Chapter 8: Return to town.

7 HOURS AGO 1 COMMENT

Translator: Soafp

[Your level has increased. Please allocate status points.]

[Your “Sword” skill level has increased.]

[Your skill level in “Enhanced Magic” has increased.]

[Your skill level in “Death Point Shooting” has been increased.]

[Your skill level in “Sword of Deprivation” has been increased.]

Apparently, I was able to defeat it successfully.

For some reason, before I could touch them, they turned into particles of light and disappeared, and then a window appeared in front of me.

[‘Congratulations!　Your victory over the field boss has allowed you to pass on to the next area!　Your reward items will be stored in your inventory.’]

“How to say, the boss fight feels different.”

“In the case of a boss fight, the reward is given to everyone in the participating party, not dismantled. Well, there are contribution levels and so on, so I got almost nothing this time.”

Hisana, who had been watching the battle so far, shrugged her shoulders and said so.

Well, Hisana didn’t do anything at all this time. The contribution rate is probably at a minimum, and as far as I can tell, she didn’t get any items.

Fumu, but…

“Interesting, that’s for sure.”

“What are you doing, Sensei?”

“I’ve had very few opportunities to use my skills lately. If I don’t use it, I’m going to get rusty. …… Wouldn’t it be awful if I used the stiff form on them?”

“Well, it would be death, to say the least.”

This is the most aggressive form of Kugen Jintsuryu, which consists of three methods: decapitation, Striking, and The way of walking.

In terms of attack power, it is the best, but it is so powerful that even a bamboo sword can kill an opponent.

Although it is possible to fire with a certain degree of confidence if the teacher has a strong defense, it is still not possible to swing seriously.

I thought that the only person I could seriously slash would be the old man, but here, no one would complain no matter how serious I was.

“Oh, sensei. I’ve recorded the current battle, is it okay if I show this to the public?”

“Oh?　Recording?　You can do that?”

“The video site I’m affiliated with can even broadcast it live. Well, you can only watch the live broadcast in-game. And anyway, ……, I think there’s probably a lot of commotion about Sensei, so. I’ll explain that you’re strong, including the video.”

“Fumu.No idea what you are talking about, but I can trust you, right?　Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes, please leave it to me.”

I had my doubts about Hisana, who seemed to be enjoying herself in some strange way, but I nodded my head without paying attention for the time being.

To be honest, I don’t really understand what she’s saying when she talks in technical terms.

Anyway, let’s not worry too much about it for now.

“So, what are you going to do after this?”

“Well, you know. It’s okay if you want to go on, but since you’ve reached a certain level, why don’t we go back?　You can go back and equip yourself again.”

“No complaints so far…… well, I hadn’t even had a chance to take a good look at that town yet.”

For now, that town should be the base of operations for many players.

I need to walk around on my own to learn what’s there.

To begin with, I came here without having done anything to prepare for my trip, so I should probably go back and get ready.

“Then, let’s go back. A-Also, when you defeat a boss in the storyline that you have to defeat to proceed, you will receive a ‘Skill Slot Ticket’, so please use it.”

“Oh?　Does it give me more skill slots?”

“Yes. Well, you can only get it on your first playthrough, though.”

Well, if I can get such a useful item over and over again, that would be a problem.

As Hisana said, open the menu and use the skill slot ticket stored in your inventory.

Immediately after, a system message said, “One more skill slot has been added,” and the menu of skills automatically appeared.

For the time being, I had a good amount of skill points, but since I didn’t have any skills I wanted at the moment, I decided to put in “Mining”.

As I made my way back to the other side of the stone pillar, I found the party waiting for me, staring at me with stunned expressions.

“Oh, I’m sorry for taking it from you. As an apology, I can you give few lectures. Take it as a reminder if you want.”

“Oh, yeah. …… Hey, you. I know it’s bad manners to pry into the …… real world, but ……

“Haha, don’t worry about it too much. I’m her Sensei. Doesn’t that still make sense to you?”

“Ah, the Sensei of the Scarlet Sword Princess. ……”

She was already attracting a lot of attention, and there was no point in trying to be inconspicuous now.

If that’s the case, it would be quicker to talk to them so that they wouldn’t misunderstand.

