Chapter 268: 254

I found myself drawing the longsword as a conditioned reflex while thinking to myself, Something really similar happened just a short while ago, didn't it?

Having my body move independently from what my head was thinking was quite the curious sensation.

On top of that, time slowed to a crawl, and I was able to observe my surroundings with a strangely calm state of mind.

I could see the elf slashing at me, as well as the dog leaping forward behind him.

For a moment, just for the briefest of moments, I mistakenly thought that the dog had come to my aid, but no matter how I look at it, the trajectory of his leap shows that he’s trying to attack me.

「You mutt!」

My anger towards the shitty dog boiled over.

I took the elf's slash on my left shoulder. The blade hit the crystals and was repelled. Once I had pulled my sword out completely, I flung it through the air.

He's ultimately just a dog.

He caught the sword in his mouth.

Taking advantage of that opening, I grabbed the dog and threw him at the elf. Colliding with the big dog, the elf fell onto the debris and snow.

「Alright」

At my surprisingly slick move, I did a fist pump, then promptly slipped and fell too.

The downed elf came at me with punches. I returned the favor, throwing punches of my own. The dog also attacked whenever there was an opening.

「You damned Hemu!」

「Shut up, elf!」

「Barfu!」

It was a messy scuffle between two people and one animal. The dog being a dog, when he got caught up in the elf's blows, snapped and started biting the elf as well.

I laughed, thinking that they both got what they deserved, and got sent sprawling by their simultaneous attacks. I was able to smoothly avoid their follow-up attacks. As if this had happened before, I fought back in a practiced manner.

As the melee continued……

「Take it somewhere else!!!」

Shigure dumped a bucket of water on all of us.

「You're disturbing our business! I'll ban you from this place, you assholes!」

「Shigure, this man is a representative hero of Elysium!」

「Melm-sama, please take a good look at him. There's no way there's such a destitute-looking hero who reeks so much of poverty, now is there?」

「Hah………………that's true」

Hey, don't just agree, damned elf.

「Barfu」

「Barfuru-sama, house」

「………………Barfu」

The dog shook the water off and then headed back to the store.

Get that guy on a leash.

「Hey, if you're gonna be causing problems, then I'm gonna have to ask you to get out」

「You know what, I tempted to just leave right now」

An elf who swings a sword at me the moment he sees my face and a crazy dumb mutt. I don't want to be around these people for even a second longer.

「Ah! You're hurt! And that horn」

Shigure reached for the shoulder the elf had slashed at ――――――

「Don't touch me!!!」

I yelled out without thinking.

「!」

Startled, the fur on Shigure's ears and tail bristled.

「S, sorry. My shoulder is fine. It's just my clothes that got cut」

To prevent anyone from seeing what was inside, I shifted my cloak to cover up my left shoulder.

This wound is not one a mere sword can scratch. That's why it's so dangerous. People who don't need to know such things should live their whole lives without ever learning about them.

「Shigure, daijoubu?(Are you okay?)」

A female voice came from a short distance away.

It was one of the customers in the store.

「Daijoubu(I’m fine)」

Waving to the customer with an amiable smile, Shigure spoke to me in a low voice.

「That's enough for today, so just call it a day and go check on Arianne. I'll bring some food over later」

Surprisingly, I escaped being kicked out.

This child is more mature than I had expected. Who do they resemble, I wonder? Or rather, where's the father? I can't help but wonder sordid thoughts like maybe it's a single beastkin woman raising her child by herself here.

「Hey, you」

「What else do you want from me?」

I ignored the elf and picked up my hat. Next, I reached for the longsword, but it was broken again.

It's that bastard of a dog, I'm sure of it.

「Here's a little something as an apology. Take it」

The elf threw a sword at me roughly. It was a different sword that he had kept hidden. I failed to catch it and it hit me in the side and fell to the ground.

「Moron」

Shut the hell up.

Trying to maintain my composure in the face of the elf's name-calling, I picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground.

It was an old sword.

There were signs that the ornamentation on the sheath, hilt, and handguard had fallen off, but I could picture its former glory from the design.

Clamping the sheath between my shoulder and neck, I pulled the sword out to reveal a dirty gray blade. It was almost the same length and shape as a typical longsword. The blade, however, had been sharpened to the utmost.

To have remained a sword over such a long time, it must be some kind of famous sword.

「If you're giving it to me, I'll take it, but I'm not going to give it back, you hear?」

「You really aren't a representative hero of Elysium, huh?」

「What are you talking about?」

The elf snorted at me.

「That sword was usurped from some elf by the King of Hemu. In the long passage of time, it has come a full circle and ended up in the hands of a descendant such as myself. ………It's now just a trash sword that no longer holds any meaning」

The term he used isn't stolen but usurped. I don't see the difference though.

But a trash sword is just right for me.

「So it's a stolen item, huh? You're not the decent sort, are you, elf?」

「Shut up, you moron with a misleading appearance」

「Bah」

「Hmpt」

I feel like I will never get along with this guy.

