Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival (LN) - Book 6: Chapter 10

The Prelude of Wars

Soon it would be two months since Elena and I came to this desert town Cutlass.

Our relationship with the beastman pack, Munza Gang became a vague one of [non-interference as much as possible]. It was only as much as possible because the gang had a lot of hot-blooded members who would pick a fight with us. In case something happened, Munza Gang would deal with the corpses for us free of charge.

With the agreement with Munza Gang, the high class potion we created became sold directly to Hogros Company and now we had a source of earning, but with that we unintentionally became enemy with Kirly Company. So we lost the chance to make a connection with them that would allow us to cross the desert toward Carlfan Empire with their caravan.

Right now I was walking alone on the main street of Cutlass.

The swarthy skinned Cruz people and dwarves and beastmen whose skin was sunburnt from the sunlight were working hard under the blazing down sun.

Being vigorous and simply being busy were different. The price of food in this desert town was expensive. One had to join under an organization’s umbrella if they wanted to get food with cheap price. But belonging to an organization would require them to pay protection money, so in the end people had to struggle desperately everyday in order to get their hands on expensively priced food.

This whole town was like a slum, but it was rare for pauper or street urchin to pickpocket or steal. Getting caught doing something like that in this town would mean certain death. If they were hungry and would have to risk their life anyway, it would be better to resort to robbery from the start. That was the thinking of the people here.

“Strength” was necessary to live in this town. As long as one had strength they wouldn’t even need to resort to stealing. They would be able to take away everything from the weak.

But……it wasn’t just my imagination that there was a faint sense of tension in the air as I passed through the town that was just like usual.

.

*Zari……*, the bottom of my leather boots made that sound from stepping on the stone floor as I arrived at my destination.

My hood was pulled down as I intentionally showed my bare face. The noise of the adventurers inside Hogros Company’s adventurer guild instantly turned louder, and then the sounds were vanishing like a receding wave.

In the middle of that tense silence, the beastmen who likely knew about my agreement with Munza Gang were showing a faint hostility……and sign of fear that surpassed that. They averted their eyes from me.

The Cruz adventurers who didn’t know about the situation in detail sensed that strange atmosphere between the beastmen and me and looked puzzled, even so they kept their quiet.

As for the dwarves who boasted the greatest force in this adventurer guild…….

「What do you want, Melsenian woman?」

A young dwarf blocked my way as I walked deeper inside. He was about as tall as me, but his weight might be three times of mine.

「I come to talk about potion. Check with your superior.」

「Never heard about that. Don’t think that a pasty human woman like you can have your way here!」

A fist that was wearing gauntlet that used beetle’s carapace suddenly swooshed through air toward me.

His combat strength was around 400……I guess his rank was bout middle or upper three.

Perhaps he wanted to test his skill or simply disliking me that he was taking a swing at me. It was sudden but his attack was serious. Judging from that fist, he must be able to gauge his opponent’s strength to some degree.

Just based on his thick arm, his physical strength should be above me even when I used body strengthening. He had the strength. He also had the mentality of not letting his guard down even though he was facing a woman. But, that was all.

「Gah!?」

I dodged the approaching fist and counterattacked with a palm strike that hit his jaw that was covered by lightly trimmed black beard. The impact made the man bent backward.

The dwarf’s tough jaw didn’t break even after getting hit by my glove that had magic iron plate inserted in it. The man grinned even while blood was trickling from his mouth. He raised his fist once more. But I too didn’t plan to wait for the attack from a dwarf with low agility to arrive.

I immediately put my arms around the man’s arm and pulled my body to bend backward. The man’s arm got pulled and I struck with all my strength on his elbow joint with my knee.

*Gugyun!*

「Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag!?」

The man who got his elbow broken to the opposite direction rolled around on the ground while holding his arm in intense pain.

The dwarves who were remaining a spectator lose their temper seeing that and stood up. But──.

.

「What’s going on here」

A heavy voice that shook the dwarves echoed inside the guild.

Jilgan. The rank 4 heavy warrior dwarf.

He was also an authority in Hogros Company. He appeared with a heavy footstep that shook the ground. The expression of all the adventurers, not just the dwarves turned pale.

Jilgan kept walking and saw me. Next he looked down on the man with broken arm. The young dwarf started sweating rivers on his face, either from pain or fear.