The man who seemed to be the leader of the group was surprised by my words, but nodded with a somewhat satisfied expression.

Apparently, Hisana’s name is so well known that it is enough to convince him of my strength.

“You’re pretty famous, huh?”

“I’ve won some top prizes at events.”

“…… Well, it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t neglect your training in real life. Well, we’ll leave you here then. I wish you good luck.””

Well, at any rate, we’ve done our business here.

When I told the waiting party members this, the leader responded with a light smile.

“Oh, thank you. For reference…… No, I didn’t get most of the points from around the middle part, but I’ll try to use them as much as I can.”

“Hmm?　Oh, it was too difficult for a beginner to read the killing intent.”

“Sensei ……That’s something I fail at quite a bit, too.”

At the words of Hisana, who was staring at me with half-lidded eyes, I tilted my head, waved to my party, and turned on my head.

As it was, Hisana and I were on our way back to the first town, Fauskatze, while clearing away all the enemies that attacked us.

–Perhaps it was because of the experience I gained from the boss earlier, but my level had finally risen to 8.

“Fumu…… as I thought, a mere wolf is not enough compared to a boss like that. Not to mention the rabbit.”

“Well, it’s not as good as the boss, but …… Ara?”

Just after arriving in the city and coming back from the gate that we just left.

Suddenly, Hisana looked up into the void, and I tilted my head and asked her.

“What’s wrong?　Something happened to you?”

“Oh, yes, ……This is a forwarded e-mail from a real person. I’m sorry, something came up.”

“I see. Well, you’ve explained the whole thing to me. As for the city, I’ll just walk around on my own.”

“I’m sorry. I invited you here and I had to leave you alone. …… Oh, you know how to log out, right?”

“It was written on the menu. Don’t worry about that much.”

Well, I still have some time to spare, and I plan to continue playing the game.

Apparently, in this game, time flows at three times the speed.

So even if I spent three hours here, only one hour would have passed in the real world.

I am happy to be able to allocate even a short amount of time to actual combat.

“Then, excuse me for my leave. I’ll explain it to the forums!”

“Ah? Oi, hold on a sec—“

I was about to tell her to wait, but unfortunately, Hisana’s figure had just faded and disappeared.

My voice probably wouldn’t have been heard over the noise.

I lowered my hand and let out a sigh.

“What do you mean, “explain on the forum” …… Oh well, I’ll ask her later.”

Well, whether it’s real or over here, I will have plenty of opportunities to ask.

She seemed to be planning something, but …… she wouldn’t do anything detrimental to me.

If she did, I could just give her a good hard squeeze tomorrow.

Now, however–

（The moment Hisana disappeared, I was in this state.)

The people around me are starting to look at me.

When Hisana was here, there were gazes coming at me, but about half of them were directed at Hisana.

But now, it seems that the same amount of attention is being directed at me.

So far, Hisana had been a useful distraction. It’s a bit troublesome, even if it’s unavoidable that she stands out.

But I don’t like the idea of not being able to walk out the front because of it. I’ll just get to my destination as quickly as possible.

“Hey, you–?!”

There was one person who approached me to call out to me.

I’m not sure if he’s trying to recruit me as a fighter or if he’s trying to establish a connection with Hisana.

Well, either way, I can tell he’s an amateur just by the way he walks. Whether he’s an enemy or a friend, it’s a waste of time to deal with such a person right now.

Having made that decision, I easily slipped out of sight of the approaching man and into his blind spot.

It was difficult to get completely out of sight because the field of vision wasn’t as narrow as it is in combat, but there were a lot of people walking around right now.

Once out of sight, even for a moment, it is not so difficult to sneak into the crowd.

(Well, if it happens again and again, that would be troublesome, too.)

I make my presence as faint as possible and hide myself in the crowd.

Although I’m becoming famous, I’m basically a part of a group with Hisana. My face is probably not that well known yet, and if I kill my presence, I can easily get out of sight.

Normally, I don’t act like an assassin, so I’m not that good at it.

However, when I am out of my opponent’s sight in battle, I have learned to use a combination of this and a killing intent, as it is quite effective.

