Nies picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it at Spiky Beanpole. It pleased him how it hit the spiky beanpole right on the face, but the other villagers went pale as soon as it happened.

“Get out! Idiiooot!”

Spiky Beanpole’s expression as he slowly looked at Nies spoke volumes: I’m going to kill this brat.

Nies who was feeling pleased just seconds ago was now frozen on the spot under Spiky Beanpole’s murderous intent.

“St-stop it!” The village chief quickly stood in front of Nies to protect him. Spiky Beanpole thought that the village chief was in the way and sent him flying with a hard punch.

Then Spiky Beanpole drew the sword on his waist and pointed it at Nies. Paralyzed by fear, Nies didn’t move an inch.

“Brat, any last words?”

“D-don’t…”

Nies shook his head while shedding tears but that didn’t stop Spiky Beanpole. Spiky Beanpole smiled happily, raised his sword into the air and then swung it down.

*Whoos.h.!.+*

Everyone gulped and closed their eyes. They all thought that Nies’s life was over.

“Owwww! It hurtssss!”

The one who was screaming out in pain and bleeding was Spiky Beanpole. Something had pierced his sword arm.

It was definitely a blade. Crimson liquid was dripping down his arm from where he was pierced with the blade. Everyone became dumbfounded while watching the bizarre scene. His arm was undoubtedly pierced by a sword, but the length of it was clearly too long.

Everyone looked to see where the blade had come from. All eyes fell on Hiiro. It was Hiiro Okamura who had attacked the spiky beanpole.

(As I thought, using 『Extend (伸) 』with 《Word Magic》is really useful.)

He had extended the blade by writing 『Extend (伸) 』on it, fully aware that it was now roughly 6.5m2 [TN: 4 tatami mats] long. However no one present understood what had happened in this bizarre scene.

Without a moment’s delay, Hiiro reverted his sword back to normal by writing 『Origin (元) 』. The blade slipped out of Spiky Beanpole’s arm with a whoosh, he groaned in pain and his arms trembled dropping his raised sword. A great amount of sweat was acc.u.mulating on his face.

“Stand back, brat.”

Nies: “Mi-mister… Wh-why?”

“I’m getting paid for this, so I’m lending a hand.” Hiiro bluntly stated. Nies’s beamed and let out a relieved sigh.

“Wh-who the h.e.l.l’re you?!” Spiky Beanpole frantically screamed, enduring the pain while opening his bloodshot eyes.

“I have no obligation to answer you. Hurry —-.”

“Wha!?” Spiky Beanpole couldn’t react at all as Hiiro leaped at him with an incredible speed. Then Hiiro slashed him with his sword.

“— Take this.”

*SLAAAASH*

In one swing, the blade cut from Spiky Beanpole’s left shoulder into his right flank, splas.h.i.+ng blood everywhere. Spiky Beanpole collapsed to the ground from the damage.

“Im… Possible…”

Everyone thought that spiky beanpole was dead but his twitching showed that he was still alive. It seems that he had completely lost consciousness.

“Like I thought, guys like him aren’t anything special.”

Bald Chubby finally noticed that something was wrong and came out of the store.

“Ah… What’s this? Why’s my bro on the ground?”

“Enough with the questions. Come.” Hiiro said as he agilely leaped towards Bald Chubby and swung his sword just like he did before, but…

*CLIIIING*

He was stopped by a metallic sound.

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(d.a.m.n! He’s wearing chain mail!)

Although Hiiro had slashed Bald Chubby, it didn’t feel like he had cut flesh. Instead the sensation of a metallic resistance lingered in Hiiro’s hands.

“M-my clothes. How dare you!” Bald Chubby said as he ripped his already torn clothes some more. (Weren’t you angry over your clothes?) Hiiro wanted to ask. Just like Hiiro had thought, bald chubby was wearing chain mail underneath his clothes.

Bald Chubby drew his broadsword from his back and swung it with a swish.

(Mhm, considering my gear, I’ll die if I take that hit outright.) Hiiro thought and put distance between himself and bald chubby.

“I, I’ll turn you into minced meeeaat!”

“Shut it, Bald Chubby and bring it on.”

“Ch-chubby? Youuu! Don’t call me chuubbbby!”

Bald Chubby swung his sword with all his might. Since Hiiro knew that it was aimed at his head, he dodged by squatting down and slashed at Bald Chubby’s legs. But once again, there was a metallic sound.

“Oh come on, this Bald Chubby is wearing full body armour? Impressive he can move around.”

Normally it would be too heavy to even walk around. But while his movements were dull, he still managed to move around, so he must have considerable power.

