Chapter 44 – Giant Subjugation Quest #1

After lighting the fire with magic, I observed it for a long time. Unlike water, the flame made of magical power was amazing.
Even though my fingers are touching the fire, Day doesn’t work.
However, fire was never an illusion. The moment I secretly put fire on my sleeve, the fabric started to be scorched.

‘Why isn’t it just me? That’s interesting.’

It is clearly different from water magic.
If the water created with magic touches my body, I get wet too. Perhaps there is something in the fire magic itself that protects the caster? As someone who had just learned magic, I had no choice but to guess that much.

Fire-!
I kept sparks on my fingers until late at night.
It would be a big deal if I moved into the room, but it didn’t matter.
If there’s a fire, you can make water to put it out.
Because he was learning water magic, he was able to safely handle fire.

When I awoke the next morning, I tried to light the flame as soon as I woke up.
However, the sound of a knock coming from the door stopped the signing.

“It’s coming.”

I heard a knock on the door and realized who it was.
Actually, I didn’t recognize it just by sound, but I thought it was time to come soon.
The moment the door opened, standing in the hallway was, of course, a red-haired female swordsman.

“Luke! Good morning.”

Rebecca waved her hand and gave her a wry smile at me.
But I couldn’t help but laugh.
Because behind Rebecca’s back was a large tower shield.
I made an absurd expression while looking at the square shield hanging from my back.

‘Are you a ninja turtle, fuck?’

It was a fairly large tower shield for Rebecca’s body. The rough surface looks like a turtle wearing a shell.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Rebecca’s shield.
Rebecca seemed to have noticed my gaze.

“You can see it well, can you see it? My big beautiful shield?”
“I feel burdened because I look so good.”
“Whoop whoop!”

Rebecca opened the door and entered the room. Then he posed in the middle of my room with a shield.
I was nervous to see her holding a curved sword in one hand and a shield in the other.
It was because the 5 silver shield was very conspicuous.

“How is it? Isn’t it great? I thought I was going crazy yesterday because I wanted to show off this. It’s a 5-silver tower shield I bought at a general store! With just this one, I can’t stand a rain of arrows-.”
“Awesome.”

First of all, he honestly praised the shield.
But the next moment Rebecca scanned my body, I couldn’t help but wonder.

“Huh.”

What are those eyes
What are you observing?

“Luke…”
“Yes why?”

Rebecca looked at me with her smirk.

“You haven’t changed anything-?”
“…Huh uh uh uh!”

I couldn’t help but get goosebumps at that one word.
It was clear what her question meant.
Rebecca, who scanned my body, was smiling brightly before I knew it.

It’s definitely a sign that cooking will begin!
The terrible scenery I imagined at the general store is being reproduced in reality.

Did I have a precognitive dream at the general store?
As much as I want to believe it, Rebecca started craving me with the same look as I imagined.

“I bet you didn’t use all of the money you received so far for entertainment, right? If that was the case, I would be really disappointed.

It was fortunate that he learned fire magic in advance.
If I had heard that word in a defenseless state, I would have wanted to bite my tongue in shame.

But now I have fire.
It’s a spark of magic that will shut up that vicious newbie bitch.

“Amusement money? What are you talking about?”
“No, nothing has changed. I bought a tower shield, but the only party member just played and ate-?

I snorted.

“What are you talking about? There’s no way they played and ate. Wait a minute because I put the specs up properly.”

I made a hand sign and kindled a spark.
The moment I looked at the flame hanging from the tip of my finger, Rebecca had a startled look on her face.

“Fire magic! Did you learn fire magic?”
“Then what does this look like if it’s not magic?”
“Couldn’t you have smoked it with a stick beforehand like a caveman again? Hide it in your palm and show it…”

After talking hers out, as if realizing that it wasn’t even herself, Rebecca shuts her mouth.
After all, I wasn’t crazy enough to hide fire in the palm of my hand.
You can’t get burned by bluffing.

“Because I’m a wizard. Learning new magic is better than investing in equipment. That’s why I bought a magic book. I bought two 2-silver magic books.”
“I-I’m a 5 silver shield-?”
“What’s the point of price? What’s more useful is what’s important. You don’t think a shield is better than fire magic, do you?”
“With this shield, I can block the rain of arrows!”
“With fire magic, you can light a fire anywhere. Anyone can carry a shield, but fire magic is rare. You can make a bonfire and torch anywhere, anytime. Do you know the value of fire?”
“Kuuuuu!”

