Chapter 11: Departure for Lunch

Wheew~

This chapter's a good one, so I'll keep it brief, alriiight~?

So, first thing, about Gentle Demon — I'm still doin' that . But, because I translate Sword Bro with a higher priority, there're days that I don't get around to translating it . Otherwise, I'd probably have released at least 1 Chapter — or even 2 — since I mentioned I'd work on it .

That being the case, I figured that I'd translate it to 100% before doing another Sword-bro chapter after completing the Chapter 10 of Sword-bro... But then this chapter happened .

And now I just want to translate more Sword-bro .

Dang it, right~?

So, while Gentle Demon'll be put on the back burner for a while longer, I am in the process of translating it . It'll be out . Eventually . Probably .

※ ※ ※

『I won〜!』

Raising my edge towards the sky, I raise my shout of victory .

I'm laying down on the ground after fighting the strongest boss of Area 5 .

The Tyrant Saber . (¹) To be honest, I thought I was going to lose .

With a build exceeding 10 meters, it moved like the wind and could use three-dimensional movement combined with aerial jumps . Its magic-enhanced fangs and claws were completely brutal, shaving off only a little less than 500 Durability just by being grazed .

Moreover, its fur was coated in Magic Power — but even without that, its muscles were hard enough to resist my blade anyways .

In the end, I used up 15 Self-Evolution Points on Sovereign Toxic Fang, so my victory was decided at the end of a long war . With Appraisal, I had found out that its Poison Resistance was low, which is why I used it . If that wasn't the case, I would have had no choice but to escape .

But, somehow the Saber's movements had dulled due to the poison, so I continued to attack . When I finally defeated it, 4 hours had passed since the fight began .

However, the outcome was worth the risk . To start with: its Skills .

I obtained Vibration Impact, as well as a Skill called Vibration Fang Skill, both of which are frighteningly amazing .

The vibration from Vibration Impact is transmitted to the target when they're struck, which results in a strike that's capable of destroying your opponent from the inside .

Vibration Fang allows its user to amplify the sharpness of their fangs via ultra-high vibration; it's the so-called Super-Vibration Blade Skill . Because both Skills had great compatibility with me, my offensive ability jumped up explosively .

But that's not all . Combining Air Bullet Discharge with Vibration Impact resulted in a new Skill called Vibrating Bullet Discharge . It's a fiendish attack which allows the same vibration effects to occur at long distance .

Another boon from the fight was that my Self-Evolution Skill was raised by a rank . Using Magic Stones from the Area Bosses granted values more than 150 each; that, combined with hunting in Area 4, resulted in enough to rank up .

Name :Unknown

Race :Intelligent Weapon

ATK :392 MP :1650/1650 Durability :1450/1450

Skills:

Appraisal:Lv6, High-Speed Self-Repair, Self-Evolution〈Rank 7・Magic Stone Status:2109/2800・Memory:47・Points:68〉, Self-Modification, Telekinesis, Telekinesis ↑ Low, Telepathy, ATK ↑ Low, Owner ALL Stats ↑ Low, Owner HP Recovery ↑ Low, MP ↑ Low, Memory ↑ Low, Demonic Beast Knowledge, Skill-Sharing, Sorcery (²)

Also, thanks to the rank up, I made a complete recovery .

『I still have time tonight . 』

In front of me stood the mysterious forest .

It's the forest-area which opens up to surround Area 5 . The plan was to survey it earlier, but......

『So, what should I do?』

I've sustained no damage, and I have time, too . Shall I go?

『I've already come this far, and I could return without doing anything, too . 』(³)

And so, I decided to explore the area outside .

ーJust in case, I didn't immediately rush in, and instead decided to watch for any inhabitants by making full use of Night Vision and Heat Detection .

『Mーmm, there's nothing......?』

There seem to be a ton of wild animals, but there're almost no Demonic Beasts ー other than Goblins, of course . But it would be excessive to forcibly chase them around and kill those .

『Are the only Demonic Beasts around here small fry?』

For Area 6, I was prepared to enjoy victories over Divine level Demonic Beasts .

But this place is comparable to Area 1 . To be honest, it's quite a letdown .

『Ahー, as expected, I feel that my hopes have been shattered〜 . 』

In spite of carefully taking a stance which was set to flee at any time, it seems that choosing to observe the woods from the outside is making me out to be nothing more than a fool .

