Main Quest [Adventure Slave: Tooyama Naruhito]

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What’s wrong? You seemed to be asleep for quite a while, but in this situation, you’re quite, well, bold, aren’t you?”

The lizard had spoken. Once again, words flowed through his vision and vanished as if melting into the scenery.

Before he realized it, the arrow had disappeared too.

“The arrow disappeared…”

“…It seems you are still half asleep. Hmm, well, if you do not mind.”

The lizard-man took some kind of bundle from his coat. Paper? No, wrapped in the leaf of some plant was something brown and fluffy.

“I have some brown bread I made. Would you like to eat it?”

What is going on here?

He thought he had died in the dungeon, and now a lizard riding in the same wagon was offering him bread.

As Tooyama stared blankly at the offered bread and froze,

“…Ah, no, sorry. Of course something made by a Lizardonian would be too disgusting for you to eat.”

It was clear that he looked dejected.

His tail drooped limply, and the way the corners of his eyes lowered made his expression easier to understand than a human’s.

“Ah, no, no. If it’s okay for me to eat it, I’ll take some. Thanks.”

Was it rye bread? Tooyama tossed the thing offered to him into his mouth.

Fluff. It was a little dry, but when he chewed it well, he could clearly feel the faint sweetness and the softness of the dough. It tasted nourishing.

“…You ate it? You ate it?”

The lizard widened his eyes.

“Huh, was I not supposed to? It’s good. I like the taste. Not too sweet and healthy. Is it rye?”

At Tooyama’s words, the lizard-man choked on an “ah” and an “uh.”

His vertically widened pupils stared intently at Tooyama as he munched on the brown bread.

“It is good? It is good… I see, I see…”

The lizard-man covered his face and looked down.

Had he started regretting giving away the bread? As Tooyama watched the lizard-man’s shoulders tremble, he belatedly realized something.

“…Wait, actually, why are your handcuffs off?”

“Ah, yes. They were using cheap ones, you see. I removed them with a lockpick I had hidden. They will not notice inside the wagon.”

“Huh. The setting is pretty detailed for a dream.”

“Hey!! You’re noisy!! Keep quiet, you slaves!”

A vulgar voice rang out from beyond the wagon cover. Tooyama frowned at the loud voice that echoed in his ears.

“…It seems some of them have better hearing than expected. There are likely beastfolk mixed in too.”

“Beastfolk… Huh. Is this because I’ve been into otherworld reincarnation stories lately? A dream like that? A dream after death? No, it’s different from my life flashing before my eyes.”

A post-death experience? The standard would be dead family waiting in a flower field, but if you have no family, this is the kind of dream you get?

Tooyama somehow convinced himself and took a breath. The sensations in his body felt entirely real too. There was not a single hazy part.

“…You and I are not quite communicating properly. Where did you come from? Your homeland? Judging by your appearance, perhaps somewhere east of the Empire? Black hair and chestnut eyes are rare.”

“Ah, my homeland? Nihon. Hiroshima in Nihon. Well, by the time I knew what was going on, I was living in an institution, so I don’t remember where I was born.”

“Nihon…? Are you speaking of the Great Republic of Nihon of the Second Civilization? Hmm, you were putting on quite a fight against those adventurers earlier. You must have hit your head. …But you are a good person. After all, you are speaking properly with a Lizardonian like this, and even eating the bread offered to you.”

“No, isn’t it the other way around? I think the one who shared bread with me is the good guy.”

At Tooyama’s casual mutter, the lizard-man stopped moving. His mouth hung open, and he froze in a daze.

Rattle. The wheels made an especially loud sound.

He sensed that the wagon had stopped.

“…So we have stopped. I made a good memory at the end. Thank you, traveler-san.”

The lizard-man smiled with a faint shadow over his face.

“Huh? Dream? What do you mean, stopped?”

“…It means this is the end of the road. Ah, my great ancestors, and our pure angel, I give you thanks. At the final moment, you granted me a dream.”

“I don’t understand the worldview. What kind of dream is this? …For a dream, it’s kind of, well…”

As the lizard began to pray, Tooyama tilted his head. He still could not grasp the situation.