Rebecca seemed to have nothing to say about magic being rarer than shields.
I was prepared to rob Rebecca of her soul.
Taking advantage of her gap, he pushed Rebecca vigorously.
Does she dare to mac me as soon as we meet?
You cheeky newbie bitch!

“Isn’t it the end if I burn the shield with fire? With one gesture of my hand, 5 silver flies into the sky.”
“Before that, I will crush your head with my shield.”
“Hut.”

But, indeed, Rebecca was a formidable woman.
Which is more useful, a shield or fire magic?
In her argument, Rebecca held her own until the end. She then tried to run out of her room as if she was frustrated that the argument wouldn’t end.

“Shibaaaaah!”

I barely caught Rebecca running toward her door. Are you going to get angry and go back to the inn? Didn’t you come here to do a quest together?

“Hey! Where are you going!”
“General store! Wait here until I buy the leggings! If I get the protective gear, you have nothing to say! No matter how much I think about it, I spent more money!”
“If you buy it, do you have money to eat? Aren’t you starving to death?”
“Kuk.”

It seemed like I had hit the mark.
Rebecca stopped struggling at the sound of starvation.
No matter how punctual she was, her food was precious.
There is nothing more miserable than starving because there is no money while living an adventurer’s life.

Rebecca let out her light sigh, she said.
Because she was a bronze with no money to put up with her ego.

“Luke. Wouldn’t it be a draw?”
“What?”
“Make it a draw, please-“

I was dumbfounded when I heard that.
Does this bronze bitch have a conscience?
You say you put yourself first and ask for a draw?
She’s a little pissed off, but doesn’t have the confidence to continue arguing.
At this rate, I think I’ll run out of energy before I even start the quest.
I said while wiping the sweat from my forehead.

“Okay, let’s make it a draw.”
“Thanks-.”

I let Rebecca go.
After taking a short break, Rebecca and I left for the Adventurer’s Guild. At least I needed time to wipe off the sweat. I never thought I would be sweating while arguing.

*

As I walked to the Adventurer’s Guild, I couldn’t help but keep my eyes on Rebecca. Because she couldn’t take her eyes off the tower shield hanging from her back. It was a fairly large shield, but was it made of light material? Rebecca was moving in front of her effortlessly.

“Not very heavy? That shield.”
“Yeah. Just do it. The general store owner said it was a shield made of a special material. I heard it’s a shield made of monster shells.”
“A monster’s shell?”
“I heard it’s a monster called Turtle Bear. It’s said to be the shell that comes out of that monster.”
“Hoo.”

I looked at the tower shield with a mixed expression of admiration.
Turtle Bear is a strange bear that wears a shell on its back. The carapace that comes out of it boasts steel-like strength, and its light weight makes it perfect for use as a shield.
It seemed that he had obtained a shield as good as he had paid for a large amount of 5 silver.

“How is it? Do you feel a bit envious now?”
“Well, let’s come.”

I honestly thought it was a good thing.
But not to the point of feeling envious. It would be better to wear a buckler instead of always carrying a wide shield like that. Adventurers have a lot of work to do, so the bigger the load, the harder it is.

Rebecca doesn’t seem to mind.
Is it because I’m still a newbie?

“Hey, can’t you just say one word out of envy? I’ll ask you like this.”
“Ah, I’m so damn jealous-. I’m jealous, I’m jealous, I’m jealous. I’m going crazy with envy Rebecca.”
“Under!”

At my soulless voice, Rebecca gave a look of exasperation. Even after that, Rebecca persistently boasted of her shield, but I neatly ignored it. It was so much fun to watch her tremble with her fists clenched whenever she was ignored.

Could it be that this is not the case?
I think I said earlier about breaking the head with a shield.
Fortunately, Rebecca didn’t wield a shield until she arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild. I was relieved only after arriving at the guild building. Because Rebecca is finally starting to pay attention to things other than the shield.

For some reason, the front door of the Adventurers Guild was crowded with people.
There are always adventurers and clients around the guild building, but today, for some reason, there were several times more people than usual. Because of the crowds, there is no room to even set foot.

“Why are there so many people? Are there any events at the Adventurer’s Guild today?”
“I don’t think so. I haven’t heard of any special events being held this month.”