“But it’s meaningless if he can’t hit his target. Besides, I can also fight like this.” Hiiro said, putting his sword away and toyed with his opponent by moving around swiftly.

Bald: “Uh, Urgh, where? Where’s he?”

With his characteristic speed, Hiiro had gone around to Bald Chubby’s back. Bald chubby was still searching around restlessly for Hiiro. Concentrating magic power into his fingertip, he then wrote a word onto Bald Chubby’s chain mail.

After quickly falling back, he activated the magic in his mind. Bald Chubby suddenly turned bright red and started to roll around on the ground.

“H-ho-hoot?! Wh-what’s this?! Why’s it so hot?!”

Hiiro had written『Heat (熱) 』. The character only went as far as heating up his chainmail, so it couldn’t have been that hot.

The villagers were dumbfounded at the figure of bald chubby rolling on the ground.

“Okay, all done.” Hiiro looked down on Bald Chubby and faintly smiled.

“Guh… H… Hot… What did… you do…?”

“Who knows? You’ll never find out, Bald Chubby. Laters.” He said, using his right hand he hit bald chubby in the face with all his might. He could finally damage Bald Chubby with his own hands.

“Gweh!” Bald Chubby lost his consciousness while his body smoked. At that moment, Hiiro heard a familiar sound in his head.

(Oh, so even guys like these gives me EXP?)

He walked over to Spiky Beanpole and searched his pockets.

“… Ah, found it. Here.” Hiiro said and threw the papers at the village chief. The village chef quickly caught it.

“What happens from now on is up to you.”

“Th-this is the village’s t.i.tle deed…?”

“Hurry up and call the army to take these guys away. They won’t wake for a while, but tie them up properly.”

“Uh-Uhm…”

The village chief who looked as if he had no clue what was going on, gradually caught up with the current situation, looked at the defeated two once more and smiled.

“O-oh…”

And then…

“Yaaaaaayy!”

The overwhelming cheer of the villagers reached his ears. Hiiro mumbled, “So noisy” with one eye closed but no one heard him. The village chief took his hand and thanked him in tears.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“S-sure.” Hiiro replied bewildered. Then Panis came over.

Panis: “Yo-you’re quite the remarkable adventurer, aren’t you?”

“I wonder? Aren’t those guys just weak?”

Panis: “Not at all. Those two are known as the 《Harios Brothers》and are quite skilled adventurers. Although notorious.”

Hiiro gave a brief nod. To be honest, he wasn’t interested in their life story. Then he suddenly felt a light hit on his bottom. When he looked to see who it was, there stood Nies.

Nies: “What’s with that? If you’re that strong, then you should’ve helped us from the start!”

“Hey Nies!” The village chief scolded Nies and in the next moment everyone was surprised at Hiiro’s action. Hiiro had lightly nudged Nies’s head with a thump.

“That hurt! What’re you doing!?”

“Like I said, I’m not a Hero. I don’t help people out for free. This time, I received a request from the Old Man, so I helped out. Of course, reward included.”

“Wha… Coco as well?” Nies asked Coco. She replied with, “Yes”, smiled like a blooming flower and gave a big nod.

“Also, it was a one-time thing.”

“Wha?!” Nies said while raising his fist. Hiiro ignored the now pouting Nies and turned to speak with Panis. Of course, he wanted to talk about the reward.

“Now then, Old Man. Can you immediately go and ask the village chief about the book?”

“A-ah, sure can but…” Panis smiled bitterly while looking at Nies who was glaring at Hiiro with teary eyes and his cheeks puffed out. When Panis approached the village chief to talk about Hiiro’s reward, the chief agreed straight away and told Hiiro that he would bring the book over later.

The village chef also offered to remit his lodging fees which he gladly accepted. A luxurious meal would also be prepared for him at the inn, Hiiro thought that he had come across some unexpected good fortune.

Panis: “Now, let’s go!”

“Mhm? Go where?”

(Haven’t I already finished my business with Panis?) Hiiro thought as he stared at Panis.

Panis: “What? Did you forget already? I told you I’ll give you the finest weapon in my store.”

“… I should have already received the reward for this request.”

Panis: “Not at all. You haven’t received any reward from me yet. I’m feeling my best right now! I want you to accept my reward!”

It seems that Panis will also be giving Hiiro a reward. Since Hiiro had nothing to lose from accepting the reward, he obediently accepted Panis’s offer.

After that, they headed towards Panis’s shop. Whenever Hiiro met a villager on the way to the shop, he was thanked. When Hiiro had arrived at this village he wasn’t welcomed at all, but now he was like a VIP.

