Volume 4   Chapter 4: The Road to Gimuru 2

There were six others aside from the ogres and the bandits who saw Ryouma’s one sided slaughter that couldn’t even be called a fight.

“Amazing. I don’t know much about martial arts, but I can tell Ryouma-kun’s really strong.” [Michelle]

“Can you really sum that up in such few words?” [Riera]

“I don’t think there’s really anything else to say though.” [Michelle]

From the girl’s perspective, Ryouma’s fight was nothing short of a performance.

Above a bandit that ran to attack Ryouma with his one-handed sword, was a bandit that was sent flying by the ogres. The flying bandit flew past the running bandit as he approached Ryouma. Ryouma caught that bandit, then with a turn, Ryouma bashed the other bandit with that bandit.

But at the last moment, the bandit managed to jump to the right, avoiding the other bandit in Ryouma’s hand. Taking that opportunity, Ryouma extended his hand toward the opening of the bandit’s one-handed sword. Then as Ryouma dropped the other bandit, he grasped the sword with his left hand, and as he swept his right hand, he entered into his opponent’s chest. Finally, with an elbow strike from his right to the chin of the bandit, he knocked him unconscious.

At that moment, another bandit came attacking at him. Ryouma averted the tip of that bandit’s sword that came piercing at him with his right hand. Then continuing with that momentum, he grabbed the bandit’s wrist and arm, and with a karate chop, he knocked a second, unconscious.

But just as Ryouma finished knocking down a second, at nearly the same time, a bandit swung his great sword down behind Ryouma. Ryouma immediately thrusted the unconsciouss bandit away, then as he turned his body, he dodged the great sword, and at the same time, he landed a backhand blow on the bandit’s chin.

However, the bandit was able to barely dodge the backhand blow. In no time at all, however, Ryouma stepped in with his left foot, and sent a kick flying from his right leg. The kick landed itself onto the hands carrying the great sword, forcing the bandit to release his weapon as it grazed past his face.

But at the same time, something had hit the bandit’s stomach. The very same moment Ryouma sent a kick flying toward the bandit, he chantlessly casted earth needle, attacking the bandits from a place hidden by the shadow of his feet.

The earth needle couldn’t pierce through the armor, but it imparted a shock no different from a pillar crashing into a body. The strength of that force momentarily caused the bandit to blank out, giving Ryouma time to pull back his leg. Then with a fist to the brow, Ryouma knocked his third one down.

All these took place within only a span of a few seconds. Ryouma’s precise movements that hadn’t any unnecessary moves in it made short work of the bandits. Were this the arena, Ryouma might just be accused of match fixing. That’s how one-sided the fight was. But what the bandits did next left Elia and the others puzzled.

“It’s the Cleaner! Run!!” [Bandit 1]

“You think I’ll let myself be caught here!? Damnit!!” [Bandit 2]

“I won’t attack anyone anymore! Please let me go!!” [Bandit 3]

For some reason, the bandits suddenly started panicking. Ryouma hadn’t used any magic that attacked one’s mind, and yet all these people were clearly mentally affected.

Those bandits were also beaten up. After everything ended, they checked whether there were still any survivors left along with the recovery of the dead bandits and the bandits that were still alive. While they were doing that, Elia and the others decided to stop the carriage, and take a break there.

“Sebasu, why are those people scared of Ryouma-san?” [Elia]

“And Ryouma-kun was also making a sad face.” [Kanan]

“It’s a long story, so cutting it short... Everything started due to Ryouma’s bandit subjugation during his journey.” [Sebasu]

In the past, Ryouma happened upon 10 bandits whom he subjugated.

Those bandits were affiliated with the Dark Guild. They were the leaders of a small branch of a fairly large bandit organization who came out to show off the strength of their tiny branch as well as give some orders.

Due to having their leaders arrested, the bandit organization attacked Ryouma’s house in revenge, but they were instead done in. Most of the bandits were arrested, but they were turned into guinea pigs for Ryouma’s new medicines.

Other bandits came to take revenge, but Ryouma, starting to get fed up with them, decided to leave an opening to let them escape, and reveal their home base. But what Ryouma ended up finding wasn’t the home base of the bandits, but rather the home base of a branch of the Dark Guild.

