Chapter 7, Idle Talk 2 [7-17] Certain two adventurers, discovering their calling free𝚠𝚎𝚋𝒏𝚘ѵ𝐞l.𝑐oｍ

A.N. 7-17 means this idle talk happens around after Vol 7 Chapter 16

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*thud thud* sounds of an axe striking wood resounded.

The animal trail linking Yuuji’s settlement and Premie city. It was halfway those trails.

“What could it be, this sound… Aah, I see. Heeey!”

Perhaps they reacted to Yuuji’s voice, the sound suddenly stopped.

The season was early summer.

In order to inspect the canned food Kevin had developed and its workshop, Yuuji took Alice and Kotarou and were on their way heading towards the city along with Kevin and his exclusive escort.

“Ah, Mr. Yuuji! And Mr. Kevin too!”

What appeared from the side of the road was the large man who picked a fight with Yuuji in the adventurer’s guild.

A two-handed axe was in his hands, but it seems he was just in rough linen clothes and not wearing armor. His hair and beard grew remarkably, but his eyes had become gentler.

“You’ve come at the right time. I’ve been wanting to hand over your lunch, so how about we take a rest here?”

With Kevin’s voice as such, the group rested their feet. 𝙛r𝚎𝐞𝑤𝚎𝗯𝗻𝗼𝐯e𝚕.𝒄𝐨𝓂

“No really, I didn’t know who you were even if I look at your face. You have changed quite surprisingly.”

“Hahaha, this is embarrassing. Cutting my hair and beard takes time if I’m in the forest.”

Yuuji and the large man cheerfully had a pleasant chat with each other. It was surprisingly peaceful considering their first meeting.

“No, that’s also true, but… Something changed about you rather…”

Perhaps unable to express himself skillfully, Yuuji spoke tardily.

“Mister somehow has a gentle feeling on him now~!” Alice accurately expressed.

*Wan wan* Kotarou barked. I guess, the sharp edge did come off quite a bit, is what she wanted to say.

“Oh is that really so. I’m not conscious about it myself though… But if I cut down the trees this way, I can understand my swing becoming sharper each swing. This swing more than the previous. Next swing more than the swing now. This must be what they call an adventurer’s training. Until now training had no meaningto me, I’ve been thinking about combat first and foremost after all.”

The giant talked with a refreshed expression. But that is probably not an adventurer’s training. It’s the everyday life of a woodcutter.

“Is it something like that?” Yuuji washed it away. Kotarou looked at the two with amazed eyes. What are you saying, retort to it Yuuji, she seemingly wanted to say.

Alice copied the swing by swing the giant was talking about and went “Ei, ei” striking a tree branch on a large tree.

“Recently I’ve been having a certain feeling of being able to hear the breathing of trees. If I drive the axe into it at the same time then it would *snap* break down, you know. Is this what they call the secret of the axe?”

Looking far away, the big man talked.

But that is probably not the secret of the axe. It’s the secrets of a woodcutter. No, this may be the secret of an axe though.

“Hohoh” Yuuji listens in growing interest. There was no helping it. The sound of secret tickles the male instinct.

As if to say “Hey Yuuji, a retort!”, Kotarou *tan tan* struck Yuuji’s foot.

Alice put her ears on the tree and said “Eh? I don’t hear anything you know~?”. She was an honest child.

“Nevertheless… To think it’s been decided that I fell not monsters but trees instead. I never thought of it.”

Saying so, the big man fixed his eyes on the two handed axe.

If that is the case then why make the axe your weapon? Wasn’t the axe a tool to fell trees to begin with?

Like the usual, Yuuji did not retort.

Kotarou feebly shook her head. She seemed to have given up already.

Kevin delivered food and water to the giant man, just before the rest was over.

“… Huh? Come to think of it, what happened to the other person? There was an apekin right?”

“Aah, that guy eh. Uhmm, aah, he’s over there. Heeey!”

