Chapter 49
Another Clan (2)
We slowly made our way toward the stone pillar.
The uneven ground made it difficult to walk in a straight line. Combined with the darkness, it was terrain where getting lost without lights and landmarks was a certainty.
The humid air was mixed with the smell of wet earth. According to the Spirit Affairs Agency's website, the source of the smell was not beneath our feet, but directly overhead.
We couldn't tell because the light didn't reach that far, but apparently the stone pillars supported a ceiling of earth above us. Complex roots had spread through it, keeping it from collapsing... or so they said.
The Age of the Gods must have been full of bizarre terrain and strange creatures.
I muttered that to myself while looking around. Even though Yasuda-san was searching for enemies, that was no reason for us to let our guard down.
About five minutes after we started walking, we reached the base of the stone pillar.
When we shone the black light on it, letters and numbers painted by the Self-Defense Force appeared, along with an arrow.
"According to this number, and the direction of the arrow... this is our current location."
"Hmm, hmm. Then we should head for the pillar marked 'T-21' next, right?"
Yasuda-san muttered while looking at the map on her smartphone. Toramari-san was peering over her shoulder.
I couldn't exactly join them, so I kept watch on our surroundings with my back against the stone pillar.
"Kota-kun. We've decided on the route. Let's move."
"Yes."
I nodded at Toramari-san's words and stood beside her.
By beside her, I mean we left enough space between us that our weapons wouldn't collide.
It was just after we started walking again.
"Please stop. There's an enemy."
Yasuda-san's warning was spoken in a low voice. Following it, I lowered my center of gravity and readjusted my grip on my sword.
I focused on my hearing and finally caught the sound of footsteps. I pointed my blade in that direction, but another pillar stood between us and the source.
"Two targets at two o'clock, behind cover. Judging by their footsteps, they haven't noticed us yet."
"Understood."
"Yes...!"
Beside me, Toramari-san also raised her kodachi with a tense expression. Even to an untrained eye, however, her stance was solid.
Looking closely, I saw that Toramari-san's pupils had become round. As a cat beastman, she apparently had night vision just like a real cat.
I dimmed my lantern-shaped light. As we'd discussed beforehand, Yasuda-san moved diagonally without making a sound, then nocked an arrow.
Her bowstring made a faint creaking sound as she drew it back. It stopped perfectly still, and one second passed.
The arrow flew with a sound like it was slicing through the air. Immediately afterward, a strange scream rang out.
'Gyaa!?'
The voice reminded me of a squashed frog. Then I heard something running noisily toward us.
When the footsteps passed the pillar, I increased the brightness of the lantern-shaped LED I'd dimmed. The monsters came into view.
'Gii...!'
Rows of slightly yellowed fangs filled the mouth that emitted an irritated groan. Each one was sharp, like an arrowhead.
Their bodies were covered in black, coarse hair, while the skin on their barely exposed fingers and faces was dark green. Their red, glowing eyes narrowed in the LED's light amid bodies that seemed to melt into the darkness.
They were small in stature, only a little over 150 centimeters tall, but one of them was gripping a large saw in its right hand. Rust covered parts of it, and it reflected the light with a sharp glint.
'Calicantzaros.'
An evil fairy from Western lore, said to emerge from underground to fell a particular kind of tree.
The monsters resembling them took aim at our necks.
'Kaaah!'
"...!"
I sprang in front of the two Calicantzaros, shielding Yasuda-san. The one on the left carried a saw, while the one on the right carried an ax. An arrow had been driven through and destroyed one of the ax-wielder's eyes.
The two dull-glinting blades came swinging down at me without mercy. However, their movements were several levels slower than a lycanthrope's.
I stepped forward and knocked the ax upward with the sword in my right hand. At the same time, I caught the saw with my left gauntlet.
'Giiii!'
The Calicantzaros on the left shrieked as it pulled its saw back. It seemed to be trying to cut through my gauntlet, but a Spirit Armament grew alongside its user.
With a hard metallic sound, the saw's teeth broke.
'Gyaa!?'
