Hail, fair readers! I bring you another chapter! Again, expect the next one in about two weeks. This time mostly because it's the holidays and my schedule is reasonably full.

Story below!

Author: Kaburagi Haruka

Translator: s.h.i.+roiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

Chapter 33: Misfortune

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

With the matter of the orientation done, cla.s.s five had a renewed reputation.

Comparatively, cla.s.s one was beaten out by cla.s.s five, so their authority dropped heavily.

Like maybe to the point they're the target of scorn by the second and third years?

I feel kind of bad for Seele, but… well, it might be just what the doctor ordered for Gaspari's and Littenburg's idiocy.

That being the case, along with building up our fame, we're also training our weapon proficiency through daily questing.

"Kevin, keep pulling those enemy attacks! Amy, how long do you need?"

"Give me about fifteen seconds!"

Master and Kevin are facing off against three magic beasts called "forest bulls".

Forest bulls are large creatures which, if left alone, will devour and trample budding medicinal herbs. If I had to say it, they're treated a lot like vermin.

And here we have a herd of three, so getting rid of them is what was requested of us this time.

They're put firmly in the yellow rank monster category, so Yig and I are observing. Even though this was supposed to be weapon practice for me…

"Okay, here goes! O flames, be as cords and seize my foes—[Binding Flame]!"

Upon Amy's magic activating, ropes of fire formed and coiled around the forest bulls, holding all three in place.

[Binding Flame] is a spell that does damage along with stopping enemies in their tracks. Very useful for splitting up opponents.

Master is normally expert at going chant-less, so hearing a chant has a sort of fresh feeling to it.

"Looks like it worked; they won't be able to move for about thirty seconds!"

"Okay, Kevin and I will each take one of them on. Eir, you take care of the last one."

"Yup, righto—."

After my relaxed answer, I easily close the distance, and swing Agni Blaze as I pa.s.s by the beast.

With an almost comical pop, the Forest Bull's head goes flying.

Considering they have bodies that boast of being over four meters, the toughness of these magic beasts is well established… But they don't stand a chance against me.

"One friggin' slash? d.a.m.n…"

"Well, that's Eir for you. We've got thirty seconds to finish ours off too!"

As Master says that, he takes his short sword in hand and attacks the forest bull.

The small, thin blade cuts through the hide like it's not even there. It's because he's using [Magic Power Bestowal].

"Graaaaaaaah!"

Kevin slashes at the last one with his great axe, and gives off a faint light. He's been learning [Magic Power Bestowal] from Master, and he's probably trying to put it into practice.

But his still has a weak effect. It's because Kevin still doesn't have much magic power.

After that, along with the damage from [Binding Flame], they were barely taken down within thirty seconds.

There's nothing of amazing worth to pull off from forest bulls, but their meat is reasonably valuable. After taking their horns as proof of their defeat, we drain their blood so we can take them back as food.

We shouldn't have any trouble getting meat for a while. Drool.

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

We haven't done enough to raise our rank, but we're well known enough now to use the special room in the library.

We're going to start serious investigations into [Resurrection] in the afternoons now.

That said, I've still got a bunch of free time before that… And attendants can't go in the cla.s.srooms. So I'm sitting in the designated waiting room until then.

And apparently I wasn't the only one with too much time on my hands…

"Yo. You're the one who's been tagging along with the "Disaster Beast Slayer" Kevin lately, aren't you?"

"Hn?"

"If you wanna, think you could join me for some training?"

One of the cla.s.s one escorts called out to me. They're trying to drag me into something again.

"Nah, sounds annoying."

"Hah, are you scared?"

"Yup, yup, totally scared."

"You b.i.t.c.h… you're s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with me!"

"Eww, no, gross."

I've gotten a lot better at judging the strength of opponents from Yig's training. This guy is yellow rank at best. He's not up to green.

Of course there are adventurers like me whose ranks don't match their abilities, but I can tell this guy isn't someone I have to worry about.

Lately we've been radically been building up our achievements with Kevin, and these kinds of encounters have been drastically increasing.

My being more powerful than my rank is kind of well known, but people who don't know or don't believe it often come at me like this.

"You're just some run-of-the-mill brat with rumors getting to your head… I'm gonna put you back in your place!"

His patience must have finally reached its limit. He reaches out his hand to try and grab me by my collar.

I've got no reason to meekly let him get hold of me though, so I grab back at his arm, and twist it upward.

For someone at this level I don't even need to use my left eye or arm. I'm building up real battle experience and getting stronger too.

"Know what? There are plenty of idiots like you that come after me, so I don't really care about that… But think about the location a bit, will ya?"

"You little… Lemme go!"

"If you absolutely must do this, then I don't mind fighting you. But when that happens, you should be ready to die."

Saying that, I bring my left hand to his head and squeeze lightly.

My glove was in the way, so my claws didn't dig in, but that didn't keep his skull from creaking.

"A, agh…. Aghrgggh?!"

"You brat!"

"Let go of John!"

Seeing his head squeezed, and his body writhing, his buddies lose their tempers.

They're angry at me? Aren't they barking up the wrong tree?

"…"

I was getting really tired of this, so I turned the buddies of the guy I was holding, and was about to throw him.

That's when—

"Let's all calm down."

