Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely Chapter 53

Published at 6th of August 2021 10:30:53 AM

Chapter 53: The Aftermath of the Giants Slaying

I collected all the Giants’ drops and went back to the location where everyone was waiting for me.

……….and unfortunately, all the drops were the normal Ice Magic Stones. The size is larger and the concentration of magic is quite high, so I should be able to sell it off for a high price, but I really wanted a Rare Drop like a Giant’s heart.

And as I return…

Lad: “You did it, Henry!”

Gawain: “Now that’s a Heroic Warrior for you.”

Mr. Lad and Mr. Gawain showered me with compliments as they slapped me on the back.

Henry: “Oh, yeah, thank you.”

Lad: “But really, are the frontlines just crawling with Adventurers like you? Back in the day, I thought about going to fight the Demon King and his armies, but I’m really glad I settled down here in Flowtier.”

Henry: “It’s not crawling with people like me.”

It feels weird to say that.

Gawain: “.....well, Henry. Looks like your friends have much to think about after watching your fight.”

Ohhhh, yeah, now that I think about it, I haven’t heard a word from my group.

Looking over to see what’s going on, and they are all deep in thought.

Henry: “Hey, what’s wrong, you guys?”

Cyril: “Ummmm, Henry? Would you have had an easier time going Solo? Because we dragged you into our group, you had to keep hunting low level Demonic Creatures……..”

Henry: “Idiot.”

I chop Cyril lightly on the head since she’s saying something ridiculous.

Cyril: “Owwwie……?”

Henry: “Don’t worry about that. I’m having fun going on expeditions with you guys, and it’s actually much more efficient to do these things as a group rather than doing it alone.”

I’m not a perfect, invincible Adventurer. I can have bad days like yesterday where I’ll be out with a cold, and I let my guard down sometimes. But people like me can raise their chances of survival by working in a party.

Even my profit from expeditions won’t change much between going Solo and going with a party. I won’t have too much trouble with Griffins, but with Ogres, I would have to resort to using some of my items more or less if I was working alone.

Besides, I like our party right now. I know we’ll part ways once they depart for the front lines, but until that time, I want to enjoy my time together with them.

And I politely and emphatically explain those points in depth to the group.

Henry: “Besides, you guys. Do you even know how fast you’re improving? In two or three years, you may be at the level of challenging some of the Highest-Tier Demonic Creatures. If you do get there, then I benefit from knowing you guys now.”

Cyril: “Oh, I’m glad it’s one of your calculated, greedy reasons.”

Henry: “Hey! Connections are important!”

It’s not just being calculated or greedy. Adventuring is about helping each other, right?

Ferris: “Well, whatever the reasons, it’s still great that he’s willing to teach us. I’m definitely thinking about raising my sword skills after watching that battle today.”

Teo: “Yes, I think I’ll start using more of my tools more proactively.”

Jend: “And let’s take it up a notch on our training sessions.”

Ferris, Teo, and Jend are already looking well into the future.

These guys really don’t know when to stop and keep heading upwards.

Henry: “.......well, that’s that then. Let’s get back and make our report.”

I’m sure the Governor is pacing back and forth awaiting our return. I know he displayed confidence in me at the meeting, but he only knows my strength from some words written on a sheet of paper. He must have a good deal of doubt of whether I’ll be able to really exterminate Giants…...maybe he thinks the chances are 50/50? Or worst case, about a 30% chance of success?

If needed, he was preparing to move the Flowtier Military, and if the Giants didn’t come down immediately, he would have requested assistance from the Knight Organizations. I’m sure he’s at least thinking this far ahead.

Lad: “True, our party members would be worrying about us too.”

Gawain: “......yeah.”

Mr. Lad and Mr. Gawain also agree, and we quickly descend the Altohern Mountains.

……...after our return, I drown myself in alcohol at the following celebration, my cold comes back, and I get an earful of a lecture from Lana…….but all is well.

<<<<>>>>

And after I defeated the Giants, our Adventure continued.

Like any other day, we just came back from whooping the Demonic Creatures on Altohern.

