novelraw Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Chaos erupted before the signal to start was even called.
The host, Bizen, scratched his head and stared at the arena that had devolved into pandemonium.
'More people just makes it a bigger mess.'
To be exact, this was all that guy's fault.
The one from Red Bell, carrying a Battle Axe.
If he hadn't launched that unprovoked preemptive strike, it wouldn't have turned into this much of a disaster.
Bizen glared at the Battle Axe wielder with barely veiled resentment.
But to his surprise, the Battle Axe guy was struggling against a kid who had suddenly burst onto the scene.
'What is that?'
No matter how he looked at it, Bizen couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he furrowed his brow.
Bizen wasn't the only one who saw it.
"What are you doing! Fight properly!"
"How are you losing to some little kid!"
"Do you know how much I bet on you?!"
Those who had bet on the Battle Axe wielder were shouting from the stands.
And it wasn't only them.
The general crowd was also hurling jeers at the Battle Axe wielder.
But even so.
Swick—
The result didn't change.
When Feyr cut down the Battle Axe wielder, the heat in the stands blazed even hotter.
"Whoa, who is that kid?"
"The little guy can actually use a sword."
"Where's he from?"
The crowd's attention turned toward Feyr, but Feyr himself made little movement after cutting down the Battle Axe wielder.
He simply retreated to the outer edge of the arena, cutting down only those who approached him.
As Feyr remained still, the crowd's interest quickly cooled.
And so the numbers dropped sharply.
'Time to wrap this up.'
Feyr adjusted his grip on his sword and swept his gaze across the remaining combatants.
Roughly 10 people remained.
Every one of them was visibly exhausted, and some among them had already taken injuries.
They were all wary of Feyr.
Because they had witnessed Feyr cut down the Battle Axe wielder earlier.
'This is getting annoying.'
Feyr clicked his tongue and began rotating his Mana Rings.
Feyr charged his body with Mana and plunged into the middle of them.
The 2 people at the front swung their swords at Feyr as he closed in.
Slash!
But what got cut were the arms of the 2 who had swung.
The moment they swung, Feyr ducked low and severed both their arms.
Blood sprayed in a mist, obscuring the field of view.
Not missing the opening, a halberd came screaming in from the front with a piercing shriek of air.
'Tch.'
He loaded Mana into his fist and struck the side of the halberd, deflecting its trajectory.
He then thrust his sword in a straight line and charged forward.
"G-ghk!"
A chunk of the halberd wielder's side was carved clean off.
Those still capable of fighting numbered around 7.
3 of those had lost the will to fight, so only 4 more needed to be dealt with.
'Let me pick up the pace a little.'
Fwoom—
A faint Aura rose from Feyr's sword.
The faces of those who saw it turned deathly pale, while the crowd in the stands cheered all the louder.
"I—I surrender! I forfeit!"
"This is insane!"
"Having a swordsman who can use Aura participate is going overboard!"
The 3 who had lost the will to fight fled the arena as fast as their legs could carry them.
In contrast, the remaining 4, faces drained of color, huddled together.
Feyr looked at them and said,
"Just give up. It'll be easier."
The bald man at the front replied,
"If you were in my position, would you give up with 20 gold coins right in front of you?"
Well, backing down from a windfall right before your eyes is a waste—that much is true.
Of course, compared to the price of their lives, it was cheap. But still.
"Fair enough, then."
Feyr shrugged and walked slowly toward them.
Seeing him approach so leisurely, one of them, overcome with dread, let out a battle cry that was closer to a shriek and came charging at Feyr with a hand axe.
"H—hyaaaa!!"
At that, Feyr lightly drew his sword in a diagonal slash.
Slash!
"Huh……?"
The man who had been cut along the blade's arc crumpled straight to the ground.
As the one who charged fell, the bald man at the front grimaced with every muscle in his face and shouted,
"Goddammit…… Get him, all of you!!"
At his cry, the remaining 2 shouted and charged in as well, but just like the one before them, they went down with ease.
"There's only you left. Goodbye."
Feyr stepped in front of the bald man and, without a moment's hesitation, cut his throat.
