Chapter 66 - Chapter 65: A Weak Eye Brings a Curse
The third day of the third month of wind.
Only about two weeks left this year.
Cold days have continued day after day.
Amidst such weather, a relaxed atmosphere permeated the second-year students of the academy who had just finished the hellish field trip.
Perhaps it is what is commonly called burnout syndrome.
Having cleared a hurdle that was far too high, everyone thought, "That's enough. We've worked this hard."
Even the teachers, Dagny and Naporo, felt the same way.
Since their goal had been to guide the students through the event, once it was safely completed, they seemed to say, "Our work is over."
Classes and sports are still held as usual, but compared to before the field trip, the content is worlds apart.
Amidst all this, one person was brimming with energy: Rimliche.
Mika was allowed to do a menu without [Physical Enhancement] during sports time, and Rimliche had also gone to Naporo to ask to do it without [Physical Enhancement] on her own.
The reason was the same as Mika's.
It seems she painfully realized the importance of physical enhancement in its raw state during the field trip.
Rather than resting on her abundant mana, she apparently decided she wanted to boost her raw state to truly make use of that abundant mana.
She has become so proactive it's unbelievable compared to when we first met.
So, while everyone else was playing tag in the forest using [Physical Enhancement], Mika and Rimliche were relentlessly repeating back-and-forth runs on the obstacle course.
It seems the first-years are also on the obstacle course today, and Mika and the others were silently repeating their runs mixed in with them.
I suppose the first-years should be learning [Physical Enhancement] around now, but it seems no one can use it yet.
It seems the obstacle course is quite difficult for Rimliche without [Physical Enhancement].
Still, she hasn't been training at the academy for over a year and a half for nothing.
She is competing with the fastest student among the first-years.
She really is growing more and more, isn't she?
"Don't push yourself too hard."
"Okay."
Mika calls out to Rimliche as he turns around and passes her, but Rimliche only looks forward.
Her eyes truly hold a strong will.
(She might surpass me soon...)
Mika lets out a bitter smile.
Honestly, Mika doesn't have the single-mindedness that Rimliche possesses.
His feeling is simply, "I'll do this for now to make up for the lacking parts."
Above all, his greatest life goal is "to live comfortably and amusingly."
Everything he is doing now is, in the end, for the sake of living comfortably in the future.
"...The future, huh."
If things go on like this, it will almost certainly be the military route.
"If I go to the Royal Capital, I'll really look for a loophole."
If the academy in the Royal Capital is mandatory, then so be it.
But he has no intention of being forced regarding what comes after that.
"The Royal Capital..."
Mika's consciousness was beginning to turn toward his academy life in the Royal Capital.
■■■■■■
On the weekend, Mika and Rimliche did special training in their usual forest.
To be honest, there was almost nothing left to do.
Rimliche could already use [Physical Enhancement] well enough to clear the field trip.
There was no longer any need for special training.
Previously, during lunch, Rimliche had asked, "What should we do today?"
"The field trip is over, so there isn't much we have to do, is there?"
When he answered that, Cecilia sitting opposite him glared at him fiercely.
She was likely trying to stop Mika from saying, "Special training is fine now," again.
(Yes, yes, I understand. Just keep going, right?)
Mika didn't have anything else he particularly wanted to do.
There were several things he felt he should do, but nothing that required him to rush into them.
He had no objection to continuing special training on the afternoon of the day of earth.
"...Fundamentals are important..."
Charl muttered softly, and Cecilia joined in.
"That's right. Getting used to handling mana is important. It would be good to review from the basics and boost the foundation, wouldn't it?"
She started saying such things.
Honestly, he thought anyone could do that alone, but for now, he agreed to that plan.
Well, he would find something else to do eventually.
And, as always, the sunny days were spent collecting Red Lizard Stones.
This collection is truly profitable. How boring.
Mika has been collecting these Red Lizard Stones for about eight months now.
Sunny days, almost without rest.
So, what happens?
Money increases.
Well, that is natural, but it has increased too much.
The money Mika has earned from collecting Red Lizard Stones so far has exceeded one million Rats.
Once, the reward for completing a request was just one gold coin.
So, what happens?
Money overflows.
For Mika's E-rank Guild Card, the limit for the pool is one million Rats.
In other words, he had exceeded the upper limit of what could be pooled.
Even Yunressa, the Guild staff member, was stunned by this.
Mika spends almost no money on living.
Since he lives in the dormitory, he doesn't need to rent an inn room, and meals are provided at the dorms.
Almost no money is spent on equipment.
Since he can heal himself, he rarely even buys consumables like potions.
That is how this situation came to be.
"I've never heard of such a thing."
The boss, a stern man with a mustache, also looked troubled.
"Except for updating the card to C-rank, the upper limit for pooling cannot be raised. This is stipulated by internal regulations and cannot be done arbitrarily."
