WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

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Chapter 53: Rizmel of the Reconnaissance Team

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After soaking in the hot bath, Eleanor and I talked for several hours.

Naturally, the topic was exactly what I needed to do to break off her engagement.

"You shouldn't worry about the details too much right now. Just make it obvious, little by little, that you care about me."

Eleanor didn't demand that I actively pretend to be her lover. She said she'd handle that part herself.

Still, it was certain that I'd need to stay in the Dark Elf village for a while.

Apparently, the other Dark Elves needed to get to know my face.

Floor 7's Labyrinth Area wasn't all that impressive anyway, and the boss was on the easier side.

I'd get far more out of this village than I would from exploring the Labyrinth, so I didn't mind.

Beyond simply showing my face, she said I needed to steadily make a good impression too.

"How would you feel about becoming a temporary member of the Reconnaissance Team?"

That was how I ended up joining the Dark Elves' Reconnaissance Team.

Apparently, they searched dangerous areas near the settlement where monsters appeared and took care of them.

They handled all sorts of other duties too, but temporary members supposedly wouldn't be assigned anything like that.

In other words, I just needed to hunt monsters nearby and make myself known.

It wasn't any different from what I usually did.

It was also practically the same route other Challengers took for the Dark Elf faction quest.

"You don't need to push yourself too hard. Most of them will be happy enough just seeing you hold a weapon and pretend to fight."

Eleanor said I didn't need to work too hard, but of course I intended to give it my all.

Oh, and I'd also asked Eleanor, "What's with you people liking humans so much?"

"Why? Aren't most humans cute?"

It seemed the Dark Elves genuinely thought of humans as something like stray cats. There wasn't any particular reason for it.

Eleanor said she was considered quite young among the Dark Elves, so she didn't know what the others thought.

Thinking about how the Dark Elf blacksmith had treated me, they probably saw me as a spirited little kid at best.

Well, to a race that could live for thousands of years, humans who died before reaching a hundred probably looked about that young.

"Ah, but I think you're quite a handsome man. I don't see you as merely cute."

"Uh-huh."

"If you'd like, we could have a man-and-woman kind of conversation sometime... I'm joking. I said I'm joking."

Sometimes, this Dark Elf's weirdly suggestive behavior made me feel a little uneasy.

"Anyway, I'll speak with the Reconnaissance Team tomorrow, so get some rest today. Humans get dizzy if they stay in the bath too long, right?"

My body wasn't weak enough to get dizzy just from sitting in a bath for too long, but I told her okay anyway.

After sending Eleanor off, I focused on strength training alone in my room.

Ever since I'd learned that even simple exercise could raise my stats, it had been part of my daily routine without fail.

Rest my ass. I didn't have time to waste like that.

* * *

The next day, Eleanor introduced me to the other Dark Elves in the Reconnaissance Team.

"He says he wants to improve his skills while helping with our work. He'd appreciate any task, no matter how simple."

Compared to the Non-Player Characters at the general store and grocery store I'd seen yesterday, the Dark Elves in the Reconnaissance Team welcomed me with remarkable calm.

Still, judging by the similar looks in all their eyes, they clearly shared that particular fondness for humans.

As expected, the moment Eleanor left me with them, the Dark Elves surrounded me and started chiming in one after another.

"Haha, you want to help with our work? What a commendable little human."

"Exactly. It's been so long since we've interacted with a human."

Only one among them glared at me as though something about me annoyed her.

"Hmph. What's a human going to help with? We'll be lucky if you don't get in the way."

She was a Dark Elf woman with long hair tied up, dressed in light armor like me and carrying a sword and bow.

Her Console was green like the others', so I had no idea how strong she was, but even from her walk and presence alone, she didn't look weak.

I didn't know when I'd become able to judge someone's strength by the way they walked. Still, I was sure of it.

She was probably the strongest member of the Reconnaissance Team.

Could I assume that prickly attitude came from confidence in her skills?

Well, it was good to have one or two people like her around. If everyone around me was overly friendly, it'd be hard for me to adjust too.

"Don't be like that, Rizmel. Eleanor hates weaklings, and she seems very fond of him. There must be a reason."

"She may hate weaklings, but she likes young ones."