Thinking it would be foolish to make a move alone, Ryouma decided to contact the duke’s household. Ryouma left the matter to the duke’s household, but from the time Ryouma contacted the household to the time the branch of the Dark Guild was destroyed, the things Ryouma had done were exaggerated. Rumors amongst the bandits began to circulate, saying malicious things such as Ryouma capturing bandits and inflicting excruciating pain upon them, or Ryouma slowly torturing people as he beat them and healed them to death.

“And because of that, the bandits are now scared out of their wits of him, huh?” [Elia]

“Yes. Due to a rumor that’s quite different from the truth.” [Sebasu]

While it’s true Ryouma is still using bandit test subjects to this day to test his medicines on, he first tests the medicine on goblins to distinguish which of his potions are poison and which are not. He checks whether there any strong side effects, so he doesn’t try out medicines on humans aside from those that are generally safe.

Because of that, there were rarely any cases of someone dying due to his experiments. The bare necessities (water, food... etc.) were provided, there were no unnecessary violence either, and in order to hand them over healthy to the guards of Gimuru, Ryouma’s been dealing with the bandits who aimed for his life, humanely. But unfortunately, the rumors turned everything upside down.

“Thanks to Ryouma-sama, the bandits around Gimuru had been reduced for a period, and even the people who tried to bring prohibited goods into the arena were lessened. We’re really grateful for it, but it seems Ryouma-sama’s somewhat bothered whenever he sees the bandits so scared of him.” [Sebasu]

“Seeing someone so scared of you just from seeing you... It probably can’t be helped.” [Kanan]

Here, Michelle asked Riera.

“By the way, Riera. You asked for a match yesterday from Ryouma, right? What are you gonna do now?” [Michelle]

Riera made a troubled face for a moment, but not long after, she recovered herself, and calmly answered with resolve.

“Mn... No, there’s no problem. I’m not fighting to win. The match is to let me know my current strength.” [Riera]

“Good. Even I can’t win against Ryouma in a one-on-one, so it’s better to focus on studying rather than on winning.” [Sebasu]

Hearing that, Kanan asked Sebasu.

“Sebasu-san, just exactly who is Ryouma-kun? Putting the battle just now and Sebasu-san’s story, it almost seems as if his story of being a C Rank adventurer is a lie.” [Kanan]

Having been told that, Sebasu answered.

“Ryouma-sama being a C Rank isn’t a lie. However, because Ryouma-sama spent his time these past two years on other jobs, his studies, and even in philanthropic work, he has rarely taken any adventurer jobs. If it was just his abilities, then he wouldn’t lose out to an A Rank adventurer.” [Sebasu]

When the girls heard that, everyone except for Elia was surprised, causing them to renew their image of Ryouma. After Ryouma finished gathering the bandits, he returned with an old man.

“We’re done. By the way, let me introduce Harold-san. He is a slave demon magic user just like myself.” [Ryouma]

“Hi, I’m Harold. Sorry for bothering you all while you’re on your trip.” [Harold]

Harold bowed his head as he said that.

“Harold-san is an A Rank adventurer, so he teaches low ranked adventurers, children aspiring to be adventurers, and the guards in my stores how to fight. Today, the best amongst the trainees are fighting bandits under Uncle Harold as well as other teachers to gain experience. The bandits from before were apparently those that got away from the trainees’ encirclement.” [Ryouma]

“So that’s how it is. Sorry for bothering you. But thanks to you and your friends, we’ll be able to have a safe trip. Thank you for you work.” [Elia]

“Thank you. Now if you excuse me, I need to rendezvous with my comrades now. Also, Ryouma, those boys are still too naïve. They still need plenty of working.” [Harold]

“There’s no need to hurry, so please take care of them until it’s safe to send them out. Should you need any help, please feel free to inform me.” [Ryouma]

Harold told Ryouma to leave it to him, then he took the three ogres with him, and he left toward the direction fo the trees. There, Sebasu handed a glass filled with water and a towel to Ryouma.