With everyone dealt with at last, Feyr looked toward Bizen, who was serving as host, and asked,
"It's over now, isn't it?"
Bizen let out a hollow laugh at Feyr's utterly dry response.
He then channeled his voice into the Magic Tool enchanted with an Amplification Spell.
"Well, would you look at that butcher…… Don't you all agree? Anyway, congratulations to everyone who bet on number 74—winner, come on up."
Bizen snapped his fingers, and a staircase materialized leading up to where he stood.
Feyr shook the blood from his sword, sheathed it, then climbed the stairs.
"Congratulations on your win. Let's see, your affiliation is…… Wait, what? You're an outsider? Are you some kind of bounty hunter? Ha…… rough luck."
As Bizen rambled on, Feyr cut straight to the point.
"Hand over the prize money, you little shit."
Laughter burst out from the stands at Feyr's response.
Bizen looked as though his pride had been crumpled, but having witnessed Feyr's combat ability firsthand, he had no choice but to obediently hand over the pouch of prize money.
Feyr took the pouch and turned to leave immediately, but Bizen stepped in front of him and said,
"Hey, you just won the whole thing—don't you have even a word to say?"
"……Change the rules. If people keep dying every time, how do you expect to keep getting fighters?"
Of course, there were some who hadn't died.
But there were far more who were left barely functional.
Once someone stepped onto this stage, it was hard to come back to the arena again.
Because it was the kind of place that left you half-crippled.
'That's why the reward is this generous.'
Feyr clicked his tongue and left the arena.
After leaving the arena, Feyr headed toward the District 3 shopping district.
The reason he specifically went to the District 3 shopping district was because it was the one place that sold at least somewhat legitimate goods.
What Feyr needed right now were ingredients to undo the Blood Submission, along with tools to bring into the Forest.
With that in mind, he had no need for the kind of things that were only sold in the underworld.
Above all, the only herb shop he was looking for was here.
Feyr stepped into the herb shop and immediately began scanning the shelves.
'Let's see, is it all here.'
The front shelves had herbs arranged quite neatly.
But they were the kind of common herbs you could find anywhere.
Not what Feyr was looking for.
Moving a little further inside, he spotted herbs that had been tossed about carelessly.
What people commonly called clearance goods.
Or things whose uses weren't known, so they had simply been piled up.
'In a regular city shop, they probably wouldn't even carry this kind of thing.'
But this was a back alley.
Anything that could be worth money was carried.
And that tendency of theirs worked in his favor.
Feyr picked out several herbs from the pile stacked in a heap.
'Cure Herb, Drain Grass, Clear Flower……'
Having gathered a generous amount of various herbs, Feyr went straight to the counter.
The herbalist looked at the herbs Feyr had brought and asked, puzzled,
"What are you going to use all this miscellaneous stuff for?"
"I have uses for all of it."
The herbalist clicked his tongue in puzzlement, but soon shrugged and set a price.
"Give me 10 copper coins."
"Will this be enough?"
Feyr handed over 1 gold coin.
The herbalist took the gold coin with wide eyes and drew in a breath with a troubled look.
"This is too much to give change for."
Feyr replied flatly,
"Then instead of change, how about you give me a little more herbs for free next time I need them."
"Huh? That works for you?"
"It's plenty."
"I mean…… well, if that's what you want."
The herbalist scratched the back of his head with a somewhat dissatisfied air.
Feyr gave a faint smile at his reaction, tied up his herb pouch, and left the herb shop.
'This actually works out better for me.'
Right now these herbs might be dirt cheap, but later on they'll be impossible to get no matter how much you pay.
Because at this point in time their uses haven't been discovered yet, but further down the line, the true value of these herbs will come to light.
Above all, a few of the herbs only grew in certain specific places.
'Anyway, I've got one thing sorted.'
Now to go find that Murk guy.
Feyr began walking along the shopping district and started looking for beggars on the street.
But there was no need to search—even just a few steps in, beggars kept catching his eye.
"Please, just a coin……"
"Have mercy……"
Beggars in a ragged state, holding their hands out toward Feyr.
Feyr looked down at them and pulled out 1 gold coin.