"Is there any human who doesn't look young from our perspective? You don't think she brought him here just for that, do you? She's not some starving beast."

The things the Dark Elves were saying to each other were seriously bothering me. Why did the phrase starving beast even come up?

And did they just say Rizmel? I'd definitely heard that name somewhere before.

[Erwen's Meddling - Swordsmanship Training]

[Quest Objectives]

1. Complete Rizmel's three stages of basic training.

2. Complete Rizmel's three stages of advanced training (Optional).

3. Complete Rizmel's selection test (Optional).

4. Win a sparring match against Rizmel (Optional).

Right, she was the Non-Player Character through whom I could progress the swordsmanship training quest the blacksmith had given me.

She was pretty different from what I'd imagined. I'd expected her to feel similar to that blacksmith since they were relatives.

The only thing the two had in common was the fullness of one particular area.

"W-What are you staring at, human?!"

As long as she taught me swordsmanship properly, I had no complaints.

* * *

I immediately handed Rizmel the letter.

After reading it, Rizmel looked at me with a startled expression, then bit down hard on her lip.

"Why do I have to teach swordsmanship to a human... I really hate this...!"

Saying that, Rizmel dragged me outside. The other Reconnaissance Team members snickered as they watched.

She said she hated it, but she didn't look like she disliked it that much. The hand pulling on my arm wasn't particularly rough either.

"I'm warning you now, if you become too much of a bother, I won't let you off. Brat."

Sure. I wasn't planning to be a bother either.

"Will you teach me swordsmanship?"

"If you're skilled enough to learn it."

With that, Rizmel rummaged through her pocket and pulled something out. It looked like a yellowed scrap of paper.

"First, I need to see what you're capable of."

The unfolded paper was packed with black-and-white drawings and letters I'd never seen before.

It seemed to be Dark Elf writing, and the system's simple translation function couldn't read it.

But I recognized the drawing. It looked exactly like the Floor 7 monster I'd seen on the Open Community.

"I was planning to head out and subjugate poisonous spiders today anyway. You said you'd help with our work, so you don't have any complaints, right?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, aren't you answering that a little too easily? Do you even know what this is? I said poisonous spiders."

Rizmel frowned in surprise at my casual answer.

What was the big deal? If they were poisonous spiders from Floor 7, weren't they just slightly tougher fodder monsters?

"They're called Twilight Spiders. They're twice your size, and their legs and claws are incredibly hard. And they're venomous too."

Rizmel held up the spider drawing and gave me an exaggerated explanation, but I'd already read all of that in strategy posts.

I'd never fought one, but honestly, I probably knew more about those spiders than she did.

"I know."

"What do you mean, you know?!"

No, even when I said I knew, she reacted like that. Why wouldn't she believe me?

"You've never been poisoned by spider venom, have you? Do you know how dangerous it is? Once you're poisoned, your arms and legs stiffen up and you can't move for a long time!"

I hadn't been poisoned by spider venom yet. But I wouldn't be in the future either, especially if it was paralysis-type venom.

There was almost no chance that a Floor 7 monster had venom strong enough to overcome both of my resistance skills, and if it did, I'd welcome it.

My Poison Resistance skill had stopped at Level 19, which was getting a little annoying. I could raise it to 20 this time.

"I know, so let's just go. Twilight Spiders, right?"

"Hey, wait!"

"If you're not coming, I'll go alone."

I opened the Open Community, pulled up a map of the area inhabited by Twilight Spiders, and started walking.

Rizmel kept talking about how I needed to bring antidotes and whatever else, but I ignored her.

After leaving the Dark Elf settlement, we arrived at the Twilight Spider nest.

-Kiririk! Kirik!

For some reason, the swarm of spiders was gathered outside the nest, crawling around as if they were there to welcome us.

Floor 7 really did seem to have more differences from the Open Community's strategy posts than usual.

Well, it was only a matter of there being a few more spiders.

-Shring.

I drew my sword, readjusted my grip on my shield, and approached the spiders.

Then Rizmel suddenly grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.

"It's dangerous, so stay back. If a brat like you gets poisoned by spider venom and ends up bedridden, I have no intention of taking care of you!"

Wasn't she supposed to be checking my skills? What was I supposed to do if she stepped in herself?

What the hell was this bitch doing?

Footnotes:

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