The Ogres seemed to have migrated back from the foot of the mountain back to the mid-regions after the Giants were gone, so everything is returning back to normal.

……….but…….I expected this, but among the Adventurers, I’m becoming quite the topic of conversation. They now know that my Title of Heroic Warrior is not undeserved - that I have the ability to take out an Upper-Tier, Upper-Class Demonic Creature on my own.

And as a result of the rumor spreading far and wide among all the Adventurers in Flowtier…

“Hey, you. You’re Henry, right?”

I was letting Jend and Ferris do the Drop calculations and selling, and I was in the tavern with Cyril and Teo enjoying a drink. It was then that a female Adventurer came up to talk to me.

Henry: “......yeah. And I think you’re Ursula, right?”

Ursula: “Ohhhh, you know my name, huh. That makes me so happy～”

I’ve taken a glance through all the information of the Flowtier Adventurers, and that’s how I know her name.

She’s not incredibly beautiful, but she’s still a decently pretty woman, and she had her abundantly large chest pushed up with leather armor.

Cyril: “And so….Ms. Ursula? What can we do for you?”

Ursula: “Yeah, so sorry to bother you. But I wanted to hear the story about the Heroic Warrior that defeated the Giant directly from the hero himself.”

Henry: (sigh….)

Ursula casually answers Cyril’s question.

………...and she’s now standing really, really close to me.

Seeing that, Cyril lets out a growl of discontent.

Henry: (..............sigh…….)

Henry: “Sorry, but there’s nothing special to share about that.”

I think I know what she’s after. I’ll just politely refuse and have her walk away.

Ursula: “Oh c’mon. Why not? Let me just hear just a little of your story. Or…..do you require some payment in return? I wouldn’t mind since it’s the tales and feats of a Heroic Warrior.”

And she smoothly takes my arm and I feel the curves of her body. Thankfully, it’ll take more than that to put me off balance.

Ursula: “If you’re done with your work, why not come have a drink with me? And we can think about after that, too. That woman in your party is Jend’s girl, right? These two are just kids so…....aren’t you a little pent up?”

She whispered the last half just so I could hear.

She half blows into my ear, and it tickles.

Well…...it doesn’t feel so bad but….

Henry: “Sorry, but I’m not in the mood for more drinking.”

Ursula: “Well well. …..oh here. This is where I’m staying. If you want, just come over. I’ll leave the door unlocked.”

Henry: “Keep your door locked. It’ll be safer that way.”

With that Ursula finally gave up, shrugged her shoulders and walked off.

I take the sheet of paper with her address, crumple it, and put it in my pocket. I’ll throw it away later.

After Ursula is gone, Cyril begins to talk.

Cyril: “...............if I’m not mistaken, was she *hitting on you?”

Henry: “Yup.” It was very blatant and obvious.

Cyril: “Huh….I see～ Henry, well aren’t you happy to be so popular～”

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Henry: “Hey, what’s with the sudden attitude.”

Huh…...hm…..could she? But at the same time, even if she doesn’t have any feelings for me, I think she would respond the same way.

We have a number of huge obstacles as well, so for now, I ignore it.

Henry: “Look, Cyril. It’s not that great. That woman, she was after my money.” You will encounter those types A LOT in Ligaleo.

This time, I took down nine Giants. With the Quest Reward from the Governor and the sell of the drops, I have a hefty sum of money sitting on my lap.

I won’t go around and share with people how much I made, but anyone who goes in and out of the Church would have heard that I made a good sum.

And of course, like bees to honey, there will be many who will want to take advantage of the situation. And the most common, universal method since the dawn of time is to use your attractiveness to draw your prey in.

Ms. Ursula was a more pleasant kind who saw that she didn’t have a chance and gave up easily. In a worse case, there are unbelievable crazies out there that might force your hand to touch some place on a body and then immediately demand that you take responsibility.

Cyril: “.......oh, really?”

Henry: “Yeah, but in that case, she would hang out with you for a night, and then ask you to buy them some expensive equipment.”

I didn’t get the sense that she wanted to suck you bone dry and leave your husk dangling in the streets.

