Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.17)

However Aphnaidel could not finish his words. Cause I've already cut off that rope by my 'Unaware Slash'.

Hanster fell, I quickly went to check his breath. Fortunately, he is still wheezing. I put my sword down, and then said:

"Hey, what the hell did you do?"

Silikian surprisedly looked at Aphnaidel. Aphnaidel's face burst red and green. Suddenly he shouted:

"Bastard! How dare you destroy Aphnaidel the Archmage's stuff, absolutely unforgivable!"

His face suddenly turned angry and he began to search in his pocket again. Really, what is he doing?

Tyburn doesn't even need any tools or powder, why is this guy so troublesome? Is it because he is an Archmage?

I didn't have time to sort out these ideas, Aphnaidel had already taken something out. It's a small, white, strange looking .... bone? He threw the bone towards me. Hum! Want to mess with me? By that? What can that do to me? Aphnaidel quickly shouted:

"Scare!"

Sounds like something scary will happen...... But nothing really happened. I nervously looked at Aphnaidel , and then looked at that bone on the ground. Am I hit? How come I don't feel anything? But Hanster lying on the ground suddenly screamed wildly :

"Uh ah! Uh ah! Go, go away! Uh ah ah!"

Hanster began to run, and then rolled over, and fell to the ground again. He then started crying. His face is covered by tears, saliva and sweat, everything that can come out from his face came out, completely messed up. The soldiers standing there tried to catch Hanster, but Hanster crazily pushed them away.

Aphnaidel's eyes are widen, and stammered:

"Lad, you, can't you feel anything?"

"Well, I can feel that my mood is not good. I was hit by a piece of bone, how could I feel good? What kind of bone is this? Chicken bones from your breakfast?"

Aphnaidel looked at me, then at Iruril, his face looks like he saw something unbelievable.

"Why, although elves can't feel the terror of dead, you, you are a human!"

At this time Karl and Sanson came forward. Karl calmly explained it, I finally got to know what was going on.

"You actually use that evil magic. Casting with dead man's bones. Such evil magic will bring people a terrible fear, and even to a level that drives man crazy. But this boy in front of you, he has no fear to dead. Because he has seen a lot of dead, and so has most of people from our village. "

Aphnaidel startled eyes and said weakly:

"You, are you a wizard?"

"No, I'm just a scholar."

This is a dead man's bone? Huh? Really strange. I kicked the bone away, Aphnaidel was amazed and looking at me. However, if you want to find these bones, you got to dig a grave, right? I glared at Aphnaidel and said:

"Ha, you ghoul. Did you dig your own grave to get this stuff?"

Karl corrected me. He said:

"No, it should not be, Nedval. It should be obtained from the undead."

"Really? Ah, anyway, still something terrible. But is he really an Archmage? I thought wizard can reverse gravity to invert heaven and earth, and summon Balrog by teleportation. But why is this Archmage playing rope tricks, sprinkling powder and bones?"

Aphnaidel immediately said:

"You, you bastard! Are you trying to insult me!"

"I'm sorry, but the wizard I know is really like that. You seem to suck a little bit?"

Aphnaidel looks pissed off, and he quickly put his hand into his pocket again. Another rope! Aphnaidel threw that over to us immediately, and shouted:

"Succinct!"

"Ah, watch out!"

I quickly pushed Iruril and Karl away. As a result the rope is only tied on me. Aphnaidel frowned. He wanted to catch all four of us together. Now he glared at Sanson and Karl.

"I decided to take my time to deal with this dirty-mouthed kid. Now it's your turn, what should I do?"

Sanson's face looked at Aphnaidel kindly, and then said to me:

"How long do you want to be tied?"

"Not long."

I pushed with my arms, the rope immediately got broken into many parts, falling to the ground. Both citizens and soldiers watching are amazed, while Aphnaidel is shocked. This time he finally carefully looked around me, and then he noticed my gloves.

"That's OPG (Ogre Gauntlets)! Who the hell are you, how come you would have such a treasure?"

"This is my gift for behaving good."

Baron Silikan began to roar:

"Aphnaidel! What is happening? Aren't you very proficient in magic?"

"These are not normal persons! Hey, soldiers! Arrest them right now! No! Kill them all!"

Aphnaidel stepped back, Baron Silikan also stood up from his chair and fell back hurriedly. Then more than thirty soldiers started moving towards us, their halberds looks terrible. Seems more terrible than the Orcs' machetes! Karl shouted:

"This is how you treat your guests? Baron! Did we do something wrong? We just tried to stop those trolls from making trouble, so we helped to kill them, is there anything wrong?"

Baron also shouted:

"Shut up! How dare you kill my trolls and being so shameless!"

Karl is very angry and speechless. And then Aphnaidel shouted at me:

"That naive kid actually has such a rare treasure. That thing should belong to me, used in my research. Soldiers! Kill them all, now!"

What? Are those words from a human's mouth? I stood out and was going to yell. But Iruril stood in front of me first.

"Iruril? Please stay away!"

Iruril turned and looked at me.

"Huchi, we're friends, right?"

"The answer is the same! No matter how many times you ask."

"Then I should help to stop them, but not letting you to face 32 soldiers!"

Oh, are there 32? Well, that is not very important.

"That's true, but for me too!... If you are in danger."

"I'm not in danger."

Iruril turned back again, then put her hands together. With such a beautiful elf standing in front, the soldiers looked around each other nervously. Iruril began to murmur some strange words. Huh? Is that a spell?

"Grease!"

"Uh ah!"

All the soldiers are slipping and falling down suddenly. At that moment, Iruril casted another spell quickly.

"Feather Fall!"

Then, the soldiers became very strange. They are now all floating in the air. Although they should have fallen after losing their balance, they are falling down slowly, just like in the water. The soldiers are cursing, trying to move their body straight and stand, but they seem to not able to control their own bodies. The so-called 'Feather Fall' magic, shouldn't be a magic that makes body light like a feather? So is Iruril a wizard? But thinking of the look she fights with her daggers, she doesn't look like a wizard at all. Also, if she knows magic, why didn't she use that when she was fighting the Urcs? Ah! 'Memorization'.

Certainly. That day Iruril was night-guarding for us, so she couldn't perform 'Memorization'. I recalled Karl's words:

"When wizards are using magic, they don't do the same like works of carpenters or lumberjack. Those use their own strength, but wizards use the power of the nature. However, we should be clear where the difference is. Truly skilled carpenter utilizes gravity to nail, and he can handle the bounce force naturally. Most people get tired after a few nails, but carpenter can do hundreds. This is because they use the forces of nature. Eventually, people who use their own strength, when they master their skills, they involve the forces of nature. So it's even more true for wizards who are already relying on the power of natures, they combine themselves with nature every single day, and they even practice for that. That is the purpose of Memorization. Nedval. Of course, in a short sentence, it is just to memorize the magic you have to use on that day, but there is a complex meaning in it. "

When I was thinking of these words, Iruril continued to cast her magics. But the strange thing is, I can now understand what she is saying.

"In the Atmosphere, Carrying the Lives, Monitoring the Things, Who Do Not Belong to Anything. Dance, Right Here, Right Now. I Pray!"

Shoop -! Shua -!

Wind and laughter started coming from the sky. I'm amazed by what I am seeing.

There is something in the sky moving forward, I can't see it clearly. It's just like a flickering figure. Seems to be a very small man, but I really can't see clearly. Except those soldiers who lost their balance, everyone is looking at the sky. Karl with a remarkable voice said:

"Never thought that I'd have the chance to see it! Sylph!"

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.16)

We have just discussed how to go, and we decided to ride. I don't know why we have to ride, but Sanson insisted to do so.

So now Karl and I are riding along the main road of Renus City, between us are the eight soldiers walking in two columns. Ah, we are on the horses and the soldiers are walking on foot, although we didn't lock these soldiers up, it looks exactly like what captives transfer looks. The could be what Sanson tried to achieve.

I glimpsed that the soldiers' faces all turned red, and they are walking with their heads down, not looking up nor looking around. However, the citizens in Renus City can see us clearly. People are whispering.

"Hey, aren't those Baron Silikian's guards?"

"Really, why are they like this?"

"The lad riding on the horse is that kid this morning! He cut the troll's neck...."

Karl looked around and unwittingly blushed, he murmured:

"Ah, we are really like going to a exchange of prisoners."

"Huh? You're right! Karl! Good analogy!"

I tried hard to make an awesome expression. Although I hope Jamini can walk elegantly, but Jamini is just like walking in the fields, more like shuffling, which makes me really unhappy. Ah, forget about it.

Jamini is Jamini. Regardless it's the horse or the human.

And Sanson is at the back of the soldiers. He let Iruril to ride his horse "Meteor", and he is grabbing the reins and walking on the ground. Iruril with a very worried tone asked him to ride together, but Sanson firmly refused.

And further behind are Cherine and the servants of the hostel. We asked them not to come, but Cherine said we are their guests, so he has to be responsible in the end.

"Perhaps when that Baron saw your number, he'd do it hard. Once you enter the house, it could be difficult to come out again. Though we are unable protect you, at least when the Baron see we have so many people, he would probably not imprison you deliberately. "

Cherine said those words, and led the people to follow us. One of the few passers watching us shouted:

"You see! What've they done?"

That leader Hanster immediately shouted back:

"You stupid pig! These people killed the trolls, of course they will need to pay compensation. Now we are escorting them to the Baron."

I almost fell from my horse, Karl, Sanson and Iruil are also laughing. The passer spitted and scratched his head:

"Bah! What, you said who is escorting who?"

People began to laugh. Ah, riding a horse does have many benefits. Hanster viciously clenched his fists, but because he is empty-handed, he can't do anything. All their halberds have been broken by me.

By the way, I really feel very uncomfortable. I constantly think of that Archmage Aphnaidel. What kind of person is he? Tyburn can summon Balrog, then this Archmage might be able to summon a dragon?

"Hanster, excuse me, what kind of person is this Aphnaidel?"

Hanster looked up at me unhappily, then winced and said.

"He's not human being. He is very frightening."

"He's that scary?"

"If I were you, I would only go to deal with him when I want to die...."

