Fleeting

KKKB 628

Added 2023-07-26 06:10:04 +0000 UTC

A Certain Adventurer

"Damn, what's with this number?"

"Deborane-san, what do we do?"

It was by chance that we passed by the village.

We were on our way back from killing some monsters when we came across a man being attacked by a Giant Spider. I and Lanz defeated the Giant Spider and saved the man.

Small spiders were cute, but when they were as big as Wolves, they were disgusting.

The man we saved told us that numerous Giant Spiders had appeared in his village. So the man said he was on his way to a nearby village to ask for help.

I handed him my canteen and told him to go to the village and get help. The man drinks the water in one gulp, thanks me and runs off.

"Deborane-san, what do we do now?"

"Of course we're going."

"Yes, let's do it."

Lanz and I ride off in the opposite direction the man rode off.

When we arrived in the village, we saw a Giant Spider moving around the village.

Some of the villagers were armed and trying to fight them.

That was not bravery, that was recklessness.

Fighting should be left to the experts.

If one could cook, they should be a cook.

If one could farm, they should be a farmer.

If one wanted to do business, one would be a merchant.

If one would like to organize a town, one would be a lord.

And if one wanted to fight monsters, he or she would be an adventurer.

In other words, me!

"Lanz, tell the people in the village to go inside and hide because they are in the way."

"Yes, of course."

I and Lanz ran around the village and told them to go inside the houses.

"It's dangerous, stay inside the house."

"Orya!"

"Stay inside the house and don't make a sound."

"You're slowing us down, so go inside and hide!"

When they knew we were adventurers, they followed my instructions and went inside the house.

In the midst of all this, a woman came running up to me.

"My husband failed to escape and was caught by a big spider in the field."

The woman asked for help.

Giant Spiders capture their prey but did not eat it right away. They had the habit of wrapping their threads around it and preserving it.

But if they were hungry, you never know.

"I'll get my reward later, okay?"

I mount my horse and head for the field the woman told me about.

There were two Giant Spiders in the field. There, lying on the ground, was what appeared to be a person wrapped in spider silk.

"That one?"

I brandished my sword and defeated the Giant Spider.

I got off my horse, ran up to the man, and carefully put my knife close to his face.

The threads were sticky and hard to cut.

But the man's face emerged from under the coiled thread.

He was breathing. And his eyes slowly opened.

"You're alive."

"Oh, and you are?"

"I'm an adventurer. You can thank me later."

I tried to cut the threads around the man, but the Giant Spiders gathered around us.

There were so many of them.

I lifted the man wrapped in string and placed him on the back of my horse, and I rode.

I mount my horse, ride through the Giant Spiders, and head for the woman's house.

"You!"

"Get inside the house and hide!"

I dismount with the man from my horse and throw him inside the house.

"Thank you, s

"If you want to thank me, don't use words, just get the money prepared and I will take it later."

I head out to take down the Giant Spiders, but there were more of them than I expected.

I looked outside the village and saw more Giant Spiders coming into the village.

"Damn, there are more of them."

I and Lanz couldn't handle this number of quirky spiders.

The faces of two adventurers come to mind.

Gil, who, like me, had a big body.

Rurina, who provides cover for us with magic.

"Huh."

It was so unlike me to think about those who weren't here.

I mount my horse and rejoin Lanz.

"Lanz, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"What about the villagers?"

"The villagers have gone into hiding in their houses as instructed."

"I see."

Well, at least they had time to hide in their houses.

"And the Village Chief would like to see you."

The Village Chief, huh, we needed to hear what he had to say to understand what's going on.

I and Lanz head for the Village Chief's house.

We apologize to the Village Chief, but we didn't want the Giant Spider to feed on our horses, so we're going to have to let the horses go inside the house.

"Thank you for helping everyone in the village."

I just saved a few residents of the village and killed a few Giant Spiders. That was easy for me.

"Don't thank me yet."

I was able to get the villagers outside to escape into their houses, but the Giant Spiders were still around the village.

Even after we killed them, they kept springing up like insects.

"So, is it possible to defeat the monsters? Of course, we will do all we can to help you."

The Village Chief asks me with a sullen look in his eyes.

I would say it depends on the reward, but that number would be too much for just me and Lanz.

"We can defeat them individually, but there are too many of them."

I looked through the window and saw them crawling around.

If only Gil and Rurina were here...

The two of them left the party because of my rivalry with that bear.

I do believe that an adventurer should be a strong man.

If you were not strong, you would die.

Since I became an adventurer, I have seen many new adventurers who never came back.

So when that bear told me someday he wanted to be an adventurer, I thought, "You've got to be kidding". Being an adventurer is not something you do for fun. You have to fight for your life.

I have many scars on my body from monsters. Scars that would never go away. I did not become an adventurer for money.

That's why I taught those who would become adventurers how hard it was to be an adventurer.

But the bear's ability was real.

I was beaten easily, and she had slain various monsters and even a black viper.

The difference in ability between me and the bear was obvious.

She was dressed like a joke, but she was a fearsome bear.

Just remembering that bear frustrates me.

