強くなるということは
ニコちゃんのお父さんに、僕の考えている今後の事を伝えると、娘と一緒に居られるのならと快く承諾してくれた。そうでなくとも、自分の事を助けてくれた恩人の決めた事なら文句はないとのこと。
なんだか、この世界で久しぶりに普通な人に会った気がする。今まで出会った良い大人って、ミニエラで会った宿のエイラさんくらいじゃない? あの人は良い人だったよね、ルルちゃんにも優しくしてくれたし、服もくれたし、気前の良いおばさんって感じの、人当たりの良い人だった。
ああそれと、ニコちゃんのお父さんの名前がようやく分かった。ヒグルドさんっていうらしい、爵位を聞いてみた所、元伯爵だった。上からも下からも三番目の地位、正直微妙だった。でも、皆が聞き覚えがある爵位では第一位だと思う。まぁ個人的にそう思っただけだけど。
で、ジャック君だけど、彼は僕の言葉に感銘を受けたらしく、尊敬の眼差しで僕の事を見てくる。新人特有の、世間の汚さを知らないキラキラした視線がうざい。だから言ったんだよ、どうなっても知らないからねって。凄く面倒臭いことになっちゃったじゃん。
それで、とてもだるいことに、僕に付いて行きたいらしい。僕はHランク冒険者だっていうのに、Fランクの分際で僕に付いて来たいとか、ふざけてるよね。あれ? 逆だったっけ? まぁどっちでもいいけど。
「君と僕じゃパーティを組んでも意味がない上に、相性が悪い。それに、僕に付いてくるって事は、少なくとも魔王級の化け物達と戦うことになるんだ......はっきり言おうか、足手纏いだ」
「............っ!?」
だから、僕はジャック君の要望を却下。僕の言ったことは、紛れもなく僕の本音だ。
最低でも、この先あの勇者気取りとは敵対するだろうし、異世界人を殺すと言っていた使徒ちゃんも、いずれは僕に辿り着く。そうなれば、あの子とそのバックにある組織が僕を殺しにくる。もっと言えば、勇者と戦って勝ったとして、魔王に眼を付けられる可能性も無きにしも非ずだ。
僕の進む先には、怪物が多過ぎる。ただの冒険者であるジャック君には、かなり荷が重過ぎる。
だからこそ、素で強いレイラちゃんやフィニアちゃん、伸び代のあるルルちゃん、そして可能性が未知数のリーシェちゃんをパーティにしているんだ。僕も耐性で言えば勇者と同等にまで成長したし、新人の彼は幾らなんでもスタートが遅すぎる。
「君は君で信頼出来る仲間を探すんだ」
「......でも、俺はきつねさんのこと......すげぇでっけぇって思ったんす......俺も、きつねさんみたいになりたいって......!」
「僕なんかに憧れちゃ駄目だよ......言っておくけど、僕はHランクの冒険者で、全力で戦った所で他のどんな冒険者にだって勝つ事は出来ない。多分、君と戦っても勝つ事は出来ない」
なんたって、僕の攻撃力は冒険者の中でも最弱だからね。耐性で言えばAランククラスだから、負ける事もないだろうけれど、勝つ事も出来ない。
だから、僕に憧れるのは間違っている。冒険者として、失敗だ。
「僕の事を大きい人だと思ってくれるのは嬉しいけれど、僕は君を連れていけない。君がなんと言おうと、駄目だ、勝手に付いてくるのも駄目だ」
「......そう、すか......分かりました......でも、簡単には諦められないっす」
「......へぇ」
「だから、俺がこの先ずっと強くなって、きつねさんの仲間として認めてくれるくらい強くなったその時は......俺を仲間にしてくれますか?」
諦めの悪い子だなぁジャック君。でも、そういうところは嫌いじゃない。僕としては、正義感溢れる勇者みたいな天才チート野郎と違って、こういう凡人が泥だらけになりながら、格好悪く努力でのし上がって来るような奴の方が、断然好ましい。
まぁ努力に勝る才能なしとも言うし、それくらいなら認めても良いかな。まぁ、才能以上の努力なんて、結局は才能無くしてはあり得ないんだけどね。
「じゃそれで、精々頑張ると良いよ。のんびりしてたら置いてくからね」
「ッ! は、はい!」
よし、とりあえずジャック君には今後会わない様にしよう。仲間だ努力だ言ったけれど、結局面倒だし、昨日の大泣きされて精神的に疲れたことは忘れてないからね。見かけたら見なかったふりして逃げよう。強くなったかどうかなんて、遠目でも『ステータス鑑定』で見れるし。
