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

by Funa

  At some point around midday, Mile finally caught up with the group, approaching calmly, with no signs of fatigue. By now, the commander had already entirely given up on making sense of her.

  “Oh, by the way, I picked up the casks and extra meat that got left behind at the campsite. My apologies—I should have just left you all enough for breakfast and packed up the rest beforehand. I really wasn’t thinking. I can carry the rest of everyone’s things, too, if you like!”

  Whatever she says, the commander thought to himself. I’m tired. I’m just so tired…

  “Time for a break!” he decreed to his men. “Give all your meat and your bags to the storage girl!”

  Mile sputtered, “‘S-storage Girl?!’ Are you serious?!”

  “Oh, sorry…”

  Unintentionally, the commander had let their internal nickname for her slip. He immediately apologized.

  That night…

  “Well, it looks like there’s salt and pepper and sauce here for the barbecue. And how about some ice-cold lemonade? We’ve got delicious apples to cleanse the palate, too. And some alcohol-free ale, nice and chilled, just five half-silver a cup!”

  “Damn it, damn it, damn iiit!!!” the soldiers roared. “There goes all of our allowance moneeeeeey!!!”

  ***

  Eventually, the soldiers of the neighboring kingdom—who were on pursuit duty—arrived back at the outskirts of the forest. When they got there, they found the other half of their company looking absolutely bedraggled.

  However, bruised and beaten though they were, they were alive. And, as far as the soldiers could tell, it did not look as though a single man had been lost.

  Don’t tell me they tried to protect themselves and let the monsters get past them—no, they would never do something so cowardly!

  “Your report?” the captain asked, directing his question at the commander of the third platoon, who had been left in charge of the outskirt forces.

  “Yes, sir! Around noon yesterday, monsters began appearing from out of the forest. Though their groups were sporadic, their numbers kept increasing, occasionally coming in larger waves. Though our men were mostly able to hold them off, we grew fatigued, and while no one took any fatal wounds, there were an increasing number of injuries. However, thanks to the local army sending reinforcements, and the Hunters’ Guild issuing an emergency request, we were able to fully protect the local farmers from harm beyond a few fields, which were destroyed.

  “I was the one who made the decision to contact the army and the Guild, so I personally take full responsibility for any shame or expense the royal army may incur as a result of my actions. Please, let no harm come to the other men. I beg your consideration…”

  “You stopped that stampede without losing a single man?!”

  The captain was stunned. Despite what the man had reported, he had never suspected that they would truly be able to stop the monsters once they left the forest.

  Well, wait a minute… Which way had that “Goddess” gone? That’s right! She went in the same direction as the monsters. We passed by a lot of monsters on the way back, too. We were able to ignore them or drive them off without any pointless fighting, though. But the numbers did seem a bit high for them all to have just broken off from the stampede on their own.

  And then we get a miracle—lots of men hurt, but no one killed… Well I guess, not a miracle so much as an example of “divine balance”…

  The wounded can be healed. We can spend a bit of money and request the services of skilled healing mages, or we can make a sizable donation to a temple and have their clerics take care of our men, as long as they aren’t lacking in forces and the wounds aren’t too serious… In other words, though we’ll have to spend a bit of money on healing, the kingdom won’t have to waste all of the money and time that it would take to train up new skilled soldiers. I’m sure that the Goddess must have realized at least that much…

  The captain patted the man on the shoulder.

  “You idiot! That’s my job. You did well. Let’s get to the nearest town and contract as many healing mages as we can. We’ll have them work until their power or our coin runs out, whichever comes first. We’ll borrow the money if we have to. We need to get back to the capital as quickly as possible. If we don’t want the kingdom to be destroyed, that is…”

  “Wh…?”

  It seemed that there were hardships yet to come for these men.

  ***

  “Brilliant work back there, everyone. It is a great blessing that we were able to complete our duty perfectly without having a single person seriously wounded or killed. Honestly, we didn’t even have any light wounds by the time we made our way back. The accomplishments of the ladies and gentlemen of the Hunters’ Guild are an example that we should all strive to emulate. We extend to you our deepest thanks and look forward to working alongside you all in the future. I now declare this special alliance dissolved. Dismissed!”

  There was a great cheer at the captain’s decree.

  Everyone had made it back safe and unharmed.

  The soldiers were overjoyed at this unprecedented achievement. The hunters, however, did not participate in the rejoicing. Unlike the soldiers, who were constantly asked to face down death, regardless of their own wishes, a hunter’s life was one that was guided entirely by one’s own free will. It was perfectly normal for them to make it home alive. After all, they only chose jobs that were suitable to their own skill sets.

  Thus, the hunters never lost their cool and unaffected manner, though on the inside they were thrilled as well.

  “I’m sorry. We would love to pay you a bonus, but I don’t have the authority to do so. I’d give you my pocket change, but I still have to buy a drink for these soldiers, whose special allowances you all enticed them to spend. There’s forty of them, so it’s probably going to take at least three or four gold pieces. Those guys don’t really know the meaning of holding back…

  “So, I apologize! We’ll pay the agreed fee for the hunters’ help, no question. If all goes well, we can probably get them to raise the pay for next time, too! Please forgive me!” said the captain, bowing humbly.

