Side Story: Hero Wataru and Rin

"What! Such a dangerous monster has settled in? Leave it to me!"

I told Wataru about Rin… rather, about the monster that had become a threat.

The other day when I consulted Haku-san about Rin, she said "Then I'll send Wataru. That one should manage somehow," and dispatched him.

In terms of ability, it wouldn't be strange for either side to win, and either one dying would be delicious in a sense. —As for Wataru's debt, it seems Haku-san would pay it off if he died before finishing repayment.

And so Hero Wataru readily took the quest slip. Now then, can Rin defeat the hero? This should be quite the spectacle. Let's sit back and watch from on high.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Wataru breezed through the dungeon, easily arriving at Rin's room.

"… Alright, then."

When Wataru opened the door, he saw a black wolf waiting in an offensive stance.

"Garururu!"

"Ooh, looks strong… stronger than a dragon, maybe?"

Rin struck first. It opened its mouth wide, trying to bite him… But Wataru punched its nose from the side with a bam!

Rin crashed into the wall from the impact. Splat! It became a black stain.

"… One hit? No, that feeling just now, could it be…"

As Wataru expected, Rin wasn't dead yet. The stain on the wall slithered together into one mass and reformed into a wolf shape.

"Geh, so it's that kind of monster after all. A slime?"

"Gururu…! You won't, pass through, here!"

"Heh, it talks… This is getting worse. I don't wanna fight."

While saying that, he drew the sword at his hip. His opponent was already baring its fangs — he needed to prepare accordingly, or he might get killed instantly.

He'd casually accepted the quest, but maybe that was a mistake — that thought showed on his face.

"Garururu! … O flame, burn and burst—[Fire Bomb]!"

"Uwaaah?! Wait, nobody said anything about magic!?"

Wataru cut through the fire bomb Rin launched with his sword. The fire bomb split in two and exploded behind Wataru.

"Hoh, not bad."

"Aah, that scared me. Okay, I get it. Let's talk! If we can talk, let's do that!"

"Mu? Very well."

"Eh, seriously? Ah, no, yeah, it's good if you'll talk."

Wataru couldn't hide his surprise at getting a proper response to something he'd blurted out.

He was reluctant to cut down an opponent he could communicate with, even if they were a monster. Though it'd be a different story if they were a thrill-killer or something.

Rin had caused victims, but he set that aside for now. To begin with, adventurers who delved into dungeons were considered to have resolved themselves to die, so victims inside dungeons effectively didn't count.

And he hadn't heard of any victims outside the dungeon. Therefore, Wataru judged it was worth trying to negotiate.

"Then first, I'll eat you, so hold still."

"Yeah, why?! Why eat me first?!"

"First I eat, then we talk."

"You'll be talking to someone in your stomach, you know?! I'll be dead!"

"No? So far, I've talked, with two, after eating them."

So two people had been eaten and still talked? Wataru was surprised.

Though in fact, one was a golem and Rin didn't distinguish between that and humans.

"So, eating you now."

"Wha—! Time out, time out! Fine, I'll share the sandwiches from my bento, make do with those!"

"Sandwitch? What's that?"

"… Fufufu, it's the breakfast from the inn at this dungeon's entrance, but I asked them to pack some for lunch! It's a truly delicious sandwich made with white bread, and the key flavor is the mayonnaise!"

"Understood. Hand it over, I'll eat it."

Perhaps its interest was piqued, as Rin beckoned with its front paw as if urging him.

"[Storage], there… Here it is. I'll put it on this plate and leave it here, okay?"

"Umu."

He put the sandwich on a white plate and placed it in the center of the room. After Wataru backed away, Rin approached, sniffed the sandwich — and promptly ate it in one bite, plate and all.

"Wha—! That white plate was my favorite… W-well, whatever, I still have four more. White plates produced by this dungeon…"

"Hoh. That, sandwitch, was good. Smooth, and crunchy."

"… Are you talking about the cucumber? Umm, I have more, want some?"

"Hand it over."

He decided to use a wooden plate this time so it wouldn't matter if it got eaten. He took out a sandwich, put it on a wooden plate, and placed it on the floor.

"Oi. This is different, from before! Garururu!"

"… That's what it was! The delicious thing was the plate! The plate!? Damn, fine, here!"

This time Wataru placed only a white plate.

… It was a five-piece set from a treasure chest, so there were three more left.

"Mu? This time, there's nothing, on top."

"You're taking those too?! No, fine. Here, this is the sandwich. This is the plate."

When Wataru also placed a sandwich, Rin again ate it in one bite, plate and all.

"Umu. Chomp, munch… Crunch, crunch… Mm. Sandwitch, is good. But, the thing on top, isn't needed, after all."

"Damn it! Give me back my lunch! Also, the thing on top is the sandwich, the bottom part is the plate!"

"Kuku. You're not, bad. Fine. I'll talk, with you. One more, first. Hand it over."

"Yay, thanks! Damn youuu!"

Incidentally, Wataru's hero unique skill [Super Luck: Lv 1] was probably at work here. For whatever reason, it somehow turned into an enthusiastic drinking party. They ended up falling asleep right there, but the heating was on so they didn't catch colds.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"And well, somehow we hit it off like that."

"Hey, Hero-sama? So you came back without defeating the monster?"

The hero nonchalantly returned. Rin was still safely guarding a room in the dungeon.

Also, you reek of booze — use [Purify]. Raaather, weren't you supposed to quit drinking until you paid off your debt?

"No no no, I obviously didn't just come back empty-handed! I got a promise!"

"A promise?"

"If you offer a white plate without resisting when you encounter it, it won't take your life!"

Hero Wataru struck a smug pose with a magnificent smug face. I wanna punch him.

But the promise itself wasn't bad. If Rin said it was a "promise," it would keep it as long as it could. In this case, as long as it didn't carelessly forget, it should be fine.

… Let's raise the selling price of white plates a bit. The buying price can stay the same.

"Ah, also it said it'll let you go with just half-dead if the plate isn't white!"

"Eeh… so, can we trust that?"

"I think so?"

"Based on what?"

"Intuition… I guess? Well, I don't think that wolf is fundamentally a bad monster."

He probably wasn't wrong, which made it irritating. But as village chief and as an adventurer, I needed to point this out.

"… So, what about people who want to go deeper into the dungeon?"

"Ah—"

"Don't 'Ah' me, you idiot hero!"

"No, but! It said it'll leave when spring comes! Just hold out until then!"

This guy got that much information out of it. What a piece of work.

In the end, Rin somehow wasn't subjugated by the hero. I couldn't pay the quest completion reward, but I gave him five white plates as payment for the useful information.

He was really happy since apparently all the ones he had got eaten, so whatever, it's fine.