“Please.” [Sebasu]

“Thank you, Sebasu-san.” [Ryouma]

Ryouma lightly wiped the sweat of him, then as he took a mouthful of water, and a short rest, Elia spoke to him.

“Ryouma-san, what was that last thing you were talking about?” [Elia]

“Oh, didn’t I mention it? We started raising up some human resources in Gimuru. I am also a teacher actually... By the way, what happened to those four?” [Ryouma]

“Don’t worry, they’re just having some issue putting together common sense and reality together after seeing you fight.” [Elia]

“So long as they’re not scared, I guess it’s fine.” [Ryouma]

At the other end of Ryouma’s gaze were the four girls, but Ryouma didn’t say anything to them as he took a short break and had some snacks.

It might have been because they had already heard of Ryouma before, but after the break ended, the four were back on their feet. And they chatted just as they did before the bandtis came out.

The carriage continued to descend the mountain, and just before the sun set, they managed to reach the western gate of Gimuru, where a line of carriages had formed.

“We’ve finally arrived, but the line sure seems long.” [Kanan]

“There are a lot of carriages, so it’s probably some sort of merchant group, and is probably going to take a lot of time, right?” [Riera]

“...They’re examining the luggage, so I think it will take a lot more time.” [Michelle]

“I don’t mind waiting, but I wonder whether we’ll be able to get some rooms today? It’s also the same time as yesterday, but...” [Riera]

The one who answered Riera’s thoughts were Ryouma.

“There are plenty of lodging for tourists, so you’ll be able to get an inn. If there’s any issue, it would be the quality of the room.” [Ryouma]

“Any recommendations?” [Michelle]

“Hmm.........Rather than the new town, I think it’ll be better to go to the lodging in the first town. There are also guards in town number two, but there’s a lot of people, so it’s noisy, and there are plenty of pickpocketing going on too. It’s safe enough to go out in the night, but the first town’s quiet and safe.” [Ryouma]

“Is there anything we should be careful of in Gimuru?” [Riera]

“Nothing in particular, but... Ah, there’s one. There’s an inn built specifically for slave demon magic users and a resting area for slave demons by the gate of the second town. It’ll be best to stay away from it. The slave demon magic users and conjurers there are generally bad folks.” [Ryouma]

Ryouma continued.

“While it’s good that the jobs in the town increased thanks to the new town, there are some bad folks amongst the people who came here to work for the tamer guild. They would drink themselves drunk, rampage with the ir magical beasts, walk around, showing off their strength and scaring other people... And in the worst case, there are even those who pick fights inside the town with their magical beasts.” [Ryouma]

“That bad?” [Michelle]

“The really bad ones are being caught one after another, but as I’ve said, the bad folks stay in that particular inn. There are also good people amongst the slave demon magic users who came to help the construction of the new town, but the ones stand out. Because of that, people have started to look badly on slave demon magic users, and... Oh, I’m sorry. I started ranting.” [Ryouma]

As Ryouma apologized, the other five told him not to mind it.

“It must’ve been tough for you, huh, Ryouma-han? Enough to complain at least.” [Miyabi]

“You don’t have to hold back. Just throw everything out.” [Kanan]

“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

Suddenly, the line began to move quickly.

“Ah, looks like the carriages of that merchant group finally got through... Huh? Up to where did we talk? Well... so long as you gain the trust of the people, there shouldn’t be any problem. It’s not a big deal, so it should be fine. It’s not just me, even Uncle Harold who is a slave demon magic user from another place is an honest person and is trusted. Rather than that, let’s begin to enter the town.” [Ryouma]

As Ryouma said that, they each took out of their chest and bags their respective proofs of identities. When they were ready, they talked about what they would do after they enter the village. There, they decided to first rest at the inn. It wouldn’t be nice after all if the girls were to suddenly fall sick or something, so they decided to rest up first, and begin sightseeing tomorrow.

Finally, after going pass the gate, it was Ryouma’s turn to shine. Ryouma guided the girls and Sebasu to a nice inn that, while not luxurious by any means, was clean and had good food for the price.

The girls took a room there, and after Ryouma volunteered to tour the girls tomorrow, he went back home to his house in the abandoned mine.