SSS: Chapter 3

"Julius…"

The sun was setting, and all you could see was a soft glow at the distant horizon.

I heard someone call my name, while I was busy swinging the stick.

It was a voice that I knew all too well.

A rather husky tenor that belonged to my father.

"Did you see Sophia?"

His voice seemed rather… strained.

He spoke in a tone that contained feelings that weren't usually expressed by my stoic father.

My heart skipped a beat.

Did something happen?

While thinking so, I responded flatly with a shake of my head, "No" even as my face distorted ever so slightly.

"If it's about Sophia then, I've only seen her once in the afternoon… Did something happen?"

Normally even after sunset I would still be away swinging my makeshift sword nonstop and it would be up to my father to come and get me whether it was on account of dinner or on account of being worried of the state of his son. These exchanges of ours had become sort of a routine, yet for some strange reason that I couldn't pin down, today was undoubtedly… different.

"Do you know where she went?"

I was answered back with a question instead.

Perhaps there were some unreasonable circumstances, but it felt frustrating to see my question disregarded and to be asked one in turn.

It was as if …

I could do nothing…

Nothing at all…

"…Maybe she went to the river bank, like she usually does."

"Oh …no…"

My father sighed in response.

"It's still outside…"

"That' still is outside the village …"

His expression distorted like he had eaten a bitter bug, and he cursed in a low voice.

Sophia had been going there every day, why was it so different today?

I did not understand the reason, so I waited for my father to answer, but he started to walk away without looking at me.

"… What happened?"

It was obvious that my dad had no time to respond and was in a hurry, but I still asked him the same question again.

No, I couldn't stop myself from asking it again.

"…Someone outside the village said he saw a monster."

"If it is only that —"

It will be over soon.

I tried to say.

Because the existence of demons was confirmed about a month ago. Moreover, tomorrow the adventurers who had received the subjugation request will be coming to complete it, so I didn't think that it was such an urgent matter that he had to be so impatient.

"Yeah. If the said monster was a goblin, I wouldn't be in such a rush."

"....."

I was lost for words.

That meant that … the demons outside the village were something much worse than mere goblins.

Could he possibly be joking?

No… my earnest father, would never assert something like that without proof.

My throat gulped. (E/N: I gulped by reflex)

"He saw a monster that bore an uncanny resemblance to an ogre wandering outside the village."

"What?"

I shouted reflexively.

My father's utterly unexpected reply made my head blank for a moment.

Ogre.

It is a demonic monster, and while the goblins' subjugation level is F, an ogre is considered to have the strength of a B or a C rank, which is a few ranks higher.

Ogres are monsters whose subjugation rank fluctuates depending on their body size, and there is also difference in the threat level they pose as a child and as a fully mature adult.

———isn't there a mistake?

Though I wanted to believe so, but I immediately got rid of such whimsical thoughts.

A forest is a place where demons live.

In the villages located in the vicinity of a forest, the villagers are taught the basic knowledge about the terrifying denizens that make the forest their abode.

Goblins, Orcs, Ogres.

Even if someone were to see such a monster, if they didn't know what that monster is all they would cause is mindless panic in the village.

Therefore, first thing people living in village are taught about is what kind of demons live nearby.

That's why I couldn't easily conclude that it was some mistake.

"Fortunately or unfortunately, adventurers will be coming tomorrow…. if it's really an ogre, we'll need to wait for adventurers."

Fortunately, the sun hasn't set yet.

My father concludes that Sophia is more than likely to return.

It was already bad enough if it was a goblin, but if it's an ogre, then villagers don't even stand a chance. If anyone was foolish enough to confront it, they would only die.

I had the same opinion about this situation as my father.

Even so …

"…Dad, what if Sophia doesn't come home by sunset?"

"...…"

He did not answer me immediately.

Why?

"… at that time, we will do something."

I soon realized that he probably meant that the adults would do something instead of a child like me.

Children would not be informed at all.

It was surprisingly easy to understand the hidden meaning in his words.

"Julius… you should go home early today. Your mom is worried about you."

If I was the one right now… outside the village instead of Sophia, my father's response might have been different.

After all, Sophia is nothing more than a child of a close neighbor.

Stranger or family?

Such a difference gets highlighted only in situations like these.

"...Do you understand?"

Sophia was the one who always went out on her own, but this time I felt a little responsible as well.

If only… I had honestly accepted her offer.

Even if the chance was minuscule, this kind of situation might not have happened.

"I'm going to the village chief to let him know about this."

I suspect that my father rushed to me as soon as he heard the news of Ogre.

To inform me that it was dangerous to go outside.

"Go straight home. Do you understand? Julius."

"I know"

Am I that untrustworthy?

My father kept repeatedly asking for confirmation.

It's not settled yet that Sophia wouldn't be coming back… and I suppose that I shouldn't take any action…. I guess.

"…Hey, dad."

"What?"

"Do you think I'm worried about Sophia?"

"Isn't that so?"

Unlike me who had a stupid face upon hearing his response, he stared back at me with a serious expression.

"You're on good terms only with Sophia… after all."

"…Oh, well, that's right."

It maybe a little deceptive to say that we're on good terms.

Rather than getting along, Sophia is the only person who tries to accept me as someone who dreams of slashing the stars.

On the other hand, I am sure that she was feeling pretty bored listening to my 'heretical' ideas.

Thus, it may seem that we're on good terms from the sidelines, but for some reason, I am unconvinced that we indeed are.

"So."

"Once again."

"No matter what, don't go out on your own, Julius"

My dad is a village hunter who is quite good at handling bows, even amongst other hunters. The hunters are the ones who sometimes hunt birds and monsters for food in the village.

There are three other hunters in the village besides my father, but the goblins act in groups.

That's why, the hunters because of their cautious nature chose the option of requesting help from the adventurers.

"It's okay for you to swing a stick because training of the physique is indispensable for village life. Even so, don't think for even a moment that, swinging that stick for four years has made you any stronger!"

I'm sure my father was worried that I'll recklessly charge into the forest to face the ogre. He was afraid that I was overestimating my own strength.

"I know. You don't have to say it."

But that concern of his was unnecessary.

Because this boy named Julius, is the most cool-headed person in the world.

It is outrageous to think that I'm overconfident.

Was I the chosen one?

Does a miracle happen conveniently?

Would God help me just because I asked him to?

Had I grown strong enough to face everything thrown at me?

I remember the life of the swordsman who kept swinging his sword with contempt for the world, and as far as I'm concerned, both of us are the only ones who have that kind of control over themselves.

So if I have to do something crazy, it's probably when I'm throwing away my reasoning, without giving it any thought.

That is when I must be doing something I really wanted to do.

"… It's fine then."

Then he turned his back towards me and went down to meet the village chief.

It was a familiar back.

Yet, somehow it looked much smaller than usual in my eyes.