The Difference In Rank

The battle is over, but I can’t let my guard down.

Honestly, I’m exhausted and could collapse at any moment, but this place is still dangerous. The surviving goblins seem to have fled into the forest, but I don’t know when they’ll return.

We’re in the middle layers of the forest, so there’s no telling what kind of troublesome monsters might show up. It’s better to leave as soon as possible.

I start rummaging through the adventurers’ corpses and borrow a water-filled leather pouch.

I take a sip of the lukewarm water, and it spreads through my fatigued body. The water in the leather pouch has absorbed the scent of the leather, making it anything but pleasant to drink.

But for someone as tired as me, it tastes good.

After quenching my thirst, I wash the wound on my head. I apply the adventurer’s healing salve to the injury, then use a clean cloth, also taken from the adventurer, to tie it.

It’s difficult to do with one hand, but I struggle and manage to tie it.

Every adventurer carries healing salve and clean cloth, so I had no trouble treating the wound.

While it doesn’t directly help with broken bones, it does have an anti-inflammatory effect, so I apply the salve to my shoulder as well. This world’s healing salve is too convenient—it’s helping me, but still.

I make a sling and hang my left arm. It hurts a lot, but once it’s in place, it feels much better. I should have done this sooner.

Regretful, I gather supplies.

From the scattered adventurer corpses, I take anything that might be useful for my journey or anything valuable. I leave the armor since it’s bulky and doesn’t fetch as high a price as weapons.

Most level 15 adventurers don’t use metal armor. There are some pieces that have iron plates over vital spots like the heart, but it seems these ones didn’t have such armor.

While gathering supplies with my eyes focused on the items, I notice something through my sensing ability.

The adventurer who had his hand severed by the hobgoblin is still alive. He has tied his severed arm and is holding his breath, pretending to be dead.

I realize I had let my guard down while confirming my safety, but I tell myself I can reflect on that later. For now, I need to focus.

I thought they were all dead, but it seems there’s one still alive. This is just the right opportunity to find out why he attacked me. I approach the adventurer pretending to be dead and speak to him, staying cautious.

“I know you’re still alive. But with that wound, you’re not going to make it. Tell me why you targeted me. You don’t need to die in pain. I’ll give you a merciful blow. So, be honest.”

”…”

There’s no response. However, I know through my sensing ability that he’s still alive. He’s holding a sword in his remaining hand and seems to be waiting to strike me with a surprise attack.

It would be safe to attack him from a distance, but I want to know why he attacked me. Was it just this time, or will this continue?

I want to gather information to make my next move.

I get closer to the adventurer pretending to be dead, and he suddenly swings his sword.

It’s easy to deal with his sword swing, especially since I’m alert and prepared. A sword swung one-handed from a lying position is hardly a threat.

I don’t even need to dodge. I kick his sword arm, and it bends at an unnatural angle. The adventurer screams in pain.

I then crush his knees with my feet, rendering him immobile.

For safety’s sake, I perform a quick body check on the adventurer. It’s unclear whether the knife he’s holding is for backup or for looting, but I take it from him.

The adventurer, writhing in pain, doesn’t respond to my words. He grits his teeth and remains silent.

He’s unusually dedicated, even though he’s an adventurer. Did some noble or church give him a mission? Or maybe he thinks talking will get him killed?

He’s not going to survive anyway…

Seems like he hasn’t fully accepted his death. I don’t have time to waste. I decide to use threats.

“I don’t like torture, but if you keep quiet, there’s no other choice.”

I show the knife I took from him and hold it in front of his face.

I feel a brief urge to lick the knife for effect, but I hold back since it would just ruin the moment.

Holding the knife to his face, I speak again.

“Do you know what a dentist is?”

I don’t know if there are dentists in this world, but perhaps it was the sound of the word that instilled fear, or maybe the adventurer just wanted to escape his pain quickly.

Shaking, the adventurer finally spoke about why he targeted me. I’m glad he talked so quickly.

I’ve never done torture, and it’s not my hobby to torment someone who can’t move. If necessary, I’m prepared to do whatever it takes without hesitation, but I’d rather not.

I don’t think he would lie with death right in front of him, but I can’t completely trust him either. Even so, hearing the reason why I was targeted put my mind at ease.

There were no troublesome factions like nobles or the church behind this. The reason I was targeted was because of me. It all started with that kid who got involved with Gons. The fact that I lightly brushed him off was what led to this.

I had struck the kid named Suigetsu with the palm of my hand. I simply timed it right, giving a gentle push that only conveyed the shock of the impact.

I meant to make it look like I had easily overwhelmed a weakling, but it seems some of the adventurers watching were shocked by it.

They didn’t understand the technique, but they noticed my high skill level.

Even though he was a rookie, someone capable of taking down a Clayboar with a party wouldn’t have been taken down that easily.

I intended to make the kid look weak, but in the end, it made my strength stand out.

Honestly, I had underestimated the adventurers from Rock Cliff. I thought they were good at underhanded tactics and rough stuff, but completely clueless when it came to actual technique.

The kid was an adventurer, after all. By easily overwhelming him like that, my strength was highlighted rather than his weakness, and I had completely forgotten about that.

It turned out to be a plan full of holes, a typical muscle-headed idiot’s strategy.

My abilities had been exposed. But why did that lead to an ambush? If they thought I was weak, only to find out I was strong, they’d normally back off, thinking they should avoid any dangerous moves.

But Rock Cliff is anything but normal.

Once they realized I wasn’t a weakling, those who had been spreading rumors about me and goading other adventurers to pick on me started fearing revenge.

“Oh no, he might get back at us. Let’s kill him before he gets us!”

