WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

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◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈

Chapter 22: Sewer (3)

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"Screech!! Squeak!!"

Perhaps the Rat Man leader realized it could not easily overpower Gerik after that threatening attack. It paused its assault, held its ground, and glared at him. Then it stomped its feet and squeaked irritably again and again.

"Scree... Squeak...!!"

"...!!"

Gerik realized that the Rat Man that had first charged Olin, the one whose torso had been pierced by the heavy sword, was somehow still alive.

Cold sweat ran down his back.

Though one of them was wounded, the fight had gone from one-on-two to one-on-three in an instant. Gerik thought his second death might be approaching.

"Squeak! Screech!!"

The Rat Man leader cunningly moved to the side and squeaked out orders to its underlings.

Despite bleeding heavily, the wounded Rat Man faced Gerik from the front, while the other two took up positions to his left and right, preparing to attack.

'These bastards...!'

Gerik realized the leader intended to use its wounded underling as bait, then charge from the side with its uninjured subordinate to exploit an opening.

At the same time, he instinctively knew how horribly sound that plan was. There was no proper way to defend against it.

"Scree...!"

Blood poured from the Rat Man's shoulder. When its leader gave the command, it let out a weak cry and charged Gerik.

The other two Rat Men began slowly closing in from both sides, keeping pace with it.

'If I wait... I'll definitely die...!!'

Gerik instinctively understood that if he gave them the time they wanted, he would never overcome this crisis.

So, with nothing left to lose, he charged straight at the Rat Man in front of him.

"Squeak!?"

As if it had never expected its prey to charge in return, a Rat Man positioned at Gerik's flank cried out in surprise.

Gerik ignored it, raised his sword, and unleashed Slash at the wounded Rat Man in front of him.

Slaaash!!

Already gravely wounded, the Rat Man could not block Gerik's lightning-fast Slash. Its head shot into the air in an instant.

"Skreech! Squeak!"

Furious that its prey had dared to counterattack, the Rat Man leader and one of its underlings attacked swiftly from both sides.

With no other option, Gerik gritted his teeth, raised his sword, and swung at the Rat Man leader, ready to perish alongside it.

'You bastard... At least you'll die!'

If he was going to die anyway, Gerik swore he would drag the Rat Man before him to the underworld first.

He abandoned defense altogether and unleashed Slash with all his strength.

The Rat Man leader's face filled with confusion at his mad momentum.

Slaaash...!!

The chilling sound of flesh tearing spread through the Sewer. The Rat Man leader raised both hands to block Gerik's Slash, but both arms were grotesquely severed, spraying blood everywhere.

"Skreeeech!!"

Both arms had been cut off, and a diagonal gash ran down from one shoulder. Foul blood began spraying from it like a fountain.

"Screech!"

But because Gerik had attacked without regard for defense, he had left too large an opening.

The final Rat Man's sharp teeth rushed toward his unprotected neck.

'Oh no...!!'

At the very moment Gerik recognized a death even he could not avoid, fierce energy began spreading from his finger.

Hummm...!!

An energy barrier, like something out of a science-fiction movie, began enveloping Gerik's body.

The barrier soon twisted the space around him. The Rat Man's teeth and body, which had been on the verge of reaching Gerik's neck, were swept sideways by the distorted space.

'Skyler's Quintet...!!'

It lasted only an instant, but Gerik trembled as he realized where this mysterious power had come from.

The magic equipment he had completely forgotten in the heat of battle had saved his life.

Grateful, Gerik raised his longsword again and mercilessly unleashed Slash at the Rat Man, whose course had been bent by the distorted space before it slammed headfirst into the wall.

Slice!!

A vicious sound filled the Sewer. At the same time, blood burst from the Rat Man's ugly body.

After bringing down the last Rat Man, Gerik stood with his eyes half-rolled back, sword in hand, repeatedly turning to check for more enemies.

"Pant... Pant..."

He spun around like a madman for a long while, but no additional enemies appeared. Only then could Gerik finally be certain he had killed every Rat Man.

Once he knew he was safe, he hurried over to his companions.

"Ah... Aah..."

Olin's miserable end came into view.

The middle-aged Warrior's side had been bitten away in a huge chunk, spilling Olin's intestines.

As if that had not been enough, the Rat Men had smashed half of Olin's skull open, leaving brain matter spilling out.

"Hngh... Hnghh..."

"...!!"

Amazingly, Wilber was still alive.

Gerik saw Wilber clutching at the intestines threatening to spill from Wilber's side, with facial bone exposed, groaning in agony. With a devastated heart, he hurried over.

"Ge... rik..."

"Wi... Wilber...!!"

"Ge... Cough... Hack...!!"

There was no scene like in the movies, where the dying struggled to leave behind their last words.

Wilber only called Gerik's name with unfocused eyes, then finally succumbed to the fatal wounds.

"No...!"

For the first time since being reincarnated in this world, Gerik watched people he could at least call companions die before his eyes.

An indescribably miserable feeling welled up inside him.

If it came down to how much time they had spent together, he might have been closer to Lugos or Osrik.

