Chapter 18: The Triumph and The Determination

I found the original direction. All I had to do was look at the trees that had been knocked down by the Metal Lizard, and follow the rough path. I didn’t want to get lost. After arriving at the spot where the Metal Lizard first found me, I began to climb up the hill.

At that time, many Gargons appeared in front of me. They were coming towards me. Still, the advanced radar did not show their presence because I was a little far away from them. I put a lot of magical power into the rock spears and pierced their heads. I used the same MP as before, but the spears pierced deeper than before. Even so, they broke again.

I thought that this overwhelming power would only destroy the corpses in vain. So, I decided to suppress the power for the next attack.

As I ran further, 5 pig-like animals appeared, so I hit 1 nearby with the sword and defeated it. After showing my prowess, the remaining 4 animals ran away. I missed the opportunity to kill them. I didn’t chase them since they went the opposite direction of the town. I put the corpse of the one I killed in the item box, and started running again.

After running for another 5 minutes, a pack of Green Wolves appeared on my path…but the whole pack bypassed me and ran away. Did these monsters avoid me because I defeated the Metal Lizard whom they escaped from?

Well, honestly, I felt tired and I was grateful that I did not have to fight in vain. I continued to run normally. All the monsters I’ve encountered on the way avoided me, so I did not fight anymore. Thankfully.

It has been about 20 minutes since I defeated the Metal Lizard. I finally arrived at the town.

「Kaede-san! You are alive! 」

Sally-san rushed over. Well, yes, I did not die to the metal lizard.

「Eh…I am alive as you can see. Please don’t wish my death.」

「The monsters started withdrawing long ago and the adventurers came back to town, but only Kaede-san didn’t come back! I heard from the other adventurers that they saw Kaede-san running deep into the forest! What were you doing! I was worried!」

「Eh, but I was told to go and fight as far as possible in order to gain a safe distance…」

「I don’t remember saying that. I just asked you to join the others on the front line and fight. I don’t remember demanding such a suicide act.」

「Ehh… 」

To be honest, I didn’t remember exactly what her words were back then.

「As I said, the monsters suddenly started to withdraw, but did Kaede-san do something?」

She looked suspicious at me… Actually, it was probably my fault.

「Well…When I went into the depths of the forest, I encountered a Metal Lizard…」

「You…You came across a Metal Lizard!? We need to gather the wizards quickly, but we don’t have enough wizards in this town. I have to hurry. We need reinforcements now…」

「Ah…I defeated it…I defeated the Metal Lizard. Hello? Are you there?」

「AH! 」

She began to fret so much.

「I have already defeated the Metal Lizard. That’s the reason why the monsters withdrew.」

The information network seemed to be quite fast despite being just monsters. I had been running since I defeated the Metal Lizard, and even though it was quite a distance from where I was in the forest up to this town, all the monsters had completed the withdrawal before I got here. How fast were they exactly?

「Ah, surely Kaede-san is a wizard with a sword. You can also use Fire Magic, am I right? Wait a second. Did Kaede-san use Wind Magic to defeat it?」

「Wind Magic? 」

I did not remember using such a thing. In the first place, the magic I invoked with the intention of using Wind Magic was not Wind Magic itself, but the concept of pressure.

「Yes, did you burn the monster’s belly with flames while floating it with Wind Magic?」

「Well, I actually made a hole in the back armor of the Metal Lizard with a strong magical power. I managed to defeat it that way…」

「I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did you say that you made a hole in the armor of the Metal Lizard? That’s impossible. Did you defeat a different monster? Maybe you are confusing that monster with the Metal Lizard. Where is the corpse?」

「Hmm, you see. The corpse is actually in the item box. Look.」

After saying those words, I took the corpse of the Metal Lizard out of the item box and placed it in an unobtrusive area near the front gate of the town.

「Ahh, this monster really looks like the real Metal Lizard…Where did you have it?」

「I had it in the item box. You know, my item box seems to be a little big.」

I put the Metal Lizard in and out of the item box while saying those words. Sally-san looked at this occurrence with open eyes so wide that they almost fell from her face.

「A “little big”, you say? I see, okay. But the armor doesn’t seem to have a hole? …Gyah!」

She could not see the hole, so I grabbed her and jumped on the back of the Metal Lizard. Then, I let Sally-san down.

「Look, this is the hole. 」

I pointed toward the nice circular hole in the back of the Metal Lizard.

「I’ve never heard of a magic that could open the armor of the Metal Lizard like this. But, please don’t lift me without my permission.」

Sally-san looked at me with a red face. Was she angry? I wondered if it was a little scary.

「I am sorry. But do you understand it now? 」

「Yes. I understand that you are something different from just a wizard. Please don’t hold me. I will get down by myself.」

Sally-san began to descend the Metal Lizard’s back toward the tail.