『That's enough . I'll go in at once . 』

I jump into the forest using Telekinesis Catapult with a *babyun* . (⁴)

With that, I enjoy a panoramic view of the woods from above . There're still no signs of any big Demonic Beasts .

『Ah, discovered a clearing . 』

In the middle of the forest, there's an open field where the trees don't grow . I change direction with Telekinesis and drop towards that space .

And stuck into the ground .

『All right, landing success!』

When using the Telekinesis Catapult Movement Method my body's at an angle, so making a landing sometimes ends up with me crashing onto the ground on the side of my blade . Such a landing deals hardly any damage to me, but I'd still count it as a failure .

A "success" would be piercing the ground with my blade, like this time . Somehow, it makes me feel better .

It's easy to make a proper landing if I use Telekinesis just before landing, but generally I entrust it to gravity and drop down to make a game out of the success/failure count from landing . It's one of my few pleasantries other than hunting .

With the ground conveying its texture through my blade, I get the feeling that this land is something like a swamp . The feel is wet and sticky like clay .

『Then, another jump...... Hm?』

My body doesn't move . Is the quality of the clay-like soil higher than I thought? I invoke Telekinesis a bit stronger this time .

『I-Impossible...... Telekinesis isn't working?』

Or, to be exact, the moment I activate it, it's forcibly terminated . The best solution in times like these is to put my all into it . I accumulate Magic Power, and load it all into Telekinesis .

*pos* (⁵)

A light sound seems to escape . And then, nothing happens .

『Impossible . 』

The Magic which I used was absorbed into the ground . All the MP I had poured into it had been lost in an instant .

『Well, if that's how it is...』

I try to use a Skill . My strategy is to use Vibration Fang to make a gap between my blade and the ground . But, it seems that Vibration Fang doesn't work either .

Then, perhaps an Air Bullet couple provide enough lift? Once again, it doesn't trigger .

Using Fire Magic, I can blow myself away! ーBut that also doesn't work .

『Ehー...... What to do〜』

Taking a break from my escape attempts, I observe the surroundings . It's nothing more than a forest; really nothing more but... It seems that the reason why Demonic Beasts of the Plain don't go into the Forest is due to this Magic Power absorption phenomenon .

To higher leveled Demonic Beasts, Magic is important, so if they wander into the forest haphazardly they could get bogged down . Just like me .

『The only consolation is that I don't feel hungry......』

For a little while, I try to invoke other Magic Skills, but it seems that they're completely nullified .

Because my MP isn't absorbed from my blade, if I don't continuously fire off random Skills, escape might be possible .

About my sight, because it seemed to be controlled by Magic Power within my blade, there doesn't seem to be a problem .

After several hours passed, I noticed something .

『My MP isn't recovering . 』

It might be because the atmosphere in the area is lacking any Magic Power, but it seems that MP wasn't being restored automatically . I still have more than half remaining, but I don't want to waste it .

This is bad; as it stands, I won't be able to get out by myself .

Ahー, how could such a thing......

* * * (⁶)

3 days have passed since then . There's still no change . On the first day, I tried to find ways to escape using Skills, but I've come to the conclusion that it's completely impossible .

I can't use any Magic, not to mention attack Skills; even Telepathy isn't possible .

All I can do is hope for a other creatures passing by and accidentally pulling me out by chance .

Or perhaps a natural disaster miraculously occurring and blowing me away .

A Human coming along and pulling me out would be the best result, but...

* * *

10 days have now passed since I've been stuck . (⁷)

Please forgive me .

I hadn't paid attention to the reality of the situation . It doesn't need to be a Human . I'll sincerely apologize to all of the Goblins I've killed, because I'm no longer able to call them EXP anymore . So please, someone release me .

After you release me, I'll follow you for life . Anything would be fine . Even a Zombie Kobold .

Please .

* * *

One month has passed .

Because I'm a good sword, please pick me up . Please!

I'm of excellent quality, you know? I'm something of a Magic Sword . I'm not sure, but I don't think there're many like me, you know?

I can even cook .

I have a bunch of Skills, too .

If I use Points, I can even level them up if you'd like .

Look, look! Cooking Lv10!

〈 Cooking has reached LvMax; bonus Stats will be attached to the Cooking Skill 〉

〈 A new item has been added to the Self-Evolution Bonuses 〉

Would Dismantling be useful too? Wouldn't it be convenient? I can level this up too . Hey look, another Lv10!

