NOVEL WEB Chapter 35: I Received a Warm Welcome
Wild Kobold Appear!
>KILL
BEFRIEND IT
====
===A Certain Undead With Communication Disorder===
「WOOOOOOOOOOOO!」
「GUAAAH?!」
「BAWBAW!」
「GAH!」
The villagers fought against the kobold's pack.
But the majority of the villagers were amateurs when it came to combat. They were barely hanging in there.
Moreover, more kobolds kept pouring into the village from the crumbled wall.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the village was occupied by the kobold.
「WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!」
And then, the one who howled as if to raise the morale of its peers was a certain kobold whose height was at least twice that of the other kobolds.
That guy was the alpha of the kobold species—who led its peers to attack the village—the elder kobold.
I headed straight toward the elder kobold and landed a kick on its stomach.
BAAAN!
「~?!」
My kick tore through its hard muscle, sending its organs flying around.
It didn't end here. The rest of its body was sent flying, crashing into the other kobolds behind, which were also sent flying along with the elder kobold. Their bodies vanished into the forest outside the village after they were sent flying out from exactly the hole where they came from.
… Crap, I forgot to hold back.
When I looked around, it wasn't just the villagers, even the kobolds had stopped moving. All of them were looking at me with dumbfounded faces.
「「「W-WOOOOOOOON?!」」」
After a moment of silence, all the kobolds wailed in fear and left in a hurry at full speed.
It seemed they lost their fighting spirit when they saw me kill their leader in one strike.
Maybe because all of them were trying to leave the village in a hurry from the same hole, they were jumbled together in the same place.
「D-Did we just… survive?」
「… Most likely.」
「Just what in the world is that white-haired guy…?」
Naturally, everyone was starting to surround me.
P-Please, stop looking at me like that… It made me so nervous.
Maybe because I kicked the elder kobold to death in just one kick, the villagers looked at me with complicated faces, a mixture of surprise and fear.
And I was a complete stranger to them.
Ray's father then rushed out from amongst those villagers.
「THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SAVING THIS VILLAGE! MOREOVER… I REALLY CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR SAVING MY SON!」
「Ah, uh…」
Maybe because Ray’s father's remark had dispersed the suspicion about me, the other villagers came to thank me one after another.
「You're so powerful, huh, lad! To think that the day when I saw an elder kobold die in one kick would come in this way!」
「With this, those guys won't dare to come to this village again」
「Could it be that you're actually a famous adventurer?」
I ended up having no idea how to respond to their friendly questions.
But maybe I should feel grateful for their friendly acceptance.
Ray's father then told me.
「Ahahaha, I guess we should stop barraging him with praise, guys. Our benefactor seems to be a shy person.」
Y-You realized that?!
I unintentionally shook my head.
After that, I received a warm welcome from the villagers.
Nevertheless, they kept a comfortable distance from me ever since they found out that I was a shy person.
Thank you… thank you very much…
「Uncle, teach me how to become as strong as you!」
「Teach me too!」
「Me too, me too!」
Well, the only ones who came to surround me without reservation were the children.
「Please, you absolutely must stay in the village tonight.」
The one who spoke was this village's chief.
I decided to take this rare offer and stay at the village chief’s house.
「Then, please have a meal.」
And then, the one who entertained me was the village head's wife and daughter who used their culinary expertise to please me.
This undead body of mine didn't actually need food as a source of energy, but I shouldn't waste their kindness.
Sadly… the dishes were tasteless.
Maybe I lost my sense of taste after becoming an undead. [TL : Are you sure it wasn't because of the lack of flavoring?]
「How's the taste?」
「….」
I kept eating in silence since I simply had no idea how to answer their question without hurting their pride.
That was why, please just think of me as being pleased with your cooking.
「That's such a splendid way of eating. There's still a lot of it. Please, eat your fill.」
Sorry, but… I was a light eater after all.
In the first place, could this undead body of mine digest the food that I ate?
I ended up eating all of the dishes while pondering about that matter.
In the end, my worries were for naught since the food digested just fine.
Although my stomach was bloated after I ate such a large amount of food, it returned to normal in no time.
Since I never had the urge to p*ee or sh*it, no matter how much time passed, my digestion system seemed to be slightly different from that of a human.
