## Chapter 8 – Cockatrice Hunt
I arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild just before sunrise and saw a familiar face sitting at a table, drinking beer. I decided to acknowledge him later and went straight to the counter.
The clerk at the counter was a short man.
He was a dwarf with a stocky build and bulging arms. He was endlessly scratching a scar on his arm, with a bizarre motion as if he thought it was a bug… More importantly, is this crazy bastard… unaware that he’s drawing blood?
“Excuse me, about the Cockatrice extermination party…”
“Ah, that would be that fellow sitting over there.”
The dwarf clerk pointed with his finger.
“…”
Speechless, I looked at the table where the man was sitting. Noticing my gaze, the man waved at me. To be in a party with this guy, it’s been a while.
“Yo, Barbarian. Long time no see.”
“Copson, you son of a bitch… you look even more haggard than before. And how many times do I have to tell you I’m not a Barbarian, you bastard.”
Copson.
A freckled male E-rank adventurer with blond hair reaching his neck, Copson was a half-friend type of guy who had been promoted to E-rank on the same day as me.
I had quite a long history with him.
We often hung out together even when we were F-rank.
I sat across from Copson.
“Heh heh heh… Is this guy, a Barbarian, sitting at the same table as me? Should I call the City Guard?”
“I’m gonna kill you.”
Copson was a kind of racist who enjoyed making racist jokes. Of course, he seemed to think it was a sign of friendliness, but I didn’t particularly like being called a Barbarian.
“But your equipment looks better than the last time I saw you? Where’d you crawl out from?”
Copson’s equipment had improved considerably since the last time I saw him. Judging by the helmet and breastplate he was wearing, he must have made some money somewhere. Honestly, I started to feel envious and jealous, and my whole body started to itch.
“I was playing around in the Mud Vine Pit. I might get promoted to D-rank soon.”
“I don’t think you’re gonna get promoted, so let’s skip that. But what, you’re exterminating a Cockatrice today? Looks like you and I are in the same party.”
“Ah, is that so? What a coincidence. Anyway, let’s do our best. If you see my improved skills, you’ll be so surprised you’ll fall on your ass.”
“If your skills have really improved, I’ll do a somersault and fall on my ass, you bastard.”
I chatted with Copson about this and that.
It had been a while since I’d seen his face, actually.
Anyway, the sun was starting to rise, but the magician I heard about yesterday? Whoever it was, they hadn’t arrived yet. It’s a prejudice, but making people wait like this means they’re probably a psycho. All magicians are like that.
`Death to Magicians` is my life motto. I just hate magicians. Another motto is something like `Just living another day, desu`.
“You don’t know anything? I’m just doing this through the guild, so I don’t know the details.”
“I don’t know much, but I heard a Cockatrice appeared in the western granary. Apparently, the local militia can’t handle it, so they’re sending a C-rank magician and us to exterminate it.”
“Damn. You know everything.”
What do you mean you don’t know much?
“Well then, I guess we have to wait for the magician to come.”
“Wanna grab a drink? Of course, the Barbarian’s buying.”
“Get lost, you bastard.”
People in this era drink alcohol like water, so they don’t have much of a problem with working while drinking. Of course, I’m not one of them.
“Are you guys the Cockatrice errand boys?”
As we were killing time, I heard a woman’s voice from behind.
I turned around, thinking she had finally arrived. Making people wait this long, what the hell does she look like…
“Oh my! Long time no see, Darkie?”
The woman recognized me and greeted me. Darkie? …What? Who is this woman? My mind raced. There are a few people who call me Darkie, but…
“…!”
In an instant, I was as startled as a cat seeing a cucumber! I was so surprised that I couldn’t even scream! It was more shocking than being struck by lightning! As I realized it, my whole body began to tremble!
Standing before me was a magician with ridiculously pink hair!
She was much shorter than me and was carrying a staff taller than herself, but none of that mattered. What was important was that she was wearing a purple robe that revealed half of her large breasts.
Seeing her chest, I remembered something I had forgotten. I was horrified. What the hell! The magician in front of me was Winia! Could this be the C-rank magician who was supposed to join our extermination party?!
“Aren’t you going to say hello?”
Winia said, narrowing her eyes.
“H-Hello… Lady Winia…”
As I awkwardly greeted her, my tongue twisted. My mind and ego couldn’t keep up with this reality. My mouth was frozen from this shocking reunion, and I couldn’t speak properly. Winia’s expression twisted for a moment as I greeted her stiffly, then she suddenly smiled.
“Darkie, why are you using honorifics with me? Just be comfortable, be comfortable!”
Winia said, strangely dragging out the ends of her words, and patted me on the back. I almost threw up the inn’s soup I had for breakfast from the impact. Is it because she’s a magician, but her strength is higher than my durability? My HP was already halved.
“Oh my! I can’t do that to Lady Winia!”
How could I speak informally to this woman? I couldn’t do such a dangerous thing even if I died and came back to life. As I tried to back away, Winia gave me a death stare.
“Be comfortable.”
“But…”
I felt like my life was flashing before my eyes.
“Do it.”
I felt great fear from her overbearing tone. My whole body began to tremble like an aspen. Save me, Copson. As I looked at Copson pleadingly, he was just watching us with a puzzled expression. That guy was always clueless.
“Do you understand?”
I felt like I would be roasted alive if I resisted any further, so I gave up.
“T-Then… s-should I?”
