CH 34

Day 22- Night, the forest



For some reason, as soon as I stepped into the forest I encountered an orc, long time no see?「Thud!」



Usually, they can be only found in the hinterlands upstream, what are they doing here? Could it be, because I said that the town is popular even among the monsters, orcs decided to come out to see it? Well, the fake bandits the other day had orc faces anyway, so there might be no problem with them coming to the town. Well, I immediately beat them to death, so they won’t be going anywhere. What a pity.



No, it might be for the best that they couldn’t reach the town. Life in town is harsh. You can’t do anything without money, but there are also no paying jobs. Even when I tried to somehow save money, it got confiscated. The city is cruel and merciless. I went through some bitter experiences. And was scolded every day.



As always, the forest is filled with goblins and kobolds, but from time to time I also see orcs, what is this? Are they out for a walk? Is that town really this popular?



But, even though my level didn’t raise, orcs seem to be weaker?



Isn’t the equipment I bought from that suspicious peddler more effective than expected? I lost 8,000,000 ere, but wasn’t it worth it? 『Pheromone Ring』probably would’ve been useful as well.



At this point, I probably will have no problem fighting head-on. While I shouldn’t drop my guard, there is still no reason to slow down by moving stealthily.



In the first place, even monsters have a Level Wall. But I had no problems fighting monsters over level 10.



Well, to be more accurate I mostly bludgeoned them to death from behind, so I didn’t fight with them properly. It might be that I simply didn’t take attacks from weapon skills.



Since they aren’t saying anything aside from 「Gyoo!」or 「GYAAR」I have no idea if that’s supposed to be a weapon skill or not.



But thinking back on it, even with goblins, I did lose in a contest of strength if goblins were over level 10. That’s why I opted for sneak attacks. Even though my PoW stat is higher they pushed me back.



Could it be that those were weapon skills? So the Level Wall isn’t that absolute?



Even for the weapon skills of the fake bandits, I dodged most of them, but blocking them with the Staff? wasn’t a problem as well.



But that’s probably the effect of「Parasitic Vine – Strengthen Wooden Sticks, Staffs ? ? ? ?」that I bought from that peddler. When I put it near Staff? it twined around it, turning into「Parasitic Vine – Strengthen Wooden Sticks, Staffs. Spell Absorption ? ? ? 」. I guess that the spell absorption part absorbed weapon skills. They were making such a big fuss, that getting hit by a weapon skill means certain death, so there is no way they can be this puny.



I’m not sure if it’s ability of「Parasitic Vine」or「Staff?」but unless I take a direct hit and manage to block the attack with Staff? it might be possible to defend from those attacks.



Those annoying, unrepentant, idiotic, trash wannabes, and ordinary boys of unknown disposition, are probably over level 10 at the very least, most likely level 20 plus, in the worst case, they might even be over level 30. If their stats grow at the same rate as the girls, then they should be quite a bit stronger than ordinary denizens of this world. And they also have cheats. Forget Level Wall, chances are, I’m behind in both skills and stats as well.



・



That is if they survived in the forest. If they died then there is no problem.



They shouldn’t be allowed outside the forest.



Letting them outside will endanger not only the geeks and the girls but also the inhabitants of this world.



And if they stir some kind of trouble in this world, it would also mean problems for us. That town had no one with black hair or dark eyes. If they do something, we might be seen as their comrades or accomplices, and I can say with certainty, they never do anything good.



If possible, I wanted the geeks and the muscle brain idiots to support the girls, but I can’t find either of them.



Reaching that town without passing in front of that cave will take at least 10 days.



Then, if I can make them go around the cave, I can at least earn time, meanwhile, the girls can raise their levels. They also have the backing of the adventurers guild. I also established a connection with the lord of the town, on top of which, he owes me. They wouldn’t just stand aside and do nothing. If the geeks return during that period it would be a sufficient reinforcement. The geeks are probably the strongest in this world. They were geeking hard before, but they are probably okay by now. They must’ve gotten a lot stronger. And aside from the president, there also were other strong girls. I just have to buy time, what comes after that comes after that.



But their strength lies in cowardice, nastiness, and cruelty. No matter how much stronger the president and others become, no matter if the geeks are actually the strongest in this world, they still will be a danger.



Only I can fight them on cowardice, nastiness, and cruelty. After all, I don’t even know their names. They are just nameless nobodies who happened to be in the same class.



