WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈

Chapter 47: Border Forest (4)

──────

Ilvern opened and closed his mouth several times before finally letting out a short sigh.

"...Your use of skills today left something to be desired."

"Pardon?"

Caught off guard by the abrupt change in topic, Gerik asked him to repeat himself. Ilvern, however, continued as calmly as if their earlier conversation had never happened.

"I admit there were unavoidable factors, given how many enemies you faced... Still, you would've taken fewer critical hits if you'd used your skills more effectively."

Seeing Ilvern's attitude, Gerik realized he meant to stop prying into Gerik's suspicious identity and let the matter rest.

So Gerik naturally went along with the change of subject.

"It really stuck with me when you told me to use Charge at close range. Should I be thinking more about applications like that?"

Ilvern shook his head.

"Honestly, your fundamentals aren't even in place yet. You're not at the stage where you should be discussing applications. Focus on building up the basics first. From what I've seen, that's your biggest problem."

"...Yes."

Ilvern cut off Gerik's suggestion as if it were out of the question, then continued.

"That said... once you've spent a long time honing the basics and your use of skills reaches a certain level, then it becomes a different story."

He explained that Charge was not simply a skill for rushing quickly at an enemy or adding power to an attack.

"The true power of Charge reveals itself in small-scale battles."

If a Warrior mastered Charge to an extreme degree, Ilvern said, they could use its insane mobility to throw enemies into confusion in small-scale battles. They could even carry out decapitation operations.

"Decapitation operations?"

"Yes. Let's use today as an example. From the Goblins' perspective, who do you think was the most dangerous among us?"

After considering Ilvern's question, Gerik naturally thought of Minos, who had been raining down debuff magic from the rear like a madman.

"That's right. The mage. We were able to deal with so many Goblins so easily despite our small numbers because we kept the mage in the rear safe and bought him time to cast his spells reliably."

Conversely, Ilvern explained that if the enemy had managed to take down the mage quickly, the course of the battle would have been completely reversed.

"That's why a Warrior who has trained Charge to its limits is terrifying in small-scale battles. They can tear into the enemy lines at absurd speed and eliminate the important figures with the weakest defenses."

Gerik felt as though his mind had suddenly cleared. It felt like he finally understood how skills should be used properly.

When Gerik looked as though he had gotten the idea, Ilvern gave a faint smile and continued.

"Of course, you're nowhere near capable of that yet. Still, when you practice your skills, picture different situations in your head and try using Charge. If you train that way, it'll be a great help in real battles later."

Gerik nodded, turning Ilvern's words over in his mind. Then questions he had never been able to resolve before came to mind, such as the proper way to train skills and how class advancement worked.

'The atmosphere isn't bad right now... Should I ask...?'

Taking advantage of Ilvern's goodwill, Gerik was just about to ask some of the questions that had been bothering him.

"I think the Goblins have been exterminated."

With that brief report, Katrin emerged from deeper within the passage. Gerik missed his chance to ask Ilvern the important question and inwardly regretted the timing.

"Not a single one left?"

"No. It seems a very small number are hiding. There are few enough that we could exterminate them without trouble, so I think it's fine to ignore them. But..."

Katrin paused.

"There were traces of a Goblin Shaman. Totem fragments were scattered around."

Katrin said it appeared that, until recently, a Goblin Shaman had set up a Totem and performed a ritual here, offering sacrifices for its shamanic arts.

Still, because this place lay at the edge of the Boundary Forest, it would have been difficult to find quality sacrifices. It seemed the shaman had led a large portion of the colony deeper into the forest to grow the Totem.

"Whew..."

As Ilvern received Katrin's report, Minos, who had finished meditating, opened his eyes with a sigh.

Seeing that, Ilvern got everyone to their feet, saying it was finally time to "harvest" the spoils.

"Cut off their ears and put them in the bags you each brought. And don't forget to keep the Hobgoblin ears separate!"

The party returned to the battlefield and began cutting off the Goblins' ears.

Once they had finished harvesting, they exterminated the remaining Goblins while gathering mushrooms and herbs that could only be found in Goblin nests.

"...A cliff?"

After combing through the cave for quite some time, the party eventually found a bottomless precipice at its deepest point.

Beyond the sheer cliff, another cave seemed to stretch even farther down.

'Just how deep and wide does this cave system go...?'

As Gerik stared at the cave with a fed-up expression, Ilvern spoke.

"We'll stop here."

They had already gathered more than enough, and they had neither reason nor strength to force their way deeper into the cave. No one objected to Ilvern's decision, and they turned back without regret.

* * *

Once they emerged from the burrow, fresh air rushed into Gerik's lungs.

"Whew..."

A long breath escaped him without him realizing it. Compared to the cave, which reeked of Goblin droppings, this pleasant air felt like it belonged to another world.