"Answer my questions honestly and I'll give you this."
The beggars cocked their heads at the gold coin Feyr had produced.
Because while they had seen copper and silver coins, they had never seen a gold coin.
'……They don't seem to know the value of a gold coin.'
Feyr put the gold coin back and rummaged through his belongings.
Was there anything in there they might find tempting?
Rummaging like that, his hand landed on something.
'Ah.'
The Beef Jerky that Zak had given him long ago.
It was still there.
'Originally I had meant to use it at Mount Levelheim.'
He had kept holding onto it because the Skip Exam had come up and he'd missed the chance to use it.
By chance it was still right there.
Feyr showed the Beef Jerky to them and said,
"Answer my questions and I'll give you this."
The beggars' eyes lit up at that.
At their reaction, Feyr went straight to his question.
"Do you happen to know where someone called Murk is?"
At Feyr's question, one of the beggars moved his lips and said,
"Murk is begging near the inn. He says he needs a lot of money……"
"He needs a lot of money?"
"Yes. From what I heard, it sounded like he was going to hire mercenaries……"
Hire mercenaries?
Feyr's brow furrowed at the beggar's words.
What kind of situation would have him hiring mercenaries here of all places.
'It's not a contract killing either.'
What was certain was that he'd only know once he met Murk quickly.
Feyr gave the beggars the Beef Jerky Zak had given him and headed toward the inn area.
Near the inn was actually quieter than other places.
The locals generally didn't earn enough to use an inn.
And there were few outsiders passing through, so it was an inevitable outcome.
Of course, there were cheap inns as well.
But beggars didn't tend to congregate near those kinds of places.
Feyr headed toward an inn with a relatively clean signboard.
Just as he did, beggars were staggering out from the back alley—
Thud-thud-thud!
The sound of someone running toward him reached his ears.
What Serpent Sense picked up through vibration was coming from directly behind him.
Something was gripped in the hand, and it seemed to be aimed at Feyr.
As the distance closed to right behind him—
Clang!
"Ugh!"
A blade swung toward the coin pouch at Feyr's waist was blocked by a half-drawn sword.
The face of the boy who had swung the blade showed clear panic.
The boy had quite boldly attempted a mugging.
Feyr sheathed his sword and immediately turned, striking the boy's Paralysis Point.
The boy, his Paralysis Point struck, froze on the spot and couldn't move.
He could only stare at Feyr with wide open eyes.
"Quite a bold little thief we have here."
Feyr looked at the boy and said.
But the moment he saw the boy's face, Feyr's eyes gave an involuntary twitch.
Because the boy was none other than Murk—the very person he had been looking for.
'Oh, good grief.'
Why of all things did you have to be robbing someone.
What a headache this had turned into.
He understood that he needed money, but to think their first meeting would happen like this.
'Well…… I should try talking to him first.'
Feyr let out a long breath and looked at Murk.
"Nothing to say?"
"……"
Murk said nothing at all.
Feyr watched Murk quietly for a moment, then said,
"How about we change locations and talk."
With that, Feyr, keeping hold of Murk, stepped into an alley with no signs of life.
Now that they were alone, Murk spoke.
"Why? Did you drag me somewhere like this to beat me up?"
Feyr shook his head at Murk's words.
"No."
"Then what? Why did you bring me to a place like this after making me unable to move?"
"Ah, that'll wear off soon."
True to Feyr's words, Murk's body, which had slowly stiffened, began to loosen.
As his body started moving again, Murk cleared his throat awkwardly.
"So then why did you bring me here."
"I came to talk."
"What kind of talk."
"Why you tried to steal my money."
"What's so strange about trying to steal money in a back alley……"
Murk muttered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Feyr shrugged at Murk's words and said,
"That's not your real purpose, is it. Wasn't it to hire mercenaries?"
Murk's body gave a visible flinch at Feyr's words.
Then Murk grabbed Feyr by the collar and snarled,
"Who are you? How does an outsider know that."
"Good question. What I do know is that right now I'm someone who can help you."
"What?"
Murk's brow furrowed at Feyr's words.
Feyr smiled faintly and said,
"Let go and tell me your story."