“Hey!! Hurry up and get down!! We’re at the destination!! Don’t try anything funny!”

“Spoon, that wagon is the one with that man in it. Captain Ron’s orders said not to provoke him too much, didn’t they?”

“Shut up!! He’s just a petty thief Lizardonian and some country-bumpkin human! That bastard Ron just has tiny guts! Hey, get down! I’ll bite you to death, you slaves!”

“…Let’s go. Beastfolk are short-tempered. They might kill us in a fit of rage.”

“O-ohh, beastfolk…? After a lizard-man, now beastfolk… This dream sure has a strong fantasy flavor. I must have read too many otherworld reincarnation stories.”

Tooyama stood up, and with the lizard-man urging him ahead, he bent at the waist and moved through the covered wagon.

He descended outside through the opened door—

“Finally came down, huh? You’re stubborn! Hey! Hurry up and get down!! Damn it!”

Seriously?

After the lizard came a man like a dog. A dog-man.

A leather breastplate, simple trousers, and shaggy hair, but his body was completely human. From the neck up, he had a pointed muzzle and pointed dog ears.

A dog face. But he was not very cute. His face combined the worst parts of a human with the eeriness of a beast.

Seriously, beastfolk. A beastfolk straight out of fantasy was there.

When Tooyama looked carefully around him, many similar wagons were stopped there, and rough-looking people were driving them and unloading people from the cargo beds.

“Fran, these people, all of them…”

“El, it can’t be helped, can it? The Tower is dangerous. Unless we use them to grasp the monsters’ positions and dangerous zones to some degree, there’s no way forward. Not everyone can do things like a Tower-Class.”

A beautiful voice came from the driver’s seat of a nearby wagon. Tooyama glanced that way and froze.

No way.

Boing. He was riveted by something attached to the woman’s head.

Simple and practical-looking light leather armor, bottoms like tights, a well-shaped Western-style face, and—

“Cat ears… Seriously, this dream is way too good.”

Perhaps the smaller cat-eared girl noticed Tooyama’s gaze. She glanced over, then awkwardly lowered her eyes.

Huh, what kind of reaction is that?

“Hey!! Hurry up and line up!! You, over here!”

His shoulder was yanked hard. However, Tooyama did not budge. Since he did not feel much strength, he did not even notice he had been pulled.

Where is this?

A building? A cave?

Tooyama checked his surroundings. It was a space like a wide hall. The floor and walls had been polished as if they were artificial. Torches lit here and there seemed to serve as the light source.

“Wh-what? What is this guy, he’s heavy…?! Hey, this way! You, damn it!”

At last, the bald man grabbed Tooyama’s shoulder with both hands, and Tooyama finally realized he had been pulled.

“Whoops. Ah, that way. Yeah, yeah.”

“What… is this guy…”

As if he had seen something disturbing, the bald man left the spot.

Tooyama walked toward the group of people dressed in the same ragged clothing.

As he walked and looked carefully around him, many of the people were armed with weapons. Both men and women riding on the wagons were armed.

“Wait here!! Don’t move until you’re ordered to! Slave!”

As Tooyama continued looking around, someone suddenly called out to him.

“Hey, you. Just now, you were making eyes at the El-Fran sisters, weren’t you?”

From a height about two heads taller than Tooyama, words mixed with a beast’s growl rained down from above. Along with a strong animal stench,

“Huh, what? Guah?!”

He was suddenly punched in the solar plexus. Without thinking, he collapsed on the spot.

“Try getting cocky one more time. I’ll rip off those ears and gouge out your eyes. Don’t get full of yourself, slave scum.”

His hair was grabbed, and the threat was hissed into his ear.

A shaggy beast face. Body odor mixing the stink of alcohol and beasts.

It was too real to be a dream.

That was why Tooyama’s switch flipped easily. It was the aptitude that made Tooyama Naruhito an “explorer.”

If this guy pisses me off two more times, I’ll kill him. [Murder Aptitude]

“Hey, Spoon, there was a good one in there.”