"Whoa!"
I brought my sword down on the monster as it stood there after swinging the damaged saw. Its thick fur split like wet paper, and the flesh and bones beneath were severed in a diagonal slash.
The Calicantzaros staggered, but managed to keep its footing. Before it could move, I twisted the tip of the blade I'd swung through and brought the sword down in another diagonal slash.
It was a Western swordsmanship technique called the 'Windmill Slash.' I'd only imitated what I'd seen in a video, but it had worked surprisingly well.
The thick blade struck again, slicing through the monster's body.
I felt it tear deeply into the monster's innards, then took half a step back and turned my gaze toward the other one.
Toramari-san was fighting over there.
"Che-ryaaaaa!"
With an adorable battle cry, she brought her kodachi down. Her right hand gripped the hilt while her left pressed against the guard.
The Calicantzaros tried to stop the blade with the ax handle, but the blade cleaved through the wooden handle and split the monster's skull.
'Go, aaah...!?'
As the Calicantzaros staggered, Toramari-san mercilessly drove her blade farther in. When the blade had passed its nose, she changed the angle of the guard and struck the monster's front teeth.
The impact sent the ax-wielding monster flying. The Calicantzaros sprawled on its back, then quickly transformed into black mist.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the one I'd been fighting had also vanished. After giving our surroundings a quick look, I relaxed my shoulders.
"Yasuda-san, are there any other enemies nearby?"
"...Nope. It looks all right for now."
"Understood. Thank you."
"No problem."
I lowered the tip of my sword and retrieved the magic stone on my side.
Toramari-san had apparently retrieved hers as well, and she jogged over to me.
"Nice one, Kota-kun!"
"Thanks. Good work, Toramari-san."
"Yes! But I'm not tired! I have plenty of energy!"
"Ha-ha..."
I replied with a wry laugh as she returned to the high energy she usually displayed at school.
As we stood there, I noticed Toramari-san looking up at me curiously.
"Um, what is it?"
"Nothing. You just seem kind of different from how you are at school."
"Ah..."
Because this was a dungeon.
I started to say that, but stopped. As far as being on unfamiliar ground was concerned, this place was actually more dangerous. As an adventurer, it was a little bad that I felt this way.
"It's just... I get tense at school."
"I see. Then maybe you're suited to being an adventurer, Kota-kun!"
"Maybe...?"
"Yes! That's wonderful!"
Toramari-san gave me several hearty slaps on the waist.
She was stronger than I'd expected, and it hurt a little.
"Being an adventurer is a wonderful profession! Some heartless people occasionally say unkind things, but it's extremely important work for society!"
"Yes, it is."
The fight with the Calicantzaros had ended in an overwhelming victory for us.
Even so, they possessed enough strength to easily tear apart an ordinary person's body. On top of that, anyone who wasn't an ability user couldn't even see them.
According to the legends, they were easily driven away because they couldn't say the number 'three'... but if Calicantzaros appeared in a human settlement now, even one of them would cause many deaths.
They were essentially like 'an invisible, man-eating bear impervious to hunting rifles.'
"Let's keep doing our best from now on too, Kota-kun!"
"Yes."
With that answer, we resumed our exploration.
Perhaps because our first battle had gone well, Toramari-san's demeanor had completely returned to the one she showed at school.
"Come to think of it, this is my first time coming to a dungeon with people from another clan. I'm glad it was you, Kota-kun. We worked together well too!"
"Well... thanks."
We had merely fought separately, but could that really be called teamwork...?
No, we had each properly handled our respective positions, so perhaps it counted.
"Besides... I'm sorry to say this, but the people from the other clan are a little difficult to deal with."
"Yes... I feel the same way."
A slightly awkward silence passed between us.
There were only two clans within commuting distance of my home. One was, naturally, 'Alf.' And the other was...
"Minors aren't allowed inside that establishment in the first place..."
"We could get picked up by the police just for going near it..."
The clan 'Holy Brothel.'
As its name suggested, the clan's headquarters was an adult entertainment establishment.
