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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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“You two there! If you don’t do it properly, I can’t pay you the commission!”
Before we had even taken ten steps, I raised my middle finger in response to the guide’s shout from behind us.
“I read through the damn contract, so cut the crap! If you don’t want to get hit with a penalty for breach of contract, shut your trap!”
“Wh-What?!”
The illiteracy rate in this other world must be quite high.
Although I can’t be certain since I haven’t encountered any statistics, judging from how things are going and the overall state of affairs, it doesn’t seem to be too optimistic of a level.
Adventurers are no exception to this.
While those treated as mid-level adventurers generally can read, Asirye had told me long ago that surprisingly many of them struggle to properly grasp the meaning when faced with technical terms, vocabulary, and even slightly complex sentences.
Out of concern that I might neglect studying, she would repeatedly emphasize this point, frequently bringing it up and even citing specific examples.
It’s quite common for adventurers to suffer damages or take on unnecessary tasks because they fail to properly understand contracts.
Just like those pathetic fools running up ahead over there.
“You always get foul-mouthed when you’re on an adventuring job, huh?”
“A living intellectual of this era like me merely tailors my manner to match the level of whomever I’m dealing with.”
“Sounds like nonsense to me.”
“People tend to avert their gaze from sudden truths.”
Cheryl answered by kicking a pebble in her path toward me as we walked.
By the time we were messing around like that, the adventurers had already run far ahead, covering more than half the distance.
The initial distance was maybe around 300 meters? It’s just a rough estimation by eyeballing it, but it should be more or less accurate.
When about 20 of them had halved the distance, arrows suddenly came flying out from the forest.
“F**k, archers!”
“Run! If we don’t make it into the forest and get taken down here, we’ll be target practice!”
While some coolly assessed the situation, others immediately collapsed after taking a single hit and lost consciousness.
However, no confirming arrows were actually fired at those who had fallen.
The arrows only targeted those trying to run the remaining distance into the forest.
“These f**king bastards are just toying with us?!”
Well, “toying” is a bit of an understatement, since a few people did die from that first volley.
For some reason, their training seemed to involve firing on targets outside the forest to lure and disable them, or lead them to their deaths.
It was clear they were testing those skills in a live combat scenario, not just regular practice or training.
All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind, but I asked Cheryl first.
“Do you know who the owner of this vineyard is?”
“No. Probably not a particularly powerful noble.”
“Then I guess we can just wipe out whoever’s in that forest and think about the rest later?”
To try and understand the baffling situation right in front of us, there was one conclusion.
They were using this as live combat training against green and blue-ranked adventurers.
The repeated failures by adventurer parties to subdue them made sense – it was a scenario essentially designed for failure.
They came thinking they were dealing with regular thieves, but ended up being ambushed by trained soldiers.
Against that, without magic or aura abilities, the only likely outcome for regular green and blue-ranked adventurers relying just on combat experience and fundamentals was death.
Aura users and mages only started appearing occasionally at the next tier up, the red rank.
And anyone at that level would be too skilled for these bastards to take on, which is clearly why they avoided recruiting higher than blue ranks.
“Don’t leave a single one alive.”
Having deduced that much, Cheryl, with the dignified face of a noble, gave me those instructions.
“There is not a single reason to allow such wretched beings who dare commit such slaughter at the very doorstep of the kingdom’s capital, dishonoring the royal family.”
Even a genius like her could reach no different conclusion than me from this situation.
Without waiting for my reply, Cheryl drew her sword, unleashed her aura, and charged in at a speed that made you doubt if a 15-year-old – no, if a human being – could truly run that fast.
She instantly closed the distance, reaching the forest just as another arrow came flying, having misjudged her velocity.
The arrow missed its mark entirely, as Cheryl had already gotten far ahead of it.
By the time the stray arrow hit the ground, Cheryl’s figure had already vanished into the forest.
“Aaaarrgghh!”
Simultaneously, the first scream rang out from within the woods.
Inwardly praying we hadn’t misjudged the situation, I drew my own sword as well.
