Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Volume 8

by Funa

  “Why does she only seem interested in me?” Mavis grumbled.

  “That’s obvious. She’s using you as a substitute boyfriend,” Reina replied without hesitation.

  “Wh…?”

  Terror spread across Mavis’s face.

  “I’m already pretty well set for red-headed, sassy, overbearing girls, thanks!”

  “Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wha…?! Who?! Who are you talking about?!?!”

  Apparently, even Mavis could be counted to turn up the heat once in a while when she was offended. Reina, though she herself was willing to talk about nearly anything, got easily riled up by others’ words and switched to full-on rage mode.

  “O-oh, come on! B-both of you, please calm down!!!” Mile said in a panic.

  Pauline only gave a weary shrug of her shoulders…

  ***

  “How does this one sound for our first job in town?”

  There were nods all around as the Crimson Vow stood before the job board, selecting their very first professional outing in the Kingdom of Marlane.

  “Well then, to the counter!”

  “Hold it right there!”

  Seeing Mavis and Pauline’s nods, Reina had assumed that the matter was settled and began to head to the counter, when suddenly Mile raised an objection.

  “Look at that one!”

  “What?”

  The other three looked where Mile was pointing, to a slip of paper that was posted to the side of the job board away from the others.

  EMERGENCY REQUEST:

  Exterminate the monsters flooding out from the forest.

  Payment: 1 gold each.

  “What is this?”

  Reina’s suspicion was warranted. Monsters flooding out from the forest? Such a thing rarely happened. At least, not without some extenuating circumstances. Plus, if the job were really all that urgent, it wouldn’t have been posted nonchalantly on the wall like this. Instead, it would have been carried out by a specially recruited force of C-rank parties or higher. It didn’t make any sense…

  “Well, I guess we won’t know until we ask.”

  The four proceeded to the counter to ask for an explanation. The clerk looked troubled and explained, “You all have come from another region, yes? The truth is, there are some peculiar circumstances surrounding that request…”

  According to the clerk, part of the border—the border with the neighboring land, near which Mafan was situated—was surrounded by a dense forest. Apparently, the people on the other side of this border forest, i.e., the citizens of the other country, were known to periodically flush the monsters out of the forest—not to exterminate them, but to chase them away.

  Naturally, any monster who was being chased down would go running in the opposite direction—and as a result, they were all fleeing into this country’s side of the woods. Subsequently, turf wars had begun to break out between the fleeing monsters and the monsters that already lived on the Marlane side, and the monsters who lost then moved farther in Marlane’s direction, the weaker ones fleeing the forest. As a result, the citizens were coming under attack, and their crops and livestock were being destroyed.

  Therefore, while it was necessary to eliminate these monsters, if they were to put out a request every single time they needed help, the affected villagers would go bankrupt. The lord of this territory had sent out his own troops once already, but the fact was that the army was primarily in place to defend the land from external invaders, and while the men were practiced in fighting other humans, hunting monsters was a bit out of their wheelhouse. Consequently, they were not very good at it.

  Plus, jobs like this were not good for soldier morale. It would have been one thing if they were fighting against other soldiers, risking their lives in defense of their country, but they were not too keen on dying or being injured and left unfit for service on account of a bunch of monsters. Once was bad enough, but to send them out again and again, and have the soldiers’ numbers dwindle bit by bit, would be a huge blow to the fief’s strength.

  And so, it seemed that the lord had instead decided to bolster these numbers by hiring hunters, who were accustomed to fighting beasts. However…

  “Let me guess,” Reina ventured, “the soldiers and the hunters here don’t get along very well, so fights have been breaking out, and the hunters have been having all of the most dangerous parts of the job pushed onto them, so the number of hunters who will accept this job is dwindling.”

  The clerk nodded.

  “Yes. As much as the soldiers loathe this duty, they keep bad-mouthing the hunters, because having them involved hurts the soldiers’ pride. They push them into all the most perilous roles, and they don’t do anything to actively support them. Even if you had nine lives, that would still be too much to put up with, and certainly, no one would go out of their way to purposely have to deal with that kind of treatment. The result is that the only people who will take the job now are desperate for money, softhearted to a foolhardy degree, or simply idiots. And then…”

  A look of rage twisted the clerk’s face. “This is all just harassment by our neighbors!” she spat. “They’re the ones who keep driving those monsters over to our side of the border!”

  “Ah…” The Crimson Vow nodded.

  It was a straightforward situation with an unsurprising outcome.

  And then, of course, came the Crimson Vow’s equally unsurprising reply:

  “All right. We’ll take it.”

  “What?”

  The clerk froze. “N-no, I don’t think you all heard me just now! Are you really that desperate for money?!” the clerk asked in alarm.

  “We aren’t,” Reina said simply. “We’re in the third category.”

  “Huh?”

  Reina continued with a grin. “What I’m saying is, we’re in the third category. The ones who would take this job because we’re idiots. Is that not a good enough reason to accept?”