“Yeah, that slave was making eyes at our princesses. Monkey bastards go into heat anywhere and at anyone, so they’re impossible to deal with. Gyahaha!”

Tooyama stared at the dog-man as he laughed with his companions and walked away, showing his back.

His narrow eyes, which his companions had once said resembled a Tibetan sand fox’s, stared intently at the back of the dog-man who had punched him.

“…Hey, are you all right? That was the worst kind of slave treatment, treatment as an adventurer’s slave… A ‘Tower canary,’ huh?”

The one who lent him a hand and helped him up was the lizard-man from earlier. The handcuffs he should have removed at some point were back on. Was he good with his hands?

“Ow, ow. Adventurers… Are those guys adventurers? The kind who mess around with guilds and stuff?”

It was something familiar from fantasy novels and the like.

Tooyama accepted it fairly easily. It was a familiar word.

“Yes, those adventurers. Among the many employers of slaves, they are among the worst. …Judging from this feeling, they are likely a first-rank or second-rank party permitted to challenge the Tower. Canary slaves are… the type of slaves who meet the worst fate.”

“Huh. It’s pretty complicated for a dream. Ow, ow. Still, it’s realistic. The feeling of being punched in the gut was real too.”

“…I thought perhaps if you returned to your senses, something might be possible, but it seems that is impossible. It looks as if several second-rank parties have joined forces. …Let us steel ourselves with good memories in our hearts.”

After that, the lizard-man lowered his head and fell silent. For a dream, the fine details were seriously elaborate.

Without thinking much of it, Tooyama listened to the restless surroundings.

More and more wagons kept appearing from behind, forming a small group. The smell of horses slightly stung his nose.

A corridor. Indoors, even though multiple wagons could pass through. Tooyama felt something strangely nostalgic about that place.

A dungeon. He felt the same prickling sensation here that he had felt inside the modern dungeon, Babel’s Great Pit.

“Iris! Have each member check their equipment!! Make them thorough! Also gather the escorts for the slaves who need special attention! Especially those three idiot brothers! We can’t afford to fail today!”

“Where’s Captain Ron? Did his stomach act up again? Honestly, that man’s mentality is like a water flea. In terms of skill alone, he wouldn’t lose to a first-rank.”

“All members, reorganize the predicted zones where the ‘Cyclops’ may appear! First, we will release the ‘canary slaves’ into each zone and observe the situation. Reconfirm that detection-type magical formula crests are installed in the slaves’ handcuffs!”

“Which wagon was that violent one from? Ah, the one with those three brothers? Then it should be fine. He was pretty sturdy. If his circumstances had been different, he might have become an adventurer and made it reasonably far, don’t you think?”

“Well, it’s a matter of fate. Anyway, mistakes are not allowed in today’s work. Lady ‘Dragon Shrine Maiden’ will arrive soon too. We can’t show her anything pathetic. We have to draw her interest even a little.”

“A hunting competition with a ‘Tower-Class Adventurer,’ huh? If we pull this off, we’ll finally have a chance at first rank. Luck has finally come around to us. Let’s make this succeed.”

Yeah, as expected, it’s detailed. A dream. This is a dream, right?

He checked the sensations of his body and the clothes he wore.

Crude cloth clothing, cloth wrapped around his waist, shabby trousers, and sloppy leather shoes.

A crude outfit similar to the lizard-man’s. Like slave clothing.

“…These clothes are like a cheapened version of the indoor wear at a sauna place.”

“Hey!! Don’t run your mouth!! I’ll beat you to death!”

The dog-man shouted, treating the word “kill” far too lightly as he kicked weak-looking slaves around.

Tooyama got irritated again.

One more time.

The group of people in rags started moving as the adventurers drove them onward.

Tooyama also vaguely followed the flow and moved forward. All the humans dressed in ragged clothes seemed to have their wrists bound by handcuffs.

‘…What kind of dream is this, seriously?’

‘Actually, I died, right?’

‘I broke through that pack of monster apes, dealt with an even bigger monster ape after that, then got my stomach gouged open, and somehow ran away, but it should have been hopeless.’