“Befitting actions from a young lord’s daughter.”
If this was training, then someone must have ordered that training.
And the situation that instructor would least want is for the training to become meaningless – the surest way to make that happen being the deaths of those being trained.
So taking that as the objective, I channeled mana through my body.
Thanks to the formal aura training I’ve undertaken since joining the Ogatorf family, what used to feel like forcing myself into thick armor when channeling mana, now feels like a perfectly fitted bodysuit clinging to me.
My enhanced senses adapt as my body is strengthened by the mana flow.
The moment that familiar sensation settled into its optimal state through my extensive training, I kicked off the ground and dashed forward.
The remaining 200 meter distance shrank in less than 10 seconds.
The scenery instantly changed to a forest, and figures invisible from outside now came into view.
A look of shock spread across the face of a man who had been about to draw his bow.
“An… aura user…!”
Light armor, greaves, gauntlets, and helmet.
A shortsword at the waist but no other bags.
Three of them in total.
Confirming that the two besides the bowman hadn’t even properly reacted yet, I accelerated further.
“…User…!”
It was clear. These weren’t thieves, but soldiers.
As that judgment set in, I swung my sword in an arcing motion that seemed to suck the air in, cleanly severing the man’s head.
Continuing with the motion, it was easy work to behead the remaining two in one sweep.
Seven years of training was no idle endeavor.
Crouching warily in case of any further attacks, I briefly surveyed the area – but their dying screams seemed to get drowned out amidst the shouts of the adventurers outside the forest, not reaching any other ears.
Confirming the trenches dug around us and that Cheryl was no longer present, I resheathed my sword, seized the dead soldiers’ shortswords, and dashed deeper into the forest.
Unable to simply run unimpeded through the woods as if it were an open field, my pace had to slow considerably from before.
In that interim, I took a moment to organize my thoughts and ponder their motives again.
Asirye would probably have scolded me for letting my mind wander in combat, but the opposition was lax enough to allow it.
Still, no matter how I thought about it, the reality wasn’t easy to make sense of.
Of course, the adventurer profession is generally one deprived of human rights or civil rights on average.
Unless you hold a regular tax-paying occupation or status, the kingdom isn’t so benevolent as to extend full citizenship and protections to wandering adventurers who earn sporadic incomes.
If you bear no civic obligations, you get no civic entitlements – adventurers directly illustrate that principle better than any other vocation.
However, if the kingdom denies adventurers all rights, then unscrupulous elements could start trying to exploit that expendable labor force to handle problems on the cheap.
Naturally, that would cause the adventurer population to dwindle or disappear, leaving the kingdom overwhelmed by all the quests that adventurers had been handling.
Hence, the kingdom does extend a minimum level of treatment to adventurers.
So deceiving them about commission details or allowing them to be wronged unlawfully is punishable under the kingdom’s laws.
“Ah, one more here…!”
The moment I spotted the wary soldiers maintaining a perimeter, I threw away the two shortswords I’d been carrying.
Three of them again.
Clearly accustomed to operating as a battle unit, the sight of blades protruding from their comrades’ heads and chests sent one of them recoiling in horror just as he tried to redraw his sword.
A solid kick sent him crumpling to the ground, sword falling from his grasp.
“Ugh!”
I planted my heel on his nape after kicking him onto his back, and his body immediately started going rigid.
Honestly, I thought he’d at least try to struggle and dislodge my foot, but I suppose he had surprisingly fast judgment.
Like winning a lucky draw.
“Alright, live or die – your choice! One chance! What were you thinking, using adventurers as live training dummies like this?”
“On…orders, sir!”
“Quick answer, I like that. So I’ll give you one more chance. From now on, use that brain of yours to explain everything to me in one go for each question. If you stall, I’ll just kill you and find someone else. Whose orders?”
“Our employer’s! Count Pavera! The owner of this vineyard!”
This one’s got good reflexes, I’ll give him that.
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They’re being used as practice dummies? While they’re in the middle of war with the demons? What?