The Man Picked up by the Gods â Volume 3 Chapter 132: After the Match (2/2)
Iâve partied with Jeff-san and Miya-san and the others on the fly many times. Iâve worked with Berk and the others before the Founding Festival too. I didnât have any problems either time.
But every time?ăOr what about if we always worked together?ăWhen I think that, I canât get a clear answer.
I tried thinking about it again, but there was this strong sense of unease that I just couldnât rid myself of.
âThen you donât have to form a party now. Honestly, I donât think youâll have a problem with the shallower parts. You fought so well earlier that I could feel your strength on my skin. But just remember that itâs precisely because youâre like that that itâs dangerous.
The only reason Iâm still alive today is because I have my party. Comrade-in-arms who fight with me. They stopped me whenever I was about to make a mistake. They saved me so many times. It might be difficult to find people that can walk with you, but do think about it before going to the great forest.â [Roche]
âThank you very much.â [Ryouma]
I canât answer right now what Iâm going to do, but Iâm grateful for his feelings.
âDonât sweat it. This too is my job as your senpai. Besides, I hate seeing the young die needlessly. All the more so when itâs someone whoâs saved my life. If I were a bit younger, I could go with you, but as it is⊠Iâll just get in your way.â [Roche]
âReally?â [Ryouma]
Roche-san turned his shoulders and breathed.
âIn the past, I got close to promoting to A Rank, but nowadays even a goblin knight can kill me. You should have seen it. I mean you were the one who healed me, remember?â [Roche]
Ahh, that time⊠Wait. Roche-san is a former B Rank?
âDidnât you introduce yourself as a C Ranker?â [Ryouma]
âEveryone in my party is B Rank, but we lowered our rank by one level down to C. Thereâs not a lot of people who do it, but as long as you have a good reason for it, you can apply for a demotion.
In my case, I was reckless in my youth and got myself hurt many times. Thanks to that my body is all worn out now. Especially, these past few years. It might also be because of my age, but my stamina has really gone down. I can still fight well if itâs just for a short time, but having to fight consecutively like I would have if I were to go to some place like the great forest, then itâs a bit difficult.
I was troubled too because of the A Rank promotion, but it was dangerous to do jobs halfheartedly. My party members taught me that. In the end, I decided to give up on the promotion. We talked it out and decided that it might be a good idea to demote ourselves to rid ourselves of any lingering feelings⊠Ah⊠What am I talking about all this for?â [Roche]
Roche-san embarrassingly scratched his cheeks.
âAnyway, we decided to use our remaining time to educate our junior and save up money for retirement.â [Roche]
I see. So, this is also a choice that adventurers can make⊠It kind of makes me feel sorry for them.
âCome to think of it, Roche-san. Do you know a lot about the Great Shurus Forest?â [Ryouma]
âNot that much. I have gone to it many times, though.â [Roche]
So heâs experienced!?
âIf you donât mind, can you tell me more about it?â [Ryouma]
âI donât mind, but arenât you from there?â [Roche]
âWhen I was at the forest, I barely had any chance to talk to the villagers. I was almost always with my grandparents when they were still alive, and when they died, I left the forest immediately.â [Ryouma]
âI see. Well, itâs not like I donât understand. If I were a parent myself, I wouldnât want my kid getting used to the atmosphere in that placeâŠâ [Roche]
What does he mean by that?
âAh, sorry. I donât mean to speak ill of your hometown.â [Roche]
âNo. Other than my grandparents, I donât particularly care about the place either. Iâm just curious what you meant. Please tell me how outsiders see the place.â [Ryouma]
âReally?ăâŠThen to put it simply, in the great forest, âstrength is justiceâ. Itâs a dangerous place, so the strong are sought out and powerful adventurers are worshiped. This is more or less true everywhere, but the great forest takes it too far. For exampleâŠâ [Roche]
Roche-san pointed at the camp.
âEveryone is camped there, but what if this place wasnât crawling with poisonous insects but rampant with powerful monsters? What do you think would happen?â [Roche]
Normally, the teachers would have to focus on protecting the students.
âYeah. But what if we threw out the students in that situation?â [Roche]
âŠItâs not a pleasant thought, but it would turn into a terrible sight for sure.
âAdventurers have these things called stopping points to help them. In these stopping point, adventurers sell the ingredients theyâve gathered, supplies can be purchased, and maintenance of weapons and armor can also be done. There are a lot of merchants and craftsmen engaged in such work. Without them, adventurer work will become difficult. They are the ones that support adventurers. Because of their support, adventurers can focus on defending their base and working outside of it.â [Roche]
âThatâs why the relationship between these supporters and the adventurers were originally equal⊠â Roche-san grumbled for a moment before continuing.
âA long time passed and the power relationship of âthe defendersâ and âthe defendedâ was twisted. The strong are great and the weak canât live unless theyâre protected. The last time we went there was 10 years ago, but that was the kind of atmosphere in the place⊠The people whoâve lived there for long also ended up being affected by that atmosphere.
âWhat happened then?â [Ryouma]
âAt the great forest, the violence that people pretend not to exist would displease people were they to do them outside. As such, itâs hard for people from the forest to live outside. Thatâs why there are people who come back to the forest. Thereâs also a trend that as long as youâre strong, people will close one eye toward some things. This makes it easy for adventurers with bad reputation to gather.â [Roche]
Adventurers with bad behavior, those that are borderline criminals, and those that have been deprived of work by another guild⊠As long as theyâre strong, these adventurers can get work at the forest. Itâs not on the level of culture anymore. The Great Shurus Forest has a completely different perspective of things.
âThatâs why I would only go there for work. Not once would I consider that place to raise a kid in. Thatâs also why I was surprised to hear that you came from there. It seems you had an upright and respectable family.â [Roche]
âThank you very much.â [Ryouma]
I was a bit disappointed after the match, but because of that I was able to get some advice and got information from someone whoâs been to the Great Shurus Forest.
I donât know if I can give a positive answer to Roche-san and the guild masterâs concern, but Iâll research the party thing when I get back to town.
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