LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 7
Chapter 7 – Sardis (2)
—–CROW—–
Creatures called monsters existed in this world.
While there were various classifications in precise academic terms, there was also a tendency to lump all harmful creatures together as “monsters,” much like calling spiders insects.
These monsters were the main reason for the supply and demand in the adventurer profession.
Monsters were like licorice root in a pharmacy, triangular kimbap in a convenience store, or dark circles under the eyes of a graduate student – a standard feature in dungeons and ruins.
Therefore, adventurers killing and dissecting monsters to sell their teeth or other body parts was a very common practice.
Even the sight of a cute girl, with a face that looked like she’d never killed a bug before, stabbing a kobold in the eye, pulling out its teeth from its dead body, and happily storing them away.
In this world, it was just a scene from peaceful daily life.
“Hyaaaaaah!!!”
It was inevitable that the people living in such a world were barbaric and uncivilized.
I was even impressed by the sight of my companions competing to swing their swords at the kobolds’ heads.
“What a mess.”
Sammus, who had rushed out first, was at the front of the line, harvesting kobold heads. Every time his blunt, double-edged sword swung, furry heads, a mix of rat and dog, flew through the air.
“Are you planning to join in?”
Someone spoke to me from above. The skinny uncle had grabbed the bow he had left in the luggage compartment and climbed onto the roof of the carriage.
The high carriage was a perfect vantage point for shooting monsters, and several adventurers from the caravan, besides the uncle, were standing there with bows. They had apparently already come to an agreement, as they didn’t stop the customers from fighting.
“Yes. They seem like good practice opponents.”
“Practice? You don’t seem to have much fighting experience.”
“That’s right. I don’t exactly look like a master of combat, do I?”
“I thought you might be, considering your physique.”
As he replied, the uncle shot an arrow, piercing a kobold’s shoulder. The kobold, which had been aiming for Sammus’s side, collapsed, feigning death in a one-sided S&M play.
“Tsk.”
But seeing the skinny uncle click his tongue, it seemed he had aimed for the head and missed. He wasn’t that skilled either.
“Hyaah!!”
On the other hand, Sammus, who was yelling “Kee-yo-yot!” at the front lines, was amazing.
He was treated like an ace, not just a customer, due to his incredible performance, and the surrounding adventurers switched to support roles. The reputation of Ulstermen’s fighting prowess seemed to be no exaggeration.
He seemed to be on par with the Silver-class adventurers I had seen.
The people Yernara hired for ruin exploration were mostly Silver to Bronze-class adventurers, and they felt like YouTubers with 100,000 to 1 million subscribers.
In other words, Sammus was a small-time streamer with the potential of a million-subscriber YouTuber from the very beginning.
Instead of dismissing him as a red-haired migrant worker, it might be good to get to know him. Maybe I could ask him to carry me to Bronze, nothing more, nothing less?
“Aren’t you going? Didn’t you come to fight?”
“Eek. Right.”
At the skinny uncle’s remark, I drew my sword and stepped forward.
Low-level monsters like kobolds had simple behavioral patterns:
They couldn’t defeat opponents larger than themselves.
They were afraid of enemies greater in number.
Normally, they lived with only these two things in mind, catching and eating bugs or small animals. Then, when they bred and increased their numbers, they would mistakenly believe they were stronger and attack passing humans.
“Ke-ruk?!”
And most of them would be counterattacked and die.
I swung my sword at a kobold that was running towards the carriage. Thanks to Professor Brammaton’s basic physical training, which included swinging iron bars, the trajectory of my sword was quite clean.
“Kyargh!!”
But I hadn’t practiced hitting anything.
I aimed for its neck, but the blade sliced halfway through the kobold’s jaw. A gruesome visual, accompanied by a terrible scream, was imprinted in my eyes.
“Get lost, you bastard!”
“Gyak!”
It was a little disgusting, but I was past the point of being shaken by this. The kobold, hit by my second attack, collapsed, spewing blood, and never got up again.
Kobolds didn’t have the intelligence to use weapons, so they weren’t difficult opponents for me. They were smaller than dwarves, too.
“Rat bastard down.”
Thanks to my increased strength, I could easily bisect a small kobold. Without even struggling to pull my sword out of its corpse, I moved on to the next prey.
Whoosh—Thwack!
“Kyaaaaagh!!”
An arrow, flying from afar, accurately hit the left one of the two kobolds nearby.
I silenced the flailing kobold with a single swing of my sword. I kicked the next one that jumped at me, sending it tumbling, and then stabbed it with my sword.
“Heh.”
It wasn’t difficult.
No, it was rather easy.
It was partly because the opponents were weak, but the experience I gained while suffering alongside that damn Yernara also played a big role. Thanks to having seen countless monsters die in dungeons and ruins, I had adapted to bloody battles.
[Is this all? Good work, Yellowskin.]
At that moment, Sammus, who had finished fighting, approached me.
Sammus handed me the cloth he had used to wipe his sword. Was it his way of showing affection?
[Thank you.]