「By the way, you said the method to defeat this monster is by floating in the air with the power of the wind.  But, does the magic that makes it float in the wind consume many MP?」

「Yes, it consumes a lot. Even the magical power from the fire-user wizard will consume much too. Therefore, in order to defeat a Metal Lizard, one have to assemble 10 people, both wind-user and fire-user wizards, of rank C or higher. All of them normally work together to defeat the monster. The armor of the Metal Lizard is sturdy, but the insides are very weak. If the insides were strong, the Metal Lizard would have belonged to the A-rank, but since the insides are fragile and does not have a means of attacking in the air, it is a B-rank monster.」

Even so, that sounded bad. I didn’t know what the exact ranks of wizards were, but Ain, who had very few requests of the C-rank, was not prepared to fight the Metal Lizard. It was good that I was able to do it alone. Of course, I took a huge risk. But, it worked in the end.

When I invoked the Fire Magic at that monster’s feet, I focused more on the explosion rather than the heat itself. That’s why it didn’t work.

「Is that so? I want to try that floating thing. 」

「Can you fly? 」

Ah, I had not developed Wind Magic yet, but maybe I could do it if I found a way to wield it.

「I feel that I will be able to do it one day. 」

「I see. Anyway, let’s report this to the branch manager. 」

Sally-san ran towards the Guild after saying those words.

「Yes. Do your best at work. 」

I stored the Metal Lizard in the item box and sent her off with a smile.

「What are you talking about? Kaede-san is coming too! 」

What? Me too?

5 minutes after arriving in this town, I entered the Guild with Sally-san. I noticed that Sally-san went inside, and then, Sally-san came out and pointed toward the second floor.

「Here please. 」

With that said, I went up the stairs and we stopped by the door of a room. Sally-san said, “This is the branch manager’s office”. It was the first time that I got to enter the second floor of the Guild as well as the branch manager’s office. It felt somewhat nerve-wracking.

*knock knock*

Sally-san knocked on the door. The culture of knocking the doors before entering did not change even in this different world.

「Come in. 」

Sally-san opened the door and I went inside. Sally-san closed the door without going inside.

Inside the room stood a strong old man with a wound on his eye. Even though he was an old man, his body was quite muscular. The old man suddenly moved.

「I apologize! 」

He bowed his head quite abruptly. Why? Did he do something bad?

「Eh, excuse me. I don’t what’s going on, but please raise your head.」

It felt uncomfortable to be bowed by a muscular old man.

「I see. Actually, I knew about the abnormal behavior of some monsters for quite some time. It is my responsibility to ascertain this type of situations. In fact, it was a sign that a powerful monster was going to attack. If you hadn’t defeated the Metal Lizard, it would have taken at least five days to gather enough wizards. Many people would have died. Thank you.」

Hmm. Defeating the Metal Lizard was a pain (physically), but it was a good challenge. Moreover, it was great that people were saved. I didn’t want to force myself to help, but it was good that I helped them in the end.

「By the way, as a reward, is it okay if I pay you 100,000 Tael including the subjugation of the other monsters? Of course, if you sell the material, I will buy it separately too.」

「Of course it’s okay, I’ll bring the material for the time being. I want to make a sword.」

The armor of the Metal Lizard seemed to be a good material for a sword. It could be ideal for an armor too because of its toughness.

「I see. I have one request by the way. 」

「Yes, what is it? 」

Request? Did he want to know how I defeated the Metal Lizard?

「I want you to keep quiet about the situation involving the Metal Lizard, because if this story spreads, the people will be extremely confused.」

「Because of fear? Don’t tell me that the Metal Lizard attack in numbers?」

Oh gosh. The Metal Lizard was a scary monster. It would be extremely bad news if several appeared at the same time.

「No, there is no record of two or more Metal Lizards appearing together. Anyway, only the humans and adventurers working in the Guild know about this situation. If everyone in the streets knew about this, they would not believe. This would cause great chaos and distrust. I want to avoid that.」

「Is that so?」

「Yes, it is.」

That was the case.

They decided to keep it a secret from the population. However, I wanted new weapons and armory. It looked like the people working in the Guild knew about me. Perhaps, it won’t pose a problem, but I decided to ask.

「But I want to make a weapon, so it won’t be a problem if I tell Dveragh-san about it, right? And I need to place the big corpse of the Metal Lizard somewhere, what should I do?」

「Dveragh is a stubborn fella, and above all, he doesn’t talk much to the general public, so it’s okay. Besides, he is like a member of the Guild, so he knows that much. However, I must tell you this. We don’t have a facility where you can put that huge corpse, and in addition, you’ll need special tools to process the armor of the Metal Lizard, and we don’t have such tools in this town.」

Heat, hit, mold, quench and finish! Was not it? Well, I bet that it was not easy to mold that hard material in the first place.

「Then, do I have to send the material to the place where the tools are located? How long will it take?」

「Hmm…Large and special blacksmithing tools are concentrated in Herrera. It is the dwarves’ mining town, but it is located in the mountains. Transport would be quite expensive, so I think it would cost less money and time if you transported it yourself.」

I was going to leave this town… However, Gargons seemed to be the strongest class of monsters that were usually around this town, so it should pose no problem. Still, I wanted to go as soon as possible. Moreover, today was the last day I paid for the accommodation fee.

「Yes, I will do so. 」

I decided to leave this town.

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