"I've never heard any bad rumors, and there is no such thing as a lowly profession, but it's still difficult to approach."
"Yeah..."
The reason there were so many female adventurers in 'Alf' was that most of the male adventurers belonged to 'Holy Brothel' instead.
A clan could only be established if its clan master was an adventurer who also had a profession outside adventuring and owned a building large enough to serve as a base. There were other requirements, such as having lived in Japan for a certain number of years, but they weren't important right now.
For those reasons, most clan masters were business owners of some sort. They often provided their members with goods or services.
In the case of 'Alf,' it was coffee. In the case of 'Holy Brothel,' well... yes. That sort of service.
On top of that, there were rumors online that the women at that establishment were all incredibly beautiful.
Apparently, the female owner who served as clan master used her ability to enhance the women's beauty. As a result, the clan supposedly had nothing but women who looked like top models and gravure idols.
Furthermore, the female owner was a shrewd businesswoman who had once run a club in Ginza. Apparently, she had come all the way to this rural area because of a tangled romantic affair, but her skills stood out all the more in the countryside.
Apparently, adventurers who achieved particularly great feats were rewarded with her personal attention. I heard she was fairly old, but since she was an elf, her apparent age was supposedly quite young.
...So, yes. She was famous for all sorts of things. I'd never actually been there, though, so I didn't know the details.
The members of 'Alf' were beautiful too, but they were a gathering of eccentrics and oddballs, and naturally offered no such services.
Given that, it was only natural for male adventurers to gravitate toward 'Holy Brothel,' where they could find beautiful women and receive rewards for working hard.
"I hear the master of 'Holy Brothel' is one of the most beautiful elves around, but aren't you glad you didn't join, Kota-kun?"
"Well, I'm a minor, you know?"
In fact, that clan didn't allow minors to join.
Whether it was because of social ethics or to avoid attracting the police's attention, they were apparently quite respectable in that regard.
"I'm joking, I'm joking! Still, I hear the clan master is surprisingly sensible, so it might be nice to get to know her someday. It is a neighboring clan, after all."
"You think so...? I'd rather not. I think I'd get nervous."
"Really? You can talk to me normally like this, so I think you'll be fine."
...If I said it was because of the difference in sex appeal, I couldn't complain if she cut me down from behind.
I hid my almost-twitching expression behind my face guard and decided to test the waters with a little 'jab.'
"Talking to someone my age and talking to one of the women from a place like that are two different things. The level of nervousness is different too."
"Ha-ha-ha! That's true too!"
...She didn't react at all to the phrase 'someone my age,' huh?
As expected, it seemed I hadn't given anything away with a jab this mild. Was I overthinking it? Or was it simply that Public Security would have no trouble parrying a jab this mild?
I didn't know. I probably wouldn't be able to determine whether Toramari-san was with Public Security on my own.
Yasuda-san, who was smiling silently behind us, was even more impossible to read. If Toramari-san was with Public Security, Yasuda-san had to be her senior or superior.
"In any case, I'm glad there was another clan that was easy to talk to."
"Yes! Please look favorably on our clan, 'Aigis'!"
Toramari-san smiled brightly at me, and I put on a professional smile in return.
"Yes. Please look favorably on our clan, 'Alf,' as well."
We smiled at each other, but her eyebrows drooped into the shape of an '8.'
"Though we're not exactly neighbors. If I remember correctly, your base is actually quite a distance from ours."
"Ha-ha... Come to think of it, what kind of place is Aigis's base?"
"A good old-fashioned movie theater! Though apparently it's been having a hard time lately because fewer people are going..."
"Ah... A lot of people prefer watching things online these days, too."
"You two..."
As we were talking, Yasuda-san addressed us while still smiling.
"You've drifted a little too far to the left. Please try to keep a little farther to the right."
"Oh, sorry."
"Sorry!"
We hurriedly adjusted our path toward the right.
The darkness and uneven ground had apparently caused us to stray from our planned route without noticing.
As I started feeling awkward, Toramari-san winked at me and stuck her tongue out slightly.
