Chapter 95: The World Outside

I really wish I could tell you that my death this time was merely a regrettable—

But what I personally find even more regrettable than dying is that it was not an accident at all...

It is common knowledge that all wild animals possess an extraordinarily keen sense of potential danger, especially when confronted by an opponent stronger than themselves. No beast living in the wilderness would ever take the initiative to attack an adventurer more than ten levels above it, let alone one with a difference of forty-six levels.

Reluctantly, I can offer you a most inappropriate example: imagine a level-three thick-skinned wild boar piglet facing a level-forty-nine Battle Warrior.

I hate that living, vivid example with all my heart!

If I had not kicked it away at the time, it would never have attacked me. Or if I had kicked it harder—even if I had simply run it through with my sword—it would not have lived long enough to strike back. If A Life Devoted to Dreams had held back one more point of strength with that final hammer blow, leaving me with even two health points, the single point of health forcibly deducted by the little boar’s attack would not have killed me. Or, if its attack had come one or two seconds later, allowing my remaining health to recover slightly on its own, its attack power would never have been able to catch up with the speed at which my life force naturally regenerated.

Apart from those possibilities, plenty of other accidents might have occurred. I might have dodged its attack. Its attack might have missed. My armor might even have completely resisted that pathetically weak assault. Given the difference in levels between me and that little fat pig, the likelihood of any one of those accidents occurring was enormous.

And yet not one of them happened.

Thus, when I was on the brink of death, I was not killed by a ferocious beast. Amidst armies numbering in the thousands, I was not killed by the imperial soldiers surging toward us like a tide. In a life-or-death duel, I was not killed by a formidable opponent.

Instead, in a moment of perfect calm, I was bitten to death by a clumsy little wild boar.

What an utterly dishonorable way to die...

Still, my death was not entirely without merit. Our opponents had already begun rubbing their hands together with murderous intent. They looked as though they would not rest until they had smashed the few of us into splinters. But my unexpected death immediately plunged them into profound astonishment.

When I was resurrected with the help of Longbow Shoots the Sun, tremendous laughter erupted from the opposing camp. After being so violently stimulated by the unprecedented stupidity of the way I had died, the members of the Knights of the Hammer of Judgment could no longer maintain their furious, united hatred of the enemy.

The enormous reversal of emotions made it difficult for them to express themselves properly for a while, and so a great many shouts like these reached my ears:

“Kill that bastard... hahahahaha... the guildmaster was killed by him... this is fucking hilarious... avenge the guildmaster... I can’t take it anymore, somebody help me up...”

Those broken, intermittent cries for vengeance clearly did nothing to raise morale. If anything, they only made everyone laugh harder. As an intelligent and perceptive Battle Warrior, I could distinctly sense the murderous aura surrounding me rapidly fading beneath the waves of laughter.

Hey, what’s wrong with that? Just because a Battle Warrior was bitten to death by a wild-boar piglet, does that mean we can no longer call him intelligent and perceptive?

At that moment, for the first time in my life, I bitterly regretted not having thicker skin. If only I had been able to withstand that overwhelming barrage of ridicule. Those laughter-filled attacks on my dignity were sharper than spears or daggers, stabbing straight into my wounded heart.

What infuriated me most was that many of those hurtful spears and daggers came from behind me.

“Elegant String Song, if you want to laugh at me, then laugh out loud! But do you really have to roll around on the ground like this?”

With nowhere to vent the indignation burning inside me, I could only roar at the elven sharpshooter twitching on the ground.

“I don’t want to roll around either... ahahaha... hic...”

Elegant String Song’s voice was tragic, yet he could not stop laughing and shrieking miserably. He had somehow driven both his pain and his amusement to their absolute extremes, while a succession of uncontrollable hiccups made his voice even more unbearable.

“My stomach is cramping... ahahaha... ow... hic...”

If I had known this was going to happen, I would have been better off standing obediently still and letting the paladin guildmaster flatten me with his hammer.

Before long, A Life Devoted to Dreams was revived as well. Seeing his subordinates cheering wildly and applauding like a surging tide, the slow-witted fellow looked utterly bewildered. With a face full of confusion, he asked the people beside him:

“Wasn’t I dead? Who won in the end?”

