ch1-ch20 · 008-ch8

Chapter 8

The dying Raging Bull thrashed about as if in one last desperate struggle, but Sai drove the short sword into its neck up to the hilt, completely severing the carotid artery.

He confirmed the Raging Bull had perished and its body disappeared.

The drops were a magic stone and meat.

"I came because I heard a scream. You okay?"

Sai called out, making an effort to sound gentle, and reached out his hand.

He'd been right on the verge of death. Even though he was saved, his mental state was probably still hanging by a thread.

"O-oh... S-Soma got, got really messed up by the Raging Bull...!"

His words were slurred and jumbled, but Sai understood the meaning immediately.

"Where?!"

"Here, this way! I, I can't stand... huh!?"

Saying that, Tetta tried to stand, but couldn't. The full-speed sprint and terror were conspiring to keep his university-student body from getting up.

Back when he was an instructor at the Adventurer's Guild in the other world... How many times had he seen rookies like this?

Many lives he'd managed to save by rushing to their aid. But many he hadn't been able to save either. Those memories flashed through Sai's mind.

He didn't know how badly the adventurer named Soma was injured, but it was highly likely a matter of moments. He couldn't afford to dawdle.

He had to hurry.

And so the action Sai took was to lift Tetta up. From the trembling in his legs and hips, Sai could tell he was carrying considerable strain in his lower body. Carrying him on his back would mean holding his legs, which would add more strain. With that reasoning, he scooped Tetta up in a princess carry.

"Lead the way!"

"Y-yes!? Th-this way!"

Sai ran at a speed Tetta had never felt before. And just like that, in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the spot where Soma lay collapsed.

Setting Tetta down, Sai stood beside the prone Soma.

"Hngh... hngh... gnngh..."

His arm was crushed, and he was vomiting blood. His breathing was shallow, but there was breath. His life was still hanging on.

The impact from the collision must have traveled from his arm into his body. His iron armor was bent out of shape, adding even more pressure to his body.

"I'm taking it off."

Skillfully, he removed the armor around Soma's chest and cut away the upper-body clothing with a knife. There might be complaints later, but human life came first.

Given that he was spitting up blood, there was a high probability that some internal organ was damaged. In that case, making him drink a recovery potion would be best, but Soma was vomiting blood.

He considered the possibility that blood remained in his airway. So first, he applied a low-level recovery spell around the throat and lungs.

Sai wasn't especially good at casting recovery magic on others, but he did what he could.

After a moment, Soma vomited a large amount of blood.

"Soma!?"

With this, it seemed the blood pooled in his lungs had come out to some extent. His breathing became rough, but that was his body desperately seeking oxygen. His condition had improved slightly.

"Soma, don't die! Soma!!"

Tetta, unable to move, let out a voice close to a scream.

"Can you drink this? Your body might be shocked, but don't throw it up on me."

Next, he made Soma drink an intermediate recovery potion he'd purchased at Earth's Adventurer's Guild. A single bottle cost several months of a salaryman's income, but this middle-aged man, who wasn't strapped for cash, prioritized human life over money.

However, having one's internal organs restored by a mana-derived substance like a potion... The body was often shocked by the unfamiliar method of recovery. For a first-timer, the stomach and organs would definitely be startled, sometimes causing rejection.

For a moment, Soma looked like he was about to spit it out, but Sai closed his mouth and forced him to swallow. His breathing shifted from the earlier ragged gasps back to groans of pain. But that was because his life had been reconnected.

"Alright, next I'm pouring this on your arm too."

He poured a low-grade recovery potion over Soma's broken right arm. The damage to the arm was gradually being repaired.

He wasn't fully healed yet, but he'd probably be fine now. Soma was still lying down, but his breathing was peaceful, with soft, steady breaths.

"He should be fine for a while now."

"Soma!"

Still collapsed, Tetta dragged himself forward using only his arms, crawling toward Soma. He must have been truly worried about him.

Seeing Tetta's expression, Sai felt relief that he'd been able to save a life this time.

Just as he was breathing a sigh of relief, the sound of multiple heavy footsteps approached.

"Soma!"

It was Tetta and Soma's other companion, Gakuto, who had arrived with the Adventurer's Guild's rescue team.

Now he could be certain everything was fine.

The Adventurer's Guild rescue team had been briefed by Gakuto beforehand and immediately tried to begin rescuing Soma, but they were surprised to find him already mostly healed.

"Did you handle this treatment?"

Asked by the rescue team leader, Sai reported the situation without hiding anything. He explained that after defeating the Raging Bull, he'd brought Tetta and come here. That he'd healed the internal organs with an intermediate recovery potion and the arm with a low-grade recovery potion.

"Thank you for the swift response." "I'm glad I could help, too."

He shook hands with the rescue team leader.

"Sorry for the trouble, but could you come with us to take a statement?"

Sai felt it was a bit troublesome, but back when he was a guild staff member in the other world, he'd done the same thing. Without making a sour face, he said just one thing.

"Can I at least go collect the Raging Bull's drops first?"

Exiting Shinjuku Tower, he headed for the attached Adventurer's Guild. It had only been a few hours, but his first dungeon conquest in Japan was satisfying.

In a room at the Adventurer's Guild, Sai was being questioned by a guild staff member. His actions had been exactly as written in the beginner training textbook, and were commendable, so the staff member asked questions and confirmed details with a somewhat deferential attitude.

