No Wonder You Grow Skills

When I arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild, I ordered a large amount of meat dishes at the tavern. The wound on my side had healed, but it still hurt a little. I needed to replenish protein to speed up my recovery.

As I dug into the meat dishes, Gonz and the others entered the guild tavern, accompanied by a couple of prostitutes.

“Hey! Isn’t that Yajin? Haven’t seen you around lately. Were you off with some woman?”

“It wasn’t anything like that. I got stabbed in the stomach with a poisoned knife. I was in the clinic recovering.”

“Poison, huh? That’s a real pain. I’ve almost died from it a couple of times myself.”

Gonz said this with a hearty laugh. Poison, man! It’s not a joke! Why does he act like it’s just another common occurrence?

Adventurers from small nations are too wild. Just when I’m fed up with their dangerous “adventurer problems,” Al spoke up.

“Yajin, what kind of guy attacked you with that poisoned knife?”

“He was like a beggar, dressed in filthy clothes. When he stabbed me in the stomach, there wasn’t even a hint of killing intent.”

“Sounds like Beggar Cazzo. He’s a well-known assassin in the underground world.”

“An assassin? I don’t recall having any reason to be attacked by someone like that…”

“Probably just a little side job for him. We made a good profit on that last job. Rumor’s probably spread that we’ve got some decent cash.”

Wait, so this guy’s stabbing people for pocket change? And with a poisoned knife at that… This isn’t a joke, that bastard…

The adventurers I fought in the slums, that Beggar Cazzo and that shady character from the underworld. Looks like I’ve pissed off the slum boss without even realizing it, and now my life’s in danger.

But just for pocket change?

Well, if a scout like me, being short and all, is carrying a lot of money, I guess it’s understandable they’d try to rob me. What’s terrifying is that they actually do it.

Adventurers are seriously messed up. Even the wild, primitive type wearing a loincloth and fur armor would hesitate more before killing someone.

Wait a minute. I think I saw someone dressed like that recently… ugh, my head… I’m a civilized person. I shouldn’t even be thinking about that.

Even though it’s still daytime, Gonz and the others are heading up to the second floor with the prostitutes. I shouldn’t feel jealous… no, this is wrong.

After finishing my huge meal, I head back to my room alone. Once inside, I start organizing my things.

The throwing star I took from Beggar Cazzo was supposed to be poisoned. However, there’s no smell of the usual pungent odor. Ms. Cleiarne must have cleaned the poison off.

My leather armor and clothes have holes from the knife wound. I’ll have to buy new ones. With the treatment costs, I’m not really making any profit.

But hey, I got a good-quality knife and throwing star out of it, so I guess I came out ahead. Killing someone, almost dying, and then getting a knife and a throwing star… this really doesn’t seem worth it.

But what if it is worth it? The gear I took from the people I killed sold for a good price. I do feel a bit of satisfaction from that.

Honestly, it’s a lot easier and more profitable to just kill a weak person and take their money than it is to complete a job and get a reward. It’s more efficient, that’s for sure.

But as a person, I think there’s a line I shouldn’t cross.

If someone attacks me, I’ll fight back. I’ll sell the gear from the adventurers I kill and turn it into money. But I’m not about to let myself be used as some idealistic fool.

However, if I start killing people for money, that’s when I’m done for. Sure, I’d make easy money, but I wouldn’t live long.

Still, there’s something romantic about wiping out a band of thieves and grabbing all the loot from their hideout.

Maybe I can justify it by saying it’s okay if the other person is a criminal? I feel like I need to set some clear rules for myself, or else my mind will start to crack.

As I lie down on my bed, deep in thought, sleepiness slowly overcomes me. It’s not great to eat and go straight to sleep, but I can’t fight off the drowsiness. I slowly close my eyes.

I woke up in the middle of the night because I had slept during the day. The wound on my stomach was much better, but the skin felt tight and still hurt a little.

I should check the wound and redo the bandage.

I removed the bandages and applied ointment. I pressed a clean cloth over it and wrapped the bandage again. This fantasy ointment is amazing. If I could take it back to Earth, I would probably become rich.

Still, I am bored. If I were not injured, I would be training in the field. Wait, I just came up with a good idea.

I fixed my leather armor to the wall and threw the throwing spikes. I used only my arms and wrist snap so I would not strain the injury. Even so, they flew with considerable force.

I should prepare a board with a target painted on it later.

I threw the spikes like darts. After throwing them, I retrieved them and threw again, repeating the process.

The throws are scattering quite a bit. This is surprisingly difficult. I wonder if there are skills related to throwing. Shuriken technique, throwing technique, sniping, maybe something like that.

It would be great if I could learn one of them eventually. Not that I know if they exist.

I was absorbed in throwing when I apparently pierced through the leather armor and hit the wall behind it. Suddenly someone banged on the wall.

“Hey! Quit that clanging already!”

“Ah, sorry!”

So this world also has wall-banging, the non-romantic kind. It reminded me of Earth for a moment.

When I first reincarnated, I was too busy staying alive to think about anything else. At some point, I stopped thinking about Earth.

Then, when life in the forest became more manageable, I thought about Earth all the time.

Maybe because I found companions in Gonz and the others. Or maybe because I felt joy in my karate skill. I finally had room in my heart. I remembered Earth again for the first time in a while.

I can never return to Earth now. I have no choice but to live in this world. For that, I must adapt to this world.

Survive a brutal world while keeping at least the minimum sense of ethics. It sounds simple when you say it, but the human heart is complicated.

You kill one person and the second one becomes easier, or so stories often say. The threshold for killing does get lower. But saying you feel nothing after the second is a lie.

The nightmare I saw when I nearly died.

I had not realized it, but killing people may have caused me severe stress.

I killed them, yet I was not punished. That guilt may have taken form in the nightmare.

They tried to kill me. It was mutual. I need to accept that or I will fall into darkness.

If that happens, I will become the Monster described in my title. Monsters cannot live in human society. If I want a civilized life, I have to remain Human.

I pull my mind up out of the sea of thoughts. Thinking seriously for too long never leads anywhere good.

But man, I am bored. I cannot throw darts at the wall anymore because the neighbor got angry. I miss convenience stores and the internet. In Japan, I could kill time even late at night.

Come to think of it, I have not checked my status in quite a while.

“Status open”

Poison and paralysis resistance skills developed! Well yeah, I did get that boiled poison and paralysis grass pumped straight into my body. No wonder I grew resistance.

I do not know how useful these skills are, but with these and the antidote Village Girl gave me, poison is nothing to fear.

Wait, that sounded like a flag. That is bad. I am done with poison forever.