Chapter 390 : The Story Of The Fifth Son Of The Nefta Family
ーLuard’s perspectiveー
I was born as the fifth son of the Nefta Family, the family that owned one of the biggest trading companies in this region, the Nefta Trading Company.
My eldest brother would inherit the company and would take over it in the future. As for me, the fifth son, I only had two choices: staying and helping with the family business or leaving this house and living on my own. It might sound unfair, but I had never complained about it.
My eldest brother was an extremely talented person as a merchant. That was the reason why my parents chose him to inherit their business. I looked up to him, but we were not close enough to each other, and I didn’t think I wanted to help him with family business. Therefore, I decided to live independently in the future.
In contrast to my eldest brother, I wasn’t very smart, and I didn’t really like the job as a merchant. Unlike him, who loved to study all day in his room, I enjoyed doing physical activities outside. It might sound like I was bragging, but I had never lost a fight against the neighborhood kids. As the strongest kid in the northern district, I became the leader of The Inferno Flame Dragon Gang.
Since I was good at fighting, I was thinking of becoming an adventurer in the future, but my parents were against it. It was an extremely dangerous job, they said. I might have to leave this house and live on my own in the future, but they didn’t want to cut ties with me, and as parents, it was only natural that they worried about me.
In that case, how about I join the town’s guard instead? I told them. Working as a guard wasn’t as dangerous as working as an adventurer, and depending on your abilities, you might be promoted to work in the royal capital, the safest place in this country. After a long talk with my parents, I managed to persuade them, and they allowed me to work as a guard in the future.
Since then, I began my practice. I trained in my backyard every day, doing many intense physical exercises and practicing swordsmanship with a wooden sword.
One day, a carpenter came into my backyard with his daughter to build a seesaw for my younger brother. That was when I first met her… Delica.
While helping her dad with work, Delica watched me practicing. I could feel her gaze. It didn’t bother me at first, but as a boy, being watched by such a cute girl made me want to show off. I showed her some sword moves I had learned from adventurers I met on the street. She looked so interested, and it made me happy.
After her dad finished his job, she stayed to play with me for a while. As we spent time together, we got closer to each other, and the more I knew about her, the more I felt a strange feeling in my chest. I then learned that feeling was called… love.
I fell in love with Delica.
A few weeks later, my father recommended that I study swordsmanship at the town’s dojo. I was so happy that my parents were finally supporting me in chasing my dream of becoming a guard. Since then, I began to attend the dojo almost every day.
Not only did I train at the dojo, but after returning home, I continued my training under a private tutor hired by my father.
My effort was fruitful, and I became the strongest kid of my age at the dojo. My master said that my strikes were strong and heavy. In fact, I had broken a few wooden swords during practice.
For me, being at the top felt really good. Nobody could defeat me. Until… she came.
The red ponytailed girl, the very same girl whom I fell in love with, came into the dojo.
I thought I would never see her again, so I was very happy. I was thinking of teaching her what I had learned and showing off my cool moves. However… She had a natural talent, and she was better than me.
I might be able to hit hard with my sword, but in terms of techniques, she was superior.
I felt so defeated and frustrated at that time. She might be the girl I fell in love with, but at the same time, I also saw her as my rival.
I don’t want to lose to herー anyone, but her! I can’t lose to Delica no matter what! I have to show her my cool side and the fact that I’m better than her!
The feeling of not wanting to lose to the girl I loved grew stronger and stronger day by day, until one day I heard that the feudal lord was hiring a lot of people to be guards, and the exam would be held soon.
I thought it was a good opportunity to show who’s the best. I have to be the top scorer in this exam. Of course, there will be adults, but I won’t lose to them, and of course, I won’t lose to Delica either!
I heard that we had to defeat some monsters in the exam, and for that, I was thinking of training in the forest, hunting monsters for real. However, I had never fought a monster before, so I consulted with my father. Worrying about my safety, he hired an adventurer to escort me and teach me things while I’m training in the forest. His name is Weikel, a C-ranked adventurer. He was a weird guy, but he was one of the strongest adventurers in the town.