  The Crimson Vow smiled wryly.

  “I wonder if there will be a next time,” said Mile.

  “There won’t,” said Reina.

  “Doubt it,” agreed Mavis.

  “I don’t think so,” added Pauline.

  One might imagine that not much had been accomplished during that short outing of Mile’s. Considering how quickly she had caught back up with them, she couldn’t have gone very far, nor even caught up with the tail end of the fleeing monsters. So, what could she have possibly achieved?

  However, her triumphant pose suggested that she had set something in motion. Still, she appeared to have no intention of asking for any additional pay.

  In any event, none of this changed the fact that more than sufficient support had been provided by the Crimson Vow to the army, by transporting goods, providing them with provisions, aiding them in battle, and healing their wounds. Furthermore, while the other two parties had fallen short of these girls, they were still far more skilled than any of the other hunters who had aided the army to date and provided far more help than any groups of soldiers ever could.

  All of the hunters who had participated in this endeavor had hit home runs, and each and every one of them was instrumental to the fact that not a single soldier—nay, not a single member of their special task force as a whole—had been lost in the line of duty. The captain readily recognized this fact, along with the fact that without having the same members once more, there was no way that they would be able to achieve the same result in the future.

  “We have some light food and drinks prepared over there for the hunters, too. After you’ve got a bit in your bellies, please feel free to head back to the Guild. We’ll send a report of your job completion. I’m guessing that you didn’t have much of a chance to converse with the other hunters while we were marching o
r camping, right? You were split up between the squads while we marched, and the Crimson Vow retreated right back into their tent after our meals. It would be good for you all to spend a little time together, right?”

  The hunters headed towards the indicated building, gladly accepting the captain’s kind consideration. It was as he said; they hadn’t had much chance to mingle, after all.

  “I’m so sorry…”

  When they arrived at the spot where the food and drink had been set out, Wulf, leader of the Devils’ Paradise, suddenly bowed his head.

  “To tell you the truth, we were all underestimating the four of you. ‘Our two parties are gonna do three times what those guys do, so you all should try and aim for at least two times.’ Augh! What was I saying? I’m embarrassed to recall…” he said, covering his face in his hands. “Anyway, I really am sorry. And also, thank you. You already took our money for the food, so that’s its own thing, but you really saved us with that healing magic, and you’ve improved the reputation of all hunters in the eyes of those soldiers. The fact that you all were here was just one of the reasons why the army had a much better attitude towards us than they usually do—as well as why this job went as well as it did—but it certainly was a major reason. That captain always was pretty favorable as far as soldiers go, but still—normally things would go much more poorly than this.”

  Vegas, the leader of the Fellowship of Flame, as well as all the other party members, nodded in agreement.

  “Still, I mean, both of your parties did take this job that you otherwise had no interest in just because you were worried about us, right?” asked Reina.

  “Hm? How did you—? Leutessy, that little…”

  Wulf immediately guessed the offender. Apparently, the clerk they had spoken to was named Leutessy.

  “Well, everyone was able to avoid injury, and we all made a little money off of it, so that’s all that really matters!” piped in Pauline.

  A little?! At her words, the two other parties exchanged exasperated looks. You made a killing!

  Of course, all the money that they had taken went into the pockets of the whole party, not just Pauline, but from the wicked grin on her face, the other hunters could not help but see who held the purse strings.

  Still, based on the payment of one gold each specified in the original job posting, the Devils’ Paradise had earned five gold, and the Fellowship of the Flame six. Not bad at all for just four short days of work. Of course, when one considered the high probability that they might have just been used as a shield for the soldiers—and the possibility of them being greatly injured or killed—it was not a particularly generous amount of pay for a veteran hunter. But compared to other jobs of similar length, it really was not half bad.

  The Crimson Vow, meanwhile, had four people, which meant four gold. In terms of Japanese money, this amounted to earnings of roughly 400,000 yen. In four short days—only one-ninth of the thirty-six day month—they had earned that amount. And then, factoring in the food that they had sold to the other hunters and soldiers, they had taken in nearly double that.

  They had earned much higher wages than this, many times before—such as when hunting down the bandits or dealing with the wyvern. Still, for an average C-rank hunter, this would be a spectacular reward…assuming that all of the party members came back unharmed, anyway.

  The three parties snacked on the provided food and made small talk, exchanged information, and generally got to know one another better. Then they went to give the soldiers their thanks and headed, as one, back to the guildhall.

  ***

  Clapclapclapclapclap!

  Upon entering the guildhall, they were greeted by the sounds of applause.

  “Wh-what?”

  The three parties stood stunned, confused as to what was going on. Through the cacophony, Leutessy, the clerk, called out to them.

  “That was amazing, you all! You really did splendidly out there! The army captain himself came here earlier to sing your praises. The guild master extends his gratitude as well. And also…”

  She glanced at the Crimson Vow, confirming that they were all completely unharmed.