‘…What happened after that? Someone said something, I think…’

Just as Tooyama tried to dig up his memories,

“Lizard!! Hurry up and walk too! Want me to skin you and turn you into a wallet?!”

That noisy voice rang out again. The low, shouting voice resembled the voice of a staff member at the institution from his childhood when they yelled at the children.

“Ah, I understand—Guh?!”

“Ah, that’s awful.”

The lizard-man was punched and sent flying by the dog-man. A fist swung without warning, without any hesitation.

Violence. Leaving aside when he himself did it, seeing others use it felt unpleasant.

Even so, Tooyama did not look away.

“Don’t talk like you’re important, Lizardonian. Don’t speak without permission. Just breathing the same air as a lizard bastard makes me sick.”

“…Ugh, uuh…”

He crawled on the ground.

“Huh? What’s this? This guy’s still hiding something… What is this, bread?”

“Oh, this is impressive. You slipped it past Captain Ron’s belongings inspection? You’re wasted as a petty thief.”

“A Lizardonian, huh. Showing me something filthy. Were you hiding it to eat it later?”

“…No. I thought someone might get hungry.”

The lizard-man unsteadily raised himself. While crouching, he tried to pick up the brown bread the dog-man had thrown away.

“Ah.”

Crunch.

Right in front of the lizard-man’s eyes, the armed dog-man crushed that bread underfoot.

“Pfft!! Gyahahahaha!! Hey! Did you hear that?! He said if someone got hungry!! Idiot! Who the hell would eat bread a Lizardonian had?! Even if I were about to starve to death, I wouldn’t want to lick anything you touched!”

“…Ah, the bread I made…”

The lizard-man muttered in a daze as he stared at the crushed crumbs of bread.

At that mutter, the laughter from the surrounding people grew even louder, and louder.

“Made!? Hey, did you all hear that?! The Lizardonian made bread!”

“A cursed race that’s only good at plundering and invading, making bread!! Don’t make me laugh! Disgusting!”

“I’d bet on it! No one would eat bread you made! It’s so disgusting I feel like puking! Even slaves would absolutely never eat something that nasty!”

“Hey, hey, don’t bully him too much, you guys. Well, if it’s a lizard bastard, I guess it’s fine.”

“Filthy. Hey, don’t let that slave come near us, okay? I’m getting goosebumps.”

Gyahahahahahahaha.

Filthy laughter swirled.

“…Gh, uuh.”

The lizard-man crouched down and curled up. His long tail curled around his body.

The jeers, abuse, and filthy words of the coarse men continued echoing through the wide corridor.

Not a single person around rebuked them.

Even the ones called slaves, who wore the same rags, had faint smirks floating on their lips.

“Huh?”

“Oh?”

“What’s that?”

The one who stopped that laughter was a certain slave.

He quietly stepped out of the line and appeared before the ones making that grating laughter echo.

Tooyama Naruhito stopped that laughter. The dog-men stopped laughing and stared at the slave who had suddenly appeared.

“What a waste.”

He picked up the bread.

Even after being crushed underfoot, it still kept its shape properly. Proof that it was good bread.

With his handcuffed hands, he shook his fingertips loosely, brushed off as much dust as possible, then tossed it into his mouth.

“…………Huh?”

“…………What?”

Tooyama Naruhito casually picked up the crushed bread and ate it just like that.

Munch, munch. Grit.

Mixed with sand, mixed with dust.

Even so, eating the bread while watching the dumbfounded faces of the dog-men was not bad.

“Delicious.”

Tooyama let out a burp.

“Y-you bastard!!! Why are you moving on your own?! Slave!!”

“Th-this guy is filthy. He ate bread made by a Lizardonian.”

“Black hair and chestnut eyes. He’s the one who fought the most! The slave Captain Ron restrained!”

Their fur bristled all at once, and the dog-men shouted while spraying spit.

“Y-you…”

“Lizard-man, do you still have bread?”

“Huh, ah, no. That was the last of it.”

“I see. Then make it again sometime. It was good. I’ll pay you later.”

“Ah, ah, yes. No, why did you… Are you all right?”