「それじゃ、ジャック君。頑張ってね」
「はい......きつねさん、ありがとうございました」
話も着いた所で、ジャック君退室。頭を下げる彼に、僕はひらひらと手を振って見送った。
そして、入れ替わるようにレイラちゃんとリーシェちゃんが入ってきた。荷物も持っている様だし、どうやら出発の準備は整っているらしい。
「じゃ、そろそろ出発しようか。ニコちゃんはまだ寝てるけど......ヒグルドさんが抱っこして運べば良いでしょ」
「レイラちゃん、リーシェちゃん、人数が増えたから食料を補充して、馬車を取りに行くよ。早々にこんな街からおさらばしよう」
「ああ、分かった」
僕の指示に皆が頷いた所で、ようやくこの街を去ることが出来る。元々はちょっと立ち寄って、すぐに出る予定だったんだけどなぁ。随分と時間を喰ったものだ。
でもまぁ、得るものも多かったってことで、再出発には大分良い感じの空気だと思う。
そして、僕達はこの街を発つ為に、宿を出た。
◇ ◇ ◇
一方その頃。勇者達もまた、各々で朝を迎えていた。
現在勇者一行の中で起きているのは、勇者とジークだ。彼らは出発してから毎朝、試合形式で朝の訓練をしている。基礎は十分備わっている勇者としては、実戦経験を積まなければならない以上、殺意を持って相手をしてくれるジークとの朝練は、かなりの経験値になっていた。
そのおかげもあって、鍛えられた高い基礎能力と、実践形式で積まれた柔軟な思考とが合わさって、勇者凪は、数日ながらに凄まじい成長を遂げていた。
視線だけではなく、感覚と気配で相手の動きを感じ取り、一手先二手先を読む。時には牽制とフェイクを交えて、自身の本命の一撃を隠す事を覚えた。
勿論、基礎ステータスも大幅に向上し、魔獣との戦闘も難なくこなせるようになっており、魔王や魔族についての知識も、巫女のセシルから学んでいる。
「はぁ......はぁ......!」
「っ......ふぅ......大分、お前さんも強くなったなぁ......そろそろ俺もやべぇかもな」
「っははは......いやいや、まだまだ敵いそうにない......っよ!」
大の字になって倒れていた凪は、ジークの言葉にそう言い返して、上体を起こした。汗を拭って、剣を鞘に納める。乱れた呼吸を整えながら、悔し半分尊敬半分の苦笑を漏らした。
そして呼吸が整った所で、凪は視線をジークから別の方へと移した。
「次、行くよ!」
「はい!」
そこには、自分たちよりも早く起きて訓練を始めていた、ルルとフィニアがいる。どれほど長い間訓練していたのか分からないが、ルルは汗だくで、動くたびに珠の様な汗が地面に落ちている。獣人故なのか、体力が多いようで、凪達が起きて来てからずっと動きっぱなしだ。
フィニアの魔法を躱し、光魔法で作られた魔力玉を剣で斬るという訓練だ。フィニアは攻撃に、相手を吹っ飛ばす光の下級魔法を使用しており、ルルが斬る的は、光るだけの魔力玉、攻撃力は一切ない。
だが、攻撃の光魔法と的の光魔法は、見た目では見分けが付かない。しかも数が多い上に、攻撃の速度も速い。一瞬で的か攻撃かを判断し、正確に的だけを斬る眼が必要になる。
だが、ルルは地面を蹴り続ける。迫りくる光弾を一瞬で判断、躱し、斬り、そして体力の続く限りそれを繰り返す。その動きは、勇者である凪から見ても、ジークから見ても、華麗で、凄まじい気迫を感じた。
しかも、恐ろしいのはその伸び代が見えないところだ。剣を振るう度に、無駄が消え、洗練されていくような感覚を覚える。
おそらく、凪と一騎打ちで勝負すれば凪が勝つだろうが、それでもかなり互角の勝負を繰り広げるだろう。それほどまでに、彼女の強くなりたいという想いの強さと、溢れる才能は凄まじい。
「......凄いなあの子......」
「ああ、ありゃお前さんとは違う意味で、天才だろうな......だが、ちょいと無茶し過ぎな気もする......身体壊さねぇと良いんだが」
「......そうだな」
それからセシルとシルフィが起きてくるまでの一時間、ルルとフィニアの特訓は続いた。
そして、現在の彼らのステータスはこうだ。
名前:芹沢凪
性別:男 Lv72(↑12UP)
筋力:12030
体力:13400
耐性:310:STOP!