Hanster hasn't finished his words yet, his body began to tremble incessantly, my whole mood turned worse. We punched the men of the horrible Archmage, and now we are bringing them back like this, uh, this isn't good.

※ ※ ※

We finally arrived Baron Silikian's mansion. It's a very majestic mansion, but there is no time to look at it. As compared to the mansion, I found a more attractive picture which drew my attention.

On the courtyard in front of the mansion, there is a shed, under the shed there is a red carpet. A very ornate chair is placed on the carpet, and someone is sitting on it, I don't know whether he's the Baron or not, but he seems to know we are coming, and is waiting here. Although he is wearing gorgeous clothes, those clothes look too expensive that make people afraid to eat as if they would dirty the clothes. A servant is kneeling and holding a bowl, something like biscuits is in it. He has been constantly eating. Really terrible!

Beside him there is a man in robe, holding a wooden stick, impatiently looking at the sky. When I saw this robe on this man, I thought of Tyburn's. Tyburn's robe is kind of a functional clothing that you can even sleep in it. But now looking at this robe, it's completely like shouting at people: "I am an Archmage!" If not, why it's all painted with stars and sparks patterns? Maybe this man is the Archmage Aphnaidel. I would like to look at this man's face, but he has been looking at the sky, so I can't have a clear look. However, he is unexpectedly young. I thought grand mages should all be elderly. On their left and right sides, they are lined with soldiers wearing chainmail and halberd, about thirty or so.

Because the main gate is opened, we can walk directly into the courtyard. Behind us are Cherine and his servants, as well as curious citizens. Once the citizens noticed that the Baron and the Archmage are there, they began to get excited. The crowd is getting louder and louder.

I sighed and talked to the soldiers:

"Well, your men are there, do you want to stand next to them?"

But those soldiers' faces are covered with fear, they hesitated to go back. What? How could this be? The leader Hanster stammered:

"We... We are dead! Aphnaidel the Archmage is there......"

At this time, the Baron sitting on the chair made a gesture to retreat the servants, he began:

"Welcome to my house, my guests!"

Karl looked at me and got down from the horse, Iruril behind also dismounted. Then Sanson and Iruruil walked over. The baron nodded.

"Three men, one elf. Right!"

"So you're the Baron Silikian, owner of the arena?"

I asked. The baron's temple twitched, he said:

"Owner of the arena? Yes, I am Baron Silikian."

"I heard that you are a fake baron?"

The baron seems to explode soon. My mouth can just tell truth, so I can't help even if it makes him unhappy. Baron Silikian didn't shout at me, but looked at someone behind me.

"Hanster!"

Hanster with a desperate look came forward, suddenly knelt down. Baron Silikian said:

"How come I can't see the compensation? What is it? Why does this guy dare to be so presumptuous here?"

"We were ambushed! Once we arrived at the hostel, they set things up with Cherine, the owner of the hostel, and ambushed us! So they got our equipment...."

I couldn't hold my laughter. So stupid! Please think about the situation before you lie, how could he be so stupid? Baron Silikian's face is twitching, looking angrily at Hanster, until Hanster couldn't stand anymore. He began desperately kowtowing.

"Are you trying to fool me?"

"I deserve death, please forgive..."

"You really deserve death."

Hanster raised his head desperately. But the baron'eyes have turned to the Archmage. I stepped back a little.

Aphnaidel's eyes which have been looking at the sky, are now looking down at Hanster. Hanster's face is already half-dead. He fell and sat on the ground and kept crawling back.

"Help ...... Please forgive me!"

Aphnaidel put his hand into his robe, and then took something out carefully. He is now holding a black rope.

"Scream. Let's see if you still have any living value, Hanster!"

Aphnaidel's voice is cold. He threw the rope to Hanster.

"Uh ah!!!"

As if seeing a snake flying over, Hanster is screaming in horror, and began waving his arms. What? He is afraid of rope? Aphnaidel began muttering. Just like those random unknown words from Tyburn, and then said quickly:

"Bind! Tie & Knot!"

The rope flying over seems to come alive, it's now crawling around Hanster's body and wrapping his neck. Hanster in order to prevent the rope from tightening around his neck, is desperately clutching both ends of it, but he can only try his best to stop it, but there is no way to rip it off.

Hanster has flushed.

Aphnaidel again took out something like powder from his robe. He sprayed it over to Hanster, and cast another  spell.

"Rope Trick!"

At that moment, one end of the rope wrapped Hanster's neck began going up towards the sky, the other end stood stiffly on the ground. Then, Hanster because of his body weight, got the rope tighten on his neck.

"Uh, uh ahhhhh!"

God, so he is going to die! Whether that guy is a scary Archmage or not, I can't stand it anymore.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

Before I yelled, Iruril had already taken action. I saw Iruril's brunette. She ran towards Hanster, and then raised her left hand dagger and cut rope. A crash.

Huh? Isn't that a rope? Iruril embarrassingly looked at Aphnaidel, she wanted to help Hanster. However the upper end and the lower end of the rope are like tightly pulled, so Hanster's body is lifted naturally, his neck is hence tightened. Aphnaidel mockied:

"That is not a normal rope, silly elf...."

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.15)

Sanson didn't draw his sword. He said to the soldiers:

"You insulted my lord, so I have to duel with you. Do you want to come one by one, or once together?"

The soldiers looked at each other. Anyway, if they so many people are going to fight against a person, it would hurt their dignity. One of them, that soldier who got his halberd broken by me, took over another soldier's halberd, then took a step forward. This man seems to be their leader. He looked at me standing on the stairs above, said:

"Hey, do you want to come down?"

"Why should I go down? Ah, are you begging me to fight with you?"

Thay guy grunted, and then suddenly stabbed with his halberd towards Sanson who hasn't drawn his sword. But Sanson has been monitoring his footsteps, so before he could move his arms, Sanson had already read his intentions. Sanson gently stepped back, and then kicked the ground with the same foot, then charged towards the soldier who lost his balance. Sanson sent a heavy punch. Bang!

"Ah!"

That guy was hit right in his face, he looks like that he is going to faint, and began to retreat. Sanson said:

"Did you really close your eyes? This guy's foundation is too bad."

Sanson then drew out his sword. That is the sword our thane spent almost all his money to purchase, in order to deal with Lycanthropes, it's coated with a layer of silver, so it's a very beautiful sword. The soldier also waved his halberd nervously, Sanson held his sword horizontally, and then parried the halberd. The halberd hit the sword, emitting scrubbing noise, and then bounced away. It takes time to lift the heavy Halberd again, Sanson took a step forward and gently stabbed. The soldier's hand immediately stopped moving. Sanson pointed his sword at the guy's throat. Simply, the duel ended.

"Ah, ah -"

That guy emerged bloodshot in his eyes, watching the sword pointing at his throat. Sanson shaked his sword around a few times and said:

"I will not kill you if you apologize. But if you want to die, you should know what to do."

"Damn you!"

Another soldier waved his halberd suddenly, and Sanson took a step back swiftly. Then, the soldier who lost raised his halberd again.

"You son of a bitch! Do you know who we are!"

All the rest of the soldiers swarmed over. I have never seen such despicable persons. I raised my bastard sword and the then jumped forward. Because I was standing on the stairs, so I can jump quite high. I pulled out my sword in the air, and then held the blade and scabbard with my hands.

"Ah ah!"

Using the power of jumping off, I destroyed two halberds with this strike. I cut one with my sword, and broke another one with the scabbard. Then, after I was standing on the ground again, I immediately performed 'Unaware Slash', because both of my hands are raised, so it's easy to follow the center force, I again destroyed two other halberds. Although they don't act like human, I wouldn't have a single thought of stabbing their bodies with my sword. This is not for these guys, but for myself. So I swing my scabbard.

"Uh ah!"

The soldier who got hit in the cheek by me, even had his teeth popped out, and he fell to the ground. I put my sword back into the scabbard, and then started waving. I hit two other soldier's arms, they are scared and retreated. I hit their arms like chopping with an ax, they should be very painful  right? Are their arms broken? They should be able to live in this lesson in a month.

Sanson looked at me and seemed to understand my intention. Similarly, he withdrew his sword back into the scabbard, and then waved it. Before that, I hadn't felt that Sanson even tried, but once the sword was back into the scabbard, Sanson's moves became very cruel. Because there is no further consideration, he started hitting neck or chest or other important parts. So even it's a scabbard, among the soldiers who got hit, no one didn't faint after screaming. Sanson thinks those fallen soldiers are clumsy, so he kicks them away, or simply steps on them, and then continues to attack the others.

So the two of us are crazily beating them with our scabbards. After a while, on the road in front of the hostel, there is no healthy soldier left. The eight soldiers are all lying on the ground together and groaning.

I kicked the guy who tried to ambush Sanson and said:

"You bastard, I'm an ogre killer. How dare you!"

Come on, I've dueled with Ogre, Gargoyle and Gorgon, those monsters illusion, and even fought with real Orcs, Urcs and Trolls. Although my foundation is poor, in fact these soldiers are in similar level as me. But compared to them, I have those horrible experience. So probably because of those experiences, I am able to  defeat them so easily. I aggressively scared them, Sanson stopped me.

"Stop, Huchi. If they are as capable as us, then it doesn't matter. But their foundation is really poor, I start to feel sorry doing this."

※ ※ ※

Cherine standing on the stairs is looking at us blankly. Soon Jusina called some servants to help the soldiers. But Jusina seems to don't know what to do, Sanson as well. Sanson frowned at the achievement me and hims have just done, he said:

"If we leave, it creates no problem to us. But Cherine and Jusina have to do business here, things must end satisfactorily. Let's move them to the lobby."

Jusina gratefully looked at Sanson. The following servants helped to move the soldiers into the hall.

Once we entered the hall, Sanson asked the guy who looks like the leader to sit down, together with Karl and Cherine at the same table, while the other soldiers are taken to other few tables, sat by me and Iruril. Jusina brought mugs of beer to us and the soldiers. She seems to want to treat this as a simple matter like a fight between energetic teenagers in a village, and now it should end with a smile. In fact, no one suffered from serious fatal injuries, so Jusina's action received very good results. What a calm girl, she can catch the essentials! Soldiers don't seem very happy, but they didn't refuse the beer.