  The clerk, along with all of the other Guild staff and hunters who had been listening in on the exchange, froze, and silence spread throughout the guildhall.

  ***

  “So you’re the hunters who accepted the job, huh?”

  Two days later, the Crimson Vow, having officially taken on the aforementioned job, assembled at the garrison of the local army, their assigned rendezvous point. Upon arrival, their first move was to greet the captain in charge.

  The participants in this sortie were a platoon of forty soldiers and three parties of hunters totaling fifteen all together—a combined fifty-five fighters. Yes, two other parties had also decided to join the Crimson Vow.

  Truthfully, the other two parties had no interest in this job whatsoever, but when the clerk pulled them aside and told them what was going on, these men had begun to fear the possibility that a party of all young women, who had just arrived from another country, might be annihilated, or harassed or abused by the soldiers. For the sake of the Crimson Vow, these hunters had willingly put themselves in danger.

  “If anything happens, you can rely on them. Both of them are trustworthy parties,” the clerk had told the Vow, but rather than seeming relieved, as the clerk had imagined they might, the members of the Crimson Vow immediately grew tense. It seemed they were now being a bother for other hunters, and it would be terrible to see them injured or killed because of it.

  “I’m glad to see so many of you here today. I’m sure you know that this isn’t an easy task, but it’s one that we must take on for the sake of our farmers and for all of the other people who rely on the crops and livestock that our farmers have raised with their blood, sweat, and tears. Let’s grin and bear it, and do our best out there!”

  Surprisingly, the captain of the extermination squad was a rather down-to-earth fellow. Whether you were in the army or the mob, it wasn’t unusual for people with common sense to find their way into the upper ranks.

  “We are the Crimson Vow. We’ve recently arrived from the Kingdom of Tils on a journey of training and self-discipline.
Pleased to make your acquaintance!”

  After introducing themselves to the captain, the members of the Crimson Vow moved to exchange introductions with the other two parties.

  According to the clerk, both of these parties were made up of good people, and it seemed that they should properly express their thanks for the assistance. Even Reina gave the other hunters an uncharacteristically meek and modest greeting—with a brilliant smile no less. Apparently, even she remembered how to put on a bit of a show.

  “Smiles and flattery don’t cost a thing, after all.” The words that emerged from Pauline’s mouth were cynical as ever.

  “I’m Wulf,” said one man, “of the Devils’ Paradise. Over there is Vegas, of the Fellowship of Flame.”

  At Wulf’s introduction, one of the other men gently waved his right hand in greeting. The members of the Crimson Vow politely nodded their heads in reply.

  “We’re hunters—fighting monsters is what we do. So we can’t let ourselves fall behind those army brats. If we don’t kill at least two or three times the number that those guys do, it makes hunters everywhere look bad. Both the Devils’ Paradise and the Fellowship of Flame are going to hit at least three times’ their quota, and you all should try and aim for at least twice as much. That said, those lazy boys are gonna be pussyfooting around, not wanting to stub their little toes on unfamiliar turf, so if a few C-rank hunters can just do what they normally do, beating them should be a piece of cake!”

  Collectively, the other two parties were comprised of a group of men in their early thirties to their forties, all in their prime—none of them of the age at which they would be interested in young women. In fact, the members of the Crimson Vow were probably all around the ages of these men’s daughters. Anyway, as the clerk had made clear, there could really be only one reason why they had decided to accept this job—the only reason why one would accept a job not even worth its pay, for the sake of some strangers to whom they had no allegiance, when they likely had families of their own they should be protecting:

  They were all idiots.

  Of course, the Crimson Vow were in no position to talk about anyone else’s foolishness, and really, they didn’t even mind those sort of idiots. They just had to try and make sure that no one ended up hurt on their behalf.

  The Fellowship of the Flame! That definitely sounds like the name of the sort of party who’d get wiped out by a single monster, thought Mavis. We’d better look out for them…

  Meanwhile, Mile was thinking on something entirely unrelated, as usual.

  Why would they have a name like “The Devils’ Paradise”…?

  ***

  The next day arrived: the day of the monster extermination.

  Naturally, they knew the day on which their neighbors were going to drive the monsters out in order to harass them. The neighboring land hired hunters as reinforcements as well, so word got around. Information flowed freely between the Guilds on both sides, and the local lord was no dummy. He hired hunters who were registered to the other Guild in order to receive information from them. Thus, on the second day after the others began their scheduled campaign, the fighters on the Marlane side set out. Their goal was to drive the monsters back before they could even make it out of the forest. However…

  “Shouldn’t we just start at the same time as them and force all the monsters in towards the border?” asked Mile.

  The captain replied, “We tried that before. All that happened was that the monsters got caught between the monsters coming from the other side ahead of them and the soldiers driving them forward behind them. They turned back on the soldiers, and a lot of men got hurt. It seems like the same thing happened on the other side with the same results. Since then, we’ve abandoned that gambit.”

  At this, Pauline looked stunned.

  “In that case, why didn’t they just give up on this whole harassment thing?”

