Volume 1 Chapter 5 The Young Adventurer
I had planned to confront Ms. Terra, but unfortunately, that didn't happen.
It seems she's off today, and the familiar sight of the brown-haired beauty at the reception desk was missing.
So here I am, still feeling guilty about sending that girl away.
Anyway, I thought it would be a waste to leave empty-handed, so I decided to take on a light request.
As usual, it was a monster hunting request in the forest on the west side of town.
If I head out now, I should be able to return to town just before sunset.
With these mixed feelings in my heart, I arrived at the forest.
As I walked through the woods searching for the target monster, about 30 minutes in...
"Ha...haaa!"
"Huh?"
I heard a familiar voice from somewhere.
Curious, I walked toward the sound, and to my surprise, I found the girl I remembered fighting in a clearing in the forest.
It felt as if my guilt was somehow bringing us together.
"That girl..."
She was battling the monster I was supposed to hunt.
Flare Bambi.
A deer-like monster with flames bursting from its back to its tail.
It's aggressive and attacks as soon as it sees a person.
On top of that, it devours precious herbs that can be gathered in the forest and burns plants with flames generated by its magic.
It sounds like a dangerous monster when I list it all out, but in reality, it's not that strong of a species.
I only took on the hunting request because I happened to stop by the guild.
However, for a rookie adventurer, that's not the case.
"Eeek!"
The girl stumbled as the flaming deer charged at her, tripping over her own feet.
Seeing this opening, the Flare Bambi unleashed flames from its small mouth, chasing after her.
She panicked and jumped back, narrowly escaping the fiery breath.
The tricky part about the Flare Bambi is its speed and flames.
For a rookie adventurer still getting used to fighting monsters, catching a Flare Bambi would be quite difficult.
It's pretty much impossible for that inexperienced girl at level 3 to take down the monster by herself.
Did she come here after accepting a request? No, she shouldn't be able to take on a quest at her level.
So, considering she visited my house, it's likely she's here for "training".
"I... I need to get stronger, fast...!"
The girl readies her sword with both hands, pointing the tip at the fire deer (Flare Bambi).
The deer shakes its head, glaring sharply at her.
That's the "preparation move" for its fiery breath.
Once it starts that move, it can't switch to another action right away.
If she knows that, she could close the distance now and land an easy hit, but...
"I-I'll definitely take it down next time..."
The girl stands there, sword ready.
She's probably on guard for a charge, planning to counter after dodging.
When it charges, it has a habit of scratching the ground, so if she understands that, she could easily take down the fire deer (Flare Bambi).
But it seems she doesn't have anyone to teach her that right now.
As I expected, the fire deer (Flare Bambi) unleashed flames from its mouth.
The girl panicked at the unexpected attack and stumbled again.
Maybe she tried to dodge the flames in a hurry, and that momentum made her fall to the ground.
In that moment, the fire deer (Flare Bambi) scratched the ground and charged at her with flames erupting from its back.
I pulled a knife from my pocket, holding it in reverse grip, and jumped out from the bushes.
"[Boost]! [Accel]!"
"──!?"
I quickly enhanced my body with support magic.
I closed in on the fire deer (Flare Bambi), which was just about to reach the girl, and struck it with a sharp blow.
The side I hit, which didn't have flames, made the deer let out a short cry and retreat.
Then, seeing me, it flared up its back flames in anger.
Now engulfed in fire, the fire deer (Flare Bambi) scratched the ground and charged at me in a rage.
"Here we go...!"
Thanks to the support magic, I easily dodged to the side and threw my knife at the passing fire deer (Flare Bambi).
The silver blade plunged deep into the deer's neck as if it were being sucked in, and at the same time, flames scattered from its body, signaling its death.
I walked over to the fallen deer, pulling the knife from its neck, and called out to the girl who was still sitting in the back.
"Um, are you hurt?"
"Ah, you are... from yesterday? Are you an adventurer?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess. ...You figured it out pretty quickly."
"...Well, seeing that just now, I think it's pretty obvious."
Yeah, that makes sense.
I felt a bit awkward.
Anyway, it was good that she didn't seem to be hurt.
It looked like this was the only monster around, so I was lucky to find it before things got serious.
"Th-thank you for saving me."
"No problem, it's nothing really."
Saying that, I used the knife in my hand to slice off the right ear of the fire deer (Flare Bambi).
This would serve as proof of the hunt, so I quickly stashed it in my bag.
My goal was complete, and I should have been able to leave right away.
But for some reason, I couldn't move from that spot.
Maybe it was the lingering guilt, but I found myself speaking to the dazed girl.
"Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Huh?"
"From what I heard yesterday, you want to get stronger quickly, but training alone in this forest is clearly way too dangerous. You know that well, right?"
Especially at rank 3, it would be better to choose a different place to train.
Like the grasslands near town.
She didn't seem like the kind of kid who wouldn't understand that.
"I get that you feel anxious about growing slower than others, but this is just too reckless. If you die, it's all for nothing. It might take time, but if you train steadily..."
Even if her growth rate was slow, she should still be able to improve steadily.
So why was she trying to rush and get stronger at all costs?
Having lied to send her away, I felt I had to ask.
"I want to save my mom."
"Huh?"
"I have to get stronger quickly to save my mom, who's been cursed."
──I want to save my mom.
The girl's eyes glistened with a hint of tears.
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