Chapter 273 The Unreliable Adventurer ③
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After wrapping up the experiments on the defensive magic circuits¹ with those three thugs, I parted ways with them and decided to push the “testing phase” just a little further.
I’d already survived a concentrated barrage from that trio. Given that their combined offensive power is arguably the highest in the region-monsters included-I figured I wasn’t going to drop dead the moment a breeze hit me.
That said, there’s a reason “death” was still very much on the table. This magic circuit has a few glaring, fatal flaws. Setting aside the obvious-that I’m a sitting duck if I get jumped while it’s deactivated-there are three main ways this goes south:
1. Mana Depletion: Because of having no mana, and no shield. I’m just a man in a shirt getting punched to death. I carry magic stones for backup, but if those run dry, I’m finished.
2. Immobilization: I realized this one during the prototype phase. If a plant-type monster tangles me in vines or a behemoth swallows me whole, it’s a slow countdown. Either my mana fails, or I simply starve to death inside a stomach.
3. Isolation: If a flying monster carries me off to a wasteland or drops me in a high-altitude nest-or, god forbid, a volcano-I’m stuck. Even with an active shield, I can’t eat or drink “defense.”
Every one of these scenarios is a “human-made” death. If an enemy just keeps swinging until my tank is empty, or if I’m buried under mounds of earth or trapped in a pitfall, the end result is the same: a grave.
Which means that even without a warrior like Tania-san or those thugs, a sufficiently motivated drunk in a back alley could technically kill me. It would require the right conditions, of course-a cage match where I’m not allowed to hit back-but it proves a point. The “hardest” defense can’t actually be the strongest ability.
It’s only human nature to want a spear once you’ve perfected the shield. Luckily, I’d already been tinkering with one: the “Magic Gun².” It’s a hybrid of my memories from the old world and the thaumaturgy of this one.
”Alright, let’s do this,” I muttered to no one in particular.
I stepped into the forest on the outskirts of the Royal Capital. It’s a nasty place, crawling with monsters-the same woods where the Pororo Snail³s thrive.
By now, you’ve probably figured out who the “unreliable adventurer” is. It’s me. I’ve been F-Rank since the dawn of time. I’m the guy who saw a Giant Bear during his first week and ran so fast I probably broke a record. I am, by all accounts, a coward.
Being back on a “quest” made my stomach twist with a familiar, greasy tension. I never thought I’d be playing adventurer again. Since my retirement, I’ve done everything in my power to avoid violence. I knew exactly how fragile I was-a soft, breakable thing in a world of teeth and claws.
I can’t believe I used to do this for a living… If it weren’t for these two magic circuits, I wouldn’t have set foot in these woods, especially not with the “Stampede⁴” making everything so unpredictable.
I crept through the underbrush, keeping my breathing shallow. My targets were simple: Red Slime⁵ fluid and Pororo Snail shells. No heroics, no unnecessary hunting, no staying past sunset.
”Now, Marm-san mentioned the Red Slimes might have retreated deeper into the woods to escape the chaos…” I said to myself.
Blindly wandering was a rookie mistake. With my limited mana pool, a brute-force search would take days. I’d end up getting lost in the rhythm of the hunt and forget to leave before the nocturnal predators came out to play.
Red Slimes are bottom-tier. They usually stick near the capital because they’re terrified of real monsters. If they moved into the forest, they’d be looking for the “dead zones”-places the apex predators ignore.
But they still need to eat. They’re scavengers, mostly-rodents, fallen fruit, that sort of thing. But since every other monster wants those too, the slimes would likely be forced to settle for the scraps: moss, fungi, and damp greenery.
I ignored the open riverbanks (too much traffic) and focused on the stagnant places. Marshes, the deep shadows of boulders, or the hollows of rotting trees. That’s where a slime feels at home.
I moved with my head on a swivel, simulating their pathing in my mind. I watched the loam for tracks and the bark for scrapings. One wrong step into a territorial monster’s patch, and no amount of “hard” defense would save me.
I skirted the herb patches I used to harvest, bypassed the Killer Bee meadows, and stuck to the treeline. It hit me then, with a pang of self-pity: I was following my old rookie routes. I was moving exactly like a weak, pathetic Red Slime would.
Just ahead was a small, shallow basin. It stayed damp but didn’t flood-prime real estate for a colony of slimes.
”Found you!” I whispered.
I spotted them from the shadows. One, two, three… at least twenty. A pile of translucent, quivering red blobs huddling together. Honestly, it was a revolting sight. That “warning color” was doing its job. ‘Don’t eat me, I’m toxic. Touch me and find out.’ It’s a clever bit of natural design.
I watched them for a moment. They hadn’t noticed me. In the old days, I would have used a fire spell and prayed I didn’t start a forest fire. But now, I needed to conserve mana for my shield.
Time to test the “Magic Gun.”
I loaded a shockwave-type shell, careful not to use anything that would shred the materials I came here for. The gun works by etching a circuit onto a magic stone and using a kinetic pulse to “throw” the magic itself. It’s a nightmare to aim, but a shockwave just needs to be “close enough” to knock them into a stupor.
I leaned out from behind a trunk, holding my breath. I took aim… and pulled the trigger.
Crack-boom!
One shot, two distinct reports. The first was the launch, the second was the internal magic detonating. Because they happened almost simultaneously, the sound echoed through the trees with a sharp, staggered vibration.
”Ah. Right. I guess that’s how it goes,” I muttered.
I stood up slowly and walked toward where the slimes used to be.
The ground was gouged. What remained of the colony was a series of wet, red smears plastered across the trunks and grass. It looked like someone had detonated a crate of industrial-strength jam.
”It’s like a total splatter movie…” I sighed.
The sarcasm was the only thing keeping the nausea at bay. Now I had the privilege of spending the next hour scraping my “materials” off the scenery.
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Trivia:
- The protagonist is technically an F-rank retiree, highlighting his lack of combat confidence.
- The ‘Magic Gun’ is a hybrid of modern firearm concepts and local magic technology.
- The forest is currently under the influence of a ‘Stampede,’ increasing its danger level.
- Defensive magic is not a perfect shield; it’s vulnerable to starvation, lack of mana, and environmental hazards
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Character Insight:
The protagonist’s transition from a defensive to an offensive mindset shows his drive for self-preservation. Despite his technical genius, he still feels the visceral fear of a weak adventurer, proving his ‘cowardice’ is a deeply ingrained trauma.
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Behind the Scenes:
The author uses the ‘unreliable adventurer’ title to subvert the typical ‘overpowered hero’ trope by giving the MC significant psychological and mechanical handicaps.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Tania – An Elf adventurer who, despite her race’s reputation for low sex drive, is secretly quite passionate. She initially seemed ‘wasted’ (emotionally dry) to her friend Raika, but was easily introduced to the pleasure-items sold at ‘Harvest.’ She is easily embarrassed and attempts to maintain a dignified facade, despite her recent, frequent purchases. She wears practical but light armor over a simple cloth tunic and short pants, highlighting her grace and agility. Her primary relationship is one of friendly senior-junior with Raika.
• Marm – The attractive, red-haired, tanned receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild. She wears a uniform that emphasizes her ‘nice body.’ She is kind and acts like a supportive ‘big sister’ figure to Kento. Looks like Mirajane Strauss from certain series.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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