WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈
Chapter 4: Priest and Adventurer (3)
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“Did you identify the raiders?”
They had returned alive despite their losses, which meant they had won the battle. Osrik assumed the veteran adventuring party had searched the enemy bodies and found some kind of evidence.
“We couldn't find anything. Those bastards... were very thorough.”
Aron said that while the raiders’ equipment was of remarkable quality, on par with their skill, their weapons had no distinctive features whatsoever, making it impossible to identify them.
“On top of that, as defeat became increasingly certain, they desperately blew whistles as though calling for their companions. It might have been a bluff, but... given our condition...”
If enemy reinforcements arrived, the party could find itself in grave danger with so many members badly injured. The leader said they had taken only a few notable pieces of the enemy’s equipment as evidence before quickly fleeing.
“Fortunately, one of our companions is aiming to become a Ranger. Thanks to their stealth-related skills, we were able to escape while covering our tracks.”
They could not be certain whether that was thanks to their companion’s abilities or because the enemy had never had reinforcements to begin with, but they had managed to leave the area without another attack.
Even then, the party showed its caution by deliberately taking a detour on the way to its destination to better prepare for another ambush.
“During all that, this fellow's condition kept getting worse, and our supplies were starting to run low. That’s why we came to this relatively secluded village.”
“I see...”
Osrik nodded with an understanding expression at the adventurers’ reasonable actions.
“You’ve all suffered greatly, regardless. Do you plan to visit a sizable nearby territory and ask for assistance?”
“We aren't considering that.”
Aron suspected that the people who had attacked them were likely powerful figures.
He believed that blindly relying on someone influential nearby before learning the enemy’s identity might put them in even greater danger.
“That may be true...”
Only someone powerful could secretly support assassins skilled enough to threaten Silver Plate adventurers, along with equipment of such high quality. The priest agreed with Aron’s reasoning.
“I’m sorry I cannot be of greater help.”
“Treating us is more than enough.”
The adventurers calmly told the apologetic priest that this was simply the nature of their work.
After paying the priest an additional fee and receiving a map, holy water, and a few other supplies, they prepared to leave the village quickly.
“Are you sure you don't need to rest longer?”
“If we remain here, the villagers and you may be put in danger as well.”
“Hmm...”
Unlike ordinary adventurers swept up by desire and greed, the leader before him and his companions showed considerable integrity. Osrik looked even more impressed.
“Ugh...!!”
Just as the adventurers were about to leave the monastery, a loud groan burst from the badly wounded warrior, Lugos.
“Don't move!”
The experienced priest saw the muscles around Lugos’s recently treated wound trembling. Recognizing it as a side effect of the healing spell, Osrik quickly supported him and kept him from moving.
“This warrior cannot leave. If he does, not only will the treatment have been for nothing, his condition may become worse than it was before treatment.”
“...Is there no way around it?”
Lugos made it clear that he wanted to stay with his longtime companions as much as possible now that they faced danger.
The priest shook his head and made his refusal even firmer.
“Absolutely not. Right now, the torn muscles are being forcibly held together by the spell, and the infection has temporarily gone down, so it may look fine. But unless you receive healing spells for a few more days and rest for about fifteen days, your internal organs could rupture.”
Emphasizing how serious Lugos’s condition was due to the side effects, the priest repeatedly stressed that he needed to rest nearby for a while.
“But...”
“If you leave with them now, you won't help your companions. You'll only become a burden.”
As Lugos tried to insist further, the priest firmly stopped him.
His companions seemed to think the priest was right as well. They comforted Lugos and urged him to rest here.
“It can't be helped...”
He could endure the pain, but being told he might become a burden to his companions was enough to persuade the stubborn warrior Lugos.
“Once we safely reach Norton and deliver the goods, they won't attack us. Rest up. We'll come back for you.”
“Mm.”
After comforting his guilty companion, Aron gave him a brief farewell.
He seemed unaccustomed to being forcibly separated from companions he had traveled with for so long. Incongruously, the bear-like warrior’s broad shoulders seemed to slump a little.
“Will the warrior be staying at the monastery from now on?”
“...Oh!”
After sending off the adventuring party, Osrik realized he had not given Lugos’s accommodations much thought and looked flustered.
It was called a monastery, but the shabby building was only a temporary dwelling for Osrik. It had deliberately been kept as small as possible, meant more as a place for ascetic practice, so it was far too cramped to share with that bear-like warrior.
“It's all right. I'm an adventurer, so I'm used to sleeping outdoors.”
“...That won't do.”
The priest stopped Lugos, who spoke so calmly. He stressed that, given his severe injuries, he needed at least a warm place to sleep, even if it was not comfortable.
“Then how about staying at our house for a while?”
“Hmm...?”
As Osrik pondered what to do with Lugos, Gerik quickly stepped forward and invited him to his home.
He was intensely curious about adventurers, and Osrik had told him that this adventurer could wield the power of Transcendence, even if only at an introductory level. Gerik wanted to learn from him.
“Will your father allow it? Knowing his temperament...”
Although Baron had never been disrespectful to him because of their difference in status, Osrik had lived here for a long time and knew Baron was a hot-tempered man.
