Chapter 48: Jewel And Gladius
Chapter 48: Jewel And Gladius
This is what happened during the time Roy decided to practice his joint dislocation technique.
A girl is running through the forest and her destination is the main road. She ran there so she can get reinforcement fast before something more terrible happened to her village.
Her village is being attacked by bandits, but she's able to escape and tried to find reinforcement. On the run, he met Roy and asked for his help. But instead of helping her village, he only gave her directions. One is the direction to the nearest city, and the other is a direction on what to do during emergency.
Roy told her to stay calm and think thoroughly. That way, she will find the most efficient way to survive and probably will be able to save her village faster.
Of course it will be faster if Roy come with her to her village, but Roy doesn't even think of saving the village. He thought that if even just one bandit able to escape, they might try to take revenge on him. Or maybe they would even try to attack the village again. That's why he told the girl to ask for reinforcement from the city.
Roy taught the girl a little too long that her pursuers finally caught up with her. Then Roy told her to leave and now she has already reached the main road.
She looked around and she could see several people but she didn't ask them for help right away.
I SEE A LOT OF PEOPLE BUT I DON'T THINK I SHOULD ASK THEM FOR HELP! MOST OF THEM ARE MEN AND THEY LOOKED AS IF THEY WANT TO EAT ME WHOLE! I'VE GOT NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO GAIN THEIR ATTENTION FIRST! MAYBE NOT ALL OF THEM IS AS BAD AS WHAT THAT PERSON TOLD ME!
The girl whose thought is full of capital letters and exclamation marks is Jewel. The girl who has been nicknamed as loud person by Roy.
Jewel approached a group of what seems to be a hunter party and ask for their help. Unfortunately, this party is filled by men.
"HELP! MY VILLAGE IS BEING ATTACKED BY BANDITS!"
"Oh? What kind of reward will you give us for saving your village, huh? Hmm? She's already running? Well, let's ignore her plea. Whatever happened to that village is no concern to us."
THIS IS JUST AS HE TOLD ME! I SAW THAT GUY IS LOOKING AT MY BODY EVEN THOUGH I'M JUST 13 YEARS OLD! HE MUST BE AIMING FOR MY BODY! AND I FEEL LIKE IF THEY ARE GOING BECAUSE OF THE REWARD, IF THEY THINK THAT THE OPPONENTS IS TOO STRONG, THEY WILL RUN AWAY FIRST AND MAKE THE VILLAGERS AS DECOY! IF I TRY TO NEGOTIATE, IT WILL JUST MAKES IT LONGER UNTIL I GET A REAL REINFORCEMENT! I'LL JUST LOOK FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO HELP!
NOW THAT I THOUGHT CAREFULLY, MY PARENT SHOULD BE SAFE! IF THE RAID IS A SUCCESS FOR THE BANDITS, THEY WILL LET US LIVE SO THEY CAN ROB US AGAIN IN THE FUTURE! THAT'S WHY THEY WON'T KILL US! AND I'M THE ONLY YOUNG WOMAN IN THE VILLAGE! MY MOM GAVE BIRTH TO ME WHEN SHE'S ALREADY 40! I HOPE NONE OF THE BANDITS IS AIMING AT HER. AS FOR MY FATHER, AS LONG AS HE DOESN'T TRY TO REBEL, HE WILL BE SAFE! I DON'T REALLY CARE MUCH ABOUT OTHER VILLAGERS! I JUST WANT MY PARENT TO BE SAFE!
Her thoughts filled her head. She's not wrong that her parent might be safe. And she doesn't care much about other villagers' well-being. Since she's always being bullied by the others.
Everyone her age are boys. And during their childhood, boys tend to tease the girls they liked. That's why Jewel doesn't like them. Then other adults keep ignoring her when she's being teased. Her only allies is her parent. She would like to move but her parent rejected that idea. Her father is just a farmer. They lack other skills necessary to survive in the city. Even if they moved to another village, they're afraid that other villagers in the new place they moved won't accept them. That's why they have no choice but to stay.
On the main road, as she run to the city, she met a party of five women. She thought they might be kind enough to help without reward so she asked their help.
That party is called Gladius. A party of five b-ranked hunters and all of the members are girls.
When Jewel asked for their help, they agree to help instantly. So Jewel together with five girls, return back to her village.
There's one odd member in Gladius. It was the leader of the party, Nana.
She's called Nana because she's old enough to be the grandmother of the other members. No one remember her real name and everyone called her Nana. She's the one who suggested her party to help Jewel.
She asked Jewel a question she had been curious about.
"We'll help you protect the village. Lead the way!"
"OKAY!"
"Why are you so loud?"
"I'M THE ONLY YOUNG GIRL IN THE VILLAGE! AND MOM SAID MEN LIKE QUIET GIRL!"