When upgrading to C-rank, a deposit of three hundred thousand Rats is required.
However, this allows the pooled amount to increase to thirty million Rats, up to thirty large gold coins.
But this requires absolutely becoming C-rank, which does not apply to Mika at the moment.
Thus, the problem of what to do with this overflowing money arose.
A luxurious worry, even for myself. ...Haa.
He considered buying a magic bag made of one large gold coin, but he couldn't think of any countermeasures to prevent it from being stolen.
Since he couldn't manage it, buying it would be pointless, so he rejected that idea.
"It might be a bit strict, but we have no choice but to link it with a bank."
The boss suggested.
If you open an account at the bank and link it with your Guild Card, you can raise the pooling limit.
However, to do that, you must deposit one million Rats as a guarantee at the bank.
Originally, bank accounts are mainly for large transactions by merchant guilds, etc.
Opening an account for individuals is possible, but it is for "individuals who handle money as large as a merchant guild."
People who fuss over one million Rats are not the customers the bank originally envisioned.
Putting almost all his assets as a guarantee was harsh, but leaving tens of thousands of Rats in the dormitory was even stricter.
With no choice, Mika reluctantly opened a bank account.
Thanks to that, Mika's current holdings have decreased to tens of thousands of Rats.
Although the one million Rats guarantee would be returned if the bank account is cancelled, it hurts too much.
So, the days of desperately earning money continue.
He cannot say it is boring or luxurious.
Anyway, unless he earns a certain amount before graduating from the academy, he won't even be able to visit his hometown.
He wants to bring souvenirs for everyone, and he wants to give some money to Amalia.
He has no choice but to earn without making excuses.
"Well, this is about it for now."
Mika patted his waist and stood up.
It was already past noon.
A small bag was placed a little distance away, containing slightly less than two hundred Red Lizard Stones.
Adding what he has in hand now, it will exceed two hundred and fifty.
All told, fifty thousand Rats. Well, it's an estimate.
With this much Red Lizard Stone, the weight must exceed thirty kilograms.
Carrying such a load back to town is tough, but it is far better than in the summer.
Mika raised [Physical Enhancement] to four times and shouldered the small bag.
(...?)
At that moment, he faintly smelled something.
He gently lowered the small bag he was carrying.
Sniffing deeply, he focused all his nerves to guard against the surroundings.
(...The smell of blood...?)
Detecting a faint smell like rusted iron, he entered a combat stance.
Originally, when leaving town, he had already deployed a ten-meter mana range.
When he came near the collection site, he had about thirty [Stone Bullets] waiting above his head.
Now, he just needed to identify whoever was the source of the smell.
"[Big Ear]."
He amplified the surrounding sounds, cutting out the rustling of distant trees and bird songs.
Originally, there was almost nothing else but a rocky area.
Just this, most unnecessary sounds disappeared.
He continued to amplify the sound.
...Jari... Jarijari... Jari... Jarijari...
He heard a sound like stepping on sand.
Ten o'clock direction, the distance was quite far.
Mika looked in the direction of the sound, but only a large rock stood like a wall twenty meters away.
(...On top of the rock? Or beyond the rock?)
As he stared intently at the rock where the sound came from, the sound of stepping on sand stopped.
Time passed for a while with no movement.
(Should I retreat? Since I don't know the identity, avoiding unnecessary combat is wise...?)
Yes, that is the theory.
Precisely because adventurers make their living by throwing themselves into danger, they should avoid as much danger as possible.
It is a matter of course. Life is at stake.
But―――.
Mika threw five [Stone Bullets] above his head toward the rock.
Poo...
Roughly spaced five meters apart, they flew over the top of the rock.
Katsun, katsun, katsun, dosu, dosu.
Following the sound of the [Stone Bullets] hitting the rock, the sounds of them falling to the ground were heard in order.
The volume was amplified quite a bit by [Big Ear], but a limiter was also installed so the volume didn't exceed a certain level.
It was a loud sound, but not like before, piercing the eardrums.
And, at the same time the [Stone Bullets] hit the rock, something jumped out from behind the rock.
Something pitch black was staring straight at Mika about twenty meters away.
In its hand, it held what looked like the leg of a Sou-Labi.
If there was a corpse of a Sou-Labi beyond the rock, that would be the source of the smell.
He hadn't paid attention to the wind direction, but perhaps the wind had changed and carried the smell here.
Whatever it was jumped out from the rock, but it didn't immediately jump at him.
Was it lacking combat intent, or was it on guard?
(...Lacking combat intent? Am I an idiot?)
It is impossible to lack combat intent.
Because what jumped out was a beast.
Pitch black, a form like a monkey.
But it was big.
It stood on two legs with its back hunched, but if it stood straight, it would probably be about two meters tall.