  The captain simply shrugged as though to say, “Why don’t you ask them that?” There was no way that he could answer for them, after all.

  Once the captain had finished giving out orders, they finally set out.

  The captain’s instructions consisted of three main points.

  One: The number-one priority is your own safety. Always prioritize the lives of yourselves and your friends over defeating or driving off any monster.

  Two: Do not touch any monster or animal that a huntsman could trap for his meal. The only creatures they should be focusing on dealing with were ogres and goblins and the like.

  Three: Do not step over the border!

  That was all.

  It was no problem if a hunter crossed over a national border while hunting down monsters or beasts, but a soldier crossing over the border in the line of duty could cause quite the conundrum, for it might be viewed as an invasion of another kingdom or fief. Even if the other side had been the provocateurs, such a misstep was still bad news. Even Mile and the others could deduce that much.

  The group was split into four teams.

  First, the platoon of soldiers split up into four squads, numbered 1 through 4. Then, the Devils’ Paradise joined up with squad number 1, the Crimson Vow with 2, and the Fellowship of the Flame with 4, while squad 3 assumed the command role, with the captain, his aide, and two high-ranking NCOs included.

  The soldiers had been split into four groups of nine, so the numbers for each new team were 14, 13, 13, and 15, making up the 55 in total.

  Unlike soldiers, who were trained to be able to fight smoothly alongside any combination of other soldiers, separating parties of hunters would be sheer folly. Likewise, there was no point in having the hunters, who had been hired on specifically to decrease the number of injuries amongst the soldiers, operate independently. Therefore, they were arranged so that the veteran hunters would be situated at the front and back, while the squad with the command staff would be placed in the middle. There was no one who would object to such an arrangement.

  When it came time to fight, they would spread out side by side, but for marching they split into two columns. If they marched single file, the line would be too long, and they would be susceptible to surprise attacks, unable to easily change formation to adapt to changes in their circumstances. The Crimson Vow were in the middle of their line, with the second squad of soldiers at their front, and squad three, with the command staff, at their backs.

  “Hmph. We waste all our money hiring hunters and all we get’re these little girls, huh? Can’t even use them as a shield…” a man walking in front of the Crimson Vow muttered bitterly.

  Directly ahead of the Crimson Vow—in other words, at the tail end of the soldiers’ formation—was the NCO serving as the leader of the second squad, the squad in which the Crimson Vow had been included. In one of Earth’s militaries, he would have been around the rank of Sergeant.

  When it came time to battle, the hunters would act under the direction of their own party leaders, but if the soldiers should give any orders, the chain of command went captain, aide, upper-ranking NCOs, and the leader of their squad, in turn. Even the hunters would be expected to follow orders.

  Naturally, any particularly unreasonable instruction, such as, “I need you to hold back those enemies here to buy us some time, even if it costs you your life,” would be in violation of their contracts and considered invalid as a result. However, orders such as “go strike those enemies to the right” or “go do some recon” would be considered instructions from their employer and dutifully obeyed.

  In other words, were a leader so inclined, he could direct the hunters toward tasks with a high risk of fatality.

  Of course, no employer could get away with not paying their agreed-upon wage simply because a hunter had died. Their deposit would have already been paid to the Guild, and that amount would be distributed to their remaining party members and their family. In the event that no one remained who was able to rightfully claim payment, the wages became the property of the Guild and were utilized for the good of all hunte
rs.

  Thus, the Crimson Vow had no reason to think that the squad leader would try to make them do anything truly perilous, just because he was acting a little surly. Still, the risk was such that both the Devils’ Paradise and the Fellowship of the Flame had considered the Crimson Vow to be in need of protection.

  With this thought in mind, the Crimson Vow steeled themselves all the more. And yet…

  “Damn it! If we have to protect those little girls, they’re as good as dead weight.”

  Apparently, the soldiers were just as worried about protecting them.

  An ironic laughter rose up from the members of the Crimson Vow.

  It had been a few hours now since they had entered the forest. Having taken only two breaks of average length and a number of shorter ones along the way, they were now reaching the end of the first day’s travel. Breaking for lunch would have taken up too much of their time, so they had skipped it; everyone had eaten a hearty breakfast in preparation.

  The monsters driven out from the neighboring lands had yet to reach this area, so they were able to proceed without incident. It would be the next day that they could expect to start encountering their foes.

  Under normal circumstances, no monster would go out of its way to attack a group of soldiers or hunters of this size. They might have been fiends and wild beasts, but they weren’t stupid.

  For tonight, they would make camp where they were. The real job began tomorrow.

  “It’s about time we set up camp. No need to rush—let’s just get set up before it gets dark and then take it easy to get ready for tomorrow.”

  The captain was right. They were already far enough into the forest that time was no longer of the essence in trying to meet up with the oncoming monsters. Learning the terrain of the place and having everyone in top condition for the fight should be their first priority. Plus, the place through which they were currently passing was a meadow that was fairly sparse with trees—the perfect place for camping.