Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha

Chapter 2 : Rina the Adventurer (Part 2)

With a swing of my sword, I sliced through the Skeletons before me.

I no longer knew how many I had defeated, as I stopped counting long

ago. While I had to put in considerable effort to defeat a Skeleton in

life, those memories seemed to be lies.

I maneuvered to the back of my

skeletal foe effortlessly, bringing down my blade and once again slicing

my opponent’s white bones into two clean halves.

It was unbelievable.

The changes were not exactly brought on by an improvement in

technique, but instead, I had simply become stronger—physically, that

is. My reserves of mana, spirit, and divinity, too, seemed to increase

with each monster I defeated.

Utilizing these three aspects, I was now

capable of reinforcing my body in various ways; I was finally moving

as I had always wanted to.

These speeds were unthinkable for me in life—and yet, my body

moved smoothly and quickly.

I had suffered from blood blisters, many

of them, as I continued my training.

But no matter how hard I trained,

I did not get any faster or stronger.

The reality now, however, was different. My body moved as I

instructed it to; there were no mistakes in my movements.

I could also

see my enemy’s movements clearly—my senses were sharper than they

had ever been. Adventurers who had surpassed me surely saw the

world this way, as well.

I remembered how I was in life, how I’d been unable to see anything

at all. If possible, I would have wanted to reach this degree of power

while I still drew breath; although I supposed that was now

impossible.

But perhaps I should be grateful for the fact that I was still

fully in control of my faculties, even in death.

With this, I might even

be able to reach my dream of becoming a Mithril-class adventurer…

It was with this thought that a question rose up in my mind:

Will I continue being an adventurer after all this time?

Of course, there were many different kinds of adventurers. One

became an adventurer if one wanted to, but many adventurers stopped

after plateauing at the Bronze level, much like myself.

With some

special exceptions, anyone could become an adventurer as long as they

were at least 15 years of age.

However:

Could a monster be an adventurer?

With that, another question rose up from the depths of my mind.

Perhaps it was possible—such was the answer I had arrived at, as if it

were some sort of common sense.

However, reality was not so kind. I thought about the situation some

more. If, for instance, a Ghoul simply turned up at an adventurer’s

guild one day, then simply walked up to the receptionist’s counter,

extending its half-rotted hand while speaking in its crackled, half-

growl of a voice…

“Ay… Adven… Turer. Rev… Revis… Ter… Me!”

It was like something out of a horror story.

The receptionist would definitely refuse. In addition, she would

instantly press the panic button under her desk, immediately

summoning strong adventurers from the immediate area, or even the

guild master himself. And like that, the Ghoul would be disposed of—

and that would be the end of it.

With that being said, however… It did not cross my mind, not even

once, that I may be unable to continue adventuring—until now, that is.

I supposed I should stop thinking. More importantly, I had to think

of how I would continue living from here on out, as I still had a dream

to fulfill: to become a Mithril-class adventurer.

After all this, the bottleneck that I had struggled with for the longest

time had been removed.

I now had the talent and aptitude for

adventuring…in exchange for the perils of my current monstrous form.

If this form prevented me from adventuring, however, that would be

a big issue. I came to the conclusion that I had to think of a way to

continue adventuring, no matter how I looked, or what I became.

Although I had mentioned the generous policies of the guild

multiple times, I supposed expecting the guild to accept a monster into

their ranks was asking a bit too much.

I had asked Rina to purchase clothes on my behalf, but that did not

solve one other significant problem. A robe could hide most of my

disheveled body, but it could not hide my face nor my arms.

I would,

naturally, have to lean in when reading or handing over gold and

ingredients—hiding my arms was impossible to say the least.

I looked at my arms in resignation. They were, as I had expected,

very much rotted and dry. There was no other way to put it.

In fact, the color of my skin seemed to have gotten worse—while it

was just brown not too long ago, it was now streaked with lines of

black.

I would be amazed if a living human being did not react to how

my arms looked. Though, perhaps there might be some individuals

who could look past that and not mind interacting with me…

No. That was just wishful thinking.

I, Rentt Faina, was not exactly famous for my adventuring prowess

—but my face was one thing that was widely known, despite my

reputation as “The Thousand-year Bronze-class.”

I was famous, or

perhaps infamous, for not giving up in my endeavors, and was well-

known across Maalt as a result.