Times like this were when an adventurer's stream came in handy. The footage captured by Sai's camera had been turned into video, and he went through it with step-by-step commentary on what he'd done.

There was one thing he didn't mention: the recovery magic. Fortunately, the glow of the recovery magic hadn't been captured on camera. It might not have been something he needed to hide, but it was magic he'd learned in another world, and he was still unfamiliar with magic in Japan, so he'd hesitated about whether it was okay to talk about it. At first glance, it just looked like he was doing a physical examination, and the staff member believed Sai's words.

After finishing the statement, Sai asked the staff member about the condition of the three. Two of the three were apparently resting in hospital beds. Soma, who had been seriously injured, had recovered but was facing detailed examinations. Tetta, though uninjured, was suffering from extreme exhaustion and was also resting in bed. Gakuto, who had sent the alert to the guild, was the only one completely unharmed.

When he asked if he could visit them, the reply was "no problem," so Sai headed straight to the Adventurer's Guild hospital wing.

"Thank you so much!"

That was the first thing he heard when he opened the door to visit the three in their hospital room. Soma and Gakuto were awake. It seemed Soma's detailed examination was still to come, but at a glance he looked fine, which was a relief. Tetta was asleep, probably from the extreme exhaustion. The fact that he didn't react even to the loud expressions of gratitude showed just how worn out he really was.

If he was getting proper rest, that was a good thing.

"Glad you're safe. How are you feeling?"

"Thanks to you... I've got no stamina left, but my body's fine."

Soma said with a smile.

"Good. If that hadn't worked, I don't know what I would've done." Sai had used an intermediate recovery potion he'd bought for his own use. If even that had failed, there'd be nothing left to fall back on.

"Oh, right, I was just told... the money for the intermediate potion..." "Ah, don't worry about it." "But I heard it's crazy expensive..." "Yeah, it is. Say... are you going to keep being an adventurer from now on?"

He'd been on the brink of life and death with severe injuries just a short while ago. From Sai's experience in the other world, quite a few rookies quit adventuring after the shock of a serious injury.

"...Well... honestly, I'm a little scared. But I... I..."

Maybe because of his near-death experience, his words wavered with hesitation. It was hard to keep being an adventurer on just dreams alone.

But.

"...Do you want to keep going?"

"......Yes...!"

Soma squeezed the words out as if forcing them from his throat.

"Then, when you get stronger, repay that debt by helping the next generation of rookies."

At that moment, Soma saw in Sai the kind of adventurer he'd always admired. That's right. He'd wanted to become an adult like this, wanted to become someone cool—that was why he'd aimed to be an adventurer.

"......Yes!"

Sai smiled, feeling relieved as he looked at the rookie—no, his fellow adventurer now—who seemed like he'd be able to continue his adventuring career with vigor.

"Sorry... um, there's something I'd like to confirm..."

Gakuto, who had been watching Sai and Soma's exchange, spoke up hesitantly.

"Me? What's up?"

"There were questions from people watching our stream... and we weren't sure how to explain..."

Saying this, he held out his phone showing "Tower Tube," the streaming site for adventurers. Their channel had about a hundred subscribers—university friends—and today's stream had gotten a lot of comments.

The comments were things like "Soma's saved! Thank god!", "Who the hell is that old guy?", "What the hell was that move?! That's not your average floor 3 adventurer", "SUGEEEEEE" — along with posts worrying about Soma, there were also many comments directed at Sai.

Sai thought for a moment and then asked them to just say he was "just an old guy who happened to pass by." In reality, that much wasn't a lie. He'd happened to be on the third floor of the tower, so Tetta had called for help and he'd gone to rescue them. If they explained that he was a freshly licensed adventurer who'd taken the beginner course with them, it would cause a stir. He wanted to avoid that.

He'd already caused his parents and sister so much trouble. If things got blown out of proportion now, how would he explain it to his family? Even if he'd done a good deed, there was no telling how a commotion might play out. Being scolded even though he'd tried his best. Being criticized. Even back in the other world, things like that had happened. That was the reasoning behind his answer.

"Sorry for the trouble." "No, thank you for checking with us."

After that, after chatting about this and that, Sai gave the three of them the Raging Bull meat as a present. It was the drop he'd collected before withdrawing from Shinjuku Tower.

It was so the young ones would remember the taste of adventure, and also for nourishment and strength. Monster meat contained a lot of magical power. Eating monster meat was very useful as a means of building an adventurer's body, boosting natural recovery, and speeding up healing. Of course, only meat suitable for eating. The effects wouldn't appear immediately, but daily actions built the body.

The taste should be good too, since it was beef. If it was the same breed as in the other world, it wouldn't have as much marbling as Wagyu, but all that rampaging made the meat meaty and delicious.

The two of them politely refused, but Sai insisted that young adventurers needed to build their bodies and gave it to them anyway.

Later, Sai would learn that Raging Bull meat was more expensive than it had been in the other world, and realize why they'd been so hesitant to accept it. It was the result of him forgetting something he should have known: that as a drop item, its rarity was even higher.

And so, Sai's first conquest of Shinjuku Tower came to an end.

Exiting the Shinjuku Adventurer's Guild, he headed toward the station. It was already night. This adventure had been largely satisfying.

Shinjuku's night was growing lively. Sai slipped through the crowds and began walking home.

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Thank you for reading.

Today also marks a two-chapter update. Another update was made at 9 AM as well.

Thank you very much.