◇ ◇ ◇
===A Certain Silver-Ranked, Middle-Aged Adventurer===
「We should arrive in the village soon.」
「It's been two weeks since the request was posted, right? That village might've already been destroyed by the kobold…」
「Hey, hey, don't say such ominous things.」
My name was Bell.
I had been active as a silver-rank adventurer in my birthplace, Tana Kingdom, and I was turning thirty-five soon.
The Tana Kingdom was a small country, so small to the point that it was questionable to even call it a "kingdom," and the only place with an adventurers guild was its royal capital.
For that reason, we were always shorthanded and late when it came to completing commissions.
And the place we were heading for right now was one of the frontier villages, a hamlet to be exact.
Geographically speaking, Tana Kingdom was the neighbor of Romana Kingdom, the kingdom that was led by the hero king. Even though it seemed closer, one needed to take a long detour around the great forest to arrive in the Romana Kingdom.
Without that great forest, the traffic between Romana Kingdom and Tana Kingdom would flourish, which would lead to the prosperity of this area.
The sun had set.
We somehow managed to arrive during the night.
That scenery came before us as soon as we thought realized this.
「Hee, their protective wall is better than I expected.」
「Naturally, that's their lifeline, after all.」
「You're right. Aah, this, it looks like the kobold have yet to destroy the village.」
「Hey, hey, why are you looking so disappointed?」
My comrade's name was Pimp.
Despite having a rather troublesome character, he was an adept mage.
He was twenty-eight years old, younger than me. We formed a party a few years ago after we hit it off.
Even though we managed to arrive in the village, the village was safe and sound.
But then, we heard unexpected information from the villagers.
「The truth is, we already defeated the elder kobold and drove away its pack.」
「What did you say? Just what's happening in this place?」
「A passing traveler saved our village.」
From what I heard, it seemed that those kobolds did make a hole in the wall around the village.
And then, as soon as they thought that the village was about to be finished… a white-haired young man with red eyes suddenly appeared out of nowhere, killing the elder kobold with a single kick, and made the rest of the pack scramble for dear life.
「White hair and red eyes? Those are quite rare traits, but… is he really an adventurer?」
「We have no idea. Speaking isn't his forte, apparently.」
「I see.」
It seemed that the young man was still staying in this village.
Part 3
Then I asked whether we were allowed to meet that young man, but we were told to wait since the villager had to tell the young man first.
After that, we were guided toward a certain vacant room in the villager's house.
We were going to stay in the village today.
By the way, since our commission was unexpectedly completed by someone else, we only received a part of the prepared reward.
The reward we received after coming so far wasn't so satisfying.
But well, it couldn't be helped. Better than nothing, at least.
「Uhm, is something the matter, Pimp?」
And then, I noticed that my partner was acting strange.
I mean, by now, he usually complained about this kind of job that wasn’t worth its payment.
「Bell-san… this might just be my mind playing a trick on me, but…」
「What's the matter? Just spit it out.」
「The white-haired, red-eyed young man that those villagers referred to… could it be the one that became a hot topic recently?」
「Hot topic?」
Pimp seemed to be shocked upon hearing my remark.
「Bell-san, did you not read the recent newspaper?」
「No need to read that useless junk.」
Newspapers were items filled with letters from one end to another, even on the back, and what they wrote on there was apparently the news about basically anything.
Although there were only a few people who could read in this small kingdom, it was apparently really popular amongst the wealthy people in other kingdoms. And its popularity kept increasing as of late.
Although poor people like me couldn't afford to buy them due to its expensive price, the adventurers guild apparently subscribed for the daily newspaper and placed it in the lobby for anyone to read.
Well in reality, only a small number of adventurers—eccentrics like Pimp—read those newspapers.
「Haah… this is why muscle-brained adventurers are so… ha~h.」
「Hey, who are you referring to as a muscle-brained adventurer?」
「I'm sure you heard this news by now. You know, that great disaster-rank undead who appeared from out of nowhere in the Romana Kingdom… his most prominent features are his white hair and red eyes.」
The moment I heard that, I felt a chill run down my spine.
====
Volume 2 cover… Guess who's the Girl behind Zion…