"Ah! I see! It must be annoying when they annoy you with their flirting. It must be worked if you keep talking loudly even when you talk normally."
"YES! I HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW TO LOWER THE VOLUME OF MY VOICE!"
"Is that even possible? And why are you so calm even though your village is being attacked by bandits?"
"I MET A MAN BEFORE I MET YOU! HE'S ABOUT MY AGE! MAYBE 2 OR 3 YEARS OLDER SINCE HE SAID HE'S STRONG! HE MUST HAVE AWAKEN HIS MAGIC! HE TOLD ME TO STAY CALM EVEN IN THE WORST SITUATION! NOW I HAVE THINK THINGS THROUGH, I DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT THE VILLAGE! ONLY MY PARENT'S SAFETY IS IMPORTANT TO ME! AND I DON'T THINK THAT THE BANDITS WILL KILL THEM IF THEY WANT TO ROB OUR VILLAGE AGAIN IN THE FUTURE! BUT I WANT MY PARENT TO BE SAFE SO AFTER YOU SAVE THE VILLAGE, I WILL GO TO THE CITY TO GIVE QUEST TO THE GUILD TO HAVE SOMEONE BE THE VILLAGE'S GUARD! UNTIL I CAME BACK, WILL YOU STAY IN THE VILLAGE AND CLEAR THE LAST BIT OF BANDITS?!"
"Sure. But you need to learn how to lower your voice first."
"I'LL TRY!"
They continue toward Jewel's village and soon, they passed the place where she met Roy before.
"What the…"
They found two bodies lied down on the ground without any sign of battle or magic. They are the two men who became Roy's sparring partner.
"AH! THEY ARE THE GUYS WHO PURSUED ME BEFORE! THAT MAN I MET MUST HAVE DEFEATED THEM!"
"See if they're still alive."
Nana told her party members to check the bandit condition. The two of them are alive and well. They are just fainted, but most of the joints in their bodies are dislocated.
"How cruel. I think the man you met choose to turn them into his sparring partner. Who the hell is he?"
"HE SAID HE'S STRONG TOO! I DON'T KNOW WHO HE IS BUT I KNOW WHERE HE WILL LIVE!"
"Oh… then if he's this strong, why won't he just go to your village?"
"HE SAID THAT HE'S JUST ONE MAN! IN CASE SOME BANDITS MANAGED TO ESCAPE, THEY WILL SURELY TAKE REVENGE AND THE NEXT TIME THEY ATTACKED THE VILLAGE, IT WILL BE WORSE THAN TODAY! THAT'S WHY I WANT TO FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN BE THE VILLAGE'S GUARD AND PROTECTED IT!"
"Hmm… he's smart. But to ignore people in danger is a bit…"
"Nana! Look! I think that man left behind a message here!"
There's a message written on the ground. Roy used his spear to write on the ground as if he knows that Jewel will come back soon.
The message says:
Dear the loudest girl I've ever met.
If you read this message, that means you're able to find good people to help you. Tonight it will rain and erase this message, so I will give you some information from these two.
There are about twenty bandits in the village other than these two. Most of them are either beginner or intermediate level mage. The leader is an advanced mage so be careful.
By the way, I'm heading toward their lair which is empty because all of the bandits went to loot your village. I'm going to loot their lair so if your reinforcement strong enough to defeat them all, and can find the lair but it's empty, it was because of me.
P.S. :
I've checked your village and return here to write this. There are no casualties other than the injured. Nobody died. The bandits only come to secure foods. They won't kill unnecessarily unless they are provoked. They will leave before the sun is set so if you read this, be quick.
Bye.
"…this man you met is amazing. It wasn't that long before you get us and return here, right? Then he's able to find all of this in that short time. I'm interested in him."
"YEAH! I FEEL LIKE HE'S AMAZING! THAT'S WHY WHEN I MEET HIM AGAIN IN THE FUTURE, I WANT TO ASK HIM TO TEACH ME MORE! I STILL HAVEN'T AWAKEN MY MAGIC SO I HOPE CAN BE A LITTLE SMARTER WITH HIS TEACHING."
"To be able to influence you this much with just one meeting… maybe in the future we will hear more about this guy. As for Jewel wanting to be his disciple, I believe his first teaching for you to be quieter."
"I'LL TRY!"
They then quicken their pace and arrive at Jewel's village soon. Thanks to Roy's message, they can defeat all the bandits easily with good planning.
Jewel's parent are both alive and well. As for the injured, one of Gladius party member is a healer. The party decided to stay in the village for a while until Jewel returned from giving a request at the guild.
As for Roy, he's going back to Melk with happiness filled his heart because of the loot he got from the bandit's lair. Now he's just wondering about how to enter Melk without raising any unwanted attention.