Karl and Sanson are talking with the leader(his name seems to be Hanster?). Hanster although looks miserable, I can still feel his anger. Sanson also looks angry but  is suppressing himself. Karl and Cherine are trying to coordinate between the two of them.

I took the beer mug and stand against the wall, monitoring the soldiers sitting there and drinking the beer. Iruril is standing beside me, against the same wall. The soldiers have been staring at me, whether they are enemies or not, I really don't want that kind of expressions while enjoying beer.

"As long as you keep your hands on the table, plus, do not stand up, I will not interfere you." The soldiers heard me and smiled a little. Some soldiers are touching their abdomen, some stroking their cheeks, and sipping beer.

One of them said to me:

"Hey, lad."

"Why, please call me Huchi."

"So your name is Huchi? What a funny name, I am called Kelly. Why do you have such a big strength? Also, you mentioned that you are an ogre killer? You mean you've killed an ogre?"

"I have fought against ogres, gargoyles , gorgons, hobgoblins, minotaurs, also nine Urcs at once, and trolls this morning. Trolls are the most annoying, they just keep regenerating. "

The soldiers are all surprised. Kelly said:

"Kid ....Are you bragging?"

"You should have seen the trolls we killed. The others are also true. Why would I lie to you?"

Kelly didn't reply. I stated a long list of monsters, looks like they haven't even seen them. I am surprised to say:

"Aren't you mercenaries? You got to be useful so that you were selected, right? Why are you so surprised?"

Kelly unhappily smiled, and then replied:

"Lad, if it's not redneck like you, no one dares to touch us. We have never thought that someone would really mess with us, so we just relaxed our guard."

"Really? Sanson and I had sufficiently warned you, and you were still relaxed?"

"...... Although I don't know whether you can keep this arrogant attitude, if our troops are all deployed, you'll be finished in a minute. So stay happy when you still can."

I am not very happy about those words. But this time Iruril spoke first.

"Then I would like to ask a question, why weren't you deployed when the trolls were breaking out?"

"We were sleeping! It's early in the morning!"

The soldier replied unhappily. But I am very angry. That was already long after dawn. I recalled our hometown guards, who wake up for training before the sun rises in order to protect us. I said:

"What? Don't you have sentry? And before we started stopping the trolls, they had already come out for a while. And then we fought for a long while. In such a long period, you should have had some men here! "

Kelly hesitated to answer:

"Where we live is far away from the market place."

Heard these words, Jusina laughed. The soldiers looked at Jusina ferociously, but Jusina came closer to me without looking at them and said to me.

"Silikan's mansion is just next to the market. Oh! It's so far away! About one minute away."

I'm really speechless. I finished my beer.

"Well, thank you, Miss Jusina, please give me one more."

Jusina smiled and picked up the mug. However, Iruril said:

"Please don't drink anymore. You have been drinking since you sat down, totally six pints."

I didn't have time to reply before Jusina's words, she said:

"Ah, he can drink whenever he wants to. That's none of your business right?"

Huh? Wow, really powerful businessman spirit. Do you want to make money so much?

"No, it does not matter, Jusina. I shouldn't drink anymore indeed. And well, do you have to be so blatant of your business mind?"

Jusina looked shocked and looked at me. Why are you so surprised? Then Jusina suddenly changed her face and shouted at me:

"You Retard! Do you think that I want money from you?"

Jusina ran away. I am tongue-tied. Huh? When your mind is exposed you should escape quietly, why the hell she shouted retarded at me so loud? Really sinister girl. The soldiers are tittering. What are you laughing at?

I leaned against the wall, and then pulled out my sword and checked the blade carefully. This sword has slayed trolls, crashing with halberds. After the few battles, I want to see if there are damaged areas. Fortunately, the blade is still intact. Ah, thinking carefully, this sword hadn't crashed with metal before. However, when the soldiers saw me looking at the sword, all of them became tensed. So I put my sword back into the scabbard. Kelly again said to me with an unhappy voice:

"You lad, you may be able to gloat around with your strange strength, but if you meet magic, can you still be so easy?"

"Do you know magic?"

"Ha! Mr Baron employed Aphnaidel the Archmage! Aphnaidel will be dealing with you people, and maybe he will suck your soul out before killing you. If we let Aphnaidel know what you've done on us, he will! "

"Ah, an Archmage...... Not a good news."

Really bothering. I think of Tyburn, he can make the trolls flying to heaven, summon Balrog to kill Taurens, and also make a lot of horrible monster illusions. But now this is not even an ordinary wizard, but an Archmage!

Sanson shouted to me:

"Oi, Huchi! Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"We should go to visit the Baron. Talking to his men is not enough."

"Ah? We are walking into the enemy's camp?"

Sanson heard what I said, and immediately smiled.

"Come on man. Of course we have go to make this clear. We helped to handle the trolls, but he sent the soldiers to seek compensation, sure, we don't feel good. Although we won't ask for rewards, we should make our reasons clear, and we should send these soldiers back nicely, so that they won't say anything. "

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! I just heard that there is a wizard! No, a nArchmage!"

Sanson although looked lost, he turned calm shortly.

"So?"

He asked me, I have nothing to say.

"Then let's go. The Archmage is waiting for us!"

Cherine nervously held Sanson's shoulder, said.

"Are you really going there? Do you think if you go there, he would apologize and repent their faults? Don't you think you are silly doing that? Just leave this town. You don't have to do it for us... And the Archmage, Aphnaidel is a very cruel man. It's because of this Aphnaidel, the Baron gained such a power in this city."

"We certainly know it could be dangerous, but if we go with his soldiers, try to talk with him, he shouldn't be severe on us."

Cherine shook his head.

"Is it that simple?"


　※　　　　　※　　　　　※

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.14)

I really don't know how did I arrive the hostel. Anyway, after I arrived, Jusina's brother, that beardy , walked to the entrance. He saw my appearance and widened his eyes.

"Jusina told me... Sir, please wait a minute."

"Ah?"

That beardy lifted me up. What's going on?

"Well, just a little sprain! I would feel embarrassed if you do this!"

That beardy just moved me upstairs like this, Karl, Sanson, and Iruril also followed. After we entered the hostel, he brought me into a room next to the dining hall. It should be his room.

He put me on a table and checked my feet. He pressed my legs, and then asked:

"Does it hurt?"

"Well, why don't you look at my face?"

"Ha, it's swollen. The bones are not broken.... Probably cracked."

Iruril then went out. After a while, Iruril came back with something on her hand. I feel like I have seen that thing before? Ah, it looks the bottle of medicine that was given to the Urcs.

"Drink it, Huchi."

"Does it work for broken legs?"

"Well, haven't you seen that this even heals huge wounds?"

I nodded, then took the bottle and took a sip. The beardy is startled, looking at Iruril. But soon, the pain on my legs subsided completely. I jumped down from the table happily.

"Oops, I made the table dirty."

"Ah that, that doesn't matter, I'll clean it up. But how is your leg?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore. But I'd need to take a bath. I am really making a mess in this hostel."

"Jusina is preparing the bath water. Please come with me."

Oh, so she ran back to prepare for these! Very nice. I should really thank her. Strange. Impressive.

※ ※ ※

After a while, I cleaned my body and changed clothes, and then neatly sitting in the hall. Everyone else also gathered together. Each of us ordered a beer. Later that beardy also sat down at our table. His name is Cherine. I was shocked when he mentioned he is the owner of this hostel.

Beardy Cherine nodded and said:

"It was my father's, but he died last year, then I took it over and operate this hostel. Mother is living in another place in the urban area, she is not interested in business. When father was here, I was the chef, Jusina is responsible for accounting and cashier, so I usually just cook. "

"Jusina seems very capable."

Then Karl asked a question:

"But why could there be a sudden appearance of trolls?"

Cherine seriously thought.

"I am not sure as I didn't see it. They might escape from the arena. I have sent someone to ask for it."

"Arena?"

"Yes, there is an arena in this city. I've heard that there are a few trolls, so it could be them."

What is Arena? That halfing name Butter Duhon also mentioned that yesterday, but I am still looking at Sanson confusedly, Sanson also has no idea. So I asked Cherine.

"Arena, what is arena?"

"It's a place for fighting. Sometimes it could be soldiers against soldiers, and sometimes it could be soldiers against monsters."

"For what?"

Cherine looked at me with a surprised face and said.

"Of course it's for show. Also for gambling. You can bet on the result."

"What?"

We are all startled. For show? I fought against the phantom monsters summoned by Tyburn, the villagers were watching, like that right? However, those were phantoms, like acting. But those trolls just now were real.

"They fight against real monsters? They could die then?"

"Yes, they could die."

Sanson said unbelievably.

"What? People actually do crazy things like this. What kind of persons will fight there?"

"Some professional fighters.... They are usually poor.  And you can get a lot of money if you win."

"What is that, they risk their life just to make money?"

"Some people do."

Karl interrupted and said.

"But are there a lot of them? Although there should be a lot, that's why the arena can continue its business, I thought there shouldn't be many people who would give up their life to make money. And for a great warrior, regardless of how good he is, he won't define himself in this way."

Sanson made a proud expression. Karl said, like a seasoned warrior.

Cherine flashed an unhappy expression on his face. His beard obscured and we can't see clearly, but his eyes are clearly angry. Cherine said with an impatient voice.

"Have you ever heard of usury?"

Usury? That is a high interest rate loan, isn't that? But why did he suddenly mention that? Karl, however, frowned and said:

"So... The owner asks the warriors to fight in the arena, in order to cover their debts?"

"Exactly!"

"Huh! Does the Municipal Government allow this?"

"That man is very powerful. He bribed all the council staffs. Even the mayor, if he dares to do anything, he will be replaced. This is a public secret here. Even the guards of this city are like the private army of that man. He also has very powerful personal guards."

"Oh my god!"

Outrageous!

I probably know what happens here. So he would lend money to the people who need it urgently, and when they have no way to afford the extremely high interest rate, they would have to fight in the arena. He doesn't have to pay them even if they win, as they owe him the money. If they lose, of course he doesn't care. He can also make the money through the bets. Rationally I can generally understand, but I still feel incredible about that. Asking people to give up their life to pay for the debt? What is wrong with his head?


