NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Chapter 2
—Five Years Later —
"The day has come that I can finally break free of these chains, and explore our Baroncy!!", I proclaimed, standing at our front door ready to embark on my first expedition, 'I am tired of being cooped up in this place, I am going stir crazy!!'
"Please remember to be home by dusk, okay?", my mother Luce reminded me, as she fiddled with my coat.
"Do you have all your equipment?", my father Balcus asked, wanting to ensure I came back alive, "Your mother will kill both of us if something happens to you."
Showing him my pouch, dagger, pistol, and packed lunch, he nodded in approval before telling me to have fun. Quickly vacating the premises before anyone could change their mind, I made a beeline for the forest outside town. Having spent the last three years of my new life memorizing every book in our library, I had hundreds of spells, enchantments, and martial arts styles I wanted to test.
'All that said, I should not get my hopes up too much. Our knights regularly patrol the island, so it is not like there will be any powerful monsters here. At most, I might find some slimes and goblins to slay, but that is it.', I thought, tempering my expectations, 'Either way, it is a welcome change of pace to be out of that house. My older sister Jenna is a straight-up bitch, and my father refuses to correct her arrogant behavior. This matriarchy bullshit is going to be the end of me. Unlike the spineless men here, I have no qualms about fighting back. Equal rights means equal fights!'
Pushing that thought to the back of my mind, as I was free of her for the next several hours, I wanted to focus solely on killing monsters to get some money. Thanks to my bitch of a stepmother, our family was much poorer than we should have been. That wench and her two crotch spawn, who I am convinced are not my fathers, drain our coffers every month to sustain their lavish lifestyle in the capital. Because of their outrageous spending, we barely had operating funds for the island, leaving me to repurpose a broken kitchen knife into a dagger.
'Based on the sword styles I have memorized, I will need two to three swords to use them effectively. At twenty thousand dia a blade, for a quality one, I will need to kill a literal shit ton of monsters or find a dungeon to conquer.', I thought, knowing that the blades were just the tip of the iceberg, 'Oh well, today is just to get my feet wet in this monster hunting trade. My only experience is in the Witcher and Monster Hunter video games. Hopefully, it is not nearly that bad…'
Waving at the townspeople as I passed them along the roadway, I noticed that most people were downcast. Recalling that my father had begrudgingly upped the taxes recently to cover my stepmother's spending habits, it was obvious we were reaching a breaking point here. There was only so much money we could squeeze out of them before they left our lands, rebelled against us, or flat-out refused to continue working.
Entering the forest a few minutes later, I let out a blissful sigh as excitement swelled inside me. Quickly getting off the beaten path, my first goal was to locate a game trail or signs of monsters. Locating a trail just a few yards off the pathway, I examined the tracks to see what animals were using this route. Matching the prints to several medium to small-sized mammals native to our territory, I immediately began setting up traps to bag a few of them.
'They will only fetch me a few dozen dia, but every little bit counts.', I thought, tying a rope to a young sapling and bending it over, 'Alright, create a loop here big enough for their head to slip in and prime the trigger. Sprinkle a bit of bait on the trap and cover the trigger mechanism with grass and leaves, then move on.'
Setting several traps around the immediate area to improve my chances, as I was completing the last trap, a group of children came walking out of the village. Failing to register my presence, the group discussed their plans for the day.
"Hey, wait for me!!", a young girl shouted, running out of the village, "I want to play too!!"
"Crap, it is that weirdo again!", one boy shrieked, "Stay away from us!! Your games are terrible, and we do not like you!!"
Without saying another word, the group took off running like Jason Voorhees was pursuing them. Calling out for them to stop a few more times, she came to a stop just a few feet from me.
"... I just wanted to play with you guys…", the girl sniffled, "It is lonely playing all alone…"
Looking up from my trap, I turned my head to see why the kids were afraid of her. Finding a normal nonhuman girl standing there all alone, I could not help but feel like I had seen her face before. Thinking back to the fan-translated novels I liked to read, I vaguely recalled seeing someone just like her on the cover of one of those books.
'Soft, fuzzy ears, a semi-bushy tail, and kids are afraid of her way of playing…', I thought, struggling to remember where I had seen her before, "Excuse me, I hate to bother you but why are those kids running from you?"
Having not realized I was just a few feet from her, the young girl leaped into the air and snapped her attention toward me. Holding a makeshift dagger, similar to mine, in her hands, the girl stared at me for a moment while her mind processed things. Noticing the emblem affixed to my chest, the girl quickly sheathed her blade as she realized I was the baron's son.
"I… I am sorry. I did not realize you were with the baron's family!", she said, fearful of what I might do.
"It is okay, you did not know it was me when you drew the dagger.", I told her with a smile.
Grateful that I would not push the issue, she quickly answered my question.
"They…they think I am weird because I enjoy going into the woods to build forts and mess with monsters.", the girl replied, looking down at the dirt, "One of them got hurt before so now they avoid me like I am a monster now."
"Hmm, well, I am about to go hunting goblins and anything else I can find. Do you want to come with me?", I inquired, liking the idea of having a wingman.