That’s the reason, apparently.

The party’s gathering was a coincidence, and they cooperated because they had the same goal. Hearing that made my expression turn awkward.

I was disturbed by both the sheer stupidity of my plan and the short-sighted thinking of the adventurers.

I felt relieved that no troublesome factions like the nobles or church were behind it, but I couldn’t help but feel a strange mental damage from the situation.

I felt like I wanted to flop down on a bed and writhe around in frustration, but I was in the middle of a forest. Besides, I don’t have a moe attribute, so that would just be weird.

I give the adventurer a merciful blow and resume gathering supplies. Goblin ears are a regular quest item, so they could be sold for money, but they’re not worth much, so I decide to leave them behind.

I should deal with the corpses to prevent them from turning into undead, but there’s no time for that. I’ll come back later once my injuries are healed and check on them again.

The hobgoblins haven’t had any bounty requests placed on them. Even if I take their ears, it won’t make a difference, but I could sell their materials.

In some stories, there are works where you get paid for monster bounties no matter the situation. I thought that if you killed a monster, the money would automatically come to you.

However, this damn world isn’t so lenient.

If no one is paying for a bounty, you don’t get any money. Who’s going to pay for monsters killed in places far from human settlements, with no one affected?

I once asked the village chief for a bounty on his life, but that was a mistake.

Sorry, village chief.

Well, at the moment he tried to kill me, those small things didn’t matter. In the end, the village chief’s future didn’t change.

Shaking off my wandering thoughts, I continue thinking.

It seems like it would be impossible to strip the goblins for materials. I do want to bury the hobgoblins’ bodies out of respect, but I really want to leave this place quickly.

I take whatever valuables I can find from the adventurer corpses.

The weapons the goblins were carrying are mostly rusty, poorly maintained, and likely only worth the scrap metal price.

I took the weapons of the Goblin Warrior and Hobgoblin, which were in good condition. I’m not sure if they’ll be worth anything, but I also took the Goblin Mage’s staff.

With 11 weapons in total, it’s way too heavy. But I didn’t want to leave them behind.

While wrestling with myself, I wrapped the leather armor I stripped from the adventurers around the 11 weapons. This was to avoid cutting myself on their edges.

I used the rope the adventurers had to tie them all together and tied the rope so that I could carry them over my shoulder. Once I finished, I tested carrying them.

It was ridiculously heavy.

So, I’m supposed to carry this all the way to town? Honestly, it’s going to be a struggle. If my body were in perfect condition, it would be manageable, but right now, I’m battered.

It’s dangerous to be greedy, but it’s hard to let go of the profit. While I hesitated, I detected movement with my perception. No way! Damn it.

From the forest, 10 green-furred wolves sprang out. Forest Wolves, stronger than the Gray Wolves I fought before.

It seems they were drawn by the smell of blood, and the Forest Wolves, which are said to live deep in the forest, slowly closed in, surrounding me.

When I saw the large Forest Wolf, which appeared to be the leader of the pack, I sensed my impending death. My body instinctively shuddered.

Monsters have ranks.

To break through the level barrier, you need to defeat monsters of a higher rank. To break through level 15, you must defeat a rank 4 monster.

The concept of ranks wasn’t something I could initially observe—it was something classified based on experience.

It was like: “If I defeat that monster, I can overcome the level barrier.” So, that monster is classified as rank 4.

When I first heard about it from Al, I just brushed it off, but now I understand. There is literally a difference in rank. The rank of the monster’s biology is different.

My eyes became like Dolmark’s, and the cheery mood I had earlier vanished, replaced by the looming despair. I had to muster up the courage to keep my heart from faltering and looked at the pack leader.

Looking into the pack leader’s eyes, a way to survive suddenly appeared in my mind.

Monsters come in various types.

Some are the kind of creatures with wild eyes that attack everything on sight, while others are like powerful wild animals.

The pack leader’s eyes, however, held a certain intelligence.

I raised my right hand to make myself appear larger. Then, I let out a growl and tried to intimidate the wolves.

“RAAAAAAAHHH!”

I infused my growl with murderous intent. I won’t die so easily! You’d better be prepared for the consequences!

The pack grew tense at my threat.

I carefully tossed an adventurer’s corpse at my feet, tossing it like a pass.

The Forest Wolves sniffed at the corpse cautiously, drooling, and began sniffing around.

I continued tossing corpse after corpse at them. The wolves became uneasy and looked toward their leader.

The pack leader locked eyes with me.

My stomach tightened painfully. Yet, I didn’t look away. Eventually, the pack leader diverted its gaze and began eating the adventurer’s corpse.

That’s right. There’s plenty of food around. They don’t need to force themselves into a fight with me.

Wild animals avoid risks. Wolves, in particular, are known for this, and their hunting success rate is low among carnivores that hunt in packs.

They’re not creatures that hunt unless they’re sure of the outcome.

From a monster’s perspective, the human body is a feast. A body that’s easy to eat with no hard skin or fur. It also has a slight saltiness from the diet.

Right now, that feast is abundant. There’s no need for them to risk a fight with me.

After eating a fair amount of the corpses, the pack leader let out a light howl, and the other Forest Wolves began eating as well.

I cautiously gathered the weapons and slowly began to walk away. Before I knew it, I had walked quite a distance from the goblin settlement.

In the extreme tension, I had forgotten about my fatigue, the pain in my shoulder, and the weight of the weapons. Suddenly, intense exhaustion hit me.

I found a large tree, set the weapons down near it, and climbed up. Tying myself to the tree with the rope, I drifted into a deep sleep as if I had fainted.