Level Down 25 (Patreon)

Volume 1 Chapter 25 - Iseria's Circumstances

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“I’m just a useless egg though.” (Iseria)

Iseria stuck out her tongue a little and tilted her head as if she was joking as she said that.

Even though Allen was critically hit by that cute gesture, he managed to endure it without showing any signs of agitation.

(Calm down. Calm down, me. It looked like a confession, but the content is completely different. Don't get the wrong idea.) (Allen)

While telling himself that, Allen took a few deep breaths. Not long after, his mind began to calm down and he was able to think calmly about Iseria's words.

“Hero egg, huh?” (Allen)

Iseria nodded her head with a bitter smile as Allen whispered that.

Hero eggs.

They were existences that, while widely known, one rarely meets as a real person.

Normally, people have an upper limit to their level. To be more specific, they cannot exceed level 500. But hero eggs are different. They can break through this level limit and rise to even greater heights.

That said, the upper limit of their level is not fixed and varies depending on the person. To put it in an extreme way, there could even be a hero egg with a maximum level of 501. Even so, the fact remains that they exceed their limits as human beings.

There is no way the country would leave such existences alone. Those who are found to be hero eggs are half-forcibly taken to the royal capital, where they spend their days undergoing education and training. Those who can be used as pawns are appointed as knights and the likes, while those who are not are sent out of the capital.

‘Live up to your name as a hero and save people,’ while giving them that plausible reason.

Ordinary people don't know about these things. But Allen was different. That's because he heard that story from a hero egg themself; the leader of the adventurer party who had hired Allen as a servant and took care of him for a while.

The energetic and good-natured leader said this while drunk; “It was a shitty life, you know. ‘We don't need you, so ptoo. We wish the useless pawn would die,’ like that, you know.” Those idle complaints she let out left a strong impression and etched into Allen's heart.

“Is it for the subjugation duty?” (Allen)

“Huh? Nera-sama knows it well. Do you know anyone?” (Iseria)

“Yeah, a long time ago.” (Allen)

With a face that looks like he's bitten a bitter bug, Allen stared at Iseria, who was smiling in front of him.

Only one duty is imposed on released hero eggs. That is the duty to subjugate monsters.

At present, the existence of demon lords exists only in fairy tales, so the only things that disturb people's peace are monsters.

‘Since they are hero eggs, it’s natural for them to remove the threat,’ that’s their official stance, but this subjugation duty was extremely troublesome.

To put it simply, the subjugation duty can be divided into specifying their location and deprivation of their right to refuse subjugation requests.

For specifying their location, the only thing they need to do is register with the Adventurers' Guild and report to the Guild whenever they move to other cities, so it's not much different from what a normal adventurer does.

There is a difference in that it is compulsory for them whereas it is voluntary for ordinary adventurers, but to put it simply, they just want to always be able to contact them.

The problem was the other one: the deprivation of their right to refuse subjugation requests.

Adventurers can choose their own requests. They can choose the work they want to do, taking into consideration their own abilities and the reward.

Of course, in times of emergency, they may have to accept compulsory requests, but basically this is a free occupation. That is an adventurer. Maybe it's only natural since it's their own life at stake.

However, it’s different in hero eggs’ case. Hero eggs cannot refuse a monster subjugation request from the Guild.

Of course, the Guild rarely makes requests that are clearly beyond their ability. However, basically when the Guild makes a request, there is some reason why there are no adventurers willing to accept that request.

Many of them included circumstances that were fraught with danger.

‘Naturally, if they accept such a request, the result will be...’ Thinking that far, Allen gritted his teeth.

“This hasn't been made into a request yet.” (Allen)

“Might be. But there is no doubt it will be a threat.” (Iseria)

Allen was about to continue speaking when he saw Iseria's determined eyes and let out a small breath. ‘Seems like I won’t be able to move her even with a lever,’ that’s what he realized.

Allen scratched his head slightly and then held out his hand to Iseria. Then he said to Iseria, who was staring at his hand in a daze.

“I'll be the one to defeat it. Iseria can only watch, that's the condition for coming along.” (Allen)

“Yes. But if Nera-sama is in a pinch, I will save you.” (Iseria)

“No, you should run away there... well, whatever.” (Allen)

‘If I say any more, we’ll just go around in circles,’ Allen readily gave up. Then, taking along Iseria, who seemed to be in a good mood as she smiled, he started running towards the place where he encountered the hanging tree.