Yet perhaps because he had witnessed Olin and Wilber die brutally before his eyes, while he had not witnessed Lugos or Osrik die, the deaths of these two companions struck Gerik far harder.

...Squeak? Screech.

A spine-chilling rat cry began echoing from far away.

The sound immediately snapped Gerik out of his grief, and he hurried to his feet.

'More of them are coming...!!'

He had lost his companions in a fierce battle, burned through too much stamina, and even used Skyler's Quintet, his trump card.

Gerik instinctively knew that if he remained here, his death would only be a matter of time.

'I need to run now...!!'

With his life in danger, Gerik quickly pulled himself together and grabbed his torch. He shone it around, found the exit he had entered through, and prepared to leave in a hurry.

'...Ah!'

Just as he was about to leave, Gerik realized he could end up in serious trouble if he returned like this.

If he could not properly explain how his companions had died, he might be falsely accused.

Even in this desperate situation, Gerik began looking for evidence.

'Heads? Too big. Teeth? Too hard to break... Ah!'

Gerik realized there was one body part that would be easy to carry and serve as clear proof.

He raised his longsword and cut off the tail of a Rat Man lying on the ground.

'Since I'm cutting them anyway...'

Most of them had died close together, so Gerik quickly cut off and collected the tails of all six Rat Men.

As he did, the creepy rat noises in the distance grew louder and louder. Growing desperate, Gerik took off running and fled the Sewer.

"Pant... Haaah...!!"

Gerik ran through the Sewer like a madman. He had sprinted so hard that he could barely breathe.

Still, the feeling that he could hear the Rat Men's chilling cries behind him gave him superhuman strength, letting him run without stopping.

Exhaustion and fear clouded his judgment, and he nearly took a wrong turn.

Fortunately, he had spent over a week exploring the Sewer with his two companions. Thanks to that experience, he escaped without making a mistake.

"Pant... Pant... Open the door!! Open it!!"

"What happened to you?!"

Gerik came running madly out of the Sewer, drenched in blood, and pounded on the iron door as he called for the guards.

The guard had seen Gerik and his companions often over a fairly long period, so the sight of Gerik startled them. The guard quickly opened the door and asked what had happened.

"Rat Men..."

Gerik gasped for breath and showed the guard the bundle of grotesque tails tied to his waist.

He then calmly explained the encounter with the Rat Men during the Goblin extermination mission.

"What...?! Rat Men?!"

Individually, Rat Men were not especially powerful monsters. But because of their tendency to swarm and their highly contagious curse, they were treated like a plague when found in a city.

Their threat level was extremely high regardless of their strength, and the guard looked tense.

"Willus! I'll hold this post, so take one of those Rat Man tails and report to the Warden at once! Request additional guards!"

The senior guard ordered the subordinate to report the emergency to the official responsible for frontier development and request support to seal off the Sewer.

"I know it's hard, but go to the Adventurers’ Guild and report this immediately. Please."

Since Gerik had been there, no one could give more vivid information about the Rat Men than he could. The senior guard asked Gerik to make the report, then handed him a seal to make things easier for him.

Though exhausted, Gerik accepted the seal and immediately ran to the Adventurers’ Guild.

Passersby murmured at the sight of him covered in blood, but Gerik paid them no attention. He silently kept his eyes forward and ran.

"Excuse me!"

"What the...?!"

An irritated voice burst from an adventurer standing in line when some novice suddenly tried to cut in right before closing time.

Gerik ignored them and held up the Rat Man tails hanging from his waist for the receptionist to see.

"I encountered Rat Men during the Sewer mission! The guards need support...!"

"Wait. Just wait a moment."

The receptionist had frowned at him for cutting in line, but their expression changed when they saw the guard's seal Gerik hurriedly produced, along with the grotesque monster tails.

After asking the adventurers in line for their understanding, the receptionist rushed up to the second floor.

"Pant... Haaah..."

Only then could Gerik finally catch his breath. He bent over with both hands on his knees and breathed heavily.

Not long afterward, the receptionist reappeared from the second floor with a middle-aged man.

"Rat Men appeared while you were on the Sewer Goblin extermination mission?"

The middle-aged man sent the receptionist back to their duties, led Gerik to another table, and calmly asked about the situation.

His composed attitude spread to Gerik as well. Gerik set aside his panic and began explaining everything that had happened, one detail at a time.

"So even after exterminating six Rat Men in the deeper parts of the Sewer, you heard Rat Men farther inside?"

"Yes."

"This is troublesome."

For now, the Rat Men were holed up deep in the Sewer. But if they gradually crawled outward, dug tunnels, attacked the townspeople, and infected them, the matter would spiral out of control.

That was why Ruben, a senior member of the Adventurers’ Guild, frowned.

"By the way, are you sure there were really six? Six Rat Men are not something three low-rank Wood Plate adventurers could kill...?"

Like many adventurers, Ruben wondered whether this novice had been overcome with fear and started exaggerating.

Gerik answered by showing him the six Rat Man tails tied to his waist.

Footnotes:

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