  “You were a great help to our friends who came from so far away. You’re the pride of our branch!”

  Applause broke out once again from the Guild staff and hunters.

  However, the Devils’ Paradise and the Fellowship of Flame wore muddled expressions as they took in said applause. Clearly, these were men in deep conflict.

  It was understandable, of course. The ones who had flourished were these young rookie girls, whose abilities they had failed to recognize, looking down on them with the haughty assumption that they would be the saviors of such innocents. And yet, here they were being praised, everyone thinking that the accomplishments of those girls—who had, on the contrary, saved them in many ways—were their accomplishments. There were few other things in life that could possibly cause a man such anguish.

  However, this was not something that they could explain to any of the others. That would require them to speak of the girls’ special skills and combat methods, as well as their exceptional abilities. For a hunter, sharing information about other hunters they had met in the line of duty was the greatest of taboos. Such a thing could affect a hunter’s livelihood and safety, after all.

  In other words, they could not give even the slightest hint of the girls’ abilities or strength. Besides, even if they were to insist that the members of the Crimson Vow had been the ones saving lives out there, no one would believe them. At most, some might think that they were just joking around or trying to pull some kind of prank.

  Furthermore, back while they were eating, the girls had drilled it into them: “We don’t intend to keep the fact of Mile’s storage magic a secret, but don’t tell anyone about her storage capacity, or our combat styles, or anything else. Just let everyone know that all three parties worked hard and contributed to the success of this mission.”

  Ugh! This is so awkward!!! The two parties screamed internally in agony as the other hunters congratulated them and clapped them on the shoulders as offers to treat them to ale came flooding in.

  Meanwhile Mavis, who, unlike her three teammates, could relate far too well to the hunters’ feelings, watched over them piteously.

  “Thanks for everything out there. Hope we can do it again sometime!” said Wulf.

  “Of course! We’ll be looking forward to it, too. Thanks for all your help!” Mavis replied as each of the parties retreated to their respective homes.

  Apparently, as veteran hunters, they did not stay at an inn but at their own home base. Of course, even while they called it a base, it was really more of a typical, rented domicile, set up for shared living.

  Everyone had already received their completion marks along with their pay. The Devils’ Paradise and the Fellowship of Flame had excused themselves soon after, claiming that they were exhausted—probably on an emotional level from having to drink in everyone’s praise.

  As for the Crimson Vow…

  “More than anything, I’m glad you all are safe. From now on, I hope that you will choose jobs that are a little more suited to your abilities,” Leutessy, the clerk, said cuttingly.

  Apparently, Leutessy assumed that the fact that the Crimson Vow had made it back safely was thanks to the Devils’ Paradise and the Fellowship of Flame, and, having been the one who informed these two kindly parties about the girls’ plight and persuaded them to participate, she felt that she had indirectly been responsible for saving the girls herself.

  It would seem that when giving his praise of the parties, the army captain had not named any individuals, but rather, offered his thanks to the hunters as a whole. Indeed, most soldiers were generally aware of the hunters’ “greatest taboo,” and thus, they did not offer any concrete praise regarding the Crimson Vow’s actions. It wasn’t surprising, then, that Leutessy should think that the words of congratulations were meant primarily for the two veteran parties.


  “Ahahahaha…”

  Able to plainly guess all of these facts, the members of the Crimson Vow could do nothing but laugh.

  ***

  “Let’s take it easy for the next couple days,” Reina proposed.

  The other three nodded. In a regional capital, three half-gold per day was about sufficient to cover food and lodging for four people. Including their sales, they had taken in about seven or eight gold pieces, so it was only right that they take a few days to themselves. Even if they were not hurt or exhausted, those who work themselves to the bone every single day without stopping to rest never live very long lives.

  Plus, what was the point of working nonstop to the point of death or injury when you were already doing a job that put you in the line of danger for the sake of enjoying yourself and living a happy life? No matter how quickly they were aiming for a promotion, to rush like that would only detour them with injuries and failed jobs.

  Outside of sleeping at inns, the Crimson Vow had barely been using their money.

  They didn’t use arrows or throwing knifes, which would require them to replenish ammunition for their weapons, and they had two experts in healing magic on hand, which meant that they never wanted for bandages or medicine. When it came to food, Mile’s storage was already chock-full of meat, herbs, and vegetables acquired from hunting and foraging, and they even had a stock of fish as well.

  They had already collectively agreed that they would not eat into their savings except in extraordinary circumstances, but really, it was almost impossible for them to even spend what they earned.

  So they spent their time sightseeing around the town, which they had not yet seen very much of, trying the local cuisine, and purchasing souvenirs for Little Lenny.

  Normally, one did not purchase souvenirs until right before returning home, as it just made more luggage to carry, but for Mile, with her storage magic and her pseudo-inventory disguised as storage magic, this was no concern. They could buy anything they liked the moment they laid eyes on it. They were absurdly handy, these tricks of hers…