敏捷:13800
魔力:6780
【称号】
『魔力操作Lv3』
『天賦の才』
名前:ルル・ソレイユ
性別:女 Lv47(↑34UP)
筋力:6890
体力:10340
耐性:100:STOP!
敏捷:7950
魔力:5670
名前:フィニア
性別:女 Lv57(↑30UP)
筋力:5640
体力:7890
耐性:300:STOP!
敏捷:8020
魔力:19800
彼らは、そして彼女らは、桔音の予想以上のスピードで強くなっていた。
今や、あのルルでさえ勇者に匹敵する実力を手にしている。現在はそれほどステータスは伸びず、レベルもそう上がらなくなってきているが、それでもステータスに限界は来ていない。もっと、もっと強くなりたいという想いだけで、彼女達はここまでのし上がってきたのだ。
フィニアも、ルルも、強くなっている。それこそ、二人で組めば下級魔族ぐらい容易に打倒する事が出来る。
「大丈夫? ルルちゃん」
「はっ......! はぁっ......! だ......大丈夫、です......!」
疲労したルルを、フィニアは心配する。魔力回復のスキルが高いフィニアは、魔法を使い続けても、ある程度時間が経てば回復する。それほど動いてはいない故に、体力はそう消費していない。動きっぱなしのルルよりは、それほど疲労していないのだ。
「あまり無理しちゃ駄目だよ......きつねさんが心配するよ?」
「っ......はい......でも、もっと強くならないと......きつね様に、もう......あんな顔させたくないんです......!」
「......ルルちゃん、今のルルちゃんを見たら、それこそきつねさんは悲しい顔をすると思うよ?」
「......すいません、ちょっと顔を洗ってきます......」
だが、ルルは少しだけ変わった。自分に、勇者に付いていけと言ったあの時の桔音の顔が忘れられなくて、それを振り払うように、ひたすらに力を求めるようになった。フィニアも、ルルが倒れない様に訓練も多少手を抜いているが、それでもフィニアの見ていない所で一人、自主練をしているようでもあった。
今のルルは、フィニアから見ても......少し危うかった。
The Meaning of Being Strong
When I shared my thought about out future plan to Nico-chan's father, he readily agreed, as long as he could be with his daughter. Even if he didn't, he had no objection about the decision made by the benefactor who saved him.
Somehow, I feel like I've met a normal person for the first time in a long time in this world. I think the only good adult I've ever met is Eira-san from the inn at Miniera, right? She sure was a nice person, she was nice to Lulu-chan, she gave us her clothes, she was a truly sociable and generous auntie.
Oh, and I've finally found out Nico-chan's father's name. His name seems to be Higurd-san, and from what I heard, he's a former count. This peerage is ranked third both from the top and the bottom, honestly speaking, that's quite an awkward rank. However, among the peerage everyone is familiar with, I think it's actually ranked first. Well, that's just my personal opinion, though.
And then, speaking of Jack-kun, he seems to have been impressed by my words and is now looking at me with gaze full of respect. Such glittering gaze from a noob who know nothing of the dirtiness of the world is honestly annoying. This is why I said, don't blame me for what's going to happen later. What a huge pain in the ass he has become.
Then, like a total drag, he said that he wanted to follow me. I'm an H-ranked adventurer, and now a mere F-ranked adventurer actually wants to follow me? What a joke. Huh? It's the other way around? Well, it doesn't matter either way.
"Not only is it meaningless for you to join my party, we also have bad compatibility. Besides, if you follow me, that means you'll be fighting monsters of at least Demon King level... well, to put it bluntly, you'll only drag us down."
"...!?"
So, I reject Jack-kun's request. What I tell him is unmistakably my true intentions.
At the very least, before long I'll have another showdown with that fake hero, and there also Apostle-chan, who said that she'd kill otherworlder, who will definitely appear in front of me again. At that time, I'm sure she and the organization behind her will come to kill me. Not to mention, after I fight and beat the fake hero, it's not impossible that I'd appear in the Demon King's radar.
There are too many monsters in my path ahead. Such opponents are surely too much for a mere adventurer like Jack-kun.
That's why, I've chosen Leila-chan and Finia-chan, who are obviously powerful, Lulu-chan, who has a lot of room to grow, and Rishe-chan, who has unknown potential, as my party members. Speaking of resistance, I've also grown sturdy enough to face the fake hero, so for a newbie like him, no matter how you think about it his starting line is just too far behind.
"You should just look for comrades you can put your trust in."
"... But, I honestly think that you are amazingly amazing, Kitsune-san... I want to be like you, too...!"