※ ※ ※

Noises suddenly came from the entrance, that's the sound of shoes stepping on the floor. Sanson tilted his head:

"What is that noise?"

Cherine looks worried, he seems to already know what the noise. After a while, eight fully armed soldiers walked into the lobby, all wearing a chain mail and holding a halberd. Nice equipment! Jusina behind tried to stop them.

"We have guests here, what are you doing?"

But those soldiers didn't even listen. Are they the guards of this city? However, Cherine said:

"They are the mercenaries I just mentioned."

What? Mercenaries are such fully armed? The Guard Captain of our thane, Sanson, looked down at his crusty armor unbelievably. Those guys looked around, and then came toward us.

"Cherine, here they are?"

Cherine gloomily nodded. Then the soldier said.

"Good. We are the soldiers of Baron Siliken. Did you guys kill the trolls?"

Baron Siliken? A nobility? Sanson nodded and said:

"What's wrong?"

"The price of a troll is 200 Purcell, so that's a total of 600 Purcell. Pay for the compensation."

I don't think I got it wrong, because Sanson is also surprised to look up at the soldiers. Karl and Iruril also did the same action. Sanson is puzzled and asked:

"Wait a minute. You asked us to pay for it?"

"Otherwise who is going to pay?"

"We helped to kill the trolls, but you didn't even say a single thank you, or give us some bonus, yet you want us to pay?"

"Scum! We use them to make money!"

The soldiers impatiently looked down, and kicked Sanson's calf bone. Sanson reluctantly kept silence, followed by fire sparks in his eyes. He angrily stood up. I stood up at the same time.

"What did you just do?"

"I told you scums to mind your behaviors."

"Scum? I am the soldier of the dignified Viscount Haltent, The Guard Captain of Fief Haltent, Sanson Percival. What did you just do to me?"

The soldiers heard the word 'dignified', issued contemptuous jeers.

"What is it so dignified about a Viscount? Which countryside village are you from? Do you know what kind of situation are you in right now?"

"Those guys from bandit villages are really troublesome. Their brains don't function properly. Pathetic. "

"He could be serving some kind of a Bandit leader deep in a mountain... Bah!"

Seems like the identity of Sanson is very funny, they are all laughing at it. This surprised Sanson that he even forgot his anger. The soldier kicked Sanson's leg again, completely treats Sanson as his own subordinates. Sanson made a groan, and bent over. The soldier is even trying to hit Sanson with the tail of his halberd.

He did not succeed. Because I grabbed the halberd. The soldier made a grim expression.

"Who is this kid?"

He tried to pull back his halberd, although I am just grabbing it with one hand, he couldn't get it back with both of his hands. Until I spin the halberd, he had to release his hands. Before he changed his face again, I held the halberd with both of my hands.

"Then how much is this?"

"What?"

I broke the halberd into two halves. The soldiers' faces are showing that they are shocked. I again held the two halves of the broken halberd in my hands, broke them into hour parts. I threw four broken parts back to the soldier, and said:

"And how much are you?"

The soldiers's surprise finally turned to fear. I said grimly:

"If I kill you all, how much do I have to pay?"

The soldier who had its halberd broken took a step back, the other soldiers are all retreating backwards. I am so angry, moved my hand to my shoulder, wanted to pull out my bastard sword. But I didn't equip my sword after shower.

Sanson drew his sword, said lowly:

"Let's go outside!"

Looks like Sanson considered about Cherine's position. The soldiers are hesitated to move backwards. They also seem to think fighting with halberd in a room is a disadvantage. They went back a few steps out and fled outside. Sanson breathlessly followed them. Karl stopped him.

"Well, Percival, what are you planning to do?"

"Our thane is insulted, insulted by the men of a Baron. We don't even know if he is a real Baron. Cherine? That Siliken, is he really a Baron?"

"How would men of a Baron behave like that?"

"I knew it, a fake Baron. We'll see!"

"But are you going to fight with so many people alone?"

"Death could occur anywhere anytime, but it's not easy to have the chance to choose when and where to die. So if I have the chance to choose, I am willing to die."

Sanson said these weird words and then walked out. I hurriedly ran to the second floor. There is no time to put the armor on, I just grabbed my sword and then rushed downstairs. Sanson and the eight men of that fake Baron are already standing outside the hostel, confronting with each other.

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.13)

※ ※ ※

After a commotion and Karl's explanation, I finally realized that the taste was not poison  but the original taste of that thing. Jusina's eyes became colder, and Sanson is laughing to a extent that he can't breathe. What a shame, shame! But why would people want to drink this thing?

Anyway, after the breakfast, we went outside. Sanson is going to buy a horse with Iruril. Karl and I are going to the market. But Iruril felt that we better go together. She also wants to buy something, so she suggested to come with us. I borrowed a wheelbarrow from Jusina, Jusina seems to think that I will break the wheelbarrow, took it out unwillingly.

"Going to the market?"

"Yup."

Jusina's face grew worse, she repressed her anger and said:

"Hum, how unfortunate that I'm going to market too? Follow me!"

"Oh, are you? Great! But are you going alone? This large hostel should need a lot of supply right?"

"Humph! Hick. You can simply make an order. Then they do the shipping."

"Oh? Really?"

Under the guidance of Jusina, we easily found the market. Jusina separated with us once we arrived.

We bought flour, dried meat, bacon, vegetables we can eat tonight, salt and some others. The price level here is really low. Those are cheap prices that can't be imagined in our village. Especially paper is incredibly cheap here. Karl dragged me to buy a lot of paper. Paper should be useful wherever!  At least it can be used to record something. I also bought pen and ink. I put them into the barrow and asked happily:

"Why are things so cheap here?"

Karl replied with a smile.

"You should have said things are so expensive in our village. Because merchants don't often enter our village. But Renus City is close to the Hudyne river waterway, it's also a gateway of the Central Avenue, so goods are rich here. Hence of course, the price level will be very low."

"If we eliminated Amurtaat, our village would become a gateway of the Central Avenue too,  then there would be much more goods in our villages, prices would become cheaper too, right?"

Karl just smiled quietly. Iruril then said:

"Huchi, the reason you want to eliminate Amurtaat is to get richer and happier? "

"The reason we want to eliminate it is not to be so pathetic."

Iruril seems not to understand what I meant. But I don't want to discuss Amurtaat during this pleasant shopping. How is my dad doing now? He might be locked up in a goblins cave, eating disgusting food. Damn it! While I am here happily shopping for cheap stuffs. Dad, how come your son is like this?

Just when I was thinking of that.

"Ughhhh!"

Screams! Are we in Fief Haltant? The atmosphere of the market suddenly changed. People are escaping crazily.

People are running around here and there. Sanson immediately found the source of the screams.

"There. What's going on?"

"Let's go and see."

Karl ran in front. We continued to hear more screams, and the sound of things falling apart. And the direction we are running to, there are a lot of people fleeing  The faces of the people are eclipsed because they are terrified. What happened? Then we saw the things chasing after the people. Damn! I feel like I have experienced the same thing somewhere before.

Three trolls are running over.

"What? Trolls! Why would they appear in a city?"

Sanson hurriedly draw out his sword. People are running around in a panic, but I saw a burly man actually bumped down an old lady in front of him. That old lady fell to the ground and is unable to get up. She seems to have an ankle injury. She is trying her best to stand up, nonetheless she can't because of fear and pain.

"Did you see that happen?"

No, how could that be! In our village, burly guys will come forward to help even if they'll die. In fact, not long ago I experienced the same thing in our village. My body is faster than the my thought.

I stood in front of that guy. He wanted to push me away rudely, but I clutched him and said:

"Hey! Help that old lady!"

"Kid, are you nuts? Are you her grandson?"

"No, I am not her grandson, but you can not do that!"

The man didn't answer and is trying to punch me. This asshole! I grabbed the man's wrist. The man's arm suddenly got blocked, he now looks like his shoulder is falling down. He fell to his knees after screaming stridently.

Although I wanted to punish that man properly, but more urgently I need to punish the trolls. I threw the man away, and then ran to the old lady.

"He - Help!"

That old lady crying for help with tears.  The trolls are ferociously running over. I found the troll holding a stone axe making a strike,  I grabbed the old lady's feet before her head gets chopped in half, pulled her away. I managed to save the old lady and put her behind me.

"Can you run by yourself?"

That old lady struggled to run. Then I pulled out my bastard sword and blocked the middle of the road. Well, bring it on! Men of Haltant do this! How much time can my life buy? Oh! Who can I tell my last words to now?

"Hey, you monsters, how long you think you need to take to kill me?"

Becuase I have OPG, so I dare to be so fearless. Meanwhile, the old lady has already long gone away.

Fortunately, I still have my reinforcements. Another man of Haltant came and stood by me. Sanson did not say anything, he pulled out his sword and brandished it. The arm of the troll holding a stone ax immediately got stabbed, a wound which bone can be seen is made. Sanson shouted with a low voice:

"I only got one life! So it's very precious! It's unique!"

Good, well done! Nice stab.

"Ah, ha, my unique move 'Unaware Slash'!"

My best and only trick! The troll is subconsciously swinging its stone axes, it got blocked by my first strike, and I chopped its arm off with the second strike.

"Pop!"

That monster hurriedly backed off. But in addition to the one Sanson is dealing with, there is another one trying to attack me from the side. Suddenly a dazzling light flashed in the middle of us.

She's Iruril. Iruril is performing a very rare swordsmanship with her left hand dagger. She's like peeling an apple, raised the dagger and aimed at the troll's arm, effortlessly cut down its arm muscles like dried meat, . How calm do you have to be to perform this move?

"Gahhhh ahhhh!"

That troll staggered backwards. Its wound is regenerating fast. Damn, after all, it's a troll. I have to pass this monster to Iruril, then focus on the one without arm in front of me. That troll's arm hasn't been respawned, but another arm without the stone axe is punching towards me.

"Wow!"

My belly got punched hard. My body is flying backwards. The reason I didn't die is only because of OPG's blessing. Thank you, Tyburn. I almost fainted, but that would then make me die. I stood up after tumbling.

I noticed someone were looking at me. I shouted at them:

"Please help!"

However, when they heard my voice, they were like hearing some kind of signal, wildly turned and ran away, some entered into the next building, and even shut the door. This is really ridiculous! The noise of banging door came one after another.