And on the upper half of its face were countless eyes.
All of them shone red and bright, staring straight at Mika.
Was it pitch black because of its fur?
If so, it would be strange if there was no reflection of light on the fur.
No, rather, it would be strange if there was no reflection of light.
But this beast resembling a monkey reflected absolutely no light.
Therefore, its figure could be perceived as a silhouette or outline, but without those red eyes, you wouldn't even know which way was front or back.
If there were countless eyes on the back of its head, it might even be facing away from Mika.
A lump of darkness like that.
(What is this thing...?)
He had never heard of such a beast existing around Sarbengeal.
In the literature he had previously checked about beasts around Sarbengeal, this was not listed.
It seems what was intended as a little fun turned out to be a rather rare catch.
(I just thought I'd relieve some stress...)
Actually, he had been a bit frustrated lately.
He had to earn money, so he only did the boring collection of Red Lizard Stones, with no real combat with beasts.
Even if he wanted to take requests, the interesting ones Mika could take were already all taken.
Today, before collecting, he had even thought about intentionally entering the forest to fight a Sou-Labi.
His reason stopped him, saying he shouldn't engage in unnecessary combat before his job of collecting, but that backfired.
Here, rational judgment and curiosity clashed, and curiosity won.
If he had fought the Sou-Labi first today, he might have chosen the option to "retreat."
But it seems Mika's stress had accumulated more than he thought.
"Yo. Aren't you coming?"
Mika spoke to the beast.
Thinking his own action was strange, he watched the beast's reaction.
The beast stared at Mika, slowly lowering its posture.
Placing both hands on the ground, bristling its fur, hunching its back while stretching its limbs.
A posture like a cat or monkey when threatening.
Commonly known as the "let's fight" pose.
Moving slowly, it approached cautiously while fully on guard.
Mika threw five [Stone Bullets] from above his head at the beast, but the beast dodged them with light movements.
He continuously fired the remaining [Stone Bullets], but the beast dodged them without difficulty.
(Is the distance too far? It's much bigger than a Sou-Labi, yet it dodges like a Sou-Labi.)
Surprisingly quick, and its body movement is good.
(If so...)
Mika slowly thrust his left hand forward, palm facing up.
"[Stone Bullet]."
He imagined a rifle bullet.
Until now, he had preferred fist-sized [Stone Bullets] focusing on damage, but this time, speed was the priority.
Even with a size like a thumb, if the speed could be doubled, the power would increase significantly.
The important thing is the image.
Shape is important, but above all, how well can he imagine the speed at the moment of firing.
Mika focused his consciousness on speed.
He imagined it exceeding the speed of sound, but as expected, he couldn't reach that speed.
Hyun!
Even so, it took a lot of mana and achieved a speed far surpassing previous [Stone Bullets].
He aimed for the very center of the beast's body, but the beast dodged even that.
(It dodges that!?)
For just a moment.
For just a moment, Mika relaxed in surprise.
The beast did not miss that moment, closing the twenty-meter distance in the blink of an eye.
Zashu!
"Grr!"
Mika managed to fly sideways to dodge, but his gauntlet was scratched.
The leather gauntlet was torn by the beast's claws, and even the wooden base underneath was gouged.
(This guy is strong!)
Honestly, he had been underestimating it.
This was not a beast to play with to relieve stress.
Mika tightened his mind and adjusted his stance.
The beast was so cautious it was annoying, slowly approaching Mika from about ten meters away.
(Soon I'll be in range for [Thousand Edge]. But...)
――― A waste.
He thought that.
He felt his blood boiling.
His heart beat like a drum, and he felt a prickling tension in his skin.
This was the combat with a beast he had been waiting for.
Already, with Sou-Labi, no matter how many came, he wouldn't panic.
A monotonous task of calmly eliminating them one by one.
Unconsciously, the corner of Mika's mouth rose.
This was the adventurer's form Mika desired.
"[Stone Bullet]!"
Mika pointed his left hand at the beast and fired the same rifle bullets as before one after another.
Hyun! Hyun! Hyun! Hyun! Hyun!
The beast dodged quickly, but Mika read the beast's movements ahead.
Then, the [Stone Bullets] that hadn't even grazed before began to graze little by little.
Unable to bear it, the beast took distance from Mika.
But it immediately counterattacked.
Using its quick movements to the maximum, it changed its position slightly left and right while attacking Mika.
Even if Mika suddenly flew sideways, it pursued in that direction.
If his stance collapsed greatly, he wouldn't be able to dodge.
Mika fired [Stone Bullets] like a machine gun to restrain the beast's movements.
The [Stone Bullets] grazed the beast but didn't cause major damage.
The beast's attacks scratched Mika's gauntlets and chest armor, but didn't damage Mika himself.