Allen was running at speed because he didn't want to take too long and have the hanging tree go far away, but Iseria followed him without complaining.

Seeing that, Allen thought, ‘As I thought, her stats seem pretty high.’ After all, he was running at such a speed that the old Allen would barely be able to keep up with him.

That she has more ability than the old Allen, in other words, more than a mid-level adventurer, is something to be proud of. The number of adventurers who can rise above mid-level is by no means high. In other words, even among adventurers, she is among the more skilled ones.

However, when he thought about that, there was one thing Allen didn't understand about what Iseria had said. That was...

“Hey, Iseria.” (Allen)

“Yes.” (Iseria)

“Why do you call yourself useless? I think being able to reach that level of strength at such a young age is something you should be proud of.” (Allen)

“...” (Iseria)

Allen asked frankly, but the awkward silence that ensued made him inwardly regret it.

Allen, who has many circumstances of his own, should know all too well that everyone has their own circumstances. Once he noticed this, Allen continued speaking as if he was trying to smooth over his mistake.

“No, if there's a circumstance behind it, there's no need to talk about it.” (Allen)

“It's okay. I have already made my decision a long time ago. It's just that this is the maximum strength I have, and I can't get any stronger than this..” (Iseria)

“No, Iseria is only about 20, right? If that's the case, increasing it should be...” (Allen)

“The upper limit of my level is 999. And my current level is 999.” (Iseria)

“Haa!?” (Allen)

Allen inadvertently stopped in his tracks when he heard those words. He was surprised by the level limit so high that he had never heard of it, but even more so, he couldn't believe that Iseria's level was 999.

By Allen’s estimation, Iseria's stats is around 1000.

Allen considered the possibility that she was hiding her abilities, and immediately denied it himself. If that was really the case, there would be no way she would let a hanging tree kill her.

“If so, that strength is...” (Allen)

Allen continued speaking that far when he noticed it. A certain possibility.

“Level-up trap, huh?” (Allen)

Iseria nodded her head at those words he muttered.

“It’s as you say.” (Iseria)

“But why would you do that? I can understand using level-up traps once you reach a high level where it becomes difficult to level up, but this makes it sound like...” (Allen)

‘You don’t want to get stronger’ Allen was about to continue with those words when Iseria covered his mouth with her index finger.

Then as Allen’s eyes turned wide, she turned to him and shook her head with a smile that contained a hint of grief.

“More than that is a secret.” (Iseria)

“Secret, you say.” (Allen)

“If Nera-sama has the desire to plunge into a bottomless swamp, I won’t stop you, though?” (Iseria)

Iseria asked, letting go of her hand and forcing a smile like a mischievous child, and Allen raised both his hands to signal his surrender.

This is because Iseria clearly made it clear to him that he shouldn't go any further, so he didn’t want to disregard her feelings.

The two looked at each other for a while, then gave each other a wry smile and started running again.

After a while, they arrived at their previous location. There, where the remains of a battle were clearly visible, was the hanging tree that stood tall even though it had a hole in its trunk.

“Looks like it didn't move. Saves me the trouble looking for it, lucky.” (Allen)

“Yes.” (Iseria)

Allen glanced at Iseria. Her face was pale, and her body was trembling. This was the one who almost killed her once. It’s not strange that it became a trauma.

However, her eyes were fixed on the hanging tree. If Allen wasn't here, Iseria would probably fight it alone again, he could clearly feel that intention in her eyes.

That figure of her was very dazzling to Allen.

(As a hero, huh?) (Allen)

Allen remembered those words of Iseria. Her strength aside, her spirit is at least worthy of being a hero. Thinking that, Allen smiled slightly and stepped forward.

“My battle. Watch over it, Hero-sama.” (Allen)

“Yes, may the fortune of war be with you.” (Iseria)

After a short exchange of words, Allen revealed himself. There is no movement from the hanging tree. Allen couldn't judge if that was because it had some leeway, or if it was wary after receiving his attack once.

However, based on his experience fighting it earlier, Allen didn’t think in the slightest that he would lose. Because Allen's attack can pierce through it, the hole that opened up right in front of him was the proof.

“Now then, shall we resume our battle?” (Allen)

Saying that, Allen twirled his stick and took a stance, and in the midst of a crisp atmosphere, the second round between Allen and the hanging tree began.

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(T/N: I don’t remember Iseria saying ‘as a hero’ is this my mistake? Did I miss some paragraph? I’ve checked several times, so I don’t think I missed it.)

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