SWNOVELS Chapter 7: Demon
Demon
“Please stay at this house tonight, I will organize dinner.”
The village chief says this as we eat breakfast.
Breakfast is salad and cheese with oatmeal.
It isn’t really tasty, but it’s not bad either.
If I can have meals of this level I might be able to survive in this world after all.
Dinner will probably be something a bit nicer because it’s the village chief preparing something for the hero who saved the village.
There was no mention of lunch. In the past humans only ate two large meals a day, which may still be common in this world.
“I will take you up on that offer.”
“The merchant will be taking a carriage to Vale tomorrow. He’ll be leaving quite early so make sure to have an early night if you want to go along.”
“How long does it take to get to Vale?”
“Around three hours by carriage”
I wonder if three hours is the same as earth time?
If the merchant leaves at 8:00am, then he should arrive by 11:00am. If he plans to return here the same day then he’ll probably leave there at 3:00pm to arrive back here at 6:00pm. This means he’ll be in Vale for 4 hours. (TN If Jimmy has 5 apples, and you take 3….)
The merchant said he’s just picking up stock, so it might be shorter.
Maybe he’ll leave before the sun rises.
There is more chance of finding a good bargain if he is early.
“I would like to go then.”
“I’ll let the merchant know.”
Now, what will I do until then?
“Are there monsters near the village?”
“There are demons.”
“Ah, ok.”
So, they are called demons.
“If you go into the depths of the forest you’ll find the slow rabbit.”
“I see, I might go and fight that.”
Even though it has a weak sounding name, it should help me get information.
There is always the possibility it’s a strong demon too.
I had better not make any assumptions.
“The slow rabbit does not attack people, so it is a reasonably easy fight.”
“Really? Have you fought them?”
Sounds like it will be an easy victory.
I can kill time fighting some.
“Do you want to hunt the slow rabbit?”
The village chief dropped his voice a bit.
Hmmmm.
Did I misunderstand something?
“You said it was an easy fight.”
“A group of several villagers can defeat them, so for you it should be an easy win.”
“Is that so?”
It might be reasonably strong if it takes several people.
“If you defeat it, it drops fur, and on rare occasions it will drop meat.”
So the rabbits fur drops every time, but meat is a rare drop.
I have trouble understanding the reason.
“Is there any problem if I go demon hunting?”
“Hunting demons is fine.”
Maybe it would have been better if there was a problem.
If it takes several people then maybe it’s dangerous.
However I guess I’ll have to hunt my first demon eventually.
Since I will have to, it’s probably better to do sooner rather than later.
I don’t think I have a death wish. Sure if I go chasing trouble I may die, but I’ll die a man.
Though I guess visiting the suicide website was how I first came to this world.
Committing suicide, or being killed by a demon. I guess in the end there is not much difference.
I said that I’ll go, so I will.
Well, it’s a slow rabbit.
“I’ll head to the depths of the forest before dinner.”
I’ll manage somehow with my durandal.
The village chief said it will be an easy victory.
“There is a young person in the village that would like to hunt a slow rabbit, would you be interested in going together?”
“Hmmmm.”
“It will be good experience if they go with you.”contemporary romance
What should I do?
Of course it might be safer with a companion.
However it might be troublesome if people find out I am weak.
I have caused one man who lived in the village to become a slave. His family may retaliate if they find out.
“Sorry, but I’ll decline. I’ve never fought one before so I’m not sure if I can look after a companion.”
“Oh, I see. Sorry I’ve been a bit too forward.”
I made up a good reason and decline the offer.
After the meal, I grabbed the thieves card, and the copper sword.
I then headed into the depths of the forest.
The demon did not show up.
In a game, monsters would be appearing just a single step outside the village.
Though if I think about it, they wouldn’t make the village in such a dangerous place.
“Intelligence card, open!”
Since I am alone, I try something interesting.
…
Though, nothing happened.
Maybe the incantation was different, or it’s not something I can learn after hearing it just once.
Do I have an intelligence card?
Thinking about it makes me feel anxious.
Finally I came across a strange animal.
It’s about 50 centimeters long, and covered in white fur.
Is it the slow rabbit?
When I think about it, information appears.
Slow rabbit Lv1
Oh
It seems the judgement skill can be used.
It even shows the level.
It doesn’t show how much strength the slow rabbit has.
I’ll go in carefully with my durandal.
I brought up my character stats window.
I reset my stat points, and put points into 5x decrease in required experience til next level, and put points into 5x increased experience gain. There’s 64 points remaining so I put them into weapon skill 6.
I have 1 bonus skill point.
What should I use it on?
Maybe a bonus incantation?
Meteor crash.
That sounds like a strong spell.
I select Meteor crash, and my character settings ends.
My durandal appears in my left hand.
If I use magic I might not need the durandal, but I don’t know if I’ll defeat it in one shot.
I hand the durandal at my waist.
It’s troublesome to keep two swords hanging at my waist, so for now I lean the copper sword against a tree.
I remove the durandal from it’s sheath and firmly grasp it with both hands.
The slow rabbit has not noticed me yet.
I’ll make a sneak attack from the shadows of the tree.
Go!
“Meteor Crash!”
I yelled.
…
…?
…
Nothing happens.
Nothing changes.
A light gust blows between me & the slow rabbit.
People would have laughed if they had seen this scene.
Thankfully I’m in the depths of the forest.
There is an incantation. It’s different.
The incantation appears in my head.
