swelling with pride. For that reason, they'd offer a considerable sum of money to the adventurer who had slain it. The guild would gain the prestige of having handled a high-level monster, and the adventurer would receive both a hefty sum and glory — that's how it was supposed to work.
But that was only how things played out between a regular adventurer and the guild. For someone like me, who also did their own crafting, a Bicorn was a treasure trove. I could make equipment with it. I could make potions. And of course, I could eat it too.
Honestly, I was even more excited than when I had slain the Earth Dragon. Back then, most of what I could think of was equipment materials, but this time it looked like there would be plenty of fun to be had as ingredients too.
"So, shall we head back?"
I called out to Gramps and Amur, who were chatting away, and decided to head back to the carriage. And for some reason, the Dawn Sword and Agri were following behind us.
"Jin and the others are probably after a share of the horse meat, but what about you, Agri?"
"Aren't you being a little harsh on our goodwill?"
"We were planning to help out because we figured the butchering would be tough…"
"I want to eat horse meat. That's why I'm going to help."
"Me too. I'd like to see the Bicorn up close as well… Jin and Garat, you don't have to come. Menace and I will go help out."
"Yeah, that'd be great."
Lina brushed Jin and Garat off without a moment's hesitation. Menace had already nodded in agreement after hearing my words, and the two of them began walking away from Jin and the others. Seeing this, Jin and Garat panicked,
"We were lying! We'll help, so please let us eat horse meat!"
They bowed in unison. Menace and Lina watched the pair with exasperated expressions. Passersby on the street pointed at the so-called "Dawn Sword" as they watched the scene unfold.
After that day, rumors began spreading around Seigen that "the Dawn Sword had entered Tenma's service."
"I suppose I'm just hoping to tag along for the scraps. Even if I wanted to see a Bicorn, it's not something you can just casually lay eyes on. Besides, I'd like to know what one tastes like."
Agri honestly stated his reason for coming along with me, and further proposed bringing out his Familiars—the Grappler Apes—as additional muscle for the dissection. Honestly, he seemed more useful than Jin and the others. It was unclear how much combat strength the Apes would actually provide, but Agri's knowledge was undoubtedly valuable. When it came to Monsters in particular, he probably possessed knowledge on par with Grandpa's—or possibly even more.
"I'd certainly be grateful for Agri's help. Then let's get going quickly. There's no point standing around here—we'd just be in the way... Of course, Jin and Garat are welcome too."
"Thanks!"
...These two really had lost all trace of the impression they'd made when we first met.
Well, I suppose that just meant they'd gotten comfortable enough around me. Not like I cared about what people thought of the two of them anyway.
Alright, that settled it—everyone I needed for the dissection was accounted for. Granted, two of them had more or less become my underlings, but...