"We got scolded."
"...We should probably take our exploration seriously too."
"Yes."
We exchanged those words in low voices, then concentrated on exploring.
We were in the middle of a dungeon exploration. We had to keep in mind that we were doing something dangerous.
We walked for about three minutes like that before Yasuda-san's warning came again.
"Enemies. Two at ten o'clock."
"Yes."
"...They've noticed us too. They're coming this way."
Just as Yasuda-san said, footsteps approached straight toward us.
I stopped the hand I'd been reaching toward the lantern-shaped LED and gripped my sword with both hands. This was going to be a head-on fight.
After a moment, the Calicantzaros' red eyes appeared in the darkness. At that instant, Yasuda-san fired an arrow.
'Gugh!'
The creature on the right staggered with a short cry. Apparently, the arrow had struck its shoulder.
I moved forward at the same time. I planted my foot hard and closed the distance in a single step. The Calicantzaros on the left, which had been slightly ahead, grimaced and tried to swing its ax.
But it was too slow. I slammed my sword into its right arm with all my strength and cut it off. The arm was severed halfway down the forearm, and dark blood sprayed through the air.
'Gugyaaah!?'
I frowned at the scream ringing in my ears and the sensation traveling up my arm.
But I ignored my feelings for the moment and cut at its neck with a backhand stroke. I didn't sever it completely, but I felt the blade cut through bone.
"Che-ryaaaaa!"
I kicked the wounded monster in the abdomen and turned my gaze toward Toramari-san.
She had circled around to the side of the Calicantzaros wounded in the left shoulder and was bringing her sword down without mercy.
The slash, accompanied by a strangely lackadaisical battle cry, split the monster's head. She then rammed into it and knocked the monster away, sending its hairy body rolling to a stop right beside me.
I instinctively raised my sword toward it and went on guard. However, it quickly turned into black mist.
I swept my gaze around and checked the one I'd kicked away as well. It too had already vanished, leaving only a magic stone behind.
"There don't seem to be any enemies nearby."
"Understood. Thank you for searching for them."
I answered Yasuda-san and lowered my sword. Toramari-san came over to me again.
"Yay! A great victory, Kota-kun!"
"Yes, it was."
She raised her left hand as if asking for a high five, so I lifted my own left hand slightly.
A small, light sound echoed through the dungeon.
＊ ＊ ＊
My first exploration with another clan ended safely after about two hours.
As expected of a dungeon where the thinning-out process had fallen behind, we fought many battles, but no one was injured.
After saying goodbye to Toramari-san, who thanked me extravagantly, and Yasuda-san, who kept smiling until the end, I started home.
We defeated twenty-three monsters in total. There were two magic stones left over after dividing them among three people, but thanks to the other side's generosity, I was allowed to take more than my share.
I couldn't win an argument with them, so I accepted them without protest. That brought my earnings to ninety thousand yen.
It was enough to make my sense of money feel warped. Even with the risk to one's life, that wasn't the kind of amount a high school student should be able to earn in one day.
...Still, I had no idea what Toramari-san really wanted.
Even so, she didn't seem like a bad person. All I could do was pray that if she was with Public Security, her superiors and colleagues weren't the sort of 'beings who had fallen into the hands of monsters' that Takanashi-san had mentioned...
No matter how much I thought about it, my mental fatigue kept my thoughts from coming together. I had a feeling this kind of intellectual labor wasn't suited to me.
'...Maybe I really am suited to being an adventurer.'
I recalled the sensation of cutting through a monster and let out a small sigh at the bus stop.
It was easier on my mind than school, but I didn't think I would ever get used to that sensation.
...I wondered if the adventurers of 'Holy Brothel' could overwrite that sensation with another one after finishing work.
Honestly, I was jealous.
I waited for the bus, opening and closing my hands for no particular reason.
On the way home, I bought a stuffed bear. Its softness was different from the softness I'd imagined, but it soothed me, so... good!
I went to sleep that night thinking that maybe I would buy a stuffed red panda next time.