Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter SS4

Gambling 

I was in the village of Wega, a short distance from Maalt. The village had only a single bar. Lorraine and I, along with some young men from the village, were drinking together when someone suddenly came up behind me and askedsaid, “You the guy who?Hic, who beat the lord of the forest?” 

“Are you talking to me?” I asked. He had comecame out of nowhere and his eyes were unfocused, so I wasn’t sure who he was talking to at first, but the man didn’t seem to get it. 

“Who else would I be talking to, huh?” 

Around us were four men from the village, along with Lorraine. He could have been talking to any of them, but logical arguments wouldn’t work on a man like this. He was clearly drunk. I made eye contact with Lorraine and then decided to deal with this person however seemed appropriate. 

“All right, just tell me what you want.” 

“I just asked you! Are you the guy who beat the lord of the forest?” 

“Oh, the lord of the forest? That somewhat larger than average goblin?” 

Lorraine and I were here because, like this man said, a big goblin had appeared in the forest. It was attacking the village and farms, so there was a job out to slay it. The damages apparently weren’t serious at first, but the goblin gradually got more brazen until it even attacked the village during the day and stole crops and livestock from the villagers. It never went after the villagers themselves, however, unlike most goblins. It seemed to know it would get away with stealing for longer that way. These sorts of goblins who considered the consequences of their actions were sometimes peaceful, and they would set up their own settlements from which to do trade with humans. But this one wasn’t so peaceful. And if left to its own devices, it might have set up a gang of goblins that could attack as a group. 

As soon as we got to the village and heard the details, we set off to hunt the goblin. We finished the job by nightfall. When we reported this to the villagers, they held a party at the bar we were currently at. 

“Yeah, that one. That was my prey! You just waltzed in here and snatched it from me, damn it!” the man complained. 

Another man who was drinking with us whispered into my ear to explain. “That’s Rudol, a local hunter. He slays the monsters that aren’t worth going to adventurers for. He was supposed to be the one to stop that goblin at first.” 

“I see. Why’d that change?” 

“He went to check it out with the other hunters, and it turned out to be too tough for them. Rudol was actually the one who suggested we ask adventurers for help. Due to the cost, the mayor actually hoped our hunters could deal with it, but this is one time that wasn’t happening. And it turns out that we made the right decision. I looked at that goblin’s corpse. It was what, two meters tall? It even had a broadsword. That couldn’t have been easy to take down.” 

“Yeah, a party of Bronze-class adventurers could vanquish it without much issue, but I’m sure some local hunters would have a rough time. Anyway, if that’s all true, then why’s he bugging me?” I asked and turned back to Rudol. 

Rudal put a hand on my shoulder and said, “I challenge you to a duel.” 

“Uh, what?” 

“Duel me, damn you! Then I’ll forgive you!” 

“I’d rather not.” 

This could only be a pain in the neck. Especially when this incident had ended without any harm to the villagers, getting in a fight and having to hurt this man would be entirely counterproductive. I wanted to reject his demand, but the other men had different ideas. 

“Rentt, please duel him,” one of them said. “I think that’ll satisfy him.” 

Another said, “Yeah, he’s usually a good guy. He just drank a little too much, I’m sure.” 

Even Lorraine said, “Well, why not? You can go easy on him, right?” 

“Yeah, what they said!” Rudol shouted. “Come on, show me your arm! We’ll use this table.” 

I was confused about what we were using the table for, but one of the men explained. “Oh, I see, you must not know what we’re talking about. By a duel, we mean arm wrestling,” he said. 

“Oh, you should have said so sooner. If that’s all, then I’m happy to oblige. I could use the workout, actually. All right, Rudol, let’s do this.” 

I got up from my chair, walked up to the table Rudol was at, and grappled arms with him. One of the village men was going to be the judge. Then I noticed that quite a few of the men had gathered around to watch, and some of them were even betting on the match. I listened closely and found that most of them believed Rudol would win. They must have been awfully confident in his skills. 

“Sorry about this, pal,” Rudol said as he brought his face close. He no longer seemed drunk. 

I looked at him curiously, wondering what he meant. 

“These villagers don’t get how strong adventurers are. Some of them even think I’d be stronger than them. I just want to teach them otherwise. Give me all you’ve got. If you don’t, then next time something like this happens, I’ll have to break my back convincing them to hire adventurers all over again.” 

Now I understood Rudol’s intentions. It was all an act. He was a decent man, willing to besmirch himself for the good of the village. 

“Got it, but I want you to give it all you’ve got too. Don’t hold back.” 

“You asked for it. Maybe I can’t win a fight, but when it comes to arm strength, I’ve even bested some adventurers. You sure you can take it?” 

“It’s fine.” 

“All right, then.” 

Once we were finished talking, the judge announced the start of the match. 

“You could have held back a bit more than that,” Lorraine muttered on the way back to the local inn. 

I won the arm wrestling match. No ordinary human could compete with my enhanced monster strength. He told me to give it my all, so I nearly broke the table in half. But Rudol himself was mostly unharmed. I bruised him a bit, but I healed that with divinity. 

“He told me not to hold back. Besides, he said he just wanted them to see him lose.” 

“What? That was the idea? Interesting. He’s a good man,” Lorraine said, recognizing Rudol’s intentions based on that fact alone. 

“I guess. So, what’s that?” I asked when I noticed the bag Lorraine was holding. She didn’t have it when we first came. 

“Oh, this? I won a bet. Made quite a bit off of it.” 

“You were gambling too?” 

“Yes. Most of them were betting on Rudol, you see. How about we find another village and do the same thing? We’ll make a killing.” 

“That kind of feels like swindling, but it could be a good idea. How about you be the one to compete next time, though? They’ll be more likely to let their guard down that way.” 

“Perhaps. Then next time there’s an opportunity, you can be the one to place the bet.” 

“Yeah, let’s do that.”