Is He A Hero? 「Yup」 Chapter 13

Novel:
Author: Karumi Ayumu

Chapter 13 — Which Way Are the Forest Monsters?

After safely (?) finishing his breakfast, the hero once again returned to the north gate to hunt monsters in the forest.

"Hmm, it's surprising. So there's ways to increase your stats besides just leveling up in combat."

Gordon replied nonchalantly. "That's true, though fighting is the best way to increase things directly related to combat. There's also simple convenient ways too, but if you have the time, you should fight."

'I see, although you can't fight if you're weak, you can't just stupidly rest either. I should walk around town to find ways to increase my supportive stats,' the hero thought. "But why does this country give such a strange, mysterious meal to its soldiers…"

"There was a proper battle chef before, but we don't have enough workers anymore since a lot either died from the demon's effects or ran away. There's a food shortage too, so the junior soldiers that can't go out in battle make that through trial and error."

"Battle chef… So there's a job like that, hmmm, so I have to increase my cooking skill? Ugh, I really wanted to go on an adventure though…"

"That's not something you should get worked up over, Hero. Just get stronger and save this country, please."

"Well then, I'm off to do just that."

"Take care. Please don't be too rash this time!"

"Alright."

Right as he entered the forest, the hero was attacked by monsters.

"Gahaha, there's a sucker over there wearing a pot!"

"Hahaha! What the hell is that?!"

Two headless ducks appeared.

"Birds huh, didn't find any last time. I wonder what happened to the amoebas?"

"What the hell is he complaining about! Just quietly let us eat you!"

Headless duck A attacks! The hero parries with his shield.

"Gah! Did this guy disguise his buckler as a pot lid?!"

The hero heavy attacks! The headless duck takes 19 damage.

"Gah, is this the stick-wielder the amoebas were yellin' about?!"

"Get away from my big brother!"

Headless duck B attacks. The hero parries with his shield. The hero looks like he's having fun. "This shield, thank goodness I trained my sense of rhythm in that heartbreaking rhythm game."

"I'll distract him, you run! Tell everyone…."

The hero attacks while Duck A shouts. Headless Duck A receives 10 damage, the hero has defeated Headless Duck A.

"Big brother! Shit—" Headless Duck B runs away.

"Like hell I'll let you escape!" The hero sets off in pursuit of the escaped duck, catching up with Headless Duck B.

"Aaaaah! Crap!"

"Take this!"

The hero heavy attacks while running! It's a critical attack! Headless Duck B receives 25 damage and is defeated.

"Gah—!"

The demons turned to dust. The hero leveled up to level 5, his stats increased, he learned the skill 'kamaitachi'*, now he could do ranged attacks by strongly wielding his weapons, creating a wind blade from the wind pressure.

"I wanna try this ranged attack!" The hero was excited!

Quack quack…

The hero looked towards the sound of baby birds. "Hm? Oh…."

He discovered the bird monsters' nest! The monsters already entered battle!

"This guy! Is he the rumored serial killer that showed up yesterday?!"

"They say even though he's weak, he kills demons while smiling with glee despite being injured…"

"Women and children, fall back! We'll hold him back here!"

The hero feigned laughter. "Hahaha… So many monsters to try it out on, let's go!"

An intense battle began with the monsters! But… the details of the battle are omitted.

One hour later… The hero became level 8, learned the healing magic 'healie', became able to heal his strength by using magic.

"The hero's back!" As the hero approached the north gate, one of the gatekeepers announced his return loudly.

Gordon greeted the hero when he was passing through the gate. "Welcome back, Hero. You aren't as wounded as yesterday, huh?"

"Yes, since I got my equipment together. The healing salves are amazing, aren't they?"

"Ahaha, your whole body's gleaming with their leftover traces. What's in that pot you're holding?"

"Ah, this? I found some eggs so I put them in the pot to not break them. Would you buy them?"

The hero lifted the lid of the pot; it was full of monster eggs.

"Oh, this is amazing! You can sell these for a lot. There's scholars that keep researching whether they can turn monsters into domestic animals, so those people would buy these…"

"Excuse me, would you hold this, Gordon?" The hero handed the pot to Gordon.

"Eh, alright? What's the matter?"

The hero looked strange. He showed Gordon the contents of the bag he carried on his shoulder.

"And this, sometimes the monsters' leftover bits remain besides just the items of dead adventurers so I collected them.

The hero learned the scavenger skill when he turned to level 7, now there was a fixed chance of the monsters' remains being left.

"Oh, a monster part! We could use this as ingredients…. Hero?"

The hero was bleeding from his forehead.

"Excuse me, I did learn healing magic but I overused it so my mana points are too low… Gah—"

The hero started bleeding from all over his body! The nearby gatekeeper screamed, "Aaaagh! The hero's liquefied!"

"No, it's just his barely-closed wounds opening up! Mediiiiic!"

The hero kept his life thanks to Gordon's precise instructions.

*Kamaitachi refers to both a Japanese yokai and also the cuts it causes by whirlwinds.

Chapter end