NOVEL WEB Volume 1 Chapter 88 - Should I wear the sunglasses I bought the other day?
As Rin-san, the married swordswoman, moved to the front, we started walking down the highway again.
“It’s surprising that not many monsters are showing up.”
We’ve been walking along the highway from the gate for about 15 minutes, and the only monster we’ve encountered so far is a single High Wolf.
“That’s usually how it is along the highway. If you stray from it, plenty of them will pop up. Since it’s your first time, Okita-kun, and we’re just three people, we’re planning to take it easy.”
She’s being considerate, what a nice person.
“Thank you.”
I express my gratitude and give a slight bow to Yoshino-san beside me.
“Hey, can I make a small complaint?”
“A complaint?”
What could it be?
“First of all, that item bag you have can’t be just 10 kilograms.”
Ah, she’s talking about my phone call with Elenoa-san.
“No, it’s really 10 kilograms.”
“I heard from Elenoa.”
“Ahh… Could you please not tell anyone…”
Acting is hard work. Good thing I got used to it with Elenoa-san, who’s always acting.
“I won’t tell. But be careful, okay? Wearing that newbie-like jersey while casually using such expensive items isn’t wise. There are adventurers who might have bad intentions.”
“Got it…”
That’s my fault for being overly confident.
“Also, are you staying alert?”
“I am.”
“Really? Are you also looking up? Where are you looking, especially when you just bowed your head?”
…It’s because of the enchantment magic.
“I’ll be careful.”
I do my best to avoid looking at Yoshino-san and gaze upward. The sky is completely clear, making me feel very peaceful. Suddenly, something black appears in the blue sky.
“Ah, there it is.”
I say, looking up.
“Hm? Oh, you’re right.”
Yoshino-san seems to have spotted it too.
“Is that a Great Eagle?”
“Yeah. Rin!”
Yoshino-san calls out to Rin-san.
“I know… come here!”
Rin-san shouts toward the bird flying in the sky.
“What was that?”
“That was Taunt. She’s drawing aggro.”
I see. Rin-san has it too. She’s really showing off.
“Is that enough?”
“It’s fine. I don’t think the monster understands words or anything, but that’s how it works.”
“I see. You have it too, Yoshino-san, right?”
“…I do.”
I knew it. But it’s not “loser, loser,” huh? Well, it would be a bit awkward if Rin-san, a married woman of the same age, said that.
“What’s the level?”
“2… But Rin’s is 3.”
“Would you two quit it!”
Rin-san gets mad for having her Taunt level revealed.
Seems like the skill level for Taunt is like a showing-off level. I’ll make sure to keep mine at 1.
As I make up my mind, the Great Eagle, which was just a black dot earlier, has come much closer.
“It’s really big.”
The Great Eagle has its wings spread wide, and it’s easily over 2 meters. It’s really a huge bird.
“Be careful; it sometimes takes people into the sky, especially lightly dressed women.”
“I’m glad I’m a guy.”
“In the case of men, it pierces your skull with its sharp beak.”
“I’d rather not have that.”
“Being a woman would’ve been better.”
Elenoa-san would be perfect for this area.
“As long as you’re careful, it’s fine. Also, they don’t come out at night.”
“They’re bird-eyed, after all. But if they did come out at night, they would be a serious threat. You wouldn’t be able to see them in the night sky.”
While I’m gathering information from Yoshino-san, the Great Eagle starts gliding toward Rin-san. Rin-san readies her sword to intercept it.
As the Great Eagle glides down to peck Rin-san with its beak, she swings her 30 million yen short sword. However, the Great Eagle stops its attack just before Rin-san swings, ascending back into the sky. Rin-san’s sword swing misses as a result.
Wait, why didn’t she extend her sword?
I thought for sure she would extend it to slash the bird, but Rin-san didn’t choose to do that. Instead, she quickly aims her hand at the Great Eagle, which is showing her its back as it tries to escape into the sky.
“Ice Needle!”
As Rin-san utters the name of the spell, a nearly one-meter-long ice spear appears from her palm and attacks the Great Eagle from behind. The bird, completely unaware of the incoming ice spear, is easily pierced by it. The Great Eagle falls to the ground.
When the Great Eagle lands, it flaps its wings a little but soon becomes immobile and turns into smoke, disappearing. Left behind is a flask filled with blue liquid.
“Is that a potion, by any chance?”
I point to the familiar flask and ask Yoshino-san.
“Probably. That’s likely a level 1 healing potion. Normally they drop feathers, but it looks like Rin got lucky.”
So that means Rin-san has already earned 500,000 yen. Amazing.
Rin-san sheathes her sword, picks up the dropped healing potion, and returns to us.
“I’m lucky today; I got a healing potion right away.”
Rin-san shows off the potion to us as if bragging.
“That’s amazing. Are you going to sell it?”
“No, I won’t sell healing potions. They’re important.”
That makes sense. Probably only Elenoa-san would consider selling them so easily. But this is the first time I’ve actually seen a real healing potion drop.
“True… Also, why didn’t you extend your sword? It can extend 2 or 3 meters, right? You could’ve reached the bird when it dodged.”
The Great Eagle barely dodged Rin-san’s sword. If she had extended it, she would’ve definitely hit it.
“I showed you how to defeat a Great Eagle just now. When you aim at them, they try to escape into the sky like that. But while they’re escaping, they’re exposing their back, so it’s easy to attack them with magic or something from behind. That’s the theory behind defeating a Great Eagle.”
She’s really a nice person, even going to the extent of demonstrating it for me.
“Thank you.”
“If you come here alone, make sure to prepare a weapon that can attack from a distance, whether it’s a magic wand or a bow or whatever.”
I’m fine because I have Nanapon, and I also have a magic wand that can use Air Hammer.
“Got it. I’ll prepare accordingly.”
“I’ll take care of it myself next time.”
“That’s the spirit. Both of you are good at teaching. You do it by actually demonstrating and explaining what to pay attention to. It’s really easy to understand. To be honest, I wish I’d brought Nanapon along.”
“Alright, we’ll be behind you, so do your best. I think you’ll be fine, but if anything happens, let us know.”
Yoshino-san pats my shoulder.
“Please take care of me.”
“You’re so modest. Show off more. Hurry up and reach level 4.”
When Rin-san says “level 4,” she’s obviously talking about the Taunt level.
“Rather than that, you don’t have to bow your head anymore…”
Yoshino-san speaks as if she’s exasperated. It seems she noticed I took a quick peek.
“I’m sorry.”