So when that bear set up store, Gil and Rurina offered to help, but my pride wouldn't allow it, so I didn't help.

Disgusted by my behavior, Gil and Rurina left the party.

"So, Deborane-san, what do you want to do?"

Lanz asked.

Lanz followed me even after the two of them left the party.

I couldn't let Lanz die.

"Do you want to run away?"

Lanz asked me in a quiet voice, so quiet that the Village Chief couldn't hear me.

I looked out the window again and saw Giant Spiders roaming around, too many of them.

Even if we tried to escape, it would be impossible to do so if we were attacked by such a large number of them.

If we get tangled up in their threads while we are running away, we would be finished.

What should we do? Think!

Right now, thanks to the Giant Spider's habits, there would be no imminent threat to our lives.

But it was only a matter of time.

As time goes by, some residents might become food for the Giant Spider.

We need more time and more people to fight.

There were no answers.

"Deborane-san and Lanz-san, please run away. The two of you can leave the village."

While I was struggling with this, the Village Chief said something like that.

"No, no. Please go outside the village and get help. If you stay here, you could only end up as food. Then, if you leave the village while you have strength, you have a better chance of survival."

The Village Chief was right, as time goes on, it would become more and more difficult to escape.

But considering the additional Giant Spider that came from outside the village, we may have missed that timing as well.

"No, I'm staying."

"Deborane-san! ?"

"Outside the village, I helped a man who left the village. That man must be asking for help. We will have to wait for him to bring a strong adventurer with him."

Not many adventurers were stronger than me, though.

"Did you see Jimmy? Is he all right?"

"I saved him from being attacked by a Giant Spider."

The Village Chief was relieved to hear my words.

The problem was after he left us. If a Giant Spider had attacked him again, who knows what would have happened.

If the man was able to get to the nearby village safely, help would be on the way.

The problem was the number of people coming to help and the quality and time they would take to get there.

No matter how many people there were, if they were not capable, they would just end up dead.

And above all, there may not be enough time.

If they failed to arrive in time, there might be casualties.

As we were talking, the Giant Spider gathered around the house and began to spit out threads towards the house.

"Deborane-san!"

"Looks like they're wrapping the whole house in string."

It seemed like they were preserving the whole house and us.

Lanz examined the ceilings, walls, etc. There were sounds of crawling on the roof and crawling on the walls. It sounds disgusting. I would like to slash it right away. But for now, all we could do was sit tight.

And then, after who knows how long, a scream could be heard coming from outside the house.

"Deborane-san!"

I did not know if they were trying to escape or if it was time for the Giant Spider to eat, but the people of the village have been attacked.

"Damn it, Lanz, you stay."

"I'm coming with you."

I opened the door, which I had cut the threads from the gap before, and looked outside.

There were no spiders nearby, but the screams came again.

But there was another scream.

"Let's go, Lanz!"

"Yes!"

Lanz and I run.

There were five Giant Spiders in front of one house.

A man was fighting the Giant Spiders at the door, trying to keep them from entering the house behind him alone.

But the man was holding his spear in a weak position.

You couldn't protect what you want to protect with a stance like that.

"Lanz, I'll deal with the Giant Spider. After you secure the man and the people in the house, take them to the chief's house!"

Part of the house was destroyed. It would be dangerous to stay cooped up like that.

"Deborane-san, I can't leave you alone."

"I'm fine on my own. Besides, if there were children in the house, they would run away if I approached them."

Lanz looked at me.

"Well, Deborane-san's face is scary."

"That's the part you should deny. No one else is this handsome."

I and Lanz started running towards the house that was being attacked. I ram the Giant Spider, swinging my big sword, and cut it down, clearing a path for Lanz to pass.

Lanz ran past me and heads for the guy.

I turned my back on Lanz and the guy and deal with the rest of the Giant Spider.

"Come at me!"

I swing my big sword down at the Giant Spider.

But the Giant Spider ducks backwards.

The Giant Spider's eight legs move at high speed.

If Rurina had been there, she could have stopped it, or predicted where it would run away and unleashed her magic on it.

With Gil, I could have left half the work to him.

Fufu, there was no point in thinking about someone who wasn't there.

"Deborane-san, there were two people in the house."

Lanz called from behind.

I looked behind me, keeping an eye out for the Giant Spider.

They're a husband, a wife, and a child.

"I'll clear the way."

"Yes."

"Orya! Come on! I'm your opponent!"

I put all my strength into my hand gripping the great sword and was about to run towards the Giant Spider in front of me, when more Giant Spiders gathered around me.

"Deborane-san!"

Even if I killed a few of them here, it would be the end if they chased after the fleeing Lanz and the others.

Think, what should we do?

Well, that was easy.

Then all I have to do is to reduce the number until Lanz and the others could escape.

"Lanz, stay where you are. When I tell you to run, run."

I brandished my greatsword at the Giant Spider.

"Orya!"

I smash the greatsword to the side.

Smack, the greatsword sliced into the spider's body.

The other spiders started spitting out threads.

I blocked it with my great sword. The threads cling to my greatsword.