Volume 4 Chapter 12 The Platinum Torch Adventurer
Suddenly, following 'Handless,' the another figure emerged from the rubble.
"Yeah, that's right. Ah, I had so much fun raiding the underworld~"
A voice of regret echoed at Handless' return announcement, coming from a figure clad in full armor. Since it was a female voice, it made me feel uneasy.
Her form was incredibly round. She was covered head to toe in a round armor that resembled an onion or perhaps a pumpkin.
What was peculiar was how unusually small the silhouette was, with the top of the head reaching just around Handless' chest area. Probably slightly larger than Ridge.
One could imagine that inside the full-body armor was a physique that would normally render one immobile, but...
"Here I go."
However, the petite figure in full armor leaped lightly. With a thud, her entire armor made a sound upon landing.
Probably a member of the 'Handless' party. She must be a gold ranking adventurer.
"Mudi. It's been a while since I last saw you."
Sandra has given Handless a casual nickname without permission.
On the other hand, the other members are not as calm as Sandra.
"Hey, Wade-kun..."
Ice, looking puzzled, asks me how to handle this situation. She's asking me to fulfill my duty as the leader.
I didn't hesitate.
"Sorry! Please help!"
Everyone in the room reacted to my shout. The party members widened their eyes in surprise, Eiosnight looked puzzled, and then...
"Huh?"
With a face not hiding his irritation, the Platinum's Handless glared at me.
"What's up with you? You're so young. Why is a newbie like you here in the depths?"
"We fell into a teleport trap! Please help! With our current abilities, we can't return from here!"
"Ugh, such a hassle..."
In a lackluster manner, 'Handless' scratched the back of his head. Then, the petite girl in full-armor spoke.
"Hey! Let's help them out, they look pitiful. I mean, those boys and girls in the party are already amazing just by surviving here, right? We, adult, have to protect the potential of these young and talented kids."
"Ugh, so annoying. I mean, who's the guy who's reaping the potential of those kids in the underworld even saying?"
"Huh, but don't demons lack human rights? If extermination is allowed, isn't plundering and killing them the norm?"
"You bastards...!"
Listening to the conversation of the Handless party, Eiosnight To trembled with anger.
"I cannot forgive your blasphemy! I will destroy you right here!"
Eiosnight shattered a crystal and summoned the lion from before. The lion roared and summoned several crystal shards.
Handless said,
"Brahma."
A barrage of crystal shards came flying. Handless stood there unaffected, with a calm expression on his face.
"...Tsk. Another mysterious power...!"
Eiosnight was astonished. Meanwhile, Handless looked at us with a bored expression.
"Well, I guess that's fine. If it's a request, then it's all about the money. So, big gold coins, let's see, five people. That means five coins each."
"Can you pay?" Handless asked with a sly smile. I replied immediately.
"Understood! Please help us!"
"...Huh?"
Handless, who seemed to be teasing, suddenly turned displeased and glared at me.
"What are you saying, you brat? People like you can't pay five big gold coins. Do you understand? It's 50 gold coins or 5000 silver coins. Or do I need to convert it to copper coins for you to understand the value?"
"We've got it! Our total assets are exactly five big gold coins! It's cutting it close, but we can pay!"
"What!? Are you lying, you brat!"
Handless shouted angrily. Certainly, it's hard to believe that young guys like us have that amount of money, especially since we don't have it with us at the moment.
Then, the exhausted Clay said in a small voice,
"Let's put on an act. Please go easy on the hitting performance."
"Huh?"
"―――Wade-kun! Are you really going to drink it!? That bluff just now! We've struggled so much to gather those five big gold coins!"
Clay yelled while holding his injured arm. I understood his point, so I slapped Clay's cheek.
"You idiot! It's more important to survive this situation even if we end up penniless!"
In a situation where Clay, who suffered a serious injury, was sent flying by a punch, Handless widened his eyes. Then he said,
"...Seriously, do you guys have it?"
Clay and I locked eyes. Clay, you've really helped me.
"It's true! Really, we have assets worth five big gold coins! So, please help us with that!"
"...Ugh. Damn it. I didn't want to carry any more baggage. I never thought we'd run into rich kids like you in a place like this."
Handless clicked his tongue and then said, "Fine. Once you spit it out, you can't take it back. I'll help you."
"Oh, that's great. He's unpredictable, but he keeps his promises."
The petite figures in full-armor said so as she makes noise and moved in her full-body armor.
And the two of them said to each other,
"Well, since we have a client waiting, escaping takes priority. But Damn it."
"Yeah. I wanted to kill that demon guy over there, but what should we do?"
"If they're in the way, just kill them."
"Got it, no problem."
Wearing full-body armor, the petite girl crouched down and began digging something into the ground. I watched in amazement. It's runes. Magic circles embedded with runes containing three or more characters for some reason.
"Uh, i-is that... okay? It's a rune, but it has more than three characters."
"Huh? You know a lot, huh. Well, it's fine. This is a super expertly crafted major rune."
Then, the petite girl in full-body armor said, "Alright," and Handless headed towards Eiosnight.
"Don't mess around... Do you think I'll just overlook your slaughter, your blasphemy...!"
"Oh? What if you don't overlook it? Tell me, huh?"
Handless maintained a provocative attitude. Eiosnight hesitated slightly, then rallied.
"I will stop your atrocities! Come forth! Crystal Titan!"
From his pocket, Eiosnight took out a crystal with a particularly large shine. He crushed it and scattered the fragments. They reconstructed themselves and appeared cramped even in the space between thrones that seemed to be tens of meters high.
"Now, can you catch this giant's blow with your bare hands!? Bring it on, you mocker!"
The giant, with arms as big as a human body, swung its fist forward. Handless stared at it head-on.
"How pathetic."
Handless stopped it. With just one finger.
"Hey, don't stop, giant! This is just a trick! If you keep attacking, eventually..."
The giant shouted and repeatedly struck Handless with its fists. Handless found it too bothersome to defend against them, so he just stood there.
After a few minutes, when the petite girl in full-armor said, "Enough already," Handless replied, "Oh, okay."
"Well, then, I'll return all the impacts I've received so far."
The crystal giant's hand, which continued its attack, was torn off by Handless as easily as pulling off sticky clay. Despite Ios's trembling, Handless rolled up the torn-off crystal giant's hand.
"Take this."
The giant's fist was thrown back in a light tone. Handless turned on his heel.
"Namu."
And then, the giant's fist exploded. The crystal giant received the explosion, shattered all over, and collapsed.
As glittering fragments scattered and fell, Ios said,
"So you've stored all the giant's attacks within yourself."
"Oh, surprising, isn't it? You've come this far without showing any signs of breaking down... You're quite something even among demons, huh? I will definitely kill you. Looking forward to it."
"Feel free to come anytime. That will be the time when you shatter into pieces."
Eiosnight and Handless glared at each other with intense eyes, then both looked away. Handless grabbed my hand. I quickly picked up the iron lump sword at my feet.
"Here, I'll transport the client's request carefully, okay!"
I was forcefully pushed and found myself standing on a magic circle drawn on a suit of armor.
Suddenly, the scenery changed in an instant. It was a dark, prison-like space made of stone, but I realized it was built in a similar style to structures on the surface.
Ice and Sandra appeared one after another, carrying the near-death Clay and Toxy, followed by the fully armored figure. Finally, Handless appeared and destroyed the magic circle by stepping on it.
Handless smirked and said,
"Well, client? Can I receive the reward for completing the request?"
With a sly smile on Handless' face, I let out a dry laugh and collapsed in relief at having survived.
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