(So self-interested.)

He could relate to them, but their sudden change in att.i.tude didn’t leave him with a favourable impression.

Panis: “This is my store.”

“Oh, you sell amour as well, not just weapons.”

Hiiro looked around the shop and roughly checked the products.

“You said you would give me your finest weapon, but which is it?”

Panis: “Fufufufufu. I’m glad you asked.”

His laugh was a bit annoying. Hiiro expected Panis to take out something but he didn’t. Then Panis went back to the back of the store and brought back a single sword.

Panis: “This is it!”

“Hoh.”

Panis: “It’s called『Piercer』.”

It looked like a katana and the blade of the sword was the same length as a katana. The only difference was that the blade was as clear as ice. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Every time light reflected off the blade, it glistened.

Panis: “This katana specialises in piercing. By the way, do you know about katanas? A katana is a weapon that was originally created by some of the 『Beastman』. Unlike the swords made by the 『Human Race』 which focuses on slas.h.i.+ng with one’s strength, the katana has a sharp blade to cut up the prey by utilising speed instead of power.”

Being a j.a.panese person, Hiiro knew all of that but he listened quietly.

Panis: “Of course, I can guarantee the sharpness of『Piercer』. But its true value, like the name implies, its ability to pierce anything. It may look like this, but I guarantee it’s st.u.r.dy!”

“Where did you get this sword from?”

Panis: “Through my connections as a shopkeeper. I’ve treasured it until now, since I wanted to make it into a family heirloom.”

“I’m surprised those two didn’t take it.”

“Yeah, well, I did hide it in the bas.e.m.e.nt.” Panis said while puffing his chest out in pride. It must be that important to him.

“Can I really take it? It’s an heirloom, right? Which means it’s not for sale. I thought you were giving me your finest weapon?”

Since the katana wasn’t displayed in the shop, Hiiro thought that it had nothing to do with the shop.

Panis: “Well, it is regrettable, but I feel like I can entrust it to you.”

“… Aren’t you giving too much credit? It’s not like I took out those guys because I wanted to. As I told the Brat, I’m not a hero.”

Panis: “That doesn’t matter.”

“Mmh?”

Panis: “You saved this village. We are incredibility grateful about that, no matter how it came to be.”

Hiiro looked at the sword once more and for some reason was overcome with the urge to hold it.

“… May I?”

Panis: “Sure, take it.”

“Okay, thanks.”

He accepted 『Piercer』with both hands. The katana fit perfectly in his hands as if he’d been using it forever, despite only touching it for the first time.

When he hung the katana on his waist, it was yet again a perfect fit. His face brightened up. As a j.a.panese male, it was quite satisfying to have a katana hanging on one’s waist.

(What a lucky find.)

He had no complaints since he had gained a level and found a good sword. After Panis thanked him for the second time, Hiiro left the shop and returned to the inn since there was nothing more to do today.

On the way to the inn someone blocked his path.

“Mister, got a minute?” It was Nies and next to him was Coco. Nies got angry when Hiiro made a big sigh.

Nies: “Hey! Why’re you looking so annoyed?!”

“… Hah.”

Nies: “See, you’re annoyed again!”

Hiiro wanted to tell him not to point at other people but there would be no end to it if he paid heed to him, so he wanted to get this over with quickly.

“What do you want, Brat?”

Nies: “Don’t call me a brat! Even though I look like this, I’m already seven!”

“Yeah, you’re a splendid brat.”

Nies: “Grr~!”

“Enough, that’s our benefactor, Nies.” Coco scolds Nies.

Nies: “I know that, but he keeps treating me like a child!”

“… Hah, I’ll ask again, what do you want?”

Nies: “… Tell me your name.”

“… Huh?”

Nies: “Your name! My father told me to ask you!”

“Your father? Who’s that?”

Nies: “The village chief.”

“… You’re his son?”

“Fufu, awesome, right ~.” Nies said proudly but Hiiro wasn’t the least bit envious. Coco stared at Nies in shock.

“Ah ~ yeah, yeah. Really amazing ~, I’m so surprised ~. It’s soooo amaz~ing.”

Nies: “… You don’t think that at all.”

“Duh.”

Nies: “You just admitted it?”

He had his mouth wide open in shock but at this rate this would really take up a lot of time, so Hiiro decided to tell him his name.

“It’s Hiiro. Hiiro Okamura.”

Nies: “Hero… Awesome!” [TN: So this is the other way to write Hero in Katakana apart from Hiiro’s name… lol]

Coco: “Ye-yeah!”