"Nedval! "

Hearing the voice of Karl, I finally got my mind back. That troll is now charging towards me. It has somehow  regenerated its arm, looks like it's going to give me a hug.

"Go to hell!"

I hold the sword body with one hand, clutch the hilt with another hand, then rolled forward. The troll missed its punch, and I got to the trolls' feet. Then I didn't even get a chance to get up, didn't look behind, I waved my arm. I don't know what I just hit.

"Gahhhh!"

Seems like I chopped that guy's inner thigh. I rolled forward, then again stood up. The troll struggled to turn around, we are now face-to-face. I can't give it the opportunity to regenerate!

"Unaware Slash - Sideways!"

I am spinning my bastard sword horizontally, and spinning my body. But this time I knelt down after I finished a lap. The second slash I chopped very low to tilt my waist backward, this time I hit the troll's feet. Don't you run fast! I immediately straighten my knees and waist and spin again. I can feel that my ankles are broken, but I still managed to jump forward, successfully made my third strike.

The troll's head flew away. Then I directly bumped into the troll's body with no head on it. The troll finally fell down, its blood sprayed into my mouth. Wow! Damn. And I don't know the condition my ankles. I held the pain of my ankles, stamped on the troll's corpse. I then looked at the situation around.

Sanson is dueling with one troll, he made thousands of wounds on its body with his ogre-like strength.  If it is a human, one of those wounds could be fatal. But the troll is stilling swinging its stone ax to force Sanson to step backward, in order to allow itself to regenerate its body. On the other end, Iruril is dodging around easily, moving between the back and side of the troll, but definitely not battling with it face-to-face. Whenever the troll tried to attack sideways, Iruril would cut its arm with her dagger, or stab it exposed waist or back with her estoc. But for trolls, wounds can be regenerated even they were made by Sanson's long sword, not to mention those by estoc. Those are just tiny wounds. Who should I help first?

I was thinking and stood up unconsciously. I feel serious pain on my ankles, almost felt to the ground.

"Hmm...."

Karl thought we were coming to the market for shopping, so he doesn't have his longbow, he hurriedly came to hold me. I grabbed Karl's shoulder, looked around angrily. Such a big city, with majestic buildings and wide roads that our village wouldn't ever have, why I can't even find one person? I really don't see anyone.

However, when I looked upward, I found on the second floor and the third floor there are people watching. Looking closely, every windows there are people looking at us.

Disgusting.

"Uh ahhhhhhh!"

I waved my sword, jumped a step forward. There's a troll with its back in front of me, it is chasing after Iruril. I lifted my foot, then jumped up with another foot without any hesitation. I turned the blade downward, stabbed the bastard sword into the troll's back.

"Galalalallaa!"

"Ahhhhh!"

I used all my strength to pull the sword down, I feel like something keep hitting my sword, and then suddenly, the feeling on my hands was gone, the sword is now outside the troll's body. The sword actually went through the troll's waist. It immediately fell forward. I stood on the troll's back, began to stab on it.

"Uh ah! Uh ah! Uh ahhhhhhhhhh!"

I don't know how many strikes I did. The back and neck of the troll have completely turned into minced meat, its blood is all sprayed on my body. Finally, I grabbed the head of the trolls. Because there is no hair, my fingers penetrated into the capsule. Because it's waist was completely destroyed by me, I pulled up only its upper body, and then cut its neck with my bastard sword . I then threw it to the side.

Iruril wasn't looking at me, she is still calm. She has begun to help Sanson. Iruril from behind barbed the troll's knee from behind, forcing the troll to knee down. Sanson then split troll's head into two halves. Bone and blood are all around. But Sanson and Iruril still have their bodies clean, I am the only one who is completely covered with blood, there is even flesh on my face and hands. I am still sitting on that troll.

Sanson approached and held out his hand. I grabbed his hand and stood up. My foot is still hurt and I almost fell, but Sanson held me.

"Feet injured?"

"Sprained. It doesn't matter."

"Luckily, we don't have any serious injuries."

"But aren't there any guards in this damn city?"

"Maybe it takes a while for them to mobilize."

I blankly looked around. The windows of surrounding buildings started opening. Then people started coming out. Now you come out! Ha! Are you going to help now? Those people are frowning and trying to block the blood with their feet to prevent it from flowing to their doors, they are even wiping those blood and flesh off the walls and doors angrily. I looked at the scene.

"Sanson, let's get back. Hurry."

"Hurry?"

"If we stay here any longer, I may kill some persons."

Sanson nodded silently. I began to walk forward under the arm of Sanson. Karl pushed the cart over. And Iruril came over, started to wipe the blood off my face with her handkerchief

"It doesn't matter, Iruril. It's not easy to clean anyway."

"You can walk only when your eyes can see, isn't it? Okay... Now your face look better."

"Thank you. I'll definitely buy you a new handkerchief."

Iruril didn't answer, just smiled. The road to the hostel is really damn long. When I think of walking there with this foot, my eyes goes yellow. Legs injury is not a trivial thing. Only one injured leg makes it so troublesome and inconvenient, not to mention Tyburn who is blind, he must be more frustrated. Tyburn! If you were here, you must be able to cleanly and simply get rid of those trolls. And we wouldn't have to see such a disgusting scene.

"Mr Nedval?"

Who is that? Who is calling me so brusquely? I parted away the bloody hair attached to my face, in order to find out who is in front.

"Oh, the Mighty Noble Lady!"

Jusina in a corner of the market is looking at me with a frightened face. I don't care what she wanted to say and said.

"I won't dirty the hostel with this blood. If that happens, I will be clean that up by myself."

"Ah, no, Huchi, ah.... I understand. "

I don't understand what she is talking about. Jusina swiftly ran away. Hmmf! She looks that she doesn't want to get stained by the blood so she ran back to the hostel. I looked back a bit and saw my footprints on the road. Bright red footprints. Footprints linked up. With such obvious red footprints, even not well-trained soldiers can easily track me down!

My footprints, really? That's my footprint.

So dizzy.

※ ※ ※

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.12)

Early in the next morning, I put a washbasin in front and began to wash, I almost cried.

"I never knew that washbasin is such an important thing!"

And there is even soap in the bathroom. I had only heard of this precious thing, and now I get a chance to use it, but it's taking me a long time. This thing is really difficult to hold. Sanson laughed when he saw me like this, but his face looked a little anxious. When he was walking to have breakfast, he was absently looking around.

We woke up early, so there are no other guests in the dining hall yet. Jusina actually pretended that she didn't see us when we came in, continued cleaning the tables.

"Hey, Jusina, obtuse girls like you of course would be dumped by men."

"You want to make trouble in an early morning?"

Jusina is getting angry again. I blithely said:

"I want to order, bread and soup, any kind will do."

Karl and Sanson also ordered theirs. Sanson is looking anxiously at the entrance, but Karl didn't seem to notice Sanson' face. He looked around, found that there is a large piece of paper on another table, he picked it up and read.

"What's that?"

"It's a magazine, Nedval."

"Magazine?"

"This is a weekly magazine, documenting what is happening in this city every week. It can be used to deliver messages to the people of the city."

"Isn't it something like public reports by our thane?"

"No, this is something issued by the citizen. It records someone's cow missing, whose birthday is on this Tuesday, or news from the southern war with Zypern, etc. Quite interesting, this article tells 'Why Zypern has a Strong Navy?' opinions!"

"Well, even people like me know the reason why. Because they got a lot of desert, so they can only develop on the ocean, right?"

My answer gives Karl a very satisfied face.

"Brilliant! Nedval. In short, they collect information from travelers, and post on here. Selling this magazine can also make money. "

"Oh, you mean someone will pay for this? Ha! You can just ask people for the information, can't you?"

"The price will not be very high. And this city is much larger than our hometown, it is difficult to spread all the news. Look! Take a look at this ad. Message from The Temple of Gran Elver on the Hertz Mountains. Temple of Gran Elver offers a winter religious research,  interested members can apply for trainee positions during Winter, participate in the researches about Gran Elver. The Autumn harvest has ended, so temples won't be busy in farm works, of course, they can then do catechisms."


"Oh, that kind of message, can't they just announce...... it?"

"Because this is a huge city, people who want to deliver a message can pay the magazine money, and then ask it to publish the message. Plus this is not just a fief, but a city, if institutions like the municipal government want to announce something to the public, they also give money to the magazines and ask them to publish. So the retail price can't be too expensive. "

"But, no matter what, paper is very very expensive isn't it?"

"Well, maybe the magazines signed contracts with the shrines, paper are provided by the shrines here. And in return shrines and temples can publish news in cheap prices."

Karl smiled. I shook my head and said:

"Amazing. If it's not this trip, I might not get to know magazines such things until I die."

Jusina who was cleaning another table chuckled after she heard what I said. Hum, so what, I am very ignorant. If you were born and grew up in a place like Fief Haltant, what would you become? Karl said:

"Travel often brings us new knowledge. This is a pleasant gift of trips. "

"Right. Ah! That we can sell messages to the magazine too."

"Huh?"

"'The Ninth Amurtaat Crusade is defeated.' How about that?"

"This is a good idea. But we should report to the King first. Things should be sequenced. So we should still report to the King first."

Then another voice came.

"You said the king's dragon is defeated?"

We focused into the chat so much that we didn't notice Iruril walked over. Iruril sat down at our table and asked:

"Who defeated the king's dragon?"

Who? Well, why didn't she ask 'What"? Why she asked 'Who'? This seems a odd way to ask. Karl replied:

"What a fresh morning! Miss Sereniel, since you have heard our conversation, you must know we have to report to the King His Majesty first."


"He is not my king."

Iruril pointed out Karl's mistake gently. Karl smiled sorrily and said:

"My apologies, Miss Sereniel,. Cathselprime is defeated by Amurtaat."

"Is Cathselprime the white dragon of Hustheil?"

"Oh, you are very clear about that."

Iruril looks very cautious.

"Speaking of Amurtaat...... The Watcher of Sunset, the Black Window of Helkanes, Amurtaat is also a name of this Black Dragon. Did it wake?"

Huh? What does it mean? Did it wake? Did it sleep before? But Karl replied blandly:

"Yes, it woke fifty years ago."

