Volume 2 - CH 164

T/N : I’m sorry that I unintentionally skipped one chapter (4-9), you can click the previous chapter or ToC to see it.

T/N2 : The kids call Ouren Onii-san and Onii-chan, but Jigul uses both of them. And they use Sensei (Teacher, Doctor, Master) to call Irza.

The food has been laid out on the table and everyone takes their seats and begins to eat.

All of Irza’s food is delicious and well balanced, and it is obvious at a glance that she cares about the children.

Is there such a thing as nutritional balance in this world as well ……?

Well, let’s not go too deep into that.

“Is Mina and Muu learning how to cook?”

“Yes! It would be hard if it was just the doctor who did it all!”

“Indeed…….”

“Well, with all these people here, you know… Jigul is a big eater.”

Certainly, Jigul is eating as if he is wolfing down the food in front of him.

It’s not very well mannered, but if you’re an adventurer, you’d better be able to finish what you can quickly.

However…… since he has returned to a place where he can be at ease…… he should at least calm down for this time.

“You guys have grown up so much since the last time I saw you all. Jigul is an adventurer, Mina and Muu are now poster girls, and Jin has a good memory. …… I think you can do without Irza.”

“Hold up, Ouren-san?”

“”I want to try it!””

“Yes…… I can remember most of the things that the doctor taught me…… so I can do the mixing and blending and stuff like that.”

“And the materials! I’m sure you’ll be fine as long as you have me to gather them for you.”

“You guys?”

They have a lineup that really looks like they could do it.

I heard that Jin was not only knowledgeable about products, but also able to mix compounds.

Perhaps I could learn to mix and blend from Jin, too.

Irza tried to rebuke these children, but they seemed to be a little excited at the prospect of actually being able to do it.

However, Jigul is probably still not strong enough, and I’d like him to keep working for Irza until he comes of age, I think she really takes my words for real ……

“Well, until all of you come of age, you’re going to have to learn a lot of things from Irza.”

“”Yes.””

They are all still children. They need someone to ook out for them.

Mm, come to think of it, I was wondering about Jigul’s scars.

I don’t know how it happened. …… He seems to be pushing himself a little too hard.

” You know, the one that bothers me the most about all of you is Jigal. …… What have you been up to now? And what’s with the scar? You seem to be doing a lot of reckless things.”

“Hehehe …… a little bit…….”

“Sigh,…… 【 Great Heal】 .”

The people here should already know my skills by now, so I can use my skills without worrying about anything.

For now, I decided to heal all of Jigul’s scars with a great heal.

“Wow! That’s awesome! Thank you, Onii-chan (Big bro)!”

“You’re welcome……. keep this skill a secret. It would be a problem if anyone found out.”

“As an adventurer, I’d know that.”

It seemed that it was needless to say.

But the other three did not seem to know the reason, so Irza was the one who explain it to them.

It is a very bothersome skill because if it is discovered, the country and adventurers will target it, nonetheless, its potency is very strong.

I was puzzled as to why this could not be used casually, but it is the kind of world I live in, so it can’t be helped.

“So? What have you been up to now, Jigul?”

“I….. registered as an adventurer right after Onii-can went away with Alena. I wanted to be a bodyguard! So the teacher gave me a month to learn magic, and that …… was really hard…….”

Apparently, she made him finish the training in a very short period of time.

But to be able to use magic in one month is very rare at his age, isn’t it?

Irza’s guidance may have been the factor, but I would like to believe in Jigul’s talent and sense of perception here.

Since then, Jigal has been earning money by going out of town and helping out in the Kingdom of Salettana, and just recently, he seems to have put together a full set of equipment.

His rank is E, which is the same as ours, so he is able to accept requests to take down the monsters.

However, he has yet to receive any requests to take down a monster, and is currently picking medicinal herbs and doing other odd jobs in the kingdom.

“It’s good to be cautious. Young folks tend to rush ahead on the spur of the moment.”

“…… Onii-chan is young too, right?”

“…… guess so?”

Sure, I’m young.

I’m not even half a year old yet, after all.

However, there was no way I could say such a thing to the children, so I avoided the situation by simply responding in vague terms.

“Doesn’t Jigul ever go in a party or anything?”

When I asked Jigul that, he frowned a little and then smiled bitterly.

It seems that there is something going on.

“Hmmm …… I’ve been in party a few times and ……  I usually get kicked out. They don’t want cowards in their party.”

“Cowards? How come they keep saying that to you?”

“Well,…… maybe because I’m in the back of the line all the time supporting them. And the rewards are not enough to make it as a party, so I try to make money picking herbs and stuff. That’s why they call me a coward because I don’t want to be in the front line.”

