Volume 2 Chapter 16 Interlude - Adventurer Randy
After participating in a Feast in the Village.
Before the sun even rose, Randy and Liz finished their preparations and left the village, waved off by the village head and the villagers. Their goal was to track down the source of the orc problem. Today, they aimed to investigate the forest they checked out yesterday in more detail.
The two returned along the path they walked yesterday and arrived at a small forest not far from the village.
"The forest isn't that big, so I think we can find it pretty easily."
The small forest was mostly the territory of small beasts and animals. Larger beasts usually avoid small forests because they feel cramped. However, this time, they were dealing with a beast that likely chased away the orcs. If it was still hiding in this forest, they should find it quickly.
As the 3 of them entered the forest and walked a bit further, they saw fallen trees in front of them. Following the path of the fallen trees, they ventured deeper into the woods...
Dragged marks.
The remains of an orc.
Four footprints.
Scraped bark.
...And deeper in, they spotted a dull-colored lizard shining in the sunlight.
"...An Armor Lizard."
"Hmm, not a tough one!"
Suddenly, Ellie appeared and said, "I'm going to take another nap," before disappearing without a trace.
"Was she expecting something?"
"Looks like it."
Liz gave a wry smile, and Randy sighed, "What a berserker." It seemed Ellie was hoping for a strong enemy, but the culprit was just an Armor Lizard, which might barely reach C-rank.
Armor Lizard.
A lizard nearly 2 meters (6'7") long with a metallic shell. Its hard shell, divided into sections like an armadillo, could withstand most physical attacks, making it a terrible match for beasts like orcs.
Its rank usually hovers between D and C, depending on its size. It was slow and relied on its tough body for attacks. If the party had a magician, the difficulty would drop significantly, which is why it was in that rank range.
From the traces they saw, it was definitely larger than C-rank. If it wasn't in a group, it would be a D-rank orc, and due to its poor match-up, it likely ruled this forest as a predator.
That said, the ones here were a muscle-bound fighter swinging a log and the strongest witch.
"This just got boring. What should we do? It's not a problem to leave it alone, right?"
"No way. We don't know what could happen, so let's take it down."
Nodding at Liz's words, Randy walked toward the dull shine in the distance. As the path widened and more fallen trees appeared, a giant lizard came into view.
"Wow. That's pretty big. The orc must have tasted really good."
With a smile, Randy snapped his fingers. He had heard that the Armor Lizard's shell could sell for a good price. So, he thought it would be a waste to just slash it with his greatsword.
The Armor Lizard opened its mouth wide and roared at Randy. The roar shook the air, causing birds to fly from the trees, and Liz instinctively covered her ears with both hands.
The two stared each other down...
The Armor Lizard made the first move.
With its 4 legs, it charged at Randy with a heavy thud.
Its massive body moved with surprising speed, unlike what you'd expect from a slow Armor Lizard.
But still, it was just an Armor Lizard. To Randy, it wasn't that fast.
The giant lizard charged, its hard shell on its head aimed at Randy.
A loud crash and shockwave, which seemed impossible for a human to create, shook the branches and leaves of the trees.
"Randy──."
Liz shouted without thinking, but what she saw was Randy stopping the Armor Lizard's charge with one hand.
"It's big, but the Greater Lizard from Beast Forest is stronger."
That was obvious. The Greater Lizard was B-rank. Even though this Armor Lizard had grown large, it was at most C-rank. There was no way a big Armor Lizard could defeat Randy, who could crush a B-rank Greater Lizard with one hand...
Randy lightly pushed his right wrist, which had stopped the charge, forward.
He didn't put any strength into it.
He just gently pushed back what he had stopped...
Randy was pushed back by the armored Lizard, creating a small gap between Randy's right hand and the tip of the armored Lizard's nose...
In an instant, Randy dropped to his knees.
As his feet hit the ground, he turned his right hand into a fist and slammed it into the armored Lizard's nose.
With a loud crash that shook the entire forest, the armored Lizard was sent flying.
It knocked down trees as it flew, landing on its belly and not moving anymore.
"Well, that was something."
Liz probably had no idea what Randy did to send the armored Lizard flying with just a quick punch, known as a one-inch punch.
Even now, she was staring wide-eyed, comparing Randy and the armored Lizard.
"Randy... have you gotten stronger?"
Liz couldn't hide her surprise, and Randy replied with a vague reason,
"It's because I'm growing. Alright, let's take this big guy home."
"Huh? We're taking it home?"
Liz looked doubtful, and Randy frowned, "Of course we're taking it home."
"If we're taking it home, shouldn't we just take part of the body...?"