“Well, with that amount, I probably won’t get a stomachache. More importantly…”

Tooyama stood in front of the lizard-man and looked over the dog-men who had been picking a fight with him.

Again. There it was again, an arrow. Floating arrows pointed at the dog-men.

One, two, three of them.

Armed. Hand axe, sword stuck at the waist, a huge hammer hanging on the back.

Light equipment. Was it because their fur was thick enough that they did not need extra stuff? For a dream, the setting sure is detailed.

Tooyama leisurely looked them over and made his decision.

“Why are you talking on your own?! Do you want us to hurt you again?! Slave!! Are you looking down on us adventurers?! We’re a second-rank party!”

“Let’s hurt him a bit more. He’s bait to lure out the Cyclops anyway, so it’s fine if we break an arm or leg.”

“Let’s tell Captain Ron this guy went wild again!! Acting so damn cheeky!!”

“Hey, look. Those brothers are harassing a slave again.”

“Spoon, don’t kill him too much! Even those things cost money, you know.”

The people around them.

The armed ones showed no intention of stopping it. They started throwing jeers and idle chatter as if an amusing spectacle had begun.

Vulgar jeers and piercing whistles rang in his ears.

“These guys are annoying.”

“The preparations are already complete.”

For a moment, Tooyama considered killing them all, but after thinking about the backlash after using that, he suppressed the thought.

“Low public morals, and their training looks low too.”

“What are you muttering about?! Slave!!”

“Hey, hey, I heard him! That guy said something like you’re weaklings, Spoon, Macro!”

“Gyahaha! You’re getting mocked by a slave!”

“Ahh, that slave is dead.”

The jeers from the armed men around them made the three dog-men completely snap.

“You bastard. Huh? A slave ran his mouth at us?”

The dog-man at the front stomped closer. Baring his fangs, he drew the sword that had been stuck at his waist.

“You’re gonna learn what pain is, human. I can’t stand slaves like you getting cocky and acting however they want.”

The dog-man raised the blunt side of his hand axe, swinging it toward Tooyama like a hammer.

“Third time.”

“““Huh?”””

At Tooyama’s mutter, the dog-men let out dumb voices at the same time.

“That’s the third time, you.”

Tooyama looked up at the dog-men threatening him, men two heads taller than him.

“People who hit others are bad guys. People who waste food are pieces of crap. People who trample on something someone made are monsters. …I’m an explorer, so I kill monsters.”

When I look closely, these guys have a similar vibe to those apes back then.

He was starting to get seriously irritated.

Tooyama delivered his notice to the dog-men.

The dog-men stared blankly, exchanged looks with one another—

“““Gyahahahahahahahaha!!!”””

Then burst into laughter all at once.

The same went for the people around them throwing jeers. They had seen something incredibly funny and incredibly stupid. Such vulgar laughter echoed through the hall.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, did you hear that?! That guy’s dead.”

“Gyahaha! Those guys are getting treated like that by an adventure slave!”

“O-onee-chan, that person is going to be killed.”

“El, stop watching. Well, if one slave is enough to let those idiots blow off steam, it’s cheap.”

Tooyama observed the people saying whatever they liked, these so-called “adventurers,” without changing his expression.

And he judged that he could do it. Their physiques: many had thick arms but protruding bellies.

Their movements: most had their chins raised and their backs wavering unsteadily.

No matter what he looked at, he judged them second-rate—no, third-rate.

After quietly sizing up his prey, Tooyama began his preparation. No one noticed the weapon the slave had hidden in his body.

“There are lots of ways to live life as richly as possible. In my case, I decided to follow one rule.”

“What is this guy? Creepy. Hey, did you hear something?”

“I do what I want to do. I work to get what I want. I live honestly according to my own wishes. I don’t betray my own desires. That much, I’ve decided.”

“Nah, he’s so scared his head went crazy. Let’s do him in!”

“That doesn’t change even in a dream. Wanting to beat down people who piss me off is also a desire. My desire.”

Tooyama did not stop speaking. He calmly declared this to the dog-men in front of him, whose killing intent was swelling in an easy-to-understand way.

