Chapter 9: E-Rank Hunter, Yoschua Verdi

Finding the boss room in a dungeon isn’t all that hard.

You just head to the deepest part of the dungeon, and eventually a door with a design that doesn’t match the surroundings appears — that’s the boss room door.

And it’s that easy to find.

Back in the day, there were Hunters who’d argue, “How come you, going solo, always find it before us?”

‘What a stupid question.’

I mean, in any game, the boss room being at the very back of the dungeon is just common sense.

I was just following common sense. They were late because they were busy catching every single Demon Beast outside.

How could they not know something so obvious?

As I reminisced about the old days and stepped into the boss room, I noticed a spot where light streamed down from the ceiling — the only one in the room.

‘There it is.’

In the exact center of the room stood a massive, hulking kobold.

[ D-Rank Demon Beast, Kobold Lord (Boss) ]

As expected, even for a D-Rank Demon Beast, it had plenty of boss-like presence.

Its intimidating frame seemed three or four times larger than other kobolds, and its eyes glowed with a red light that would make anyone feel pressured just meeting its gaze.

And then there was the halberd it held — as huge as its own body.

If I sold that halberd, I bet it’d fetch a pretty penny. But it’s so big, can I even carry it out?

‘…No one’s watching this time, should I just delete it instantly?’

I already had my Mana Shield up from earlier…

[ Mana Sword Lv.3 ]

This should be enough to easily block even the Kobold Lord’s halberd.

Zing—

A sword glowing a bit brighter than before materialized in my hand.

‘Let’s go, let’s go.’

Feeling a little excited, I charged toward the Kobold Lord.

“Grrr…!”

The Kobold Lord, sensing the intruder, let out a low growl as if issuing a warning.

I hadn’t exactly been stealthy, so our eyes met, and the Kobold Lord immediately thrust its halberd at me.

Whoosh!

The Kobold Lord swung the halberd — which looked bigger than its own body — with surprising ease.

‘Whoa!’

Even though I didn’t need to dodge — the Mana Shield would protect me — I ducked to avoid the swinging halberd.

Well, of course. When a dangerous weapon like that comes flying at you, your body reacts reflexively.

‘It’s lighter than I thought.’

I hadn’t noticed it when fighting goblins since I wasn’t moving much, but I could feel it when I dodged that halberd just now.

This body is incredibly light.

And that made something like this possible.

“…Grrk?!”

Tap.

Ta-da, hopping onto the halberd.

As I locked eyes with the Kobold Lord, I could see confusion bloom across its face.

I grinned at the Kobold Lord, then ran straight along the halberd and swung the Mana Sword in my hand.

SLICE!

The Mana Sword, swung from my hand, sliced cleanly across the Kobold Lord’s face at a diagonal.

“Grrk!”

The Kobold Lord’s body staggered. But it didn’t fall.

‘Too short?’

I misjudged the distance because of my changed body.

I could have split its head in two with one blow, but I only managed to cut the bridge of its nose.

The Kobold Lord, having barely escaped with its life, turned its gaze toward me.

The look in its eyes as it glared at me seemed to say it would kill me for sure.

But no matter how it looks, I’m not scared at all.

The Kobold Lord charged at me, its face covered in blood.

A D-Rank Demon Beast with a massive frame — its charge was threatening, sure, but—

“Too slow.”

To me, it looked like a newborn baby crawling on all fours.

I dodged the Kobold Lord’s swinging halberd with plenty of room to spare, then closed in — not wanting to make the same mistake — and thrust the Mana Sword straight into its abdomen.

Fwoosh!

The Mana Sword pierced through the Kobold Lord’s armor and ran through its belly.

“Guhk….”

With a weak cry that didn’t match its size, the Kobold Lord collapsed.

THUD!

As its heavy body slammed into the ground, a faint tremor rippled through the floor.

That tremor actually lifted me off the ground a little — just how light is this body?

‘Anyway…’

I rummaged through the Kobold Lord’s corpse and found a Magic Stone glowing with a faint light. After wiping off the blood, I stuffed it into my backpack.

As I wondered if there was anything else to take, my eyes landed on the halberd the Kobold Lord had been swinging.

‘Yeah, I probably can’t take that.’

It was way too big. Obviously it wouldn’t fit in my backpack, and it was at least three times the size of my body. I could probably carry it, but I didn’t want to draw attention by hauling it around.

This should be enough. Seeing the backpack stuffed full of Magic Stones, a satisfied smile naturally spread across my face.

* * *

After returning to the Association office and finishing the settlement.

“Bathroom, bathroom…!”

BANG!

I shoved the lodging door open in a hurry, and there was Mr. Luca.

“Oh, you’re back…?”

Mr. Luca, who’d been reading the newspaper, greeted me like usual, but I didn’t have the leisure to return the greeting.

I rushed past him and dashed up the stairs to the second floor.

“Where are you going in such a rush?”

The bathroom, dammit! I’m really desperate!

That was when it happened.

Thump!

“Ahh!”

“…!”

In my frantic hurry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and collided with something coming from the opposite corner, tumbling to the ground.

…And to make it worse, I let out an embarrassingly weird scream.

I lifted my head and saw a cool-looking beauty with blue hair.