The scents of soil, moss, and trees had never smelled so good.

While Gerik stood there blankly breathing in the forest air, the other three began setting up a temporary camp in the Boundary Forest with practiced hands.

They moved smoothly without exchanging a word. Realizing that he alone was standing around awkwardly, Gerik approached Katrin and asked whether there was anything he could do to help.

"Help? Forget it. It's your first day, so just watch and learn."

Rather than assigning Gerik work, Katrin pointed out each part of the camp's layout and briefly explained why they had chosen this location and arranged the camp that way.

"Got it? Starting tomorrow, you can help set up camp like this."

"Thank you for teaching me."

Gerik sincerely thanked Katrin out of habit, thinking it was practical knowledge that would be difficult to acquire even with money.

Katrin looked at him as though he were some strange creature. When Gerik caught the subtle look on her face and asked why, she considered for a moment before speaking.

"Most adventurers are nothing but rude, selfish bastards. They never say thanks."

"..."

"Fine. You've got promise, so I'll teach you something useful as a bonus."

The reason was so unexpected that Gerik was left speechless for a moment.

Katrin led him over to a tree that resembled an oak, though its bark was a deep black.

"It's a Blacksap Oak. A peculiar tree that only grows in the Demonwild Forest."

After briefly explaining the tree, Katrin pulled a dagger from her waist and lightly nicked its base. Interestingly, a clear liquid slowly began seeping out from the cut.

"Experienced adventurers use these trees to replenish their drinking water when there isn't a water source nearby while camping."

The water flowed from the tree in such a thin stream that it could be wiped away with a finger. Katrin said that, when camping, they usually nicked the tree just before setting up camp like this, then left a waterskin beneath it overnight to collect the water.

"Oh... Can you drink it straight from the waterskin without treating it? That's convenient."

Katrin shook her head as if the idea were unthinkable.

"No. You absolutely have to boil it first. It'll give you a stomachache if you drink it as is."

"Ah..."

Firewood was abundant in the Demonwild Forest, so needing to boil the water was not much of a problem.

Gerik resolved not to forget what he had learned from Katrin today and to put it to good use.

While they had gone to secure drinking water, Ilvern had skillfully set up the temporary camp by himself in that short time. He had even lit a campfire, leaving Gerik amazed.

"I'll make dinner."

As if she were used to it, Katrin put the pot they had brought over the fire and began preparing a simple meal with dried rations and spices.

After filling his stomach with her quite decent cooking, Gerik laid out his Sleeping Bag and rested, bringing his first night camped in the Demonwild Forest to an end.

* * *

"Eight Boarmen ahead!"

A familiar woman's voice came from the darkness.

As if this were something he had gone through many times already, Gerik silently drew his sword and took up a combat stance at the very rear.

Meanwhile, Ilvern, shield in hand, calmly moved forward under the guidance of Katrin, whose presence had grown faint.

Before long, the party spotted a small clearing below.

Boar-headed humanoids sat around a campfire there, roasting Goblins skewered on wooden sticks.

"Uwooooh!!"

The moment Ilvern saw the Boarmen, he let out an ear-splitting roar and provoked them without the slightest hesitation.

The Boarmen hurriedly grabbed their weapons, startled by the sudden appearance of enemies. At that instant, an arrow flew soundlessly from the darkness and buried itself in one of their heads.

Thud.

"Kweek?!"

When one of their own collapsed without even being able to react, the remaining Boarmen's eyes blazed.

Their confusion over the ambush lasted only a moment. Enraged by their companion's death, they raised their metal shields and clubs, then charged Ilvern as though closing in to surround him.

Bang!!

As if he had been waiting for them to approach, Ilvern slammed his tower shield hard into the ground the instant a Boarman came within reach.

A powerful Shockwave burst outward from the shield, striking the nearby Boarmen in every direction.

"Kweh!! Kweek!!"

Unlike the frail Goblins, who bounced upward as if half-jumping when struck by the Shockwave, the Boarmen, who stood nearly 190 centimeters tall with muscular bodies and heavy equipment, endured the impact. They did no more than stagger or drop to one knee.

Bang!!

At that moment, a thunderous boom erupted from the darkness, and a Warrior clad in brigandine shot out from behind the Boarmen in a surprise attack.

Before they could react, the Warrior struck one of the Boarmen, still reeling from the Shockwave, with Slash. Its grotesque boar head soared into the air.

"Kweek?!"

As one of their companions was butchered in an instant by the ambush, the Boarmen all turned toward the intruder at their flank in disbelief.

Having brought down a Boarman with a surprise Charge, Gerik quickly retreated, planted his sword in the ground, and braced himself.

"Kweeik!! Hooman!! Kiiill!!"

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried