101: An Order of Magnitude

January 6, 2021 - 11 minutes read - 2323 words

How long have I been on this rattling carriage?

We bid farewell to the city of Kicca a while ago, so we can only see vast plains, trees, and in the distance, mountains. The sun has risen high into the sky, beaming down warm sunlight onto us. I’m currently sitting gloomily on the top of the carriage. I thought Irving and Mark might be similarly listless, but they are watching the surroundings without looking sleepy.

“Aren’t you two sleepy?” Al

“A bit, but I take my job as an escort seriously. I can’t get drowsy.” Mark

“We occasionally end up on quests where you can’t sleep for a night.” Irving

They don’t look that serious most of the time, but it seems they do take their jobs seriously. Well, it’s also part of the adventurer job description, their performance on job N impacts getting jobs N+1, N+2, etc. I believe they have to make sure to complete each job well. Triela say that in order to be requested for an escort mission, you can’t get away with just ability, you need trust and friendliness too.

I’m glad the other two people are keeping watch while I’m a bit drowsy, I feel secure even though I’m far away from home. The nice thing about plains is that even if a monster attacks, we’ll have time to detect it before it gets too close. I’m the escort target, so I’ll let the hired escorts do their job.

While I’m relaxing next to a working person, I get a thrill similar to playing hooky. Like everyone else is working, but I’m playing video games at home. It feels a little immoral, but I also feel gratitude for the people working so I can goof off.

Isn’t it fine to have some moments of happiness like this? My previous life’s grandmother told me I should find something nice in my life every day in order to stay happy and content, so this is fine. I’ll keep that in mind as I enjoy my freedom next to the two escorts fighting off drowsiness.

As I lazed around on the roof, a butterfly with yellow wings approached.

“Wow, butterflies” Al

I attempt to get a butterfly to alight on my hand.

“I feel sleepy when I hear Alfred’s voice…” Irving

Is my voice overly comfortable? It this good?

“Ugh, I want to take a lie down too.” Mark glances at me and pretends to mourn.

Hah, do your jobs, adventurers. Work hard.

As I lay down and send good thoughts from my heart, I heard a sound from the side.

“Hey, I envy Irving… why are you lying down. Watch the area too!” Mark

Mark notices that Irving has climbed up to the carriage roof and lay down. Mark’s anger was tinged with envy.

“Don’t worry, I’m still watching” Irving

“Huh?” Mark

Irving tells Mark that he’s still watching, but Mark isn’t buying it.

“I’m watching the sky” Irving

So that’s it, huh.

“That’s crazy, hey!” Mark

“Hey, have you forgotten the horrific Slash Hawk? The guys with sharp blades on their legs that dive down from the sky to slash at us?” Irving

“What’s that monster? I’d be worried” Al

I could be basking in the sun and a Slash Hawk could plummet down and smash my head open? That’s horrible. Just thinking about it runs a chill down my spine.

“That’s why I’m watching the sky like this” Irving

“I see, Irving. Keep it up then” Mark

“Leave it to me” Irving says as he smirks.

“Hey?!” Mark

“Look, you’re is watching the surrounding area. Sword Boars are the most likely dangerous monsters we’ll run into around. They’d flip the carriage over if we let them.” Irving

Irving is trying to get rid of Mark. I’m interested in hearing about those boars than hearing additional complaints from Mark.

“What kind of monster is a Sword Boar?” Al

“It’s a large, fierce boar-like monster, but its fangs are sharp like a sword. If one rushes you, it’ll try to stab you and the sharpened fangs can cut things just by touching them.” Irving

Well, that’s a scary monster, it has fangs as sharp as a sword? Are all Aldonian monster so ferocious, like that Slash Hawk Irving was talking about? The monsters around Koriat are much less ferocious, we have things like walking mushrooms, goblins, and Blue Bears. Well, God said that the only monsters around my reincarnation location were weak monsters. I’m quite satisfied by my choice of Koriat Village.

“Mark, be wary” Irving

“See, now the ‘great’ man is commanding me” Mark

“Whatever! I’ll remember this!” Irving laughs when he hears Mark’s response.

So Irving is trying to protect us from the Slash Hawk’s and any other flying monsters. Shouldn’t the magicians be more wary of aerial enemies than Irving? Even if he saw something, he couldn’t attack a flying enemy?

When I stood up to check around myself, I noticed Alisha was also watching the sky. Rumba was nearby, looking bored, and Ilya was watching the surrounding plains. Irving doesn’t need to be watching the sky.

“Hey, Irving. Magicians are the ones who should be watching the sky for aerial threats. Don’t skip your area.” Al

When I tapped Irvine’s belly, he got up.

“Did you worry? It was just a short break” Irving

“I mean, will Mark worry?” Al

“Stop there, if you keep going, you’ll anger someone” Irving

“Oh, that’s right. If we keep going, you’ll be teased.” Al

“You guys, can you stop that sort of conversation.” Rumba

I heard a metallic sound from behind me. When I looked back to find out what it was, I saw Rumba on the carriage roof with a big sword in his hand. I try looking where he’s observing, but I just see wide plain. I keep looking and I’m able to barely make out four dark shadows in the distance. When I put some magic energy in my eyes, I’m able to see they’re wild boars with sword-like fangs.

They’re wild boars with brown fur, their head has large bumps on it suggesting a hard skull. Most importantly, their two fangs remind me of curved, white-edged swords growing out of their mouth. They must be the Sword Boars Irving mentioned earlier.

The four Sword Boars are approaching our party with considerable speed, they’re throwing up soil and grass from their approach.

“I still don’t get how he’s able to sense these things so quickly” Al

“Is that so? You can’t notice the wild feeling from them?” Mark

Pretty quickly, Irving and Mark also stand up. They’re a little later than Rumba, but they look to have noticed the approaching monsters too. Now that I think about it, Rumba is a large person, but he’s remarkably good at sneaking and detecting presences. When we ventured into the forest, I noticed the same thing.

It seems I’m not that great at detecting or sneaking. I think Mark may have more experience, but not as much as Rumba, so that seems to be a more believable skill level. Thanks to the training bouts with Eleanora, I’ve been getting better at detection and sneaking. Eleanora is aware, I feel like her stealth abilities are getting better too. Is that the way it works? I get better at these things by gaining experience?

“A monster is coming! Stop the carriage!” Mark yells to the coachman.

The carriage rolls to a halt. It’s been moving all day, so I feel a little strange from the stoppage. It’s like the carriage is still moving.

“What’s the monster?!” Triela

“We’ve got four Sword Boars!” Mark answers Triela as he jumps off the carriage.

“That’s fine, just wanted to know!” Triela

Seems that Triela is used to these sorts of things during travel. The members of the adventurer party also respond calmly.

Even with four Sword Boars, it’s probably not a huge deal for a B-rank party. Even so, I hope nobody gets any serious injuries from carelessness or mistakes. They may not be human, but the opponents have strong physical abilities as well as sharp fangs.

Of course, the members of the Silver Wind party get into a fighting stance to prepare. They all have serious expressions and are holding their weapons. The two magicians Ilya and Alisha are holding staffs on the carriage roof. I bet they want a wider field of view for targeting as well as spotting any other monsters that might show up. Irving said there were Slash Hawks in this area as well. It seems magic is more powerful if you have the high ground, I’m not interested in becoming an adventurer, but I have studied.

While I was admiring the two magicians, Mark and Irving raised their swords and rushed to meet the Sword Boars. Are they planning on thrusting into a 2 meter long boar? Their opponent will be very heavy and has plenty of momentum. If they go straight on, they’ll have to deal with the sharp fangs. How are they planning on attacking?

While I was watching Irving and Mark preparing to take on the Sword Boars, I heard a sound from behind me.