I was too flustered to describe her features — all I registered was her hair color.

“I’m sorry.”

She apologized first without even getting mad. A nice young lady.

But.

I didn’t have time to care about that right now. I felt a chilling sensation down below!

I had to hurry, even if it was just one second. So I quickly got up and ran to my room.

“…?”

I felt the woman’s gaze on me, but I couldn’t help it right now.

If I didn’t go fast, something irreversible was about to happen…!

‘I’ll apologize later!’

*

“Phew…”

I really thought I was in trouble. When I bumped into that woman, I seriously thought something was going to happen. Good thing I barely held it in. If I’d… ugh, I didn’t even want to think about it.

I came out of my room and cautiously looked around. I was worried that woman from earlier might be there. I didn’t see her on the second floor, so I came down to the first…

Just as I expected.

I saw the woman I’d bumped into talking with Mr. Luca.

What were they talking about? Did they know each other?

I was curious about their conversation.

In that case.

[ Stealth Lv.2 ]

With this level of stealth, I shouldn’t get caught. It’s a stealth spell that even B-Rank dungeon Demon Beasts can’t detect.

Slowly, very stealthily, I approached the two of them, and their voices began to reach me.

“That kid’s always like that when she comes back from outside. Cut her some slack.”

“It’s fine.”

Was ‘that kid’ referring to me?

‘Huh?’

That was when it happened. The woman I’d been watching suddenly turned her gaze this way. No way?

‘Did she notice my stealth?’

Did she see my surprised expression? The woman really did turn her gaze this way and gave me a knowing smile.

It was certain.

This woman saw through my stealth! How?

“Ugh…!”

If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve used a higher-rank stealth spell!

Embarrassed, I fled back to my room.

About thirty minutes passed, and I cautiously came out of my room to check the first floor.

Luckily, Mr. Luca was alone reading the newspaper, and that woman was nowhere to be seen.

‘…But why am I avoiding that woman?’

If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve just gone and apologized instead of using stealth.

Regretting it was too late. Carefully looking around, I came down to the first floor and held out a money pouch in front of Mr. Luca.

“This is today’s earnings.”

“Huh? Yeah. That’s quite a bit more than yesterday, huh?”

“I went alone today.”

“What, did you party up yesterday? I thought you wouldn’t.”

“Yeah.”

Though it wasn’t because I wanted to.

“Wow, you partied with someone other than that guy? I’m so moved I could cry.”

“Don’t say that, it’s creepy.”

I said with a fed-up expression to Mr. Luca, who was pretending to wipe his eyes.

“It wasn’t my idea in the first place. They approached me first… What would people think if a rookie who just debuted soloed an E-Rank dungeon boss?”

If a Hunter who just had a Rank Advancement to E-Rank yesterday took down a Boss-Rank Demon Beast in an E-Rank dungeon alone, of course they’d draw attention.

I wanted to live my second life quietly. I wanted to plant the impression of, “Was there a guy like this?” in other people’s minds.

“By the way, what’s with the clothes? Did you buy new ones?”

“I bought them today. I still need to have some gear when I enter a dungeon.”

“Oh yeah? But isn’t the color a bit too drab for a girl?”

“I like this color.”

I’d liked black ever since before. So I was pretty satisfied.

“If you’d told me beforehand, I could’ve helped you out.”

“You’d have charged me for it.”

At my words, Mr. Luca let out a snicker. That guy’s a real piece of work.

Well, strictly speaking, asking Mr. Luca for help wouldn’t have been bad either.

Someone like Mr. Luca would’ve sourced them directly from a place that specializes in Hunter apparel.

But I don’t need to go into debt right now just to gear up.

Because if I put up a Mana Shield, I can block most attacks.

Considering the rank of the dungeons I’ll probably be going to for a while, I likely won’t even get a scratch.

But there’s always the ‘what if.’

What if I space out and forget to put up my Mana Shield, and get attacked by Demon Beasts?

This girl’s body, which looks frail just from the outside, might shatter easily.

So I’ll just get enough to protect myself at the cheapest possible price.

Besides, I liked the design, and I got the hat for free.

Anyway.

More than that, there’s something I’m curious about.

“…Who was that woman from earlier?”

I was talking about the blue-haired woman I’d bumped into earlier.

To see through a Lv.2 Stealth spell — that’s no ordinary skill.

Could she be at least an A-Rank Hunter?

And seeing her talking with Mr. Luca, she didn’t seem like an ordinary guest.

“Ah, her from earlier? Her name’s Claire.”

“Claire?”

First time hearing that name.

Well, I guess that’s only natural.

I don’t even pay attention to people close to me if I’m not interested, so there’s no way I’d remember a stranger.

“Yeah. She said she’d be staying here for a while.”

“Is that so?”

Well then… there’ll be another chance later, so it’s fine to go apologize then.

“But do you know her? You two looked close, the way you were talking.”

“Uh… I helped her out once before.”

“Helped her out? How much did you get paid?”

To Mr. Luca, who hesitated for a moment before continuing, I said with a playful smile.

There’s no way this old man would help someone for free, right. Heh heh.

“Hey, you little brat, anyone listening would think I’m some money-obsessed lunatic.”

You are, though.