Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy
Iris
The boy asking us for help was now leading the way.
His jet-black hair has a lock tied in a tuft, and he was dressed like a typical boy of this region.
To recap, he became stranded in this town one month ago with no idea of where he had come from, but a woman he referred to as “older sister” picked him up and took care of him.
While listening to his story, we were walking along the hills away from the town, guided by him, toward the place where his sister usually collects medicinal herbs.
“Uh, are you sure you’re okay to bring this slow-looking Nee-chan along?”
“Ahahahaha…”
The boy stared at me in suspicion.
Well, I couldn’t deny that I’m slow…
“Well, we’re trying to avoid combat as much as possible… It’s not like we’re starting something big down there, we’re gonna be fine… If anything goes wrong, I’ll carry you and run, don’t worry.”
“I appreciate that, but please be gentle, okay?”
“S-Sure.”
Actually, when he runs at full speed, I get really dizzy… so let’s hope that scenario wouldn’t come to pass.
“…Are Nii-chan and Nee-chan dating?”
““NO WAY!!””
We shouted in unison at the sudden question.
The boy who asked was looking at us with a cold stare, while Nii-sama shook his head from a distance…
“Are we really okay with those two around…?”
The boy’s suspicious gaze was painful…
“…Uh, it feels kind of uncomfortable walking around without armor.”
“So do I…”
The two people who usually wore full armor were now only clad in fabric clothing and a little leather. This was a stealth operation, so light equipment was preferred, but it was still of high quality, nonetheless.
I was dressed as usual, but with a lower-ranked staff because my usual one would make noise when I walked.
In any case, the fighting power was much reduced. Therefore, we must avoid combat as much as possible.
“That aside, I want to ask you something…”
“My name? Hayato.”
“Hmm… Sounds like an Eastern Islander name if you ask me.”
“…I don’t know, I don’t remember anything.”
“If you say so.”
Nii-sama let the matter slide without pursuing it further.
I had some doubt about the boy’s story, but I guess there is no need to pursue something that he does not seem to want to say.
“By the way, is the person you’re looking for… Aini-san who runs a pharmacy in East Street?”
The name “Aini” that Nii-sama spoke of was a rather famous NPC back in the game.
She was only a simple questgiver sometimes showed up, but her beauty, style and gentle demeanor made her a huge hit among the playerbase.
People who wanted a break from the daily grind went out of their way to get into this remote area, and as I recall, there was even a fan club…
“…Yeah, but why did you ask?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to ask you if you knew her or not.”
Nii-sama simply shrugged his shoulders.
He’d been talking with Hayato-kun quite frequently since a while ago… Well, I’ll just let him be, he’s better at this kind of thing than I am.
Then, after walking for a while through the hilly terrain, we came to a wooded area slightly off the beaten path.
“Here they are, these footprints. She used to collect medicinal herbs around here, so I’m probably right.”
Hayato-kun pointed to footprints that looked like they belonged to a woman and a smaller child.
The ground was muddy and wet from the melting snow, and the footprints were clearly visible.
If she was really taken away by goblins, then I had a really uncomfortable feeling about this.
“Though, I didn’t see any signs of struggle around here… and she seemed to walk on her own two feet.”
“Right. If she was forcibly taken away, there should be no footprints, or she should have resisted and been more disheveled… These footprints were heading straight in a specific direction.”
If it turned out that the goblin in question was a hobgoblin like the ones we met the other day, then it’s no big deal, but we should always expect the worst.
“Now that you mention it, I’d been too upset to notice it… But doesn’t that mean…”
“Yeah, while we don’t know why a goblin is accompanying her, she’s probably safe for the moment.”
“Nee-chan…!”
Hayato-kun tried to run off as he saw a glimmer of hope, but Nii-sama caught him.
“Hold it, I’m just saying that we have a better chance of saving her, but we’re still headed to a tunnel full of monsters you know?”
“Y-Yeah…”
He reluctantly obeyed, but his gait was thick with impatience.
Saul
That kid was definitely not normal, I thought.
Hayato, still overeager, tried to hurry ahead. That alone would be normal… if he wasn’t walking so fast.
We’d been walking for a good while. Any normal kid should be getting tired by now, but this little boy was fast enough to leave Iris and even Reiji in the dust.
If he was really a local boy, he might be used to traversing this area, but he said he was found collapsed in this town one month ago.
The timing was nearly identical to ours. So far, we had enough clues to turn our suspicions into certainties.
…Or I should say, I was convinced of it a long time ago.
“…Hey, Hayato.”
“What’s the matter, handsome Onii-chan?”
“…Are you a player?”
“?!”
The small body in front of me visibly shook.
“…How do you know?”
“The first thing I noticed was the way you walk. You have a weapon hidden in your waistband, don’t you?”
He was wearing a long tunic, which was perfect to hide a weapon within. However, unlike in the game, weapons had considerable weight, especially for a small boy like Hayato, and that was reflected in his slightly shaky gait.
No normal kid walked around while hiding a weapon in his clothes.
“Moreover, when we asked about Aini-san earlier, why didn’t you question how we knew her name, despite we having just arrived in this town and never met her all this time?”
“T-That’s…”
“Because you immediately recognized us as fellow players but simply hid it, correct?”
After a moment of hesitation, he gave a small nod as if giving up.
“You look rather young. How old are you over there?”
“…I’m a first-year in middle school. I started playing when I was a fourth-year in grade school.”
As I suspected. In the game, when creating a character, you couldn’t set them too far away from their real-life height. The exception would be if you switched characters like we did.
Afterward, it was optional for them to grow their avatar to their own height, but as far as I know, I had never heard of anyone doing so, because they did not want to ruin the integrity of their avatars.
The boy was only just tall enough to be at the lower end of the height limit for avatar creation, so his real-life age was also roughly predictable.
“…Well, it’s hard to be thrown out into a world like this and asked to fight for your life, isn’t it?”
It’s a bit much to ask of a child who has just graduated from grade school. The harsh attitude was also unavoidable, considering the circumstances.
“…You don’t think I’m a wimp or anything right?”
“No, that’s perfectly normal. It’s us who are heretical for having adapted to this world.”
I said that, but I was only able to do that because circumstances forced me to do so. As a result of throwing myself into battle with all my might for the person I want to protect, I somehow managed to adapt.
…If we had reunited with Onii-chan in the first town without incident, I think there’s a good chance that we would have continued to live an ordinary life in that town.
“…Then I have something to ask, Nii-chan. Are you afraid of fighting?”
“…Yes. We’d gone through a lot of pain to reach this point.”
It was especially bad when I fought the goblins in the previous town. I cried all night long in the chest of a little girl, now much smaller than I was, and I still smirked in embarrassment when I remember it.
“Of course I’m still scared… but I have to fight if I want to protect the people close to me in this world, so I’m trying really hard to push myself to pick up the sword, that’s all.”
“That’s because you are adults… I just can’t…”
The look of frustration on his face made me decide to leave him alone for now. Because a child shouldn’t develop the resolve to kill others…
APM - Translation 