I try to use it.
“From the emptiness of space, the destruction of everything, Meteor Crash!”
This time it will work!
Or so I though. Nothing happens.
Nothing changes.
There’s the problem.
My MP is not enough.
I think the MP I used on the Flame sword, and my fatigue have both recovered after my meal.
I just don’t have enough total MP to activate Meteor crash while I’m Lv2.
Since there is no other way, I charge in with my durandal.
My body feels light. An effect of hero Lv1.
The slow rabbit turns towards me & stands up.
As expected, it doesn’t run away. Since I was told it takes several villagers to fight it, it should be stronger than one person.
However, I have a saint sword, durandal.
He will taste the sharpness of my durandal
I use it to slash down towards the demons shoulder.
My durandal cuts straight through the demon.
The slow rabbit has been defeated in a single blow.
Green smoke starts coming from the demons body, and the whole body begins to melt.
When the smoke stops, all that’s left on the ground is a small white fur.
It is the fur of the slow rabbit.
No wonder.
The village mayor said it would drop fur.
I pick up the fur, and go back to where I left the copper sword.
The durandal feels like overkill, but I’ll hunt another two slow rabbits with it.
It’s possible the one I just killed was weaker than normal.
I leave the fur next to the copper sword, and continue on.
Using the durandal on the next two slow rabbits also felt like overkill.
It killed them in one strike each.
I now have 3 pieces of fur.
Should I try using the copper sword?
I reset my stat points again. Instead of weapon skill 6 I put the points into 10x bonus experience. My bonus skill point is at 0, the point I spent earlier is still in Meteor Crash.
I attacked the next slow rabbit with the copper sword.
I launch a splendid preemptive attack at the shoulder area.
Oh?
The sword does not penetrate at all.
Far from it, the sword barely did a thing.
I launch a second slash that goes as bad as the first.
It feels more like I’m just taunting it than cutting it.
The slow rabbit attacks me.
Danger!
Somehow I managed to avoid it.
In return I land another blow.
It’s useless, there’s no sign that I even did anything.
Even so, little by little the damage will still add up.
I continue attacking with the sword, while being cautious of it’s attacks.
The only good thing is that it’s movements are not quick.
Well, it’s a slow rabbit.
As I think that, it jumps at me.
I move my head, but could not avoid it with my body.
Urgh.
There is a huge shock to my body.
This is dangerous, it could tear my whole body to pieces.
I strike with the sword repeatedly.
The slow rabbit dodges with it’s head.
It manages to partially avoid it, but is still struck in the shoulder. It’s starting to feel like I’m doing damage now.
The slow rabbit jumps at me again.
This time I read the attack and manage to avoid it. I get in a blow as it flies past on my right.
Is it still not enough?
I strike it again & again.
It sees a chance to attack and jumps again.
Urgh.
I was focusing too much on attacking and not on defense.
This is bad. If I’m hit much more I might die.
I avoid the next attack & regain my balance.
I knock it’s head back, and strike a blow to it’s belly with my sword.
The sword sliced in a bit, there is starting to be less resistance.
Haven’t you died yet?
I strike it. I strike it. I strike it.
When I hit it a fourth time it finally falls to the ground.
It becomes smoke and disappears. Rabbit fur is left again.
“Phew.”
While gasping for breath, I let out a sigh of relief.
My whole body is painful. Breathing is hard work.
That was dangerous.
There was a big difference between the durandal and the copper sword.
Or was this slow rabbit really strong?
That reminds me, the slow rabbit had a level.
I didn’t check it. Wasn’t it Lv1?
I’ll do future battles using the durandal.
I’m not sure how many attacks it took with the copper sword.
The durandal has the HP absorption skill.
Defeating enemies with it recovers my HP.
I place the fur and the copper sword with the other furs, and take the durandal.
Slow rabbit Lv1.
It was.
I swing the durandal as I run at it.
The slow rabbit disappears, and a fur appears.
The pain in my body eased a bit.
I think I’ve absorbed some HP, it’s not a placebo effect.
If I hunt one or two more I should have a complete recovery.
I return to the copper sword and leave the fur there, and then I go hunting again.
Slow rabbit Lv1.
So, it’s Lv1 too.
The slow rabbit will try to run from people, but if they get into a fight they fight well.
However, if I launch a preemptive strike, it’s an easy win with the durandal because I can kill it with one blow.
The preemptive strike decides it, it’s killed in one shot.
The slow rabbit becomes smoke and fades away.
This time there is an item that is not a fur.
Rabbit’s meat.
Is this rabbits meat?
Should I give it to the village chief for tonight’s dinner?
I’ll get the furs and return to the village.
Status check!
Kaga Michio: Male, 17 years old.
Villager Lv3
Hero Lv1
Thief Lv3
Equipment: durandal, sandals.
Oh, I’ve leveled up!
Notes: When I translated “slow rabbit” I tried looking in the romanji for some cool name. I was looking for the word Usagi since I remember that from anime, but I didn’t find it. Sometimes they used Suro Rabitto, and other times they used the japanese Osoi Usagi. Feels like it might have been a bit strange to read if I could actually read it.
I’m losing some of the finer details in the parts where he resets his skills. His experience is mentioned each time, but I’m not sure if it’s a reset cost, or a remaining til level up or what. There’s other numbers also which might be total stat points, but I think I’ve gotten the important things done right.
It feels like the author repeats himself quite a bit too.
done.co