Chapter 39: Town Of Martial Artists
TL: Scaramochi
***
"Hey look, there's a town-like thing."
"I didn't know there was a town here......."
"Whee...... whee...... I can finally sleep in a proper bed."
We made it to a small town at the foot of the mountains.
It was much smaller than the base city of Chloris, but it had it's fair share of houses and stores.
We had to cross the mountain range to get to the royal city of Barontark, which we were aiming for. For the same purpose, there are inns where travelers and adventurers can rest. So it's surprisingly busy and prosperous for a small place.
"When we cross this mountain range, we'll be in Barontark. Let's rest in that town for a while and add to our supplies."
"You know a lot about this place, Dale, have you been here before?"
"Yes, a little. I haven't been here in a while and I'd like to stop by and introduce you guys to someone"
"Well, I've never heard of Dale wanting to introduce us to someone. What's he like?"
"You'll have to wait and see."
"Can we stop talking and get going? I'm running out of time."
A breathless Mirialia urges me.
She was using a stick as a walking stick and was about to fall over with a shaking body.
She really has no stamina. Well, she has been staying in the field for a long time now, so she must be tired.
"Well, I guess we're going to have a nice meal for the first time in a while."
"Here you go, fried wild boar meat, egg porridge and wild vegetable soup."
"Oh, that looks so delicious!"
"Itadakimasu!"
"Oh ...... this is so good for my tired body."
We had dinner at a teahouse as soon as we entered the town. The food is made with local ingredients and has a different taste than usual.
The three of us, Frey and Athena, were enjoying onigiri and fried wild boar meat, while Mirialia was having egg porridge and wild vegetable soup.
It's said that elves don't like meat, but Mirialia doesn't mind at all. She eats it normally. This time, however, she is too tired to accept heavy food, so she has asked for something easy to digest.
Frey ate it in no time at all and asked for refills for three people. She must have really liked it. Well, it's just plain delicious.
"Phew~ I ate, I ate! It was insanely delicious!"
Frey pats her contentedly swollen belly and cleans out her mouth with a toothpick.
"Why don't you act a little more like a girl your age? You're acting just like an old man."
"Why don't you take a lesson from Athena, who wipes her mouth with a handkerchief in a classy manner?"
"Hey, dirty elves, don't try to get Athena to do it for you."
As I take a break, a waitress alls out to me, bringing a plate with dumplings on it.
"You're a good eater - customer, would you like some dumplings after your meal?"
"Thank you! I'll have some!"
You're still going in there after eating so much...... your belly must be bottomless.
The smiling female waitress asks as I don't like Frey's appetite.
"Are you and your customers heading to the royal capital from now on?"
"Yes, we intend to. Um, are there many other people like that besides us? I don't mean to be rude, but it's much more crowded than I imagined."
"Yes, this is where travelers and adventurers come to take a break before heading to the royal capital. It's such a small town, though, and many people are thankful for it. That's why people like us, who live here, set up various stores to satisfy our customers. There's also a hot spring, so customers should go in there."
"Hot springs? That's something to look forward to."
"Hey, I've been wondering... I've been noticing a lot of strange looking people walking around town. Are they travelers or adventurers too?"
"Oh, that's-- They are martial artists."
I say, as if to cover the waitress' story, and all three of them look at me with a blank stare.
They didn't seem to know what I was talking about, so I explained.
"By strange looking, you mean street clothes. The guys in street clothes are all martial artists belonging to some school. This place is surrounded by mountains and is a perfect place to practice. So martial artists gathered here from all over the country, and eventually a dojo was built. There are many schools of martial arts here. Isn't that right, clerk?"
"You know a lot, don't you, customer? Yes, they are all martial artists. And they help me a lot. They often come to the store, do the heavy lifting, and help travelers and adventurers when they get into trouble. They are very helpful people."
As the waitress said, many travelers and adventurers come to this town for the King's Landing. Among them, there are also some ruffians, and not a few of them are nuisances. The martial artists were responsible for punishing these ruffians at such times.
In short, the martial artists have become the town's neighborhood watch.
"Ha, there's such an interesting group of people. I'd love to pick a fight with them."
"What do dojo and ryu school mean, I've never heard of them before?"
"A dojo is a place where martial artists gather to train together, and a ryu school is a lineage of fighting styles. Some schools, like Athena's, emphasize avoidance, while others, like Frey's, push with force. And then the martial artist joins the dojo of the style that suits him."
"I see....... So many people gather together to learn the same fighting style and engage in friendly competition."
Well, that's about it.
The waitress sighs in annoyance as she explains to Athena and the others.
"That's the thing, the school that was established about a year ago is having trouble breaking into the dojo."
"What dojo-breaking is that?"
"To put it simply, it's when someone tries to pick a fight with another school. Some people just want to test their skills, while others want to rob you of your money and other things after they win."
"You mean they're the bad guys."