I quickly took the cloth and tried to wipe my sword, but I ended up frowning. My sword was covered in kobold blood and fat.
[Your swordsmanship is quite messy.]
[…It seems so.]
Only blood was on Sammus’s sword, but mine looked like I had just butchered a pig’s leg. I had no idea how to clean off the blood-soaked fat clinging to it.
[Keep the cloth. It’s just a rag. Use it to wipe.]
[I need water to clean it properly.]
[Just remove the fat and shake off the water. You can’t clean it every time on the battlefield. Just don’t forget to sharpen and oil it later.]
Sammus sheathed his bloodstained sword as he spoke.
[But Yellowskin, you are not a warrior.]
[Not yet.]
I should have been offended by being treated like a noob, but why was the “yellowskin” comment more annoying?
It was a fact that I wasn’t a veteran warrior, so it dealt zero damage, but the “yellowskin” comment was racial discrimination, so it dealt piercing damage.
[A sword is a difficult weapon to wield for those without skill.]
[Yes. I’ve heard that, but it’s worse than I thought.]
Characters in novels and movies often said that swords were consumables. Indeed, unless it was a lightsaber, blood and fat would get on the sword when fighting living creatures.
A sword that had lost its sharpness was just a club.
I couldn’t say that being hit by a 1-2kg iron club wasn’t dangerous, but if that was the case, it would be better to carry a club from the start. A baseball bat was also a dangerous weapon.
[Should I change my weapon?]
I asked Sammus. Since he was a barbarian who lived to eat, shit, fight, and fuck, he was the perfect person to ask this question. It was unfair that only I was answering questions.
[Gain more experience in actual combat, or use a spear.]
[Isn’t a spear difficult to use in narrow spaces?]
[There’s no other way than to get used to both the advantages and disadvantages. No matter what weapon you use.]
Sammus looked around and said with a mysterious look in his eyes,
[Training and real combat are the only answers. If you reach the level of a master, you can defeat a spear with your bare hands.]
The words of a man who single-handedly killed a dozen kobolds in three minutes carried weight.
***
“You’re finally back! Come on in!”
The fat uncle, who had been waiting in the carriage, exclaimed joyfully as I returned with Sammus after struggling to clean my sword.
“We were waiting for Mr. Nord. We couldn’t continue the conversation without everyone.”
I wondered why he was so happy, but Jorma explained it for me.
They could have continued without me. Sammus, who came in with me, didn’t seem interested in their hometown stories anyway.
─Neigh!!
Anyway, the carriage started moving again as we returned, and Jorma resumed his story.
“Hmm. Where was I?”
“You were saying that you wouldn’t recommend visiting an Ulster village. Yes. Why is that?”
The fat uncle asked, wiping sweat off his pants.
“Yes. It’s truly unfortunate, but when they heard that I was coming, all the women disappeared from the village.”
Jorma naturally glanced at everyone’s expressions and slumped his shoulders with a sorrowful look, as if he wanted to hit the ground. Sammus nodded as if it were a matter of course.
“Merchant. You’re lucky you weren’t beaten.”
“That’s true. Especially if you stare too openly at a married woman, you’ll be in for a big surprise.”
“Hey, isn’t that obvious?”
NTR enthusiasts deserved to die.
Was this guy acting all friendly, but actually had that kind of taste? Now that I looked at him, he even looked like a blond thug.
Wouldn’t it contribute to world peace if I killed this guy here?
“Oh, don’t misunderstand! I didn’t do it on purpose!”
Jorma protested as if he felt wronged.
“They distinguish married women by the patterns of paint they apply to their bodies, but how is that easy for outsiders like us to understand? I had a hard time because of that!”
“Paint? Don’t Ulstermen get tattoos?”
The skinny uncle, who had been pretending not to listen, casually asked a question. Jorma slapped his knee at the question.
“Tattoos! Yes. You have to be careful with tattoos, too.”
“Tattoos? Why?”
“I heard that only skilled warriors and druids can give tattoos. So, if you look at a woman with a tattoo the wrong way, you might not be able to enter the village again.”
“…Like a village chief, or a noble?”
It was Sammus who answered the skinny uncle’s question.
“A tattoo drawn with mana is the greatest honor. No one but great warriors and great shamans should have them.”
“I see. If you offend someone of high status and only get banished, that’s considered merciful.”
The skinny uncle seemed convinced, but Jorma slumped his shoulders with a sad face.
“That’s true, but there are many things to be careful of in the land of the Ulstermen. You can get into big trouble if you make a mistake. So, it’s not a dreamland like the rumors say.”
“Hmm. Is that so…?”
The uncles, whose romantic fantasies had been shattered, looked dejected. They had the same expressions as middle schoolers whose sexual fantasies about Japan being the world’s largest porn country had been denied.
“But… do you know this?”
At that moment, Jorma smiled as if he had been waiting for that reaction.
“There’s a country where women, like the Ulstermen, reveal their skin, but instead of disliking men’s gazes, they return them with smiles.”
“No? Really?”