“I seek the purest of water, gather here and become a sphere.” Alisha chants in a graceful manner.

She’s using magic that makes a ball of water, it rapidly gathers at the end of her outstretched staff. You can tell she’s being efficient at the magic based on the precise size of the ball. I don’t know of a way to use a ball of water against these monsters, what is she planning?

Alisha activates the water ball, which splits into two and sails at the Sword Boars. The two lead boars see the balls pass by and continue charging without worry, but then the two balls smack the leading boars hard on the side. The unbalanced boars stumble and fall to the ground.

Does a water ball of that size have that power? I couldn’t catch it, but I bet Alisha hit the boars when all four of their legs were in the air. That’s when the boar has the least stability, so it would be easy to buffet them at that point. Was that all it took to knock them over from the side?

It’s not a flashy move, but it was very efficient. It seems this party of adventurers is quite accustomed to fighting monsters. I’m just good at handling magic.

“Nothing is easier than a stunned enemy” Irving

“Do it now!” Mark

Irving and Mark look like they expected this to happen, the ran over and stabbed their swords into the dazed boars. They look more like villains than adventurers as the laugh and stab the boars.

So, two boars are down, but there’s two more. Since the leading individuals were knocked over, the following two split to run around the fallen two. How are the next two going to be dealt with?

I’m excited to see the next stage, it feels like I’m watching a game since I’m being protected on this journey.

“I beseech the earth, raise me a robust wall” Ilya calls out.

A wall of soil immediately rises in front of the boar coming from the right. It doesn’t have time to react, so it smashes into the wall at full speed. I thought it might have knocked itself out, but I can see it desperately scratching at the ground with its hind legs.

“Hmm? It trapped itself?” Al

When I looked closer, I realized the Sword Board had gotten its sharp fangs stuck in the soil wall. It’s pretty funny watching it try to pull out the fangs or break the wall, I’m not sure which. I wonder if Ilya softened a certain section of the soil to make it easy to pierce. That’s expert adjustment if so, since it withstood the impact. She seems quite skillful.

“Haha! Dumb pig! You can’t guard your back now, can you?” Irving

The two swordsmen run over to the boar stuck in the wall to finish it off.

“I was having fun with those first two. Wait, isn’t there another one?” Mark

“Yeah!” Rumba

When I look over to the left side, Rumba jumps off the carriage. He slams his big sword straight down into the final Sword Boar. That boar was rushing at full speed, but the blow easily smashed through the boar and stopped it in it’s tracks. I hear a smashing sound and cracks form around the impact site. That was a brute-force technique that doesn’t resort to tricks. It’s just a single large attack from above. Rumba didn’t even use magic, not even Physical Strengthening magic. And yet there’s a small crater where he landed…

“What a crazy power… that’s so unfair.” Al

Eleanora has a hard time when practicing with Rumba.

“Even if you strengthened your body, I would have a hard time doing that.” Mark

“I can’t even think of trying that” Irving

Irving and Mark have come back to the carriage, they’re muttering in amazement.

“B-rank adventurers are astonishing…” Al

“Hey, please don’t group us up with abnormal talents like Rumba?” Irving says as he looks at Rumba.

“Eh? You’re both B-rank adventurers, right?” Al

So, Rumba is ranked differently, but they’re the same rank, right? Irving seems pretty strong…

“Are you naive? Our B-rank is for the whole party acting together, Rumba has a B-rank as a solo adventurer.” Irving

“Huh?” Al

It takes all four members of Silver Wind to meet the B-rank, but Rumba gets to that level by himself? That’s crazy strong! Well, I knew he was strong since he traveled around alone and observing his training with Eleanora.

“As individuals, we would top out at C?” Mark

“Besides Ilya and Alisha, we’re more like D…” Irving

Nord is even higher than Rumba, that’s phenomenal. An A-ranked Dragon Slayer is no joke.