“Understood. Be careful…”
The memory of four days of grueling training flashed through my mind.
Now it was time to show the results of my practice…
Feeling a bit sullen, I picked up my wooden sword and moved toward Thor and Lux.
“It’s not really something to be ‘careful’ about.”
Hyde smashed his two fists together.
Grrr, scree, click
The sounds of canines and reptiles overlapped.
The Kobolds were armed with clubs and small knives.
Once the two of them confirmed I was guarding Thor and Lux, they dashed forward like arrows.
They sprinted toward the Kobolds surrounding the horse-drawn carriage in an instant.
Individually, the Kobolds were weak, but they maintained a tactical formation of their own.
However, the Kobolds’ formation collapsed with a single slash from Slot. One Kobold was cleaved in half.
A single punch from Hyde sent another Kobold tumbling back for a long time.
“Whoa! As expected, their class is just different.”
Without realizing it, I tightened my grip on the wooden sword.
Slot’s sword cleaved through Kobolds with every swing, and Hyde’s punches reduced them to mush.
Flustered, the Kobolds looked at each other before splitting into groups of seven or eight and lunging at the two men simultaneously.
But the two of them simply continued their one-man-army slaughter.
‘They’re good, my mercenaries. It’s worth every penny of their salary!’
“William, watch out! One is coming!”
“Organization Leader! Don’t push yourself; just stay on the defensive until we get there!”
Taking advantage of the moment when they were busy dealing with seven or eight enemies at once, a single Kobold approached me.
The creature was only half my height, but the fear of facing a real magic beast began to crawl over me.
Sensing instinctively that I was an easy target, the Kobold brandished a rusty dagger and leaped toward me.
“Yi-yak!”
“Whoa, wait!”
Because of its sudden jump, I accidentally tripped over my own feet and fell in a ridiculous pose.
The lunging Kobold flinched and came to a stop.
It seemed to think it was a trap.
“Sorry, it’s not a trap…”
Realizing it wasn’t a trap after all, it lunged again.
Shriek!
Clang!
I blocked the Kobold’s rusty blade with my wooden sword.
Because the sword was so rusted it was practically a blunt instrument, it only made a dull thudding sound.
The Kobold lunged again, but I performed a graceful backward roll.
‘It’s the Lazy Donkey Roll, you jerk!’
“Organization Leader! You can handle it easily if you just do what you were taught!”
Tell me what you actually taught me first! Honestly, it would have been nice if you’d taught me some proper swordsmanship earlier.
The only thing I learned was the “Downward Slash” performed from a fixed stance.
“The only thing you taught me was the Downward Strike, so you want me to do that?”
Glancing over, I saw that Slot and Hyde had already cleared out more than half the Kobolds. I just needed to hold on a little longer.
I took a deep breath. I corrected my posture and held the wooden sword straight.
Recalling the awakening skills I knew — Water Breathing, Iron Cutting Breathing — I breathed deeply.
Suddenly, an image of Instructor Slot during training flashed by.
I balanced my posture and stepped forward with my left foot.
One hand gripped the hilt, and the other gripped the pommel.
Then, I raised the sword above my head. The blade of the wooden sword went behind my back before swinging down onto the Kobold’s head with a *whoosh*.
Thwack!
My finishing move, “Downward Strike,” landed squarely on the head of the Kobold that had been rushing to stab me with its dagger.
The Kobold collapsed with a loud *pop* and twitched for a moment before appearing to pass out.
Slot, who had finished off about ten Kobolds in the distance, approached with a moved expression.
“Organization Leader! That was a truly magnificent Downward Strike. Even though you only learned it recently, the movement was clean.”
Slot seemed impressed by my finishing move.
Hyde, who had also finished off about ten Kobolds, approached me as well.
“What’s with all the fuss over dealing with just one?”
This guy… he could at least try to match the mood.
While I was acting proud, I looked over at the area where Slot and Hyde had charged out. About twenty Kobolds were lying around, either dead or beaten to a pulp.
“Hmm… That is a bit embarrassing…”
“Still, it was a fairly powerful attack. To suppress a Kobold in one blow means you have good strength. If you train a bit more, you might be able to reach a tenth of my strength.”
Even Hyde complimented me in his own way, saying I did well.
Good grief. If you call that a compliment…
Then, I looked at my hands. I was equipped with the “Lycanthrope Leather Gauntlet,” in other words, an Artifact.
Since I had been wearing the gauntlets naturally since this morning, I hadn’t even realized it.
I had hit it with twice my normal strength. Haha…
“By the way, why were there suddenly Kobolds here?”
I hadn’t realized it in the heat of the moment, but weren’t these monsters usually found in mines or deep in the mountains?
“Indeed… Normally, they wouldn’t come down to a road where carriages travel… It is strange.”
But the dead Kobolds had no words. They could have been a hunting party…
The important thing was that we won the battle.
“Alright, you two worked hard. Now let’s fulfill our duties as a Merchant Group.”
“Yes?”
“It means it’s time to go collect the Kobold spoils.”
It was finally time for me to get active.
Let’s go strip these Kobolds. I immediately began rummaging through the pile of Kobolds.
As expected of low-level monsters, there wasn’t much the Kobolds could provide.
Actually, the most valuable part was the hide. Kobold hide was low-quality leather and didn’t fetch a high price, but it would still help in running the Merchant Group.
