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I Got a New Skill Every Time I Was Exiled, and After 100 Different Worlds, I Was Unmatched (Web Novel) - Chapter 358: The Value of an Irreplaceable Treasure Is Enough if You Know It Yourself
Chapter 358: The Value of an Irreplaceable Treasure Is Enough if You Know It Yourself
This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl
“Hey, Doma. Are you really okay?”“I said I’m fine, didn’t I!? How many times do I have to say it?”
“But… what about Kain? Is there anywhere it hurts?”
“Haha, I’m fine, Jinku. Not a single scar left. Those high-level healing potions are amazing, huh?”
“Yeah… Ah, I’m really relieved.”
Exiting the forest and heading back to town, we could hear Jinku and the others’ conversation behind us. Despite Jinku repeating his question numerous times, the remaining two seemed somewhat exasperated but still had cheerful voices.
By the way, in appearance, Doma was about five centimeters shorter than me, a warrior with short, deep bluish hair. Jinku, slightly shorter than that, had short brown hair as a swordsman. Kain, about 160 centimeters tall with dark grayish hair, wearing a slightly short white robe over his clothes, was a mage.
Though they were all officially recognized adult adventurers, there’s an indescribable innocence in their expressions that makes them seem endearing.
“All three of you are good kids. It’s good we could help, right?”
“Yeah, absolutely.”
Watching the three of them, I replied to Tia, who had approached with a smile, wholeheartedly agreeing. Then my gaze shifted to the golden ring snug on my left ring finger.
“This is all thanks to Nuoh-sama, isn’t it? If I hadn’t known beforehand with this, there’s no way I could have made it in time.”
“That’s right. Even running at that speed, it was barely in time.”
Thanks to Nuoh’s protection, even before entering this world, I knew it was the ’66th World.’ That’s how I located Jinku’s position with the [Akashic Compass] and dashed at full speed with Tia on my back using [Hermes Dash].
But even then, it was a close call. In other words, without prior information, even if we were here now, we wouldn’t have been able to change Jinku’s fate of losing his companions.
“But, what was the intention behind this? If that being absolutely didn’t want me to save them, couldn’t they have sent us to a world where it was too late, like with Harris-san?”
“Ah, who knows? Maybe they wanted me to feel regret and despair, thinking ‘If only I had hurried at that time’?”
“Wow, that God is still as mean as ever.”
“Hahaha, true.”
I don’t really know the actual reason, but if the intention of God is to ‘wear out my soul, making me desire the end through my own will,’ it might not be entirely wrong.
Or maybe they just can’t make fine adjustments. If Gods are such immense beings, maybe they can only shift time in units of years… that’s possible too. Well, it doesn’t really matter.
“But, I’m really glad. What I heard from you was just too pitiful, Ed.”
“…………Yeah.”
Since I knew beforehand, I had told Tia about the events of the first loop before entering this world. However, the content was far from enjoyable to hear.
In the first loop, I meet Jinku a week from now. In front of me, restless due to not meeting a hero, appears a near-broken boy who, after losing his companions, sinks into despair, builds up guilt for escaping alone, and hardens his resolve for revenge against the land dragon, nearly… almost breaking.
Feeling intuitively that such a broken Jinku is the hero, I once again approached him and earnestly took care of him to become his companion… but Jinku never opened his heart to me until the end.
On the night when we obtained information about the land dragon that attacked Jinku and the others at a certain place, I, who had apparently fallen asleep, suddenly found myself back in the <White World?>. Presumably, while I was asleep, Jinku had left alone, and that was recognized as ‘exile.’
(Reflecting on it, that was harsh. If only… if only I had cared a little more seriously…)
Being a mercenary or an adventurer, these kinds of stories about ‘parting ways with companions’ are everywhere in this profession. Spending a lifetime with the same party and not losing anyone was a miracle allowed only in the hero tales told by bards.
Moreover, at that time, I was in a period where I had become ‘accustomed to exile’ in a negative sense. I rejected forming deep bonds with people since I knew we would part ways anyway, and I considered using them as a stepping stone for my return acceptable. Even if it was a god’s implanted thinking, the decision was undoubtedly mine.
