Chapter 46: Benefactor

“Come to think of it, I never told you much about Soraval. Fellow rookie adventurers and an instructor at the Adventurers’ Guild helped me there, but the person who did the most for me was Bruno-san, a soldier who guarded the town gate. Right after I was reincarnated into this world, when I had nothing, he gave me food and water and taught me many things. He’s my benefactor.”

When I was reincarnated into this world, I found myself empty-handed on a grassland within sight of Soraval. Bruno-san, who was guarding the gate, took pity on a stranger who knew nothing about the world. He gave me food and water and explained that becoming an adventurer would allow me to earn enough each day to survive.

As I had mentioned before, I could use my unique skill, Return to Japan, from the moment I arrived in this world. However, without identification in Japan, I could do almost nothing there. I could obtain drinking water from public parks, but without Bruno-san’s help, hunger might eventually have driven me to steal food.

In that sense as well, he had helped me enormously. I had thanked him before moving to Berlia, but I had always intended to return and express my gratitude properly.

“…I see. There are almost no people in this world who would be so kind to others—he seems like a truly kind man.”

“Yeah. He was kind not just to me, but also to the poor children in the town. He said he was an orphan who was raised thanks to the kindness of the people in that town, so he was paying it forward to others.”

As Yuuka had said, truly selfless people were rare in a world less prosperous than Japan. Most people were too occupied with surviving their own hardships to help strangers.

“There really are kind people like that. But Soraval is in danger. The Abystortas tends to head toward settlements, and right now it is moving toward the town. It devours houses, fields—everything in a village or town—along with the ground beneath them. That is why it is called the Earth Eater.”

“It devours the town… Is there no way to prevent it somehow?”

“Once the Abystortas chooses a course, it keeps moving straight ahead. It is slow and rarely causes human casualties, but it is still a threat worthy of being called a natural disaster. Many adventurers and other powerful people have challenged it, yet no one has ever defeated it.”

“I see…”

It was not something we could stop merely by blocking its path. A monster that had remained undefeated for more than a century had to be an extraordinary threat…

“But you have Sword Saint Yuuka-san and Archmage Aoi-chan there. If it’s the two of them, they might be able to defeat the Abystortas, or at least make it change its course.”

“…No, I absolutely cannot let the two of them do something so dangerous.”

“Kakeru…”

“Kakeru-sama…”

When I heard it was an S-rank equivalent monster, for a moment the thought crossed my mind that perhaps Yuuka the S-rank adventurer and Aoi the Sage could do something.

But I could not ask the two of them to fight such a dangerous monster merely for my sake. Bruno-san and Soraval mattered deeply to me, but at least the residents had been given time to evacuate.

“I don’t think you need to worry too much about Yuuka-san and Aoi-chan’s safety. The Abystortas is enormous and incredibly tough, but it moves very slowly, so retreating is easy. Many people have challenged it before, and almost all of them survived. The few who died had badly overestimated their abilities. I don’t believe either of them would misjudge when to withdraw.”

“Huh!?”

“Even if they were injured, this world has potions, so the danger is limited. We could have Aoi-chan unleash her strongest magic from long range and retreat immediately if it fails. I think the attempt is well worth making. Of course, I’ll do everything I can to help as well!”

“…”

It was clearly a formidable monster, but perhaps confronting it would be less dangerous than I had initially imagined.

As Rain had said, attacking from long range carried very little risk. The magic I had seen Aoi use on the journey to the royal capital was extremely powerful, yet apparently nowhere near her full strength. Even if she could not defeat the Abystortas, a full-power attack might be enough to alter its course.

“…Yuuka, Aoi, Rain. I can’t fight it myself, but with all of your strength, we might be able to do something. I know I shouldn’t ask if there’s even the slightest danger, but many people in that town helped me, and I want to repay them. Please lend me your strength!”

I bowed deeply to everyone.

The people of Soraval had helped me, and although I had lived there only briefly, I had precious memories of the town. Bruno-san had always said that guarding its gate for thirty years was his pride. I wanted to help my benefactor.

“Yes, leave it to me, Kakeru! We’ll lend you our strength as much as you need!”

“Kakeru-sama’s benefactor is our benefactor too! Let’s definitely protect the town!”

“This is our team’s first battle. Hehehe, I’m getting fired up!”

“Everyone… thank you so much!”

Everyone agreed without hesitation. Nothing could have made me happier.

I had truly found wonderful companions.

“I’m so happy that Kakeru is relying on our strength for the first time! Hehe, right now I feel like I wouldn’t lose to any monster!”

“A rare opportunity to repay even a fraction of the debt to Kakeru-sama! I will definitely defeat that monster!”

“Putting an end to a monster’s legend that has lasted 100 years. It’s a fitting first step for Kakeru-kun’s legend! I’m burning up~!”

…Everyone seemed even more motivated than I had expected.

I was incredibly grateful for their support.