novelraw Chapter 102 : Who’s the Greenhorn? (2)
Chapter 102 : Who’s the Greenhorn? (2)
Chapter 102: Who’s the Greenhorn? (2)
Dolk stared intently at Raion.
He was a little tall, but not a particularly large man.
No matter how much he looked, there was no sense of strength about him. He seemed like one of those young nobles who fancied himself an adventurer out of a desire for honor.
Perhaps that was why a sneer crept onto Dolk’s lips.
“Hmph! Looks like you really think adventurers are a joke.”
“Don’t you think your words are too much! The Master isn’t someone you can insult!”
“Master, Master—every sentence you spit ends with ‘Master’! The Iron Wall Howard and Allen the Wolf Slayer are both dead, huh? Guess it’s because you all became a noble’s dogs!”
The biting sarcasm twisted the atmosphere around them.
Even so, Raion didn’t care. He simply dug at his ear.
He wanted to see how the three of them would handle the situation.
Just then, Howard slammed his shield hard onto the floor.
Thud―!
The loud sound drew even more attention from the crowd.
“That’s enough! Insult the Master again and I won’t stand by quietly!”
“So you wanna try me, huh?”
Dolk was somewhat well-known among the B-rank adventurers.
Though his nickname “Leech” wasn’t for anything good, he wasn’t someone easily ignored either.
The air grew heavier and more hostile.
“If you’re gonna fight, then fight. If not, then shut up. What’s with the half-baked posturing?”
It was Raion who spoke quietly.
Dolk’s face twisted in rage at those words.
“You really can’t read the room, can you, young master?”
“Are you stupid?”
“W-what!”
“Anyone can see it—you just couldn’t handle that Claw Bear yourself, and now that I brought it back, you’re jealous. Isn’t that right?”
“Wh-what nonsense! Are you mocking me!”
Dolk, enraged, stepped forward and shouted.
Raion continued calmly without hesitation.
“I’m right, though. Well…… if you really need it, I’ll give it to you. It’s not that important to me anyway. A Claw Bear’s nothing special—I can hunt one anytime.”
“W-what!”
With that, Raion lifted the Claw Bear’s pelt from the desk and held it out.
Seeing the hide sway before him, Dolk’s face flushed red.
Anyone could see he was being offered it out of pity—taking it would only make him look worse.
“Here, take it.”
“Are you mocking adventurers?!”
“Dolk!”
Priscilla, who had been watching nervously, shouted amid the rising tension.
But Dolk didn’t stop—he reached for Raion’s collar.
At that instant, something invisible struck his arm aside.
Tap―!
“……!”
“Sorry, but I don’t like being touched with dirty hands.”
Raion had struck his arm away with the scabbard.
At the same moment, the Claw Bear pelt slipped to the floor.
“So you really wanna do this?”
“With that pathetic skill, you think you can?”
Dolk pulled out the massive axe strapped to his back.
Whoosh―!
A fierce gust swept through, making the air grow colder.
“Weapons are forbidden inside the Guild!”
Priscilla shouted from behind the desk, but Dolk didn’t seem to care.
Raion only let out a quiet chuckle.
“Heh, at least you’ve got some guts.”
“If you’re not afraid, come at me! I’ll smash you to pieces!”
“How tiresome.”
“What?”
Sring―!
A chilling sound rang out.
No one saw him move.
Yet a sword had somehow appeared in Raion’s hand.
“You’re the one who’s tiresome. Are you planning to swing that axe with your mouth?”
“Y-you bastard!”
Dolk finally tried to swing.
But before the axe could even rise, it split cleanly in two—the top half crashing to the ground.
Thunk……!
“…….”
Silence fell.
No one had seen how the massive axe had been cut apart.
“I really can’t stand guys who only fight with their mouths.”
“H-how did you cut my axe……”
“Was that thing even made to withstand aura? Looked like a hunk of scrap iron to me.”
A blue aura shimmered along the blade in Raion’s hand.
Gasps erupted all around.
Everyone there knew exactly what that meant.
“S-Swordmaster?”
“If you’re just gonna keep flapping your mouth, then stop. If you’re not gonna fight, get lost.”
With that, Raion sheathed his sword and sat down in the chair.
Honestly, he had considered letting Dolk attack to test him.
But after all that noise, all he felt was disappointment.
“You didn’t have to step in yourself, Master.”
Howard approached, bowing his head, looking apologetic.
Allen and Azel beside him looked awkward as well.
“It’s fine. Let’s just get the goods processed.”
“I’ll handle the request.”
Howard went over to the stunned clerk, Priscilla, to make the report.
The atmosphere remained unsettled.
Raion began eating the food that had been brought to the table not long after.
Howard, Allen, and Azel also sat down once their work was done.
Around them, the other adventurers were still too stunned to leave.
Among them was Dolk, whose axe now lay in two pieces.
As silence lingered, Azel spoke carefully.
“By the way… didn’t we forget something?”
“Hmm? Did we?”
Raion spoke as if it were nothing important.