I have to manage things thriftily…
However, my mind changed quickly.
It wasn’t like I absolutely needed Kobold hides… and it wasn’t good to start something just because it made money.
‘Ugh, I absolutely cannot skin a Kobold… Huh? That one isn’t dead yet. It’s twitching…’
I cleanly gave up on skinning the Kobolds.
Instead, believing the old saying that there’s no pocket that doesn’t yield something if you shake it, I began searching the Kobolds’ pouches.
“William. You don’t seem to have any dignity as a Merchant.”
“I agree… Until this morning, I thought he was a cool Leader.”
“Found it!”
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I discovered a slightly light pouch on one of the Kobolds.
It was the sole hope among the penniless Kobolds.
The shabby pouch didn’t look like it was made by a Kobold; perhaps they had picked up something made by a human…
Filled with hope, I examined the pouch. Wait, this is…
“Wow. Congratulations, William. You got 3 Copper.”
“Haha. I think melting down the rusty daggers would be worth more.”
The pouch contained 3 Copper.
I had earned about 3,000 won…
“Hey… Dig into the ground. See if 3 Copper comes out.”
I recited the eternal truth spoken by people who find money.
The battle with the Kobolds ended insignificantly, but it was the first battle that I, Slot, and Hyde fought together.
“The movement of the magic beasts is suspicious… To attack a carriage in a pack… This hasn’t happened recently. This is almost like…”
Hyde seemed to have something in mind, but he appeared to hold his words back.
“Indeed. It is quite strange.”
Slot and Hyde spoke as if there was some sort of conspiracy behind the Kobolds attacking the carriage.
After finishing the search of the pouches, we set off again. The night grew darker.
This time, I sat in the assistant coachman’s seat next to Hyde.
And so, Hyde’s intensive tutoring on how to drive a carriage began.
Hyde said he had also tried teaching Slot, but after a short while, there was nothing left to teach.
“Tch… Those elites…”
I decided to learn how to drive the carriage from Hyde and take turns operating it later.
I had an Earth driver’s license, so wouldn’t a carriage be similar?
As Slot flicked the reins, Thor and Lux began to gallop powerfully through the deepening night.
After driving for an hour, we arrived at a Base Camp where camping was possible.
So this is a Base Camp. In the Otherworld, many travelers and merchants are on the move, and sometimes they have no choice but to sleep outdoors.
Of course, in a fantasy world, anywhere you spread a blanket is a campsite, but since there’s the risk of monster attacks, certain locations have been designated as Base Camps.
This place was one of them.
Being a Base Camp didn’t mean it had special facilities.
A large fence was set up, marking it as human territory.
Since this was a remote Base Camp, it only provided a space to light a fire and a place to tether horses and give them water.
In short, it was a large vacant lot.
From what I’d heard, large Base Camps could have many people coming and going.
They were equipped with lodging facilities, animal stalls, and defensive structures, serving as social hubs where travelers, merchants, and adventurers gathered to exchange information and share experiences.
“Nobody’s here.”
Fortunately — or unfortunately — there were no other travelers at the Base Camp when we arrived.
Hyde gave water and dinner to Thor and Lux, while Slot and I went to gather branches to start a campfire.
The Base Camp had tinder for lighting a fire, and we were able to start one using a whetstone.
I, Slot, and Hyde sat together around the campfire.
“It’s warm.”
“Indeed, it is warm.”
The three of us were spacing out at the fire without a word. Did we forget something?
Growl
A stomach clock chimed from someone’s belly.
“Oh, right! We haven’t had dinner yet!”
We had forgotten about eating dinner because of the sudden battle. But I quickly grew depressed.
“Now that I think about it, we didn’t load anything.”
I had forgotten to load cooking utensils onto the carriage. I’d have to buy various things when we stopped at a village tomorrow.
“William, if it’s cooking utensils you need, I have them.”
Huh? I looked at Hyde.
“I loaded the ones I usually carry onto the carriage exactly as they were…”
“And as for cooking ingredients, Mr. Meat loaded a few into the carriage earlier.”
It seemed my thoughtful friend, Meat, had packed several ingredients.
He must have been busy and frantic earlier; when did he manage to do all this…
Why didn’t he tell me? Perhaps…
Did he see everyone else preparing a gift and prepare it in a hurry, only to feel small in front of luxury gifts like a carriage and horses?
I let my imagination run wild, wondering if he had just left it in the carriage and walked away.
“Thanks a lot, Meat. I’ll drive well tomorrow too…!”
If we had cooking utensils and ingredients, we could make something delicious.
“However, there is a problem.”
Hyde looked at me with a serious face.
“What problem?”
“I can’t cook. And by that, I mean I’m terrible at it.”
Then why the heck do you carry cooking utensils around… It seemed Hyde had no talent for cooking.
“Haha, Organization Leader… I have never cooked once in my life either.”
‘What kind of life has this guy lived to have never cooked even once?’
Don’t worry. I’m right here, shining with thirty years of experience living alone on Earth.
“Oh boy. You all would have starved without me. Just wait. I’ll make you something delicious.”
“Organization Leader, do you know how to cook?”
“William, is that true?”
Everyone was amazed that I knew how to cook. You guys are the amazing ones. Don’t look at me with such surprised eyes…