Liz seemed to think that just a report on the armored Lizard would be enough. As long as there was some evidence, it would be fine. In fact, it might be better to only take a part. Ignoring Liz's concerns, Randy grabbed the tail of the now motionless armored Lizard and started walking.
"Well, this is going to cause a stir at the guild."
With a smile, Randy dragged the armored Lizard along, and Liz glanced back with a sigh.
"...Yeah. It will definitely cause a stir."
Randy was carefree, while Liz had a wry smile. It made sense since their views were completely different.
Both Randy and Liz were still E-rank adventurers. While taking down an orc might be fine, defeating a giant armored Lizard, which was definitely C-rank, would get them in trouble with the guild.
It's the guild's job to warn adventurers about their reckless bravery, so it was a necessary caution...
"Maybe they'll see me as a promising new talent?"
Randy, with a big grin, didn't even think about that. In the stories he read in his past life, there was usually a set flow for situations like this.
The guild would be in an uproar.
The beautiful receptionist would say he was amazing.
He would be called in by the guild master.
After all that, his rank would suddenly go up.
That was the flow. Randy's mind was filled with this idea.
Lost in his daydreams, Randy kept walking. Dragging the armored Lizard behind him, he stepped out of the forest and headed straight for the capital.
"Look, Liz. I'm already the center of attention."
"Yeah, in more ways than one."
Liz's sigh didn't reach Randy's imagination.
"There should be a proper line for moments like this..."
A big red-haired man, carrying the tail of a giant lizard, was dragging it along while mumbling, "Huh? I didn't do anything..." and then saying, "Wait, something feels off."
He looked completely suspicious.
As people walked by on the street, giving him strange looks, Liz wore a wry smile, unaware that Randy was lost in his own thoughts.
* * *
"Sir Randolph, may I have a moment to talk to you?"
Randy was pulled back to reality by the smiling guild receptionist, whose temples were twitching.
(Huh. Something feels off here.)
The person in front of him wasn't the beautiful receptionist but a middle-aged woman who looked very capable. This experienced receptionist was approaching him with a smile that looked forced, asking him to share his story. Randy sensed that something was wrong.
"Uh, no thanks."
He shook his head seriously. He had a bad feeling about this.
(What's wrong? Where did I go wrong?)
The mistake started when he dragged the huge armored Lizard home... which meant it was from the very beginning, but Randy wouldn't realize that just yet. After all, his mind was still filled with knowledge from his past life... and so on.
(Dragging the armored Lizard home and causing a stir at the guild... that part was right.)
The meaning of the stir was completely different, but that was Randy. His mind was still... and so on.
(Next scene, it's definitely a beautiful receptionist. So, is it because of this madam... What if I say "change"──)
"Are you thinking something rude?"
The receptionist's face turned fierce like a demon. Randy was poked in the side without thinking.
(That was close. Really close.)
Randy, who avoided the landmine, smiled and waved at the receptionist, saying "H-hahaha." He finally realized he had been wrong from the start, but it was already too late.
"We also have discussions about material extraction and purchases."
The receptionist, who had gone from fierce to calm, still had a vein popping on her forehead.
"Oh, um, that. I'll provide it for free."
Randy, grinning and pointing at the armored Lizard outside, tried to leave, saying "Well then," but when he turned around, several other staff members appeared. They all looked like veterans.
"We won't let you escape... You need to properly report the defeat of beasts above your rank and the forest investigation."
As the veteran staff member leaned in with a smile, Randy started to say, "No, I just picked that up──" but several staff members grabbed his arm.
"Sir Randolph, you should just give in."
"Liz, you betrayed me."
Randy frowned, and Liz let out a big sigh in response.
"It can't be helped. This is definitely a situation where you'll get scolded."
With a glare, Liz said this, to which Randy replied, "Then you should have told me earlier."
"I did. You just didn't listen, Sir Randolph."
Randy choked on his words at Liz's sigh.
"Well then, let's go talk in the back."
Surrounded by guild staff, Randy was led away with his head down, while Liz followed behind with an exasperated expression.
Seeing her master in such a pitiful state, Liz even thought that the reliability she saw in the forest might have been a lie.
But neither of them knew. After they were taken away, the guild was...
"Did you see that big armored Lizard?"
"How could it die like that?"
"Well, it's a bit much, but isn't it still an exciting newcomer?"
"I think I'll invite him to dinner next time."
"You should probably not. There's no way you can win against his servant."
...Just as Randy had imagined, everyone was buzzing with excitement about the new big recruit.
Of course, it goes without saying that he got a huge lecture afterward.
"Are you saying I did something...?"
"You messed up. Big time. Please realize that."
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