If someone is looking at me, I will disappear into the shadows to hide from their gaze.

Even if it’s a crowded place, weaving through the gaps is a child’s play for me, who has been trained in dynamic observation.

So, after blending in with the crowd, I quickly escaped into the tent I had just visited.

“Man, how troublesome……”

“Oh, Sensei. Have you returned already?”

“Hmm, Fino?”

Fino, who had spotted me, put the weapons she was carrying on the shelf and approached me.

She cowered at the sight and let out a chuckle.

“Hisana had some business to attend to. I came here to get away from the public.”

“You’re quite conspicuous, Sensei. You beat the grassland boss, didn’t you?”

“You’ve got a quick ear. I got a lot of items. Is it okay to sell them here?”

“Yes, no problem. Kan-chan.”

“Hayo. Also, stop calling me that.”

The one who answered Fino’s call was the male player who was talking to the leader of the company, Eleanor.

He is a kind man with dark hair and small glasses, but he has a rough tone that does not match his delicate appearance.

But strangely enough, he didn’t give me a bad impression. Perhaps it is because of his somewhat childish gestures – though that is probably part of his acting.

The fact that he is so skilled at catching his opponents off guard is something to behold.

“Yes yes ……,Aah, you are the master of the sword princess? I’m Kanbei, nice to meet you.”

“As you know, I’m Quon. Is it correct to say that you are the one who does the accounting?”

“Yeah, I am her accountant. So, you’re settling for the Greater Stepwolf material, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Let’s see. …… Select an item and exchange it, right?”

I select the list of items from the menu and open the window for the exchange with the other party.

I put up the item, and Kanbei puts up the money, and if both of us are satisfied, we press the exchange button.

Incidentally, if both parties are satisfied with the results, one-way transfer instead of exchange is possible.

“…… There’s something odd about you. Is it true that you defeated them almost single-handedly?”

“That big wolf?　I took care of it all by myself, including the cronies around me.”

“Really …… How intriguing. Give me a minute to settle up.”

His mouth twisted into a grimace, and he began to calculate with the ledger in his hand.

There were a lot of materials, and it would take some time.

I had a little more time on my hands, so I called out to Fino, who was standing nearby, staring at us blankly.

“Hey, Fino, I’m up to level 8 now, can I get some new equipment?”

“Hmm, what’s your STR?”

“14.”

“Then, if you raise it to 16, you’ll be able to equip steel equipment. It’s two levels higher than the current one, and the highest rank currently available. You won’t be able to equip heavy armor, though.”

“I don’t mind that. I wasn’t planning on wearing armor anyway.”

I’ve been working on it today, and I’ve found that this kind of cloth-based equipment suits me just fine.

If I continue in this direction in the future, I won’t have to worry so much about the weight of the armor.

The weight of the metal gauntles and such is there, but it is not that heavy because the parts are small.

” I see. …… Oh right, and can’t I equip some kind of haori over my kinagashi?”

[TL: The haori is a traditional Japanese hip- or thigh-length jacket worn over a kimono. Just think of Zenitsu or Tanjiro from demon slayer]

“You can equip it if you use one of the two accessory slots. But we don’t have it in stock, so I’ll have to order it.”

“Is there much demand for it?”

“Well, for light armor, it’s generally better to use charms or something to increase resistance rather than adding armor there. Ask Iorin and she’ll bring it to you. …… Right now she’s on a quest, so it’ll take a while.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll just kill some time somewhere.……”

I think Iorin is a player named Iori, the maker of this kimono and other items.

If it’s the same creator, I should be able to expect a lot.

While I was somewhat looking forward to it, I thought about how to kill time.

The people around me were a pain in the a*s, but it would be boring to stay here and hide forever.

Just as I was thinking that, Fino raised her eyes as if she had thought of something.

“There’s a place you might be interested in, Sensei.”

“Hoo, where is it?”

“In the south part of town, there are two sword fighting dojos. If you enter and say “Tanomo”, he will welcome you.”

“Welcome huh.”

That’s going to be an interesting welcome.

I don’t know if she’s saying it on purpose or if she’s just a natural, but I’ll have to take a look at it.

Thinking this inwardly, I decided on my plans for the rest of the day.