〈 Dismantling has reached LvMax; bonus Stats will be awarded to the Dismantling Skill 〉

I also have Appraisal . It can be improved too, you know? Hey, I raised it by 1 Level .

Aren't I amazing?

My combat capabilities are even higher, you know?

Both Swordsmanship and Sword Arts are Lv7 .

If you'd like, I could also grant Magic Skills, you know? Look, Fire Magic Lv10! How is it?

〈 Fire Magic has reached LvMax; Blaze Magic Lv1 had been learnt 〉

! Well well, there was even more on top of that! How about it? There's nothing to lose through picking me up, you know?

This Skill, too ーー(⁸)

* * *

「ー......!」

Ah . I was too eager to see people and had an auditory hallucination . It seems that I've already gone terminal .

「ー! ...... T-t wa-ー!」

Eh? Could this auditory hallucination be real?

*Gatagatagatagata!*

A slight vibration is transmitted through the ground . What is it?

「Sti- Ch-i-gー」

「!...... I'- ca-y -u! Wha-」

It's a Human's voice!

A human came! Thank you, God!

Hey, I'm over here! I'm stuck! Don't I seem like a legendary sword? That being the case, pull me out! Please!

*Gatagatagatagata!*

The real identity of the noise was the wheel of a carriage . The covered wagon appears from out of the forest .

But isn't it going to fast? If you turn with such a speedー

Just like that, the carriage overturned in front of me .

*Gashanー!*

Uwaahー! Are the people inside alright? But why were they in such a rush? They seem to have been chased by something .

For now I can't talk, so I can only watch over them . A person crawls out from the carriage while I anxiously worried over the safety of its riders .

Ohh, it looks like they're safe . He had the cliché appearance of a Merchant from a fantasy game . Speaking of appearances that use a similar overcoat, would it be easier to understand if I described his appearance as similar to that of a merchant from Dr**n Qu**t 3? (⁹)

In addition, a small subordinate-like small man comes out . After the small man called out, several men and women also came out .

But...... Their appearance is terrible .

Wearing tattered clothing which clearly wasn't washed, their clothes are hardly clothing at all, because they're only tied to their bodies with a single string each . Their hair is dirty as well, and big collars are fitted around their necks .

『Slaves... There's slavery in this world?』

Well, I'm slightly disappointed . My precious feelings of a different world have been tainted . ー Slaves aren't particularly bad, of course . I just thought that the Humans of this world would have been a little different from my former one .

「Have the Slaves carry the luggage!」

「Come on, do it now! Hey, you, hurry up! Take the luggage!」

「Uuu...」

「Do it quickly you half-wit!」

Uwa〜 what scum . It's Human waste . The little man beats a slave burdened with heavy baggage with a whip . Just looking at that, I start to feel sick .

「It's coming!」

「Hiii! Come on!」

And, the cause of their panic appeared .

「Gurururu」

It was a Demonic Beast: A Bear with two heads .

¹ As in Saber-Tooth Tiger — not a sword . The actual translation is "Tyrant Saber Tiger", which I would have changed to "Tyrant Saber-Toothed Tiger" but that's kind of a mouthful . Thus the translation . タイラント・サーベルタイガー.

² Changed Magic -> Sorcery (Because it's actually always supposed to be "Magician/Sorcerer", but I couldn't find anything better than "Magic" until now . But the story uses a lot of terms that involve "Magic", like in manipulation, the amount of Magic stored in oneself (MP), Magic Power/Strength (MGC), etc . All previous chapters have been updated as well .

³ In the second half of the sentence (after the comma) I'm pretty sure sword-bro is just saying that he can leave without any trouble, but I'm not sure . 何もせずに引き返してもな

⁴ Babyun = Whoosh; should I continue using the Japanese pronunciation? Or perhaps change it to the western norm? バビュン

⁵ Literally "POS" . Any better suggestions? ポス

⁶ The Author actually just used a double-space to represent the time change . I've changed it to three asterisks to make it more visible .

⁷ All of these lines were supposed to be in one paragraph — probably to display Sword-bro's growing desperation — but because it just makes it look like a wall of text instead, I've separated the lines to create partial pauses with the same effect .

⁸ See ⁷ .

⁹ Reference to a Merchant from Dragon Quest 3 . I think . ドラ〇ンクエスト3