A different student's bodyguard stepped in. A short sword is hanging idly at his side, but probably only because it's not his usual weapon.

He's a well-built middle aged man. The way he stepped in told me plenty. He's pretty skilled, must be at least blue rank.

"He was the one who acted first, and the girl is holding back; she hasn't even drawn her sword. You could imagine what would happen if she took you seriously, can't you?"

"Lime's bodyguard?! Stay out of this!"

Lime? So he's Elly's attendant. I guess she really does have a good eye.

Come to think of it, these jerks react exactly like that guy in cla.s.s one. Could it be their employer told them to mess with me?

If so, then—

"Not that I care, but… Do you think Littenburg will keep you employed if you lose to me?"

It's only a guess that these guys are Littenburg's bodyguards. But their arrogance and lack of discernment are exactly like him.

"… Tsk."

They clicked their tongues and quietly sat back down. Looks like I was right.

Maybe I should give my thanks now? This other guy did basically bring this situation to a close.

"Thanks. A lot."

"Don't worry about it. My lady seems to have taken quite a liking to you."

"I'm Eir. Orange rank."

"My name's Barzay. I'm blue rank. You say you're orange rank, but you're actually more powerful than that, right?"

"Just strong as a racial trait."

I was briefed to answer this way if I'm ever asked. My arm strength exceeds the human range, after all.

According to Yig, "If we're just talking arm strength, you're equal to the Demon Lord." is what I was told.

"So including your race, you've got that level of ability. More useful than, I dunno, some guys who might let a strange sense of jealousy control them and cause pointless trouble."

"Tsk."

Balzay's sarcasm was met with tongue clicks.

Still they seemed to refrain from trying to take him on.

"Hm, Mister Balzay, you pretty famous?"

"Guess so. I'm in the upper blue and near indigo after all."

"Elly got a good hire."

"… Guess so. Well, she had some luck I suppose."

Did he seem a little hesitant to respond? Luck, though…

I was caught up in an eruption, and turned into a slave. I've got confidence in how awful my own luck is.

"Luck… huh…"

Balzay seems to notice my dissatisfied expression as I mutter intermittently, and he continues.

"Luck is a very important factor. For traps, avoiding poison, or scouting for enemies. It influences whether you will even encounter your target."

"Encounter…?"

He's not a target, but I did encounter Master.

The eruption and the slavery were misfortune, but without either one factor I couldn't have met him.

With that said, could it all be considered good luck?

In which case…

"It's different."

"Different? What is?"

"Luck is… just the results. Good things and bad things are just different interpretations of the results."

"You think so? When adventuring, there are clearly good things, and unavoidable bad things that happen."

"I was caught in an eruption. Sold to slavery. I think that's bad luck. But…"

I remember what's happened since I encountered Master.

All the people I encountered, and how I made it here. Even though it was unavoidable bad luck…

"Being here now, gaining power, and being together with Master aren't bad things."

"Oho…?"

Balzay stares my way, seemingly impressed.

"Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing can change later. At that moment it's only ‘a thing' that happened."

"Mmhm, you understand well. Whether an occurrence will be good or bad can be changed after the fact. Especially in adventuring."

He says the exact opposite of what he was just talking about. Was he testing me…?

"When adventuring, you see, boatloads of unreasonable things happen. If you give up because you got bad luck, then you won't even make it to green rank."

"Is that an adventurer's secret?"

"Yeah, anyone skilled enough takes ‘bad luck' and does something about it, even if they have to forcibly balance the books. The ones who can't do that give up and retire."

"I see."

"If you though just now that you had some bad luck, but nothing you would throw away, them I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Really? I hope that's true."

After I reply, Balzay suddenly looks away and mutters.

"I don't think I've talked with anyone about this since Lady Elly."

"Is that so?"

"With the way my lady looks, and how sheltered she is, you know. She made me talk about all kinds of things."

"Ahh, I kinda get that."

I talked a lot with her too when I first met her. Looking back, I was doing more of the talking than she was.

She's a really good listener, so my mouth just kept flapping.

"In that sense, young lady Eir, you're in much the same category."

"Really? I'm not that good at listening."

"You seem a bit tongue-tied, but you seem to make me lower my defenses… see?"

Come to think of it, a lot of the people I've confronted either held me in contempt or let their guards down and got really friendly.

I don't think that's how it was before the eruption.

What could it be? Is it some special racial trait from my mutation affecting people?

"Hrm…?"

"Hm? What?"

I can't decide if I should be telling someone about this or not. He's here corresponding favorably with me, but if it's because he's being coerced by some force to do so… I'm sure he wouldn't feel good about that.

"Nah, it's nothing. Tell me more adventurer stories?"

"You sure?"

"Our strength aside, we're beginners experience-wise. I want to hear a lot of stories."

No matter how strong we are, if we fall into a trap we'll face defeat without being able to show our abilities.

I'm hearing a lot of stories like that from Yig too. The tales are a lot more convincing coming from the person who actually experienced it.

Plus there's a chance something related to Master's goal will come up. I want to hear storied from experienced adventurers even if I have to pay for them.

"Let's see, then—"

And so I enjoyed the tales of Balzay's adventures until cla.s.ses ended.

As experienced as he is, his stories were bountiful enough even other adventurer's ears would p.r.i.c.k up for them.

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com