As a second-year adventurer, I had a rough idea of ​​what was going on in Yoensu’s guild every month.
He was aware of all the special events that would summon adventurers.
However, it was the first time I had ever seen so many people flocking to it at a time like this.

“Let’s listen to what you’re talking about for a moment.”

I listened to the voices of the people gathered in front of the building for a while.
It wasn’t that difficult to find out why people flocked. Adventurers and ordinary citizens were all saying the same thing in unison.

“They said a giant appeared in a nearby village.”
“Three giants appeared. Livestock and food were all stolen.”
“Damn the giants.”

Giant!
As soon as I heard that, my eyes widened. It was because I realized at once why people had gathered in front of the guild building in the morning. If you had been an adventurer for two years in Yoensu, you had no choice but to know what a giant was, even if you didn’t like it.

“Giant? What is the giant talking about?”

Rebecca gave a questioning look as she looked around.
This is the face of a kawaii newbie who knows nothing.
Certainly, someone from another province would not know much about giants.
Giants are like special monsters that often appear in this region.

“Giants are a different species that have grown up with humans like you. They look almost the same as humans, but you can just say that they’ve grown in size.”
“How big are you?”
“Roughly more than twice my height.”
“Come.”

Rebecca looked at me and gave me a surprised look.
That’s right, I’m a big incubus, and I’m 1.8m tall, but if I say twice that, I’ll reach 4m.
You can think of it as a heterogeneous race with a height equal to the height of a building.
But the important thing now is not to explain the giant’s size. The problem was that they were destroying the inhabitants of the continent with their huge size.

“Giants are a race that makes their living by plundering. They raid villages and steal all their wealth and food. Every village near Joensu must have experienced being attacked by a giant at least once? They’re enemies.”
“Huh, they look pretty vicious.”

As Rebecca looked at the people gathered in front of the building, she gave a look of understanding. Every time I brought out the word giant, people reacted violently.

“You damned giants.”
“They’re such doggies, really. My parents’ farm was robbed by them.”

It was natural for people to gather in front of the Adventurer’s Guild.
Because when a giant is discovered, an adventurer’s guild immediately sets up a subjugation party. It took a lot of troops to defeat the giant.
It is not an enemy that can be defeated with a small party of adventurers.
I informed Rebecca that when a giant appears, a subjugation party is usually formed.
After hearing the explanation, Rebecca had a look of anticipation for some reason.

“The giant subjugation team? So, the guild is giving quests to adventurers, right?”
“Right.”
“Let’s participate too! Let’s go and make a lot of money.”

Rebecca seemed impatient to join the punitive force.
As she lost all of her money while preparing her shield, she will need a quest that will make her money.
Of course, I also wanted to make money, but I didn’t have high expectations.

“If the two of us applied, we’d end up with it? All the adventurers who apply for the punitive squad have extremely good specs. The level of equipment you match isn’t normal. The shield you’re holding looks normal there.”
“Put it on, it’s normal! It’s a 5 silver shield!”
“Subjugation units have average equipment like that. Well, don’t expect too much.”

I took the shocked Rebecca into the adventurer’s guild. She thought of asking Wendy if she had a spot in the punitive force. Of course, there were so many applicants for the Giant Subjugation Team that it was common for the seats to fill up within a few days. That means there’s a good chance there won’t be room for me and Rebecca.

“Mr. Wendy!”

Upon arriving at the reception desk, I spoke to Wendy. Wendy was sitting at the reception desk, her hands busy with her papers. It seemed that the work was exploding because of organizing the giant subjugation party.

“What are you doing, Luke? I’m busy right now, so you can’t talk to me unnecessarily. Because of those giant bastards, I’m going to work overtime today. Fuck.”
“Ms. Wendy, do you have any vacant positions in the subjugation party? We’re recruiting for the subjugation party right now, right?”
“No. It was full last night.”

Wendy said that the subjugation party was full of adventurers.
There is no disappointment because I didn’t expect it from the beginning.
It was when I was about to ask Wendy about another quest.

“But it looks like there’s going to be a vacancy right now, Mr. Luke!”
“Yes?”

Wendy looked at me and said.
Suddenly, Wendy’s voice started to come alive.
She even put down the pen she was holding in her hand and was looking at me.

“It’s because the wizard put in an application for the subjugation party. Even if there’s no space, I’ll make it and give it to you.”
“Well, there are still people who came in first, aren’t there?”
“There is no such thing as first-come, first-served order in the adventurer industry!”
“Oh.”