“I act according to my desires. That’s how I decided to live.”

“What are you saying, little boy? Gyaha, did the adventure slave go crazy from fear? Come on, come on. If you can kill me, try it. Come on.”

One of the dog-men made a fool of himself by thrusting his face toward Tooyama, who was wearing handcuffs.

“If you can even hit one of our faces, we’ll let you esc—… Huh?”

Splat.

The dog-man’s words stopped.

The spit Tooyama had spat at point-blank range dripped from the shaggy face.

Tooyama’s current desire was one thing.

“You stink like an animal. Go take a shower, octopus.”

To silence these guys forever.

“Th-this guy spat?! Monkey bastard!!”

The hand axe was swung down at Tooyama. Stupidly enough, he seemed to have quick hands at least.

Tooyama was unarmed, with both hands bound by handcuffs.

Sensing the coming violence, the lizard-man covered his eyes again—

Jararararara!!

“Huh?”

Using the chain connecting the left and right cuffs, Tooyama caught the descending hand axe strike as if sliding along it and entangling it.

“Wh—?!”

“Cheap stuff, huh.”

Crack. The simply made chain of poor material snapped.

The arms of Tooyama Naruhito, an “advanced explorer,” were free.

“Ah, gya?!!”

The attack missed as a result, leaving the dog-man full of openings.

Two fingers stabbed straight into the dog-man’s eyes. An eye gouge.

A scream. As the other beastfolk stood dumbfounded, the screaming dog-man let his hand axe, his own weapon, slip from his hand.

“You let go of your weapon? Are you a complete amateur?”

Tooyama picked up the hand axe and swung it down as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Crunch. The blade swung down onto the crown of the head easily crushed the skull.

This skull, fur, and bone were softer than they looked.

“One.”

“Ha, beh?”

With a heavy thud, he kicked away the thing as it collapsed, eyes rolled white and blood flowing.

The lackeys were still stunned and had not moved.

Too easy. A pack of monster species was several times tougher.

“Ah, heave-ho.”

“Uah?”

He stepped in and swung the hand axe upward. Mercy, restraint—none of that existed. Tooyama Naruhito was that kind of man.

Whoosh! The hand axe strike split the air. He swung it upward like a golf swing toward the second beastman, below his trousers, at his crotch.

Clink.

He crushed something.

“Beh, bebe, beh…”

Foaming at the mouth, the second one collapsed.

“Ah, ha, huh?! You guys, how, why?! A slaveeeee!!”

“Oh, you’re the one who punched me in the solar plexus and hit the lizard-san earlier. I’ll get my revenge.”

“Aaaaaaaaaah?!!”

Had he finally understood the situation? The last remaining dog-man raised his sword overhead.

He tried to cut down the slave who had killed his comrades—

“Buh, eh?”

The hand axe bit into his side. The way he swung that sword far too widely easily allowed Tooyama Naruhito to attack his flank.

“Don’t stop just because it hurts. Show some guts, guts.”

The dog-man bent his body like the letter “く” from the pain.

Smack.

“Ah.”

“An eye for an eye, a solar plexus for a solar plexus.”

Thud.

Tooyama snatched the sword from the dog-man’s weakened hand. After that, he roughly drove the sword tip into the dog-man’s solar plexus.

“Eh, buh.”

“Die, octopus.”

Then he front-kicked the stomach where the sword was still stabbed.

Of course, the sword was driven in like a stake by the kick, biting even deeper into the dog-man’s solar plexus.

“Gyubu.”

The dog-man let out a voice like a crushed frog and fell onto his back. His arms and legs flailed for a moment, but he soon went still like a dead cicada and fell silent.

In the blink of an eye, three men had died.

An explorer had killed three adventurers.

“You take good care of your weapons, at least. But a hand axe, huh. It’s kind of half-baked, so it’s not really my taste.”

Clang.

The sound of the hand axe being thrown away after completing its role rang out loudly and widely.

Again, a message appeared at the edge of his vision.

‘Haha, I see. This is pretty convenient.’

Tooyama looked toward the direction indicated by the floating arrow in his vision.