「W-wait a sec, Jilgan-san-, I just──」

「I already said, call me if a pink haired human woman come.」

「T-this isn’t-! I-」

「Idiot isn’t needed even if it’s my fellow dwarf.」

*Gukin!* Jilgan put his foot on the man’s knee and then crushed it underfoot.

The man screamed, while the inside of the guild conversely fell quiet. Jilgan didn’t even give a glance at the man and turned back toward me. Then he jerked his chin to point at the back.

「I already heard the story, “rose”. Come with me.」

「Got it.」

It would be impossible for him to continue as adventurer like that. Jilgan’s expression didn’t change at the slightest even after crushing his man’s life. I followed behind him as he walked deeper inside.

I kept silent as I walked forward behind him. We walked up a stone stair and entered a dimly lit corridor. We kept walking until we arrived in front of a wooden door which was unusual in this town.

.

「Guild master, it’s the guest I told you.」

『──Get in.』

Jilgan opened the door after a voice behind the door gave permission and entered inside. I followed after him and found a person waiting for us there.

Jilgan walk to behind that person and folded his arms there while kept standing. A female dwarf was sitting on a leather sofa. She put on a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

「So you’re the “rose”. Well, sit down.」

「…………」

The west elder of Munza Gang, Kushmu noticed that I was “Ash Crowned Princess”.

But it seemed the surviving beastmen of Batil’s pack spread the story differently. Now I was getting called as [Desert Rose] instead of [Ash Crowned Princess].

My guess was that the prestige of [Ash Crowned Princess] itself was something troublesome for the people here. It was a story from other country so I thought the people here wouldn’t put that much importance to it, but a high ranked assassin that had made enemy of people that usually were untouchable and yet survived them. The existence of such person itself would be a nuisance and troublesome.

Right now Munza Gang and Hogros Company were choosing the policy of non-interference with me because the drawback of making me their enemy was bigger, but I couldn’t predict when they would become my enemy because of some kind of reason.

The female dwarf stared at me appraisingly with pressure oozing out of her body.

I ignored that and sat down right in front of her while meeting her gaze. The female dwarf exhaled fuh and smiled.

「I’m Jesha. Jesha Hogros. I had heard about you from old man Kushmu.」

「Aria. I heard I can do business here.」

「Yeah, that’s right. But, can you really deliver high class potion for us?」

「No problem.」

I put my hand inside my bag and pretended to pull out high class potion inside my Storage from there. Jesha leaned forward and stared at it when I put it on the table.

Jesha Hogros……she might be a relative of Hogros Company’s president or his daughter.

She was a female dwarf with bright red hair that was like mane and huge build.

Normal female dwarf was petite and even the adult one would look like a big boned human girl. It was said that male dwarf grew beard all over their face in order to hide their childish looks, so that must be their racial trait.

But Jesha was different from the average female dwarf who would be only as tall as a petite human woman. She was as tall as me who was slightly taller than the average human woman, but the width of her body was nearly twice of me. She was exuding the atmosphere that made me imagined a veteran warrior covered with armor of muscles.

「Geezer. Try using it.」

「As you command.」

Jilgan replied to Jesha’s order and suddenly stabbed a short sword into his own hand. Then he took the potion on the table and applied it on his wound without even checking for poison.

「……How’s it?」

「The quality is good. Not like the potion of that Kirly bunch that has deteriorated from heat and long travel. No, this one will still be better even if theirs is fresh.」

Jilgan used a cloth to wipe his clotted blood and showed the back of his hand that had mostly recovered back to normal. Jesha nodded with satisfaction.

「Great. We can crush one of Kirly Company’s forte with this. Oi, Aria. How many potion you bring with you? How many you can deliver per month?」

Jesha seemed to get into good mood and called me familiarly with my name. In respond I took out even more high class potions without a change in my expression and put them on the table.

「I have fifteen right now. I can make fifty per month.」

「That’s few……is what I wanna say but, guess it won’t be a problem if it’s for our own usage rather than for selling. I’m down with that. Oi, geezer. Pay her with some extra.」

「By your will.」

Jilgan took out a leather pouch from his pocket and tossed it to me. The pouch was filled with several gold coins.

Inside was Carlfan Empire’s currency in the amount that was around twenty percent greater than what Kirly Company would pay us.