"So, clerk, what school is it that is doing the dojo-breaking?"
"It's called the "Hattenryu"...... you see, those martial artists over there are the ones."
I followed the waitress' gaze and saw a group of ill-dressed guys eating.
I could tell from their appearance alone that they weren't good people.
Are such small guys like them still in business nowadays? The quality of the martial artists in this town has also fallen, hasn't it?
As I looked on in dismay, they got up from their seats with a thud, and with an arrogant attitude, offered their opinions to the waitress.
"Hey, clerk, I'm asking you to pay the bill again today."
"Again! You guys paid on the tab before, didn't you? If you don't pay us by the end of the day, we'll be out of business."
"Aah! Do you know that we are the "Hattenryu"? Who do you think is protecting this town from these adventurers?"
"What are you talking about? What you are doing is just like those adventurers who do bad things!"
"You b*tch, what did you say!"
"I guess I'm going to have to suffer for a while..."
The "Hattenryu" and other assholes come at us, kicking chairs.
You guys are doing the same thing as thugs. Is this "Hattenryu" even for these assholes? I'd believe it even if you said they were fakes borrowing the name.
When I was truly dumbfounded, Frey, who had been quiet until now, spat out a toothpick and asked me a question with a grin.
"Hey Dale, you wouldn't mind if I'm bumping off these guys, right?"
"By all means, go ahead and do it."
"Yeah! I'm having fun! Hey Athena, don't stop me."
"Who's going to stop you, do what you want."
"Don't destroy the store!"
As Athena and I flutter and wave our hands in permission, Frey puts her fists together with a bash and stands up with a smile on her face that looks so happy.
Oh, they had bad timing, too. If it had been anyone else, they would have only suffered a little pain, but with Frey on the other side, they're not going to get away with a beatdown.
Poor guys.......
Frey intervenes between the men of the "Hattenryu" who are trying to make a grim face and crowd the waitress as best they can.
Suddenly they were interrupted, and the men frowned.
"Oh, what the hell, sis, don't interrupt me. You want me to hurt you?"
"Shut up!"
"Gah!"
The Hattenryu 1, which was hit in the face by a no-questions-asked fist fired by Frey, went over the top of us and blew out of the store.
How quick she was to make a move. Look, it was so sudden that everyone's faces looked like pigeons had been hit by a peashooter. Even your brother was surprised.
It's no wonder they were selling fights in the Adventurers' Guild. You're on a very high thug level.
"What the hell are you doing out of the blue? Don't think you can get away with this!"
"You've already started the fight, don't talk, put your hands on me!"
"--Guho?"
Bakibakibakibakibakibakibakibakibakibakibakibakibakibakibakibakibaki!!!
Quick, too quick. Frey had hit the first, second, and third of the Hattenryu in the blink of an eye.
Weak, too weak. You are definitely not martial artists, you are too small fry.
"Oh, oh, I'll remember this!"
"I'll definitely pay you back for this!"
"You're going to regret making an enemy of the Hattenryu~!"
"Damn, they're not so smart. I couldn't even stomach it."
Frey claps her hands and swears at all three of them until the line that makes them run away with their tails between their legs.
I don't know how to feel. Even I thought they'd be a little more responsive, but they've failed to meet my expectations.
On the contrary, I'm relieved she didn't kill them. Frey has learned to go easy on them, and that's a good thing.
"Thanks a lot, customer. Thanks for saving my life. In return, you don't have to pay me this time."
"Oh, really? Lucky Athena, you have me to thank for that."
"No, I'll pay. No, I'll pay. We...... rather Frey ate too much. It's not like it's free."
Frey was pleased to hear that she would get free food, but Athena immediately refrained.
Well, sure, Frey ate more than three servings by herself. It would be tough for the restaurant to give it away for free.
The waitress, however, wasn't going to break her heart, and strongly told Athena not to be shy.
"It's okay, thanks to you guys, I've been able to clear my pent up resentment. This is the only way I can thank you, take it."
"If you insist that much, I'll be happy to be treated by you this time."
"Thanks!"
"Hey, clerk, we're going to be in town for a while, so if you get in trouble again, just let me know. If you see any more trouble, just let me know and I'll send this guy right over."
"You're okay with that? That's very reassuring."
I say, and the clerk smiles happily.
It's a great way for Frey, who loves to fight, to relieve stress, and it's also a great way for me to practice my fighting skills. I'm glad that she's coming to me.
"But still, the breakneck style...... is a troublesome one, isn't it?"
The situation is that the lower ranks of the martial artists are so overbearing that the martial artists of the other schools are silent.
Probably, they have all been defeated and are no longer able to stand up to the other martial artists. The side that loses after a dojo-breaker basically has no say in the matter.
That means, at the very least, those who are in the heavenly side of the Dojo Breaking School are very strong.
"Nananana......"
I was planning to take a hot spring bath to rest and relax, but it looks like I can't afford to be so carefree.
0 Comments