I’m behind in levels, skills, stats, and equipment. But I bought what I could in town, though I don’t know how effective it can be against cheat level weapons. I did what I could, I also became stronger. Since I can’t do anything about skills and stats, I should deal with them by using something else. My Luck is certainly higher. Overwhelmingly so. But I don’t feel any actual effect from it?



In the end, my only path to victory lies in improving my technique and judgment, in which case it would be better to stay in the forest.



If I can kill them it solves the problem. If I can win, it’s fine, even if it’s a draw, it still works for me. After all, time is on my side.



And if by some crazy, very unlikely, and unimaginable chance I lose and die, then the geeks and the president will be freed from their hesitation. Then they will be able to win, then they will be able to kill them. I don’t want that to happen, but their survival is more important, probably.



Which means that the only path to victory is for me to fight. Just as I planned in the beginning, just as I planned.



Well, the best case would be if they remain in the forest or just scram somewhere. Then everyone will live in peace. But I can’t hope for that. If I simply wait in town hoping for that, it will put the idiots in danger.



But the fools, the idiots, or the trash aren’t coming out of the forest.



Which means that the idiots are stalling them. They probably thought something dumb like『We didn’t believe in the geeks and the president and abandoned them. So since we are idiots anyway we will stay here and repay that debt.』and are stalling them, staying in the forest. For some kind of foolish reason like that. That’s why they are idiots.



After all, only I can compete in cowardice, nastiness, and cruelty.



Which means, the idiots are obviously not up to the task.



Anyway, I have to become stronger. Killing as many monsters as I can I might even reach level 10 if I’m lucky.



The Staff? turned into some kind of incomprehensible weapon at this point, but I’m using it as a staff.



If I swing the attack will connect, the distance doesn’t matter.



Then, if I’m faster than the enemies, then their number wouldn’t matter.



Attacks of 100 enemies can be countered with 1000 strikes.



A charge of 100 enemies can be stopped with 1000 spells.



I already had my share of combat versus humans when I fought the soldiers.



Just move quicker, attack quicker, evade quicker, just quicker, faster, swifter than any opponent. Just quicker.



It was already midnight by the time I reached the cave.



I annihilated all of the monsters I found so far, so there should be a lot of mushrooms.



After killing so many my level still didn’t rise. Aren’t requirements way too harsh?



I tested and confirmed pretty much everything I wanted, so with this, I’m done.



「It’s been a while, you don’t look good. On top of being dumb, you are now all tattered, which leaves you without a single good feature…… Are you alive?」



I splash my best potion on the idiots lying in front of the cave.



The lady from the general store claimed that it can even regrow severed limbs. Extra premium grade potion that can not only heal injuries but regenerate body parts. So they really should grow back. Severed arms, blinded eyes, broken legs, pierced bodies, everything. I already tested it, so I can say for sure, since they didn’t lose their hair they will make full recoveries.



They are really too stupid.



「「「「「Oooh, Haruka, how are you doing?」」」」」



They are actual idiots!



「Is it your place to ask others how they are doing? Are you stupid? Didn’t I tell you not to do anything stupid and go to the town? Why are you so stupid? 」



「No, we abandoned them once, so we couldn’t just retreat without throwing our lives……」



「I mean, you will return here anyway, so isn’t it better to just wait here?」



「Yeah, thank you for the mushrooms, without them we would’ve been goners.」



「Well, we thought it will work out somehow, and well, it kinda did?」



Abysmal idiocy.



「And if it didn’t work out, you would be dead? Who in their right mind will fight until even such a potent potion can’t fully recover you? If I’m not here, then why won’t you just go to the town? And throwing away your life means that you will die! You damn idiots!」



Boundless idiocy.



「「「「「Eeeh?」」」」」



「Don’t eeeeh me, why did you fight until you broke your arms? Why do you persist until you broke your legs? Why did you remain to get your eyes poked out? Why do you have spears tied to your severed arms? Why did you keep fighting despite being riddled with holes? Just how idiotic are you?」



Absolute idiots.



「Okay, I understood that your idiocy is limitless, shut up, and go to sleep.」



They are infinitely stupid. I should’ve realized what was going on when no one left the forest after so many days. I knew that this is how they are. It seems that I’m even dumber than these idiots.