The reason Adventurer Guild wanted to secure high class potion wasn’t only for fighting other organization. There were high ranked monsters deep inside the ancient ruin Resvel. One of them……was low rank 6 earth dragon. At the very least they would want to secure a hundred of this potion in case such monster appeared.

「I’ve received it.」

I said that and moved to stand up, but Jesha called out to me with a relaxed tone.

「Oi oi, going home already? There’re two beautiful girls in the same room like this. No one is gonna complain even if we drink some fire spirits while having girl’s talk you know?」

「Funny joke.」

I replied like that with a straight face. Jesha looked back at Jilgan behind him with an exasperated face. But she saw him closing his eyes as though in meditation and pressed a hand on her face while looking up to the ceiling.

Fire spirits was distilled alcohol with strong alcoholic content created by dwarf. It would truly burn if it was lit with fire. I didn’t want to drink such thing, but for now I sat back on the sofa. Then Jesha spoke with slightly lowered volume.

「……Aria. You have heard the news right?」

「Yeah.」

I also spoke briefly while nodding to her words.

「Kushmu died. By Riezan Family’s hand.」

Munza Gang’s west elder Kushmu who acted as the go-between for Munza Gang, Hogros Company, and me was attacked by Riezan Family and died.

The agreement itself was between organizations so it didn’t get scrapped after reaching this point, but Jilgan who was acquainted with Kushmu was furrowing his brow in displeasure.

The strange atmosphere of the town was caused by that. It wouldn’t be strange for feud to break out anytime anywhere.

Riezan Family was in control of the red-light district that was filled with various races. Why would they pick a fight with armed organization like Munza Gang? Ron and I and the others couldn’t determine the reason even after gathering information. Riezan Family already captured the perpetrators and publicly executed around ten people, but there was no one who believed the front that they were trying to sell.

「We’ve got no business with the lizard’s severed tail. Just what are those guys thinking……have you noticed?」

「What happened with the guild’s dark elves?」

Jesha slightly narrowed her eyes when I said that. The guild’s members were mainly dwarf, but other races should also be included. However I hadn’t seen any dark elf here.

「The guild’s dark evels vanished several days before Kushmu got done in. Not all of them are gone but, it’s only the young dark elves who were born in this town.」

「…………」

The dark elves with some level of strength……who weren’t born in this town were gone to somewhere. What was the meaning of this…….

Jesha poured fire spirits into her glass and started drinking as though to say that the talk was over. I saw Jilgan nodding so I stood up and walked toward the door. Jesha spoke one last time toward my back.

──Be careful with the “evil race”──she said.

***

Evil race. It was like a derogatory term toward dark elf, so that term didn’t get used in this town where there were also ordinary dark elves living in it.

What was the meaning of Jesha intentionally saying that? I could guess. But even that guess wasn’t definite seeing how Jesha was being vague about it.

I returned to the street and wore my cloak once more to hide myself. Then I went to buy necessities.

Clothes, food, alchemic materials that were hard to be found around here, etc. But I didn’t buy the cheap wheat mixed with sand that this town’s residents often bought.

My aim was the small scale merchant caravan that came to this town. They were really wary and Elena and I who weren’t used to long travel couldn’t come with them to go back but, at least we could obtain proper food and material from them.

I bought a bit of wheat, salt, and sorghum that was still unprocessed in a large bag. They were expensive but they didn’t get sand mixed in. I stored the bag into my Storage under my cloak before leaving the town.

.

There were several presences following me. Were they from Kirly Company or Hogros Company……. Judging from their unskillful tailing skill, I guessed they were just some thugs aiming for my money.

Anyone who knew about my strength wouldn’t send a tail with ability below rank 3. In the first place the me right now could even detect rank 4 scout, so there was no point tailing me.

Even so I crossed the desert by running just in case. I took a large detour for around one hour before approaching the town again. I erased my presence and headed toward a rotting watch tower at the outskirt of the town.

The crumbling tower was made from stone and had been there ever since the town was built. Nobody would get near it. Even so I knew that this tower was still standing.

「Welcome back Aria.」

I passed through the old cloth that was hanged up to act as a door and entered inside. The dog beastman toddler noticed me from her voice and clung to my foot while shaking his tail. Elena who was playing with the dwarf toddler smiled softly when she saw me.

「I’m back “Lena”.」

This place was……one of our hopes to be able to escape from this town.