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Parting with the elf, I entered the store through the back door.

A clean towel had been left there. Taking this as Shigure's way of telling me, "Use this," I wiped off my soaked body and clothes and went down to the basement of the store.

The basement was quite spacious. The air was humid and the passageway seemed endless. The lighting fixtures didn't give off enough light to illuminate what lay ahead. However, it was warmer compared to outside. The temperature was relatively pleasant.

Is this also a dungeon, I wonder?

I didn't know there’s such a thing under the city. I’ve never heard of it, not even in rumors.

What a strange store.

The abundance of ingredients and oddly modern kitchen utensils also bothers me. As do the shitty monstrous dog and the weird elf from earlier.

But so long as we're under their care, I won't harbor any strange suspicions about them.

I knocked on the door of one of the rooms in the dungeon.

「Ari, are you up?」

There was no answer, so I opened the door without hesitation.

The room Shigure had prepared for Arianne was a six-tatami room with a double bed and a set of table and chairs. There was also a dressing table with mirror in the corner. In an adjoining room at the back were a toilet and a bath. Although the room looked like a prison cell due to the lack of windows, it seemed to be comfortable to live in.

At my feet lay a suit of armor and a sword.

Upon closer look, I noticed clothes and underwear draped over one of the chairs.

「At least put them away」

「Quit nagging」

A bare foot sticking out of the bedsheets answered me.

Arianne is flawless, but she acts like this from time to time. This is her small and adorable way of being depressed.

「I'll have to start gathering clues from scratch again~」

「Yeah. Well, it'll work out. You were just a little unlucky this time around, that's all」

「Unlucky, you say? You know……」

Arianne turned around with a fed-up look on her face.

「Eh, what happened?」

「Hmm?」

She looked surprised at something.

「Your shoulder. That's a blade wound, isn't it?」

「I got slashed by a crazy elf outside. I'm not hurt」

「What's with that? How disturbing」

「Indeed」

I placed the sword that the elf gave me in a corner of the room.

「And what's that?」

「The elf's apology」

「Throw it away. A sword doesn't suit you」

「Got it. I'll throw it away tomorrow」

Arianne is right. Swords don't suit me.

「I wish I hadn't asked you to escort me」

「Don't say that. I was glad to be of use」

「You weren’t of use at all」

「Yeah」

I have the feeling that I only made the situation more troublesome.

「Haaa, let me have a look at your shoulder」

「It’s fine」

「Just show it to me」

I'm really fine, but if she insists, then I'll show it to her.

I took off the cloak, unbuttoned my shirt, and bared my left shoulder.

「It's progressed again」

「Quite steadily, yes」

My left shoulder and elbow are becoming crystallized. I have shown this to every healer in the city, but none of them can identify the cause. There's no way to cure it. Even now, the crystals are gradually spreading and have reached a part of my chest.

If it reaches my heart, I'll probably die.

I won't die today or tomorrow, but I certainly won't be alive in six months. I may very well die as early as next month.

「Does it hurt?」

「Not really」

It really hurts. There are times when the intense pain of the crystals encroaching upon my body makes it hard for me to sleep or move.

But I'm a man.

I can't say "It hurts" in front of a woman.

「Nothing beats a peaceful death. I don't recommend that you be like my father and brother, who died spreading resentment and hatred to others. At the very least, people should die as humans」

「You’re right」

I have no doubt about that. I don't hate this life I have now where I'm peacefully approaching death. I don't know where or how I lived in the past, but there's nothing good about dying in a back alley without anyone knowing about it. That's the way of life and the death of beasts.

「By the way, where are we?」

「The basement of Tyutyu's store. I'm going to need to work here for the time being」

「Oh my, I feel bad somehow」

「No need for that. I'm doing it to repay you」

「That's good. You should learn how to make soup or something. Go learn a trade and live out the rest of your life」

「Yeah, yeah」

It might not be bad to spend what's left of my short life like that, I suppose.

I heard a clatter.

Arianne noticed it too.

When she opened the door to the room, she found a tray with ramen noodles and drinks on it.

I could hear the footsteps of someone running away as a small shadow disappeared into the darkness.

It must be Shigure.

「What's with that? At least give us a holler or something」

What a strange child.

It’s your kid, dammit! Well…most probably? Btw, how long has it been since the final battle, I wonder? I mean, Shigure is kinda big though… You’re missing the day counter right about now, I’d bet.

Yeah, this whole volume is pretty much filled with bittersweet moments only for us readers. In a sense, this is so genius. Ask anyone to read starting from this volume and all they’ll see is a normal story, but for us……

Who’s speaking Japanese to Shigure, I wonder…

Ash/Souya’s dying soon, huh? It’s that crystalline spear Garving shot him with, isn’t it? Arghh, that bittersweet ending… The end of the arc is next, so stay tuned!

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