CH 54

Chapter 54

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : In The Beginner's Dungeon, Part 2 — A Peaceful Journey

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

The request was due on several dates, but Alfiris and her team decided to fit it into the last date. She checked the number of days from the town where they had been staying until yesterday to the cave, and it would take about seven days to get there slowly. At that pace, they will be just about exactly on time for the request, so this trip is very leisurely. The forest of Dulcass also seems to be quite safe to enter from the east side to the desired site, and the road continues well to the entrance of the forest, so it is safe. There are inns here and there, and the lights of people camping out to save money on lodging can be seen here and there. There are no fiends, and it is safe to say that this is the safest road Alfiris has traveled since she began her journey.

Also, not only during the day, but even at midnight, the Central Highway is patrolled by each country within the limits of its own territory. Every inn has a filling station, and you will find knights and guards enjoying themselves in the taverns with the residents. In bars along the border, you may see soldiers from the two countries rubbing shoulders and making noise. Originally, a formal get-together between nations was held, but now, decades after peace was established in Midlands, everyone is already familiar with each other without such formalities. Some of them even talked about marrying each other’s children. Thanks to this, the border skirmishes that are common in the West do not take place in the Midlands.

It was originally Miliazar who came up with this series of mechanisms, but only the leaders of the countries knew about them. It was enough that only the benefits were conveyed to them, Miliazar thought, and only advice was given long ago. But judging by the smiles that abound on this central street, it is safe to say that Miliazar’s plan has succeeded.

Of course, as in any lively place, fights often break out between drunken revelers, but since it is a regular event, it is a bit like a festival. When a fight starts, betting begins on who will win, and so on, and it is unlikely to develop into a killing match, even if they make a mistake. All of them are drinking with those fights. For some reason, Miranda sometimes joins in the fights and gets into a big fight.

「I’m not wearing a sister outfit, so I’m good to go!」

She says that assuredly. Come to think of it, Miranda used to be a bandit as well, Alfiris had heard. She guess it is now a habit to go wild in bars. And it usually ends with『Miranda the Winner,』and the guys pay for the bar that night, and Miranda drinks as much as she wants. Sister never dies in a bad way, Alfiris thinks, “Oh, she was immortal,” but in fact, it was a very tranquil scene. The only exception is the man crawling in place of Miranda’s chair. But the fact that some of the men sometimes looked happy was a story that Alfiris had yet to tell.

They also leave somewhat leisurely every morning, and training early in the morning and before dinner has become a daily routine for Alfiris and her team. After being ripped to shreds by Blackhawk’s third squad, the atmosphere became one of voluntary training by everyone, not to mention anyone else. The last time they happened to be saved, but it would not have been surprising at all if Alfiris and the others had been wiped out there.

However, there were no concrete guidelines on what to do, but rather simple hand-to-hand combat and confirmation of emergency battle formation. Deciding what to do in an emergency is a critical factor that can mean the difference between life and death on the battlefield, where decisions must be made in fractions of seconds. It may seem unassuming, but it is an important meeting. In fact, on the battlefield, it is not uncommon for a thousand well-trained soldiers to defeat ten thousand of the crowds.

Among from Alfiris’ company, Nia is outstandingly strong in pure melee combat. Miranda is a warrior who has trained almost entirely on her own and is quite forceful. Besides, the way she fights at all costs is to show her true ability as an apothecary and use chemicals, explosives, etc. In this respect, Miranda may be the strongest in a『killing match,』but in a martial arts competition, Alfiris, who learned proper martial arts from Aldreus, let alone Nia, is considerably stronger than Miranda.

In the hand-to-hand combat between Nia and Alfiris, Alfiris tried to increase the variation of Nia’s movements by using various weapons, but it was extremely difficult even for Alfiris to catch the movements of the feline tribe, which is one of the fastest even among beastkins. Nia confessed that she doesn’t have much experience fighting with humans, which she says is helpful, but she don’t really feel like it’s actually helpful to Alfiris. It is easy to imagine that even if Nia continues her training as it is, if she goes at it with that Dorothy, she will be played for a handful as she was last time.

For what it’s worth, she asked Nia how beastmen and humans were at war during the Great War.

