Chapter 33
Now, it's good that I remembered something from a while ago, but I have no intention of defeating the Haniwa, aka the Petite Clay Golem, right now.
This journey is planned for one night and two days, and it's currently just before noon.
We'll prepare for camping by noon, then hunt until sunset and camp out. After that, we'll hunt again from early morning until we make it back in time for the gate closure.
"You're late!!""Hey, we've already finished our preparations over here."
I had Dent-san defeat the Petite Clay Golem and collected the dropped items.
After securing today's firewood and returning, I found a tent fixed to the wagon and a bucket filled with water prepared.
And the two girls, eager to start hunting, were all set.
"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't find good firewood."
I understand they're pumped up hearing that their levels will increase soon, but will they last until evening?
"Young ladies must be eager too. I'll take care of the firewood, so Dent and Pidd, go hunt in the forest. It would be nice to get some meat too."
Worried about them running out of stamina—or rather, their "batteries" running out—Mile-san, the birdman who was fetching water with Amina, sensed their feelings and suggested moving up the schedule.
He's the only married man with children among the guards this time, so he probably understood Nel and Amina's feelings.
He always has a smile on his face, which gives him a somewhat suspicious vibe, but apparently, many owl birdmen look like that during the day because it's too bright.
"I'm fine, but what about you, Pidd?""No problem."
Starting with Mile-san's suggestion, Dent-san put down the firewood he was carrying and called out to Pidd-san, a bear beastman adventurer who had helped us at the guild.
He's a man of few words, but according to Dent-san, he's serious about his work and gladly accepted this job.
His facial muscles are stiff, and he looks intimidating, but I could tell he's not a bad person when we met.
Slowly standing up, his massive frame, which I have to look up to as a child, feels reassuring when thinking about fighting monsters.
"Alright then, kid. You take charge from here. I'll keep an eye on the monsters around us. Pidd, keep an eye on the kids.""Understood.""Got it."
A bit earlier than planned, but I adjusted my bamboo spear and checked the leather bag on my back.
"Are you two ready?""Of course!""Yeah! I've got potions too!"
Potions, a simple map, dried meat as emergency rations, and a water flask.
"You're not wearing the Training Bracelet, right?""Don't worry.""Yeah, it's in the bag."
Finally, I checked to make sure the Training Bracelet wasn't equipped.
If it's on, your level won't increase, and you have to wait a day to remove it.
If you accidentally equip it, it's a hassle, so be careful. If there's no problem, then...
"All set. Let's go.""Alright.""Right."
I called out to Dent-san, and we headed into the forest.
"Dent-san, take the lead and keep an eye out while guiding us to the destination. Pidd-san, guard the rear.""Got it.""Sure."
The formation is Dent-san at the front, then me, Amina, Nel, and Pidd-san at the rear.
"But guarding you kids is pretty relaxing. Right, Pidd?"
Once the formation was set, we just had to move through the forest, taking a slightly longer route to find the best paths.
Even if the terrain looks familiar, the natural environment changes a lot, so there's no guarantee we'll reach the destination as I remember.
"...Don't chatter. We're on the job."
So I left the path to Dent-san and focused on getting a rough idea of our location from the terrain.
Walking in silence is quite boring.
The first to speak was Dent-san, leading the way.
From the front to the rear, with only three kids, his normal voice carried just fine.
"Don't say that. Remember when we escorted those noble kids through the Goblin Forest?""The pay was good. That's all I can say.""But after that, we started avoiding escort requests from that family, right?""..."
The content was just adventurer work complaints.
"What's so relaxing about it?"
You could call it the voice of the adventurer field. It's a topic I'm curious about too.
And Nel seemed interested as well, asking Dent-san without stopping.
"You girls are following us without any complaints. The employer trusts us and leaves the guiding to us. That alone makes it much easier. Compared to those guys, right?""...The noble kids we escorted before were quite troublesome."
Nel's question brought Pidd-san into the conversation.
Dent-san brought it up, but it must have been a job bad enough to make them want to complain.
Pidd-san's tough face twisted as if recalling something unpleasant.
"After just a few minutes of walking, they complained non-stop. The path is bad, we're not encountering monsters, it's taking too long, they're thirsty, and finally, they're tired. And these were noble kids older than you guys!""I was told my face is scary.""And that I reek of old age!! Just because they're nobles doesn't mean they can say whatever they want!""If you had said that back then, it would have been something.""You too, right? We commoners just have to do our jobs quietly."
On one hand, I think they shouldn't be complaining in front of kids, but on the other, I learned that nobles in this world can be quite arrogant.
Nel was nodding in understanding.
Does she have opportunities to interact with nobles through her business?
Or does she just hear rumors?
Either way, even kids know about the arrogance of nobles.
Amina also had a distant look in her eyes.
"The place we're heading to is somewhere nobles wouldn't go. So in that sense, it's relaxing.""In the Goblin Forest, the competition for hunting grounds makes our weak position clear. If they falsely accuse us of stealing their spot, we'd be in trouble.""Yikes, nobles are really scary."
Having only been in this world for a short time, my knowledge of the noble class comes from games.