In other words, more than half of the adventurer’s guild of Maalt

knew how I looked in life.

If I were to suddenly show up with my arms

in this shape, I would surely be asked many questions.

The guild’s staff would continue asking after me out of worry,

thinking that I had been afflicted by one terrible monster or other in

the labyrinth.

In their quest for information, my robe would inevitably

be pulled off forcibly—and that would be that. Though I could see

myself making one excuse or another if it were only my arms…

For example, let’s say that a monster sucked the life out of my

hands; that would be possible. However, it would be over once they

saw my face.

Although I was not in possession of a mirror, my face was evidently

Ghoulish. I would surely be hunted down and eliminated regardless of

my reasons or situation—especially since I had fallen and lost my

humanity.

Things did not look very good at all.

The situation did not lend itself to any other interpretations, and

once again, I found my will wavering.

But I had already made up my mind.

The only problem here was my appearance.

If I could do something

about how I looked, a solution would surely reveal itself to me.

To do

that, I had to calm down, and once again focus on my initial goal—that

of achieving Existential Evolution.

Until I began to appear at least

somewhat human, I should stay away from the adventurer’s guild.

It

did occur to me, however, that I would no longer have a source of

income.

A familiar voice soon jolted me from my many considerations of

worries and problems.

“…Rentt! …Mister Rentt! Are you there? Somewhere?!”

That voice belonged to none other than Rina Rupaage, the girl

whom I had sent away to purchase clothes on my behalf.

“…Eek!”

Accidentally bumping into me as she continued her search, Rina the

adventurer inadvertently let out a squeal of surprise.

While one would

not typically expect a scream as a reaction when meeting with an

acquaintance, I suppose it was unavoidable given my appearance.

Rina, apparently still terrified, began speaking in a still-shaky voice.

“Uh… Um… M-mister Rentt…? Is that you…? Or, um, are you

another one of his Ghoul friends…?” questioned Rina, with her sword

at the ready.

I could not possibly blame her. Ghouls were, after all, nigh

t impossible to tell apart.

Their bodies and dried flesh were by and large

of similar colors, which definitely did not help with the task.

At the

very least, I was equipped with weapons and armor. Though higher-

ranked Ghouls did look similar to me, weapons and all, a beginner like

Rina was probably not privy to the fact.

As such, I calmly answered Rina’s question:

“…Y… Yes. I…am. Ren… Rentt.”

While dry, my voice was coherent—I had been practicing ever since

my last encounter with Rina.

My voice was now clearer and easier to

understand—at least, it felt that way.

But I could not be sure; I was

simply speaking to myself due to a lack of conversational partners,

after all, hence my feelings on the matter.

Rina, however, seemed relieved.

“Ah… That’s great! I was wondering what I’d do if it wasn’t you…

Hmm? Your speech seems to have gotten a little better…”

It would seem like I was not just imagining things after all.

“I… P-practice. Practiced. To be… Able. To talk… More.”

“Oh, is that so? That’s great, too! Then entering town shouldn’t be a

problem… Oh! Right—here you go, the things you asked me to get!

And here’s your change!”

With that, Rina held out a bag. Upon closer inspection, it appeared

to be a bundle of objects, including the robe that I had asked her to

buy for me.

With some excitement, I eagerly advanced toward Rina.

She,

however, involuntarily retreated, a look of apprehension on her face.

The shock made me stop dead in my tracks.

Rina hastily offered an

explanation.

“I… I’m sorry. Um. You’re still a little scary… Could you give me a

while to g-get used to you…?”

It was as Rina said. I suppose this was how things really were.

There

was nothing much I could do about how I looked—if anything, I was

grateful for the fact that Rina willingly communicated with me, given

that I looked like a monster to begin with.

I offered my response:

“…N… No. I don’t… Mind at… All. More importantly… Can I look…

At the bag?”

Rina’s reply was, at least, a little more cheerful than before.

“Yes! Please do! I bought some other things along with the robe you

wanted; you should have a look at them!”

With her approval, I slowly walked up to the bag, peering at the

contents within.

◆◇◆◇◆

Reaching into the bag after confirming its contents, I grasped onto

the robe with my hands, pulling out the garment and inspecting it

closely.

It was relatively spacious and billowing, in addition to being

pitch-black. It also came with a hood, which I found convenient for my

needs in particular.