「They were countered with magic and tactics. Most beastmen cannot use magic and have low tolerance for it. Therefore, it is difficult to defend against direct offensive magic, but is extremely susceptible to indirect magic such as enchantment, illusion, sleep, paralysis, and poison. Moreover, many people are so excited when they enter a battle that they forget themselves, so even if a battle is intentionally feigned as a defeat through such means as the『plan of a loose cannon,』they will follow it too closely and fall into the trap without any suspicion. But there are times when the beastman can break through even that trap.」

Yes, that’s right. But with such a difference in physical function, she wondered how Dorothy was able to bridge the gap. She regretted that she should have asked Dorothy at the time, but that seems to be the same for Nia. Nia’s impression is that,

「The movement was not that fast. No, she is quite fast for a human, but about as slow as a beastman. However, my attack showed no sign of hitting the target, while the other side’s attack accurately caught me. Do you have a habit of my movements, Alfie?」

However, even if it is said, in fact, it is more accurate to describe it as『disappearing in front of one’s eyes』to capture such a fast near movement in a confrontation, and it is very much out of habit. Alfiris thought it was due to the difference in agility between herself and Dorothy, but as a matter of fact, there is not that much difference in reaction time between Alfiris and Dorothy. In a word, it is the difference in combat experience, but the girls will not realize it for a while longer.

Alfiris is teaching Lisa the sword form, and Fenna is teaching Alfiris the tricks of the bow. They could also ask for training partners from the patrolling knighthoods, and training in this way was becoming a routine part of the Alfiris’ travel.

Fortunately, perhaps due to the generous atmosphere of the street, most of the members of the knight order were willing to accept Alfiris and her team’s application, even though they were on patrol. Some of them, upon seeing that it was a women-only party, tried to use their training as an excuse to engage in some unsavory behavior, but they were all turned back by Alfiris and the others. They were unaware of it, but even though they were women, their abilities in one-on-one combat were no match for street guards, even professional soldiers, and they were among the strongest in comparison to the SS of their respective countries. Although their meetings often ended in a lackluster manner, Alfiris was amused by the differences in sword styles among the different countries, and the experience of meeting with the members of these knightly orders would later bring them unexpected benefits.

＊＊＊

And so the days go by, and they are already in front of the『Beginner’s Dungeon.』As might be expected from a somewhat over-indulgent atmosphere, a crowd had already gathered in front of the ruins. A rough estimate would be 100 people. There are various races and occupations, not only beastmen, but also, unusually, elves and dwarves, as well as swordsmen, archers, spearmen, martial artists, sorcerers, and other occupations. Even more unusual are the giants and children. The child’s age is probably smaller than Lisa’s. Alfiris couldn’t help but stare at the child, who was probably some kind of magician from the way it was clad in a robe.

The child turned to her, perhaps noticing her gaze, and gave her a cute smile. The kid is also a very smart and cute fellow. Alfiris smiled back and even waved her hand. Miranda and Lisa notice the situation and start to bully Alfiris.

「Heh, Alfie is like that, huh?」

「Don’t get in the middle of all this and make a fool of a child, you shotacon.」

「It’s not like that!」

「Well, you can grow them to your liking…」

「At best, for Alfie, it’ll be trained, paid off, and poached.」

「What’s with that trifecta?」

「No, the kids are pretty good, okay?」

Eh? Unexpectedly, the three of them looked at Nia. Nia, perhaps unconsciously, began to scowl.

「W–What? What’s strange?」

「Nia… I didn’t know you had that kind of taste.」

「I didn’t know there was another pervert in this party… It’s Lisa’s fault.」

「Lisa, you didn’t think the first one was me, did you?」

「Oh, Alfie, are there any other candidates?」

「Alfie-san is fine, but what Nia-san is trying to say is…」

“Fenna, what fine are you talking about?” Alfiris wanted to say. Fenna’s tweaks to Alfiris have been severe lately. Perhaps Miranda and Lisa are teaching her unnecessary worldly wisdom, or perhaps Fenna’s tone is becoming more and more worldly. “I wonder if Fenna will be okay, even though she is a princess,” Fenna continues, despite Alfieres’ concern.

「What Nia-san is trying to say is that beastmen have a habit of creating reverse harems. Elves do it too, depending on the species. I often see couples where the man is 20 years younger than the woman, for example, if the lifespan is long enough. In a species genus where young appearance lasts a long time, it is common to keep an eye on children who look promising and raise them to your liking, don’t you think? My parents were the same way. More importantly, in my parents’ case, my father raised my mother.」

「Is that so?」

「Yes. So, perhaps out of old habit, my mother sometimes referred to my father as『Onii-sama.』」

「How enviable…」

Lisa sighs involuntarily, but she have no doubt that if Miliazar had been here, she would have asked,『What about yourself?』Fortunately or unfortunately, there is not a single person here who knows about Lisa and Jake’s relationship.

While the women were having a good time talking about such unimportant topics, a person who seemed to be the organizer of this event appeared on the stage. It was very theatrical, going out of its way to set up a high platform for easy viewing by all.