Chapter 77.5 – Bakotsu, Part One

Bakotsu was a mid-ranking adventurer with more than five years of experience under his belt.

Adventuring is a profession taken up mostly by hot-blooded people confident in their physical strength, so naturally, the majority tended to be men with greater muscle power. The only ones who could overturn that trend were beastfolk, who possessed superior physical abilities, but they rarely lived in human territories, and few of them worked as adventurers.

Yet among those taking part in the job Bakotsu had accepted this time, there was a beastwoman.

(Why is there a beastfolk on such a good job…)

The request was to cull monsters in order to defend against the monster infested lands. This job, which sought adventurers to work alongside the Holy Knights, had been highly competitive. She should normally have been excluded during the selection process, yet among the ten members was a single cat beastfolk adventurer named Miriya.

Her name had been heard often lately, and she stood out among the younger adventurers, but she was still a beastfolk. A group with only one beastfolk mixed in among humans seemed strange.

(Working with the Holy Knights means working for the country. …There’s no need to go out of their way to choose a beastfolk for a request like this.)

The Holy Knight Order was one of the nation’s official military forces, primarily tasked with subjugating monsters. They defeated evil, and so they were Holy Knights, a group whose straightforward name perfectly described what they were. Anyone, regardless of social standing, could enter the Holy Knight training academy. …If they possessed necessary magical power and physical ability.

Those whose magical power did not meet the required standard could not make it as Holy Knights, so many gave up and became adventurers instead. Bakotsu was one of them.

(The one staying in Bit Village right now is Leonhart, if I remember right. …Some rumors even say he was born in the slums.)

Leonhart, captain of the First Unit, was a famous man. Despite his abilities, he never flaunted them. He was humble and sincere, worked himself to the bone, and devoted himself to the country and its people. People even claimed to see him volunteering and helping others on his days off, making him faultless in every respect.

He was called the ideal knight and drew attention from everyone. Yet nothing was ever heard about his family or home, and it was rumored that they had been lost in a monster attack. Some also said the eyepatch over his left eye covered a wound from that time. …Even so, the fact that he never showed any trace of brooding made him seem like a kind of hope.

(Even someone who’s lost everything can become a hero… I couldn’t become a Holy Knight, but I’ll make a name for myself as an adventurer.)

So, well, in other words. Bakotsu admired the Holy Knights. This was a government request, and he would be able to work alongside them. He disliked the fact that a beastfolk was taking part in such a once-in-a-lifetime job.

(Beastfolk don’t have any sense of cooperation, so there’s no way this job will go smoothly. …Couldn’t she just drop out? It’ll be uncomfortable for a beastfolk anyway, so maybe she’ll give up and leave…)

…However, he would later have the error of that thinking thoroughly beaten into both his body and mind.

At the campsite in Bit Village, the adventurers, Bakotsu included, had finished setting up and were sitting around the campfire, eating and chatting.

The food had been supplied to them. A merchant named Irai transported it by wagon, and they had received the same treatment throughout the journey. It was reassuring how generous official work was in areas like this.

「Man, that stuff today seriously scared me…」

「Yeah… You mean that thing with the Flower Witch-sama?」

There was a witch in this village. Her existence had only recently been confirmed, and she was a legendary witch who had fought a dragon and survived. Ever since hearing the rumors, Bakotsu had been looking forward to meeting her. After all, she was a genuine hero whose name would remain in history.

Of course, the other demonfolk, Nikolaus, was unquestionably a great man as well. He was a court mage who had lived alongside humans for five hundred years, created 「magic tools」 that allowed anyone to use magic of different attributes, and contributed greatly to the development of the Kingdom of Vanilia. However, during the battle against the dragon, he had still been an infant and had not fought the calamity itself. Though both were demonfolk, there was a vast difference between their accomplishments. As an adventurer, Bakotsu could not help but admire the hero who had defeated a calamity.

(That Witch-sama is so beautiful it almost feels unreal, and… she really is a hero.)

Her beauty was so perfect she could be mistaken for something artificial, as though a statue of a goddess had suddenly begun to move. And she also possessed enough strength to refuse to tolerate ugly conflict and seize control of the entire situation in an instant.

Without saying a single word, she had forcibly silenced everyone present. …All the adventurers who had faced monsters countless times must have understood. They could not defeat her. They must never oppose her.

「Didn’t that say that demonfolk supposedly favor beastfolk? At the very least, we’d better watch what we say in front of that great witch…」

「Yeah… Though I feel like it’ll show in our attitude no matter what.」

Bakotsu disliked beastfolk. If asked why, the only answer he could give was that it was simply the way things were. It was not as though any beastfolk had personally done anything to him. He merely found it irritating that beastfolk possessed greater physical abilities simply by being beastfolk and could thrive as adventurers. He complained that they retired early anyway, or that their movements did not match those of humans and made difficult to coordinate with them in groups. They were all petty criticisms. Yet none of them were likely the real reason.

Society called it discrimination against beastfolk, and Bakotsu understood that his feelings were discriminatory. But he had been raised being taught that this was simply how things were, so there was no way he could easily change his way of thinking. …Still, that witch probably would not tolerate it.

「Imagine how great it’d be if she somehow dropped out nice and ear~ly.」

「Hey, that’s going too far.」

「I’m joking. Bakotsu, you’re so uptight. As expected for an aspiring Holy Knights, well, previously.」

Dropping out meant becoming unable to go into the field. In other words, it meant suffering a serious injury or dying. No matter how much one disliked someone, it was not something that should be said aloud. Bakotsu frowned, but the man who had spoken showed no sign of remorse and apparently failed to notice the person standing behind him.

Even Bakotsu, who had been facing him, was slow to notice the figure that had emerged soundlessly from the darkness. So the man must have been even more startled when someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

「Good evening. Please excuse me for interrupting while you are all enjoying yourselves.」

「O-Oh…」

A young knight smiled pleasantly, seeming to shine through the darkness of night. Bakotsu knew him. He was one of the knights he admired. However, the sight of a knight appearing alone so late at night caused a faint tension to run through the adventurers.

Among the adventurers participating this time, the one with the most experience, who had naturally taken on the role of leader, was a large man named Dari. He rose first and stepped forward to meet the knight, his heavily scarred face tightening.

「A Holy Knight coming to visit at this hour… Did something happen?」

「No, there has been no problem. So please, everyone, continue to make yourselves comfortable.」

「…Then what exactly do you want…?」

「My name is Leonhart, captain of the Holy Knight Order’s First Unit. I was outside the village conducting an investigation, so my greeting comes late, but I wished to introduce myself to everyone who will be sharing this mission with us. I have also brought you something, so please enjoy it together.」
　

Apparently, he had gone out of his way to come alone and greet them after finishing work. What was more, the gift he had brought was fresh-looking meat, and the adventurers let out cheers of delight when they saw it. Meat like this would surely taste delicious simply grilled and sprinkled with salt.

(He must be tired after returning from a mission, yet a captain came all the way here with a gift just to greet us… He really does deserve to be called the ideal knight…)