Losing companions is sad, but it’s not something you should carry forever. Drink some alcohol, talk all night, and then let go to the extent of occasionally reminiscing. That’s the way of life for a true adventurer, or so I believed without doubt at that time… So, I imposed that belief onto Jinku.
“Hey, Jinku. Thinking back, was it really okay to leave that land dragon alone?”
“What’s up, Doma? You’re not suggesting that after getting rescued, you wanted to snatch its materials too, right?”
“Idiot, no way! Dragons have tremendous magic, right? If we left it, wouldn’t other powerful magical creatures be attracted to it?”
“I think it’s fine. I don’t know why, but that land dragon didn’t have any magic left… I wonder why that is?”
“I dunno? Maybe Ed-san slashed it all? No, seriously, it was amazing, like, swoosh!”
“Damn, I wanted to see it too… do you think he’ll show if we ask?”
“That might be a bit presumptuous, don’t you think? He’s probably an amazing adventurer…”
(…That’s right. It wouldn’t be so easy to just accept that.)
Watching Jinku and the others chatting happily as they turned around lightly, I inwardly chuckled. That day… when I learned that Alexis and the others had died, I was shaken by a shock I couldn’t even comprehend.
I was so shaken just by the death of those guys I had been with for only a year and a half. I can’t even imagine the shock of seeing two childhood friends die in front of Jinku… It’s unimaginable, and even thinking about it is presumptuous. If someone were to come and say, ‘I understand how you feel,’ if I were to lose Tia, I would probably punch them without a second thought.
Everyone carries something precious. Whether it’s big or small, it’s a unique treasure that only the person themselves holds and doesn’t require understanding from others.
“Ah! Look, Ed, there’s a town!”
“Oh, we made it?”
With Tia’s exclamation, a splendid town came into view where she pointed. We came to the town instead of the village troubled by goblin attacks because reporting a colossal problem like a land dragon to the village would only cause trouble. We did inform them that we had incidentally defeated goblins on our way, but a proper report had to be made to the adventurers’ guild in the town.
“Wow! It’s a town! We really made it back alive!”
“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Doma-kun! We haven’t arrived in the town yet.”
“That’s true, but we’ve come this far; it should be okay now, right, Jinku?”
“No, Kain’s right. Even at this distance, we might still be attacked by goblins or wolves. Do you think you can fight with that equipment?”
“Ugh!? Well, that’s…”
Doma stuttered in response to Jinku’s point. The equipment damaged by the land dragon was seriously dented and not practical for use.
“But well, in this particular case, Doma’s opinion isn’t entirely wrong. After all, we’re with Ed-sam and the others now! Ed-san, Tia-san!”
“Hmm? What is it?”
As Jinku rushed over and stopped in front of us, he then deeply bowed his head, and the two behind him followed suit.
“Thanks to both of you, we were able to safely return here. Thank you so, so much!”
“Thank you very much!”
“So, um, as a token of our gratitude…”
“Thanks? It’s not necessary at all. We just did what we wanted to do.”
“No, it’s not like that!”
“That’s right! We’re just beginners; I don’t think we can even afford the cost of healing potions…”
Though I said it with a smile, Jinku and the others persisted. In reality, maintaining a certain etiquette in situations like this is crucial if we plan to continue as adventurers in the future. It’s not about whether they can afford it or not; it’s about showing an absolute willingness to pay. If they don’t, no one will help them in the future, even if they’re in trouble.
So, just as I was thinking of casually treating them to a meal or something, Doma came up with an outrageous proposal.
“Hey, Ed-san! If it’s you, I can lend you my ‘ass’!”
“Huh!?”
“Huh? Doma-kun, what’s ‘lend me your butt’? Is ‘butt’ referring to the rear end?”
“No, I’m not exactly sure either, but I heard an old man in the tavern saying, ‘He saved my life. I’d lend him my butt.’ So maybe it’s a really big thank you?”
“Oh, I see. Then I’ll lend mine too! I don’t know what to do, though.”
“Then I will too! Ed, please lend us your butts!”
“Cough! Wait, wait a second!”
“Fufu, Ed, you’re quite popular, huh?”
“Give me a break, seriously…”
While Tia smirked mischievously, I struggled with immense confusion in the face of Jinku and the others, who were pressing me to “lend me their butts.”