“Hah?”

Hiiro was puzzled as to why their eyes were suddenly sparkling, so he stared at them blankly.

Nies: “I see ~, so you’re Hero ~.”

“… I don’t get you, but you have to tell the village chief, right? Shouldn’t you be going?”

Hiiro didn’t care where, he just wanted them to leave soon.

“Ah, right! Father was busy tying up those guys, so we couldn’t talk to him! See you, Mister!”

“Sure, sure.”

Niels waved his hands energetically while running away and Hiiro thought to himself, (How young). Hiiro thought that he shouldn’t be too farsighted and shook his head. After all he was only 16 years old.

Strangely enough Coco didn’t chase after Nies but stayed where she was.

“What’s up?”

“Uh-uhm… Here!”

She handed Hiiro small wrapper paper. He received it without thinking. There was a sweet smell coming from the wrapping paper.

“Um, Uhm… That’s my thanks!” She said then laughed happily. “Ehehe.” With that Coco shyly chased after Nies but stopped halfway.

“Thank you ~, Mis~ter!” Coco shouted before running again.

It seems that the compensation he received from Coco was homemade sweets. When he opened the wrapping paper, there were several bite-sized cookies inside.

The cookies weren’t freshly baked as they weren’t warm but when Hiiro threw one into his mouth, he was able to enjoy the crunchy texture and sweetness of the fruits.

(Well, it was a serious request fee for a brat.)

When he returned to the inn, the innkeeper’s att.i.tude towards him changed completely, like a totally different person.

Just like the village chief had said earlier, a lavish meal was made for him and while he was grateful, he was a bit disgusted by the amount of preparation that they had done. He wondered if he felt like that because of his twisted personality and shook his head.

After a while Nies appeared together with the village chief. Since the village chief couldn’t properly express his grat.i.tude due to dealing with the aftermath from before, he had rushed over after finis.h.i.+ng to thank Hiiro again.

Brye: “It’s not much but please accept this.”

It was certainly an old book, this book seems to be about this world’s history. It was the best reward for Hiiro, who was interested in the history of【Edea】.

Hiiro placed the book in his room and went out to buy provisions for his journey … But… Every villager he pa.s.sed began to shower him with grat.i.tude as he walked around. Replying to each of them was getting annoying so he secluded himself in his room.

He wasn’t physically tired at all but he was mentally exhausted. He decided to confirm his 《Status》once again.

《 Magic》Word Magic (Single Chain Release・Air Writing Release)

《 t.i.tles》 Innocent Bystander・Otherworlder・Word Master・Awakened One・Ripper

A few inconsistencies popped up. First was the abnormal gain in 《Status》. Of course he was happy about gaining two levels at once as he had been level 18 before.

His stat growth seemed out of the ordinary. Even if he had gained two levels, an increase of this much seemed strange. His HP was barely over 200 points before. His MP had also increased by a lot and his other stats which had been at double digits had increased exponentially.

(Well, I’m happy about it, but…) As he thought that, he s.h.i.+fted his gaze to the t.i.tle column. 《Awakened One》caught his attention. He’d figured that he got the 《Ripper》t.i.tle from defeating the Chubby & Beanpole combo but he had no explanation for the former t.i.tle. For the time being he clicked on it to see the contents.

Enhancement for an otherworlder. Great addition to the status upon reaching level 20. Level-ups will give a small bonus from now on.

He unintentionally let his surprise show at this cheat. Being an otherworlder had its benefits. Hiiro was quite pleased about this blessing despite not being a hero.

The next thing that caught his eye was《Air Writing Release》.

Able to write characters in the air with magic power. Activates by coming in contact with the target. It is also possible to shoot the written word; depending on the character used, it is also possible to activate it in the air. But, the character only flies straight like an arrow.

Hiiro didn’t understand it very well so he tried it out. He concentrated magic power into his fingertips and wrote a character in mid-air and imagined it, like he always did when he wrote on the ground. When he finished writing, a pale word appeared. It was 『Float (浮) 』.

The words followed his finger whenever he moved it. He imagined shooting it at the vase in the room. Then, just like a trigger, the character headed straight for the vase. The character stuck onto the vase the moment it hit.

After reciting activate the vase surprisingly floated.

“Wow, that’s handy.”

With this, it was possible to attack the opponent by firing at it instead of having to set traps on the ground.

Hiiro was amazed at his own power becoming more and more cheat-like. Hiiro thought that this was becoming more enjoyable. By the way the floating vase suddenly dropped down after a minute.