Henry: “If it’s like that, the brothel is cheaper, and the relationship will end after the night. I had a few friends who said they preferred normal girls over prostitutes, but not me.”

And after I said that, Cyril got up, walked towards me, and lightly slapped me on the back.

Cyril: “..........could you please refrain from using words like ‘brothel’ around people who are not adult-age like Teo?”

Henry: “Yes.” She’s right. This wasn’t something I should be discussing openly and loudly with women.

………..but...I still need them to at least be aware of the danger.

Henry: “Cyril, you need to be careful of honey traps. You’re still innocent.”

Cyril: “What do you mean ‘innocent’?!”

Henry: “Well, would you really consider yourself anything other than innocent?”

Cyril is unable to reply but gives me a low growl.

Henry: “So yeah, don’t get easily caught by a good-looking Adventurer and get eaten up.”

Cyril: “Eat? What are you talking about?” ………...this isn’t good. I may have to teach her about those kinds of things or it’ll be dangerous going forward.

Teo: “Mr. Henry. Please don’t worry. I’ll be keeping a close eye on her.”

Cyril: “Umm….Teo? I think….it’s backwards right? It should be the other way around.” Teo: “No, this is the way things should be.”

I think so too.

Teo: “Please be assured. If there is a man like that, I’ll make sure to cut it off.” Henry: “TeーTeo? What are you going to cut off? No really, that’s going way too far if someone’s just hitting on you.”

Teo: “I’m joking.” ARE YOU?! I know your cousin so your words are all the more suspect!!

Jend: “Whoa, it’s so rowdy over here. What’s going on?” And while we argued, Jend and Ferris came back.

Cyril: “.....well, someone came up and started hitting on Henry.”

Jend: “Hitting on Henry? …..oh, ohhhhhhh.”

Jend seemed to understand the situation immediately. He’s the son of one of the most powerful merchant groups in Flowtier. I’m sure he’s faced similar predicaments in the past.

Henry: “Here, this is a good opportunity for a lecture. Let’s tackle the subject of how to handle large amounts of money.”

Cyril: “I know I’ve been earning more lately, but I’ve been saving my money for better gear, so I don’t have much free money to use.”

Ferris: “I’m still paying back my debt……”

Henry: “Cyril, Ferris. Other people won’t care about your situation.”

If it looks like you’re making money, there are plenty of people who will start eyeing you.

Right now, our group is successfully making a solid profit in the Altohern area. I’m sure that I’m not the only one that everyone is eyeing.

Teo: “It’s just like the people who picked a fight with us a while back.”

Oh yeah. She’s talking about Roz and his gang when they harassed us when they saw that I was giving Teo her share of the expedition rewards. Because I diplomatically spoke to them very politely, they haven’t spoken to us or even met eyes with us since.

Henry: “In Ligaleo, there are much worse folks than that, so just keep that in mind.”

…….if they figure out that my party members are Ageha and Sir Ezeal’s acquaintance, there’s not too many idiots who would try to cross that line. You especially don’t want to cross the first. You’ll lose your head.

So in many ways, I was getting Cyril and the rest of the group ready with not just knowledge about fighting, but also with other important things you’ll have to deal with.

ーーThey have improved significantly already.

If the hunt at Altohern becomes lukewarm, I wonder what our next move will be.

But…...maybe it’s still too soon to consider that.

<<<<>>>>

CHONKY Notes LiT (Lost in Translation)

*Hitting, Flirting, Nanpa (ナンパ), Gyaku-nan (逆ナン) (reverse-nanpa) - I'm definitely a social hermit so if you ask me if there is a specific term for girls hitting on or trying to hook up with guys in English.... ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I only know the Japanese terms because it's so common in the literature. "Nanpa" is guys walking up to girls to ask them out. "Gyaku" (逆) means reverse so when a girl is asking a guy out (a violation of classic social norms in Japan where women are expected to be more reserved), they refer to the action as a "Gyaku-Nan". It doesn't really add or take away from the story, but it was something that surprised Cyril, and it didn't come out in the translation very well.

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