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Volume 1 Chapter 26 - Hanging Tree Battle

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In front of the hanging tree, which did not move at all, Allen hesitated to move, still taking a stance with his stick.

(Why doesn't it move? Does it have some kind of ace up its sleeve, or maybe... tch, I don't have enough information.) (Allen)

Judging from the resistance he felt from the battle earlier, Allen had predicted that the hanging tree's strength would not be as high as the ogre king’s, the boss of the Demon Dungeon.

However, Allen continued to carefully observe it without letting his guard down. This was because Allen had very little information about hanging trees.

Allen has never fought a hanging tree before. He did take in information about monsters from the Guild, but that's just monsters that are around the floors Allen would go to or the places he would visit for work. Hanging trees were not among them.

He only heard about it from the hero egg that was the leader of the adventurer party that hired the young Allen, and only as a small part of her heroic saga, so he’s not even sure if the monster in front of him is really a hanging tree.

(If I get too close and it uses its ace to attack in a wide area, Iseria might get injured too.) (Allen)

Thinking of that, Allen slowly moved clockwise. He had expected some small reaction once he got out of its sight, but the hanging tree remained calm and did not move.

(Kuh, taking my time here will only give the opponent an advantage. All right!) (Allen)

It was at exactly that moment when Allen made up his mind and put strength into his legs that it happened.

“Um, Nera-sama. Isn't the hanging tree dead already?” (Iseria)

Allen's timing was thrown off by Iseria’s words as she peeked out from behind the tree she had been hiding, and Allen stumbled a step.

At that moment, Allen ended up taking his eyes off the hanging tree. Doing something like that in front of a monster can be fatal for adventurers.

Allen panicked and hurriedly regained his stance, and instantly thought about the possibility of an attack coming towards Iseria, as she had just shown her face, and slid in front of Iseria.

Allen, who acted while only thinking of protecting Iseria, was completely defenseless against the attacks that would surely come toward him.

At such a perfect opportunity, the hanging tree... didn't move at all. For a while, they remained frozen in that position, and a moment of silence passed.

“...Eh, it's seriously dead?” (Allen)

“It’s only maybe, though.” (Iseria)

Telling Iseria to not come out from behind the tree, Allen cautiously approached the hanging tree.

10 meters, 5 meters, 4, 3, 2...

Allen braced himself to be able to respond immediately even if an attack was launched at any time, but before anything happened, the distance finally decreased to 0, and his hand touched the large hole in the trunk of the hanging tree.

The hanging tree still doesn't move. As Allen slowly walked around its thick trunk, he found several trees behind it standing as if they were supporting the hanging tree.

Allen pushed the hanging tree to the opposite direction of the supporting trees. When he did, the hanging tree made a loud sound and disappointingly laid its huge body down on the ground.

“So weak, it died from that one blow earlier? Haah, I feel like an idiot for being so cautious.” (Allen)

Thinking about his actions until just now, Allen smiled bitterly.

After all, in front of the hanging tree which was already dead, he was on guard on his own, slowly changing his fighting position, panicked over his blunder, and was even prepared to take a blow to protect Iseria.

Just like his current appearance, he is nothing more than a clown. That’s what caused Allen to smile bitterly.

Allen relaxed his shoulders and beckoned Iseria, who had been following his orders and continued to stay where she was.

Allen patted the fallen hanging tree to reassure Iseria, who was timidly approaching them.

“It's dead. So, what do we do? Should we just split this guy's materials between us?” (Allen)

“I was just defeated and didn’t fight, so Nera-sama should take everything.” (Iseria)

“If I hadn’t heard your scream, I wouldn’t have known about this guy either, so in that sense, I think Iseria has the right to receive the reward as well. I’ve never seen hanging tree materials in this city, so even if you take only a little, it will probably be worth quite the price.” (Allen)

Iseria quietly shook her head and rejected Allen's proposal.

“I'm not worried about money. Ojii-sama has given me more than I can spend anyway.” (Iseria)

Saying that, Iseria carefully stroked the bag tied to her waist. From that gesture, Allen guessed that it was a magic bag.

From the outside, it looks like just an ordinary bag, but its naturalness conversely showed the rarity of the magic bag.

‘Wow, rich people sure are different.’ Allen thought as one question arose in his mind.

She has plenty of money, and no matter how much she fights, her level that has reached the upper limit will never change. Despite that...

“Why do you fight, Iseria?” (Allen)

“Because I'm an adventurer.” (Iseria)

“No, you have money, right? And no matter how many monsters you kill, your level won't go up. If that's the case, you don't have to go through the adventurer business and just live a different life. The Guild doesn't normally push a request on an adventurer against their will either. I'm sure they won’t force a request on you. Isn't that what your Ojii-sama wished for when he gave you that money?” (Allen)

‘No matter how you look at it, Iseria's outfit is first-class, and since she wears it so naturally, her sense of money is probably far higher than mine.’ That’s what Allen thought.

Since Iseria even said that she had more money than she could spend, it was certain that there was more money in that magic bag than Allen could even imagine.

But if she’s going to work as an adventurer, she doesn't need something like that. The most expensive part of being an adventurer is equipment, but even then, the equipment given to her as a farewell gift is more than enough.

Meaning, she doesn't need that much money.

Thinking about it that way, it seemed to Allen that the person called Ojii-sama didn't want Iseria to go through danger and was deliberately leading her down a different path.

When he looked at her with such feelings, Iseria nodded her head with a complicated look on her face.

“Might be.” (Iseria)

“Then...” (Allen)

“But I am a hero egg. I am the same hero as Artigald, who stood up to protect the peace of the people and finally defeated the demon lord.” (Iseria)

Iseria loudly declared, as if trying to shake off her doubts. Her straight, unclouded eyes were very dazzling to Allen, and at the same time, they evoked a powerful emotion that made him feel longing.

The Artigald that Iseria mentioned is the name of a hero who appears in fairy tales. He rose from a tragic situation of having the village he lived in destroyed, leaving him alone, then he met his friends, grew together, and finally defeated the demon lord who was the root of all evil, that's what his story is about.

And at the same time, he thought. That Iseria's current situation is very similar to his previous one.

She wants to protect people, but she can't. Even if she wants to become stronger, her level won’t rise any higher. Even so, she will struggle to help others. Allen felt his heart tighten as he watched her figure.

As if sensing Allen's state, Iseria, while intentionally acting cheerfully as if in a jest, opened her mouth.

“Well, unlike Artigald, I'm better at magic than swords though. Although I can only use about half of the magic book that Ojii-sama gave me.” (Iseria)

For a moment, the smile she gave to Allen was tinged with regret that she couldn't hide, but even that was quickly covered up by Iseria.

However, there was no way Allen wouldn’t notice that subtle change. Seeing her shyly laughing while hiding her true feelings, Allen let out a deep breath and made his decision.

(I don't know what her circumstances are, but at the very least, Iseria is not the kind of person who should make a face like this. Or rather, treating such an innocent person like this, don’t mess with me!) (Allen)

While hiding the unreasonable anger that welled up in his chest, Allen approached Iseria and held out his right hand.

“Hey, Iseria. How about you make a deal with me?” (Allen)

Seeing Iseria in a daze due to his abrupt offer, Allen showed his teeth and laughed.

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(T/N: This series once referred to the party that hired the young Allen as ‘those women’, so I assume the hero egg and her party are women.)

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