“Hehe, that’s right! Be comfortable, be comfortable! We’re going to be working together from today, right?”
I instinctively knew I was screwed. It wasn’t the first time I’d worked with this woman, but I never had a good memory. Rather, they were all hellish memories. I wanted to quickly declare my withdrawal from the party and run away. But I couldn’t because the receptionist’s face kept flashing in my mind.
What a dilemma! Why did this happen on my last demotion match!
“Winia. Do you know him?”
At that moment, a blue-haired man who looked like he could handle himself appeared.
He seemed to be a member of our party.
“Yup, yup. He’s my friend.”
If I’m friends with you, then I’m friends with everyone in the world, you son of a bitch. Those words were stuck in my throat. My feelings towards Winia were nothing but hatred and resentment.
The blue-haired man glanced at my face and said.
“Judging by his looks, is he from Mirkesha?”
Mirkesha is a general term for the warlike nomadic peoples who live without clear borders. They are usually called Barbarians in a derogatory sense, and their most distinctive feature is that they have black hair and black eyes. In other words, people who look similar to me.
“Ah, yes. To be exact, I’m from a tribe called Korea in the outskirts of Mirkesha.”
I lied about my origin with a familiar lie. There are many tribes living in Mirkesha, so it wouldn’t be strange if there was a tribe with that name. It was perfect for concealing my vague identity.
“I see. Origin doesn’t matter. Nice to meet you. I’m William.”
“I’m Katt. An E-rank adventurer.”
William said that he was a C-rank adventurer like Winia. A C-rank adventurer is quite a veteran. It means they are skilled enough to take down medium-sized monsters without difficulty. In addition, a Cockatrice is a monster that looks like a giant bird standing on two legs, and it was a typical medium-sized monster.
“Are you done talking? Shall we get going? And Darkie, come here.”
“Yes…”
“Darkie. Can’t you understand me? Do you want to keep your distance from me that much?”
“Ah, no, it’s not that…”
As I hesitantly crawled towards Winia, Winia stood on tiptoe as if I were a big dog and stroked my head. I was so humiliated by this situation that my body became hot. Damn it, damn it…! You son of a bitch!
“Then let’s get going.”
With William in the lead, I followed the group gloomily. I couldn’t even imagine how painful things would be in the future. They were even planning to take a carriage to the western granary because it was a bit far away.
I have to be with this woman for that long? I was in despair. The hellish memories of my F-rank adventurer days began to resurface. Most of what decorated those hellish memories was Winia’s nagging.
“This Barbarian is pretty capable.”
Copson was next to me, saying that he was so jealous that I knew such a good-looking magician, but I sincerely thought that I should be pitied rather than envied. He doesn’t know anything. He’ll be surprised if he finds out.
I have a bit of a bad relationship with Winia. No, it’s not a small bad relationship, but a huge grudge exists between us. It’s mostly one-sided on my part, though. Anyway, my resentment was greater than the difference between heaven and earth.
It was a story from when I was just an F-rank adventurer. At the time, I was an illegal immigrant of dimensional proportions who was struggling to earn enough to live for the day, and I was hired as a handyman in a party that included Winia.
The job was to carry luggage or carry loot, which F-rank adventurers usually do. I followed them all day and endured murderous labor. Only to earn money to live for tomorrow.
But then these cruel bastards jokingly stole my wages. I worked all day, but they didn’t give me the promised pay. Then they laughed at me and disappeared.
Moreover, I was beaten and abused while working. They beat me while calling me a savage. I couldn’t resist.
That’s when I learned that people can hate people. It was just a joke to them, but my livelihood was at stake. Of course, I was furious, but I couldn’t go crazy and run wild, and I had nowhere to turn, so I had to swallow my tears while clutching my hungry stomach…
It’s a humiliating memory. F-rank adventurers, who are no different from vagrants, live in all sorts of discrimination. Among them, my appearance, which resembled a `Barbarian`, intensified that discrimination. Of course, once I became an E-rank, the guild protected my rights to some extent, so there was no such blatant discrimination after the promotion, but it still exists implicitly. Well, how much would the guild protect me anyway? It’s really nothing.
Anyway, to continue the story… One day, when I was living a tough life.
I happened to find Winia alone on a day when I was in a good mood. She, who had stolen my wages, was my mortal enemy. Anger surged in an instant. Winia was a magician, but she was a woman and smaller than me. I thought I could beat her up and get revenge for that day. And I happened to have a weapon in my hand. I judged that she was a worthy opponent.
And I, not knowing my place, challenged Winia to a duel and felt the fear of death and ran away.
“Damn it.”
It was a foolish thing to do when I knew nothing about this world.
There was such a terrible incident, but what could I do? After that, I often ran into her at the guild because we were both adventurers, and each time I was forced to do unpaid labor because of what I had done back then.
It was not uncommon for me to be beaten like a dog on Dog Days. It was impossible for a loser like me to beat a magician. It was a hellish life. It was literally `Isekai Loser Kim Katt`.
So I was relieved when I heard that she had gone to another town, but what a crazy coincidence…!
And when did you become a C-rank, you bitch! Then I have no chance of winning at all!
…Even so, I’m now a respectable E-rank. The guild protects my rights, so she won’t be able to treat me like she used to. Looking at Winia’s face, which was beaming with joy, I swallowed my hatred.
It’s so hard to live, I can’t live like this.
“Darkie, do you have something to say?”
“No…”