The large man pointed diagonally upwards, at a place somewhat separated from the animal trail.

But Yuuji could not see any human figure in that direction. *rustle rustle* rubbing sounds of leaves could be heard in the ears of Yuuji who inclined his head. Those sounds continued for a while and a large something fell on Yuuji’s immediate front.

“Mister Yuuji, Miss Kotarou, good afternoon!”

An upper body that was covered in short hair. Arms were long and apparently those arms and tail were used to leap between trees.

Was it a monkey? Ah, no, a person? The question floated in Yuuji’s mind.

The monkey like person was wearing rough linen trousers on his lower body. On top of it he spoke a human language.

He was a beastkin, no questions asked. He was the companion of the large man who picked a fight with Yuuji, the apekin adventurer.

“Aah, is that so! No well, I didn’t know who you were. Did you lose some weight?”

Towards Yuuji’s words who were out in some respects, Kotarou barked *wan*. That’s where you’re retorting at? is what she seemed to want to say.

Alice’s eyes bulged open. She wasn’t surprised by the bare upper body, but the fact he was leaping around the trees.

“Yes I did! I completely lost weight these days. But I’m in amazingly good health you know!”

The apeman kin man readied himself and spoke.

He was casually leaping around the trees. He was certainly in excellent condition.

“That’s right, we’re in good health. While I strike the trees, this fellow would be on watch of the surroundings and even if monsters comes out, this guy would do a surprise attack from the tree and I go bang! with my axe you see? The two of us are in perfect form.”

Smiling delightfully, the big man puts his arm around the apekin man’s shoulder.

Above head was certainly easy to become a blindspot on regular activities. A surprise attack would certainly settle it cleanly.

“I was raised in the royal capital and spoiled though, saying “To think even Premie city is this much of a rural area”. Forests and such was a place savages would go, I couldn’t imagine it! Is what I said.”

Spoke the apekin man in nostalgia.

What is it about a monkey raised in the city? No, he wasn’t a monkey but an apekin.

“Is that so? So you were a city boy?” replied Yuuji to the apekin.

“City boy, is that a city dweller? That’s a nice expression.” replied the apekin man happily.

Kotarou no longer headed to the three. As if to say these fellows are no good anymore.

“Well, in fact, if you begin living in the forest then you’ll strangely get used to it. It’s a mystery isn’t it? I never thought that I, a city dweller, would suit the forest. My friends at the royal capital would be surprised if I tell them this!”

The apekin man spoke, showing the short monkey hair on his naked upper body.

But they probably won’t be surprised. There are monkeys in the forests after all.

“Is that so, you won’t know the land you’ll fit in right?” responded Yuuji.

Perhaps holding back wanting to retort, Kotarou was slightly trembling.

Perhaps finally unable to endure, Kotarou fervently barked *gau gau gau*. She seemed to be saying “Of course a monkey would fit in a forest, and he’s not a city boy, you idiot.”

Is she sad? Kotarou could not speak the human language.

“What’s wrong Kotarou” Alice said as she stroke Kotarou to pacify her.

“No well, you won’t know what suits you right?” “That’s right isn’t it?” the three men laughed together.

Kotarou’s barks resounded in the forest in vain.

In any case the woodcutter and the monkey seemed to have discovered their calling inside the forest.

Er, rather, the two handed axe wielding giant who picked a fight with Yuuji and the apekin man who was a city dweller seemed to have discovered their calling.

After this, they, as decided by the adventurer’s guild, joyfully cut open a road where a cart could pass through from the city without accidents.

From the people who heard the details, it was punishment that was like an exile.

It had been decided that they would spend long years and months in the forest, but it didn’t seem to be a problem for they who acquired their calling. Instead it brought forth a virtuous cycle where they were thanked by the passing people when they worked diligently, became happy and worked even more diligently.

And so, in the future, they came to be remembered in the frontier city Premie as the expert duo who cut open paths to undeveloped lands. Probably.