"Really?"

Strange. This elf lady didn't know get to know of this news for 50 years? I wanted to question her, but then Jusina carried the breakfast over. Jusina saw Iruril on the same table with us, asked:

"What do you want for breakfast?"

"Bread and milk please."

Jusina immediately carried the food over. Simple orders really result in fast service. I don't know whether elves chat when they are eating, so I am not talking. Sanson is worshiping Iruril with his admirers eyes while she is eating. Do you really want to watch people eating? He can actually be able to focus on watching someone eating! I kicked Sanson's feet under the table to warn him, he hurried began to eat his own breakfast. But pretty soon, he held his spoon motionless and stared at Iruril again, he didn't notice even the soup is flowing out of the spoon and making the table wet. God! I can't take this anymore. Iruril noticed Sanson's action, she was surprised and say:

"Mr. Sanson, the soup is all going to the table!"

"Ah? Oh, I'm sorry!"

Sorry for what? I'm really going crazy. Iruril is also surprised and looked at Sanson. Sanson is sticking his  face on the plate, eating his stuff hastily.


Jusina's brother, that Breadie, is really good at cooking. I finished my soup, could not help but wanted to lick the soup plate, I spent a lot of efforts to control myself. If it's not Jusina watching me like watching a clown, maybe I would really do that. After we finished our breakfast, Jusina asked what drinks do we want. Everyone ordered juice, only Karl ordered coffee. What the heck is Coffee? After a while, Jusina brought over a cup of black and hot smoking thing. Because it's in a cup, it looks something like tea.

Karl drank the coffee joyfully.

"Wow, I haven't drank a coffee for a long time."

In the end what is that? Is that tasty? I absently finished my juice, and ordered a cup of coffee from Jusina. Jusina seems to think that I look ridiculous, and then immediately sent me a cup of coffee, she even put that in front of me with excessively careful action. I took a sip of that thing, Sanson kept looking at me asked curiously:

"Hey, Huchi, is that thing good?"

I didn't answer him, so he made a more curious face. That's because I made a very ominous speculation, so I couldn't answer him. Soon, I glared at Jusina furiously:

"Ju... Jusina! Are you trying to poison me!!?"

※ ※ ※

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.11)

Not only the beer, even the dishes here are very tasty. We (Karl is excluded) devoured all the dishes, the halfling next to us began to suspect that we contain dwarves blood.

After the dinner, we were taken to our room.

It's a large room with four beds, but we only have three people, so there is one extra bed. Hence Sanson and I threw our bags on the bed, and kindly asked the luggage to take a good rest, and then we went down to the lobby again. The mellow taste of the beer is still lingering in my head at the moment. Karl said he wanted to lie on the bed, so only two of us came down.

The lobby is very spacious, it has a low ceiling like the dining hall. The whole ground floor of this building is very short, and this is a matter of course. Wooden buildings with a lot of floors, are not like castles which can be built to a very great height, because beams and columns will be broken. Fortunately, this low ceiling doesn't make people feel stuffy, but elegant with the bright-colored wall.

The time Sanson and I came down was quite late, so we couldn't get a good seat near the fireplace. But the weather is not very cold, so it doesn't matter. We chose a seat by the window, and began to enjoy the rye beer. People are talking, there are also gent singing voices. I looked around.

Here except the halfling named Duhon and another halfing, all the others are humans. I paid particular attention to the halflings. Because our village is like Amurtaat's front yard, that's a place that halfings don't want to live in. If it is not human, who would want to live in a village like that anyway? So I have rarely seen a halfling.

I heard that halfling's feet are super hairy. Duhon Butter is now lying his feet on the table, and talking to his friend excitedly.

"Did yous visit the arena today? Damn, I thought that guy could survive. "

"Why would you do such a ridiculous bet? Nobody would bet on that guy."

"Well I might win a higher bonus by doing so! "

What are they talking about? Anyway, to say whether that is kind of skill, that is certainly a kind of skill. I admire them much. The table Duhon at is a human table, which is too tall for him, so Duhon put a bucket on the chair, and then sat on it. He also put his feet to on the table, in order to get balance. And he is drinking with a beer mug which is as big as his head. After he drank certain amount, it seems he is almost falling backwards, that put me on tenterhooks.

Besides them, Jusina put a candle on the table in a corner of the lobby, she is now calculating with an abacus while writing something. Is that an account book? Jusina seemed to notice that I was looking at her, she lifted her head a bit, and suddenly bowed her head again. Sigh, although she is a stranger to me, our relationship became like this, it still makes me feel bad. Soon, Jusina heard someone ordering, she picked up the wooden plate and quickly ran towards the dining hall.

"With such tasty beers, I really don't want to leave." Sanson said.

I laughed and replied:

"So can we stay here tomorrow?"

"No, we have to hurry. We are not leisure travelers."

"Ah, we have people in hometown waiting for us. When these things are over, I would like to travel around the entire continent once."

"So you have already tried the taste of travel."

"Yeah. If it's not this incident, I would never know such magical places like the Bridge of Dozen. And I'm sure there're more bizarre things that I don't know. I have never had such a feeling before. Now suddenly I get to see so many things I don't know, think about it, if I had not seen them, that would be a great pity!"

"Even you want to try everything on the world, how can we have enough long life to do so? I think there is no need to feel pity for the things you haven't tried. It more important to enjoy the things you experienced."

"Thank you! You are right. I only wish to enjoy all the things I experienced. Say a horse and Sanson riding on me at the same time..."

"Shut up!"

"Actually why did you make the same mistake twice in the morning and at noon?"

"I don't know! Really, why did I say that? If I meet Iruril again, I will really be mad. Though we will not meet again."

"Your judgment is too hasty."

"Huh? "

"Look at the entrance. Really surprising! Meeting a person three times in a day without any appointment beforehand...., how do you say that again?"

Sanson quickly turned to see, then moaned a few times. The other guests in the lobby are also looking towards the entrance. Iruril is standing there.

Iruril's black hair under the reflection of the light looks like black and red waterfall scattered on the shoulders. Iruril looked around, and then stopped her sight on us. Her eyes are a little bigger.

Iruril walked toward us. She put her luggage on the table, sat down and said:

"Really surprising! Without any appointment beforehand, meeting a person three times in a day, I shall consign my life to this person."

Right, right! That's the statement! Without any appointment beforehand, meeting the same person three times in a single day, even they are separated by the whole mainland, they will eventually meet again, so they absolutely can't be enemies. In case they are enemies, they won't be able to escape from each other and will get killed, so theirs life is each other's. If they are friends, under any circumstances, they will help each other out, so theirs life can also be said it's each other's.

Iruril said the same sentence that I was thinking of. I laughed and asked her:

"Who said that?"

"You seem to ask me about human words often. This was said by King Rhuterino, when he was in the Central Avenue, meeting Handrake the Archmage three times in a single day."

"We are now also meeting three times in the Central Avenue ha. Oh, did you get a horse? How come you could get here so fast?"

"Horse is for human roads. I ran through the forest."

Well, there is a saying, don't race with dwarves underground, don't race with elves in the forest. Wow! She runs really fast! Sanson very carefully said:

"Hmm, really happy to see you again, Iruril, are you going to stay in this hostel tonight?"

"Yes, I like the sign here. And I recalled the things happened today with you, and I came to take a look. I did not expect to see you again."

At this time, Jusina came over and pouted:

"Madam, are you with them?"

"No, but I know them. I also want to spend the night here, do you have a room?"

"Of course. Do you want it now?"

"No, I would like to chat with them first. Can you give me a beer please?"

Jusina nodded, and then went away. She is looking at me with strange eyes, as if questioning in the end what is this guy, why does he have such a strength, and even is a friend of elves. Then I saw the other guests, seemed to be because we know the black-haired beautiful elf suddenly appears, became more interested in watching us.

Honestly, I quite like these sights. I asked Iruril:

"Where are you going? Ah, I don't have any reason to ask, just curiosity."

"I am going to the Dellhapha Harbor."

Where is that? I looked Sanson, Sanson stopped a while and said:

"Oh, then you will go across the capital, right?"

"I will go across the capital of Human."

"Oh, then, although it's my third request, would you like to join us?"

Wow, this is the third time. If Iruril says she has no horse again, then how would Sanson answer? But I am very disappointed, Iruil didn't say things like she has no horse.

"In the afternoon when I was walking in the woods, I thought a lot. Seems that I may be able to learn a lot of things from you, so I regretted that I did not join you."

Iruril suddenly shocked a bit, then tranced:

"Did I just say the word 'Regret'? "

"What?"

"Regret... I've actually learned that much. In the past, I would never change my mind. Now I have learned to desire those things I couldn't reach. Now I actually talk like humans."

I can't understand these words, so I kept silence. Iruril went on to say:

"I refused twice, yet you proposed again, I am really grateful, Sanson. I will travel with you to the capital. But  I need to find a horse first."

Sanson's face... I don't even want to mention. This playboy! Just wait until I return to hometown! Can my mouth keep secrets? Of course not!

Iruril finished her beer and went to the second floor. Sanson is still unconscious due to excitement, after he noticed my face he quickly coughed, finally began to control himself a bit. I tried to make an unhappy face, then said:

"You are fascinated. Else you are pretending to be fascinated!"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, the third possibility. You aren't neither fascinated nor pretending to be fascinated, it's just me who thinks you are fascinated? Really strange!"

"Huchi! Stopping saying crap! Finish the beer and go. We should sleep earlier. Get up earlier tomorrow morning to buy some food, kerosene, and other supplements, it will be very busy."

"That won't matter. Karl and I will handle those things. You understand horses the most among us, so you should go to help Iruril to choose a horse."

"Really? You guys will handle all those things?"

Sanson stared at me happily for a while, finally realized that he fell into my trap. Sigh, even Jamini won't be faked by this simple words. Sanson is really like an ogre, not just strength, but mind!

After we entered our room on the second floor, I saw Karl sitting on the bed reading a book. We haven't had beds and candles for a long time, so only just now he could start reading, but I guess he must be reading some boring academic books.

Karl only reads that kind of book. When traveling shouldn't it be more suitable to read a novel, right?

"What book is this?"

