Vengeance Upon Fate - Chapter 18

Roughly an hour had passed since Kurogane left his village. As much as he wanted to continue and make progress on his journey, exhaustion and hunger naturally began to overtake him.

Eventually, this entailed him to stop by a small, open piece of land in the middle of the jungle. There appeared to be a hill topped with a rather large tree above it. Using the shade to cool himself off, he went over and sat beneath it, using the shade to cool himself off.

After opening up the bag Reo had given him, he pulled out what looked like a wrapped beef sandwich. Kurogane stared at it in amazement and closed his eyes as he took a hearty bite out of it. The crisp lettuce inserted into the sandwich only enhanced the eating experience as he munched away.

After finishing up and taking a few sips from his water sac, he took a deep sigh of relief. Eventually, he found his eyes on the verge of closing, blackening his view moments later as he drifted off to sleep.

…

“Heyyy.… helloooo… anyone home? Wikkity wakey!”

“Hrhmm?”

Kurogane, still leaning against the tree he took shade under prior to his nap, was awakened and caught off guard by a large, chubby individual followed by a taller, thinner one standing a few feet behind him.

They both wore a similar outfit and gear setup. This included black, long sleeved full body combat tights along with dark grey gloves. They equipped round, medium sized iron helmets which left their faces exposed followed by iron plate armor which they tied to their chests.

Similarly, they had iron pads tied to their knees followed by worn-out iron boots that went up to their shins. Wuxiaworld for visiting.

Judging by a first glance, they appeared to be from a type of warrior or slayer class. This was due to their dark brown copper buckled belts and standard sized iron swords that rested in their burgundy sheathes, carefully tied onto their belts.

They both seemed as if they were wandering young men, the thinner one being slightly taller than Kurogane and the fatter, chubbier one being a few inches shorter.

Captured by surprise, Kurogane snapped to his senses and retaliated by kicking the large individual on the chest, causing him to fly backwards and roll down the hill – vanishing out of sight from the view of where he was sitting.

{UWAAAAHH}

Several loud thuds occurred followed by a sudden crashing sound.

Frowning in annoyance and doubt, Kurogane immediately stood up and drew his sword, pointing it at the other individual.

“Who are you and what the hell do you want from me?”

The man started to sweat and raised his hands, panicking out of fear while maintaining a nervous smile on his face.

“I-I’M S-SO SORRY.. WE COME IN PEACE, I SWEAR! P-PLEASE DON’T HURT US!”

Both were interrupted as the larger one called out from a distance below the hill.

“I’m okay in case anyone was wondering… I think.”

The thinner one turned his head to look at what was happening below, still having both hands raised.

“Hey, answer the damn question.”

Kurogane took a few steps closer, still furiously pointing his sword at the stranger.

{KYEEEAAAAHHHH}

He waved his hands around in a panic as he let out a shrill shriek.

“OKAY OKAY, I’LL EXPLAIN, PLEASE CALM DOWN MAN!”

Kurogane stared at him briefly, then slowly lowered his sword.

As he lowered his hands, the thinner one closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

“Speak.”

The larger one walked up the hill slowly, slightly limping and groaning as he stopped near his partner. He paused in surprise upon looking at Kurogane’s face.

“Damnnn, he maaad!”

“Will you shut up? I don’t want to die just yet!” whispered his partner.

The thinner man then immediately began to explain to Kurogane the situation.

“My name is Otsuka Taro, and this fat one is my brother Sazama Hiroki.”

“Hey! What’s the big deal, twiggy?” shouted Hiroki in an embarrassed manner, slightly blushing to himself.

Kurogane closed his eyes and frowned, noticeably clearing his throat. This startled the two of them as it hinted that they very much needed to speed up their explanation process.

They both panicked, ultimately urging Taro to continue speaking.

“So.. uhm.. we were roaming the forests hunting for weaker monsters in hopes of attaining more experience and loot.”

“And what urged you to wake me, a random person in the middle of his sleep?” asked Kurogane, raising an eyebrow.

Dabbing both of his index fingers together in a shy manner. Hiroki began whistling and looking in a different direction.

Taro looked at Hiroki in worry, eventually exposing the drops of sweat which began rolling down his face.

“Well… you see… we were looking for a wild creature to hunt down, but our luck was slim until we found a dark beast sleeping in the middle of the forest. It was obviously way out of our league, but this thing standing next to me does not know when to shut up, so his fanboying woke up the beast and it chased us all the way here until we barely lost him, eventually finding you on this hill.”

“So what do I have to do with any of this exactly?”

Both young men looked at each other in a worried manner, then looked at Kurogane as Hiroki spoke up.

“Well… we’re pretty sure that beast is still roaming the jungle. We fear that we’ll encounter it again and that we may not even survive the next time we do so.”

Begging out loud, both young men began to prostrate towards Kurogane.

“Please, help us get back home safely. We beg of you!”

Kurogane was startled at first, but frowned, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“There’s no need to beg like that, I’ll see what I can do, but I make no promises. However, even the smallest amount of suspicion that I get from you two will result in minimal guarantee of your lives. Now raise your heads already..”

As Kurogane said this, he slightly turned his head to the side in minor embarrassment.

Both raised their heads and looked at each other, exchanging smiles and feeling tremendously glad.

(Ugh, I really don’t have time for any of this. For all I know, these two could be up to something. Why did I even agree to that request?)

“We can’t thank you enough! Say, what’s your name bud?”

“Yea, let’s hear it!”

Kurogane snapped out of his thoughts as he looked at both individuals’s faces. They were filled with admiration, balling their fists in excitement.

“Just call me Kurogane.”

“Whoa, what an awesome name!”

“Yeah, sounds kickass to me!”

Kurogane stared at them in confusion.

“It’s just a name. There isn’t any reason to be that impressed from someone you just met..”

Both of them closed their eyes and grinned at each other, lightly giggling to themselves.

“I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about you that makes us feel safe – like, as if you’re super reliable!” said Taro as he smiled and placed his hand behind his head, looking away in shyness.

“Yeah, I feel the same exact way honestly!”

…

(These guys don’t make any sense.)

“Well, let’s get going.”

Both of them nodded and they started to walk off the hill together.

“By the way, which city did you both come from?” asked Kurogane.

“Oh, we’re from Furren. It’s only a few hours away. There aren’t many things to hunt in the proximity of the city so people end up going far to hunt or quest.” said Taro.

“I see. Fair enough.”

(I guess I have nothing to lose if I take them back with me. After all, that is my next destination.)

…

(But if things start to look suspicious, I may have to abandon them. If they try anything, I’ll end their lives in an instant. I don’t have the tolerance to deal with anyone else who decides get in my way.)

The three of them headed back into the jungle as the daylight continued to glamorously shine from above.