Volume 1 Chapter 17 I'm Getting Pretty Hungry Now, But...
Hello this is the continuation of dropped novel by another group. I hope you like it.
Looks like that guy Relix has managed to get his hands on the Holy Sword safely. With that, he's officially recognized as a Yuusha.
To commemorate this, a grand parade was held in the capital. Of course, Relix was at the center of the parade. He was riding in a luxurious carriage without a roof, with a beautifully decorated sheath at his waist.
During the parade, when he reached the place where the most people had gathered, Relix stood up from his seat, drew the sword from its sheath, and held it up to the sky. The sword, reflecting the sunlight, reached the peak of excitement among the crowd.
I (Ore) was more interested in the stalls targeting the crowd gathered at the parade than in the Holy Sword brought by Relix. There were hardly any such stalls in the village, so I was more interested in them than in the Yuusha parade. It's not that I didn't care about that guy Relix at all.
Well, it seems that the rumored princess was seated next to the Relix at this parade. Unfortunately, I couldn't catch a glimpse through the crowded masses, but I wished I could have seen her even just a little.
After the parade, Relix returned to the castle and began training to handle the Holy Sword the very next day. He's truly a diligent fellow.
And today, as for me, I'm busy hunting in the forest as usual.
My target is still the Big Rats.
I've been saving up money steadily, and at this rate, I should reach my target amount in about a month.
But, I do have some concerns.
"Partner, don't you think there's something strange about this one?"
"Does Gram think so?"
"I've been checking out other requests lately, and the earnings are just too good."
Normally, one should welcome such a thing with open arms, but at this point, it feels unsettling.
I thought it would take more time. After all, exterminating Big Rats is a very profitable request for me in terms of difficulty, but if I raise the risk a bit, there are plenty of other requests that pay even more.
Even so, the amount of money I've saved up is progressing too smoothly.
I've already exterminated nearly 200 big rats in the past 2 weeks. Clearly an abnormal number.
But I still have concerns.
"Hey partner! They're coming from deep in the bushes!"
Following Gram's caution, I drew my spear from the sheath on my back and held it with both hands.
A little later, with a howl, what came out of the bushes was a monster that walked on two legs, like a dog.
It's a monster called a "Kobold," larger than the big rats. Their individual strength isn't much, but they're stronger than the big rat. And perhaps due to walking on two legs, they seem to have more intelligence than just a wild dog.
However, both can be handled with "some" effort.
Now, there were four of them. Kobolds are a type that compensates for individual weakness by acting in groups.
Within, two Kobolds with dog-like heads bared their fangs, swinging their claws on their front legs, which would be called right hands in human terms, and leaped at me.
"Horyaa!"
I, without panicking or making a fuss, stepped back while swinging my spear. The claws and fangs of the leading Kobold did not reach me, as the tip of my spear cut through its body, killing its momentum. Ignoring the Kobold that fell to the ground, bleeding, I continued the swinging motion of my spear and cut through the second one.
The remaining two Kobolds attacked without hesitation, disregarding the death of their comrades, but I also swung my spear without any carelessness and cut them down.
Four Kobolds fell to the ground, bleeding. Without letting my guard down, I swiftly finished them off and checked if there were any new enemies before shaking off the blood from the tip of my spear and returning it to its sheath on my back.
Thanks to Gram's guidance and advice, I am aware that my spear handling has improved considerably compared to before. If I were the me from when I was in the village, I would have had to fight desperately to defeat four Kobolds. But now, I can face my opponents with confidence.
I sighed instead of rejoicing, even though it was a scene that I should be happy about.
"The kobolds themselves aren't that rare, but it's concerning that I keep getting attacked like this."
Over the past few days, there have been more and more instances where kobolds attacked me while I was hunting big rats.
"This one too. It's so skinny."
Looking at the kobold's stomach, it was extremely thin. The kobolds I've seen before had plumper stomachs.
"Their stomachs are empty. It must be because they've strayed from their pack and attacked out of hunger."
Inside my backpack, I had the meat of the big rats I exterminated today. I tightly tied the bag to prevent any smell from escaping, but the hungry kobold must have caught a faint scent.
But still, it's unnatural.
So, recently, almost all of the Kobolds that have attacked have been as skinny as the ones I just defeated, with their ribs sticking out.
"With this many big rats around, I don't think we'll have any food shortages."
Big rats are among the weakest of monsters, but their reproductive ability makes them convenient food for other monsters.
In other words, the food (big rats) for the Kobolds should be abundant in this forest── but it's not.
"Well, maybe it's because you've been hunting a lot recently, huh, partner?"
"Yeah."
It's obvious when you think about it. After all, 200 of them. I thought it was a good haul and kept hunting, but looking back, I've been delivering an unbelievable amount of big rats to the mercenary guild.
If you hunt that much, you'll suddenly run out of food.
"...Well, whether it's late or early doesn't matter anyway."
"Huh? Did you say something?"
"Nah, it's nothing. But rather than that, don't you think it's better to inform the guild that the hungry Kobolds are increasing?"
"That's true."
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