We went to the forest and passed through the goblins’ territory without problem. The real challenge began when we entered the kobolds’ territory. Not only were they stronger than goblins, but kobolds were also dangerous because they worked together in groups. I managed to kill some of them, but Weikel killed most of the kobolds we encountered.
After patrolling around the forest for a while, we decided to go back to town, but on our way home, we came across Delica. I knew she was training in this forest too, so it wouldn’t be strange if we saw each other here. However, I was surprised that she managed to pass through the kobold forest without an adult escorting her.
She wasn’t alone. She was accompanied by a not-so-friendly-looking blonde girl, a quiet guy, and a weird, hyperactive pale girl by the spring. I didn’t know who the girls were, but the quiet guy seemed to be Mark. Delica sometimes talked about him, but of course, I wasn’t interested at all. I didn’t know anything about him, but Delica seemed to like him. Even Weikel, a C-ranked adventurer, seemed to be close to him as well.
Seeing how popular that kid was made me a bit frustrated, but leaving him aside, I was more upset by the fact that Delica managed to get here by her own power, while as for me, I wouldn’t have reached this place if it wasn’t for Weikel. I challenged her to a duel, thinking I would feel better if I won, but… she beat me.
As the unpleasant feeling in my chest grew stronger, I decided to go back to the kobold forest and headed deeper, ignoring Weikel’s warnings.
And here I am now, aimlessly wandering deeper and deeper into the forest.
「Luard-sama, I still think we should go back. It’s not too late now.」(Weikel)
「No! I can’t go back like this!」(Luard)
Weikel kept telling me to go back, but there’s no way I would go back while feeling defeated like this. I have to accomplish something before going back.
I heard that the Adventurer Guild would reward anyone who could find kobold nests, and I was thinking of finding one before going back.
Luckily for me, after wandering around for about an hour, I found a cave that seemed to be a kobold nest.
「Hmm… Is this a kobold nest?」(Luard)
「Yes, I think so. Luard-sama, are you planning to report a kobold nest to the guild?」(Weikel)
「That’s my plan, but… I don’t think it’s enough.」(Luard)
「Hold on… You’re not thinking of clearing this nest, are you…?」(Weikel)
「That’s a good idea. Let’s kill every kobold inside!」(Luard)
「What!?」(Weikel)
I was planning to find a nest at first, but then I thought it wasn’t enough of an achievement.
If I could defeat the kobolds in this nest, not only could I get rid of the feeling of defeat in my chest, but I might impress Delica.
「No, Luard-sama, that’s definitely not a good idea! We can’t clear a nest with only the two of us! We’ll get killed!」(Weikel)
「Bullshit. You’re strong, aren’t you? Kobolds are nothing to you. Besides, I have a brilliant plan.」(Luard)
I reached into my pocket and took out a certain item I bought from an adventure shop before we left the town.
「A smoke bomb?」(Weikel)
「Yeah. I will force the kobolds to get out of this nest with this. After that, we will kill them one by one. Not a bad plan, right?」(Luard)
「I guess, but… I still don’t think we should mess with them.」(Weikel)
「Tsk. You’re a strong adventurer, but you’re too cowardly, you know that?」(Luard)
「No, no. I’m just being cautious.」(Weikel)
「Whatever.」(Luard)
I ignored Weikel’s warning again and threw the smoke bomb into the nest.
It didn’t take long until the smoke filled the entire cave.
After waiting for a while, we saw movements from inside. We then drew our swords, ready to attack every kobold that would come out.
However, the ‘thing’ that was coming out from the smoky nest wasn’t a kobold.
It was something totally different.
It was a monster with a huge body, about ten times bigger than a kobold. It had two heads which were facing toward us, glaring at us menacingly with its two sinister-looking faces.
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