Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Volume 3 Chapter 20   The first death of a person

“Oh, what should I have for dinner tonight…?”

While thinking about such things, I was running with about half of my consciousness drifting away.

I’ve been running for several hours without taking any breaks, so I guess this state is unavoidable.

Even though I say I have half of my consciousness drifting away, it doesn’t mean I’m completely off guard.

However, it’s true that I’m more relaxed than usual.

After all, the only things I need to be cautious about here are a certain type of monster and the actions of other adventurers.

I don’t have to worry about traps or dealing with multiple types of monsters, so my actions inevitably become monotonous and I’m more prone to letting my guard down.

There’s still a possibility of irregularities, so I can’t completely relax, but it’s not a problem for me to think about things while being alert of my surroundings while running.

The candy that falls melts into the ground a few seconds after landing, so there’s no problem with it hindering my walking.

However, while the footing isn’t bad, the distance is still a distance. I’m starting to feel tired, indeed.

“We’ve walked quite a bit.”

“For four hours.”

“Wow, that long? Yuzu, are you still okay?”

At first, the Miyano group was talking, but after a while, they fell silent. They had been running silently all this time, but it wasn’t exactly a peaceful silence. The surroundings were still noisy with the sound of candy hitting the ground.

Well, among everyone who remained silent, Miyano suddenly started speaking, and the others followed suit. The immediate response to such sudden words was probably because they were bored.

“Yeah. I still have about half of my magical power left. It’s not that exhausting, considering it’s not a strong impact.”

“But using magic continuously must be tiring, right?”

“Well, yeah. I’m a little tired, I guess.”

“Well, we’ve walked quite a bit, so it’s about time we start feeling physically tired. I’m getting tired too.”

It has been a relatively relaxed four hours of non-stop running. It’s natural for the rear guard to feel tired.

In addition, I’m about to turn forty. My physical strength is declining, so I can still run if I have to, but it’s quite challenging.

“Well, don’t complain. You’re just running at a leisurely pace. You should try a bit harder. I’m still perfectly fine.”

“Yeah, stop comparing yourself to her, you brute.”

“Who are you calling a brute?”

I’m calling you a brute. How else should I describe someone who allocates all their ability points as a Strength-focused Awakened and doesn’t call them a brute? Don’t compare a top-tier brute with a third-rate mage in terms of physical endurance. Also, think about my age.

“Yuzu, want to switch?”

While we were having that conversation, Abe called out to Kitahara, who was creating a barrier, listening to us.

“Wait…!”

However, at that moment, Miyano, who was leading the way, signaled with her hand to stop us.

It was a sudden action, but we immediately halted and turned our attention to our surroundings, keeping quiet.

However, due to the incessant rain of candy, both sound and sight were practically useless.

In the midst of that, Miyano, possessing exceptional physical abilities as a top-tier adventurer, seemed to have noticed something and was staring in a certain direction.

“There’s something coming from the front right. Probably a car.”

A car. That means another adventurer is approaching us. But in this heavy rain, would they even notice?

Perhaps, if my assumptions are correct, there might be the only monster in this area right behind that car.

Well, that’s just a speculation. But what we can say for sure now is that a car is heading towards us.

Moreover, it’s approaching with enough speed and vibrations for us to notice.

“Looks like we encountered them.”

“What should we do?”

“We’ll change our course. Let’s run and move.”

It might be a coincidence that they ended up coming towards us, or it could be intentional. Either way, we’ll shift our path to avoid any potential collision with the approaching car.

“They’re coming this way.”

However, despite moving slightly off our previous course, it seems the car is still heading towards us. This is definitely not a coincidence.

“We’ll move back.”

“But even if we move back, what will we do? They’ll still pursue us, right?”

“There’s a rocky area a little further back! If we go there, they won’t be able to follow!”

The surroundings are obscured by falling candy, but we can still make out the general landscape.

On the way here, we encountered some areas where the ground was disrupted as if there had been a fight, and there were decent-sized rocks scattered around.

If we escape through that area, we should be able to shake off the pursuing car.

With that in mind, we picked up our pace, running seriously instead of our previous leisurely pace, heading towards the rocky area and passing through it.

“We should be safe once we get here.”

Once we reach a location diagonally across from where we were moments ago, separated by the rocky area, they shouldn’t be able to pursue us any further. We slowed down and looked back.

“Oh!”

At that moment, just as I turned around, Miyano let out a startled voice as if she noticed something.

“What’s wrong?”

“T-The car flipped over!”

…I see. Well, I expected that. After all, that’s why we ran all the way here.

“Let’s go help—”

“It’s impossible.”

Immediately after, a monster emerged from the ground, swallowing the car and the surrounding area with its gaping mouth.

“Using a car attracts creatures like that. And if you try to escape without defeating them, that’s what happens. Don’t end up like that.”

When using a vehicle for transportation, it’s common courtesy to defeat any encountered enemies on the spot. Otherwise, you risk dragging them along and endangering others. Those who borrowed the car should understand that, especially since it’s explained to them in the beginning.

I can’t help but think that if they can’t defeat the monsters, it’s inevitable.

However, this place is reachable from the gate in four hours. If they were simply running away without being able to defeat the monsters, they would have returned closer to the entrance. The fact that they’re running away from here implies that they have obtained their intended item and are on their way back.

There was a possibility that they had attracted the monster’s attention by speeding up too much along the way, but their subsequent actions proved otherwise.

Perhaps that person was a “veteran.” Not only was their speed in detecting us remarkable, but its subsequent actions showed no hesitation.

Most likely, several people have already become sacrifices.

However, those people are dead now.

They forcefully chased after us, ended up flipping over, and as you can see, that was their fate.

Even if they didn’t intentionally try to collide with us and were seeking help, it’s still a breach of etiquette. It endangers other adventurers.

So, this is the consequence of venturing into a dungeon with unbeatable enemies.

While I do hope to survive and assist others in need, right now my top priority is protecting these group. I have no intention of deliberately exposing them to danger.

I made a vow to protect them this time.

Moreover, those people from earlier should understand the possibility of death when entering this dungeon.

The quota of being an adventurer—fulfilling our “duty”—doesn’t require us to come to a place like this.

They came here, risking their lives in pursuit of money.

It’s just one of those common… really common occurrences.

However, despite that, Miyano and the others have fallen into a gloomy atmosphere.

Well, up until now, they had never witnessed someone dying right in front of them, no matter what.

It was the same when encountering the Special Grade Monster, and even during the recent attack where a considerable number of people died throughout the school, nobody died in front of them.

So, this was their first experience witnessing someone’s death.

They probably can’t rationalize it as easily as I can.