Karl closed the book, then said:

"Some kind of wizards biographies. The book title is too long, so I won't bother mentioning. I would like to find out Tyburn Highseeker who built the Bridge of Dozen, but I don't see his name here. Although it is not like a name list of wizards, I thought after making such a great achievement, he must be a very famous wizard."

"Really? Oh, right, we met Iruril downstairs."

Karl's eyes are very surprised.

"She is in this hostel?"

"Yes."

"Really surprising! There is a saying that, meeting a person three times a day without any appointment beforehand, you should dedicate your life on this person."

"King Rhuterino said that, right? Iruril said the same thing. Sanson made his third furious invitation, she finally agreed to travel with us. "

"Percival, she really wants to go with us?"

Karl asked Sanson, and Sanson nodded. Karl laughed.

"Although that's nice, traveling with... Eh, nevermind. Percival arranges our trip, we should respect Percival's decision."

Karl agreed without any objection, Sanson looks very happy because of that.

Later, because Sanson and I haven't enjoyed wallowing on a bed for a long time, we kept throwing pillows at each other, rolling under the sheets, and jumping on the beds. If Karl didn't stop us, we would probably play for a whole night.

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.10)

The western sky behind us is turning red, the land in front of us is glowing dark, we are about to enter the night. Far far away, when the lights of the city have all lit, we have already passed through the Hudyne Ridge, we are heading towards the plains. In the chilly evening air, twinkling lights in front of our eyes, we are naturally urging the horses to run straight-up forward.

After a while, the city appeared. This city is much larger than our hometown Heltant. One of the characteristics is the huge river surrounding the city. This is the confluence place of the Hudyne River. Around the rivers there is a vast wilderness. Along with the night, we saw the cattle and the shepherd boy returning. Sanson told me that the name of this city is Renus. Because it is located at the westernmost of the Mid Glade, so it can be said that it's playing the role of a gateway city of the Hudyne Ridge, hence it became such a metropolis.

Under the dark sky without a trace of evening sunlight, we entered Renus.

After passing through the Hudyne River, we crossed a bridge that leads to the entrance of Renus, the lights of the city seem to become warmer in order to welcome us. We walked along the main road of the city, then turned into a road lined with taverns and guesthouses. I don't know whether it's because here is a gateway city, there are a lot of hostels.

I looked around and said:

"How do we choose a better hostel?"

"Of course you ask people."

I nodded, then asked a middle-aged man passing by.

"Excuse me! I would like to ask something. We are travelers, where is the best hostel of this city?"

The middle-aged man raised his hand, pointing to a sign. It says "Hostel of Dozen".

"Lived over there, no matter where will you be on the land, you will be able to share good memories of this city."

"Ah, thank you."

I nodded then turned to Karl:

"The Hostel of Dozen? So if we don't have 12 people, we won't be served? "

"I'm afraid that's unlikely to happen. They may just be copying the name of the Bridge of Dozen I guess."

So we headed towards the hostel. The hotel is located a little further next to the main road. Once we got close to the hostel we could see a quite large backyard. The front of the hostel is built from wood, with elegant windows. It's a four-storey building.

We got off from the horses, walked to the hostel entrance.

Bang!

What was that? I am scared and stepped back. Then a heavyset man ran from the hotel entrance in a panic. Then, a bucket flew out from the hostel immediately and hit the man in the hind-brain. Whew!

The man fell forward, rolled down the stairs in front of the door. Really amazing! But soon a sharp cry came.

"If you have died, lie there, if you haven't, also lie there! Because I am going to make you die!"

But the man was not stupid, he got up and ran away immediately. And we are scared and looking at each other.

Sanson spoke first:

"Looks like we chose the wrong place."

Karl also nodded worriedly. But after a blink of eye, there is a girl coming out from the main entrance, holding another bucket. The girl ran down the stairs, nearly bumped into Sanson. Sanson was scared and walked back a few steps, The girl glanced Sanson, and then glanced the two of us. She is a blond girl in similar age as me.

"You are here for meal and sleep?"

"Any other special services?"

The girl heard my answer, deliberately picked up the bucket and said:

"Of course you can also eat this. But didn't you see someone ran out hurriedly just now? Okay, forget that. He must have run far away. You got three horses and three people, right? Please come in. Leave the horses here. Hugh! Come on, quick! Take the horses to the stables to get them tied, any of these need to change their horseshoes? Seems not. Looks like they run good! Hugh! Be careful of your head if you still don't hurry up! Why aren't you guys coming in? What you are doing? Do I have to prepare a red carpet in front of you? Hugh! You! You are so slow, are you useless? Take the horses! Quick! Horses follow Hugh, men follow me!"

Now the horses have fallen into their hands, seems that we must go in? Sanson and I heard her words, took a deep breath and followed her. Karl with a helpless face, smiled and came with us. Once we entered the hall the girl asked:

"Wine, food, bath, sleep, toilet? "

It's really hard to understand the question. I managed to find out that she is asking which one out of those five we want to do now. So I answered:

"The former two."

Under the guidance of the girl we entered the dining hall. The dining hall is quite dark, so we were unable to see clearly, but when our eyes adapted to darkness, we found that this is a very broad place. A light is hung from the ceiling, under the light some people looked at us carelessly, then went back to their own business.

It's quite noisy here. We were like pushed by the girl and sat down at a table, the girl immediately disappeared after shouting at someone else on another table. But soon enough, the woman took some huge beer mugs and appeared again. Those are foaming rye beer, the yellow foam are shining under the lights. That girl is literally throwing the mugs. The mugs are falling on the table and issuing loud sound. Surprisingly not even a single drop splashed out.

"What do you want to eat? You can order whatever you want, I guess I don't have to explain anymore?"

Sanson sheepishly said:

"Do you have chicken?"

"Didn't I say you can order anything you want? One chicken, and?"

"Pork pies and sesame cakes. "

Karl ordered. Sanson also picked up his courage and ordered again.

"Well, then I will get pork pies, plus meatballs and pancakes, but can you remember them all?"

"I can remember 'all' only after that kid ordered. Lad, what are you going to get?"

She is similar to my age, but keeps calling me a kid. Of course I don't feel good. Didn't she say I can order anything? I pouted, and then said:

"Dragon meat pie."

The eyes of the girl immediately sharpened up. I smiled and continued:

"Stew Gargoyle Wings, I especially like the wings. Roast Orcs Loin and Giant Flea soup. For dessert I want Water Element juice and Black Slime pudding. I haven't got a pudding for a long long time."

The girl said angrily.

"Hey, kid, do you know why that big man escaped like that?"

"Why?"

"Because he said he wanted to drink my milk."

Sanson suddenly blushed, and turned his head away, Karl also lowered his head. But I am looking at the girl with my very kind eyes and asked:

"Can I have one too?"

"Tired of living?"

The girl slammed the table, the guests around are all looking at us. A guest with a very tiny body murmured:

"Hey, Jusina can't even be patient for five minutes, she is about to fight again!"

I looked at the man. He is really short, even looks like Sanson's 8-years-old brother. But from his face, he looks a lot older. Halfling? I turned to the aggressive girl.

"So Jusina is your name?"

"Kid! If you piss off Jusina here, you will become the thirteenth!"

"The thirteenth? "

"This hostel is called the Hostel of Dozen. We don't need the thirteenth! I mean you will get your ass kicked out of the house!"

"Is this little girl the boss of this place?"

Jusina's cheek is twitching. Although the time we spent with this girl is not very long, that expression shows that her anger is about to explode. She is holding a plate with mugs on it. She suddenly lifted the plate.

Phew!

I really want to yawn. Even the Orc's machete can move faster. I blocked the plate pounding to my head, and pulled it back softly. Of course, Jusina who lost her plate is now looking at me with astonished eyes. All the other people in the dining place stopped talking and looked at us. Nice, it's much more quiet.

I am spinning the wooden plate with my fingertips and said:

"Oi, Jusina, I asked someone for a recommended hostel, he actually recommended such an unfriendly one, what could be the reason?"

Karl with a smile leaned back on the chair and drank the rye beer. Sanson who is so hungry with a dying face is now looking at me.

"Dude! Just order quickly, so that I can fill my stomach, can't you?"

"Well, I did order, but this young lady wants to hit me with this thing."

"Isn't that because you ordered some ridiculous things!"

Weapon snatched away, the overwhelmed Jusina said:

"You! You are an adventurer? I see you have a bit strength, so you are trying to be rude on me, aren't you?"

"Speaking of rude, you are the one who behaved rudely first. "

Jusina didn't want to listen to what I said, turned away and shouted:

"Brother!"

Whoops! She really got so many tricks. Why didn't she simply call out her dad? I expected a four cubits tall big man, with a ferocious and grim face.

My expectation is only partially right.

From the kitchen there is really a four cubits tall big man coming out, almost as big as Sanson. His face, however, is covered by big beard , so can't tell it's ferocious or not. His beard is really rich! He walked over, the low ceiling now looks even lower. The light hanging from the ceiling almost hit his head. The man wiped his hands with his pron, and then said:

"Why call me out?"

Huh? The voice sounds pretty young! Although he looks old because of the beard, in fact he can't be too old. Maybe around Sanson's age? Anyway, since he is the brother of the young girl, he could be very young. Jusina said with a righteous expression to me :

"Order again in front of my brother."

Why not! I crossed my arms, looked at the man and said:

"Dragon meat pie, Stew Gargoyle Wings, Roast Orcs Loin, Giant Flea Soup. Water Element Juice and Black Slime Pudding for dessert."

Ha, what will be flying over this time? Firstly a bucket, then a plate, what could be next? How exciting! However, I found the man's eyes are with a smile.

"Sorry sir. The ingredients just ran out. Would you mind ordering something else?"

Hum! That's quite a gracious answer. This gives me an opportunity to clean up my joke! I should also answer graciously.

"Then I'll get pork pies and chicken, sesame cakes, coupled with meatballs and pancakes. We'll drink the beer first, so you can take your time to prepare."

"Yes sir."

The man immediately walked away. Jusina with a funny face chased after.

"Brother! That kid was fooling..."

"I heard what you just yelled. You are calling him a kid, but in fact he is as old as you."

"What, what!"