Meanwhile, quite some time had passed, yet Cayman still hadn’t returned.
It was a forest that led from Clarman into Chelon’s territory.
There, Cayman was busy swinging his sword at the Saliva Wolves.
“Damn it! To think I’d lose sight of the Master and end up being chased by wolves!”
Grrrrrr!
The ground around him was littered with the corpses of Saliva Wolves he had already slain.
Even so, more than twenty of them still surrounded him.
“At this rate, I might really die here!”
Slash! Shlak―!
Cayman’s armor was smeared with the blood of the Saliva Wolves.
That alone was unpleasant, but now his life was truly in danger.
“If I really die here, I can’t imagine what the Master will say!”
Yet even Cayman’s resolve had grown stronger since traveling with Raion.
The Saliva Wolves lunged at him with feral precision.
Krrr! Grrk!
With their characteristic pack coordination, the wolves’ sharp fangs attacked from all directions.
Slash!
Cayman swung his sword to the side just in time, beheading one Saliva Wolf and dodging to the flank.
Even as more attacks followed, his sword moved ceaselessly.
Slash! Slash! Shlak―!
“Huff…! Huff…!”
His stamina was quickly reaching its limit.
Even so, Cayman braced his sword against the ground and readjusted his stance.
After he had cut down four wolves in an instant, the others hesitated to rush him.
Rustle. Rustle.
In the tense silence, the bushes on the hillside began to shake violently.
Startled, Cayman and the Saliva Wolves all turned toward the sound.
Krrrk―! Grrrk!
‘N-no way, another monster?’
If more monsters appeared now, even the faint hope he had left would vanish completely.
Swallowed by despair, Cayman gulped down his saliva.
Then suddenly, a man burst from the bushes like the wind and cut down two Saliva Wolves in a flash.
Slash―!
The man revealed himself with a proud, imposing presence—it was Dejir, a knight of the Black Lion Knights of the Kingdom of Canel.
“Are you all right?”
Dejir asked while keeping his guard on the remaining Saliva Wolves.
Cayman let out a deep sigh of relief.
“You’re helping me?”
“I happened to see you while passing by, so I rushed over.”
“Thank you so much!”
“Think nothing of it. But you can thank me properly after we finish these things off!”
As he said, Cayman focused on surviving first.
Together, the two poured their strength into their swords and charged at the Saliva Wolves.
Now that he didn’t have to worry about his back, Cayman’s sword strikes grew sharper.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Grrrk! Grrr!
Their blades moved at incredible speed.
The remaining dozen or so Saliva Wolves were soon taken care of.
Finally, the last one was struck in the side and fell heavily to the ground.
Thud―!
“Phew…! I’m alive!”
Cayman muttered as he collapsed to the ground.
Dejir approached him.
“Are you all right?”
“Thanks to you, I’m fine. Really, if it weren’t for you, I’d be dead.”
“You were lucky. Still, were you hunting alone in such a dangerous forest?”
“Well…”
At that moment, Cayman pictured Raion’s face.
It wasn’t easy to explain that this all happened because of a race to see who could arrive first.
“…It just turned out that way.”
“Judging by your attire, you look like a knight…”
Dejir’s gaze moved to Cayman’s armor.
It was smeared with Saliva Wolf blood, but still recognizable.
Of course, adventurers and mercenaries also wore armor—
—but what caught his eye was the emblem engraved on the chestplate.
“Ah… I am a knight, but right now I’m working as an adventurer.”
“That’s an unfamiliar emblem. You must serve under a noble family.”
It was the emblem of the Dragonia Family, created by Raion himself.
Dejir recognized it immediately, not as decoration, but as a proper crest.
It was precisely because of that crest that he had helped Cayman in the first place.
‘The serpent-like emblem the Praizen Adventurer Guild mentioned… not many walk around with something like that engraved on their chest.’
“I do serve a noble, yes.”
“I see. But you’re also working as an adventurer?”
“That’s right. Are you a mercenary, by any chance?”
“Ah, no. I’m a wandering adventurer—name’s Dejir.”
He had no reason to change or hide his name.
Hearing that, Cayman looked at him and introduced himself as well.
“I’m Cayman, a knight and adventurer. I serve the Dragonia Family.”
“I see. Dragonia, you say… That’s a name I haven’t heard before.”
“It’s a border family. We’ve been wandering here and there for training. I got separated due to some business.”
“That must be tough. Where were you headed?”
“I was on my way to Chelon.”
“Same as me. If you don’t mind, shall we travel together?”
Cayman scratched the back of his head at the offer.
He had no real reason to refuse.
“That’d be fine by me.”
“Thank you. For now, shall we eat something before we move on? Better to do so in a safe spot.”
Corpses of Saliva Wolves were scattered everywhere.
Even roasting a few roughly wouldn’t be too bad.
Besides, Cayman was starving after spending all his energy.
“Sounds good. I’ll start the fire.”
Cayman butchered one Saliva Wolf and headed with Dejir toward the stream.
Before long, smoke rose, and the smell of roasting meat spread through the forest.