The fear of noble power that everyone talks about isn't just a game mechanic.
Maybe it's because the story wouldn't progress if you bowed to nobles.
"It's best to avoid them as much as possible.""Even if you want to avoid them, they'll come after you if they take notice.""...That's troublesome."
I gave a safe response, but Dent-san, wagging his finger with a bitter smile, had a hint of sadness.
He must have had a hard time in the past.
Maybe he struggled with Count Clermont's lament.
With that flow of conversation, most of the talk was Dent-san and Pidd-san's complaints and experiences about dealing with nobles.
It's useful for me and Nel, but Amina seemed a bit bored.
"Alright, we're almost there. Just over this hill."
There are no active monsters around here, so the journey was smooth.
The weather is clear, no rain.
And after climbing a slightly steep hill.
"Look, the ruins."
There's a circular excavated area.
"Wow, there's really a town-like place here.""It's the ruins of a civilization that perished long ago. Most of the buildings are gone, buried in the earth. It was excavated by nobles in the past as a treasure hunt."
Road-like structures, wall-like structures, building-like structures—only the remnants of what might have been remain.
The legacy of an ancient civilization.
It's surprising that such a place exists just a few hours by wagon.
"There are quite a few of them.""Where do they come from?""No idea. There's definitely no dungeon here."
Looking down from the hill, small moving shadows in the ruins.
Petite Clay Golems.
The inhabitants of these ruins are only them, and as Nel said, there are quite a few.
"So? What do we do, kid? We can just boldly enter the ruins, you know?"
The Petite Clay Golems, aka Haniwa, are much stronger than Mochi.
Their race is, as the name suggests, Golems.
They're hard and have considerable strength.
But their speed isn't that fast, which is their characteristic.
However, their strength is such that even a group of them would be no match for the two veterans.
"No, that would be troublesome, so we'll lure the ones on the outskirts."
I rummaged through my leather bag and took out something I had prepared for this.
"A slingshot?""Handy, isn't it?"
Also called a catapult, it uses elastic bands to shoot small stones far.
Nel also took out a slingshot from her leather bag.
"Nel and I will lure them, so...""Amina, you're up!""Let's go with the plan!"
The characteristic of this tool is that if you don't equip it, the damage to the enemy is minimal.
I, Amina, and Nel all have equipment mixed with the Mark of the Weak, so we can't switch equipment.
And the Haniwa's strength is above Mochi but below Kagami Mochi.
If we attack with a reinforced bamboo spear, we'll defeat them in one hit.
If that happens, with the initial experience table, our levels will increase from the Haniwa's experience.
To avoid that, we need to minimize damage, and the stones for the slingshot are plentiful here.
Plus, the slingshot is the best way to lure the Haniwa.
Of course, with the right skills and proper equipment, the slingshot can deal damage, but that's not necessary this time.
"Alright, let's start."
At the outskirts of the ruins.
There are plenty of Haniwa here too.
But not as many as in the middle of the ruins.
Among them, I aimed at the closest Haniwa.
"Hit it!!""It's coming this way!""I know!!"
The first shot missed, and so did the second.
Finally, the third shot hit.
Reacting to our attack, the Haniwa turned its hollow eyes towards us and started moving in our direction with an odd gait.
The closer it gets, the easier it is to hit with the slingshot.
Nel pulled back her slingshot and fired a stone, hitting it with a dry *clink*.
"Got it!!""Amina!""Okay!! Leave it to me!! Hey!!"
However, the minimal damage didn't stop the Haniwa from approaching, and at that moment, Nel swung down a wooden stick she had grabbed with her winged arm with all her might.
'Hanya!?'
Not as clean as a perfect overhead strike, but it hit the Haniwa's head squarely, shattering its body.
With a strange cry, the Haniwa turned into black ash and disappeared as usual.
Left behind was...
"Alright, it dropped."
A strange, horn-like item.
"You picked that up earlier too. But if you keep picking up stuff like that, your bag will get full. The guild won't buy that junk."
Dent-san warned me.
In fact, this item was worthless even in the game, selling for zero zeni.
But this is an important item that must not be discarded.
Important, but only useful in this specific situation.
"This is how you use it. Nel! Amina! Let's go again!!""Okay!""Alright!!"
Like loading a bow, I set the horn-like drop item into the slingshot.
Taking careful aim, I shot it at a Haniwa closer than the last one.
If it hits, it should just make a dry sound, but...
"What was that!?""Did it glow?"
The drop item hit the Haniwa.
Instead of taking damage, the Haniwa glowed upon contact.
"...It grew a horn.""Ah, yeah."
When the light faded, the drop item I had shot was now attached to the Haniwa's head.
"Wait!? Did the monster just evolve!?""Let's take it down.""No, it's fine. It's just the appearance. Let's go!""Go where!?"
The Haniwa, now transformed by the strange light, made Dent-san draw his dagger and Pidd-san ready to attack, but I stopped them and calmly attacked with a stone.
"Next is me!"
Luring it closer, Nel hit it with her slingshot.
"Last is me!!"
Following the same pattern, the horned Haniwa was smashed by Amina.
'Hanyaa~'
With a pitiful cry, it vanished.