Jusina continued talking to her brother while he walked into the kitchen. I laughed, then leaned on my chair. This is really a pair of ridiculous siblings. Well, the brother is nice, but the sister is very ridiculous.

"Why would someone recommend this place?"

Karl said with a smile:

"I think I know the reason."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Please try the beer in front of you."

I tilted my head, then picked up the huge mug and moved it to my mouth. One, ah? Two, Huh? Three, Ah! Glou-glou.

"Wow, ha, wow!"

Sanson who was with a painful expression because of hunger, saw my sudden change of mood, also picked up his rye beer and drank. Sanson's eyes suddenly widened.

"Oh, it tastes really good!"

Sanson and I finished the two-pint mugs in a glance. Even someone like me who doesn't understand wine thinks it tastes good. I asked Sanson whether he wants another one, and then shouted at the kitchen.

"Oi! Jusina! Give us two more beers!"

Jusina ran over from the kitchen like a dashing wild boar.

"How dare you speak to me with such a command tone!"

"The mighty noble lady Jusina, may I have the honor to get two cups of delicious rye beer from you?"

Of course, I was not trying to praise her. Jusina immediately raised her eyebrows angrily:

"What? Are you making jokes on me?"

She lost her temper again. In the end why is this lady so dissatisfied, how come she gets offended so easily? Why so aggressive? The other guests in the dining are looking forward to the second round showdown and watching us.

"Hey, Jusina, I would like to ask you a question, seriously. Did you just break up with your boyfriend?"

Laughter burst in the dining hall . And Jusina is now grabbing my throat. Oh my God! Now I have no way to speak, so I can only stare at Jusina. If she were in our village, she's absolutely a smelly bitch that no one wants, even Jamini wouldn't be so rude. Zero mark!

I finally said in a broken voice:

"I'm done! Take your hands off now, otherwise you'll regret! "

"Then give it a try!"

Can this be tough? I grabbed Jusina's waist and lifted her up, because I often practice with Jamini, and I got OPG, so I feel that her weight is even lighter than a beer mug. I threw Jusina up like a child, then caught her back (I try not to let her hitting the ceiling, but that's difficult). People in the dining hall started screaming.

"Mum!"

Jusina is struggling like drowning people, and then fell down towards me.

"Am I your mum? Then please be a good girl!"

Jusina although fell down quickly, I'm still able catch her on her waist, she is hanging in midair. Jusina kicked my chest a few times, but I couldn't feel hurt even when my horse kicked me before. I ignored this, warned Jusina:

"If you can stop attacking me, I will quietly put you down. Otherwise my action will be more brutal, whether you believe it or not, I have the record of throwing Orcs 60 cubits away. "

"Liar!"

I turned to Sanson, Sanson said.

"Miss, what he said is true. During the day at the Bridge of Dozen he saw four Orcs, they were unable to cross the bridge because they had insufficient number. In the end he threw them all over, so those Orcs could cross the Hudyne Valley. But hey Huchi, put her down, what are you doing man? "

I obediently put down Jusina. Jusina is staring at me with bitterly eyes, but now she knows my strength so she doesn't dare to do anything. I handed out the empty mugs, and then said:

"If you can take us some beer, I'll appreciate much, and then drink quietly. Peace, okay?"

Jusina picked up the mugs and then ran away swiftly. I took a deep breath, sat on my chair.

"What a rude girl! She actually grabbed my throat!"

"Well, I was astounded too. Maybe she turned into this after working in this bustling hostel."

"No, that should be her raw personality."

The halfling on the table next to us then spoke:

"Excuse me, is what you said really true? You really threw the Orcs across the Hudyne valley?"

"Yes, it's true. Thanks to those Orcs we could make up the number to cross the bridge. So we had to send them back."

The halfling's eyes are blinking, and said:

"Oh, really incredible! If it's not a giant, it is impossible to throw a person over a distance like the Hudyne Valley. Ah, my name is Duhon • Butter."

"My name is Huchi Nedval. You name is Butter? Really a special surname, does your family make butter?"

"That is not my surname, but my nickname."

"Oh, is that?"

At this time, Jusina came back. The huge beer mugs are still being thrown on the table forcefully, but she didn't even throw me a glance.

"Thank you!"

Jusina then fiercely stared me in the face, and then walked away. Really a rude girl.

"Despite the quality of the beer here,  the service is really bad. With that kind of girl here, how do they do business?"

The halfling named Duhon laughed and said:

"Jusina is in fact a very kind girl. She is different from her appearance. She thinks that she is already a grown up woman, being thrown around by a man she first met, how could her mood be good?"

"She provoked me first."

Duhon laughed, and continued to eat. I started relaxing and began to enjoy the beer slowly.

That's because I am not good at drinking, and I don't want to get Jusina here again. But Sanson has already finished another mug. He is really an ogre.

Sanson looked at me, I said without any hesitation:

"I definitely won't get that damn girl here again. Do it by youself."

※ ※ ※

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.9)

※ ※ ※

Anyway, I finally threw the last one over. The last one didn't feel uncomfortable at all, and it almost seemed to enjoy the flight. Although it asked me to let it face the front, so it can see the view clearly, that could be too dangerous, so I still pointed its feet in front, and then threw it over. So even if the guys couldn't catch it, it would only get its ass hurt.

While I was throwing these monsters over, the people around me were watching the scene nervously. They murmured: "Uh... There you go!" "Uh... Nice!" kind of things. Iruril held her own hands and watched, when an Urc arrived the other side safely, she would then relax a bit. The Urcs were also the same, after I threw theses guys over, until they caught their companions, they were all clamorous  They are now even laughing happily. The one who looks like it's their chieftain(because it was the last one thrown over, so I guess so) went to the cliff and said:

"No matter what happened, I have to say thank you! Oink!"

"I'm very glad to be able to help."

"I will not chase after monsters like you anymore! Oink! We are Urc Fighters! We will not expect to, oink, keep receiving forgiveness from enemies!"

"Okay? Thank you. But how about the Orcs' request?"

"Those weak guys! Oink! Not request, they begged us! Oink! We will just refuse them!"

I shrugged. If it is a conservation between humans, people may feel very unhappy about the words. But if it's between Orcs, how do I know how they would think? I waved my hands and then turned around.

Iruril said to me:

"Seems that you simply ignore the meaning of this bridge. I hoped them to cooperate with other races to cross the bridge, so that they would be able to learn the meaning of cooperation and reconciliation. Although we came over after a battle, I believed if they could learn these things after that, that could still become a good thing."

"Is that so?"

Iruril doesn't look like that she's blaming me. She is just simply saying those words.

"But Huchi, in fact you are the one who exemplified the meaning of this bridge the most. The Urcs who were trying to kill us are now actually saying thank you to you. Now even if the creator of this bridge found that the bridge becomes useless, he would not be angry too."

"If that is the case, it would be great."

"You seem to become a friend of those Urcs."

This elf seems to be so stubborn on certain parts that people can't stand. Maybe I do look like someone who can become friends of all races, but I don't understand those things. I am just a future candle maker of Heltant Fief, the Knight Nedval of the Noble Lady Jamini.... What! How come I am admitting this thing? I'm dead! Axelhand came up to me with a very worried face.

"Didn't you worry that you could miss once?"

I smiled and nodded.

"Yes. And because I missed all, so they could all arrive safely!"

"Ha ha ha! Thanks to you, today I saw a rare scene. Thank you! Hope your journey will be blessed by Karis •Numen."

Karis •Numen... I managed to recall that Karl mentioned it's the deity of the dwarves. But what should I answer? I glanced Karl, and Karl finally helped me to make an appropriate answer.

"May You Grasp the Essence of the Sparks between the Anvil and the Hammer."

Axelhand looked at Karl with a surprised face, smiled and then picked up his luggage. He put on a great backpack, covered his blade with a holster, and then inserted it into the belt. I guess he can't walk easily in this way, but he seems to feel well. Then Iruril started looking at us. Time for her farewell? But then I found that Sanson is showing a "I have great courage now!" face.

Sanson, although with a bit hesitant, said in an upright manner (I don't know how he did it, it's too amazing):

"Where is Miss Iruril going next?"

"Is that necessary?"

Well, what a strange answer. Although it sounds like "Is it necessary to let you know where I am going", this could mean she was upset, but in fact she is just asking purely out of curiosity.

"Can we travel together?"

"Didn't I mention in the morning... I don't have a horse."

Sanson seemed to be waiting for these words for a long time, he answered:

"I can ride the same Huchi with horse!"

I instantly looked at Sanson with a confused face. What did he say? What did he want to do on me? Karl is also looking at Sanson with a smile. And Axelhand is beginning to laugh loudly. Sanson was confused for a while, and then changed his words:

"No, I mean, I can ride the same horse with Huchi..."

"Muhaha ha ha!"

I am almost rolling on the ground.

Iruril shook her head.

"No thanks. You are going to visit your king. You should be in a hurry, but I'm not. I don't want to cause you troubles."

Poor Sanson made a mistake again. So from Iruril said goodbye to Karl, until she silently disappeared in the woods, Sanson didn't say a word, he was just blushing while standing still. I find myself and Axelhand are patting each other's shoulders and laughing. Axelhand is almost losing his breath.

"He said, said, said what riding you with a horse...... Ha ha ha ha!"

"Do I have run with a horse on my shoulders? Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Axelhand separated with us, walked a few steps and stopped to laugh, walked a few steps and stopped to laugh again. Because we are riding, so we got ahead after seconds. The hearty laughter of Axelhand came behind from time to time.

Whenever the laughter came, Sanson would make a face that he wants to die.

I started talking with Karl. Sanson is still not recovered to the state that can listen to me.

"Karl! What do you feel about the Bridge of Dozen?"

"While it was built with good intention, I don't really like to force races to have reconciliation through such an inconvenient way."

"But in order to to make all races which are difficult to have peace to cooperate, you must create this kind of situation right? A person with this ability should be able to build a normal bridge easily. But he chose to build the bridge this way..."

"Right, Nedval. This way is a way that if you don't cooperate, you can't pass. That's the good intention. However on this bridge, the so-called cooperation has turned into a mean only. In my opinion, a real cooperation doesn't need any reason, it comes out naturally."

I repeated the words three times before I understood it.

"That is too idealistic."

"Is that?"

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