Chapter 3
Chapter 3: First Mission, Let’s Depart! ★
In the end, we had no choice but to gather around for the quest notice, which Nasha had arbitrarily decided to accept without anyone’s approval.
Canceling an accepted quest required certain lengthy procedures and penalty fees. Since we couldn’t afford to pay up, there was simply no other option left but to accept the quest.
On the bright side, even if the quest were to end-up in a failure, the penalty fee for such was much lower than the quest cancellation fee. But both weren’t exactly viable options at the moment, since the financial conditions of the party was currently in a perilous situation.
Despite having a solid coordinator like Suzette, the finances still endedup in such dire straits…
Maybe this party is in some serious trouble?
Their party,『Deared』was relatively new E-rank party found in Odel Knights about half a year ago.
Every party was assigned to a certain rank and these ranks typically varied from E to A. Above those ranks were rank S, SS, SSS and such.
However ever since it was established, Deared has yet to rise in rank even a single time.
Following the principles of the party leader Nasha; ‘An adventurer’s main job is to serve the common people’, the party had never gone on a demon subjugation mission nor joined any allied forces for similar quests in line. They simply took on various menial tasks around the place to be of help to the villagers.
Usually the front-line hero parties were clad in sturdy armor along with heavy weaponry. But contrary to the most, the members of Deared were equipped awfully lightly for the most part.
Nasha suddenly spoke up while we were on the way to the assigned village, ,
“Even though this is the border between the hero territory and the demon territory, not everyone here is an adventurer. So I want to become a wonderful adventurer that helps out the ordinary people who live here. This is why we didn’t care much about raising our ranks.”
――In all honesty, I think she truly is a rare type of a hero.
If there were more heroes like this, conflicts between the heroes and the demons would decrease by a considerable margin.
Actually, the Demon Army was a well-organized force.
But even under such a strict chain of command, there were still instances where some demons with violent temperaments that'd go astray on the battlefield, causing unnecessary harm to the opposing side. And such instances gave birth to the prevalent notion that all demons were evil.
However, even the demons wished to live in peace.
While most who resided within the land of the demons served the Demon King, there still were some demons who would refuse to do so.
But to heroes, such matters held little to no significance as they’d attack all demons the same regardless.
Did they even have a single clue about how much work they added to my plate just by blindly marching in here to defeat the demon army with their delusional sense of justice?
“Well, demons are nothing but a bunch of savages, so why shouldn’t we just beat them all up begin with?”
Louise said with an annoyed tone of voice.
“In the teaching of Lord Shuwa, demons were the descendants of an angel that had once defied their own Lord, causing them to fall from the heavens. But I believe that as long as the current Demon King sincerely pledged his allegiance to Lord Shuwa, they would definitely be granted mercy.”
Nonetheless, the rift between the demons and the heroes still ran too deep.
As it would seem, I would be better off not letting my real identity out at all.
“Ah! everyone, Looks like we’re already here!”
Nasha briskly ran towards the small signboard up ahead.
Several straw houses surrounding a plain paddy field came into our view beyond the small signboard that read『Dorgo Village』. The village was located right in between the demon and hero territories where the most skirmishes would often break out while I was still on duty.
“Ahh! The heroes, the heroes… have finally come…! Thank you, thank you so much!”
An old woman strode out from the village square at the center.
The tattered clothes that hung on her body was a glaring indicator of all the hardships this village had to suffer through up until now.
“So, what’s the problem? The demons invade this place again?”
The old woman turned to Louise who was sighing as she surveyed the area and said,
“There's lots of heroes invading the demon territory recently. So, those on the other side also started to retaliate. They're attacking these small villages since there's not much protection here. Honestly, we can't even farm these days because of this pack of three-headed dogs and their owner roaming around the village all the time. Even I was–”
The old woman held out her feeble arm as she said so.
“I see…this, could this be some kind of a poison?”
Suzette muttered while examining the old woman’s arm.
There was a striking bluish bruise undulating throughout her entire arm.
This symptom–– I’ve seen this before.
“Speaking of three-headed dogs, could it be Cerberus…hm? But how…”
“Eric-san, were you part of an assault squad? Sounds like you went deep into the enemy lines? It’s amazing you could come up with that name right away.”
Suzette poked my elbow in surprise.
If it was a three headed dog that poisoned the people it had bitten, the obvious guess would be the guard dogs of hell, Cerberus.
Speaking of Cerberus, they’re also a popular pet among the demons. But there were strict regulations for raising them in the army. The most notable one being that, Cerberus could only be deployed to drive away the heroes that had invaded the demon territory.
So releasing them in such a remote hero territory would undoubtedly call for punishment for breaking military laws.
At best, it would be let off with the confiscation of a month’s salary. At worst, it could even warrant an involuntary demotion.
Even the demon army didn't have any intention of causing unnecessary strife.
“He~h, so basically you guys want us to chase those fellas away.”
“Yes. Please. You see… a Colonel of the demon army would usually lead those dogs in here. So, there wasn’t much we could do about it—”
Hm? A Colonel?
Suddenly a question sprang up in my mind as the old woman was about to continue her recount.
“Th- they are here! The guy with the three-headed dogs! Chief, hurry up and go hide!”
A young man came running at us from the middle of the village.
By the next second, I felt a surge of mana rising from the forest at the back.
“Alright, I’m finally done with my work. Here you go~ Kell-chan, Bell-chan, you guys can relax and have fun for a while now.”
“Woof!! Woof woof!!”
“Huff!! Awoooo!!”
That man, who was speaking in a gentle sweet voice which had never once been directed towards me, while wearing a stupid face that I had never once imagined to be on his face either.
“Guys, we’re here in secret, so don’t make too much noise. Behave okayy~ Aww, you guys are such a good boys~”
— That man, with his unkempt hair and his messy stubble.
It was a face that I could never forget, that power-abusing hateful former superior of mine, Garlock-senpai.
CHAPTER 2 │ CHAPTER 4
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