"You better not admire me... let me tell you, I'm just an H-ranked adventurer, you know? No matter how much I struggle, I won't be able to beat any other adventurer. Probably, even against you, I wouldn't be able to win."
After all, my attack power is the weakest among all adventurers. Speaking of resistance, I should be at A-rank, so I don't think I'd lose either, though. Even if I use my miasma to attack, the current me is still unable to do complex control of it. Even if I can surround someone with knives from every direction like the case with Reis, I'm unable to move all of them at once, after all.
That's why, it's not right to admire me. As an adventurer, I'm a total failure.
"I'm glad you think of me as someone amazing, but I can't take you with me. No matter what you say, I can't, and you can't arbitrarily follow me, either."
"... I, see... understood... However, I'm not going to give up that easily."
"... Heh."
"So, someday, when I'd become much stronger, strong enough for you to recognize me to be your comrade... would you let me join your party, Kitsune-san?"
What a persistent guy you are, Jack-kun. But I don't dislike someone like that. For me, compared to a cheat genius Hero overflowing with sense of justice, I much prefer such an ordinary person who rises to the top through mud and dogged hard work.
Well, they say there is no better talent than hard work, I don't mind giving him that much. Speaking of hard work over talent, in the end it's impossible for such people to be talentless, though.
"Well, in that case, be sure to do your very best. If you slack even a bit, I'll leave you behind, after all."
"! Y, yes!"
Very well, anyways let's make sure that I won't meet Jack-kun every again. He says that he'll do his best to be my comrade, but in the end he's a pain in the ass, I haven't forgotten how mentally exhausted I was when he bawled so hard yesterday, after all. If I happen to see him in the future, I'll be sure to pretend I don't see him and run away. As for whether he's truly become stronger or not at that time, I can easily check it from a distance with the status appraisal, after all.
"Well then, Jack-kun. Good luck."
"Yes... Thank you, Kitsune-san."
With our conversation over, Jack-kun leaves the room. When he who bows his head to me, and I wave my hand back to him and see him off.
And then, as though taking his place, Leila-chan and Rishe-chan walk in. They seem to have the luggage with them, so most likely the preparation to set out is already complete.
"Then, I guess it's about time to get going. Nico-san seems to be still sleeping, but... we can leave her for you to carry, can't we, Higurd-san?"
"Leila-chan, Rishe-chan, we now have more people, so we need to replenish more food before getting to the carriage. Let's get out of this town as soon as possible."
"Yeah, got it."
Once everyone nods in agreement with my instructions, we can finally leave this town. Originally, we were supposed to stop here only for a short while and then leave right away, after all. It sure took us quite a long time here.
But, well, we did obtain a lot out of it, so I think the situation is pretty good for a restart.
And then, we leave the inn to leave the town.
* * *
Meanwhile, on the other side. The hero party was also greeting their morning.
Among the hero party, the ones who were awake were the Hero and Jik. Every morning ever since their departure, they had been doing morning training in the form of bouts. For the hero who'd most of his foundations done and needed to accumulate practical experience, his morning training against Jik whose attacks were imbued with killing intent had given him a good amount of experience.
It was partly thanks to that, but with his tempered originally outstanding basic ability, combined with the flexible thinking that was accumulated through practical training, Hero Nagi had grown tremendously over the past few days.
Not just through his gaze, he now could perceive his opponent's movements through sensation and presence, to read a move or two ahead. He also learned how to hide his actual attack by mixing it with diversion and fakes at times.
Of course, his basic stats had also improved significantly, he was now capable of fighting and defeating demonic beasts without much difficulty, and he had also learned knowledge about Demon King and demons from Miko Cecil.
"Haa... haa...!"
"... fuu ... you, have gotten pretty strong, aren't you? ... at this rate you might surpass me in no time at all."
"Hahaha... No way, I still can't see myself defeating you at all...!"
Nagi, who was lying sprawled on the ground, said so in response to Jik's words, and then sit up. Wiping away the sweat, he then sheathed his sword. While calming his ragged breath, he showed bitter smile of half frustration and half respect.
Then, once he had had his breathing in order, Nagi shifted his gaze from Jik to somewhere else.
"Next one, let's go!"
"Yes!"
There were Lulu and Finia, who were up even earlier than them and had started training. He didn't know how long they'd been training, but Lulu was dripping with sweat, and every time she moved, beads of sweat fell to the ground. It was unknown whether it was because she was a beastman or something else, but she seemed to possess a lot of stamina, she'd been moving around ever since Nagi and Jik woke up.