I can’t say for sure since I haven’t actually seen Jigul’s fighting style, but I would guess that he basically stands behind and keeps an eye on his surroundings and so on.

I’m not sure why he’s being called a coward for doing just that, though.

Still, I think it is a very good thing that he is trying to help them by picking medicinal herbs and so on.

As Jigal says, it is very tough to finance my  life only with the commission money from the party.

Therefore, I don’t think Jiggle is doing anything wrong.

Even though I am not yet a fully trained adventurer, I am still doing similar things to Jigul, despite the difference in skill level.

So I don’t see anything wrong with that behavior, and if anything, he should be a good eye to watch the back of the party.

“Hmmm, so you’re solo now?”

“That’s right. I make more money alone and I’m tired of being kicked out of …… so many times.”

He can make more money alone …… that would certainly be true.

One person would be guaranteed a day’s lodging and food just for accomplishing one low-ranked request.

If you gather herbs and other medicinal plants along the way, you should be able to gather equipment in a short period of time, as Jigul was able to do now.

However, there are things that should not be done.

“That doesn’t impress me. From what you’re telling me, I’d say your power only comes into play when you have other people working with you, wouldn’t you?”

“Hmmm…but you know what, ……? I’ve lost confidence in my ability to do this as a party~……”

“Let’s see what you can do after we eat.”

“Eh?”

“If you are going to go on your own, you will have to show me that you are capable of doing it. I’m sure you will show me the magic that Irza taught you, right? Irza, may I?”

“Yes, of course. I think I can trust you with this matter, Ouren-san.”

Jigul was still trying to wrap his head around the situation, but it was completely unthinkable for him to continue to go solo.

And if you don’t know the importance of your companions, it could affect your career in the future.

As for me, I’ve been helped by my friends a lot……

“Wow! It’s a mock battle between Onii-san and Jigul! Let’s eat up, everybody!”

“E-eeeeh? Seriously?”

“What, you don’t want me to do it?”

“I mean, no, that’s not it! Are you going to be alright, Onii-san? It’s not like I’m bragging but, I’m pretty strong, you know?”

“Good, I’m gonna break that big nose of yours.” (*overconfidence)

I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm, but I feel like I’ve been made a fool of, so I decide to eat quickly and go outside.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t shown Jigul and the others my power yet.

I hadn’t shown it to Irza either, so I guess Irza couldn’t tell the kids much about me either.

Jigul looked very worried as he ate his meal, but he looked kind of happy.

I ate the meal that was in front of me, imagining what kind of attack Jigul was going to make, and left Irza’s magic store.

◆

“Okay, around here I guess.”

The place we chose for the mock battle was in the backyard of Irza’s magic tool store.

I couldn’t use any big skills, but since Jigul had trained here, I knew he wouldn’t have the skills to blow up the whole area.

All that was left was for me to take it easy on him.

“Jigul! Get on with it!

“Onii-chan too-!”

“Of course!”

“Alright, alright.”

It’s a small gallery, but I can’t show them my embarrassment if they are watching us.

I want to see how good Jigul is with the sword, and I’m going to pull out my wakizashi and get ready.

Come to think of it, this was the first time I pulled out my Wakizashi in battle.

The black blade of the sword is as black in color as ever, and it seems to be swallowing up the light of day.

Although it is worthy of the name [KageOrochi] …… well, I’ll use this one for this mock battle.

Jiguul, on the other hand, drew a longsword from his back and held it with both arms.

Although the length of the sword was not suitable for his height, his posture was more solid than I expected.

“Wh- what’s with that sword….. Onii-chan.”

“It’s not a mere sword. This is the one that was made for me in the Oni’s village. Don’t get hurt, okay?”

“And the long one?”

“I don’t use that one. I might not be able to hold back.”

“Well, then, I’ll make you pull it out!”

“That’s the spirit.”

Jigul takes the upward stance.

Then the sword began to glow faintly with light.

” Hmm?”

” 【 Solar Sword】 .”

I see. From the name, that is a skill that gathers the light of the sun, right?

But does the light of day really change the power of attack that much? ……

The light is not so bright as to be dazzling, but I could sense that it is a very powerful skill.

“Here I go, Onii-chan!”

“Come on! I’m ready anytime!”

“Take this!”

A straight swing from the upper position.

I didn’t know what he was trying to do because he swung his sword at a distance that clearly didn’t hit me, but a ray of light flew toward me at a different time.

“Whoa!?”

I avoided it and got away with it.

It’s hard to avoid the attack at first sight because it’s unpredictable, but …… now I know Jigul’s skill well.