Once he understood what had happened, he immediately beat his chest and stamped his feet in regret, lamenting that he had died too soon and missed the chance to witness this once-in-a-thousand-years miracle with his own eyes.

His mind had clearly not yet recovered from the daze of returning from the dead. Otherwise, he would have noticed the obvious question: if he had not happened to die at that precise moment, how could this damned misfortune have happened afterward?

And so the duel ended in an exceedingly bizarre fashion.

The victorious side was disheveled and crestfallen, showing not the slightest trace of a victor’s pride. The defeated side, meanwhile, was grinning from ear to ear, pointing at and ridiculing the sole winner of the duel as though they themselves had won.

Although events had not unfolded as we had anticipated, the conclusion was not far from what we had hoped for. Through the joint efforts of A Life Devoted to Dreams and me—though, naturally, far more through my own efforts—we settled the dispute with the Knights of the Hammer of Judgment peacefully.

“I lost. I lost completely and utterly...”

No matter how uncomfortable his twisted expression, as he struggled to suppress his laughter, made me feel, it was fortunate that A Life Devoted to Dreams kept his promise without reservation.

“...This... um... treasured armor... I’ll return it to you.”

At his insistence, Peacemaker reluctantly surrendered the “Tough” chest armor. He did not place it in the hands of the monk I Am Your Father. Instead, he angrily threw it onto the ground in front of him, thereby expressing his resentment and displeasure.

I Am Your Father was instantly overjoyed. Before Peacemaker had even turned around, he eagerly dropped to the ground, snatched up the armor, and stuffed it reverently into his pack.

The sky was so blue. The distant mountains were so green. The trees were so lush...

As for the shamelessly vulgar display put on by that bearded monk, I saw absolutely nothing. Nothing at all.

Glancing sideways, I discovered that my companions were all displaying remarkable solidarity. They rolled their eyes and stared straight up at the sky, apparently terrified that anyone might mistake them for acquaintances of that novice who treated a piece of junk like a priceless treasure.

“Boss Buddha’s Smile, we got the treasured armor back. We really have you to thank...”

I Am Your Father clearly failed to notice the oppressive atmosphere around him. Beaming with joy, he waved his arms and shouted toward Buddha’s Smile.

Buddha’s face turned ashen. The muscles in his face twitched violently, and both hands tightened around the hilts of his blades.

He loosened his grip.

Then tightened it again.

There was nothing we could do except look at him with profound sympathy.

A Life Devoted to Dreams tactfully took his leave, bringing his guild members with him. He bade us farewell in a most friendly manner and told us that if we ever needed anything, we could call upon him at any time. He did not look at all like someone who had just engaged me in a life-and-death struggle that had ultimately left both of us badly wounded.

For many people, words like those could be dismissed as empty pleasantries. But coming from the leader of the continent’s foremost guild, a man as warm and sunny as he was, I felt they sounded more like a promise one could truly rely upon.

Perhaps I would never have occasion to ask for his help in my entire life. But I knew that if I ever truly ran into trouble, his name would certainly be on the list of people I contacted for aid.

“It’s about time. I should go home too.”

Buddha’s Smile was eager to leave this plane. His reason was difficult to make sense of.

“My mother called me. She thinks I’m at tutoring today...”

As he spoke, the white-clad swordsman gave a quiet snicker, looking rather pleased with himself.

“Boss, you’re still a student? Skipping school is wrong, you know.”

I Am Your Father shook his head, clearly disapproving of Buddha’s conduct.

“I was supposed to have tutoring, but the teacher happened to have something else to do today. There’s nothing to do if I go home so early anyway. It’s not easy to get a summer vacation. I should be allowed to rest a little, shouldn’t I?”

Buddha’s Smile raised an eyebrow and argued back indignantly.

“That’s true, that’s true. All work and no play... Thinking about it, I really envy you students. When I was in school, we didn’t have games this good...”

The bearded monk offered partial support for Buddha’s words, then began reminiscing wistfully about his hard old days.