It was a training where she dodged Finia's magic and slashed magic balls made of light magic with her sword. Finia employed a low level light magic in her attacks which only capable of blowing off Lulu, and the targets Lulu slashed at were nothing more than glowing magic balls, with no offensive power whatsoever.
However, appearance wise it was hard to distinguish the attack light magic and the target light magic from each other. Moreover, not only were they numerous, their attack speed was also fast. So it was necessary to possess an ability to determine whether it was a target or an attack in an instant and then accurately slashed only the target.
However, Lulu kept on moving around. She perceived each and every looming ball of light in and instant, dodged or slashed, and then kept on repeating that as long as her stamina still let her to. Be it in Hero Nagi's or from Jik's perspective, her movement was both beautiful and full of overwhelming spirit.
What's more, the most frightening part was that they couldn't see the limit of her potentials. With each swing of her sword, it felt as though her movement was being polished by whittling down any excessive part.
Perhaps if she were to fight one on one against Nagi, Nagi would win, but it would still be a pretty close match. That showed just how strong her desire to become strong was, and how tremendous her overflowing talent was.
"... That girl is awesome..."
"Yeah, in a different sense than you, she's without a doubt a genius... but I think she's pushing herself too hard there... I just hope she doesn't hurt herself."
"... you're right."
After that, Lulu and Finia's training continued for an hour until Cecil and Silphy woke up.
And here was their current status.
Name                         : Serizawa Nagi
Gender                     : Male Lv. 72(|12UP)
Strength                   : 12030
Stamina                    : 13400
Resistance               : 310:STOP!
Agility                       : 13800
Magic Power          : 6780
Title                           :{Hero} 
Skill                            :{Sword Art Lv.7} {Body Strenghtening Lv.6}  {Swift} {Intimidation} {Magic Control Lv.3} {Natural Gift} {Intuition Lv.4} {Fortitude} {Mind's Eye Lv.3} {Concealment Lv.3} {Enemy Search Lv.3} {All Seeing Lv.3} 
Unique skill             :{Ray of Hope} 
Name                        : Lulu Soleil
Gender                     : Female Lv. 47(|34UP)
Strength                   : 6890
Stamina                    : 10340
Resistance               : 100:STOP!
Agility                       : 7950
Magic Power          : 5670
Name                        : Finia
Gender                     : Female Lv. 57(|30UP)
Strength                   : 5640
Stamina                    : 7890
Resistance               : 300:STOP!
Agility                       : 8020
Magic Power          : 19800
Those guys, and those girls, were getting stronger at a faster rate than Kitsune had expected.
Right now, even that Lulu had obtained prowess which rivaled even that of the Hero. Currently both of their statuses and levels weren't growing as fast as before, however they had yet to reach the limit of their stats. With only sheer desire to get stronger, they'd dragged themselves to their current selves.
Both Finia and Lulu were getting stronger. Moreover, if they worked together, it was possible for them to easily defeat low class demon.
"Are you alright, Lulu-chan?"
"Haa...! Haa...! I'm, fine... desu!"
Finia was worried about the exhausted Lulu. As Finia possessed magic recovery skill, even if she kept on firing magic, she could easily recover after a while. And since she didn't move that much, her stamina was barely exhausted. She wasn't so much tired as Lulu, who was constantly moving around.
"You mustn't push yourself too hard... Kitsune-san will be worried about you, you know?"
"... Yes... but, I have to get stronger... I, don't want to... see Kitsune-sama looks like that ever again-desu!"
"... Lulu-chan, if Kitsune-san were to see you as you're right now, I'm sure he'll be sad, you know?"
"... I'm sorry, I'm going to wash my face for a bit...."
However, Lulu had slightly changed. She was unable to forget Kitsune's face when she was taken by the Hero, so as though to shake off that memory, she had been pursuing nothing but strength. To make sure that Lulu didn't fall apart, Finia had more or less held herself back during their training, however, Lulu still often had secret training by herself behind Finia's back.
The current Lulu, even from Finia's perspective... she was in a very precarious state.
I Kinda Came to Another World, but Where’s the Way Home?
【書籍化】異世界来ちゃったけど帰り道何処？
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/i-kinda-came-to-another-world-but-wheres-the-way-home/
Action Adventure Comedy Drama Fantasy Harem Shounen Slice of Life
Apathetic Protagonist Bullying Calm Protagonist Demi-Humans Demon Lord Demons Dense Protagonist Fairies Game Elements Ghosts Heterochromia Knights Level System Male Protagonist Murders Naive Protagonist R-15 Royalty R*pe S*aves Sword And Magic Transported to Another World Weak Protagonist Yandere
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n2650bx/
こいし