It’s a skill that allows him to send out rays of light.

It is very similar to the one that makes Yurie’s slashes fly, so I know that this skill is very strong.

I don’t want to test the attack power because it looks painful, but when I looked back, I saw that the ground had been scraped up.

“Hey! I told you it was a mock battle! Are you trying to kill me?”

“I’m not done yet!”

“Just listen to me. ……”

Jigul shoots rays of light at us without care, so for now I just hide in the shadow of the tree and let it pass.

I didn’t think he had a long-range attack, but once I got close, I had a chance to win.

I took advantage of the moment when the attack stopped for a moment and quickly swooped out to close in.

“Ha!”

“Heiyya!”

Jigul swung his sword as hard as he could and slashed down from the lower level.

Still, I’m not stupid enough to take the impact of that slash, and I’m not so naive as to let it go to my head.

I hit him with a slight blow with my sword, shifted the trajectory of the sword, and evaded him with a slight half-step.

Then Jigul’s sword stabbed deep into the ground, creating a large gap, and I tried to take advantage of it and hit Jigul with the hilt, but Jigul used the sword to move his body, evading my attack and kicking me off with his foot.

“Mhh!”

“Yosha! First strike!”

He pulls out the sword, which has been deeply stabbed, using his body weight to force it out, and then takes it up again.

How strange it is that he does this.

Unlike Reizen, it is a bit tricky to evade and attack using the objects around you.

Well, am I that weak in close combat?

Well, it may be no wonder in my current state.

” 【 Luminous】 “

“Oh”

I thought I heard a familiar skill name and my surroundings went blank.

But alas, Luminous doesn’t work on me.

I quickly approached him and launched an attack, and he looked surprised and immediately turned his sword toward me.

“How!?”

“Too bad. Flash doesn’t work on me. That’s one of the things you have to learn about enemies like that! There you go!”

“Gueh!”

I put my foot to the ground and let Jigul roll over.

He was able to roll over quickly because he is still lightweight, but Jigul was able to deal with the follow-up attack by swinging his sword as he rolled over.

How dexterous of him.

My leg was hit by the sword, and I lost my leg with a burst of brown blood.

“eh……?”

“Hmm, this is a mistake.”

After that, the thing that had been Ouren lost its color and fell down with a thud.

Jigul looked at the dirt that had been Ouren’s form in a daze, apparently still unable to grasp what had happened.

“Onii-san?!”

“You fool, I’m still alive”

“Gueehe!”

I land a chop to the back of Jigul’s head from behind.

Jigul quickly moves away and looks at me, but he doesn’t seem to fully grasp the situation yet as he alternates between looking at me and the dirt.

“H-How?”

“I made a clone of myself when I hid behind a tree earlier. I was too far out of your sight at that time.”

It was the first time for me to create a person with 【 Create Golem】  but it was surprisingly easy, and I was able to create a normal clone.

But it was very difficult to manipulate, so I could not make good moves, but this seemed to be enough against Jigul.

And as for me, the main body, I just used the 【 Assasination】  to eliminate all of my presence to the utmost limit.

He never would have guessed that I was behind him the whole time.

He was a little frustrated, so he immediately took up his sword and swung it at me, but there was no way that such an attack would work on me, the main body.

“Buhe!”

“You have a straight line of attack. And each blow is heavy, but your movement is slow before proceeding to the next move.”

“Take this!”

“That attack could have been done before I was done talking, couldn’t it?”

I get the impression that he is taking too much time to make his next move.

Because the opponent will not wait for you, and if you trip, fall, or show an opening as long as you have a sword, they will attack you, so you must not be slow in your decision making.

Presumably, Jigul was taught by Irza about magic, but not about swordsmanship.

Irza is a magician, and I never once saw her with a sword.

In other words, all of the attacks Jigul had just made on me were self-taught.

Now that I had a general idea of Jigul’s strength, there was no point in continuing the mock battle any longer.

“Alright, that’s it. You’re not even there yet.”

“Onii-san is too strong……”

“Huh? What are you talking about? I’m better at fighting with [skills] than with swordsmanship.”

“….. you gotta be kidding, right?”

“I’ve never learned swordsmanship. Probably.”

If that were the case, Jigul was giving me a look like he doesn’t know why I’m so precise in my movements, but I don’t know this either.

Maybe I did something in a previous life, but I have no idea because my memory is kind of blurred or something like it was completely gone.

Well, anyway, I’m sure that my past life has been useful in this world, so I murmured in my mind, GJ my past life.

I let Jigul stand up, and the mock battle ended with a few applause reaching my ears.