The Problematic Leather Armor

Time turned back twenty seconds.

Rain's spear had struck from behind, its tip driving into the Boarfolk Warrior's lower back and leaving a wound that nearly went all the way through.

Unlike swords or daggers, spears left diamond-shaped puncture wounds that bled heavily.

Sure enough, as Rain yanked the spear free, a spray of foul-smelling blood shot out.

Rain didn't press his luck. He quickly retreated two steps.

Whoosh!

Caught off guard by Rain's attack, Shattered Tooth swung his spiked warhammer in a fierce sweep behind him, driven by the sudden agony.

But Rain had already backed away, and the blow struck nothing!

"Snort! You filthy little vermin! Shattered Tooth will smash you into paste!"

Shattered Tooth's one remaining eye had gone bloodred. He was furious beyond measure.

Now he could see that the one who had wounded him from behind was the same despicable human who had blinded his other eye with a spell.

Both offenses burned in his mind. All Shattered Tooth wanted was to pound Rain into paste with his spiked warhammer!

But the deep wound in his right flank was clearly slowing him down.

Every step he took sent blood welling from the raw, torn flesh.

Between that wound, the injury to his abdomen, and the dagger lodged behind the left side of his neck, still releasing poison, Shattered Tooth had no more than thirty or forty percent of his strength left.

Rain easily dodged two swings of the warhammer. By then, the signs were clear.

The Boarfolk Warrior was on his last legs.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Chris and the other two kept firing their crossbows at his one good eye, harrying him without pause.

Shattered Tooth had to squint his right eye nearly shut and stop now and then to swat away the bolts.

Thwack!

Rain seized another opening. He slipped to Shattered Tooth's blind left side and drove his spear into his left flank.

A puncture wound the size of a baby's fist opened on the other side of the Boarfolk Warrior's waist.

"Aaagh!"

That blow seemed to be the last straw.

Shattered Tooth could barely move his legs. Rain took advantage of his weakness and thrust his spear at the artery in his neck!

That was the scene Leia saw.

"Aaagh!"

Shattered Tooth threw back his head and let out one final scream!

Thud!

His strong, shaggy body toppled straight to the ground. Blood poured from his many wounds, quickly staining the earth red.

Leia knew this was not the Boarfolk they had encountered at the start.

And as the experienced captain of the Whistling Hunters, she recognized the distinctive little flag on his back at once. This was a Boarfolk Warrior.

A monster with a Challenge Rating of two!

Her red lips parted, but she couldn't find anything to say.

Beside her, Chris clutched his injured left hand and said with a smile, "Captain, we were about to come help you. I didn't expect you to finish off that Boarfolk so quickly."

Thwack! Thwack!

Rain, meanwhile, drove his spear into the fallen Boarfolk Warrior a few more times, apparently making sure he was dead.

"Rain, I think I understand why you said you were a warrior, not an Apprentice Mage," Grand said, studying him with surprise and admiration in his eyes.

"Oh?" Rain was curious to hear what Grand would say.

"An Apprentice Mage would never have kept fighting in that situation. Especially not one who'd only joined the team for this job."

The others nodded slightly.

Grand was telling the plain truth.

Nearly all mages prized their lives. When a job went wrong, they were usually the first to run.

It wasn't that mages were cowards or lacked team spirit. Most sensible mages saw it this way: they had agreed to carry out a particular job. If something unexpected changed the job, the agreement no longer applied.

At that point, everyone looked after themselves—and fled in different directions.

"But you were different, Rain. You stayed and fought beside us."

"I once heard a saying, and I've lived by it ever since: Heaven lies to the left, warriors go right."

"You have what it takes. You're a true warrior!"

Rain froze, his cheeks reddening slightly.

He had never expected to hear that saying in another world.

Grand and Chris facing a powerful enemy without fear was part of why he had stayed. But he couldn't honestly say the prospect of a Boarfolk Warrior bloodline hadn't tempted him too.

Grand's praise left him a little embarrassed.

Rain thought it over. If the Boarfolk Warrior bloodline hadn't been at stake, would he have stayed or retreated?

For a moment, he didn't know the answer.

Maybe... I would have stayed anyway?

Rain smiled and patted Grand on the shoulder. "If I had a choice, I'd choose heaven."

"But I'd rather not have to choose either one."

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Fabian walked over, clutching his chest and grimacing.

"What's all this about choosing?"

"Oh, the captain's back. Looks like her fight is over too."

At Fabian's interruption, Grand and Rain looked up. Seeing that Leia had returned, they waved to her.

Leia had finally recovered from her shock. She strode toward Rain on her long, shapely legs.

"Rain, you've made me see you in a whole new light. An Apprentice Mage with such strong close-combat skills!" Leia said, her beautiful eyes lingering on him.

"Uh... I just thought there's a limit to how many spells you can cast in a fight. You're bound to run out of mental energy eventually, so being decent in close combat might help."

Rain didn't know what else to say, so he offered the explanation offhand.

Then came the pleasant business of collecting their spoils.

For all the Boarfolk Warrior's formidable fighting ability, he had little of value on him.

That made sense. Even ordinary Boarfolk had astonishing appetites, eating roughly five times as much as an adult man.

Most of their time and energy went toward filling their stomachs. If they weren't eating, they were out hunting.

Even when they happened upon something valuable, they traded it for food.

As for the Boarfolk Warrior's spiked warhammer, it looked impressive, but its materials were nothing special, so it wasn't worth much. Its enormous size also made it unsuitable for ordinary human adventurers.

Even an adventurer strong enough to wield it would choose a better-made weapon.

So neither the two ordinary Boarfolk nor the Boarfolk Warrior yielded much loot.

In fact, the greatest reward was the Boarfolk themselves.

By the Mill Town Adventurers' Association's usual rates, an ordinary Boarfolk was worth fifteen silver coins, as the pay for this job showed.

That made thirty silver coins for the two of them, plus the main prize of the day—the Boarfolk Warrior.

Although a Boarfolk Warrior was roughly as strong as three ordinary Boarfolk, the usual reward for one was not forty-five silver coins, or even sixty. It was seventy.

In other words, if they split the reward evenly, Rain would earn twenty silver coins for a job that had taken him only half a day.

They would have to return to the Adventurers' Association and settle the job first, then deduct a small amount for Chris's treatment before dividing the money.

"Huh? Come look at this! There's something wrong with it!"

Fabian, who was sorting through the spoils, suddenly held up the oversized leather vest the Boarfolk Warrior had worn and called out.