Because isolated rural villages tended to dislike outsiders, the priest worried that Gerik would be severely scolded by his father.
“It'll be fine... As long as you show a little ‘sincerity,’ Father won't get angry. The lord raised taxes this time, so money is tight at home...”
“Is that so? I can pay enough.”
In truth, Lugos would have preferred staying at the village chief’s house over the home of the young boy before him.
Still, he liked the boy’s intelligence, which he had noticed during their brief meeting. Unlike the village chief, who did not know about his hidden circumstances, the boy already knew the situation, so Lugos thought it would be easier to receive help from him.
“You know the way here, so come by as usual.”
“Yes, Priest.”
Having spent over a month together, Gerik and Osrik understood each other’s intentions with only a few words.
After saying a brief farewell to Osrik, Gerik walked home with Lugos, thinking,
‘If I get close to Lugos and learn even a little about the power of Transcendence that Silver Plate adventurers possess, that’d be huge.’
Even if he could not obtain any in-depth information about Transcendence, there would be no loss in learning about adventurers. Gerik resolved to persuade Baron today, no matter what, and have Lugos stay at their house.
“You...!!”
His third son had shown up later than usual, brought an uninvited guest, and made an absurd request. Baron’s face turned red with anger.
Still, the bear-like man before him had the unmistakably intimidating air of a warrior. Foul-tempered as he was, Baron could only suppress his rage, grit his teeth, glare at his son, and mutter quietly.
“...You know our situation! How could we possibly afford to care for a guest, especially an injured one!”
Fearing he might offend the adventurer and provoke a bloody fight, Baron desperately restrained his temper as he spoke to his son.
“...”
Instead of answering, Gerik turned his head and looked at Lugos standing behind him.
Reading that look, Lugos gave a slight nod, took a small but heavy leather pouch from his clothes, and tossed it to Baron.
“That should be enough to cover the cost of my stay.”
“...?”
Instead of threatening him, the warrior unexpectedly handed him something. Baron stopped speaking and quietly opened the leather pouch.
“...!!”
When ten gleaming silver coins spilled from the small pouch, Baron’s eyes widened like saucers.
It was an unimaginable fortune for a poor country farmer. In an instant, he felt his anger toward both his son and the stranger fade away.
“Ah... Please, come inside. Honey!”
One silver coin was enough to feed a poor farming family for a month if spent carefully. Having received such great wealth, Baron immediately changed his attitude and led Lugos inside like an honored guest.
“Honey... We don't have much food in the house right now...”
“Shh! Quiet!!”
Thinking her husband had ultimately let the frightening guest in, Anna anxiously tried to persuade Baron again.
Baron covered her mouth, then showed her the pouch of silver coins he had just received.
“...!!”
Anna’s eyes also widened at the sight of money beyond anything a village woman could imagine. Seeing his wife’s reaction, Baron proudly pressed a silver coin into her hand.
“He's an honored guest! Hurry and ask the village chief for some provisions!”
“All right!”
Excited at holding such a large sum for the first time, Anna left the house with a radiant expression, clutching the silver coin.
“As for the room...”
“It's fine. Gerik told me. I can sleep in the attic. If an outsider you've never met before sleeps among your family, that would make you uncomfortable too.”
“I'd appreciate that, but...”
Having accepted so much money, Baron’s pride seemed wounded at the thought of offering only the attic, especially in the middle of winter.
Yet Lugos shook his head as though he did not mind in the slightest.
“Just make sure I’m well fed.”
“It's this time of year... It'll be cold...”
“I'm an adventurer. I've slept in places far colder than this.”
“If you say so...”
Since Lugos truly seemed unconcerned about his sleeping arrangements, Baron looked relieved.
He had received plenty of money, so he decided he would at least do his best when it came to meals.
“Kid, could you help me up?”
“Yes! Of course!”
Gerik had been wondering how to spend more time with Lugos. When Lugos, struggling with his injured body, asked for help climbing to the attic, Gerik hurried over and supported him.
“Should I help maintain your equipment too?”
“...Hmm? You know how to maintain weapons and armor?”
“You can teach me from now on!”
Gerik’s remarkably shameless attitude for someone so young made Lugos laugh despite the pain of his injuries.
Pleased by Gerik’s behavior, he nodded in agreement.
“All right. I'll teach you one easy thing at a time, so I’m counting on you.”
“Yes!”
Lugos began unpacking the gear strapped to his back in the attic.
He first placed the longsword and shortsword hanging from his left hip on the floor. Then he removed his leather pack and took off the longsword strapped behind it, laying that down as well.
“You use three swords?? Is it like Three-Sword Style?”
Remembering a comic character from his previous life, Gerik asked half-jokingly.
“Three... Sword Style? Pwahaha! Where on earth did you hear something that strange?”
“I just imagined it. Anyway, why do you carry three swords?”
At the innocent question of someone who seemed to know nothing about adventurers, Lugos chuckled in amusement.
He took a whetstone from his pack, placed it on the floor, and began sharpening the shortest sword first as he answered.
“Kid, do you want to become an adventurer?”
“Yes. It'd be a lie to say I wasn't interested.”
“Then remember this. As long as it doesn't interfere with your activities, carrying spare weapons is always the right choice.”
Footnotes:
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