A Display of His

I ascended to the third level with ease.

Not only had I drawn all the ropes up to prevent the kobolds from climbing them, but I'd also cut off a small section of them to tie the Death Spots' head firmly to my back. It wasn't big and heavy enough to interfere with my movements, fortunately.

I meant to scour the entire third floor once just to look for any traces my comrades might have left behind. I had no intention of going straight out of the Cyrene Mines, and it wasn't like I was out of energy to do that much.

I first went down the tunnel filled with several lightplants. I'd be in a bit of trouble if enemies were to come from the front, so I primarily depended on my sense of hearing and walked by hiding the sound along with my presence as I advanced.

'Oh.'

I soon stumbled upon something. Thanks to the lightplants, I was able to discern the image of a human, with another human behind coming from a gentle curve. As they fully exposed themselves, I'd recognize who they were at once.

"You're... Kiyotaka, right?" The thief, the lead of the group, inquired. 

"Yes. Haruhiro, Ranta, Moguzo. I remember. I still haven't known the girls' names and seen the priest yet, though."

We live in the same lodging house.

"Uh, hey, bud," Ranta the dread knight eyed me weirdly. "The thing on your back, w-what's that?"

"Death Spots head," I showed them my side flank.

"Eek?!" "!" "Hnh?" was the reaction of the girls, specifically the mage, priest, and hunter.

Ranta leaped up in surprise, whilst Moguzo was more of a silent shocked reaction. Haruhiro took a breath. He was startled to a certain degree, but not to the point of losing his composure. While I doubt he was as capable as Suzune, I doubt he was any lower than the average leader I knew so far.

"...Are you by yourself?" He asked.

"I was separated from the others, yes," I didn't see any reason to lie. "You have seen them?"

Haruhiro thought for a moment. "I don't know if it's exactly them, but I did hear the voices of several humans from—"

I listened thoughtfully. "...I see. Thanks for the information."

I moved away from them in turn.

"W-Wait," Haruhiro stopped me. I hope he didn't waste too much time on whatever it is. I turned back to him. "What?"

They seemed afraid, somehow. The priest spoke up. "Don't you think it's too dangerous to do that by yourself?"

"No," I quickly answered.

It'd be awful to leave it at that. "I know my limits more than anyone. I wouldn't try to kill Death Spots in the first place if I didn't."

I walked away from them without turning back. No one stopped me this time.

If I took Haruhiro's words, Suzune's side was pursued by a horde of kobolds. Haruhiro's group found themselves in trouble with a large number of kobolds hunting them from the fifth floor, and Suzune's group had unluckily gotten dragged along while they were on the fourth floor. They're down there to search for me, definitely.

'With everything Haruhiro provided me with, I should easily be able to find them.'

***

Sure enough, I found them effortlessly. They just happened to be talking about me when I found them. 

The group made quite a riot over the death of Death Spots, but as all's well and all, we went on to discuss our future course of action.

"We'll go back for the day. The horde of kobolds will be a problem."

Of course, no one objected.

When we were on the journey, Suzune offered an idea. I didn't find it detrimental.

"Will it be okay...?" Kei asked worriedly.

"Yes, the frontier soldiers wouldn't be foolish to kill him immediately, at least."

While everyone other than me remained silent in Alterna's northern forest, I made my way alone to the city's front gate.

The tower guard found me right away. We had met more than a few times. He and a number of other frontier soldiers always dealt with us imperiously each time. The guard didn't do that this bow.

He raised his bow. I paused.

"What are you carrying on your back?"

"Death Spots' head."

He, and the other guard furrowed their brows.

"...Show it."

I performed the same as I did at Haruhiro's party.

They let me in shortly after. 

I attracted quite a bit of attention on the streets. Aside from the Death Spots head, the massive butcher knife I had on me was pretty conspicuous. I had seen a number of volunteer soldiers carrying unusual items into Alterna, but even so, my case seemed to be special.

I went to where the volunteer soldiers' office was situated. Entering the place, I could only see Britney fiddling with a knife across the counter. When he spotted me, his eyebrows raised, and he cracked a smile.

"Kiyotaka, it's a first seeing you come here all alone," his eyes were drawn automatically to the butcher knife at my back, and probably something else slightly showing on my back. He squinted his eyes. "I received word that you and Suzune have been operating in the Cyrene Mines as of yesterday. What did you bring?"

Suzune's purpose was very simple. She wanted everyone to know that I was the one who defeated the Death Spots. Alone.

Kanji had replied with "Isn't it better that we stick together? Oh, it's not that I'm trying to take away your achievements or anything, Kiyotaka. Really. Like, seriously. I mean, for the party's purpose, isn't that the best for us? They'd be seeing us in a new light for that, I'm sure." Kanji actually had a good point. Rather than focusing on me alone, and making the other members look like tagalongs, it was better to just focus on all the members.

But Suzune just said "We can just make our own scores. The reason Kiyotaka is the only one having the right is because his individual strength will be suitable as a demonstration. To show how different he is from the rest of the party members."

Suzune seemed to think very highly of me.

I untied the rope between my abdomen and chest, retrieving the Death Spots' drained bloodied head onto the counter.

"Oh, my," Britney widened his eyes slightly in surprise as he covered his mouth. "You killed him alone? Or did the rest of your party all die battling him?"

"No, I got separated from the others. I just happened to be stuck with the Death Spots after that."

"...It's impressive. After Renji just before your group, and now you, this may not be the golden generation only, but a golden year altogether. Well, anyway, I'll get you the rewards. Just a moment."

Britney picked up a small leather pouch after a few minutes. He held it out to me. "Take a gander."

I grabbed it. Getting a glimpse of the contents, I found dozens of gold coins piled on top of each other. I picked up one of them and examined it. I'd seen one before, so I could tell if it was real or not. "This is genuine. Thank you."

"You don't have to."

"I'll take my leave, then."

I strolled out. Britney then said something as if remembering it. "Ah, tear down the Death Spots poster while you're at it. Rip it out or whatever, just remove it from the order board."

"I'll do it."