Side Story: A Certain Herb-Gathering Adventurer and the Light of Kehma Golen

I ended up agreeing to guide a man I'd met at the tavern to a dungeon—or rather, the cave known as the "goblin den."

He said he was from Pavera. That was a lie. His accent was all wrong.

When I asked what to call him, he gave me an obviously fake name.

We made our arrangement, and at noon the following day, I met up with the fake-name man again.

Officially, we were on an herb-gathering trip with him as my companion. Since it was a standing quest, we headed for the forest without stopping by the Guild.

"This way… It's just up ahead."

"Are you sure we're going the right way? There's not even a path here."

"If you're going to doubt me, I don't have to guide you."

"Just making sure. Don't take it the wrong way."

As we pushed deeper into the forest, we came upon a rope stretched across the way… The rope that Kehma Golen had reportedly restrung. How contrived, I thought, though I still hesitated over whether to cross it.

"Oh, looks like you were right after all."

"…"

"What's wrong? Aren't we going?"

"Y-Yeah. It's just past here, but there's a rope…"

"What about it? It's just a rope."

With that, the fake-name man walked right up to the rope, drew his sword, and sliced through it.

The severed rope dropped to the ground.

"Wha—! Hey!"

"A goblin cut the rope. So there was never a rope here. Right?"

He said it with a grin. I recoiled a bit.

… But the rope was gone now. We were near a goblin den, so it wouldn't be strange for a goblin to have cut a rope around here. True enough.

Once again, I stepped over where the rope had been and pressed onward.

The cave was there. Same as before.

"That's it."

"That's it, huh."

Peering into the cave while staying hidden in the trees, I could see green goblins inside.

"… Those are dungeon goblins."

"Told you… Are we good on the guiding?"

"Yeah. Thanks. You were a real help."

"Then, about the guide fee—"

Just as I held out my hand, the fake-name man brought his sword down on me.

A diagonal slash. I was cut. My outstretched hand, my arm, fell.

"Gyah!?"

"Oh? That was shallow."

"Wh— ah, my arm—! My arm—!"

Strangely, I didn't feel much pain. My head burned white-hot as panic took over.

I had to run. That was all I could think.

I pressed my left hand against the bleeding stump of my right arm and turned to flee, only to feel something like a push against my back. Hot. I'd been cut again.

I collapsed. Hit the ground with a thud. Forest leaves stuck to my face.

"Terribly sorry. I've been short on funds lately, so I have to keep expenses down."

"Ugh, gah…"

"I'll be helping myself to your wallet to supplement my funds. Goodbye now."

With that, the fake-name man raised his sword—and in the next instant, his hand was blown clean off.

"Huh?"

"Wha?"

Our voices overlapped.

It was light. A streak of light blew the fake-name man's shoulder clean off, and his arm went flying.

Where the light had come from was immediately obvious. The cave.

"I told you this area was under investigation. Did you think no one was here?"

From the goblin den, from inside the cave, a man emerged. Black-haired… Kehma Golen. The village chief.

"You—"

"—[Earth Bind]."

Kehma Golen muttered the words with a languid air, and the ground squelched upward, ensnaring the fake-name man in earth.

"Ah, ah, aah…"

"Seems like I'll have things to ask you, so just sit tight in here for a bit."

Saying that, Kehma Golen scratched at the empty air, opening a hole in the void. He kicked the fake-name man into it, restraints and all. The earthen bindings snapped at their base with a sharp crack.

With nothing left but those traces and one forgotten arm, the fake-name man vanished.

"… A-Are you going to kill me too?"

"Hm? No, no. Absolutely not. I appreciate the cooperation."

"Coopera… tion?"

Kehma Golen picked up the arm that had fallen. My arm.

"[Purify]. Here, move your hand so I can reattach it."

"Huh? Oh—"

Kehma Golen, the village chief, pressed my arm against the wound and cast "[Healing]."

A warm light.

And with only bloodstains left behind, my arm was reconnected. The pain in my back and chest was gone too.

"There we go. Well, it came off just now, so I'll throw in the treatment for free."

… Come to think of it, I'd heard that the village chief was also the Founder of Beddhism.

A clergyman. Right, of course he could use healing magic.

… Once I'd calmed down, I realized I was drenched in sweat.

"Why…?"

"Well, you've been dragged deep enough into this, so I might as well explain. This dungeon… or rather, this cave that looks like a dungeon, is actually bait that I set up."

"B-Bait?"

"That's right. Bait to smoke out Holy Kingdom spies."

The village chief slowly, deliberately kicked the arm lying on the ground, the one that had belonged to the fake-name man.

"The schedule got pushed up a bit, but it served its purpose of rooting out a spy, so we'll call it good."

"Ah…"

It clicked. The fake-name man had been a Holy Kingdom spy.

I'd thought he was suspicious, but so that's what it was.

"B-But the cave had dungeon goblins… Green ones…"

"I went to the trouble of cleaning those goblins up nice and proper. Like this. [Purify]."

"Whoa!?"

Village Chief Kehma's [Purify] washed over me, and every trace of blood and sweat was completely cleaned away.

It was nothing like the [Purify] I normally use.

So refreshing that I thought it might have been the first time in my entire life I'd felt so clean.

If his [Purify] could do this, then yeah, he could definitely clean goblins up from head to toe.

…

I learned then that "the best adventurer in the area" was no exaggeration.

Village Chief Kehma, Kehma Golen, was without a doubt incredibly skilled.

Someone like me couldn't hold a candle to him no matter what.

"H-Hey. That technique you used to finish that guy off, that was magic, right?"

"Hm? [Elemental Shot]? Yeah, it's a pretty handy spell. —[Elemental Shot]."

With a soft fwip, a streak of light shot out and knocked a branch off a nearby tree.

"That's impressive too, but that's not the one I meant. Uh, the thing where you scratched at thin air."

"… That's just [Storage]. Also, I'm handing him over to the higher-ups later, so I didn't actually kill him."

I hadn't known since it was my first time seeing it, but apparently [Storage] was a spell that even some merchants could use.

O-Oh, is that so…

"… I guess I really didn't know much about the world, huh."

"Well, uh… the Beddhism Church does lend books to its followers, you know? You're an adventurer, so you can at least read basic text, right?"

"Only my own name and the names of herbs…"

"Then go to the church and have one of the sisters teach you."

"… I'm joining!! No, I mean, I will join!!"

And so, I became a follower of Beddhism.

With the goal of getting even a little closer to this man—Kehma Golen, the Founder.

For the time being, I'd probably just be going around bragging that "the Founder himself reattached this arm for me." But first things first. I needed to learn to read.