Robes like these were largely worn by mages and

the like, and I would have never thought to wear one in life.

If anything, it was a hindrance to swordsmen. As I was now,

however, the ability to hide myself in its depths was a godsend, as the

robe covered me neatly from head to toe; it even sported long sleeves

to hide my arms. With this, paying for items at shops would be a

breeze.

I applauded Rina’s fashion sense—she had accurately understood

what I’d wanted despite my simple instructions. With that being said,

clapping was impossible for my dried-out hands.

Shelving that thought, I decided to try on the garment. My arms fit

cleanly into the robe’s sleeves, and the material was quite pleasant to

the touch.

Having that sense of touch while being in a body of nothing

but dried flesh was somewhat surprising; not to mention my newfound

ability to move in such an agile manner. Thinking about it calmly,

though, I was still a monster—surely that was the reason for these

irregularities.

One must also consider if a piece of equipment presents any issues

with movement while in combat, in addition to being comfortable.

Quickly raising the robe’s hood, I decided to find out, and was

pleasantly surprised by the results. While my field of view was

somewhat constricted by the hood, I had no issues with seeing straight

ahead; I could even safely peek at my surroundings to a certain extent.

If I were to be surrounded, however, I would have no choice but to

lower it—but that wouldn’t be necessary should I be engaged in

combat with only one or two monsters.

“…How is it? Is it to your liking?”

“…O-oh. Y… You. Surprised me there.”

Rina had apparently seen fit to approach me as I was trying on the

hood.

She was now a lot closer to me than she had ever been, despite

the fact that she had been visibly terrified of me mere minutes ago.

Although she was still holding her sword, the “business” end of its

blade was no longer pointed at me.

Is she already getting used to me?

I wondered if she had a habit of becoming comfortable with new

things so suddenly.

“…C… Clothes. Good fit. Mo… More importantly. Are you… Not

scared? Scared… Of me?”

“No, not at all! I mean, you’ve hidden most of your non-human

parts, so… It’s not too hard for me to stand at this distance,”

Rina said,

about three steps away from me.

—A little shorter than the reach of her blade, if I had to put it that

way.

It would seem that she was at a clear enough distance to respond

appropriately should anything go wrong. Contrary to the initial

expression I had of her, it would seem that Rina was relatively

cautious.

Even so, I saw this as a great improvement—that was what I

thought at least as I continued inspecting Rina’s movements.

While one could say that the entire chain of events, starting with me

being eaten by a Dragon and being reborn as an undead Skeleton, was

somewhat unlucky, meeting Rina was probably the most fortuitous

thing that had happened to me thus far.

Although it was true that I did save her life, there wouldn’t normally

be humans that could unflinchingly speak with monsters.

And even if I

did not know what the future held, the fact that Rina continued to

cooperate with me was something I was extremely grateful for.

“Oh, yes… That’s right. I bought some other things, too… Here, see?

Shoes, and gloves, and even a belt. It’d be bad if you were seen in the

streets with those hands and feet, right?”

Saying so, Rina reached into the bag, withdrawing the

aforementioned items before setting them down gently on the ground

of the labyrinth.

Both the shoes and gloves were made of quality leather; color-wise,

however, both items were subdued, presumably chosen so that they

would not stand out.

I found this greatly pleasing. To begin with, I hadn’t asked Rina for

such things—in my situation, I could only think of asking for a robe.

And yet Rina had unexpectedly read between the lines, thinking in

great detail about the items I would need to make it back to Maalt

safely. I could not help but wonder if there was another world out

there where young girls chose suitable articles of clothing for

monsters.

Having met the first person who treated me kindly since I had

turned into a monster, I felt like I could cry—but alas, such was not

possible with this body.

In any case, I decided to put on both the shoes and gloves. Due to

the nature of my dried flesh, I was not quite sure if either article would

be useful for me, but for now, I settled with at least wearing them.

With that in mind, I stuffed my feet into the shoes, while adjusting

the oddly spacious gloves with my free hand. It was difficult to hold

my weapon through these gloves, and while the implications were

worrying, I accepted this as part of a necessary sacrifice in order to

return to Maalt.

“Wow… That’s quite the intimidating aura. You look like… What do

they call those things again? Wights…? Yeah, you look like a Wight!

Oh, right, I have a mirror here, too. How’s this?”