At Jorma’s words, the uncles’ faces brightened like sunflowers that had received rainwater after a week. I wished they would maintain some dignity.
“Hehehe. Of course. Haven’t you heard of it? The desert nation of Narmer-Nile.”
“Of course. Isn’t it an adventurer’s paradise that can’t be compared to Sardis?”
“I’ve heard of it, too. The land of the sand sea where ruins slumber. The nation of merchants and warriors who gather at the Yatrau River and oases.”
The two uncles each showed off their knowledge. The otherworlder’s obsession with tiers extended to showing off trivial knowledge.
[Yellowskin. Where is Narmer-Nile?]
Sammus asked me curiously, intrigued by their display of knowledge.
[…It’s a desert nation close to Britannia. It’s also a place where adventurers flock to because of the many ruins of ancient civilizations.]
I answered half-heartedly. I had considered getting closer to this guy earlier, but seeing how he couldn’t speak without adding “yellowskin,” I lost all interest.
Even if I was incredibly kind to this guy, he would probably say something like, “Isn’t it natural for yellowskins to serve white people?”
“In Iunu, the capital of Narmer-Nile, and Ineb, the temple city, there’s a religious order that worships the sun god Atum.”
While we were talking, Jorma’s story was in full swing. Jorma, having targeted the two uncles instead of us, who weren’t interested, enthusiastically continued his explanation.
“And the important thing is! The priestesses of this religious order don’t wear clothes, even normally!”
“Ooh!”
Jorma, who had completely captured the uncles’ attention, exclaimed, clenching his fist.
“The people of Narmer are a mix of brown-skinned and white-skinned people! But the most impressive were the brown-skinned priestesses!”
“Brown-skinned? Like dark elves?”
“Similar. Those priestesses wear jewelry or sheer fabrics instead of clothes that cover their bodies as they walk around the temple. The sight of their oiled brown skin peeking through the sheer fabric is truly… *chef’s kiss*!”
Dirty jokes between men were quite explicit in this world. The fat uncle fidgeted impatiently at Jorma’s hand gestures, which blatantly mimicked a woman’s curves in front of his chest.
“Oh my, such a wonderful country exists! Why did I only learn about the wonders of Narmer-Nile at this age? If I had known when I was a sailor, I would have sailed there!”
“Hehe. You’re still in good shape. Life doesn’t end as long as you’re alive. Who knows? Mr. Aaron, you might visit the land of the Ulstermen or that paradise someday.”
“Hmm… Yes. It wouldn’t be bad to go on another journey before I die.”
It seemed too worldly for a journey before death. But Jorma spread his arms at the fat uncle’s words.
“That’s right! Opportunity comes to those who seek it! To support Mr. Aaron’s journey, I’ll recommend a good product!”
“Product?”
“Yes! It’s the most popular accessory among the young ladies of Narmer! It’s very affordable, but it’s hard to find in that country, so it’s very popular.”
“Ooh!”
The two uncles were mesmerized by the commercial product Jorma pulled out of his pocket. It was an ornament made of twisted copper.
Was all that storytelling just a build-up to sell a product? This guy had quite the gift of gab. I was inwardly impressed by Jorma’s smooth transition to a product advertisement.
“Hehehe. It’s fate that we met like this, so I’ll give you a discount. I’ll offer it for 20 coppers.”
“20 coppers? Isn’t that a bit expensive?”
The fat uncle’s face turned serious. 20 coppers was about 200,000 won. It was enough for commoners like us to live on for a month.
“Oh, you won’t find this price anywhere else.”
Jorma spoke with an attitude that wouldn’t budge on the price.
“This accessory is a popular design not only in Narmer-Nile but also among the women of this country. If you carry it with you, it will be a secret weapon for when you have a good encounter.”
“But still, 20 coppers is a bit…”
“For your information, I spent a passionate night with a priestess of Atum thanks to this ornament.”
“Give me two.”
“Oh, thank you. I’ll get them from my luggage during the break.”
The two uncles couldn’t resist and bought the ornaments. Men were such pitiful creatures, controlled by their dicks.
“Mr. Nord, don’t you need one?”
“Me? I’m good.”
I firmly refused the ornament. Had he seen a young person from the advertisement-flooded 21st century buying something from a subway peddler? There was no way I would buy something with uncertain effects.
“Merchant. I’ll buy one.”
But it seemed the redhead wasn’t like me.
Sammus pulled out a pouch from inside his robe. The skinny uncle, who was counting the coins in his wallet, let out a bewildered chuckle at the sight.
“There are many beautiful women in your tribe. Why are you interested in women from a faraway land?”
Sammus answered with a serious expression at the question.
“I, came here to find wife. Tribe women, won’t marry me.”
“…Ahem. I understand. Everyone has their own circumstances.”
The uncles fell silent with solemn expressions, as if they had glimpsed the sorrow of a migrant worker.
In every era and every world, migrant workers were people who left their countries because they couldn’t fulfill their potential there.
We spent about a night traveling by carriage, killing time.
The next day, we arrived at our destination, Sardis.
—–CROW—–