"Okay!", she immediately replied, without second thought.
"Perfect, my name is Leon! What is your name?", I asked, as she ran over to see what I was doing.
"My name is Roxanne!", she said, staring at my trap, "What does this thing do?"
'Roxanne, I know that name!! She is from that Harem in Another World Labyrinth novel I read!!', I thought, recalling her face now, 'Wait, why is she in this world? This is definitely not the right world for her. Did that guy put her here to be one of my partners in crime?'
Thinking about it for a moment, I decided to just roll with it as she would be a great ally to have in the future. Her sixth sense for combat would be invaluable as I honed my skills more. Past that, she was a loyal, faithful person who would happily lay her life down for those she cared about. That quality is exactly what I needed out in space because trust and loyalty were hard to come by out there.
"This is a trap. You use them to catch animals and monsters so you do not need to wait here for them to come back.", I told her, walking her through how it worked.
"Oh!!", she said, understanding the mechanics at a glance, "Do they make traps for goblins and kobolds?"
"Yes, they do.", I acknowledged, "Are they around here? I thought the knights took care of most of them."
"Just the ones that come around the village. They do not go into the woods or anything.", she told me, taking my hand in hers, "I will show you where they are!!"
Having her lead the way, as I had no idea where I was going, her words left me very confused. According to all the reports my father received, our knights were regularly entering the forest to keep the monster's numbers in check. They needed to do this regularly as the villagers used these woods to supplement their food supplies due to the high prices at the market.
—Fifteen Minutes Later —
Arriving at a small clearing in the forest, Roxanne motioned for me to crouch down. Doing as she requested, she led us behind some bushes at the edge of the clearing and pulled a few branches down for me to see the monsters. Discovering a small village of goblins just a few yards from us, a knot began forming in my gut. In the center of the village was a big Hobgoblin which was well beyond our strength.
"You see that big one in the middle, it is a Hobgoblin. If he gets his hands on you, he will crush you like a bug!", Roxanne warned me, with a serious expression, "Even though he is big, he is also incredibly slow so it is easy to dodge him. You know how to roll and dive, right?"
"Yes, I know how to do that.", I replied, 'Dark Souls engraved that in my mind quite well…the Art of Roly Poly!'
"Alright, I will take the lead!!", Roxanne said, about to run out at them.
Pulling her back, I looked at her like she was crazy. Dodging the goblins and hobgoblins was not a sufficient plan, we needed coordination to win this battle. Motioning for her to wait for a moment, I began looking around the immediate area for materials to level the playing field.
"Do you know what a sling is?", I inquired.
"It is the thing you put a broken arm in, right?", she asked, tilting her head with confusion.
"Yes, but that is not the type of sling I am referring to. Have you heard of a weapon called a sling?", I inquired, clarifying my question this time.
Shaking her head, she admitted she had never heard of it before. Nodding my head, I quickly made a sling with a piece of my leather pouch and some rope I brought. Watching me assemble the weapon, Roxanne was fascinated by what she was seeing.
"It looks like an eyepatch.", Roxanne remarked, not seeing how this could be a weapon, "Are you sure this can be used as a weapon?"
"Yes, just trust me on this.", I replied, tying the last knot, "Now, help me find some smooth stones the size of a chestnut."
"What is a chestnut?", Roxanne questioned.
"Ugh… they are tree nuts about this big.", I answered, showing her their rough size with my hands.
Nodding her head, she immediately began searching nearby for stones. Finding ten of them that fit the description I gave her, Roxanne handed them to me with a small. Tucking one into the leather socket I made, I began to rotate it around to build up kinetic energy. Once I felt that I had enough potential energy stored up, my eyes locked onto the closest goblin to us. Letting one side of the sling go, at the right moment, the stone shot off like a bullet and vaporized the back of its skull. Collapsing without a sound, Roxanne stared at it in disbelief.
"WOW!!", she silently gasped, "I did not think it could actually hurt anything, let alone kill it. You are really smart!!"
"Haha, thank you.", I said, pleased that it worked the first time, "You can use it to fight from afar and your dagger to fight up close. Since I can use magic, I do not need it."
Handing it over to her, she asked if it was really okay for her to keep it. Insisting that she keep it, as she may need it, Roxanne graciously accepted it with a smile.
"Alright, now that we are armed well enough, we need a plan to deal with them. The Hobgoblin in the middle is their biggest strength so we should attack him last. For the time being, we should stick to hit-and-run tactics to minimize the danger to ourselves. Once the Hobgoblin breaks ranks to attack us, I will use magic to entrap him so you can kill him. Aim for the middle of his head.", I said, pointing to the location on my own forehead, "After he dies, we go in for the kill and take every last one of them."
"Roger that!", she replied, liking my plan.
"Very well, let me move over to the other side of the clearing before we attack. I will wave to you when I am in place and ready to go.", I told her.
Nodding her head in acknowledgment, I stealthily made my way around without drawing attention to myself. Once I was in place, I waved my hand to her and immediately charged in for the attack.