“Don’t forget, you still owe me a seafood dinner...”

Buddha’s Smile interrupted the monk’s sentimental recollections at just the right moment and reminded him once again:

“...And I’m bringing my girlfriend.”

“Don’t worry, Boss! The Dragon King Hall on the third floor of Swallow Wing Tower, tomorrow evening at half past six. It’s a date—we’ll be there no matter what!”

I Am Your Father thumped his chest and took full responsibility.

And so master and servant arranged a rendezvous in another spatial plane, then waved goodbye to us and departed Falvey together.

Longbow Shoots the Sun had arranged to go sing karaoke with some other friends. Goose Formation was already impatient to go for a beauty treatment. Our elven sharpshooter, Elegant String Song, hung his head and complained that he had to work overtime that afternoon.

I had grown accustomed to my friends temporarily leaving for all sorts of strange and unfamiliar reasons. I knew that beyond those distant stars, among the countless planes I could never know, there must be many other worlds entirely different from Falvey, with entirely different lives.

For me, this world was everything. For my friends who crossed between planes, everything they experienced here was destined to be only a tiny part of their lives.

Sometimes I could not help wondering what life was like in the other planes they had visited.

When they encountered evil, did they bravely step forward as we did, stopping and punishing the villains without hesitation?

Did they treat one another with the same sincerity as we did, entrusting their backs to their friends without reservation when faced with hardship and danger, willing to die without doubt?

Did each of them determine their level through hard work and battle, earning rewards and honors fairly?

Did each of them willingly extend a hand to those in need, never minding how meager the compensation might be? At the very least, would the souls of those who helped others receive their due reward? And once they accepted a commission, would they overcome every obstacle and faithfully fulfill their duty, even at the cost of their lives?

I did not know the answers to these questions. Yet instinctively, I always felt that such beings ought to exist in every world. Based on everything I could see, hear, and imagine, it seemed that things should naturally be that way.

I could not imagine how terrifying and chaotic those planes would become if they were not.

I could not imagine a world that indulged evil out of cowardice. I could not imagine a world where people betrayed their trust and cast aside friendship. I could not imagine a world that allowed people to gain without labor, where those with low levels and poor skills occupied lofty positions and were treated with respect. Nor could I imagine people abandoning the rewards of the soul and regarding monetary payment as the only return for an act of kindness.

If everything were as I imagined, then even if those planes were plagued by war and slaughter, even if people faced the threat of death at every moment, even if they were as barren and backward as this world, I felt they could not be truly terrible places.

I really wanted to see the worlds beyond.

That was what I thought. But before long, I smiled and mocked my own greedy fantasies.

I had traveled across only a tiny fraction of even this one world. Why should I yearn for horizons broader still?

No matter how vast those countless planes might be, to me they would be no larger than the small patch of land my own eyes had seen. What meaning could everything else possibly hold for me?

...

After that duel, I enjoyed two rare days of peace.

Although my life was busy, I was constantly traveling from place to place, accepting simple tasks from different employers and helping them fulfill their wishes. During that time, I did not eagerly join the secret-dungeon adventures organized by others, nor did I actively throw myself into the great war against the imperial invasion.

I was simply living, trying to distance myself for a while from dangerous bloodshed and grant my mind a little peace.

Fortunately, Falvey was a busy continent. Here, as long as you were willing, you could always find something to do and some task to complete. Risking your life in desperate combat was not the only possible way to live.

Still, so many things were happening in this world that you hardly had time to stop and enjoy even a moment of calm. Even if you wished to rest briefly and do nothing, deliberately avoiding difficult and dangerous missions, someone would always come looking for you and asking for help.

For example, just now, I had returned a runaway kitten to a scholarly-looking old woman with white hair when I immediately received a magical message.

It was from Bull Million. He was currently in the Hittwinian Lowlands to the east and appeared to have run into some trouble.

Although I enjoyed this brief and tranquil period of peaceful living, I could not simply sit by and watch a friend encounter difficulties without lending a hand. Besides, I had rested long enough by then.

After closing Bull Million’s message, I took out my map, located the Hittwinian Highlands, and set off to explore my way there...