An offensive and defensive battle of advance and retreat.
Neither side had a decisive blow.
Bakin!
"Tch!"
Mika clicked his tongue while dodging the beast's attack.
Caught by the beast, his right-hand gauntlet was torn in half.
"One hand is enough, isn't it?"
Mika continued firing [Stone Bullets] with his left hand, predicting the beast's movements to aim, but this time it didn't hit.
Dodging the [Stone Bullets] skillfully, it approached Mika.
The beast quickly circled to Mika's right side and swung its arm down.
"[Air Cutter]!"
Blood splattered, and Mika flew back greatly.
The beast knelt as if collapsing, then fell backward.
Its torso was split in two around the stomach, separating the upper and lower body.
"[Fireball]."
Just in case, Mika fired two [Fireballs] into the beast's body respectively.
Using heat energy manipulation, he hammered in as much heat as possible to finish it off properly.
Once it was burned appropriately, he extinguished it with [Water Splash].
Mika let out a long breath. "Fuuu..."
"...Ah... Such a huge loss..."
He knelt on the spot, hanging his head in defeat.
Looking at the torn gauntlet and the tattered chest armor.
He couldn't help but hold his head.
"Fifty thousand Rats!? The chest armor and gauntlets! Even if I ordered them, they wouldn't be ready immediately! What am I supposed to do with this!"
He shouted to the sky, "Oh my god!"
"Ugh... If I hadn't played around and just worked seriously from the start..."
Mika was happy that he realized the beast was strong.
Because of that, he thoughtlessly wanted to check how far he could go, thinking such unnecessary thoughts.
If he defeated it too easily, the combat with a beast he hadn't fought in a while would end too quickly.
Because of that, he started doing unnecessary things like trying to defeat it with only his left hand.
As a result, the chest armor was tattered, and the gauntlets were torn, causing huge damage.
Even though he was already short on money, unnecessary expenses piled up.
Truly, a weak eye brings a curse.
...Actually, it was just self-inflicted.
Once he realized the beast's attack method was only close-range, the plan to restrain with [Stone Bullets] with his left hand and use [Air Cutter] with his right hand when it charged would have come to mind immediately.
If he had defeated it quickly, he could have minimized the damage, but he ended up playing around.
He had promised Ninetiana he wouldn't let his guard down again.
Was this divine punishment for such Mika?
"Ugh... Sorry, Ninetiana."
Getting carried away and messing up immediately is Mika's big flaw.
He is aware of it. He is aware.
At least...
"It seems En Batamos are flowing in, so be careful, Mika-kun."
After the combat with the beast.
Mika walked slowly back to Sarbengeal and turned in the Red Lizard Stones at the Guild's collection window.
He was called to the counter, so when he went there, Yunressa said such things to him.
"En Batamos?"
Some strange story came up.
"There was a subjugation request for a beast in the Viscountcy of Myureaol, but it seems they missed shooting it. That beast flowed into the Marquis Leventein domain. They have been warning adventurers for a few days. It's posted on the bulletin board too."
The Viscountcy of Myureaol is a territory north of the Marquis Leventein domain.
It seems there is a beast that escaped from the neighbor.
"The rank itself is a D-rank beast, but it is famous for being fast for its rank. Ordinary D-rank adventurers can't catch its movements, so it seems strict to defeat it reliably without C-rank skill."
"Heh..."
He had vaguely listened, but a fast beast...?
He had a vague recollection.
"Um, what kind of guy is that En-something beast?"
"Features? It's said to be like a pitch-black shadow, resembling a big monkey, with lots of eyes on the upper half of its face. It's a bit creepy."
Vaguely, he had a sense of familiarity.
"Okay, then, for Mika-kun's collection reward, should it be pooled as usual?"
"Please."
Mika handed his card to Yunressa.
Yunressa took the card from Mika and did something on the counter.
Yunressa's movements suddenly stopped.
Her face twisted.
She must have seen the beast's mana stored on the card.
"Mika-kun...? Today's collection... did you fight a beast?"
"Yes. I fought one."
"...Did it resemble a big monkey? With lots of eyes?"
"Yes. It was a beast I had never seen before, but it was like that."
When Mika answered with a bright smile, Yunressa finally froze.
A small commotion happened after this, but it was safely recognized that Mika had defeated the En Batamos.
And the subjugation reward was given to Mika.
Fifty thousand Rats. Five large silver coins.
Combined with the collection portion, he was able to avoid a deficit.
(But, just the subjugation reward was a deficit. It means losing big if you can't defeat that level without a scratch. Good lesson learned.)
Thinking such things, Mika left the Guild.
On the way back, he had to stop by the armor shop to order the chest armor and gauntlets.
Mika began walking down the main street.
Shoulders slumped, chewing on his own immaturity.